Chapter 8

"Hey Draco, I heard you got that Loony girl knocked out," a fifth year Slytherin girl said, smirking at him in congratulations. The news of what had happened had already spread like wildfire, and Draco was trying his best to keep his head down at the breakfast table but it didn't appear to be making a difference. People had been congratulating him all morning, and Draco hadn't said a word; he had spent most of the last night at Luna's side feeling guilty, and didn't need to be constantly reminded of why she was there while he was free to walk around, accused of harming the most important girl to him in the world.

As more people on his table began to praise him, Draco decided he couldn't take anymore, and with no idea on where he was going he got up and left the table. He could feel their eyes boring into the back of his head, and was sure he would get an earful about this from Pansy later, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He'd never felt as guilty and horrible about anything in his life than he did about this.

As he left the great hall, he felt an arm grab him and push him against the wall, and became face to face with none other than Harry Potter. His wand was pressed against Draco's neck, and his expression was so angry his eyes were practically burning him.

"Why did you do it?" the Gryffindor growled. Draco looked up to see that he was backed up by Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione, and Neville, who looked a little uneasy but was trying his best to glare at Draco. He was forced to look back at Harry, who was pushing his wand impatiently into Draco's neck.

"I dunno what you're talking-"

"You know full well what I'm talking about, Malfoy!" Harry spat, narrowing his eyes. "Why would you do that? Why would you hurt Luna?"

"I didn't," Draco said through his teeth. "I'm telling you the truth, Potter."

"Lying little toe rag," Ron said under his breath, not missed by Draco.

"If you're not lying, then how is it she's in the hospital wing with you as the last person to be seen with her?" Hermione asked, eyebrow raised.

"It's not like that," Draco said desperately. "Yes, I was the last person with her, but I never meant to hurt her! We were in the forest, and she spotted a unicorn, and I forgot to show the unicorn respect so it went to attack me but Luna stepped in and saved me-"

"Why would she save you?" Harry snarled. This had Draco stumped; how was he supposed to explain to them what relationship had formed between him and Luna over the past few weeks? There was hardly any chance they would believe him.

"Get away from me, Potter," Draco sneered, pushing him away from him and storming off.

"This isn't over, Malfoy!" Harry called after him. Draco knew it wasn't over; the longer Luna stayed in there the angrier her friends would become with him. He began to consider going into hiding, when he became aware of footsteps running up behind him. He turned around to see Ginny Weasley, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and slight hatred.

"What is it, Weaslette?" Draco asked, bracing himself for another explosion of hatred towards him.

So, he was shocked when Ginny asked very patiently, "Is that really what happened?"

"I couldn't make that up," he said. "I'm not happy she's in there."

Ginny looked at him for a moment, and Draco felt like he was waiting for a verdict from a jury.

"She stood up for you, you know," Ginny told him.

"What?"

"Whenever someone tried to say a bad word against you, she stood up for you. I believe you, because I believe that she would attempt to save you. She's special, Luna. Even you couldn't do anything to hurt her."

Draco looked at her for a moment, slightly astounded by how smart the Weasley girl was but also by how right she was. He was usually the boy that could easily hurt anyone, even people he was meant to be friends with, but never her.

Without another word, Draco walked away, towards the hospital wing. People would probably question why he was there, and he wouldn't know what to tell them, but it seemed like a silly thing to be concerned about. As soon as he got there, he went straight to Luna's bed, and was sad but not surprised that she still wasn't awake.

He sat down in the lonely chair next to her. Her bedside table had a few get well soon cards and gifts, but not a huge amount. It was a wonder that she didn't have many friends, considering she accepted anybody... but it was likely that not everybody was willing to accept her.

It made him angry that there were people in this school that were actually happy to see her hurt, and people that would go out of their way just to make her life a little more difficult. Looking at her like this made her seem so fragile; lying in bed with her eyelids closed over her confident, smiling eyes, hair splayed out lifelessly around her, no patient smile on her lips and bruises distorting her otherwise clear skin.

He looked down at her hand resting limply by her side, and remembered how he had held it just minutes before the attack. He gently took her hand into his own, and looked at her to see if she would react. He wasn't surprised when nothing happened.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I swear I'll do my best to protect you when you get out of this."

With that, he stood up to leave, resting Luna's hand tenderly on her stomach and brushed the hair out of her face before delicately kissing her on the forehead.

"Get better soon," he said, looking into her face sadly. "Please..."