Sanity ~ A Luna Lovegood Fanfiction

Brother and Sister

I was amazed at how simple the first-year Transfiguration homework questions were - the questions that used to puzzle me into frustration, just as Raven was now - compared to the overly-complicated final-year notes I had to memorise.

Raven groaned, dropping her head on to the table. When she looked up, glancing desperately around the Study Hall for a distraction, there was ink smudged across her forehead.

I wiped it away for her with a muttered incantation and lowered my eyes again, trying to concentrate on the elusive facts and figures.

"Luna, you know what I just realised?" she said, staring at me unwaveringly. I supposed I had to abandon my work.

"What?" I asked.

"All my talk about Rowan and you still haven't met him," she said, shaking her head dismissively. "I'll go get him now."

Without a second's hesitation, Raven was away, skipping across the hall. She called out, "Rowan!" to a cluster of young Gryffindors who had abandoned their homework and were obviously more keen on messing around and gossiping. A feathery, black head of hair turned and as soon as his face was revealed, it was clear he was scowling.

I could see everything. Hear everything, clear and definite. Not only were they only a couple tables away, noises created in a half-empty hall have the tendency to travel.

"What do you want, Raven?" Rowan's sulky voice echoed.

"I want you to meet my friend, Luna," she replied.

Rowan's friends had turned and were watching the exchange hungrily. I could see the teasing in their eyes, ready to pounce.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop talking to me?" her twin brother complained viciously.

"Fine, you can introduce me to your friends instead."

Rowan pushed himself out of his seat, making his way towards Raven and away from the group, trying to prevent his new friends from witnessing the scene.

"Leave me alone," he muttered. His shoulders were hunched and his fists were clenched.

"Don't be stupid," Raven said off-handedly. She reached out for his hand but he recoiled instantly, tripping away from her touch.

"Get away from me. Don't touch me." There was pleading in his tone. He had wanted to keep the scuffle away from his friends' curious eyes but they were glued to it, hanging on to every word with hushed intrigue.

Raven was being pushed backward with every cruel word that came out of his mouth. She folded in on herself, trying to protect herself from the words spitting and jumping at her like flames. The Hall was still, every on-looker holding their breath with anticipation.

"Why are you being like this... Rowan?"

"We're in different houses. We're different people. You can't hang round me," he hissed.

"But you're my twin."

"No, I'm not." He finally pulled the plug and stormed away from her, leaving Raven pale-faced and gob-smacked.

But she couldn't let him leave her like that; she followed him, running. Her outstretched palms made contact with his retreating shoulders and shoved forcefully. She was breathless, staring in anger at her brother. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded.

Rowan stumbled but didn't fall. He whipped around to face her and threw a stronger push in her direction. A push that threw her off her feet and hurled her to the flagstoned ground.

She gasped, staring at her brother from her sprawled position on the cold floor. The Gryffindors gasped at first but then they started laughing and it escalated into violent, uncontrollable guffawing.

Rowan stood bashfully for a moment, glancing at Raven with a furrowed expression, but then he rejoined his group, seating himself in the centre of their laughter as one of the boys started clapping him on the back.

Raven picked herself off the ground slowly, calculating her surroundings. She dusted off her robes, entranced in staring at the students who were fitfully hiccuping at her expense.

The trance eventually broke and she returned to our table hurriedly. Her face was steely as she gathered up her books and supplies, bundling them into her arms. I wanted to reach out for her, to console her but Raven shrugged me off, quickly leaving the Hall.

The best thing would be to give her some space. Reluctantly, I picked up my quill and went back to the notes. But my wandering mind was even more unfocused than usual.

I didn't realise at the time that Raven would be determined to forget the whole thing. She refused to discuss the incident. She wouldn't  mention a word about Rowan. She was unreachable.

I told her that houses mean nothing, that it's only a coloured stripe on a uniform and that it didn't have the power to separate blood. I urged her not to let our house define us, to emerge from the confines of our stereotypes and to bridge the tensions between the houses, not to let grudges fester and deepen and cut us off.

Rowan didn't hate her. He was just confused. He was pressuring himself to impress his new friends. He would be lead astray for a while but soon enough he was sure to come to his senses.

No matter what I said, Raven wouldn't listen. She shooed away my attempts and lightheartedly changed the subject to her opinion of so-and-so or Professor thingy-ma-bob.

Eventually, she ignored the topic so much that I forgot about it as well.