'And is that the absolute truth, Miss Lovegood?' Snape's glare was particularly piercing although it seemed to be aimed more at Draco than Luna.

'Yes, sir.'

If there was one thing Luna Lovegood was bad at, it was lying and yet, Snape was somehow willing to believe her unbelievable story. Luna felt herself cringing as he repeated it back to her.

'Miss Lovegood had been...' he paused, raising his eyebrows questioningly and inside Luna resisted the urge to laugh that the true part of the story was the part Snape found unbelievable. '...sleepwalking and Mr Malfoy had been kind enough to follow her and make sure that she did not harm herself. And you were just on your way back to your dorms when I ran into you.'

Luna began to nod furiously not meeting his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Draco's expression of despair at her pathetic excuse for acting.

'Is that correct, Mr Malfoy?'

A smirk replaced the despair as Draco replied. 'It is, Professor.'

Snape's expressionless face almost seemed to betray his disgust as his pointed to the door.

'You may go.'

Luna scurried out of the room, followed by Draco, a familiar swagger back in his step. As they walked away, the petty side of Draco started the insults without thinking.

'Not too bad, Lovegood. But don't ever consider acting.'

'Blackmailers can't be choosers.' Luna retorted, her annoyance emerging through her wit.

'It's nothing personal. It had to be done.'

Luna stopped short. 'Or we could have just told the truth. We weren't doing anything wrong.'

Draco turned, a peculiar look in his eyes. 'Speak for yourself, Lovegood.'

And he left Luna trying to decide if his expression had been angry or upset and what reason he had for being either of the two things.

Rumours had started, been spread and then they had been dismissed either by Draco's fist or Luna's quiet disbelieving laughter. They had soon died out as December arrived and there was talk of Slughorn's Christmas party and plans being made for over Christmas. Luna had joined in with the chatter but a part of her was always keeping watch on Draco. She had heard Harry's theories and although Harry was probably her friend and she could trust him, she couldn't help but feel Harry's grudge against Draco, might be stopping him from seeing the whole picture.

She often saw him walking in the forbidden forest when she was out feeding the thestrals. He never noticed her, he always seemed too deep in thought. But Luna had seen him and she was noticing that each time she saw him, his walk was slower and his expressions were becoming more and more thoughtful as though his thoughts were exhausting him.

Draco Malfoy was hiding something and Luna had reached the conclusion that sometimes, curiosity had it's benefits.

I've got quite a few chapters already written. The hardest thing I'm finding with writing this is trying to keep within the major events of the book. I don't usually write around books, I usually write before or after them so this is a real challenge. I hope you are enjoying it so far. The next chapter will be up later tonight and once exams and my pantomime performances are all done, I should be able to spend more time writing.

Thank you to everyone who reviews, it's so lovely to feel appreciated. x