Luna sat where she always did, humming a tuneless song.

Draco Malfoy entered, as he often did, as a scant, colorless shadow. It wasn't too far from his usual form, anyhow.

Luna turned a page in her book, "Surely you don't believe that Harry Potter put his name in the cup?"

Draco Malfoy responded with mock offense, "No, of course not."

Luna quirked a smile at him.

Draco Malfoy said, "He's not the smartest wand in the box, but he knows to listen to Granger when she's spouting off endless trivialities." His words mocked himself just as much as they mocked the next person.

Luna nodded, smiling softly. At least she understood his humor.

Draco Malfoy said, "I'm more concerned about Rosalita, actually."

Luna nodded, "She is in a bit of a strait, isn't she?"

"Without a boat to row, sure."

Luna said, "Would you like to play the big bad wolf?"

Draco Malfoy simply smiled back at her.

Rosalita was a young Ravenclaw, tripping through the hallways with her nose in a book. It was a good defense against many things, but she wasn't all that smart, and that had lost her a lot of respect in Ravenclaw.

Worse, Luna Lovegood had absolutely no reason to want to make friends with a Flint. Malfoy could have conjured a reason (Marcus was good for little things like 'making sure my kid (adopted) sister isn't getting bullied'), but that would have made Rosalita's position worse, not better.

Luna making friends with Rosalita would open doors - dangerous doors, ones where she might be identified.

But -

There were worse things than open doors - a shut-tight house would send anyone over the edge into madness.

Rosalita was heading upstairs, towards Ravenclaw Tower. 'Coincidentally' Draco Malfoy was as well.

It only took an elbow, to have a blindsided Rosalita spinning down the inside of the tower staircase, with absolutely nothing but air between herself and the cold flagstones below.

Two floors beneath, Luna Lovegood drew her wand. She didn't cast the usual spell, but a modified binding spell that grabbed and tugged Rosalita close to the outer wall of the tower, just a few inches above the staircase. As a side-effect of the modification, all the tendrils were squishy, so they caught her, rather than constricting her.

Much.

"Oh, dear!" Luna Lovegood said, with her standard vacuous look firmly in place, "This is not the day to start plunging feet first from high towers. That's Sunday Next! Do you need some tutoring in Astronomy?"

Rosalita blinked, which is what normal people tended to do when confronted with Luna Lovegood at her most oblivious. Then she answered the only question asked, "I'd be delighted if you'd help me! How did you know I was having trouble?"

It was a small start, but it was a start. And Ravenclaws were quite good at taking small ideas and weaving a good web.

Draco, for his part, would not soon forget the betrayed look on Rosalita's young face. Hufflepuff, now and forever.

[a/n: Reviews, as always, mean more story.]