Disclaimer: Not JK…

A/n: This chapter is utterly stupid and I'm not at all happy with the way it went but this is necessary for the next chapters to progress so… what I'm saying is that this is not the best of my chapters, so hang in there!

Chapter : 3

#3: When you're the one who levitates her sock from the castle ceiling rather than the one sticking it there, you know you're bringing it upon yourself

The Great Hall was filled with the merry chatter of the students as dinner progressed. Christmas spirit was thick in the air despite the threat of the Dark Lord. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs mingled with each other, discussing holiday plans and last minute shopping agendas. Even the Slytherin table, which was usually the most silent of the four was openly cheerful, and some even thought they spotted a smile on their forever impassive faces. Towards the end of the table where the sixth and seventh years sat, the excitement was a bit low and one particular group of them were especially aloof.

Blaise sat still, looking at his half full plate in distaste. He knew he'd never be able to finish his dinner. He had lost his appetite a while back. He had learnt to pretend as if he was eating when people began wondering. But today, he was fed up. He didn't even make an attempt at eating; stood up abruptly and left without a word to his friends. And noone thought to question him. They were too preoccupied with their own predicaments to bother anyway. If it had been a normal day, Draco would have been the first one to call out to him. Now, he could only offer him a tilt of the head before his soulless eyes turned back to his plate, not seeing anything before him. It pained Blaise to see his once arrogant and proud friend reduce himself to this bleak mess. But there was nothing he could do about it. Before he left the Hall, he turned one last time to look back and found himself looking into the probing eyes of Thoedore Nott. His normal disinterested look was replaced with a distinct twinkle that told him that he knew something was up.

Shrugging, he left the Hall and began wandering the castle, as had become his habit. The castle was always deserted this time and he welcomed the loneliness. The full moon was shining in all its glory outside, casting an illusory glow on all the objects it touched. Blaise stopped by the windowsill, staring at the scenery outside. This part of the castle was closest to the forbidden forest and his eyes were drawn to them. The trees swayed in the wind that was blowing, making them appear darker than before. A sorrowful howl from the forest shook him and he quickly walked away, not wishing to look at its source.

As he wandered, Blaise tried to come to a conclusion about his Christmas holidays. He did not wish to spend it in his mother's manor. He didn't hate her but that did not mean that he would subject himself to her presence for a whole fortnight. That would be a nightmare. His mother's painted face rose in his mind, false smile intact. It was almost too easy for him to picture his mother murdering someone. He knew that there was much more to her than just an unlucky woman whose husbands seemed to die away soon after marriage. But of course, he wouldn't dream of accusing her of it. She was his mother afterall and no matter what, family came first. But that did not help him decide in anyway.

Turning a corner, he came upon a sight that was both familiar and new. Luna Lovegood stood in the middle of the corridor, looking up at the ceiling in despair. She kept waving her wand at it but it was apparent from the sulky expression on her face that whatever she was trying wasn't working. His feet moved down the corridor of their own accord and he tried to ignore her as he took a side route.

"Argh!" her exclamation caught his attention, making him hesitate. It took all of one second for him to decide before his feet dragged him back to her.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" "Craiceann amach!"

"Derretirse" Luna watched in surprise as the sock she had been trying to bring down floated to her outstretched palm. She turned around to see that Blaise was walking quickly towards her, a frown on his lips. His eyes seemed to glare at her, as if chiding her for something. She stood straight, preparing herself or the hex that would so obviously come. He was becoming too predictable now-a-days. Sighing, she gazed at his face serenely, knowing he hated not being able to predict others' moves. He prided himself on being able to anticipate people's reactions and emotions. Right on cue, an irritation appeared on his face before he hid it behind the usual vacant mask.

"What are you doing here at this time of the night? Don't you know that it's dangerous to be out alone? Do you ever listen to what I say?" he almost shook her in his apprehension, holding her close to him. Luna looked at him in utter surprise. What was he saying? Blaise was behaving quite uncharacteristically and it took Luna a second before she could trust herself to reply without showing off her astonishment.

"That I'm a loony bin? No, thank you" she tried to move away but he refused to let go of her.

"Manhandling? Really, Zabini! Ran out of ways to taunt me with words and hexes, did you?" her voice was unusually scathing, making him take a step back. His eyes expressed his shock clearly and he didn't even bother hiding it. She seemed flustered by the sharp remark herself and using his slack grip on her, quickly left. She was almost at the end of the corridor when she heard hurried footstep behind her and his strained voice calling out to her.

"Luna wait!" she turned and waited as he jogged to where she was standing. He stood still for a minute, looking at the window beside them and Luna considered leaving when his quiet, velvety voice broke the silence between them.

"This is so hard for me to say so I hope this works. What I wanted to say was…That is…" It gave her great amusement to see the all too composed Blaise Zabini at a loss for words. She also had a vague idea about what he was trying to say so she folded her hands and looked at him, trying to pull off an impatient look.

"I apologise for the way I spoke to you. I had no right to yell at you the way I did. What I had actually wanted to say was that these are dangerous times and that you shouldn't be roaming around the castle alone."

"Thanks, Zabini. I really appreciate it" she said and smiled at him. Something seemed to change in his expression and she looked back to ensure that noone was standing behind her. By now, he had noticed the list in her hand and before she could object, drew it out of her grasp.

"What's this?" he asked her as he went through a list that was titled "Lost".

"That's just the list of things I've lost this year. I'm sure I'll find them hanging somewhere in the castle" she replied casually, trying to get the list back.

"How do you loose them in the first place? You don't seem to be that absent minded"

"No. It's just that some think its fun to play treasure hunt with my things"

"Treasure hunt?"

"It's a muggle game"

"What you mean is that they hide away your things, is that it? Why don't you just summon them?"

"I did try it once. After being hit with a thousand different pairs of socks, I gave up" she smiled in earnest now and Blaise felt bad for her. He now understood how it would have been for her when he and the rest of the Slytherins pranked her. He had done it for his own sanity but that, it seemed, had affected her far too much.

"I'm sorry" seeing her confused expression, he clarified, "For all those times. I never thought this teasing would affect you so"

"Oh, that's all right. I didn't mind. Made life here a bit more entertaining. And it was good to have someone pay attention to me. Even if it was just to hex me"

"Oh, come on! I'm sure you have friends from that group Potter ran last year?" he asked, protesting.

"You knew about that?" Luna seemed genuinely surprised and he couldn't help laugh at her naïveté.

"Of course I did. You weren't very secretive about it. I even thought of popping in one day if only to shock everyone" he laughed at her amazed expression. Luna couldn't help but smile. She liked the conversation she was having with him. It proved to her that he was something more than the snide person he had seemed and the fact somehow seemed important to her.

"So why did you never come?"

"Just think about it. Would you consider entering the 'enemy territory' so to speak, alone? Add to that that it was a Defence against the Dark Arts session. Can you blame me for steering clear?"

"You mean you were afraid that we'd have attacked you" she was laughing openly at him now and it didn't bother him as much as he had thought it would.

"I'm not brave enough to stand in front of thirty armed students without a wand, thank you"

"But you didn't tell anyone about it either. Thanks for that"

"I thought it would remain my indirect contribution to opposing Umbridge. The toad of a woman that she was" Blaise shook his head in disgust.

"Was that why you never joined the 'Inquisitorial Squad'?" she asked making quotes in the air and he nodded, explaining.

"It was stupid, really. I mean what did the Ministry think they could do? Hide You-Know-Who in a closet or something?"

Luna burst out laughing, her mind bringing up vivid pictures of Voldemort stuck in a jammed closet. Blaise stared at her in wonder. He really was becoming too interested in her. He realised it, but there was no way to stop himself now. For the first time in his life, Blaise felt confident in doing what he wanted rather than what was good for his reputation.

They were walking towards the Ravenclaw commonroom once again and Luna was hit with a sense of deja vu. Turning to Blaise she asked the one question that had been plaguing her since her third year.

"I've always wanted to ask you something" she began mysteriously.

"What is it? If it is going to be about You-know-who, the answer will most probably be that I don't know" he said in a warning tone that had her back tracking. It suddenly hit her that she was associating herself with the same kind of person she had vehemently despised. She knew for sure that Blaise's left arm would be marred with a life long scar in a few years. She had always known that. But why did that epiphany suddenly hit her like a blizzard?

Seeing her falter in her steps, Blaise stopped and turned to her, unaware of the turmoil inside her. He stepped towards her, glad to see that she did not retreat.

"What is it? You wanted to ask something, did you not?"

"It…It was nothing. I, um…need to get back to my commonroom. And I'd appreciate it if you'd not mention this to anyone else. I don't want you to spoil your eligibility over a meaningless conversation with someone like me"

Blaise was left standing alone in the middle of the corridor, wondering what she had meant. His eligibility? For what? Deciding to let her cool off, he began walking in the opposite direction, instead of going after her like he wanted to. He did not feel like returning to his commonroom and began wandering the castle once again.

The silence of the walls around him gave him room to think things over. He knew now that his attempts to push Luna away from his mind had been a fruitless venture. She already occupied all of his thoughts and he knew his mind wasn't strong enough to dismiss her off.

It had taken him a few years and too many pranks but he now saw Luna for what she really was. And now that he knew, he desperately wanted to know more of her.

Which proved to be the most difficult task over the week, as he tried unsuccessfully to track her down. He could have been trying to catch a gust of mist in his hand for all the success he was having, leaving him frustrated and snappy.

Luna, on the other hand, was busy trying to forget Blaise by hiding in the confines of her dorm. The hiding part had been easy, the forgetting, not at all. No matter how much she tried to think of him as a Death eater, her mind refused, bringing up the memories of his smiling face and his protests as he had defended himself at her accusations. What she had thought would have been an easy task, was proving to be the hardest she had ever done.

She had really tried, going as far as to accept Harry's invitation to the Slug Club party, but even there, she kept glancing behind her back. She did not want to meet him again, but a part of her kept looking for his face and she left quickly, without even bothering to tell Harry.

She was sure Ginny suspected something and Hermione, being the clever devil she was must know something too but thankfully, they remained silent. Luna, for once in her life, looked forward to her Christmas holidays which she had decided to spend in the castle. A fortnight alone in the castle would be ideal for her.

Little did she know that she wasn't going to get any of that quietude in the castle with him in it too.

A/n: Review!