Chapter 1 - Loony Lovegood

A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic! :D I had this lying around for several months before my friend, and also beta, read it. She convinced me to upload it so here it is. I have four chapters done so far for this fic and I had intended to do more but I kind of lost my motivation to do so. But it closes pretty well on its own by the fourth chapter, so... I'll see how it goes. Without much further ado...

Draco stepped out of the Hogwarts express, his expression set deeply in a frown. He glanced around him, as students hurried past him, chattering excitedly about the new school year. He brushed his platinum blonde hair aside, having forgotten to slick it back earlier.

He picked up his belongings as he headed for one of those carriages that transported the students to the school building. Noting that Pansy and Goyle had completely changed their attitudes towards him, Draco had finally come to terms with that truth that he was going to spend his last year in Hogwarts in solitude.

A couple of students brushed past him. He turned around to shout out a warning, or perhaps scare the wits out of the First Years. His eyes widened before he thought to close his slackened jaw.

"Potter," Draco acknowledged the man before him, trying not to spit the name contemptibly out of habit.

Potter regarded him for a bit, as did his ever-present pals Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He nodded slowly and spoke, "Good day, Malfoy."

The Golden Trio joined Ginny Weasley on one of the carriages before it started off towards the castle. Then, Draco noticed something dark that came before his intended carriage. His gaze fell upon a horse. He quickly took a few steps back.

It was no ordinary horse. It had dark but translucent skin stretched over its skeletal frame. The horse turned to look at him curiously. Its face seemed to belong to that of a dragon. Its eyes were glittering, but eerily empty. It spread its leathery wings. Feeling slightly intimidated, Draco looked towards the students who were climbing onto the carriage already. They did not seem to notice the horse that was pulling the carriage; in fact they were completely oblivious to its existence.

They glanced at him, wondering if he was going to enter the carriage. He shook his head, motioning for them to go ahead. How was it that I hadn't noticed them for the past few years?

"Hello, Draco," A dreamy voice came from his right. He turned quickly in that particular direction, first registering the cascade of dirty blonde hair, then the wand behind the girl's left ear and her Dirigible plum earrings.

"Loony," He said almost immediately. He clamped his mouth shut hastily, but the girl seemed to have heard it.

"Thestrals," She stated, her grey eyes staring into nowhere in particular.

"… Pardon?" He asked, wondering for a moment if that had been an insult in another language.

"The creatures drawing the carriages. They are called Thestrals," She said as the next carriage came. "Don't be frightened of them. They are quite gentle, really."

"I'm not frightened of them!" Draco said loudly.

Loony glanced at him with her perpetually wide eyes. "Many people would be, actually. They are a bit different from the others…"

Draco watched as she plopped down on one of the seats of the carriage. He climbed onto the carriage as well, warily regarding the Thestral. He watched as she pulled out the latest copy of the Quibbler, reading it upside down. Draco refrained from making a smart comment about that particular peculiar action.

"How are they different?"

Loony peered from over the Quibbler in her hands. "They can only be seen by people who have seen Death."

Draco's eyes widened, staring at the girl who went back to reading the upside down article in silence. He studied the Thestral who was pulling the carriage quietly, glancing at the blonde-haired girl every once in a while.

"You're in my year now," Loony's voice drifted to him. "This year's classes will be exceptionally large."

He let out an involuntary groan. "I can't wait."

She looked at him, appearing unusually surprised. "I thought you would've minded."

"I do," Draco covered his forehead and eyes with his palm. "I meant-"

"Oh," She nodded. "I see."

Draco noted that their journey was coming to an end and then he snapped back to reality. What am I doing? I'm talking to Luna 'Loony' Lovegood!

Loony hopped off the carriage and gave him a small wave, tucking her Quibbler back into her bag. Draco followed suit.

"Come on, Crabbe, Goyle-" He began, before stopping himself.

He stared after the blonde-haired girl who bounced towards the Great Hall, blending in (not really blending in, considering how much she stood out) with the crowd. Merlin, even if it was Loony, it felt better to really have a companion.

xxx

Draco stepped out of his room, having enjoyed the shower and was looking forward to a good meal. The common room was filled with people. A sense of dread filled him as many heads turned towards him.

He cleared his throat and nodded, "Good day."

Some appeared surprised by this, while others knitted their eyebrows together in a disapproving manner. Draco shrugged mentally. It honestly could have gone a lot worse than this. Some of them started filing out of common room, heading straight for the Great Hall. Draco took his time, not wanting to rub shoulders with some of them.

When he finally did reach the Great Hall, he found that his seat had been taken by a lowly Fifth Year. Draco assumed his usual intimidating demeanour as he tapped his shoulder. The Fifth Year ignored him for a bit, before turning around to regard him.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I believe that's my seat," Draco stated clearly.

"Really? I believe it is mine now, Malfoy," The Fifth Year told him dryly.

"How dare y-"

"Go ahead and run home to Mommykins crying, Malfoy. You can't make me."

The rest of the Slytherin table had turned to look at the commotion Draco had caused. He felt his ears burn as he gathered whatever was left of his bruised dignity and headed for the lower end of the table, with the First Years.

He settled himself down, the yet-to-be influenced First Years treating him indifferently. Thinking through, Draco would not have given a second thought about his stolen seat as long as he could have a nice quiet breakfast by himself.

"Hello, Draco," A dreamy voice practically floated by him.

He suddenly found his Cheeri Owls much more interesting than he did a minute ago. He kept his head down as the First Years shifted away quickly so that the table's newest addition sat across him.

"Draco?" The voice repeated herself, eliciting a nudge from the First Year sitting next to Draco.

Unable to keep the pretense, he looked up. "Loo- Lovegood."

She continued to consume her cereal before him. Draco glanced to his right, feeling his ears heat up as he caught the questioning stares of his peers. The sense of urgency rose in him as he turned quickly to the dirty blonde girl.

"What are you doing here, Lovegood?" He hissed.

"Well," She looked thoughtful. "You seemed lonely."

He was taken aback by her answer. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at his housemates again before waving his hand away. "You thought wrong. Go away, Loony. You don't belong here."

She blinked once, then another time. She stood up quietly, picking up her issue of the Quibbler and her cutlery. It took Draco that long for whatever he had said to sink in. Hastily, he opened his mouth but was silenced by the girl herself as she gave him a faraway look and said, "Watch out for the Blibbering Humdingers. They tend to get quite belligerent during mating season."

He stared after her as she drifted away from the Slytherin table. He clenched his knuckles tightly, losing his appetite for breakfast altogether. Son of a Bludger, Draco! You can't even be decent to one person!

His gaze strayed to the Gryffindor table, where he caught sight of the Golden Trio, laughing and making merry. Then, he glanced at the First Years sitting around him. He took a deep breath.

Draco gripped the table tightly before he stood up abruptly, taking the First Year next to him by surprise. Feeling several pairs of eyes on him, he walked out of the hall briskly, taking care not to turn back. He scanned the corridors, thankful that most of the school was still in the Great Hall. He finally spotted the girl, heading off towards the Forbidden Forest.

He swallowed his saliva as he contemplated his options. Was the Blast-ended Skrewt still on the loose there? Also, I have to take those Centaurs into consideration…

"You two-faced bastard!"

How great the mighty has fallen. Who would have thought that I, Draco Malfoy, would be so desperate to make friends with an oddball? He picked up his speed as he followed Loony, hoping not to lose sight of her.

"L-Lovegood!" He called out, grabbing her by the shoulder so she would not advance further.

"Draco?" She said, peering at him curiously.

"Don't mistaken," He started, trying to catch his breath. "When I said, 'you don't belong here.' I meant that you shouldn't be at the Slytherin table. I didn't mean-"

"I understand," She interrupted. "That's why I left."

Draco wanted to continue, but then thought better of it, knowing she had lost interest in the conversation. She travelled deeper into the forest, with Draco following behind. He grew uneasy, remembering the rather unpleasant experiences he had in this forest.

"Lovegood, I don't think we should be here," Draco spoke quietly.

"Perhaps not," She answered coolly.

He caught a glimpse of black, causing worry to engulf him. Centaurs? He watched Loony approach it. He reached for his wand that he kept in his backpocket. He nearly heaved a sigh of relief. It was just a Thestral, not… Something else.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Loony murmured, though Draco could only guess she was directing the statement at him, since her gaze was fixated on the black creature.

Considering that Loony had been here more often on her own than him, it was a good idea to listen to her. However, she was still Loony Lovegood… I've already gone this far. His hand left his wand and he approached the pair warily. Standing near them, he realised that the Thestral was not alone.

She gave him a small smile, lifting his left hand and placing it carefully in between the Thestral's eyes. She unclasped the sling bag she had brought along with her. The smell of raw meat wafted up into his nose. The Thestral motioned quickly towards the bag, having caught its scent. The abrupt action caused Draco to fall, quite ungracefully, to the ground.

Loony paid him no mind, pulling out a piece of meat from her bag and placing it on the ground for the Thestral. A smaller one came skittering by Draco, towards Loony as she held out another piece of meat. Watching as the rest of the Thestral herd slowly gather around the unshrinking girl, Draco found it hard not to admit that he realised that she was intrinsically different.

"What's your first period class?" Draco asked Loony.

"Potions," She answered after a pause, stroking the Thestral gently.

"Merlin," His eyes widening, he picked himself up quickly. "That's mine as well! We are running late, Lovegood!"

She did not respond, prompting him to grab her wrist and tugged her. "It's Seventh Year, Lovegood! We have NEWTs to prepare for!"

xxx

"Ah," Professor Slughorn beamed. "I'm glad you could join us, Draco, Luna."

"G-Good morning, Professor," Draco answered, mentally giving himself a slap in the face. What a way to start afresh, Draco.

"Have a seat," Professor Slughorn said genially, gesturing for the two to take their seats.

Draco found a seat at the back of the class, where he quickly set to work. He ignored the looks he was getting from his housemates, telling himself that they would have found someone else to bother sooner or later. How he knew, was that he had been one of them, just a couple of years ago.

A/N: Alright, so what do you think of the first chapter? :/ Please leave a review! Those, to put it simply, make me very happy. :D