The Silver Trio's Beginning

Oh, there Harry was! Ginny waved at him nervously, then blushed and hurried down the long stone hallway, clutching her tattered, secondhand books to her chest. She turned sharply left just before the end of the hall, glanced side to side nervously, and, after determining the coast was clear, whispered something to the tapestry of a witch fighting a dragon (witches and wizards had never been people for sexism). Ginny then stepped through, on her way to her next class.

"Neville? Neville, are you okay?" a voice interrupted his gazing after her.

"What? Oh, sorry, Harry. Yeah, I'm fine," Neville replied, shaking his head ever-so-slightly to clear it.

"I said, aren't you late for Transfiguration? Professor McGonagall doesn't take kindly to latecomers," Harry said. Ron was just behind him.

Neville glanced at the battered watch on his wrist and gasped. "Oh, thanks, Harry! I've got to go!"

"No problem. The quickest way to get there from here is to take the secret passage behind the tapestry of the four founders. Tickle Salazar's nose and the doorway will open."

"Thanks," Neville gasped, and hurried away.

Luna watched him leave from the other end of the hallway, then turned and walked to History of Magic.

*        *        *

"Ms. Lovegood! What year did the Goblin Riots begin?" Professor Binns asked, bringing her out of her daydream.

"The Goblin Riots began in 1931," she answered in her dreamy voice.

"Very good," the ghost replied, and moved on to talk about the Goblin Revolution.

Luna gazed out the window, dreamy-eyed, thinking about the baby thestral that she had seen that morning. It had loved apples, and she planned to stop by the kitchen on her way out that afternoon and pick up some more. Her mind was already across the lake, in the forest when Professor Binns dismissed the class, calling after them a reminder that their reports (18 inches long) were due the next class. Luna walked down the stairs from the History of Magic classroom and made her way to the painting of the bowl of fruit on the basement level. She tickled the pear and pulled on the handle that appeared. The secret door swung open, and Luna stepped inside, surrounded by the bustle of house-elves preparing the next delicious meal for the students of Hogwarts.

"Ah, there Luna is!" a tiny house elf called from the middle of the cavernous kitchen. "Dally made sure that Luna's apples were ready for her." Dally the house-elf disappeared from Luna's sight momentarily and then reappeared, carrying a lumpy satchel almost as big as she was. "Miss Ginny is over there, if you want to talk to her," Dally said, offering Luna the bag.

Luna looked over at the wall, where the small  house-elf had pointed. Sure enough, she saw a shiny red head of hair amoung the sparse, bristly ones. Luna thanked the house-elf and walked over to Ginny, who was staring at nothing while sitting on a stool near the door. "Is something wrong?" asked Luna. "I don't think that there are any nargles in here."

Ginny came to herself with a start. "Oh, hello Luna. I didn't see you there. Oh, I'm fine." But her voice faltered slightly.

"Are you sure?"

Silence.

"Well, my papa always says that the best cure for lovesickness is making new friends," Luna said, guessing at what was eating at the red-headed Griffindor.

Ginny gave her a startled look. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me. Come on. I noticed Neville seemed lonely. Let's go cheer him up! If we ask Dally, I'm sure we can get some Butterbeer to share."

Ginny smiled at her new friend. "Alright, you've persuaded me. Let's get that Butterbeer."

*        *        *

Butterbeer and pastries in hand (Dally could't resist using Luna as a taste-tester for her newest sugary creations), Luna and Ginny made their way to the lake, where they knew Neville would be, sitting under the willow tree that was almost hidden behind the trio of huge oaks that seemingly made up the boundary between where they were and were not allowed to go. Very few students and fewer teachers knew that if you slipped your finger behind the thick ridge of bark that went up the center of the biggest tree, it widened into a crack just large enough to slip through. It wasn't actually an exit from school grounds, though. It only led to a small hollow formed by the roots of the enormous oaks and the willow tree. Luna and Ginny did just this, stepping lightly into the sunlit nook.

Neville seemed to have been deep in thought when they came in, jumping a little. He seemed very surprised to see them, and, Luna noticed, blushed slightly when he saw Ginny. "How did you know I was here?" Neville asked in surprise. "No, scratch that. How did you know this was here in the first place?"

Luna gave him a dreamy smile but didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled out the Butterbeer. "Would you like some?"

By the end of the afternoon, all three of them felt like they'd known one another for years. By the time they started telling their favorite stories about getting lost in the castle, Ginny had to cast a muffliato charm (something she'd picked up by watching Ron) to cover their laughter in order to keep curious students from investigating the in the three oaks. Little did they know just how much of their time they would begin to spend in this little wooden building, together, and almost always laughing. It was the beginning of their third year at Hogwarts, and the beginning of a new friendship that would last a lifetime.