She managed to avoid Luna for the next few days. Most of her free time was spend brooding with Draco in the Slytherin common room. He didn't talk much these days, but Pansy could tell that he didn't like to be alone. She didn't either, really. It was easier to fight away the demons with someone by your side for some reason. They studied together in a comfortable silence, occasionally cutting it with a remark or a question. Draco seemed bent on studying defense against the dark arts, now, devouring all of his books and homework on the subject with a fervor that usually only Hermione Granger could manage. Pansy wasn't required to take DADA this year, and was all too happy to give up the subject. But Slughorn was keeping them busy with potions and advanced theory of brewing, and herbology included rotations of caring for some of the more delicate plants, so her thoughts were pleasantly distracted by an ungodly amount of work.

Today, though, she had herbology lecture again, and she'd be face to face with Luna. She wasn't sure how to handle the girl anymore. Afterall, Luna had come on to her, but pulled away before. She probably wasn't actually interested in Pansy. Probably just moon madness, which would affect a crazy Luna more than anyone else. I'll be polite if she speaks to me, but I won't speak to her first, she decided. That seemed the path of least resistance. She stood outside of the greenhouse for a few more minutes anyways, to soak up the sunshine and gather her nerve. Lovegood shouldn't have the power to make her this nervous.

She stepped into the greenhouse, a few minutes late as she had planned, and took a seat in the back. Professor Sprout was mumbling on about proper care of devil's snare, and the precautions one should take when dealing with such a delicate endangered plant. She was glaring pointedly at Pansy as she spoke. Pansy couldn't help but blush a little. Her impulsive actions had caused quite the scene, not that a plant as dangerous of devil's snare could actually be in any danger from a shear-wielding 18 year old. Sprout was apparently adding care of the specimen in the woods to the 7th and 8th year rotation duties. Under her direct, constant supervision so that no more accidents could occur. She moved on to discussing the magical properties of the moonflower and Pansy's eyes glazed over. She did not catch enough sleep last night to focus on a lesson as dull as Binns'. Instead, she felt herself focusing on the back of Luna Lovegood's head. The sunlight shining into the greenhouse seemed to find sections of her hair that would be perfect for reflecting off. Her hair shimmered and glowed, as if it were underwater. It was mesmerizing. Pansy was hypnotized by the patterns of the light, which were changing constantly.

Before she knew it, her classmates were packing up their things, and she snapped to attention at the noises of chairs being pulled back and students racing for the exit. They were heading back towards the castle, though, not the forest, so Pansy assumed class had only consisted of a lecture today. Lucky for her, as she had only heard about the first ten minutes. Luna caught up to her, of course. She walked faster towards the castle, not looking at the blonde girl bouncing beside her.

"I think it's quite unfair that Professor Sprout wants us to spend at least 10 hours a week tending our assigned plants, don't you think? At least you were assigned to the tentacula. That should be nice," Luna babbled. So she had been assigned to the venomous tentacula. That was interesting information that she had missed in class. Luna was right; that would be nice. Tentaculas were relatively easy to care for. Sprout was probably worried about her more difficult plants being sheared at. Pansy felt a small rush of shame at the memory. Her heart was already racing being this close to Luna, who of course was acting like everything was normal and she hadn't rejected Pansy a few nights ago.

"I'm sure we will all be able to manage," Pansy replied stiffly. Then she sighed. It wasn't Luna's fault that she had stopped the progression of things. Maybe Pansy was a lousy snogger. Maybe Luna had realized that the daughter of a death eater and a blood traitor would never work out together. That seemed far more likely than the moon affecting their snogging.

She continued more politely, "What plant were you assigned to?"
"The Devil's Snare, of course," Luna said. "My evenings are going to be taken up for months. Which is good, I suppose. Being outside keeps the nargles at bay most of the time."

"I see," Pansy said, pursing her lips. Every time she started to like the girl, Lovegood said something that was a blatant reminder of her dottiness. Two years ago Pansy would never have talked to someone as mad as her. She would have laughed at her talk of nargles with Draco and Crabbe and Goyle, and hexed the girl behind her back for daring to be so different. But now, now she almost found Luna's oddities endearing. And she hated herself for that. She faced forwards towards the castle again, determined not to look at the Ravenclaw again.

"You know the moon is waning now, Pansy," Luna said with a small smile. "We could always pick things up where we left them."

Pansy's heart skipped a beat again. Stupid, strange, loopy Luna Lovegood had actually stopped kissing her because of the moon being full. Pansy wasn't necessarily a bad snogger, and Luna must not care about the differences in their statuses. For a moment, she was gripped by an incredible joy. Then she remembered she had promised herself that she would stop following this dangerous path with Luna and her spirits fell again.

"I think that would be unwise," she said slowly.

"Well, really everything is unwise," Luna returned, unbothered, "It's unwise to live because you will eventually die. And the sooner you die the shorter the pain for those who know you exists. It is unwise to light a fire, because it will destroy the wood. It's unwise to love someone because they could break your heart. Yet people manage to do those things every day. It may be unwise for us to go to the room of requirements and have sex, but it's what both of us want."

Pansy considered this. She wasn't sure what the room of requirements was, or if it was even real knowing Luna. But the rest made a sort of sense. And from her comments today it seemed like Luna might only be interested in fucking. She could do just fucking; she had done it before. Pansy was momentarily sad at the thought of that being all she had with Luna. And was surprised at her reaction. After all, she had lusted after Luna since the term began. She desperately wanted to get in her robes. And she shouldn't have feelings for the girl. She DIDN'T have feelings for the girl. That would be far too emotional and stupid for Pansy to have done.

Luna reached over and took her hand, stroking it softly with her thumb. Pansy felt a familiar flush of warmth and she felt blood rushing away from her brain rapidly. She knew that she didn't have much of a choice now as far as fucking Luna went. And somehow that was a relief, to have her body decide for her. She let Luna lead her up a few flights of stairs, until they were standing before an open expanse of wall. Luna released her and started pacing. Pansy stared at her, curiously. Her mind was slightly fogged by anticipation, and she felt goosebumps rise to her arms at the thought of what was to come. Suddenly, a door appeared in the wall. Luna grabbed her hand again, that vacant smile on her face. Pansy felt herself being led into the room as if in a dream and saw a large bed in the middle of the room.

"See? The moon brings luck to those who wait after all."