Hermione was walking alone through the corridor when she noticed something. She saw a pair of shoes hanging on top of the ceiling; she looked at it curiously, when she realised that it was Luna’s. Hermione was livid, realising this, she needed to find the perpetrator quickly.

“Accio Luna’s shoes.” She chanted while pointing her wand at the shoes.

The shoes then float down at her, dropping in front of her. She grabbed the shoes and put them in her bag. Then she quickly walked to the Great Hall. When she arrived there, she scanned the hall, and saw Luna, sitting alone on the Ravenclaw long-table eating pudding. Hermione then walked up to her and greeted the girl.

“Hello Luna!” Hermione greeted her sweetly.

“Oh, Hermione, Hello.” She said in her signature tone. “What are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t talk to you?”

“Oh no, you’re welcome to! It gets really lonely here…” she answered, which made Hermione’s heart break a little.

“Anyway, I found your shoes again; I found them on a corridor ceiling…”

“Oh! Thank you! The Nargles have been especially active this time of month.” she said nonchalantly, seemingly oblivious to the bullying.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, then, she heard some snickering on the table; she looked at the source of the voice, and saw a couple of seniors looking at Luna with mockery on their faces. She quickly remembered all their faces, so she could get revenge later on.

“Hermione? What are you doing here? It’s rare for you to sit here…” someone suddenly said. Hermione looked around, and saw that it was Richard coming to her, holding Cho Chang’s hand. Hermione quickly looked in the direction of the Slytherins, and also saw Daphne grimacing at this. She sighed and greeted the boy.

“Hello Richard, I see that something happened…” she said as she looked at the couple’s connected hand.

“Oh…” Richard blushed, “Yeah…”

“Anyway… can I talk to you two for a moment?” Hermione questioned.

“Um… sure, what for?” Richard asked back, but Hermione didn’t answer, as she turned to Luna, who was eating her pudding blissfully, “Luna, see you later, okay?”

“Oh, you’re leaving?” Luna looked a bit sad. “Okay, then, see you later.”

Hermione nodded weakly as she dragged the couple outside of the great hall, further confusing the two.

“What’s going on?” Richard asked.

“Listen, did you know Luna was bullied?” Hermione asked.

Cho then asked, “You mean Loon-” Hermione glared at Cho, stopping her from mocking Luna’s name, “Luna Lovegood?” Cho asked nervously.

Hermione nodded, “Yeah, her stuff got taken and was hidden by the Ravenclaws…”

“That’s awful.” Richard grimaced, “I didn’t know that… I thought she’s going barefoot because of who she is… have you reported it to Penelope?”

Hermione shook her head. “No, Luna doesn’t want to tell me who it is, she said it was Nargles…”

“Nargles?”

“One of her creatures.” Hermione informed, which earned a nod from the two.

“Alright Hermione, I’ll keep an eye out for Luna…” Richard reassured.

“Thank you.” Hermione said, “If you know who actually did it, tell me okay? I need to have a talk with them…”

The other nodded weakly and said goodbye to Hermione, while the girl walked back to Luna, accompanying her, making her smile brightly.

In the next week, Hermione kept following Luna to discover who is bullying her, and it was somewhat fruitful, she discovered that one fifth year Ravenclaw kept pestering the blonde girl, the senior often commented loudly on Luna’s rather odd choice of clothing and her necklace, so Hermione quietly retaliated by secretly jinxing the seniors back, changing the senior’s back hair, and made a hole in the senior’s robe.

She also discovered some bullies that hid Luna’s things, and again, it was seniors. Hermione retaliated by quickly learning the vanishing charm, courtesy of the Aldrich Library, and used it on the seniors’ things such as their books and clothes, making them confused on where their things are.

One day, Hermione and Luna were walking towards the Great Hall, when Luna suddenly spoke up.

“You don’t have to do all of those spells on them, you know?” said the quirky girl in her singing voice, shocking Hermione. “I can handle them myself.”

“Luna, they’re bullying you, you’ve got to fight back!” Hermione refuted this.

Luna shook her head rather vigorously. “It’s nice of you to do that to me, but I can handle them.” She stood her ground; she’s rather stubborn it seems.

Hermione sighed in surrender. “Just be careful, Luna… what they’re doing is just wrong…”

“Dad always said that you need to deal with your problems yourself, so I appreciate your help Hermione.”

“Of course, Luna, you’re my friend.”

Luna smiled contently at her statement. “Yeah, friend…”