Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters. Lots of thanks to my wonderful BETA, Ember Nickel. Hey, I spun out a chapter that's longer than usual (although only by a couple hundred words).

Chapter 26

His breathing became deep and shallow. He needed to find Luna. He wasn't quite sure why, but the second he set foot into Hogwarts he needed to see her. Too bad Cho Chang was blocking his way, "Move it."

"Ask nicer," she yelled right back. Normally she wasn't the kind of girl to yell or get angry (although she did get extremely emotional, just not necessarily angry), she had this weird hatred of this boy. He seemed to think that he was better than everyone else and that ticked her right off.

Instead or replying, he literally bowled her over, making her yell, and headed towards the school. That's right, Draco Malfoy was on a rampage for reasons he couldn't quite begin to understand. And he needed to find Luna. There was just something in him that needed to make sure that she was there and that she was safe.

He had never felt anything like this. But he couldn't act any differently in front of his friends. She wasn't exactly the type of girl that someone would show off. But that was fine with him. He was perfectly content with how things were except for when he couldn't see her without making fun of her. His friends made fun of her, they followed his lead from previous years, and he found himself growing angry for his own stupidity. If he hadn't made fun of her, then he could parade her around like a goddess now. Life just wasn't fair to him.

Then there was that stupid Cho Chang. She kept getting in the way of anything he might have with Luna. She was like this strange bug that kept buzzing in his ear. A really cute bug, but a bug nonetheless. They always argued. It didn't matter what the subject, it was like they couldn't talk about it even under pain of death. Not that he cared. It wasn't like he liked her. She was just some stupid Ravenclaw. Dating a stupid guy named Roger. Who really dated a guy named Roger anyway? It sounded so muggle-ish. The girl was definitely stupid and below his station. That was his conclusion of her.

"Hey, what's up?" Blaise Zambini. Not a guy that Malfoy hated, but a guy that sometimes got on his nerves. The guy just never did what anyone else said. It could be quite annoying.

Malfoy shrugged, not really wanting to talk to a guy who had publicly opposed him on so many occasions. But Blaise wasn't a guy for hints, or at least that's how he wanted it to seem. He never suspected that Draco saw through his clever disguise as a dimwitted Slytherin. No, this boy was smart. And with acknowledging his greeting, Draco knew that he would be opening up a can of worms. Blaise knew things that Malfoy would never even dare to guess. Someone that smart could only be an enemy.

"How was your holiday?"

"The same as always." He hoped that his cold look and brief answer would give the boy a hint, but it didn't. There was a few seconds of silence before Malfoy finally growled, "What do you want, Blaise? You aren't exactly the loyal friend to me that you would like people to believe. You never talk to me unless you have a biting comment behind it."

Blaise smirked, "You're not as dumb as you look, Malfoy."

"Just get on with it."

"Have you seen Lovegood around? I would dearly love to speak with her. I mean, I feel that we must have so much in common. I mean, what with me being a Slytherin and her dating one."

Draco flushed but retained his ability to glare, "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you." It wasn't an idle threat. He had the power to do it.

But Blaise just stood there and laughed silently. "Don't worry, Draco, we're buddies, aren't we?" At the look on Draco's face, Blaise's smirk grew bigger. "But, I must say that I love this sense of… power that I have in knowing something that you don't want anybody else to know."

Malfoy regained his composure and smirked in return, "No one would believe you."

"No," Blaise agreed, "But, what if I were to say that a Gryffindor had a very useful camera. One that could take pictures of the wizarding world? And what if I were to say that I have said camera?"

"What do you want?"

Stopping for a second, Blaise looked shocked, as if he didn't think that Malfoy would actually give in, "I want to be back with my old group of friends. The ones that you deemed unacceptable. The Ravenclaws. The Hufflepuffs. The Gryffindors. And I want you to say that my choice is wise. The last thing I need is crap for who I choose as a friend."

Draco paused, not expecting this to be the request. "They won't listen to me."

"Of course they will," Blaise smirked as he began to walk away, "You underestimate your own power."

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Angry, Draco stormed through the corridors. All he had wanted was to see Luna, but Blaise was fresh on his mind. The boy was Slytherin through and through, even if he wouldn't admit it. He was evil and conniving. There was no way that he was ever friends with him. But, he knew that he had been before he had started doing things that were… worse than your average after-class-joke or bullying. The head of blonde hair that he had been looking for appeared in front of him, as if by magic. Or maybe his own need had drawn her to him. "Luna," he practically sprinted to catch up with her.

She stopped, paused, and looked at him with veiled eyes. Something seemed to be confusing her. He wanted to help her. He needed her. "Hello, Draco."

Glancing to make sure that no one was around, he drew closer to her, softly kissing her. But then shock drew over him when she moved back, as if she didn't want to kiss him. They stood staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "What's wrong?" His voice was surprisingly dark. He didn't think that Luna had this sort of affect on him. He always imagined that he had been in control of how he was feeling. He was wrong.

"I can't kiss you right now."

She said it so bluntly that it was like a punch to the stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I'm so confused. I don't know," she seemed to want to cry, but she kept her goofy smile on. It disgusted him that she was able to do this while telling him that she didn't want to kiss him. "I'm not sure that I want to kiss you."

"Want to kiss me? You're not sure if you want to kiss me." Anger welled up inside of him. Darkly he muttered, "Cedric."

"How did you-"

He cut her off. He couldn't stop him. He didn't want to do it, but something in him had burst with anger. For the first time in his life he had did the inexcusable. He hit a girl. Surprisingly she kept calm, staring at him with her large, dreamy blue eyes. It was him that freaked out, not understanding why he did what he did. "Luna! I am so sorry. I didn't mean to! I didn't want to! It just happened!" He rambled off petty excuses while she just stared at him with her large eyes, not moving an inch yet not letting him off the hook. A large red mark was starting to appear where his hand had slapped her cheek. Instead of her crying, he cried, "I never want to hurt you." She had too much of a control over him.

Gently, Luna put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, like a mother, "It's ok. I'm sure you didn't mean it." They stood there, staring at each other.

"I didn't mean it, Luna."

She looked down so that he couldn't see her eyes. If he could, he would have seen the tears threatening to form. Her voice quivering, she replied, "I know you didn't. The Porsos must have made you do it. Mean little buggers." Suddenly she took off down the hall, not once glancing back.

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A/N: Well, hope you liked this chapter. The next one should be out... eventually.