Chapter Four!

Crabbecake, Ludding and Drapple.

Thankfully, at dinnertime in the great hall, pudding was on the menu. Or well, Ravenclaw table. Luna's eyes lit up at the sight, and grabbed some straight away, abandoning the normal dinner food. She liked to have desert before the meal. Luna couldn't keep the dreamy smile that came to her face. She hadn't had pudding in ages, at home she didn't have it. If she did, it wouldn't taste as good as it did back here at Hogwarts.

Once Luna was finished, she got up and headed for the common room, it had been a big day for her and she wanted to rest. Luna made sure to leave before the first years, she didn't want to get in their way. While Luna skipped up to the common room she started to sing softly.

"We're only young and naive still,
We require certain mood it changes like the wind,
Hard to control when it bittersweet between my teeth,
Trying to find the in-betweens,Fall back in love eventually."

Luna looked around and realised that she had reached her portrait hole. She smiled warmly at the painting as it told her a riddle.

"I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case from which I am never released and yet I am used by almost everybody. What am I?"

"Hmmm.." Luna stood there for a little while in thought, when it hit her. "Oh! A pencil lead." She smiled again when the portrait hole opened.

Luna found that there was some people in the common room already, Luna flashed her ever-dreamy smile at them and they looked back sneering at her. She let out a laugh, they looked quite funny. One of the girls got up and walked right over to Luna."What so funny, Loony Lovegood?"

"I thought that your face expression just before was quite amusing." Luna stepped to the side, to go to her dorm, but she stepped in front of her.

"Excuse me, but I would like to get some sleep now, since I had a big d-"

"So you find us amusing, huh?" Another girl had gotten off the couch and walked up to Luna.

She opened her mouth to speak but the first girl cut her off. "No, don't say a word. I don't want to listen to you talk anymore." She pulled out her wand and waved it saying something Luna couldn't make out, Luna fumbled for her own wand but it was too late.

A beam of yellow light hit Luna's face. She tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't. It was like her lips were glued together. Luna looked at the girl with a questioning face, they laughed and walked back to the couch. Luna still smiled, and walked up to her dorm, not wanting the others to see her mad. At least now I won't snore and wake the others up, she thought with a little bitterness in the voice in her head.

She managed to get dressed into her nightclothes before crashing on the bed.

Luna woke the next morning, the girls in her dorm not being there. She got up and showered, dressed and done her hair. Luna managed to get the spell undone by herself and was glad she could talk again.

Luna rushed down the stairs and down to the great hall, hungry for breakfast. She had Divination first, then double charms and finally care of magical creatures. The day was a breeze, she had read about the new studies over the holidays and was finding out it was paying off. She was having a great day.

Soon enough it was time for her to sleep again, and then it was morning before she knew it. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and finally Friday. The days flew by. Nothing else bad happened that week either, except for one time on Friday night.

"Oh look it's the loon." Crabbe said.

"Loony, Crabbe." Goyle corrected rolled his eyes as Crabbe started to shove more cake in his mouth.

It was a chocolate mud cake, which Crabbe made himself. Crabbe didn't say much more, because he was constantly shoving food in his mouth. Luna noticed that in fact, they were all eating. Luna herself was eating a cup of pudding, Draco had an apple in hand and Goyle had several cookies.

Goyle and Crabbe kept themselves busy by eating, but Draco started to talk.

"Loony, what are you doing around here? The Slytherin common room is near and well, your not a Slytherin."

"It is? Oh, I'll keep that in mind."

Luna stood there waiting for Draco to say something else, but he didn't because he expected her to walk off.

"Enjoying your apple Draco?" Luna asked as she tilted her head to the side a little.

"Well-"

"Because I'm enjoying my pudding."

"Why do you ask such weird things? Ugh never mind."

Luna answered his question anyway, "Because I like to find out things."

"Well you should keep your nose in your own business sometimes, no make that all the time. Oh, and by the way, that pudding looks like crap."

Luna looked at his face, frowning angrily a little."Why would you say that? You'll hurt puddings feelings.."

"Pudding's a food Loony, it doesn't have feelings."

"My cake.. Has feelings." Crabbe managed to say with his mouth full.

"Shut up Crabbe." Draco spat.

"How would you know Draco? Have you asked pudding if it had feelings before?"

Draco gave her a looked of confusion. "Why the hell would I ask pudding if it has feelings?"

Luna gasped, and protectively hid her pudding with her hands. "Don't talk about pudding like that!"

Draco scoffed, "Jeez, you really are insane."

"No I'm not, I just know that pudding has feelings, unlike you."

"Listen to me, it's a piece of food, it does not have feelings."

"I know, haha."

"What..?"

"I know it doesn't have feelings, it's just pudding, I wanted to see how you would react."

Draco stood there staring at her , like she was insane.

"Well, I must be off now." Luna turned around and started to take a couple of steps when Draco said under his breath."I bet your mother was crazy too, wasn't she? That must have been how she died."Crabbe and Goyle started to laugh while eating, which, did not look good. Luna turned around and threw her full pudding cup at him, it going all over his uniform. Luna couldn't help but laugh, it went in his hair as well, and well, it did look a little like crap.

Luna skipped off, laughing. After a couple of moments Draco realised what had just happened and he wiped what he could off with his hands, then he ran after Luna. Crabbe and Goyle stayed where they were consumed in their food.

Luna ran around the halls, looking over her shoulder a couple of times to see Draco running after her, looking beyond mad. She laughed harder while running every time she saw him. She hid behind a statue, and cast a spell so another version of her was in the hallway.

The other her had stopped running, and was tired from it. Draco ran up to the other Luna and tried to hex her but it had no effect. The other her laughed and said; "Silly Draco." Then vanished out of thin air. Draco stood there looking at what was now empty space, he was dumbstruck.

Luna kept hiding, but she was laughing much too loud, and Draco suddenly knew where she was. He crept around the statue and saw her kneeling down laughing. He was trying to be mad again, but he couldn't, he found it funny himself.

"Nice trick you had there Lovegood, too bad I still found you."

Luna gasped and stopped laughing and looked at him. "Awwh." She mocked being sad. "But But.. Can't you pretend you didn't see me?"

Draco gritted his teeth, trying not to laugh.

"You look like your constipated when you pull that face," Luna managed to say before tears leaked out from laughing so much. He couldn't help himself, he doubled over laughing. Luna soon got up, still laughing. Eventually they calmed down, Draco forgot why he was mad before.

"You sure can run fast though, Draco."Draco grinned, but didn't say anything.

"Hmm, you know that pudding kind of suits you."

"What? Oh.." Draco felt a little bit of anger come back, but he still wasn't that angry really.

"Haha you forgot, didn't you? Well, I guess I better run now.." Luna quickly rushed off through the hall, leaving Draco to stand there. He thought it was only fair to wait for a couple of seconds before going after her. Draco started to run after her, surprised that there wasn't many other people around.

Soon he was running out towards the lake, when he saw her hiding behind a tree. Draco shook his head smirking and ran towards the tree. Luna walked around it, Draco not realising she was, then she took off towards the forest. Draco sighed and started to run after her again.

Eventually Luna gave up, sitting down in a small clearing not too far in the forest. Draco walking right up behind her, he yelled out "BOO!" and she jumped. He started to laugh.

"Draco!" Luna yelled and hit him on the chest softly.

"It's only payback."

"For the pudding?"

"Yes, for the pudding."

"You could of cleaned it off with a spell by now you know?"

"I.. knew that." Luna grinned softly, and pulled her wand out, waving it and making all of the pudding and the pudding stains on his uniform fade away.

"Your still carrying the apple." Draco looked down at his hand, he was surprised he was still in fact carrying the apple. "Guess I am."

"Don't grow too attached to it now," Luna said with a wink before laughing.

"What if I already have? Draco and the apple." He said, trying to look serious.

Luna laughed then looked at the ground. "Must be off now, I want to check if Wrackspurts are in my head, I feel like I'm forgetting things. Bye Draco." Luna then skipped off, towards the castle, vanishing into the trees. She smiled to herself as she skipped.

Draco looked around, he wasn't sure why he didn't hex her, he could of as soon as he found her. Draco stood there in thought for a couple of moments before realising he was alone, for once, he was almost never alone. He gulped as feelings overwhelmed him, for once he truly thought about his task.

Draco started to worry, he didn't like what he had become, what his father made him become. Draco found it hard to breathe and sat on the grass, staring at nothing. He didn't know how he was going to handle this, it seemed so simple, but it wasn't at the same time.

Draco didn't want to seem like a wimp either, but being one of them wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Draco went in the room of requirement early in the morning, and found that it was broken, of course. He didn't know how to fix it. It was so frustrating, and he knew it would only get worse.

For a moment, just a moment, he forgot about it while he was with her.

Luna ended up at the great hall, happy for some more pudding, since she chucked the last she had at Draco. Luna saw Harry come up to her while she was sitting down at the Ravenclaw table.

"Are you alright Luna?"

"Yes, I'm well thanks, how are you?" She flashed him a smile.

"I-I'm good, but are you sure Luna? I saw Malfoy running after you, he looked really mad."

"Oh I threw my pudding at him."Harry looked shocked.

"Yes, then I ran away and he ran after me, then we ended up laughing and I went here.""Really?"

"Yes, why?"

"It just.. Doesn't seem like the thing he would do.. Well okay then Luna, as long as your alright, see you around." Luna waved to him as he walked back to the great hall. Luna sat there eating the rest of her food, then headed to the library, dropping off a couple of books. While she was putting them back she heard Pansy get told off for making out in the library, Luna couldn't help but laugh a little.

She walked out of the library, and saw Michael Corner, a boy that was a year older then Luna. He had black hair that went just above his shoulders. Michael came over to her smiling nervously.

"Hey, Luna,"

"Hello Michael." Luna smiled at him and kept walking, him falling in step with her.

"You look nice today Luna,"

"Thankyou,"

They kept walking in silence for a little while before he finally asked her, "Hey Luna, I don't see you with any other boys, so are you single?"

"I am actually."

"Did you want to go out sometime?"

"No thanks, I'm not looking for anyone."

"Luna I mean, as a date, did you want to go out..?"

Luna shook her head and kept up her pace. "I told you before, no thankyou."

He grabbed her arm and turned her towards him. "Please Luna!" he asked her more desperately.

Luna yanked her arm free. "I told you before.. I don't want to.. I need to go now." L

una rushed off towards the great hall, where people were still eating so she could get away. She quickly sat with Ginny, trying to blend in. "Hey Luna, what's up?"

Luna leant towards her and whispered in her ear "I think the Nargles are onto me.."

Ginny started laughing and Luna leant back. "I'm serious!"

"Okay okay, Luna. I don't think they will do anything that bad."

"They might.." Luna said looking around.

Ginny sighed and placed a hand on Luna's shoulder. "Calm down, I'll stay with you for a while so I can keep an eye out."

"Okay, thanks Ginny!" Luna smiled. She didn't like lying to her friend, but she figured it was the better thing to do in this situation.

Luna waited until Ginny was finished with her dinner so they could walk around the school. They walked to the lake and around it all night, playing a short game of truth or dare. Then Ginny wanted to get some sleep, so she and Luna parted ways, Luna went back to the Ravenclaw Common Room and found that all of her stuff had been chucked all over the common room, including underwear.

Luna sighed and used a spell to return all of the items back to her trunk, everything was back in place but people had still seen her personal belongings. Some people that we're in the common room made a few jokes as Luna climbed to her dorm room.

Ignoring them all she changed and went to sleep, to find herself dreaming about floating on the black lake.

Luna woke up the next morning, and hung around by herself most of the day. She done a little studying and exploring of the school. The day was peaceful, but uneventful. She done the same on Sunday, but decided to take a trip to the forest to visit the Thestrals.

Everything went fine again for a couple of days, though on Wednesday, things took a turn. She ran into Michael again. She had gotten a note, that was written in Ginny's handwriting and signed by her, so meet in one of the empty classrooms. Luna thought it was Ginny, so she went in there and looked around for her.

"Hello? Ginny, don't tell me the Nargles have gotten to you." Luna laughed softly.

She heard the door lock behind her, and a person step out of the shadow's that wasn't Ginny.

"Hello Luna, sorry I had to lie to get you here.""Michael?"

"Yes, it's me." He walked right up to Luna and looked into her eyes. "Please Luna, be mine!""I t-told you before-" Luna said in a quiet voice before being interrupted.

"No! I'm sick of rejection, this time I am going to get the girl." Michael stepped closer to her and then shoved her against the wall, she shrieked. "Get away from me!" Luna yelled out, putting her hands in his chest to push him away.

Luna wasn't that strong though, and it had no affect on him. Michael pinned her arms next to her and presses his lips against hers, forcing his tongue between her lips. She reacted quickly, biting on his tongue and fumbling with her wand.

He pulled away from her, glaring. "Now why would you do that?" He asked her, just before he slapped her. Luna tried not to show any pain, but she couldn't help but wince a little. He forcefully kissed her again, and she got her wand out and managed to unlock the door silently while he was kissing her. She made it look like she was pushing a strand of hair away from her head, when she was actually moving her wand.

Michael left her mouth, then moved his head a little so his mouth was on her neck. He sunk his teeth into her flesh, leaving a mark. Luna pushed him away and kicked him where the sun didn't shine. She ran away and ran out through the door.

Luna couldn't help her emotions this time, she let out a few tears while running out. Not looking where she was going she ran into someone and fell over. Luna quickly brought her hands up to her face to wipe away the tears and blink back new ones.

"Would you watch where your going Lovegood?" Draco said with a sigh.

Luna stood up and tried not to look at him, instead she looked at her shoes.

"Sorry Draco, uh, see you later.."

Luna started to walk off, but Draco stepped in front of her again."Did someone slap you? I can see the red mark on your face."Luna indistinctively raised her hand to her cheek to cover the mark. "No, the uhm.. Nargles threw a shoe at me and it hit me in the face. It quite hurt. So I must be off, I need to go heal it.. Haha.. Ha." Luna laughed nervously at the end and started to skip off. She skipped so fast he couldn't catch up, but she then fell over again.

Her hair moved as she fell, exposing the bite mark. Draco seemed to notice it and she put her hair back to cover her neck straight away.

"You can't hide it from me Lovegood, I saw the mark."Luna shook her head and forced a smile upon her lips, "It's not what you think, I swear, Just went to the forest and got bitten my a creature. Now I really must be off." Luna gulped then started to walk off. She looked over her shoulder, he didn't look exactly concerned, but he looked confused.

"Lovegood wait up!""Goodbye Draco." Luna said as she slipped around the corner and couldn't be seen anymore.