The next two weeks didn't go much better for Luna. Sally was sure that the boys, and Lily for that matter, felt guilty, but were too proud to show it. Sally had explained to them what it was that Luna had had to go through, but it only seemed to penetrate Remus's mind. He and Sally were the only ones that were civil to Luna, at least. Luna, however, wasn't doing much to become liked and accepted. She buried herself even deeper, and when she wasn't yelling at anyone, she just ignored them completely. She spent lots of time in the library, not studying, but thinking about her father, and her family, and missing them horribly. Every night, without fail, she would finish her homework at dinner, go to the library for a few hours and then go back to Gryffindor Tower to fall in bed. She rarely spoke to anyone, except to shout at them to leave her alone and to answer questions when called on in class. She avoided as much human contact as possible, so she didn't quite know why she did what she did that night. It was a normal night for her. She'd only had homework in Muggle Studies, which had been simple for her, eaten a light meal before most people had shown up in the Great Hall, and gone to the library for a few hours to think. She looked at her watch, which she'd set to school time, and rose, picking up her books. Luna always carried in schoolbooks and a completed assignment, so suspicion wouldn't arise. The corridors were now dark, deserted, so she was surprised to see light and hear voices at the end of the one she was walking. "I know that something goes on with you, Lupin. You won't be able to hide it for much longer, because I will find out what's going on, and when I do. Well, you don't want to find out, do you? And you can run to your boyfriend, Black, and maybe he'll dress your wounds for you before he-" Well, that was enough for Luna. She ran the rest of the way to the end of the corridor. Remus Lupin was being cornered by the slimy kid that had been identified by Sally to Luna as one Severus Snape. Snape had raised his wand against Remus, when Luna threw her body in between his and Snape's. He raised his eyebrows and lowered his wand. "What do you think you're doing, Luna, was it?" "What do you think I think I'm doing, slime ball?" The truth was, Luna didn't really know what she was doing. "I think you'd better step back, Luna." His eyes glittered as he stepped closer. "You don't want me as an enemy." "Oh, we are SO past the enemy point. Please, I have met subway rats that are more threatening than you are. And back up, because you need to learn the virtues of hygiene. See, you should bathe once a day, not once a decade. And when you wash, you should wash everything, and that includes your hair. Oh, and by the way, I would like to introduce you to my good friends Mr. Mouthwash and Mr. Toothbrush. They work well together. Now, if you ever lay a finger on me or any of the Gryffindors, I will hunt you down and make your life miserable, although, as mirrors are unfortunately unavoidable for you, it probably already is. Get out of my sight," she spat, venomously. They stood, eyes locked for about 5 seconds, before Snape turned on his heel and walked away. "Um, thank you," said Remus, uncertainly. She jumped at the sound of his voice. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I kind of forgot you were here. Are you okay?" Remus nodded. "Why did you." "Jump in just now? Oh, I've been cornered without someone to rescue me too many times to ignore it when it happens to someone else. Why are you down here, anyway." "Actually, I was looking for you." Luna paled. "Why, did you want to hex me?" Remus grinned sheepishly. "No, I came to apologize for the way we've treated you these past couple of weeks." "Oh. Thanks. Well, if you're sure you're okay." She turned to walk away, but Remus caught her arm and spun her around." "Wait. Why were you down here?" "What do you care?" "I don't know," he said fiercely, then softened when she winced and lifted her chin up with his finger. He stepped closer. "But I do." She stared at him, then nodded and allowed him to lead her up the corridor. ________________________________________________________________________ "You know, I thought that I would never be able to come to Hogwarts," Remus said to Luna. It was quite late, and the two of them had been talking in the Gryffindor common room for hours. "Really?" "Yeah. I just didn't think it would be possible." "I didn't think any of this was possible. I mean, come on. If you were raised as a Muggle, would YOU believe that witches and wizards really existed?" Remus shook his head. "It's late," said Remus. "I know." "I'd really like to be friends with you, Luna." She peered up at him and smiled. "Me too." "Thank you, for tonight." Luna sighed. "I'm glad I could finally be useful around here. Goodnight, Remus." "Goodnight, Luna." Remus smiled at her, squeezed her hand and headed upstairs to the boy's dormitory. Luna smiled to herself and wrapped up in the blanket that Remus had been using. It still smelled like him, and Luna wanted to remember the scent for a while. She found herself becoming hypnotized by the fire, and felt her eyes droop, droop.