The Nargles Know

They boarded the train as usual but something was different. Cho, Luna, Neville and Ginny piled into a carriage together but it just wasn't the same without Harry, Ron and Hermione. After a while the compartment door was opened and Draco, Crabbe and Goyle stood there.

"Budge up Lovegood," Draco snapped at Luna.

"Why should I?" Luna asked, "The nargles need their space!"

"Oh I don't care about the stupid nargles! Just move!" Draco snarled at Luna, pushing her out of the way so that he could sit down.

"You could just go and find your own compartment Malfoy!" Ginny said grumpily to him.

"Whatever Weasel," Draco snapped, slamming the door shut behind Goyle who had forgotten to close it when he had shoved Neville off his seat. Crabbe had squeezed himself between Cho and Ginny and Neville was now sitting on the floor. Draco was next to Luna and refusing to let Neville sit near him.

"Get off me!" Draco said, pushing Neville back to the ground. "If we have to sit in here together you could at least have the decency to give your seat up for a Prefect!"

"Prefect?" Ginny asked, looking stunned. "You? A Prefect? Who the hell made you Prefect?"

"The Headmaster actually!" Draco replied smugly.

"And who would that be?" Ginny asked, "Your dad?"

"No actually. Severus Snape is the Headmaster now so there goes your good-for-nothing do-gooder McGonagall!" he said, laughing.

"You could never be a good Prefect and he could never be a good Headmaster!" Cho shouted, glaring at the way Draco had insulted McGonagall.

"I think you'd be a good Prefect actually…" Luna said, looking as though she was in a dream world again as she often was.

"WHAT?!" everyone exclaimed together, a look of utter confusion on all their faces.

"I said Draco would make a good Prefect… He seems able to scare the first years anyway…" Luna said, looking at Draco and smiling.

Draco almost fell off his seat in shock that he had just received some sort of compliment from the nargle-loving peacemaker.

"Don't look so surprised Draco. I was merely agreeing with you," Luna said, smiling again and helping him to stay on the chair.

"I always knew you were crazy!" Draco cried, pulling away from Luna. "You're your seat back. Crabbe, Goyle, we're leaving!" Draco said, standing up and leaving the compartment, closely followed by his two companions.

"Luna, have you gone mad?" Cho asked, looking astonished by what she had just said.

"No, I just think he would be a good Prefect. The nargles think so too," she added.

Ginny, Neville and Cho all looked at each other and shrugged, guessing that she had just gone slightly crazier than she had already been.

Meanwhile, Draco was still trying to recover from the shock of being treated nicely by her. He had always secretly liked her but never imagined she would like him back. He decided to try to talk to her once they arrived at Hogwarts. After all, he had to know whether she had meant what she had said.

They arrived at Hogsmeade Station and everyone clambered off the train and onto the platform. Luna managed to get herself separated from the rest of her friends by going back for her nargles and Draco told Crabbe and Goyle to go ahead as he needed to talk to someone.

He then waited for Luna to get back off the train and walked over to her. "Luna… Did you mean what you said earlier?"

"About what?" she asked, dreamily staring at him.

He looked away, unable to concentrate with her eyes looking at him. "Do you really think I'd be a good Prefect?"

She nodded vigorously, "Yes, of course! Even the nargles agree!" she said enthusiastically.

"Do you seriously have nargles on you?" he asked, wondering whether she was actually telling the truth about them.

She opened her handbag and, sure enough, there was several nargles hiding in it. "Would you like to hold one?" she asked.

"Er… No thanks…" he said, knowing that nargles could bite quite hard if they didn't like you.

"They wont bite," she said, as if she had read his mind, "They like you!"

Draco wondered how she could actually tell that they liked him when she got one out of the bag and passed it to him and he had no choice but to hold it. He smiled when he realised it wasn't actually going to hurt him and it was just going to sleep in the palm of his hand. "How old are they?" he asked.

"Not too old. Only a few weeks I think," she said, smiling at Draco. "You're going to be a great Prefect!" she smiled again.

"How do you know?" he asked, looking slightly unsure whether he would be a good Prefect.

"Because nargles will only stay like that," she indicated the sleeping nargle in his hand "if they trust the person they're with and know they're not going to hurt them."

"How is that relevant"? Draco asked, looking more confused than anything else.

"Because if they trust you then the students will as well!" Luna exclaimed, smiling brightly at Draco.

He couldn't resist a small smile at her. After all, he couldn't stop thinking about her most of the time and now he was walking with her she was just the way he had always imagined her to be; slightly crazy but in the end making perfect sense.

Luna smiled at him and he couldn't help smiling back. "You seem happy today," Luna said, smiling again.

Draco laughed "Its because I'm talking to you," he admitted, blushing slightly.

"Oh…" Luna said, suddenly understanding and smiling again.

Draco nodded and also smiled. "So… erm… Will you go out with me?" Draco asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

"Of course!" Luna replied and Draco smiled. They both knew they would have to keep quiet about their relationship though because if the rest of the school found out Luna would be seen as a bad person and Draco would lose his reputation.

After that day, they would meet in secret and spend time together without anyone else knowing.

HeadmH