I hope you all are liking the story. Things get a little grim as the potion wears off...

Chapter 6

Last day on the potion.

Draco sat at his table, looking down at his plate of eggs and sausage blankly. After breakfast, Luna caught up with Draco in the corridor and stood next to him. He stopped.

"Luna," he said in monotone.

"Good morning."

"I wish it were. I'm just trying to think of positive things, and it's becoming more difficult by the minute." He sighed in frustration. "I… oh, nevermind. I'll see you later."

He walked on down the corridor, his robes billowing behind him. Daniel appeared next to Luna.

"I'm scared," he said. "If he's standoffish like this now, what will he be like tomorrow? Golly, we're losing him!"

"No, we're not," Luna said and gave him an assured look. "We need to remind him, as he wants us to."

"I don't think even you could snap him out of it. He just walked away from you straight up." He groaned. "I'm going to lose my big brother!"

Luna put an arm around his shoulder. "He'll be alright. And so will we."

Luna hoped that were true.

That evening, Luna found Draco leaning against the stone of the archway to the gate they met at to go down to the lake. He had his arms folder. The sun was setting over the trees, paining the sky with orange, pink and gold.

"Draco?"

He glanced at her, but then looked back at the scenery. "Hey."

She stood there next to him for a moment. "Lovely sunset."

"It is."

She noticed his chest moving up and down heavily. His mouth suddenly turned to a flat line and started to quiver. He sucked in a shaky breath, and single tears fell from both eyes. Luna put a hand on his arm.

"I don't want to go back," he said with difficulty. "I don't want to go back to the misery I was in. I'd rather fulfill The Dark Lord's commands happy rather than be miserable."

Luna nodded, and squeezed his arm, trying to keep her own emotions in check.

"I know you said I can choose to be happy… but sometimes…" He sniffed. "It's not possible. I'm depressed. I'm a depressed person who can't be happy no matter what."

The evening wind blew, and the trees rustled. Luna said softly, "You can be."

She squeezed his arm again, and he looked at her. She gave him a soft smile.

He continued to stare at her, which made her heart start to pound. It beat harder as he turned fully to her and placed both hands on her cheeks.

"Keep reminding me," he said softly. "Keep reminding me that I love you."

She nodded. "And I can remind you of the same thing."

His thumbs caressed her cheeks and he leaned in. Luna felt her strength vanish at the way Draco began kissing her. She knew he was in pain. She moved her mouth along with his, her head whirling, and both of them breathing harder. Draco suddenly detached his mouth from hers.

"I did that on purpose," he said breathily. "I know for a fact that kiss won't leave my thought." He paused, and the corner of his lips quirked up. "I also wanted to do it."

Luna nodded. She couldn't help herself—she flung her arms around his neck, nearly making him topple against the stone wall. He embraced her back immediately and held her tightly.

"Talk to me tomorrow," he ordered, his head in her hair. "Please."

"Alright."

A couple minutes passed, and they heard, "Hey, can I join in, too?"

They unhooked and saw Daniel standing a ways off. He ran up to them and bombarded them in a hug, nearly toppling the both of them over.

"We're not going to give up on you," Daniel said, and released them. He pointed his finger at Draco's chest. "Not a chance. No matter how much you avoid us or bully us starting tomorrow."

Draco ruffled the boy's hair. "Thanks, mate. Let's head off to dinner."

"Alrighty," Daniel said, then he smirked. "And by the way…I didn't see you two snogging just now."

"Hey," Draco said, and started chasing Daniel, who ran ahead into the stone courtyard. Draco caught him by trapping him in his arms, and Daniel started laughing. He released himself, then pulled Draco's arm, and Draco went after him again, laughing.

Luna smiled. Hopefully a happy moment like this will happen again.

She touched her lips.

Oh, how she hoped.

Draco completely walked passed Luna as she was on her way to breakfast the next morning. She heard him mutter in disgust, "That potion made me mental."

Luna tried to not to let her tightening chest get the better of her. Draco knew he would be like this, and it was up to her and her friends to help Draco accept what happened when he was on the potion.

She met Daniel by the entrance to The Great Hall.

"He's definitely off it now," he said sadly. "He shoved right passed me when I said hello to him, and he said, 'Leave me alone' in an annoyed voice."

"He knows what he promised and what we promised him. Right now, he just doesn't want to think about it. Or accept it."

"Hopefully we can get through to him."

"I really hope so, too."

Luna waited for Draco at the entrance to the bottom-most floor—where the Slytherin common room was—the next morning. She wasn't able to talk to him the day before because he walked in the other direction the moment he saw her. This time, she would catch him as he was coming out of the bottom floor. She waited for about ten minutes as students passed. Then she saw him walk out.

"Draco!"

He stopped. Luna imagined that he winced. He looked back at her with fierce eyes. "Leave me alone, Lovegood."

He walked on, but she caught up with him, refusing to give up. "You wanted me to talk to you when you were off the potion, so here I am doing so."

He didn't say anything as they walked on, but then he whirled around to her, making her stop short. "Look. That potion made me a nonsensical idiot. Everything I said, everything I made you and your friends promise me, forget about it."

"A promise is a promise still. And we will keep it."

"You bet we will," said a younger male voice. Draco and Luna turned to find Daniel walking up to them. "You made us promise, since you knew you wouldn't want to have anything to do with us. So—we're going to bug you until you accept what happened."

"You'll be wasting your time," he spat. "I have other things I have to worry about."

He walked away from them, but stopped for a moment. He looked back at them for a few seconds. Luna's heart lifted. She took a step towards him. He walked away again.

"You know," Daniel began, "I'm not going to let him stay away from us like this."

He ran up to Draco and walked next to him. Draco looked over at him, but then looked back to the front and continued walking. Luna saw the scowl he made at Daniel.

At least he let the boy walk next to him.

Two weeks passed, and Draco still avoided Luna, her friends, and Daniel, as much as possible. Especially Luna. She tried not to feel sad, but she couldn't help but be so when Draco walked by her and didn't even make a glance.

This time, she waited in The Room of Requirement, next to the tall wardrobe. It was a Saturday, so she came in in the morning, and didn't hear the door open until the early afternoon. She sat up from that same sofa she and Draco had sat on, her heart pounding in anticipation.

And there he was, in that black outfit. He walked up to the wardrobe, not even realizing she was standing a few feet off to his left, hidden.

He took the sheet off the wardrobe, then opened it, but stopped. His hand tightened around the edge of the door as he held it open, a frown on his face and a crease in his forehead. What was he remembering?

"Just forget what happened," he commanded himself in a whisper. "You were drunk on that potion."

Luna knew what he was remembering now—what has happened between them.

Draco suddenly shut the door and leaned against the closed wardrobe. He ran a hand down his face and slammed his hands into his pockets. Luna really wanted to talk to him, but she hid herself more behind the cabinet, allowing him to think about what has happened. He looked dreadfully conflicted with himself as she saw frowns, a furrowed brow, smiles, grimaces, more smiles, then frowns again.

"I can't get all that nonsensical stuff out of my head," he said, and pulled out his wand.

Panick seized Luna, knowing what he wanted to do since he pointed his wand to his head, Luna ran out and shouted, her wand out, "Expelliarmus!"

Draco's wand went flying, and he immediately leaned off the wardrobe and glared at Luna. "What the devil are you doing in here?!"

"Please don't wipe away those memories," she pleaded. "You're happy when you think about them."

He snatched his wand off the floor. "No, they make me miserable and disgusted. To think, I was like that for two whole weeks."

"Then why were you smiling?" she asked simply.

He didn't answer. He looked away from her.

"Why didn't you wipe your memories right after the potion wore off?" she prodded "Why do it now after two weeks?"

He remained silent again, but his breathing became hard and heavy through his nose.

"I think it was because you didn't want to forget them," she said. "You long for that love and friendship."

"What do you know?" he shouted at her, his voice echoing through the massive, cluttered room. "I don't care about what happened before—Daniel, Potter, Granger, Weasley, everyone else—I don't care about any of it! Everything that happened when I was on that blasted potion, it was better that it never happened at all. Especially what happened between us… I wished it never happened. Any of it!"

Luna felt her chest tighten. "You don't mean…"

"I mean it!" he cut her off as tears stung her eyes. "I wished I never talked to you and got lost in some fairy land. Things I said, things I did… that was all the potion. It was the potion doing all those things, not me! So I don't care about you, or anyone! Just leave me the bloody hell alone!"

Tears fell from her eyes. He didn't mean it, that he was in denial, but still… those words hurt her more than anything else she has experienced.

"Didn't you hear me?" he spat. "Leave me alone! I have better things to do than talk to a loony girl."

Luna took a deep breath and walked up to him slowly, stopping close in front of him, and not shrinking under his mean glare. She put a hand on his hot cheek, which made him flinch a little. She smiled weakly as she looked into his crystal blue eyes.

"I love you," she said quietly.

He stared at her, silent. She put her hand down and walked away through the clutter. She looked back when she was a ways away from Draco and saw him still standing there, motionless and silent, and a deep crease in his brow. She turned and walked out of the room.

Chest tightening, and tears welling and falling, she walked down the corridors and out of the campus to the lake. She realized now that love can be a euphoria potion, producing great happiness… but it is also a potion producing pain strong enough that would make anyone want to die.