A/N: So here's the rest of it. I kinda forgot I hadn't finished posting here. So here's the next 10 chapters. Hope you enjoy?

April 1993

A dead basilisk (dead, dead, dead).

A girl checking to see if its (wide, wide, wide open) eyes would turn her to stone even if it was dead.

A boy trying (and failing) to stop her from doing so.

And an old wizard who looked very, very surprised.

Draco supposed that his parents would have a protocol for this type of situation (that they would have calm and eloquent lines to say). But his parents weren't there (and he hadn't heard from them for quite some time) so he decided to smirk at the perplexed looking Dumbledore and act like he actually knew what was going on (he did a little).

"Miss Lovegood, Mister Malfoy, are you alright?"

Draco turned his attention from the old man to Luna. They were astonishingly completely alright. He sighed and yanked Luna away from her continued (and disturbing) investigation of the basilisk's dead body. She'd been about to touch it (she was far too daring for his nerves). The fact that she was even looking at it made him very, very nervous.

Eventually he said, "We're fine," because awkward pauses were only so fun for so long (and Luna seemed content to just study the dead creature at their feet, he wasn't sure she was even aware Dumbledore was there).

"I'm glad," the long bearded man was quick to say, but Draco could see him trying to think up a way to ask how the basilisk was dead. Draco wasn't very nice, so he did nothing to answer the man's unasked question. Luna was much nicer than him (but she was still trying to escape his grip and touch the bleeding creature so she didn't notice).

"Me too," he returned cheerfully.

Luna on her part seemed to finally realize their esteemed headmaster was there. "Oh, hello, Headmaster Dumbledore. Are you out looking for Glowing Gissleburrs? They are quite active this time of the year."

Draco grudgingly admitted that the old man hid his confusion well. The slight tightening of his mouth and lowering of his brows were hard to notice with all the silver hair on his face. "I'm afraid not, Miss Lovegood. I'm attending to other matters."

Draco snorted (and he could hear his father reprimanding him. Malfoys didn't snort). 'Attending to other matters' indeed. Draco knew that Luna was actually somewhat shaken up over their near death experience (he could feel her hand shaking in his) but she didn't like being scared so she'd sensibly distracted herself by examining the its wretched body and thinking about what wondrous (and significantly less dangerous) creatures might be about.

Luna frowned slightly. "That's too bad. They're quite lovely."

"They're a brilliant blue," Draco added (un)helpfully. He hadn't actually ever seen them, but Luna said they were blue (and well he was willing to entertain the possibility that they existed). Sometimes he worried that he was going mad.

A silence descended and the situation remained unchanged (dead basilisk, two students and a confused headmaster). It was a vicious cycle really. Or a bad joke.

Dumbledore cast a long glance at the basilisk before turning his gaze on them again. Clearly there were other things on his mind (and one particular dead thing) than Glowing Glissleburrs. "Why...?"

Draco figured he should be more sympathetic for he doubted even his mother could come up with a tactful way to ask, 'Why aren't you dead?' But Draco wasn't particularly considerate to the discomfort of others so he just shrugged and said, "Bloody weird, isn't it?"

Dumbledore sighed. Luna continued to try and touch the body. Draco continued to not let her. Really Dumbledore seemed to be the only one who had to the decency to be uncomfortable (Luna was pretty much unflappable, Draco was indifferent and tired, the basilisk was dead).

Dumbledore seemed to realize (eventually) that only the direct route would yield him any answers (that were in any way coherent). "How did the basilisk die?"

"I crowed like a rooster," Luna was quick to inform him. She even demonstrated her rooster call. "I must have scared it to death."

"That's it?" It was almost funny how disappointed he sounded (actually, it was funny).

Luna hummed distractedly. "Well, mostly." (Mostly, mostly, mostly, almost entirely, mostly.) "Can we go now?"

While Dumbledore obviously wanted to ask them more questions, he seemed to suddenly realize it was well past midnight and that they had classes the next morning. "Of course. I would only ask that you two treat this matter with utmost discretion."

Luna laughed. "Don't worry, Sir. No one would believe us even if we were to tell them."

And so Luna allowed him to drag her away from the basilisk she'd killed and toward Ravenclaw Tower.