Chapter 4

"Where were you earlier, Draco?" Pansy asked, storming over to him in a stroppy manor. He had taken to the library in order to study peacefully, but knew that wasn't going to happen now.

"I had trouble sleeping," Draco replied, not looking up from his book. "I'd gotten up a little earlier than usual."

"A little? One of the portraits said they saw you skulking the castle at four o clock in the morning!"

"It was a little past four, actually," Draco corrected, still not looking at her. "And what were you doing asking the portraits? Don't you think that's a little stalkerish?"

"You were nowhere to be seen!" Pansy hissed. "How else was I meant to find you?"

"Wouldn't have minded so much if you didn't," Draco smirked. Pansy sighed heavily, pulling out a chair next to him and sitting down, slamming her bag onto the table as she took her books out.

"Something bothering you?" Draco asked reluctantly.

"Just a stressful day," Pansy admitted. "Honestly, first you go missing so I had to spend breakfast with Crabbe and Goyle. How do they not drive you crazy? They're so dumb!"

"You're telling me," Draco smirked. Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Then I find out I have two essays to do by tonight. TWO! And just to top things off, one of the books I needed to complete the stupid essay has gone missing!"

"Maybe it was the nargles," Draco mumbled.

"What?"

"What?" Draco asked, as a light giggle came from behind them. They both turned around and saw Luna flipping through a book, the laugh still visible on her face.

"Something funny, Loony?" Pansy spat. When Luna didn't react, Pansy's blood boiled. "Hey, freak show! I'm talking to you!"

"Just leave it, Pansy," Draco said, frowning at her. She turned to him, her mouth wide open in shock and outrage.

"You've been giving me that face a lot recently, Pans. I would stop if I were you; you're starting to resemble a fish."

Pansy's mouth shut again, turning violently away from Draco and flipping through her book with obvious annoyance. Draco chanced a quick look behind him, and saw Luna smiling thankfully at him. He gave her a discreet nod, before turning back to his own work.

"Hello, Draco," Luna said, skipping up behind him on his way to Care of Magical Creatures class. "Mind if I walk with you?"

"Feel free," Draco said, slowing down a little so she could walk with him comfortably.

"Thank you for standing up for me earlier, it was very nice of you."

Draco looked down at Luna with confusion. He had just been called nice? Draco couldn't remember the last time he had been called anything positive, let alone 'nice'.

"Uh... that's ok... I guess..."

"I think it's hard to stand up to your friends," Luna said. "What you did was very admirable."

"Friends," Draco scoffed. "I was just annoyed at how she kept bad mouthing you..." His eyes dropped to the ground as he realised what he had said – aloud. His colourless face tinged pink, realising how unlike himself he was around her. Whether it was a good thing or not was another matter.

"I think it's important to have good friends," Luna said. "Some people may see them as a weakness, but if you don't have even just a few people you can let your guard down around, you'll end up being closed off to everyone. It could potentially drive you mad."

Draco laughed quietly to himself, finding it ironic that the person who had been described as mad on several occasions was talking about it so subtly herself. He didn't think she was all that mad though; what she was saying made sense.

"I can never let my guard down, really," Draco admitted. "I have friends to an extent, but..." they're nothing like you, Draco thought to himself. He was frustrated that he couldn't actually say these things to Luna; she wasn't like the Slytherin's at all, but he was still too afraid to hurt his pride.

"As long as you have someone you can go to when you need somebody, I think that's all you really need," Luna said.

"I do," Draco said, looking away as a small, shy smile graced his lips. Luna smiled herself, as if she knew it was aimed at her. Draco looked over at her, smiling awkwardly as the heat rose in his cheeks again, and Luna chuckled kindly before breaking the eye contact. He tried his best to ignore the hard thumping of his heart as they continued their journey to one of his new favourite classes.