Happenstance

Chapter 2: Broken Hearted

Most of the Professor's didn't bother teaching anything on the last day of classes and instead allowed the students to have fun with the magic they had learned throughout the year. Professor Snape, however, was another matter entirely. He preferred to end the year with a bang. A bang in the form of a very long pop quiz for all of his classes. Once the sixth year Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's had finished their exam and the bell had rung, Luna decided to ask the professor what he thought about her research; after all, it was the last day of classes and if she didn't ask now she'd have to wait until after summer to find out.

"Professor," she called, just as he was sitting down at his desk. "I was wondering what you thought about my research."

"What?" he asked, tersely, annoyed that his five minutes between classes was being disturbed by Luna Lovegood, of all people.

"A few weeks ago, I brought you my research portfolio. You said that you'd look over the section I had asked you about, if I put all of my information together," she reminded him, nervously tapping the heel of her maryjanes against the stone floor. Just then, the door opened and the seventh year Slytherin and Gryffindor class began to enter. "What did you think? Will it work?"

"Oh, that rubbish you left on my desk," he muttered, recalling just what she was talking about. "I used it as kindling. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach." The excited hopeful look on Luna's face disappeared, only to be replaced with frantic confusion.

"Huh?" she asked, blinking wildly and shaking her head back and forth.

"You heard me, Miss Lovegood. I said I used it as kindling. Which I happen to consider to be a good use for garbage. Perhaps, you ought to spend your time doing something useful instead of wasting it on trying to prove the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks exist. Now, go." Wordlessly, a teary eyed Luna turned to leave; the amused faces of the seventh year Slytherin's and Gryffindor's staring back at her.

"Bye-bye, Loony," Pansy Parkinson snickered, giggling loudly with her friends as the blonde witch closed the door behind her.

"Put your books away. All you will need is a quill and a miracle to complete this pop quiz," Professor Snape said, a satisfied smirk on his face. Groaning loudly, the students obeyed. Just as he was handing out the exams, the door slowly opened and a visibly distraught Luna walked back in and approached Professor Snape.

"Did you really throw it in the fireplace?" she asked, softly, fearing his answer.

"Isn't that what I just said?" he barked, glaring at her cruelly.

"All of it?" she asked, her breath catching in her throat as she tried to control her emotions.

"Yes, all of it," he assured her. "You should be thanking me, Miss Lovegood. I did you a favor getting rid of all of that nonsense."

"Did you even look at it?" she asked, tears falling from her large blue eyes.

"I didn't need to," he replied, annoyed that she was still pestering him.

"It wasn't nonsense. I thought I had found a way to reverse the effects of the Obliviate charm," she whispered, unable to hold back the mix of anger and hurt she was feeling. "That was five years of my hard work that you chucked into the fire. Five years!"

"Watch your tone," he warned.

"You watch your tone!" she shouted. "All I asked you to do was read three pages of my notes. You said you would do it! If you didn't want to read it, all you had to do was say so! Why would you do that... Why?" Professor Snape didn't answer, he simply stared at the furious witch with a nondescript expression on his face. "For six years we've been told that if we needed help with anything, all we had to do was ask for help from our professors. Well, I did and you said you would give it to me, but instead you throw away five years of my life like it was nothing! Where do you get off?"

"Miss Lovegood," Professor Snape warned.

"It would have worked!" she shouted, rushing towards the door. "It would have worked."

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That night at dinner, Luna was nowhere to be found. Not even her house mates had seen her. While Luna was missing in action, word about her shouting at the Potions Master had made it around the school. Everyone was talking about how Loony had finally snapped. While everyone else was busy laughing about Luna's 'breakdown', the Golden trio and a certain blonde Slytherin couldn't help but feel bad for her. Hermione, Harry and Ron felt bad due to their guilt for contributing to her being upset, but Draco wasn't exactly sure why he felt bad. All he knew was that when she was standing in front of the class, heartbroken and angry, he couldn't help but feel for the witch. Professor Snape had done a lot of cruel things in the seven years that Draco had spent with him, but this was quite possibly the cruelest. Every time Draco managed to move his thoughts to a new subject, something would immediately force her back into his mind; and the hours of his patrol duty were no exception. As he was climbing the stairs that led to one of the many towers in the castle, he heard humming. Assuming that it was just some late night rendezvous that he was interrupting, Draco quickly entered the tower.

"So this is where you've been hiding," he said, startling the young witch half to death.

"What do you want?" she snapped, turning back and staring out the window.

"It's after curfew," he reminded her.

"So, we leave tomorrow morning. I won't have time to serve your stupid detention."

"Look, are you all right?" he blurted out, coming to stand right next to her. "What Snape did was pretty awful and if you're still really upset you may want to go talk to one of your friends about it. Don't hold it in. It's not healthy."

"I haven't got any friends," she whispered, turning to face him. Draco could practically feel his heart break, as her eyes filled to overflowing with unshed tears. "I thought I did, but they think the exact same things as everyone else. Friends don't do that. They love you for who you are."

"True," he replied, awkwardly placing his hand on her shoulder in an attempt at comforting her. "But once you leave school, I'm sure things will be different."

"Obviously, they'll be different," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I think I liked the old Luna better" Draco muttered, leaving against the wall so that he was facing her while she gazed out the window. "You're just different, that's all. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing. The same thing over and over again get's old after a while."

"Draco, save it," she said, turning to leave but his arms stopped her.

"Luna," he said, pleadingly, not really sure what to say to make her feel better. He didn't know what made him do it, but when she looked up at him with her bright blue tear filled eyes, all he could think about was how perfect she seemed at that very moment and how badly he wanted to kiss her. Cupping her chin in his hand, Draco slowly lowered his mouth to hers, placing a chaste kiss against her lips. When she didn't object to his affections, he deepened their kiss and slid his hand into her silky mane. Several moments later, their lips parted and the couple stared back at one another unsure of what to say.

Taking matters into his own hands, Draco gathered her close to him; overwhelmed with the feelings and desires this odd young witch had unleashed in him. Gently, he traced circles along Luna's back, convincing her body to relax against him, while his other hand brushed her hair away from her face before trailing his lips across her jaw and down her pale throat, drawing soft mewling noises and faint gasps from her. Slowly, Draco lowered his hand to her breast causing Luna to stiffen out of surprise. After giving her a few moments to decide whether or not she wanted him to stop, and her doing nothing, Draco continued his gentle caresses. Unsure if she was supposed to be doing something, Luna raised her hand and placed it against his chest, gently stroking his defined muscles through his shirt.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, ceasing his attempts at unbuttoning her blouse, even though he really didn't want to. "We don't have to if you're not ready." With a small smile, Luna nodded, before placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling him down so that their lips met.

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