As the echoes of footsteps reverberated back and forth into the walls of the castle corridor, Luna raced after figure with a flowing head of flaming red hair.
"Ginny!" the blonde girl called.
The redhead whipped around and immediately perkily greeted, "Hi, Luna!"
"Have you seen Draco Malfoy by any chance?" the dreamy girl asked curiously.
"For some reason, I think I saw him walking towards the girl's lavatory," Ginny replied with a puzzled expression. "Why?"
Luna shook her head, her dirty blonde waves dancing about. "It's not important. Thank you, though!" she called with a smile as she walked towards the girl's bathroom. Humming a cheery little song as she walked, Luna finally reached the door of the abandoned second-floor bathroom and pushed it open, completely unprepared for what she would find.
As she stepped into the almost colorless stone bathroom, she cooingly called, "Draco?" While her call echoed against the cold walls of the lavatory, another sound filled her ears. It sounded almost like sniffling.
As her eyebrows raised in confusion, she walked around the circle of sinks to find an image that she would never forget. "Draco," Luna whispered in concern, crouching to her knees. The pale, blonde boy was sitting on the ground, holding his knees as tears rained from his grey eyes.
Luna thought about asking what was wrong, but instead she decided to simply reach her soft hands up and wipe off his tear-stained cheeks. She then gently invited him into a tender embrace. As the blonde boy dug his weeping eyes into her shoulder, Luna simply stroked his light hair and cradled him there in silence.
After what seemed like hours, Draco slowly lifted himself from Luna's grasp and whispered, "I can't do this anymore."
"You don't have to," she replied quietly.
"You don't understand!" Draco shouted heatedly, leaping from the ground and running his hands repeatedly through his hair.
"Then help me to understand," Luna pleaded as she sat on the stone ground.
"I can't!" Draco retorted angrily, tugging at his hair and pacing as fresh, hot tears began to roll down his face.
"Why not?" she asked a bit loudly, confused at Draco's suddenly rash behavior.
"I just can't, Luna!" he shouted in response.
As she began to feel rather upset, Luna stood up from the ground and began, "I just don't understand why you can't just—"
"Exactly, Luna! You don't understand!" Draco cried. "Just…just go!" As confusion spread across her youthful face, the boy stressfully continued, "You heard me! Go! Leave!"
Her mouth opening just barely, Luna slowly began to walk to the door, keeping her eyes on Draco. As he shouted, tears filled her eyes until finally she sprinted to the door, out of the bathroom, and down the hall.
As soon as her saw her pass through the door, Draco dropped to the ground, ripping out his hair and immediately regretting everything he had just said.
Ignoring anyone she passed, a weeping Luna shot through the castle, out the door, and through the grass until she reached a particularly thick tree near the side of the Black Lake. She, like Draco, hugged her knees to her chest as she wept.
As she wept, she heard a someone nearby. Whoever it happened to be was whistling something merry.
"We're almost done here, Tinsel!" the cheery voice of a young man explained as Luna heard the sound of a branch snapping. With that single comment, the whistling continued, as did the sound of someone somewhere moving around. Until all at once, the whistling and movement stopped.
Luna curiously looked around, ignoring her red, tear-stained eyes.
"Are you crying?" the voice suddenly asked, coming from above the young girl.
She immediately whipped her head up to see a curious boy crouching on a rather high tree branch like a monkey. He had a wild mess of mousey brown hair that could rival even that of Harry Potter's. "Who are you?" Luna asked curiously, ignoring his question completely.
"Rolf Scamender, Sixth Year Hufflepuff," the boy answered. "And yourself?"
"Luna Lovegood," she answered, attempting to wipe some of the tears from her eyes as she watched the boy skillfully leap from branch to branch until he sailed to the ground, landing gently beside her. "Fifth Year Ravenclaw."
"I've heard of you. I've seen you around the castle before," Rolf admitted as he took a comfortable seat beside her and stared into her grey eyes.
As Luna returned the favor, she found that his crazy mess of hair concealed a pair of amazing blue eyes that shined just like the afternoon sky.
"So I did see tears," Rolf observed out loud. "But why? Who would make you cry?" After a short moment of silence, the boy spoke up, "Was it a boy?"
"Hmm?" Luna asked, distracted with her own thoughts.
"Was it a boy who made you cry?"
At this question, Luna simply shrugged, not especially wanting to share all her feelings with a total stranger.
"It was, wasn't it?" Rolf assessed. "But why on earth would a boy make you cry? Any boy would be more than lucky to have you."
Luna laughed through her tears. "How can you know that if you don't know me?"
Rolf answered simply, "I know enough. From what I've heard and seen, you're brilliant, you're witty, you're sweet, you're almost impossibly adorable," the boy listed, "you're beautiful, and most importantly, you deserve better than a boy who would make you cry."
Luna slowly lifted her head and focused on Rolf's round, animated face in disbelief at his unrelenting kindness.
As the two stared at each other in silence, Rolf slowly began to lean forward, his heart and mind telling him this was the right thing to do.
Luna noticed Rolf leaning forward to kiss her and, for a moment she noticed herself leaning towards him. Her heart shouted for her to let him kiss her, but her mind nagged her about her current relationship.
Though the blonde girl found herself with conflicting emotions, as soon as Rolf's lips neared hers, she turned away, causing him to simply plant a soft kiss on her teary cheek. As a Ravenclaw, she couldn't simply ignore her mind. "I…I have to go." As she suddenly stood up to leave, Rolf called, "It was nice meeting you, Luna Lovegood, Fifth Year Ravenclaw.
"The pleasure was all mine," Luna dismissed as she turned around and marched to the castle. As she walked, however, she noticed two things: One, her tears had stopped completely. And two, she couldn't keep a huge smile off her now-blushing face.
