DRACO

I enter the house amidst shouting, broken things and sobbing, and I wordlessly go upstairs like I always do.

It's like I switch personas after school. High school jock, then scared, messed up, silent boy.

I will my dad to shut up like I always do. I will my mom to stop throwing things. I will myself to ignore it.

I try to remember happy memories, and am freaked off that all I can think about is that girl's face.

NEXT WEEK

LUNA

I, instead of being a lonely freak, am a freak with a hot guy. Draco ditched his table amongst stares and mutters as he shifts tables in the school cafè. He still seems to retain his popularity and friend circle. No biggie.

We have set a steady pattern in the last few days. We sit together at lunch, both of us mostly silent. He drops me to my class and sprints off to his own next class. I do find that gesture sweet, since it gets him into trouble quite a lot of times.

I don't say that to him because we've never really had long, meaningful conversations before.Which is why I'm surprised when he asks, 'Have you ever seen someone die?'

If only he knew...

'Yes,'I don't give information that he didn't ask for.

'Somebody precious to you?'

I smile as I check a list mentally. I vaguely tolerated KJ, but he was nowhere near a friend. Or was he?

'No,' I decide.

I don't question him about this conversation. I just say,'You okay?' as cooly as I can. He nods. That day, at lunch- we talk like two friends just having fun. I ask him his favorite song, he asks me my favorite colour.

'Gray, ' I reply.

His brow furrows and he leans in towards me.

'Why? '

I shrug and say, 'It's elegant.' He sees through me, but he doesn't say a word. I have a sudden rush of gratitude for that.

The only reason I like it is because my mum had said, 'The world you see is gray, bitch! ' when she was high.

I remember thinking that I loved my dull, faded world, in which I knew actually existed. I knew what happened the previous day. I remembered my friends. I knew the song of the bird. I knew the notes of the few songs of the piano. Where nothing was a black, blank hole.

I was four then. I've shied away from her screaming ever since. Simply put, some lessons hold deep.

These days, I might actually call Draco my Best friend with a capital B, since Ginny all but ditched me. I tried to talk to Harry; but the boy looked absolutely horrified of me, so I let him be. I don't expect him to talk to me anytime soon

Draco, Ginny, Harry and I have gym together. Up till today, no one bothered Draco and me. Draco never seemed to leave my side now. God knows, how attached to him I'd become. Of course, I still found him hot. But I don't do crushes. I fall hard.

Gym's for coordinated people. I'm not one of them. But to my surprise, neither is Draco. He's strong, but he's not an acrobat. I ask him why and he says that he just can't bother. The gym teacher frowns at him, like, The nerve of some people...

I decide to sit out the game after I get hit on my head for the 38th time. I stare at my feet blankly and tap my feet and swing my braid and twirl the loose ends of my hair with my fingers and get absolutely bored.

I'm alarmed when I catch a flash of fire in my peripheral vision and look up.

The Fire speaks to me, 'Hey, Luna.'

'Hello, Ginny,' I turn to face her.

'Are we friends?' She whispers under her breath.

I never turned away...

'Please?' she murmured.

I never said no...

I took a deep breath.

'Yes. '

I'll never forget.

I smile at her and hand her my water bottle.

But I'll forgive.

'Help me,' she blinks her big, shining eyes.

I nod. And I give her a hug.

'What's the problem, honey?' I hold her hands, 'We'll solve it.' I try to be reassuring.

Ginny opens her mouth. And closes it. She looks towards the door and Draco walks towards me.

'We'll talk later?' she whispers hopefully.

'Sure thing!' I give her a grin and she responds with a watery smile of her own. I watch the flames of her hair as the die out and slowly go out of sight.

Draco slumps next to me and plucks the bottle Ginny gave to me out of my hands and takes a long gulp. He stretches, and gives me a smile more like a grimace.

'What was she talking to you for? '

I shrug.

'Some trouble?'

I shrug.

'Oh, girl trouble,'

I shrug. I'm not at a liability to tell stuff. Not that I knew anything.

'You gonna tell me?'

Oh, Christ, now he's getting curious.

I mock scowl at him, 'She was going to, before you interrupted us.'

'Yeah, right. She was gone before I even came near!'

I like this side of Draco. The Light side.

'You so did! She was just gonna spill!'

'Well, would you have told me then?' He smiled easily.

'Nah, ' I playfully punched his arm.

He scowled at me and began tickling me. Tickling. No one has tickled me in years. It's more fun and more torturous than I remembered. I gasp and tears stream from my eyes, while I laugh till my belly aches. The sunlight streams through the window, soft, golden and muted. The kind of sunshine that was worth living for. The kind that made souls bloom. It genuinely made us feel like there's no one knows the room but us.

That's when, of course, someone comes up to us.

We look up and see a shining batch stating Prefect . Harry Potter .

He gives me an ugly scowl and narrows his eyes at Draco's hand resting at my side.

He gives a cruel smirk, 'Got yourself a new whore, Malfoy? How much did she charge you? 20 bucks a night? Maybe she's an escort? A sugar baby? A stripper? A cutter? A bitch. ' He speaks the last word with venom and real hate in his eyes.There's no question in his tone now. Then he unabashedly checks me out.

Draco sits deadly silent during his entire rant. He gets up a slowly. A flash lights up the room and suddenly Ginny's beside Harry.

I can barely process what's going on when Draco lunges at Harry. Turns out, I was wrong about Draco's grace. He looks like an arrow flying straight for the target. Unfortunately for Harry, he's the target. I can barely catch Draco in time. I push him back.

'Not worth it, Draco.' I whisper, my mouth almost touching his ear. 'Breathe with me, ' I tell him. With our foreheads touching, we close our eyes and exist. I can feel his hot breath on my ear. His shoulders heave as he struggles for control. I breathe with him. I breathe for him. I put a hand on his heartheart and feel the thudding get slower, softer.

I turn back towards the two against us. Ginny covers her mouth and looks ready to cry. Harry simply looks smug. That's the last straw.

I take a deep breath, turn around and apologize to all the gods for what I'm going to do. Which is bad, since I am almost an atheist.

I whirl back around and slam Harry into the wall.

No mercy.

'You're so much shorter than Draco and I that it's actually funny.' I spit back the venom in his face. 'Pick someone your own size next time, punk. You'll get screwed anyway, though. How the hell do you even keep such a pretty girl is beyond me.' I take a deep breath. 'You. Will. Never. Call. Me. A. Whore. Again.'

He spits at me and misses by an inch. Draco comes forward, but I wave him back.

'You don't turn my girlfriend against me, then.'

My inner bitch is now on a roll. I smile sardonically, 'That won't be a problem. She'll turn against you pretty soon by herself.'

Then I kick him in the balls. He screams. Ginny screams. He limps out of the room. Draco looks satisfied, if not happy.

I turn to Draco.

Proud.So proud.Welcome for the extra long chapter. I love my gals.Regards,Kuku