Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this one up. I've been working full-time now, and it's kinda hard to get motivated to write when I already spend eight hours a day staring at a computer screen. But I'm getting used to the hours, so I'll try really really hard to get the next one done a lot sooner. Promise. :)

Due to demand, I wrote this one pretty quickly, so I hope it doesn't suck! And for all who have been wondering – you'll find out who the admirer is in CH7, but you'll have enough clues by then to guess who it is. At least I think so...

Oh, and Phillis Nymph, I really do love Ron, so I made him all concerned and everything this chapter. ;) And the Ginny/Draco thing was sort of foreshadowing for another story I'm thinking about. Couldn't help myself! But I'm going to finish writing this one first.

Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Four – Irate Meat Ahead

"Has Luna been acting strange lately?" Ron asked one evening, frowning over his steak and mashed potatoes.

"Luna? Strange?" Hermione's eyebrows were raised almost to her hairline. "Imagine that."

"No, really," Ron insisted, no trace of a smile on his freckled face. "It's been a week and she keeps getting those letters, but she hasn't come to us, not once. Much as I am ashamed to admit it, I was looking forward to that bloke's pearls of poetry." At Hermione's incredulous look, Ron turned to Harry with a sort of plea in his eyes. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed, mate. Something's going on with her."

Harry pushed his peas around his plate, eyes fixed on the antique silver fork he held. For some reason, he didn't want Ron to know, but he had noticed a change in Luna's behavior over the past week. Ever since that last letter she showed them in the library, she had been purposely avoiding them, looking away when he tried to catch her eyes in the corridors, and skipping so many meals it was a wonder she had the strength to walk around, let alone attend Potions. It bothered him that she was keeping things from him, especially since, whether she liked it or not, her admirer had chosen to involve him.

"Barely eating," Ron said, echoing his thoughts, "Walking around the halls, oblivious. More than usual, that is. Sighing to herself. Carrying those stupid things in her pockets and sneaking peeks at them when she thinks no one's looking. She's acting like she's..."

"In love," Hermione supplied calmly. "Really, is that so surprising?"

"Oh, yeah," Ron said, comprehension dawning clearly on his face. "I was going to say bewitched, but it's sort of the same thing, isn't it?" He glanced at Hermione, who suddenly busied herself in her goblet. "Well, that's it, then. That's... oh no. That's bad. Bad. Doesn't she realize that any guy who sneaks around sending cryptic messages on parchment without confronting her has to be a nutter?"

"I hardly think that's concerns her," Ginny said flatly, poking at her plate with as much enthusiasm as Harry. "How many years has she spent in this school without anyone really seeing her or caring? No wonder she's so entranced by those letters. They're a sign that she's not alone. I know how she feels." She looked at Harry, who wisely pretended not to notice.

"So we talk to her," Ron said eagerly. "Make her see the danger."

"She wouldn't listen to us before, what guarantee is there that she'd listen now?" Ginny asked.

"Harry will talk to her. In the morning," Hermione said.

"I... what?" Harry was fairly surprised at being volunteered. "Why me?"

"Because, I have a feeling that she... well, maybe respects your opinions more than ours." Harry had a sudden fleeting memory of Luna's face as she talked about her dead mother the year before, and remembered how at that moment he had felt closer to her than anyone, because of all his friends she was the one who really understood what he was going through.

"Give it a try, Harry," Hermione said earnestly. "If she doesn't listen, well, we tried. But I think that of all of us, you're the only one she'll listen to."

And after a plea like that, he was stuck.

O O O

Luna had been coming to the Great Hall for breakfast every morning only long enough to grab a banana or orange from the enormous pile of fruit on her table and wait for the Daily Mail, which always came promptly on time. Then she would contently sneak away with her letter and fruit before anyone noticed she had been there. But the next morning, Harry was ready for her.

He waited outside the doors leading into the Entrance Hall, and when Luna slipped through a few minutes later, her nose buried in the latest letter, he reached out a hand and tapped on her shoulder. Luna gasped in surprise and dropped the letter, which Harry deftly bent and picked up. He held it out to her, his face passive, and said: "I'm supposed to invite you to have breakfast with us."

Luna snatched the letter from his hand and held it protectively to her chest, her eyes darkening slightly as she looked him over. "I'm not hungry," she announced.

"From what I've heard, you haven't been hungry for a week. And you look like you could use a good meal." He looked pointedly at her uniform, which was baggy in places it hadn't been before, and at her cheeks, as pale as the heavenly deity she was named for. Her eyes flashed angrily, interpreting his words as an insult, and her body language was hostile.

If he hadn't known better, he would have thought her a stranger. Luna had always been dreamy and distant, content in herself and her surroundings. But this Luna was unlike anyone he'd ever seen. Her gray eyes were sharp and intent, and the hands that held the letter to her heart were trembling like an addict desperate for another fix.

"You've changed," Harry said suddenly, not liking the plaintive note in his voice. "You're looking at me like I'm the enemy now. I'm not trying to hurt you, I swear. I just want to help."

For a long moment, Luna glared at him, frozen, but then she glanced away and sighed. "I know," she said. "I don't want to involve you. This is my problem."

"My problem, too. Or didn't he tell you he sent me a letter warning me to stay away from you? Yeah, that's right. It's all great and fine for you to have some secret lover as a pen pal, but when he starts warning your friends away for no good reason, it gets personal."

"He said you wouldn't understand," she said faintly.

"Did he, now? I suppose you two just chat it up over your letters. What else does he tell you?" She looked away, lips tightly pursed. Her long, scraggly blond hair half-concealed her face and Harry fought an absurd urge to reach out and brush it from her eyes.

He sighed. "Look," he said, more harshly than intended. "I know you must think I'm a big jerk right now, but I'm worried about you. We all are," he added quickly, "and the offer still stands, that if anything weird happens, anything he says or does that doesn't sit well with you, don't hesitate to come to me – us – and we'll help you through it."

Luna chewed her lower lip intently and stared at the floor. "It's not what you think, truly," she said gently. "He doesn't threaten me or demand anything. It's all very nice. But... once in a while there is something I don't understand." She looked at him and hesitated, then slowly let out her breath and reached in her pocket to retrieve a piece of parchment. Harry took it silently when she handed it to him. The note was folded and crinkled at the edges as if it had been read many times. He gritted his teeth as he recognized the writing, and read:

Irate meat ahead
Err, old lovers vomited
Odiously meaty wool
You olive

Eternally Yours

Harry stared at the words for half a minute in disbelief. "That's..." he finally managed to choke. "Oh."

Luna sighed. "Exactly," she said. "I am open to any suggestions you have. I'm sorry I was rude to you." Harry blinked at this seemingly incongruous statement, but his attention was quickly drawn away when Luna walked beside him and frowned over his shoulder. "The only guess I have is that he wants to take me out for a meal. He mentions meat twice."

"And vomit," Harry added. "Maybe he wants to take you drinking."

Luna smiled and the effect quite lit up her face. Harry found himself distracted from the letter altogether for a few seconds before clearing his throat loudly and looking away. "Can I have this?" he asked warily, expecting another flare-up, but she just shrugged.

"Go ahead." He had the strong impression that she didn't want it, since it didn't fit into the rosy picture she had constructed of her admirer. Harry folded the letter quickly and put it in his own pocket in case she changed her mind, but she was already looking at the new letter, frowning slightly.

"But he hasn't..." Harry started awkwardly.

"What?"

"Asked you to meet him."

"No." Luna looked away and rummaged in her book bag for a second, face turned away. "No, he hasn't. Satisfied?"

"Extremely," Harry said. "So, will you eat with us?"

"No," she said bluntly. "I... want to be alone right now. I hope you understand."

"Sure. Sure, I understand." But he didn't, not really. "And you'll tell me if anything else happens?"

"Oh, yes. I will."

Liar, Harry thought. But there was nothing he could say to convince her.

"Right," he said. "Have a good day, then."

"Mmm. You, too." He knew she was barely paying attention as she stuck the new letter inside her jacket and walked away. Harry was about to go when he heard a crash and turned to see Luna sprawled on the stairs and Peeves zooming away, cackling evilly. He had thrown a hat stand at her. Harry started towards her, but she had already recovered and was hurrying up the stairs, clearly not eager to be delayed by him again.

Harry watched her go, feeling depressed, until his attention was caught by something white on the stairs where she had fallen. He opened his mouth to call to her and let her know she'd dropped something, but then stopped. He waited until she disappeared around the bend onto the second floor before walking forward to retrieve the object. It was a white piece of parchment, shiny and new. Luna's letter from that morning. Feeling like he was doing something extremely wrong, but also not caring very much, Harry put it in his pocket beside the strange poem and headed into the Great Hall to find his friends.

They were just as stumped as he was about the letter. Ron again suggested it was a sexual metaphor, which prompted Hermione to exasperatedly demand if that was all he thought about. But Ginny put an end to their "discussion" when she suggested it was a code of some sort, and Hermione took it with her to think about. Harry didn't tell them about the other letter. Later, in between Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures, he slipped into a bathroom that was rarely used and opened it.

It was short, shorter than usual. One word, actually, but that one word made Harry suck in his breath. 'Tonight' it said.

Well, well, Harry thought. He and Luna would be having a little chat. Again.

O O O

"Tonight what?"

Luna looked at him, her face blank. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. What have you and lover-boy got going on? A little secret rendezvous at midnight?"

Harry knew she had Charms last period of the day, so he had waited for her outside the classroom. She had been the last one to leave, because Professor Flitwick had called her to his desk and was speaking to her earnestly in a hushed voice. From Luna's overly stiff posture and forced smile, he knew she was being questioned by her Head of House about her behavior, and try as he might, she wasn't giving anything away. Finally, he dismissed her, looking unsatisfied, and Harry stepped away from the doorway, trying to catch his breath as he waited for her to come through.

Now she was looking at him as if he had mustard dripping from his nose. "I don't..." she started but then broke off abruptly when he retrieved the letter from behind his back and showed it to her.

The effect wasn't quite what he expected. He thought she'd be embarrassed and pretend not to know what he was talking about, but he was given a first-hand experience of 'if looks could kill.' "You read my letter?" she demanded angrily. Her entire face was transformed. Her eyes flashed and the way she was looking at him would have made him shrivel up and crawl away if he wasn't so angry himself.

"So are you going to tell me? Tonight what?"

"I don't see what business it is of yours what I do with my time," she said icily and made a movement to go, but Harry wasn't finished and stepped in front of her.

"Oh, absolutely none, of course. Because I love being lied to, you know. Gives me a rush. Makes me feel special."

"That's exactly it," Luna said and stepped away from him, her face flushed. "For some reason you and your friends can't handle the fact that for once in my life someone thinks I'm special and loves me for who I am. I know that maybe you're used to being prince of the world, but I'm not and I think I'm allowed a little attention now and then. And anyway, I ask again, what business of yours is it what I do in my personal life?"

"What do you do, Luna? How many times have you met him? Because if I'd known you two were already seeing each other, you could have saved me a lot of trouble."

"Nothing." Luna blushed harder and the fingers clutching her books were white. "This is... I'm supposed to meet him for the first time tonight. And if I'd known how interested you were in destroying my social life, I would have shredded the letter the instant I read it."

This time it was Harry's turn to blush and he felt his anger seeping away when she glared at him, threatened and rightfully so. "It's not like that," he said quietly. "I'm not trying to, er, destroy you. It's just that you did a favor for me once and I don't want to see you hurt if I can stop it. And I, um, Ginny cares about you, and she's my best friend's sister, so... well..."

Luna looked at him. The color in her cheeks didn't fade. "That's very considerate of you," she said, not sounding like she meant it at all, "but I can perfectly take care of myself." She turned to walk away, but Harry put an impulsive hand on her shoulder.

"Luna..."

"Don't try to stop me, Harry, please," Luna pleaded, not looking at him. "If I ever need your help I will ask for it, but I can't do this, not now." And Harry let her go, watching her hurry away from him, blonde head bent over her books. Across the hall, Harry heard Draco's laughter as he made a loud comment to his fellow Slytherin friends about how Loony Lovegood and Potty made a perfect pair. But he didn't care, not this time. His mind was focused on one thought alone.

That if she was going to try to sneak out that night, he would be ready for her.