Do they tell you when you join the House of the Brave?

What bloody fires they'll light deep inside your soul?

That darkling fire, the bloodthirst that bursts black

Out of your eyes; your lioness grin dripping with blood?

It's a struggle to keep your wits in a battle -

But some struggle with fear, and others with rage.

Once, I swore I'd step lightly through

Leaving only footprints

And taking only photos

I can't be that person, if I ever want you.

I can be your lightning rod

Catch you and bind you and

sink you deep in the ruddy ground.

If you want.

If you need.

Together, we might just

have the will to succeed.

Draco Malfoy flew through Hogwarts, his feet swift and sure - just barely within the rules. It didn't make sense, but he'd seen it with his own eyes. Somehow, Granger was ...in two places at once. Two classes, even. That was more than bizarre, that was unreal.

Because...

Because that meant that they were letting her! The Teachers, somehow, were bending one of the Rules of the Universe, and for a third year mudblood girl! Draco didn't wince at the word in his mind, he pulled himself into an alcove, pressing his straight arms against the wall, as he bared his teeth. At himself.

It took minutes before he could get his breathing under control. He finally relaxed, and felt an insistent tugging on his hair. Luna? Draco thought, How long has she been waiting?

With an idle, masked smile that looked like a smuggish smirk, Draco Malfoy let himself be guided by the wind, out into the halls, up and down the stairs again, until he had been twisted around enough that he'd no idea where he was, and then, suddenly -

Luna was standing there, in an abandoned classroom.

Draco strode in, feeling the wards part, the wards that had been deliberately crafted with a hole in them, just for him.

"Draco! How delightful!" Luna said, and her eyes gleamed just as golden as her hair, that perfect crystalline quality that she had from top to bottom ringing out. "You've been very busy recently, haven't you?"

"Extremely," Draco Malfoy said, "Would you like to help?"

"Oh! Yes, of course!" Luna said, "Nobody ever asks me to help, you know. I suspect they think I'm too daft to do anything properly." Luna gave him a sparkling wink.

[a/n: Well, that poem got grim. The rest of this, though? Light as a creampuff. Leave a review, NEAMB is taking up most of my typing time, so some encouragement on this one will get you more updates! Or you could just read the other, hinty hint.]