A/N: This is going to be the last story for Year One of the Houses Competition. I want to thank one last time our amazing prefect 2DaughtersOfAthena, my lovely buddy Beckwithtime, and AelysAlthea, who is a terrific writer and a great friend, for betaing this drabble. Thanks go also out to the Ravenclaw Head of House 0WolfMoon0 and our Headmistress MoonlightForgotten.

Much love to you all.

I hope you'll enjoy this little story.


Stranger Things


"Have you seen my shoes?" A dreamy voice startled Blaise out of his thoughts. He looked up and locked gazes with a blonde girl with incredibly blue eyes. She wore strange earrings that seemed to be made of radishes, and a large orange flower decorated her hair. Her words had been casual, but there was a furrow between her eyebrows that betrayed her anxiety.

"What?" Blaise asked eloquently. Merlin, her eyes were beautiful. Almost the same shade as her tie, which was – wait, why was he thinking about her eyes?

"My shoes," Luna replied, smiling up at him. "They're red with –"

"Do we look like we care, Loony?" Draco drawled, stepping up alongside Blaise. They had just entered the castle after a long afternoon at Hogsmeade. "C'mon, Blaise."

Blaise let himself be dragged along a few metres, but his gaze was drawn back to the Ravenclaw girl. Suddenly, he said, "You go on ahead. I think I left my scarf at the Three Broomsticks. I'll go back and check."

Draco frowned at him, but then he just shrugged, letting it go. "Okay. See you later, then."

Blaise nodded and waited until his friend was out of sight; then he walked back to the blonde girl, who was still wandering around the Entrance Hall in seemingly ineffective searching for her shoes. He didn't know why he cared. Slytherins didn't care. "You lost your shoes – er, Luna?" he asked, trying to sound casual, as if he talked to her every day.

Luna turned towards him, a blissfully vague smile on her face. Something constricted in Blaise's chest.

"Yes." She nodded. "They were in my dorm, but when I came back from Hogsmeade, they were gone."

A frown furrowed Blaise's brow. "They were stolen?" Surprised, he realised that it made him angry. Why should the fact that someone stole this girl's shoes make him angry?

Luna shrugged, a strange half-smile settling onto her lips. "Nargles probably took them."

"Nargles?" he echoed. Nargles was probably the most illogical answer he had ever heard - he was fairly sure they didn't exist - but still... somehow adorable. Abruptly, he wondered why he liked this strange girl, who believed in creatures whose existence had never been proven.

Luna nodded firmly. "It's just that I'd like them back because I'm going home for Christmas next week."

"Why don't you go to your prefects?" Blaise suggested. Suddenly, this whole conversation felt like a very bad idea. What would the others think of him if he was seen talking to the crazy Ravenclaw? He knew of Loony Lovegood, even if he'd never spoken to her, but something about her suddenly drew him in – maybe the cornflower blue eyes, maybe just the fact that she had asked him for help. However, the most surprising thing about the situation was that he wanted to help her.

There was a lostness about her, a loneliness that reminded him of his own. He feared that absence within him, the feeling that it would expand and maybe even … engulf him. All of a sudden, Blaise wondered what it would take to make her smile and laugh.

"The prefects are not much help," Luna said, tilting her head and regarding him curiously. "Don't worry. I'll find the shoes."

Blaise opened his mouth without exactly knowing what he wanted to say. He surprised himself with the words that tumbled from his mouth. "No. I – I'll help you."

And there it was: the bright smile he had hoped for. It lit up Luna's features like a sunrise and made his heart abruptly swell. "Thank you," she whispered.

Without warning, she reached for his hand and pulled him along the corridor. A part of him wanted to flinch, to pull away, but he didn't. Strangely enough, it seemed that only she could make him act against his own nature. And Blaise knew he would find these shoes, if it was the last thing he would do.


*Written for the Houses Competition, Round 10*

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Drabble

Prompt: Luna/Blaise

W/C: 650