Sirius was proud to escort Harry to platform 9¾ on the first day of September. Like all parents, he stood on the platform and waved as his godson parted in the train. He then apparated home, took his own luggage and used the Floo to reach Hogwarts early enough to get ready for the coming term.
Harry enjoyed the train ride. Well, most of it. Although Malfoy spared them his annoying presence, Ginny proved almost as annoying, but in a different way. Her hero-worship made Harry nervous. She was unable to even say a full sentence in his presence, but her eyes lay constantly on him and whenever she noticed him looking in her direction, she blushed a brighter red. Harry was glad when Fred and George asked her to join them.
Without his little sister around, Ron could also speak more freely. "So, you said you visited Spain. Was there anything interesting there?"
Harry was fed up with Ron's ignorance, especially of anything foreign or Muggle. He decided to try a shock treatment. "There's a lot to see in Spain, and the food is simply great, although spicier than here, but the most interesting sights, at least in summer, are the beaches, or more exactly – the people on them. Did you know that most young women go topless on those beaches?" This was quite a bit of exaggeration, but he didn't mind.
"No! That can't be! They go topless? You mean… they let everybody see their tits?"
Harry shrugged. "Sure! It would be awkward to cover them with their hands the whole time, don't you think? And even those who wore a top didn't really hide much, you know. Their tops were probably smaller than those worn by little girls, only covering their nipples. Their bottoms weren't much larger either." And this was no exaggeration at all, he thought.
Ron's eyes bulged out, as if he was really looking at that scene, so incredible from his point of view. Harry didn't relent, though. "We also visited some beaches where clothing is either optional or forbidden. Everything is exposed there."
Ron's mind seemed to overload. He was breathing heavily and was unable to speak for a few minutes. It took him a bit longer to form a simple question. "How did you dress there?"
"Just like everybody else," Harry said nonchalantly. "It would have been odd to wear anything where everybody is naked, just as it would be odd to stay naked where everybody wears clothes."
This was too much for Ron. He excused himself and went to see his brothers. He only returned when approaching Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione didn't really miss him. They had other visitors to keep them busy.
Shortly after Ron left, the door opened and a young girl, about Ginny's age, stepped in. "I hoped I would find you alone," she said in a dreamy voice. "You see, nobody should know that you two are much more than anybody can guess."
Both frowned. "What do you mean?" Hermione asked her.
The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I was led to believe you're smart enough to understand." She then changed her expression. "Well, it so happens that I get to know things that most people don't. Dad thinks that I'm an untrained seer. I'm not sure about it. Still, I get to know things that I have no idea how I got to know them. I know you two kind of returned from a bad future and want to repair it. I'd make sure that nobody but you two knows your plans or even what you really are. While you already made enough changes to prevent that specific future, some of the alternatives may prove even worse. That's all I can currently say."
Harry sighed. He was glad that their secret didn't somehow leak, but was still worried, and the girl's words didn't do much to calm his worries. He still needed to respond. "Thank you, Miss…?"
She smiled, and it was like a light being turned on. "Lovegood, Luna Lovegood. I'm starting Hogwarts today. I really hope to find some friends there. Ginevra Weasley – I believe you've already met her – used to be my friend until my mother… well, until her mother stopped us from meeting, and I had no other friends."
Harry thought he knew why she stopped talking at the mention of her mother. It was just the way he refrained from talking about his parents. "Well, thank you, Miss Lovegood. I'll be honoured to call you a friend," he smiled at her.
"And so would I," Hermione added.
Luna smiled shyly. "It's nice to have friends, and having you two is really special. Thank you, Harry Potter and Hermione Potter for becoming my friends."
Hermione recoiled. "I'm not Potter. I'm Granger!"
Luna smiled knowingly. "Of course you are. You can't officially do it, since you're currently both too young, but you're already a couple in any way that matters."
The other two just blushed and said nothing. Luna looked smug for a moment and then spoke again. "Well, some other people want to talk to you, so I'd better leave you alone for now. Bye!"
As soon as the door closed behind her, Hermione turned to Harry. "It took me a moment to recall all we know about her. She was a member of the DA and fought at our side at the Ministry"
Harry nodded. "She was also abused and ridiculed by her house-mates. We shall make sure this doesn't happen again."
Hermione nodded approvingly and kissed his cheek for emphasis. Making them both blush.
They were only left alone for a moment before Neville arrived. "How was your vacation? Ron seems to not believe anything you tell about it."
Harry shrugged. "Ron believes nothing that doesn't fit his very narrow worldview. We actually spent only part of our vacation in Spain, mainly at Nudist resorts. We also visited some of the attractions of Spain, but it's much too big to cover all of them during such a short vacation. We spent the rest of the time visiting each other and helping Sirius cleanse his ancestral home from various dark objects."
Neville gasped. "How could you do it? That's very advanced magic and quite dangerous."
Hermione replied this time. "I've found a few books about curse breaking in some unused room at school last year. While the theory there is quite complex, the spells themselves are straightforward. One only needs to pay good attention to pronunciation and to wand movements, and we both can do it well enough. I think you could do it just the same."
Neville shuddered. "I would feel intimidated just to know the objects contained dark magic. Besides, I'm not very good at casting."
Harry frowned as he recalled a memory from his other-self. "I believe you can do much better." An idea popped into his mind and he was eager to try it. "Didn't Olivander try to give you a good match? He said repeatedly that the wand chooses the wizard."
Neville shrugged. "I didn't get a new wand. My gran thought that Dad's wand should be good enough for me."
Both Harry and Hermione sighed at that. "Didn't she remember Olivander's saying? That wand chose your Dad. There's another one waiting to choose you. Let's try a simple experiment. You know how to cast 'Lumos,' don't you?"
Neville didn't need to be urged. He lifted his wand and cast the spell. Harry noticed that he did it right, but looked as if he was disgusted. His wand tip lighted very faintly but stayed stable until he ended the spell.
"Are you comfortable with your wand?" Harry asked him.
"Not really. I feel like it doesn't like me either and I have to force it to respond to me," Neville explained.
"Why not try casting with our wands, just to see if there's any difference?" Hermione suggested, getting the gist of Harry's actions.
Neville tried first with Harry's wand. It gave a slightly brighter light, but Neville seemed to fight the wand to get this result. He then tried with Hermione's. Just looking at his face, it was evident that this wand was a better fit. It also produced the brightest light. "I didn't have to fight this wand, just coax it to respond," Neville told them.
"May we try your wand?" Harry asked.
Neville seemed content to give his wand. Harry tried, but his result was almost as dim as Neville's. He also felt like fighting the wand to get any result. Hermione tried next. She got almost as bright a light as when using her own wand, surprising them all.
"I think you should talk with Professor McGonagall or Professor Black about this. I'm sure they can explain to your Gran how important it is to get you a wand that actually fits you, not somebody else," Harry told his dorm mate.
"Gran wouldn't like this." Neville seemed quite frightened of her expected response.
"If you like, I'll ask Professor Black to talk to her," Harry offered. It wasn't a secret that Sirius had very close relations with Harry. They still kept the guardianship secret, but Harry was quite sure that Dumbledore would soon find out, if he hadn't already.
"Maybe that would be for the best," Neville said, his lack of confidence showing.
They were soon joined by Susan, Hannah and Daphne, all exchanging some stories about their vacation. Of course, the visit to the nudist resort starred in the conversation. "I would have been afraid to go out, wearing nothing," Hannah commented. "Weren't you afraid?"
Hermione shrugged it off. "I've been going with my parents to such resorts since before I can remember. For me, it was very natural, and it only took Harry a short while to get comfortable too. He may feel less comfortable that way in a year or two, when his body may get out of control until he gets accustomed to the views."
Daphne looked pensive. "I think that my parents took me to such a place when I was much younger. Since all small children go naked anyway at the beach or the pool, it didn't seem like anything special to me at the time. I'm not sure how I would feel now."
"I think I'd like to go to such a place. Since starting to wear a bra, I feel really constricted by it. I'd really like to be able to let go of it and the rest for a few days. I don't really mind if others look at me," Susan commented. Neville blushed at her words.
"Well, with your breasts, you're probably quite proud to show them. I'm still as flat as a boy. I have nothing to show yet," Daphne added.
"It doesn't really matter," Harry explained. "Young and old, slim and fat of all sizes are fully exposed there. After the first few minutes, you no longer pay attention to that, like you don't really pay attention to what people normally wear, unless it's something special. People would have looked at you, Daphne, due to your pretty face, just as they looked at Hermione, and Susan's breasts would have got her only a few glances before her red hair would have attracted most of the attention."
"Besides," added Hermione, "by next summer you may also have very nice breasts."
Both boys felt like this conversation was going to uncomfortable areas. Harry was quick to change that. "So, have you read the school books already?"
This moved the conversation back on track, to much safer subjects, at least according to the boys.
Luna rejoined them a bit later, looking somewhat dejected. "What is it, Luna? Something's bothering you?" Harry asked her.
She sighed. "I thought I could find some more friends on the train, but all the young students seem to be infested with Wracspruts. None of them wanted to be my friend."
Harry looked at his friends in a way that clearly said, "Don't laugh at her!" while Hermione took her hand. "Well, you have us as your friends, and you may find some more later. Even Hermione and I didn't become friends until Halloween of our first year."
Luna seemed to be consoled by his words, but Daphne perked up. "About that… I've never had a chance to hear what happened that Halloween with you and the troll. Care to enlighten us?"
Harry didn't feel like telling, but there was no way he could refrain from that. These were his friends and he trusted them, but he didn't really like to talk about that night.
Hermione beat him to the answer. "Well, that day, I was insulted by someone and I felt so badly offended that I spent the evening crying in the girls' bathroom. Then I heard a noise as if something was shattered. I peeked out of the cubicle and saw a huge grey-green creature with a small head and a large club. It started demolishing the place and I was sure it was going to kill me. I didn't know what it was and I was too numb from fear to even think of some way to escape. And suddenly, Harry and Ron came into that bathroom. Harry jumped on the back of that creature and Ron used the levitation charm to beat it with its own club until it fell unconscious. The teachers arrived a moment later."
Daphne looked stunned. "How big was that troll?"
Hermione looked at Harry as if to get his estimate. "I think it was at least three times as tall as I was and almost as wide as the door there. It also smelled so bad that I thought I would be knocked out by that smell alone."
The girls grimaced, but Susan had another question. "Who was the one that insulted you so badly?"
Neither Harry nor Hermione seemed ready to answer. It was Neville who whispered, "Ron."
Daphne frowned. "That doesn't make sense. I mean, Ron is quite capable of insulting. His mind seems to lag badly after his mouth. But why would he come to your rescue if he was..."
Her mind seemed to catch up. "It wasn't his initiative, was it? Harry, you made him join you as repayment for insulting her in the first place, didn't you?"
Harry nodded. "We didn't think we needed to rescue her. We only thought we'd warn her of the troll and help her back to the dorms. It didn't turn that simple..."
Susan took control. "I don't think I could befriend Ron after such an incident. He has no loyalty at all!"
Hermione was quick to protect Ron, although she was no longer thinking of him as a close friend. "Well, he apologised for insulting me and offered to be my friend. Besides, I really tend to become an 'insufferable know-it-all' at times. He makes sure I don't slip back into that mode."
Hanna agreed with Susan, as did Daphne. "That still doesn't excuse his behaviour, and he doesn't seem to like you much even now."
Harry decided to give his point of view too. "Well Ron may not think much before he acts and he may not be the most loyal person, but he is the first friend I got that is my age. I don't think he can become my best friend, but he's still good enough for playing, chatting and goofing around between lessons. Since Hermione stopped dictating most of his essays, forcing him to put some real work into his homework, he stopped joining our studies. It actually helps us do better in class."
Daphne tried not to snort. "With such an attitude as his, it's no wonder. He probably passed the minimum just barely, like Crabbe and Goyle. Actually, how were your final grades for last year?"
Hermione blushed. As much as she liked getting top grades, she felt like she was bragging. "All straight O's, except for Herbology, where I got E+."
Harry also felt uncomfortable telling, "Mine are about the same, only Herbology was E."
"I got E+ in Transfiguration and A in Herbology. The rest are O's," Daphne said.
"Mine are all E's, except for O+ in Herbology and A- at Potions," Neville confessed.
"O at Astronomy, Charms and DADA. The rest are E," said Susan.
"All E's with O at Transfiguration and Charms," said Hannah.
"You're all doing quite well," commented Luna. "That's really good, since you're going to be very important to our future." She then put her hand over her mouth. "Oops! I should have not said that."
Surprisingly, it was Daphne who responded. "That's alright, Luna. I know that seers can't always control what comes out of their mouths. You're a seer, aren't you?"
She looked suddenly very shy. "Dad thinks I am, but I'm not sure. I mean, I don't get any prophecies, I don't do other things seers are known for. I just suddenly get to know some things I had no right and no way to know. It's weird and confusing and distracts me even when I need to concentrate." She went silent for a second and then sighed. "I suddenly know what colours your knickers are, all of you. Quite useful information, isn't it?"
By the end of the ride, Luna had become one of the group. Harry hoped to soon find a boy or two to regain some semblance of a balanced group. There was currently too much "girl talk" in the group.