It was a warm, but cloudy day at the Hogwarts School of Magic. Classes had been dismissed early so students could enjoy the warm weather, and they huddled in their groups and cliques; some lying on the low stone walls, talking, some sitting on the grass casting humorous spells on each other, making their voices turn into animal sounds and their hair different colors.

And, there were of course, the few people who did not assimilate very well into a crowd. Or with people in general. They prefered to sit on the great oak trees and watch the sunlight soak through the thin gaps between the leaves, become lost in their thoughts, or perhaps read a book and daydream.

Luna Lovegood was doing a medley of all of those things, and remained quiet when Draco Malfoy stormed up to the tree she was perched upon, threw a rock at a bird, and cried.

He sobbed out uncomprehendable words with his face hidden in his hands, "Father, Father, Father! I'm sorry! I'm so... so... sorry..."

Luna raised her eyebrows as she watched the scene unfold. Draco suddenly got up, pulled out his wand, and started to use a cutting spell to slash at the tree. A poor, poor, helpless tree, in Luna's opinion.

He blindly cut wherever his hand willed it to, tears squeezing out of his eyes. It scraped the branched she sat on, and Luna squealed and held onto a branch above, lifting her legs up. Draco collapsed on the ground below, utterly drained from his outburst.

She then speculated that it might be best to go down now, considering the fact that her legs almost had same fate as the tree. Slowly, she inched her way to land, and was ten feet above ground when the branch she stood on snapped.

Down she went, the twigs twisting and scratching her as she fell to the soft grass.

Right on top of Draco Malfoy.

He gasped with surprise as her body lightly tumbled on top of his, while she calmly apologized:

"Oh my, what a fall, good you were here to lessen the crash", she said with geniune gratefulness (and absentmindedly forgeting to get off him), "I am so sorry you had to be a- erm- feather mattress in this certain situation. But are you quite alright?"

Draco's face was red. Not just from the meltdown of tears he had unknowingly shown Luna, but from the suprise of Luna's cool fingers plucking and brushing off the leaves and twigs all over his face and neck and hair as she murmurmed amends. She smelled like lilac. It wasn't unpleasant for him; he actually found it soothing. And for a second, a tiny, little, fraction of a second, he wanted to close his eyes and let the chills that her mild touch and smell gave him wash over him completely.

But, instead, he shoved her away, and stumbled backward, starting to hurl insults and outrage towards her.

"LOONEY! LOONEY! YOU WORTHLESS, CRAZY, CRAZY, MAD SPYING LITTLE GIT! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! I'LL MAKE YOU ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY MISERABLE! WHY, WHY, MY FATHER WILL-"

And suddenly he stopped, his eyes wide with uncertainty. He breathed hard, his chest quickly moving up and down.

Luna, of course, was taken aback by all the hurtful things he had just said to her, (given the fact that she had apologized and asked if he was alright) and was about to walk away. But she saw the fear, the shame, the grief in Draco's eyes, his shaking hands and hearing his voice quiver. So she stepped towards him cautiously, and as she would do with a wounded animal in pain, she slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

And gently hugged him.

He froze, and the joints in his body stiffened. Every part of him told him to tear away from her, to hit her, to yell and humiliate her.

But there was also a part of him that screamed the exact opposite.

She didnt let go for a while. He let her hold him, but he didn't hug her back. He coughed awkwardkly, and she let go. He looked into her pale, calming eyes, and then looked away. He could feel her stare cut into him.

She sighed, and plucked a single leaf out of his white- blond hair.

"You really are pathetic you know." She said.

And she strolled slowly away, book in hand, her long, blond, wavy hair swishing side to side.

He stood there wishing there was something he could say.