Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.

Any constructive criticism or reviews are extremely welcome, I adore feedback of any kind. Enjoy the chapter.


Interlude: Luna and Blaise

If you asked anyone residing in Hogwarts castle which two people they saw least then the answers would be unanimous: Luna Lovegood and Blaise Zabini. Most of them only knew of Luna's existence through her friendship with Ginny and then with the rest of the young crowd after the formation of the D.A. She kept to herself mostly, having learnt early on that many didn't care for her unique ideas - until the D.A.

Even amongst the Slytherins, not much was known about Blaise Zabini - Draco knew him best, Snape knew him fairly well and his mother of course knew him. That was about the extent of it. Blaise had discovered that keeping to the shadows and working in secret not only tended to clear him of any blame - on the rare occasion he was involved in anything dodgy - but also intimidated the rest of the school and meant everyone tended to leave him alone, he liked it that way.

It seems only too cliché that these two should find each other - two outcasts among a sea of students. Luna was the next person after Dumbledore, Snape and Hermione who actually believed the story the two Slytherins told of wishing to escape Voldemort's influence and help the light side. Blaise was the first person since the D.A to actually care about something Luna had to say, no matter how loopy it might sound. She found he was actually a secret believer in the ideas she held dear to her heart and they spent many an afternoon hunting Nargles in the Astronomy Tower or visiting the thestrals in the forest (Blaise had watched his grandfather die).

Ron sometimes teased that they spent so much time together because they were both 'outsiders' in a way. Harry, who had respected Luna since their conversations in the trio's fifth and sixth years, said nothing negative at all. Ginny spoke of how romantic it was, she always loved a brooding hero and a heroine with long flowing hair (which Luna had in abundance, not to mention it was a fairytale like blonde). Draco gently nudged his friend in the direction of the ethereal Ravenclaw, he might be a bit of a bastard but he wanted to see his best friend happy. Hermione just observed and smiled.


Luna had never had too many friends, even within her own house. The only girl who'd ever shown much interest in getting to know her was Ginny Weasley. It was Ginny who had invited her to the D.A, the organisation that had given her a whole host of new friends in addition to Ginny; Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville being the closest. She'd painted their faces on her ceiling that summer, with little golden words linking them round, "friends" and she'd been so happy to be included, they had (mostly) never made fun of her quirks and if they ever did she knew it was all just in jest. Still, when she met Blaise properly for the first time, after he'd come to Hogwarts for shelter, she knew she'd found someone even more special. All the others were brilliant and generally accepting of her ideas, but they didn't really believe in them. Blaise actually listened and confided in her that he believed too - he was a kindred spirit.

She hadn't even meant to start spending time with him to begin with, it had just happened. Luna liked to wander the castle at the strangest times, just spending the time looking for creatures and thinking in a quiet place. She found herself running into Blaise more than she did anyone else and they discovered they had the same favourite places and a tendency to wander around in solitude. However, neither of them minded their peace being disturbed by the other, they welcomed it in fact. After a little while they began taking familiar routes in the hope of running into each other and walking together for a while, chatting about inane things and forgetting the war raging around them.

The day they began dating started like any other really. They'd been running into each other more often the past few days, due mainly to the fact that they never seemed to be able to find Draco, Ginny, Harry and Hermione often. This had shocked Blaise a bit - Draco willingly spending time with the Gryffindors, but he'd just shrugged it off as his best friend finally growing up and putting prejudice aside. He'd asked her out of the blue and rather casually, as if it didn't matter to him - which they both knew was a complete lie - "will you go out with me Luna?" She'd smiled and in her typically blunt nature had answered, "of course, I've been waiting ages for you to finally ask me." He'd laughed, so had she and then they'd gone on as usual, so no one really noticed the difference.

One day of dating in and they hadn't shared it with anyone, liking to have it to themselves for a while, not to mention the fact that their best friends (Ginny and Draco) never seemed to be around. They soon worked out why after a little reconnaissance mission had the pair eavesdropping on Ginny, Hermione, Draco and Harry's conversation on how to get them together. They'd remained silent just long enough to escape to a deserted classroom, before they'd burst into laughter at the thought of their friends trying so hard to get two people already dating together. In the end they'd decided they wouldn't reveal anything yet, wanting to see what plans emerged from the quartet.

They'd had a hilarious time when their friends finally acted, pulling them away to hint heavily that they should be dating each other. The plan was simple and pretty good, but since they were already together it was fun to string their friends along before they finally revealed their couple status. The effects had been just as amusing as they had hoped and once they'd finished laughing at the scowls on the faces of their friends, they explained how they'd finally got together. Draco had laughed and both Ginny and Hermione had thought it a rather sweet way of asking Luna out, if a little unromantic in its nature.

Now, Luna and Blaise were just enjoying their time as a couple. Luna felt a little sorry for Hermione and Harry in a way, they saw their respective boyfriend and girlfriend a lot less during the day than Luna did, because they had so much to do in training and research. Hermione had it especially bad because at least Ginny was always in the castle, whereas Bill had to leave for work and there could sometimes be days when Hermione only saw him for a few minutes - quite annoying when they lived in the same place. But they got through it well, Luna thought, and she would know seeing as she was rather observant when it came to people.


Blaise was happier than he had ever been before and that was mostly due to one blonde girl called Luna Lovegood. His life hadn't been too difficult by any means, not as bad as Draco had it with a rather unbalanced father. Blaise's own father had died rather quickly and while the long line of step-fathers hadn't exactly been nice, they'd never treated him badly - hadn't lasted long enough to - and his mother had loved him fiercely, dispelling any notion of the beautiful witch being an uncaring man-eater. Still, he had never quite found that brilliant level of happiness he craved - until he met Luna Lovegood when he came to Hogwarts for sanctuary.

He hadn't known her before, though he vaguely knew of her - she had been in Potter's DA and he knew she'd fought death eaters in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. That in itself had impressed him, all he'd heard of her beforehand made her out to be completely loopy, but he knew fighting death eaters took brains and guts. He'd realised once he got to know her that she had Ravenclaw tendencies in abundance, she just showed them in a different way. Not with flashing knowledge about, but by watching and making observations no one but Hermione Granger might have noticed - not to mention Luna was even better than Hermione when it came to understanding people.

Yes, it might seem like an unlikely match to many, but in reality Luna was completely and utterly perfect for him. Even Draco had agreed in the end and Blaise knew how difficult his best friend was to please. Said best friend had not been happy when he found out that he had worked for over a week with "Granger, Weaslette and bloody Harry Potter" to get together a couple already dating, but in the end he had seen the amusing side and Blaise was no longer in danger from being hexed. Blaise's mother had been totally delighted with the news, having already got well acquainted with Luna, telling Blaise how happy she was for him. Even Snape had given his own seal of approval, with a nod for Blaise and the lack of his normal sneer for Luna - after all Snape would always appreciate brains, even if the mind using them was rather eccentric.


"I think the Nargles are hibernating right now Luna," said Blaise with a lazy grin. She nodded gravely, "of course, they tend to live in mistletoe. But I think I'll wear my necklace," she gestured to her butterbeer cork jewellery, "just in case. It keeps them away." Blaise gave her an indulgent smile, Nargles were one of the creatures whose existence he wasn't so sure about, so he moved on to a creature he firmly believed to be real, having seen it through a pair of Spectrespecs he'd got in the Quibbler. "I think there might be some Wrackspurts round here Luna," he told her, "I feel a bit fuzzy, it's worst when I stand here," he said, placing himself right under the archway in the corridor they were standing in.

Luna nodded and spoke in a dreamy voice, "I feel it too, after all it is prime season for Wrackspurts and they seem to like floating under archways, though I'm not quite sure why." The pair stayed where they were for a few minutes longer, trying to squint and see the Wrackspurts, however they had left their spectrespecs in the Gryffindor Tower and so they had a hard time finding any. In the end they gave up, though Luna was resolute in having another attempt when they next had a free afternoon (Wrackspurts could never be found in the morning). She turned to Blaise and took his hand, "come on, dinner's almost over, I think we should go get some pudding." Then they disappeared round the corner, leaving the buzzing Wrackspurts behind them.


Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter, it was very much appreciated; ladygoddess8, Readerforlife and HSCswimmer.

If you're wondering about the information on Nargles and Wrackspurts, I got most of it from Harry Potter Wikia and the rest is just made up. I know I used a bit of a strange ending, but I thought I'd make a reference to the Order of the Phoenix film, where Luna tells Harry she might go get a bit of pudding from the end of year feast.

The next chapter, in which the Order search for the diadem Horcrux, will be up in a few days.