Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry forum's Femslash February challenge, their 365 prompts challenge, and their Insane House Challenge.

Femslash February prompt: Millicent/Luna

365 Prompts prompt: 13. Taking down Christmas decorations

Insane House prompt: 3. Spell- Incarcerous

Word count: 1,630

Warning: This has one (censored) derogatory slur for people with mental disabilities. This is not meant to offend anyone in any way, this is only to convey the cruelty of much of the middle- and high-school aged population. Though now, many people are much more considerate, some children can be quite ignorant and cruel. Again, this is not meant to offend anyone.

Though she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone (not that she had anyone to admit it to), Millicent was thrilled to be back at school. All that was waiting for her at home was her stone-cold father and mother and equally as distant sisters. They only cared about who they'd entertain next and how that would affect the family's "image". While her siblings were charming and graceful and flirty with strangers, the mood inside of the Bulstrode house was akin to a prison, but, as her mother said, no one needed to know that. Little did her parents know Millicent could care less about image. She was quiet, surly to anyone who deserved it, and kept to herself. She intimidated anyone she didn't want to be in the presence of (which was quite a lot of people), and that kept her surrounded by the only people she did like– no one. Which was why she was surprised when she found she could tell herself she didn't… dislike the idea of seeing her again.

Her being Luna Lovegood.

The first time Millicent had found her was after Christmas. The shorter girl had been busy taking down Christmas decorations. Without shoes. In the dungeons. Not usual behavior, but then again this was Luna Lovegood.

Normally, Millicent wouldn't make an effort to talk to anyone engaging in such odd practices, but, as usual, Luna had her own plans.

"Hello!" she'd called out, in a light, airy voice. "How are you today?"

Inwardly, Millicent balked. Who would ever say that to her, Millicent Bulstrode? Why would someone ever say that to her?

But, for some unknown reason, Millicent had looked back at her and said, "I'm alright."

"You look like you could do with some Christmas spirit," she'd had the audacity to reply. Millicent whirled and for the first time, she noticed Luna's eyes were a striking, electric blue. "Unfortunately, I'm just taking down the decorations now."

"Why do that when House Elves are here?"

"They like to leave them up a while longer for the cheery atmosphere, but I find that Professor Snape doesn't enjoy them a bit, especially not in his dungeons. He becomes less friendly this time of year, anyway."

Again, Millicent balked. As if Snape could ever be friendly any time of the year. "So, you're doing this… to be nice to … Snape?"

"Mhm," she answered brightly, and looked up. Again, Millicent saw clear, vibrant blue staring down at her kindly. "Would you like to join me? You look like you don't much care for Christmas decorations either."

Like she didn't care for– Had this girl ever seen her before? "No, I suppose I don't care for Christmas decorations."

"So, I'll take that as a yes, then." And the girl reached out and took her hand and pulled her towards the ladder.

Luna climbed the ladder with agile skill and began taking down paper chains, but Millicent stood still, staring at her hand, dumbfounded.

"Aren't you going to help?" she'd called.

Millicent shook her head as if to clear it. "You… grabbed my hand." Why was Millicent acting so weird about this?

"Well, you didn't look like you were going to come over here yourself. You're quite surly, didn't you know?"

She huffed. "I'm aware." And, for another unknown reason, Millicent had held out her hand and put the chains in a box and worked with Luna, chatting almost happily for almost a whole hour. It must have been the eyes.

And now, her jaw set and her eyes hard as usual to ward people away, Millicent was walking down the hallway briskly to meet Luna– for the fourth time. Her sweet personality and unwavering cheerfulness had broken through Millicent's hard exterior. The thick layer of uncaring, brutal melancholy would successfully make sane people keep their distance, but Luna hadn't ever given a sign that she'd found Millicent anything less than pleasant. And not many people would ever think to call Millicent Bulstrode pleasant.

Luna also had an odd physical effect on her. Millicent had actually smiled once. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened out of genuine joy, rather than watching a first year fall over in the hallway. Whenever they were together, Millicent could feel her heart speed up, her palms become sweaty, and her breath short. She had begun to watch what she did, how she acted, what she said, and it had slowly dawned upon her that it was important what Luna thought of her. Yes, the blonde's opinion mattered quite a lot to Millicent. How was this possible? Millicent prided herself on not caring what anyone thought of her at any time; worrying about that sort of thing only led to insecurity and unhappiness, and prevented you from doing things you wanted to do. Luna's effect on Millicent was inexplicable. If she talked to any of her acquaintances (for Millicent didn't not have "friends"), they'd tell her to quit hanging around Luna. But something about her made Millicent drawn to her, and she felt that if she'd have to stop seeing the blonde, she might go mad. Was this normal? Perhaps she was already mad.

All of this raging around her head, it took Millicent longer than usual to realize she'd arrived at her destination, and, more importantly, Luna wasn't there. For some reason, this made Millicent very nervous.

Millicent wandered the halls anxiously, her wand gripped in her hand. And then she heard voices.

"Well, look who it is!"

"Loony Lovegood!"

"Off to boil some plimpies, Loony?"

"Going on a hunt for a crumple-horned snorkack, maybe? Because they definitely exist."

"You might not believe, but that just goes to show how you think," Luna's cool voice cut through the sneers and Millicent's pulse quickened.

"And how's that?"

"That you're just too narrow-minded to see anything unless it's shoved in front of your face."

There was a pause. "What'd you say to me, you r*****?"

"Apparently your ears are as bad as your brain. Do you have a lot of wrackspurts around?"

"Incarcerous!"

"Oppugno!"

There was a clatter, a crash, and then screams and laughter. Millicent raced toward the scene, wand out. She found herself in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. About five girls stood around the grimy, circular sink, laughing and pointing at a scene Millicent couldn't see. She shoved her way to the front. Luna was shrieking, trying to fend off an onslaught of books, remembralls, and various other things from the girls' bags as they attacked her. Luna's wand was drawn and she was slashing it through the air crazily, but it didn't do any good.

Millicent roared and spun. The girls smirked; she was badly outnumbered. But Millicent wasn't a Slytherin for nothing, and she was faster than she looked. Casting a nonverbal shield charm around herself, Millicent neatly stupefied the five as they stared at the spells that merely bounced off of the Slytherin. She cast finite incantatem and the objects attacking Luna fell lifelessly to the floor. The bonds of the girls' binding charm disappeared.

Millicent bent down to check that the girls were really knocked out. She caught sight of the House crests on their robes and noted that all but one of them belonged to Ravenclaw. She hadn't expected any to be in Slytherin; the snakes stuck together and an attack on one was a mistake too stupid for any of her housemates to make, for revenge would be too easy. But these girls had went after one of their own– Millicent made a note to be wary of Ravenclaws in the future.

Finally, Millicent turned to Luna. The girl's hair was a mess, the strands hanging haphazardly out of her usual neat bun. She was dirty and sweaty and her body was covered in scratches and bruises from the books' barrage. The normally dreamy expression was replaced with a dejected, defeated one and she breathed heavily.

"Are you alright?" Millicent asked quietly.

Luna looked up with a start. "Oh, I'm okay. You know, they're just…" She flapped her hand as if it explained her attackers' behavior.

"They're just what?"

"That's just what they like to do, it happens sometimes, it's no big deal…"

"'It happens sometimes'? You mean this has happened before?"

"Yeah, you know what people think of me," Luna said lowly, not making eye contact. "They think I'm…"

"Crazy." Millicent cringed the moment she said it.

"Yeah." She gave a shuddering sigh. "I guess you think that too, huh? Loony Lovegood and all?"

Millicent's chest ached. "No, I don't. I… quite like you, in fact. I don't have a lot of… friends."

"Me neither," Luna said excitedly, a bit of her old optimism creeping into her voice. She looked up hopefully, and Millicent saw that her big blue eyes were swimming with tears. "Do you think we could be…"

"Friends? Sure."

Luna laughed and wiped her eyes. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Millicent reached out her hand and pulled Luna up. "And I'll make sure those girls never bother you ever again."

"You'd do that for me?"

Millicent looked down and felt her cheeks grow red. "'Course."

She glanced up to see Luna with a huge grin on her face. "Thank you." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Millicent softly. Her lips were soft and warm and tasted of… honey?

Luna pulled away and looked down at the floor as well, rocking back and forth on her feet. "Sorry. I don't know why I did that."

"It's alright. I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Not at all."

Luna smiled again, and a ball of warmth unfurled in Millicent's stomach. They stood next to each other in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom of all places, before Luna asked shyly, "Will you walk me back to my common room?"

Millicent smiled. "I'd like that."