Note: Yeah... five days later. Haha.

I won't be uploading the next chapter for about the same length of time, as I am working hard to finish Never What I Want first; and then I'm going to busily working away at the sequel as well as this, so expect delays!

Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait!

Please read and review! :) (and go answer a poll on my page.)

Chapter 3

Luna awoke to an irritating squawking sound, and she jolted upright, eyes searching around the room in a panic. Were the Murgles finally coming for her?

She reached for her wand, and pointed it towards the window of her room, where the sound was coming from. She turned out of bed, her small feet pressing onto the cold floor. She pressed against the wall, moving slowly towards the window.

Suddenly, a dark shape flew through the window, going across the room and smacking into Luna's door. Luna screamed, and covered her mouth as she flicked on the lights with her wand.

A dark owl lay on the ground, shaking as it regained its bearings and lifted itself back into the air. The owl dropped back down instantly, and it favored its wing. Luna gathered that it had hurt itself flying into her door.

She heard footsteps outside her door, and quickly scooped the owl up in her arms before the door slammed open, just where the owl had been moments before. George's lanky figure stood in the doorway, behind him a disheveled Ron and Hermione. She heard Mrs. Weasley's feet thundering from the floor above her, and then Ginny appeared with Harry.

"What happened?" George asked, stepping into her room, wand in hand. He whirled around, searching for any sign of intruders. Luna giggled, slightly embarrassed that the whole Weasley family was now standing in front of her.

"Well, this owl flew in the window, but I didn't know it was an owl." She explained, rocking the creature in her arms. Harry raised an eyebrow as Mrs. Weasley appeared behind the group, and Ginny turned to explain what had happened.

"Why are you holding the owl, Luna?" Harry asked, obviously finding it odd to see somebody holding an owl. Usually, owls would bite someone that close.

"It flew into the door." Luna explained, smiling down at the squawking bird in her arms. It was black as midnight, with two round golden eyes.

"Why is it here, though?" George asked, stepping closer to Luna. His hand ghosted down her arm, down to the owl's head. It snapped at his fingers, and he tugged his hand away.

"Oh, I suppose to deliver a letter." She replied happily, looking up at George.

"Did you find a letter?" he asked. Luna watched as the rest of the family slowly left the area, deeming the situation harmless.

"I didn't look yet." Luna said, shrugging. She crossed the room, and set the owl down on her bed. She noticed the rolled up parchment tied to its leg, and bent down to untie it.

Loony-

I see you've dejected to answer me. And I'm not too accustomed to waiting. You'll find that I'm not the most patient of people. If you would be kind enough to answer me, I'm sure we could have a stimulating conversation.

Cordially,

Draco Malfoy

Luna's eyes darkened as she read the piece of paper. It seemed rather impatient, as it had been merely a day since she'd seen Malfoy. Perhaps it he was more impatient than he let on.

"What in the bloody hell is that?" George asked, his voice cold. He had read the note over Luna's shoulder.

She turned around, finding George mere centimeters from her face as she did.

"It's not very polite to read over someone's shoulder, George." She stated, flashing a dazzling smile. George gulped.

"My sincerest apologies, Luna." He replied, his own lopsided grin stretching across his cheeks. Luna blushed. She wasn't used to boys flirting with her.

She opened her mouth to respond, but George's lips covered hers gently, before pulling away, flushed. George stammered as he backed away.

"I-I, uh… I'm so… so sorry!" he choked out, before turning and running out of the room. Luna looked after him in curiosity. George was quite lovely, and a very dear friend. Luna wasn't sure if he could be more than a friend… nobody ever had been to her. He was a very nice boy and Luna very much enjoyed spending time with him, but she'd never been interested in boys before, or the whole relationship thing for that matter. She was perfectly content being alone with close male friends. It was odd to her, getting that kind of attention. But she found she liked it.

Luna sighed, and fixed a small bed made out of a cardboard box and a spare pillow for the owl, before resting it inside. Then she slid into her own bed, returning to her interrupted slumber.

Hermione awoke early in the morning, three hours after the owl had awoken Luna and woken the whole house up. She turned to her left, and saw Ron snoring in the bed opposite hers. She sighed. She was the first awake.

She climbed out of bed, shivering at the cool air. Hermione crossed her and Ron's shared bedroom, and pulled open a drawer. It was Ron's, but she didn't care.

She pulled out a pair of his cotton sweatpants, and pulled them up, pulling the string tight around her waist. She sighed as she sat back down, flicking the small lamp on beside her bed with a wand. She picked up her book she had read the night before, and continued from where she left off.

Hermione felt her bed shift as someone sat down on it, and she dropped her book, knowing it was Ron.

"Morning, Ron." She said, smiling at him. She would've loved to finish reading, but she wasn't going to ignore Ron.

He smiled, and leaned forwards and pecked her on the cheek.

"Morning, Mione." He said, climbing on top of her and straddling her legs. She sighed, pushing against Ron's chest.

"Ron, please." She said, trying to slide out from underneath him. He pressed down on her shoulders.

"Listen, Mione. I… I won't try anything. I promise." He whispered, bending down to kiss her neck. "By the way, you look unbelievably sexy in my pants."

She couldn't help but giggle as Ron covered her lips with his, and she rolled over on top of him, knotting her hands into his hair. He traced his tongue across her mouth, running his hands down her sides. Hermione smiled into his mouth, and Ron began untying the sweatpants that rested low on her hips. Hermione sighed, and pushed him off, rolling off of her bed and stepping onto the cold wood. She retied the pants, and pulled the door open.

"I said no, and you didn't respect that." She stated. "I'm going to get a little fresh air."

"Mione, I wasn't going to do anything!" Ron called. Hermione held her hand up, rolling her eyes.

"Save it."

She stalked into the hallway, tiptoeing down the stairs. She didn't need to wake anybody else up.

As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she saw a shadow across the ground. Her breath hitched, and she sat back onto the stairs, cursing herself for leaving her wand upstairs.

What the fuck was that? She wondered, watching in horror as the shadow slowly moved towards the stairs. She knew whatever it was would see her, and nobody would help me. If she screamed for help, it would take a solid ten seconds for someone to reach her to help. And that would alert the shadow of her presence.

She decided to take her chances.

"RON!" she screamed, praying he hadn't fallen back asleep.

The shadow halted, pausing its movement towards the stairs. When there was no sound from the above floors, the shadow moved closer to the stairs.

Hermione jammed her eyes shut, scared to see whatever was approaching. Suddenly, an overwhelming coldness swept through her, causing her to shiver and hug herself warm. She opened her eyes one by one, gasping in surprise as a dementor came into view.

"RON!" she screamed, before her eyes flickered in and out of consciousness. She felt the cool air seep through her body, filling up her lungs and causing her skin to crawl.

Suddenly, the air lifted, and she saw Harry standing a few stairs above her, his wand glowing a silver color. The dementor was retreating, shooting back out the window in which it came and showering the room in warmth. She gasped for breath, clutching her chest for air.

Harry bent by her side, resting his hand on his shoulder. The thundering of footsteps came from the floors above, but only one thing rest on Hermione's mind.

What was a dementor doing at the Burrow?

Draco Malfoy sighed as he was ushered inside the Greengrass estate. He had gone to apologize for keeping Astoria so late, and paint an alibi. He didn't need any trouble from the Greengrass family, or any complications with the planned marriage.

"Moppy welcomes Mr. Malfoy." Said the sad looking house elf who answered the door. Its ears drooped down past its shoulder, its stomach concave and skin tight across its face. A disgusting cloth hung loosely around its waist.

Draco nodded, the heavy doors closing behind him with a thud. Moppy waddled off to find the family, leaving Draco standing in the foyer quietly.

"Hello, Draco!" rang Astoria's voice. He looked up, and saw her standing at the top of the staircase lining the walls. He smiled vibrantly as she bounded down the stairs, donning a tight pale blue turtle neck with a black skirt that went to mid-thigh. She threw her arms around his neck in a hug, and he kissed tugged on her ear as he pulled away from her embrace. She blushed. Clearly, the bites he'd left across her chest and neck were still there.

"Hello, Astoria." He replied, smirking. She blushed in response, and Draco took her hand, holding it firmly in his. "I need to talk to your parents. About last night."

"Oh, they weren't very happy, Draco. And assumed… correctly. You shouldn't confirm whatever they say." Astoria pleaded, her eyes widening. Draco chuckled.

"I came here to tell them something different." He whispered, kissing her on the cheek. She smiled and sighed contentedly.

"Mr. Malfoy."

Draco turned, still holding Astoria's hand, to see Mr. Greengrass standing beside his frail looking wife in the doorway. He was rather plump himself, with a large stomach and round nose. Astoria looked more like her mother, except for the jaw. She and her father both possessed the rounded jaw.

"Hello, Mr. Greengrass. Mrs. Greengrass." He said, smiling pleasantly and nodding his head in a polite bow. That earned Mr. Greengrass's attention.

"What brings you here?" Mrs. Greengrass asked, her voice gentle.

"I just wanted to invite Astoria to dinner with my mother tomorrow night, and I'd rather do it in person than by owl." He replied easily, smiling politely. Mrs. Greengrass nodded.

"Well, that was very… kind of you." Mr. Greengrass said, stepping into the light of the foyer. The wrinkles of his face were even more obvious in the lighting.

"Astoria. Do you accept Mr. Malfoy's kind invitation?" Mr. Greengrass asked, crossing his arms.

"Of course." She said, smiling broadly. Draco smiled.

"We had such a good time with my mother last night, actually, we lost track of time." He said, painting the cover story. Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass suddenly seemed less uptight.

"Yes, we did." Astoria said quickly, smiling up at Draco. "I absolutely adore his mother."

Mr. Greengrass nodded in confirmation, and looked to his wife who smiled.

"Very well. Have fun tomorrow." Mrs. Greengrass said. "Stay as long as you like, Draco."

"Go anywhere you like." Mr. Greengrass added, leaving the foyer with his wife. Astoria smiled at Draco, and sighed in relief.

"Nice cover-up." She whispered, smiling up at him. He turned her and rest his hands on her waist, she wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well, it was worth covering up… so we don't get into any trouble." Draco whispered, his mouth right next to her ear. "But I know something I prefer not covered up."

Astoria giggled, and Draco was glad that she'd opened up to him after they'd spent the night together.

"Maybe." Astoria replied, pulling away from his embrace. "But, I'd be more likely to… agree. If you maybe took me shopping. I need some other turtle necks if I'll always look like this."

Draco chuckled, and ran his hand through his hair. "Sure. Get your things, though. We're having dinner with my mum tonight, too."