Disclaimer: Characters/names/settings/etc., belong to my hero, J.K. Rowling. :D
Checkmate.
The Slytherin common room was filled with noise and littered with candy wrappers and empty drink bottles. Dozens of people were singing, dancing, or running around setting off fireworks. Every single Slytherin student was celebrating their Quidditch victory against Ravenclaw earlier that day.
Except one.
A tall, thin, blond haired sixth year sat forlornly in a squashy armchair by the fire, the licking flames reflecting in his empty grey eyes. With every cheer or burst of song, his head pounded uncomfortably.
"Come on, Draco!" a dark haired girl urged. "You should be celebrating! You were the one that caught the Snitch, after all!" She laughed and threw confetti over him, looking at him quite lovingly. Draco Malfoy took a deep breath and forced himself to respond calmly, "Actually, Pansy, I think I'm going to find some peace and quiet. I have a really bad headache from all this noise."
Pansy's smile drooped. "Oh, okay then," she said disappointedly, and sulked away to rejoin the partying group.
Draco ran a hand through his flawless hair and made his way to the portrait hole, shaking off housemates by muttering something about a headache. Once he was out in the hall, he leaned against the wall and breathed in a lungful of fresher air. After the pounding in his head ceased, he contemplated where to go.
I could go to the library, he thought. Not a lot of students will be there, it's close to midnight anyway. It'll be quiet, and I can read up on how to kill…kill.. NO. Draco shook his head violently to rid his thoughts about the imminent task he was assigned.
The stairway up the dungeons and the path to the library were both empty, and Draco felt at peace for the first time since The Dark- No. Why do I keep thinking about this! Annoyed with himself, he pushed the library door open quietly. Madam Pince was asleep at her desk, clutching an issue of Witch Weekly in her hand. Small snores erupted every few seconds, and Draco sneered in disgust. He made his way down rows and rows of books until he reached a table at the end of the library. Picking out a random book called Mending Magical Objects, he sat down and tried to collect his thoughts. I have to do it. If I don't he'll kill me. He would. I have to!
Suddenly, Draco tensed, and he spun around, wand at the ready. Something moved, he was sure of it. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead; he thought he was alone in here! I'm just being a git, he thought. Just the stress getting to me, that's all. As he turned, back to read, he gasped in surprise as he found a girl with huge blue eyes and dirty blond hair down to her back standing in front of him.
"Lovegood," he scowled, looking back down at his book and trying to regain his composure.
The girl did not apologize for frightening him; in fact, she smiled as if sneaking up on random people in the library was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, she, herself, was quite out of the ordinary, with melon earrings on her ears, a butter-beer cork necklace around her neck, and weird swirling glasses perched on top of her head. "Hello there!" she said dreamily. "I was under the impression I was alone here."
Draco rolled his eyes and still not looking up, muttered, "What a coincidence."
Luna either did not hear him or chose not to, but went on, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
Draco did not answer, but flipped a page idly. He hoped that his silence would indicate that he wanted to be alone. He was really not in the mood to listen to the craziest witch in Hogwarts ramble on about her father's ridiculous and sad excuse for a newspaper.
But Luna took his silence as a hearty agreement and plopped down in the chair across from him. Draco sighed loudly and groaned inwardly. Merlin, why is everyone bothering me? Ignoring Luna, he immersed himself in the chapter on Vanishing Cabinets.
Snap.
Draco looked up, startled and annoyed at the sudden noise. Luna had taken out a bag of Fizzing Whizbees and was eating them cheerfully, snapping them with her tongue and teeth.
Snap. Crackle. Pop. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Draco closed his eyes and tried not to scream at Luna and risk waking up Madam Pince. Pop. Snap. Instead, he took several deep breaths to vent his frustration and waited for the incessant snapping to stop. When it finally ceased, he looked up at Luna to find her reaching for another handful of candy. Merlin! Draco thought. He reached out and in a lightning quick movement, grabbed her arm roughly. The handful of orange rocks fell to the ground and she fixed her protuberant, confused eyes at him.
"Seriously. Stop. You are so. Annoying," Draco hissed through his teeth. Luna blushed, and he noticed he was still holding her arm. He let go disgustedly and got up. He had had enough of her. As he turned to leave, he heard Luna's soft voice behind him.
"Please, don't go?"
Draco turned around slowly to face her. She was looking down at her lap, wringing her hands. "I haven't had someone to talk to in so long. I have so many things on my mind, though. I don't have any real friends, did you know ?"
Draco looked down at his own shoes.
Surprisingly, he, himself, could relate. Even though he was the richest, hottest, most popular Slytherin in his year and had loads of girls following his every move, the truth came down to it –he didn't have anyone to talk to.
Especially not about my task, he thought. I need help. I want to admit that I need help killing Dumbledore. I need help! And I really need to talk to someone. But no one can help me! I have to do it. Slowly, he looked up at Luna. She was staring dreamily around the library, as if lost in her own thoughts. Hating himself, Draco sat down again. He sighed wearily, "What do you want from me, Lovegood?"
She didn't answer for a while, but twirled strands of her hair idly with her wand. Suddenly, she said bluntly, "You look horrible. Are you ill?" Draco snarled and slammed his hands down on the table, ready to storm out. What the hell? I stayed around and she tells me I look horrible? Who does that freak think she is?
But then, Luna said with a slight smile on her face, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
All enmity forgotten, Draco staggered and gasped in horror. Did she –did she know about it? Did she know he was a Death Eater? Is it that visible from my face? Did that mean she knew what I eventually have to do? Should I tell her about it? Could Loony actually be the person I have to ask for help? I don't believe this! I don't-
"Because you could be a singer! You really remind me of Grubby Sands, you know, the singer that ate the poisonous Gurdyroot!"
Embarrassed with himself, Draco swallowed in relief. I'm going paranoid, he thought. Oh Merlin, I need to calm down. He waited for his breathing to return to normal before sneering sarcastically, "Yeah, I get that a lot."
Luna smiled and pulled out a miniature set of wizard's chess. "Fancy a game?" she asked brightly. Draco raised his eyebrows but shrugged and wordlessly reached out and started to arrange his players. The bishop squirmed uncomfortably in his hand. "This set is new," he said, more as a comment than a question.
"Yup," answered Luna. "I just got it this summer. I almost didn't want to buy it at first because I thought it would get stolen before I had a chance to use it. But now I'm really glad I did."
Draco sniffed haughtily. "Stealing isn't really an issue in our common room. I would have thought Ravenclaws were more decent than that."
"Oh no, it's just me they steal from," Luna added conversationally. "People take my stuff and hide it. They think I'm kind of weird, actually. They call me Loony, did you know that?" Not pausing for an answer, she continued, "A lot of the times, they take something I had really planned on using. Like my Transfiguration textbook. I really can't wait until the end of the year to get that back. Now I might have to buy a new one." She sighed softly and set up her queen.
Draco's insides squirmed as he struggled to find out what that weird feeling he was experiencing was. He didn't know how to arrange his face to mirror the alien emotion. It took him well over a minute to figure out that he felt…sorry for Luna. He looked at her for a moment, seeing the same emptiness in her blue eyes that had, for many months, inhabited his own. But the emptiness in her eyes passed, and he looked down again, commanding his pawn to move forward. Suddenly, he opened his mouth to speak. For some reason, he didn't think he'd mind asking this eccentric girl for help.
"Hey," he started. "Say, If…a bully made you.. er.. do a favor for him and you really, really didn't want to, but, er, you had no choice, because if you didn't, he would steal all your things and hide them forever, er, what…would you do?" He noticed how idiotic he sounded, and he kept his eyes fixed on his restless players.
There was a silence, and Draco looked up. Luna was twirling her wand in her fingers, and her eyebrows were creased in concentration. "Well," she finally said. "I would say your question is fixed in the wrong perspective." She didn't say anything else, but fixed her eyes on the chessboard. Her bishop moved toward Draco's. She smiled.
Draco sighed impatiently. "Well? Hello? What does that mean?"
Luna smiled slightly. "You're going at it the wrong way. Your question makes it seem like I would actually have to do the favor."
"Well, of course," Draco stuttered incredulously. "He would- he would take your things forever. You would-"
"No, he wouldn't take my things, and I wouldn't have to do the dreaded favor. Everyone wins with my way."
"Which would be?" Draco's voice rose in anticipation.
Luna looked Draco serenely in the eye, and his hands started to sweat. Yes! I'm finally going to get some advice with this! And her advice, surprisingly, sounds wise! Come on, tell me…I need this…
She shook her long hair back with her right hand and leaned across the table. Her necklace dragged along the wood, and her many bracelets jingled loudly. "I would," she said dreamily, "make the bully believe I did the favor."
With that, she sat back down, stuck her wand behind her right ear, and took out a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Draco watched silently as she dug through the bag until she retrieved the flavor she wanted. He thought about what she had just said. At first, he was about to dismiss her advice as another piece of Loony nonsense, but then saw what she was saying.
What if? What if Voldemort could be tricked into believing that I had killed Dumbledore? he thought. It's possible…Dumbledore is probably the most powerful wizard in the world. I could ask Dumbledore to pretend I had died while trying to kill him! And then he could protect Mum and I at…at Hogwarts. Draco's heart plummeted. Why would he help me? I'm plotting to kill him, for Merlin's sake! And what would I say? 'Excuse me sir, I was sent to kill you but I've changed my mind, so could you protect me with your life now?' But the old man always had a weakness for helping others… maybe, if he gave me a chance, I could prove I didn't want this. I didn't want this future! That does it. I'm going to Dumbledore. I need his help. I need it.
Draco refocused his eyes on Luna and tried to act as though her words didn't affect him. Her hair fell messily in her face as she searched for another Toasted Marshmallow Bean. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her lips were pursed, giving her the image of being quite disgruntled at the small jellybean bag.
Draco smiled slightly.
"Why are you scowling at me?" Luna asked brightly.
Caught by surprise, Draco managed to scoff at her remark. "Nothing. You really helped me out, Luna. Thanks." He whispered the last word, and then looked surprised that he managed to say it.
Luna smiled back, but her smile was pure and pretty. "No problem!" She paused for a second in her rummaging, and then looked up and asked, "What'd I do?"
Choosing, like many did, not to answer her, Draco just looked down at the bored chess pieces and felt the knot in his stomach lessen slightly, for the first time in a long time.
Luna's queen weaved through gaps in Draco's players and stopped in front of his king. "Hey look, checkmate," Luna commented vaguely. Draco nodded, and echoed almost as distantly, "Yup. Checkmate."
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Draco strutted lazily down the hall to lunch, enjoying the looks of admiring girls. It had been one week since Dumbledore gladly agreed to let it "slip" to the Death Eaters that Draco had been foiled in an attempt to kill him, and that he had "unfortunately" cursed the "poor student" to death. It was like he knew about my plan before I told him, Draco thought as he walked, remembering the slight wink he thought Dumbledore had given him. But he erased all worrisome thoughts from his head. The headmaster had been extremely kind to relocate the Malfoy Manor onto Hogwarts grounds, next to Hagrid's Hut. A charm had been put on it so it now resembled a willow tree with an almost unnoticeable door, but the inside of the tree was still gorgeous and luxurious as his house had been when the outside was still, well, a house. He said a silent thanks to Dumbledore. We're safe now. Mum and I are finally safe, he thought, relieved beyond belief.
He was about to yank the Great Hall door open when he heard Luna's serene voice, mixed with a bit of anger. "That's new, you guys! Seriously, stop it."
Draco dropped his bag and slowly walked around the corner toward the voices.
"Come on, give it back," Luna said. Her bag was sprawled on the floor, and two Hufflepuff boys were holding a new Transfiguration textbook and her wand above her head. "Try and get it, Loony!" one laughed. "Yeah," said the other. "No Gulping Pimples here to save you, are there?" They high-fived each other and laughed.
"They're not Pimples," Luna said as if she were explaining it to a couple of five year olds. "It's Pimplies."
The two boys exchanged incredulous glances, shook their heads, and grabbed the chess set out of her bag. "Hey, stop it!" Luna cried. "That's new, too!"
That did it. Draco drew his wand, walked over to the boys, and pinned it to their backs. "Put it down, you lot of stupid, immature Hufflepuff prats." He spat every word. They didn't turn around. After a moment of silence, the taller one said coldly, "I sincerelyhope we didn't just hear you call us stupid."
Draco scoffed. "Then I sincerely hope that you're deaf. Which can be arranged." He moved his wand up to the tall one's ears. "Silo-
The boys dropped Luna's things and whipped around, their own wands at the ready. But seeing that they were up against Draco Malfoy, they instantly paled and ran off. Watching their diminishing figures, Draco smirked and stuck his wand back in his pocket.
"Thanks," said Luna serenely, smiling. "I thought I was alone here."
Her words triggered something in the back of Draco's mind. "Oh yeah!" he said, slapping his forehead. "Yeah, I wanted to thank you, for er, giving me advice, um, that day, you know. You pretty much saved my arse. I mean, well, you know."
Luna gazed at him like a mildly interesting television show. "You're terrible at thank-you s," she said bluntly. He opened his mouth to say something, but Luna went on, "but I appreciate it. And you pretty much saved me from those guys, too. No one's ever helped me before. Usually, people just step over me. Or sometimes on me," she added airily as she collected her things. Her hand stopped at the crystal chess set. When the boy had dropped it, the figures had fallen out. Draco saw a beheaded queen, with angry pawns shaking their fists at Luna. She sighed unhappily and whispered Reparo, waving her wand over it. The queen's head rejoined her body, and she bowed deeply at Luna, who smiled sadly. Then, surprisingly, Luna looked up at Draco.
"You look a lot healthier now," she said, grinning. "Did you get better?"
He chuckled to himself, then said, patting Luna on the back, "You're okay, you know that?" He got up, and held his hand out to help her up.
Luna's eyes were illuminated by the sun for a while, and the blue shined brighter than ever.
"I get that a lot."
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(A/N) I really hope you enjoyed my second fic! Please review, your opinions matter to me! .:)
Edit: 020506: Ah! Have any of you seen the girl who's going to play Luna? I realized that she totally changed my image of Luna when I read fanfics now! What do you think of her? Did you envision her as Luna when you read my story? I would love to hear what you think!