Disclaimer: All characters and places in the Harry Potter universe belong to J.K. Rowling – I own none of them, I simply play with them.

Chapter Six

The next day, Draco, Pansy and Blaise sat in the library discussing their Potions assignment. Pansy still wasn't talking to him, and directed all comments meant to dig at Draco to no one in particular.

Draco's breath almost caught in his throat when he noticed Luna coming into the library. As Pansy and Zabini's backs were to her, she gave Draco a small smile and sat down at the next table. Zabini tutted and looked over, annoyed that someone has disrupted their quiet corner.

"Ah, look who it is! Loony Lovegood, and she's wearing her necklace of... crap!" he sneered.

Draco had to laugh at the irony of it – not once had he heard Zabini torment Luna, and now it mattered to him he did it right in front of his face. Pansy smirked a little, Draco was sure she did it just to wind him up. Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore Zabini.

"You think it's a good look, Lovegood, to wear shit around your neck?"

Pansy laughed this time, and Draco felt a surge of hatred towards her. Flashing daggers her way which Pansy purposely ignored, he felt an hot, angry blush creep up his neck.

"I suppose that's something you got given to you by your insane mother – was her dress sense as good as yours, or was it even better?"

"Leave it Blaise," Draco muttered firmly, pressing down so hard with his quill that the nib bent. "Shit," he muttered angrily.

"What's gotton into you?" Blaise frowned. "You do realise who that is, right?"

"Yes," Draco said through gritted teeth.

"She's a fucking freak, Malfoy. Waste of good, pure blood – all her lot are. Well, her mother's dead of course – "

"I said leave it!"

Pansy shot him a dangerous look, and he daren't even look over at Luna.

"What's your problem, Malfoy?"

"You!"

"What the hell have I done?!"

"I asked you to leave it, and you refused."

"But it's Loony Lovegood! And I say to the obscene little idiot whatever I want!"

Draco clenched his fists and shot a look over at Luna. She was looking at him, eyes wide in fear, trying to communicate a silent message which he chose not to receive.

"Shut. Up."

Blaise scowled angrily but knew better than to take an argument with Draco any further than this. He snapped shut his book and stood up so quickly his chair almost fell to floor, storming angrily out of the library.

"What do you think you're doing?" Pansy hissed angrily, starting to pack away her own things.

"Oh, shut up Pansy," Draco said bitterly, almost surprised at the aggression which had edged its way into his tone.

"I will not!" Pansy whispered angrily, tossing her hair angrily over her shoulder. "You're risking your entire reputation on some silly fling with a mentally unstable sixth year!"

"It's not a silly fling," Draco said, trying to control the anger in his voice.

"Oh, you're in love are you?" Pansy said nastily, shooting a disgusted look in Luna's direction. Draco blushed furiously, all to aware that Luna was in earshot of every word.

"Look, Pansy, I told you because I thought you'd understand. I thought wrong. Please, just leave this alone. I don't want to fight with you."

"You leave me little choice," Pansy spat, shoving her books haphazardly in her bag.

"Why are doing this to us, Pansy?" Draco said, exasperated, scrubbing his face with his hands wearily.

"That's what I should be asking you!" Pansy said shrilly, raising her voice and slamming the pot of ink in her hand down so hard in shattered. "Shit!" she said angrily, picking up her bag and half running out of the library, holding her ink-stained hands in front her, in fear of staining her robes.

Luna immediately stood up and rushed over to help Draco clean up the ink, picking up the shards of glass that lay on the floor without saying a word. Footsteps approaching from round the corner made them both look up:

"Mr Malfoy! Miss Lovegood! Was that you two arguing just now?"

Madame Pince towered above them, her hands on her hips glaring at them accusingly, her mouth virtually falling open in horror when she saw the spilt ink.

"I – "

"No, Mr Malfoy, I'll have no arguments – and you're a Prefect," she shook her head disapprovingly. "Detention. Both of you. This evening, 7 o'clock – and don't be late."

~*~

Draco had never, in his seven years at Hogwarts, actually looked forward to a detention before. At ten to seven he stood in his dormitory making sure not a single hair was out of place, that there was nothing in his teeth, and that his appearance was impeccable.

Pansy had even given him an apology earlier – although she did make it all too clear that she was only apologising for not staying to clear up the ink, but it had nevertheless raised Draco's spirits somewhat.

At five minutes to, Draco pocketed his wand and made his way down to the library with a thumping heart. Upon entering, he saw Luna ahead of him, grinning and jerking her head towards Madame Pince who was wheeling a shelf stacked high with books towards her.


"Ah, Mr Malfoy, you've arrived," she said curtly when she saw Draco. "These books have all been returned by students and teachers and need shelving. I will be back at ten o'clock and expect you to have completed your task. Perhaps next time you're disrupting other students in the library you will think again."

As Madame Pince breezed past Draco, Luna stuck her tongue out and pulled a face behind her back causing Draco to stifle a laugh – it wasn't until the door slammed shut after her than he could laugh aloud.

"Honestly Miss Lovegood," he said in a high pitched tone, imitating Madame Pince, "that's no way to behave in a library!"

Luna grinned at him and absently picked up a book on the top of the pile. "We'd better get started," she said wearily, looking at its title and sighing.

"Yeah," Draco said, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the stack of books. "Perhaps we should organise them into different subjects first, it'll probably be quicker."


Luna nodded in agreement, and they began the long task of sorting the books into separate piles. They worked in silence for a good five minutes before Luna broke it –

"Draco," she said questioningly, not looking at him.

"Hmm?" he said vaguely, trying to decide whether Herbs and Plants for Basic Potion Making belonged in the Herbology or Potion section.

"Has Pansy said anything more to you about... well, about how she feels about us?"

He looked up at Luna and shook his head. "No. She's... I think she's angry at me, she thinks you're going to pose a risk to our friendship. I know that's not the reason she's giving, but that's what she thinks... she's always been like it."

He sighed heavily and reached for another book at the same time as Luna – their hands brushed and a jolt of electricity shot up Draco's arm causing it to snap back quickly. Luna gave him an odd sort of smile, and took his hand in hers, resting it on top of the pile of books for the Transfiguration section. Draco held his arm there so long it began to ache, just looking at her, not really knowing what to say or do. Just looking into her mesmerising eyes was enough to keep him occupied for hours, thinking of nothing but her.

Eventually, Luna looked away, slightly embarrassed, and let go of his hand, gathering up a pile of books that belonged to the Potions section. "I'll take these," she said awkwardly, and disappeared into the maze of bookshelves.

Draco shook himself slightly, urging himself to get a grip, and continued sorting the books. It's no use, he thought to himself irritably, how can I concentrate knowing she's just a few paces from me? Slightly irritated with himself for allowing Luna to have such a hold on him, he picked up Herbs and Plants for Basic Potion Making from the Herbology pile and slipped stealthily towards the back of the library where the Potions books lived. His pulse livened when he caught sight of her – she her back to him and was apparently engrossed in one of the books she was meant to be shelving. He smiled to himself and tiptoed towards her – when he ended up so close behind her that he could smell her sweet, spicy aroma he stopped stupidly. He felt compelled to wrap his arms around her waist, bury his head in her hair, whisper to her how much he wanted her... with a buzz of adrenaline he stepped forward and enveloped her in a backwards embrace, holding his book out in front of her to show his intention.

"I decided this belonged in the Potion section, too," he whispered softly into her ear, fighting the urge to plant kisses all over her slightly flushed, soft cheek.

"Okay," she whispered back, closing the book she had previously been so rapt in and taking Draco's, placing them both on top of the nearest shelf.

Turning to face Draco, Luna grinned slightly. "And you just needed to come over here right at this second and tell me that?" she said playfully, reaching up and brushing his hair out of his eyes. He grinned back and turned his head to kiss her outstretched arm gently, and then her forehead.

With small, content sigh, Luna pulled him into her and rested her head in his chest.

"This is the last thing I want to be doing when we're together," she whispered into him, her voice slightly muffled.

"Mmm," Draco murmured in agreement, stroking her hair lightly. She looked up at him and smiled, brushing her lips against his and breaking their embrace.

"Come on," she whispered. "We need to get on with this."

"No," Draco whimpered, catching hold of her hand and pulling him into her again. "Please, stay..."

"But she'll be back soon, we won't have got anything done..."

"We've got ages," Draco moaned, wrapping his arms around her once more and running his hand up and down her back.

Luna didn't protest this time, but sagged her body against his slightly, listening to the gentle, reassuring thud of his heartbeat. A small crack behind them made them both jump –

"What was that?" Luna whispered quietly. They stayed still and quiet for the next couple of seconds.

"Probably just an escaped cat or something," Draco mumered in reassurance. He held her warm body in his arms tightly, kissing her head and moving his lips down to brush against her jaw and cheek, moving ever closer to her mouth. Luna turned her head and found his lips with hers, moving her hand up to the back of his neck and nestling it in his hairline. Draco got the familiar tingle up and down his spine that being close to Luna always gave him as they began to kiss. He leant heavily against the tall bookshelf, not trusting the ability of his legs to hold his weight when they were quivering like this, and put one hand either side of Luna's face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs and pushing his fingers into her hair.

"Come on," Luna whispered hoarsely breaking their kiss, her breathing shallower than usual. "We have to do this."

Draco licked his lips and attempted to make his feet move.

"Come on," Luna said, more persistently, giving him a little shove towards the stack of books. "She'll be back soon."

Draco nodded numbly, returning to the books feeling decidedly disorientated.

How does she do this to me? He sat down shakily and shook himself. Get a grip, Malfoy. You're getting worked up over a sixth year Ravenclaw, an insane sixth year Ra – but Draco had to stop that voice, because every time it spoke he felt like killing someone.