The Grind (And Helping Heather Potter) [Book 2]

AN: Okay, I'm pretty sure this chapter got shadowbanned because of language so I'm going to reupload it with some censoring. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again.

[This chapter takes place during the time skip in chapter 11. Luna has not yet joined the coven.]

She waited in wait because waiting a wait worth waiting was a wait worth the weight indeed. Hmm, yes… Quite.

Luna Lovegood's mind drifted back to what had set her on this path. Not just what, but who. Who prompted her to stand up to the Nargles who tormented her and the Wrackspurts that clouded their minds. Professor Atlas White had a very novel view of Luna's situation and he said only drastic action would change anything.

"They're bullies, Luna," He said. "They won't leave you alone unless they have a reason to. And they won't be getting bored anytime soon. Dumbledore says his hands are tied. Flitwick's actions would only make things worse. You and I are going to take a more unorthodox approach to this situation."

"Like what, Atlas?" Luna asked, curious but ready to be disappointed as always.

Atlas grinned, "You're going to give them a reason to leave you alone. No more relying on other people to finally step up for you. If you want something to change, you'll make that change happen yourself, Luna. And I'll give you the tools to do so."

Luna fiddled with her fingers nervously, "W-What if I can't?"

Atlas shrugged, "Then I'll just have to take matters into my own hands and most likely get fired and arrested in the process. I hope it doesn't come to that but I want you to know I'd still do it in a heartbeat."

"You'd do that…?" Luna asked hesitantly.

"Words may seem cheap to you right now but on this, I swear, Luna," Atlas said firmly, sending tingles into Luna's tummy.

"Oh…" It felt so strange to have someone so unequivocally and undeniably on her side. But… the good kind of strange.

"What you actually end up doing is up to you," Atlas reassured. "But if you want help making a plan of revenge, I'll help you."

"C-Could you…?"

"All you had to do was ask," Atlas' grin returned. "The world's feeling mighty unfair for you at the moment and I want to do my part to make it not so."

Luna quickly found out two things as they started planning her revenge. That Professor Atlas was surprisingly vindictive and vengeful. And that Luna easily found herself rising to match him in that regard.

Once she had someone else advocating for her, telling her that she didn't deserve the cards she was dealt, it became so much easier for Luna to start doing that for herself as well. It was like her eyes were opened, the clouds parted, and Luna realized she didn't have to just sit and take this. She could do something.

And then, naturally, she got a bit carried away with planning her revenge. But Atlas still approved. So Luna became the embodiment of Karma inside Hogwarts Castle.

Which brought her back to the wait worth waiting. She was giddy, almost vibrating under the disillusionment spell Atlas had taught her. He couldn't be here to watch Luna put their plan into action but he would surely hear of the aftermath.

There they were. One of her two main tormentors — Mandy Brocklehurst — strode without care into Luna's dorm room. She was followed by a pack of like-minded perpetrators, all of them laughing openly as they began to search Luna's bed.

Luna's heart might as well have been made of steel, watching these Human-disguised, Wrackspurt-infested Nargles steal and desecrate her belongings. Thankfully, Luna had already removed everything of value from her living space, leaving the bullies with relatively unimportant scraps that she'd be recovering later anyway.

"Look at these things," Lisa Turpin — one of the bullying lackeys — snorted in cruel and apathetic laughter as she held up a pair of Luna's Spectrespecs. "Merlin, what a freak. I bet her father made them for her. He must be as Loony as she is!"

Luna tensed, taking deep breaths so she didn't play her hand too early. They would all get what was coming to them. They didn't know the first thing about her or her father. So concerned about fitting in at any cost, these Witches couldn't imagine the courage it took to be themselves.

"These are new, aren't they?" Mandy Brocklehurst said, holding up the pair of slippers Atlas made for Luna. "Little twit probably thought she could get herself something nice."

"She failed at that too though. Look how ugly those things are!" Lisa added.

Again, Luna only kept herself calm through controlled breathing. She'd had to lay out something as bait and Atlas assured her that he could always conjure her another pair. Still, this part was just as hard as listening to them insult her father. Those slippers were the first gift she'd been given since coming to Hogwarts.

"I think they're kind of cute…" Sue Li said in a small, scared voice. She was the only one Luna would be letting off somewhat easily. Desperately wanting to fit in didn't completely excuse Sue's actions.

Mandy scoffed, "Don't be 'Loony', Sue."

Lisa laughed the laugh of a sycophant, so obviously desperate for approval, "Hahaha! Good one, Mandy!"

As she was laughing as fakely and loudly as she could, Luna put the first part of her plan into action. For the briefest of moments, she canceled her disillusionment spell. It was as if she'd suddenly flashed into existence, staring Lisa down with the wrath of a thousand angry Snorkacks. Then she was gone again as the spell reestablished itself.

"Shite!" Lisa jumped. "She was right there! Did anyone else see that?!"

When the other bullies looked, they saw nothing. Mandy looked at Lisa queerly, "Don't go 'Loony' on us, Lisa. Maybe all this time showing the twit her place has infected you with her crazy."

"I saw her!" Lisa insisted. "I ain't Loony!"

Luna ghosted over invisibly to whisper in Lisa's ear, "They'll never believe you. You'll be as Loony as me soon enough."

"Buggering b*nt!" Lisa jumped again. "She just breathed in me bloody ear!"

Mandy scoffed, "Whatever. Lisa's losing it. Probably from just breathing the same air as the Loony twit. Let's just get back to Michael already."

"W-What are you going to do to the slippers?" Sue asked.

"Same thing we're doing with the rest of her junk," Mandy smirked cruelly. "Burn it."

She laughed as she walked out of the dorm. Lisa was still shaken by Luna's haunting but tried to put on a strong face and join in. Sue wrung her hands nervously, "O-Oh…"

Before she followed her main bullies, Luna walked up behind Sue to try and warn her off, "Run while you still have a chance. I may even spare you to deal with later."

She didn't wait for Sue's response, following Lisa and Mandy down to the Ravenclaw Common Room where her other tormentor waited. The last of Luna's leading bullies was a Wizard who hadn't been able to go up to her dorm with the girls. He'd stayed in the otherwise empty Common Room, probably planning everything.

A lovestruck, happy smile that didn't match her previous actions crossed Mandy's face as she caught sight of Michael Corner again. She practically skipped across the Common Room to him, wrapping herself around his arm and displaying her 'prize'.

"Mich~ael~ Look what we found~" Mandy singsonged.

Lisa followed her lead and wrapped herself around Michael's other arm, slowly getting back into the swing of things, "Yeah~ yeah~ Loony's got a new pair of slippers~"

Sue Li didn't follow the two girls down into the Common Room but neither of them noticed. They were too busy trying to appeal to and impress the bullying's male ringleader. The sight set Luna's blood to a cold simmer. To think they'd form a coven over something as childishly cruel as bullying. Luna's relationships would be different, based on something much greater and filled with true love instead of this hollow facade.

Michael smirked as if he were on top of the world, "Nice, we'll add them to the pile. This will teach the b*nt to keep herself humble. Think she can refuse me? She was lucky I even tried to talk to her."

A long-suppressed memory surfaced in Luna's mind. A memory from her First Year, from her first days in the Castle. A memory of an older boy approaching her with a smile Luna couldn't help but deem as slimy and offering to 'show her around'. With the poor vibrations he had been exhibiting, was it any surprise Luna cited Blibbering Humdingers as an excuse to escape?

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze as realization struck Luna Lovegood. That was what all of this was about?! A single interaction and refusal from three years ago?! The cold simmer of Luna's blood came to a sudden and irreversible boil. What an absolute bastard.

Mandy giggled but Luna had stopped paying attention, "Sooooo~ true, Michael!"

Luna came around in front of the trio. Her wand came up and began to paint words in flame that hung in the air. Originally, she'd been planning on being theatric and cryptic to play into her 'haunting' routine with Lisa earlier. She only managed to write "Enemies of the hair, beware-…" before her patience ran out.

Instead, she crossed the first line out and wrote, "F*ck you and eat sh*t, c*nts, Love Lovegood."

As the trio of bullies read her message, Luna crept around them, stopping on both sides of their heads to whisper a single word repeatedly, "Scourgify, scourgify, scourgify."

The three of them collapsed, screaming as a feeling not unlike coarse steel wool overtook the insides of their heads. Their ear canals were scoured down to the surface of their brains. If her reactions resulted in brain damage, well, that wasn't Luna's intention but it also wasn't something she took issue with.

She stood over them as they folded in on themselves from sheer pain and discomfort. Then she figured she might as well add the original punchline to her vengeful plan as well.

Raising her wand, Luna intoned, "Creo Dulcia."

A stream of sweets poured out of her wand and continued to do so as she kept feeding her magic into the homemade spell. Pudding and cream rushed into existence, washing over Luna's bullies in waves. Carried along with the torrent were hopping Chocolate Frogs, sizzling Acid Pops, disgusting Cockroach Clusters, and every flavor of Every Flavor Bean in existence.

Seeming endless, the stream of sweets just kept going. It was an easy spell to keep up and Luna wasn't stopping until her bullies were buried under a mountain of candies and cream. She wanted to show that her revenge could still be 'sweet', after all.

By the time she was done, Michael Corner, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Lisa Turpin were firmly engulfed by sweets with only their heads and limbs sticking out. The resulting grotesquely sweet conglomeration could have inspired a new breed of magical creatures. Some kind of pudding monster, perhaps?

Still… something was missing. Ah, the cherry! Luna hummed to herself as she summoned her slippers from the mess. They were placed on top of the congealed pile of sweets as the topping to top it all off. It looked like she'd have to ask Atlas for another pair after all.

Sue Li watched all of this from the stairs leading into Luna's dorm. She gaped and gulped in shock. But never let it be said Luna didn't know mercy.

She ghosted over to whisper in Sue Li's ear, "Let this be a lesson in the lows conformity can drive us to. Go ahead and tell everyone you can. Even if people believe you, it will only dissuade a repeat performance. I hope you find the place where you truly belong, Sue. Goodbye."

"W-Wait!" Sue called out but Luna was already gone.

The morning would see Ravenclaw met with a disturbing sight. It was a 'prank' that would quickly become entrenched in Castle legend, drawing the attention of even the notorious Weasley twins. Whispers and rumors would abound, telling a story of revenge and the beginning of a greater reign of terror within Ravenclaw House. But no one stepped up to claim credit. The only clue to who could have done this was a pair of slippers with a convenient tag of ownership, "Property of Luna Lovegood. Thieves will be delicious."

IIIII

"No, Filius, Luna was with me and Septima all day and night," Atlas said.

"Very well," Flitwick sighed a very over-the-top sigh. "I hope you understand. I do not mean to cast about any accusations but I must do my due diligence."

"Of course," Atlas nodded.

"I just wish I could give the one responsible my compliments-… er, 'punishment'. It was quite a clever bit of spellwork and conjuration," Flitwick said before taking his leave, mentally checking off his duty as 'good enough' and content that Karma had been served.

In the chair next to Atlas in the Library, Luna desperately held in giddy giggles. Once Flitwick was gone, she let go of her self-control. She laughed freely as if a gigantic weight had been lifted from her shoulders and threw herself across Atlas' lap. Perching herself there, her arms draped around his shoulders, and kiss after kiss was laid upon his face.

"Congratulations, Luna," Atlas said when he could between kisses. "I don't think they'll be messing with you again any time soon."

Luna eventually settled into a pout, "They better not. I still can't believe someone could be that petty."

Atlas sighed, "Some people are just like that. They think the world and everyone in it owes them something."

Luna nodded in understanding, "Then it's a good thing we're here to prove them wrong!"

That made the corners of Atlas' lips quirk up and Luna felt something flutter in her stomach, "Quite."

"So… w-what now?" Luna asked nervously.

"I'm not going to turn you away just because you've gotten your revenge now, Luna. So long as you need a place to stay or someone to look after you, I'll always offer up myself first and foremost," Atlas reassured her as easily as he breathed.

The easy surety in his words made Luna's heart soar with ecstatic glee and confidence, "Good! Because this is only the beginning! There's so much we can and will do together! The world is our Moon Frog!"

"And where should we start?" Atlas asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"Uh…" Luna stuttered, momentarily sucked in by the beauty of Atlas' relaxed smirk. "A picnic! We should enjoy the weather before it gets too cold. World conquest can wait… Or we can start planning it while we eat!"

Atlas stood from his seat, effortlessly holding Luna up in the process and making her squeal with joy, "What a wonderful idea, Miss Lovegood. Shall you lead the way or should I?"

"You!" Luna quickly decided, happy to stay within Atlas' arms in a bridal carry. "Forward, my steed! First, a picnic basket and blanket! Next, the world! Mwahahaha~!"