Chapter Nine – Jealous of Loony Lovegood

Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, waiting for pudding to appear, rather boredly listening to Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown's conversation, as Harry and Ron had already left.

"Did you know it was Ginny Weasley who put the spell on Loony's lion?" Lavender said loudly. Hermione tilted her head slightly so she could hear better.

"No it wasn't! It was Romilda Vane, but Ginny's idea!" Parvati said, her eyes shining in excitement.

A passing sixth year smirked and said, "Well actually it was Pansy Parkinson, I overheard her telling Millicent Bullstrode in the common-room."

Hermione looked up.

"She did it because Draco Malfoy likes Loony, and she's jealous."

"Wow!" Parvati replied, looking awestruck.

"Merlin's beard, Draco Malfoy likes Loony Lovegood?"

"Yeah, and Harry Potter." the slytherin girl replied, taking a seat next to Parvati.

"What!" both girls cried at once and Lavender looked on the verge of tears.

"Then Loony had to choose, and she chose Malfoy."

"Loony is way past crazy." Lavender stated, shaking her head. The girl nodded as the table began to fill with ice cream and cakes.

"Better get going, see you around!" she said to Parvati and Lavender, then headed for the Slytherin table.

Hermione decided to miss out on pudding that night, and she quickly hurried after the girl.

"Excuse me, but what's your name?" she asked.

"Alison Millervine" and before the girl had time to ask why, Hermione had vanished.

Luna and Ginny entered the room of requirement together; they had been wandering around the castle, trying to find somewhere to get ready for the ball in. The bathrooms were already crowded with girls and as they were in separate houses, dormitories would have been no good.

Luna looked around the room contentedly. There was about everything they could need in this room, from the dressing tables and wardrobes to the hair curlers and jewelry. Luna lay a purple bag down on a velvet chair as Ginny carelessly threw herself onto a three-seater sofa.

"This is great! We just need Hermione…" Ginny said happily.

"I come in here quite often actually. After the DA stopped it kept appearing for me…the door I mean. I wasn't trying to; it just came. Maybe I needed it…" Luna pondered. Ginny looked a bit confused and didn't say anything, until a large eagle owl flew through the open window and landed on the sofa arm.

"Luna there's an owl," she said, stating the obvious, and Luna who had been lost in thought, blinked and then smiled.

"He's come because he's required. We can use him to send a message to Hermione."

"Oooh good thinking!" Ginny replied and pulling a piece of parchment and quill from her bag, she began to write.

About ten minutes after the owl had left, Hermione rushed into the room, carrying her school bag, although it wasn't filled with her books.

"Hello, I got your owl, but you'll never guess what, I know who put the spell on Luna's hat!" she gabbled breathlessly, flinging herself onto one of the velvet chairs.

"Who?" Ginny asked, leaning forward rather excitedly. Luna twisted her lip. She didn't really want to find out which of her classmates had tried to kill her. It would be very hard to continue smiling and saying hello to that person, like nothing had happened. She began to get into her dress, whilst listening to Hermione.

"It was Pansy Parkinson!"

"What?" Ginny said, her eyes bulging.

Luna sat down on the edge of one of the chairs. "Why would she do that? I've never even spoken to her! Maybe that's why…next time I'll say hello to her, although I can't see why she'd want me to talk to her…some of the things she said to me are quite awful!" she said, looking worried.

"What horrid things has she said to you?" Ginny demanded, looking out-raged.

"It's not because of that Luna! It's because she's jealous!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

"Jealous of what? My hat? Or my earrings...my necklace? I could make her one!" Luna said, her round eyes fixed on Hermione.

"No Luna! She doesn't want your possessions! She's jealous because Malfoy likes you instead of her, she's always been his girlfriend and now he's deserted her because of you, see?"

Luna looked even more worried, "It's my fault! Poor Pansy! How could he do that to her?"

Ginny gave her a strange look, "Luna, she tried to kill you!"

"Yes, but she had a good reason…I need to go and find her, I'll try not to be too long."

"It's nothing to do with you, it's Malfoy!" Hermione said, frowning.

Luna muttered something and rushed out of the room, half-ready, with her new red hair flying down her shoulders.

"Well I have to say, she is a bit mad sometimes…" Hermione said, sighing.

"Yes, but she has a good heart." Ginny replied quietly.

Luna tracked down Pansy in the girl's bathroom, gossiping with a few other Slytherins as they got ready for the ball.

"Hello Pansy." Luna said calmly. The pug-faced girl spun around.

"Oooh look its Loony! What are you doing here; surely you're ready? Nice dress!" Pansy mocked, looking Luna up and down. In Luna's hurry to find Pansy before the ball, the dress had become rather ripped, not to mention the bubblegum stains from her encounter with Peeves in the corridor. Luna eyed her for a moment.

"I'd like to talk to you for a minute, if that's ok…in private."

Pansy gave her friends a disgusted look; "Well it must be important if smelly Loony came into a bathroom looking for me!"

Her friends snickered, and Pansy walked proudly out of the room into the corridor, followed by Luna.

"Well what do you want Lovegood, unlike some people I take pride in my appearance." Pansy snapped, looking at Luna as if she was dirt.

"Pansy, I know it was you that put the spell on my hat." Luna said quietly. Pansy's eyes narrowed.

"What did you say Loony?"

"Pansy I know. Please don't pretend. I'm really sorry."

The slytherin girl looked surprised, "Sorry…for what?"

"Draco. It must have been horrid for you, I didn't know Pansy. I didn't realize you two were together or I never would have got into this."

Pansy suddenly burst into tears, "It's not fair!" she wailed.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it out and you can have him back." Luna said kindly.

"No…" Pansy sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's me Luna. He doesn't like me, I was just there as a distraction. It's always been other people he liked, I've heard the other girls talking…I was just pretending it was all ok. It never was, he's happy with you."

Luna's round eyes expressed her sorrow for Pansy and she slid a small plaited bracelet off her wrist and offered it to the other girl. Pansy took it, but looked confused.

"Err?"

"Keep it. Remember I'm always here if you want to talk." Luna said quietly. Pansy nodded.

"You'd better go and get ready…and Luna…I am sorry, for the hat and everything."

Luna smiled reassuringly, "Its fine Pansy."

She turned and left the corridor. Pansy slipped the friendship bracelet on under her robe sleeve and went back into the bathroom, feeling better and not quite as guilty.

Luna re-entered the room of requirement to see Hermione and Ginny, almost ready and putting the final touches to their out-fits.

"What did you do to her?" Ginny asked immediately.

"Nothing, she's ok…we both apologized."

"What? Luna, you didn't have anything to apologize for!"

Hermione coughed, "Ginny just drop it for now." She then bent down a little and whispered in Ginny's ear; "Don't worry. I'll take care of it…"

Ginny smiled, and luckily for them Luna hadn't heard, as she was now occupied with getting ready for the ball in a short space of time.

Ginny rushed over to help with Luna's ruined dress, whipping out her wand whilst Hermione began to do her friends hair. Luna took a small lime green box out of the purple bag and took her two cherry earrings out of the box. She carefully slipped them into her ears.

"Oooh they are nice!" Ginny said kindly, although she personally preferred Hermione's spirals.

"Wow, Luna you look amazing!"

"Thank-you." Luna said smiling, despite the pain of Hermione brushing her messy hair.

A while later the three girls emerged from the room, each looking wonderful as they chattered about whether Harry asking Hermione to the ball meant that he liked her, and whether Ginny and Colin Creevey were a good match. None of them knew what events would happen later that night, but all were looking forward to it.