The spell rebounded, hitting Draco square in the chest and throwing him hard against the bare stone wall. His head jerked back hitting the sharp edge of one of the bricks, bringing tears to his eyes as a sharp pains shot through his skull. His hand shaking, he reached up to where the pain was coming from. Pulling his fingers away, he barely noticed the red that stained them. Sighing, he rested his head against the wall, feeling a streak of heat as the blood dribbled down his neck. It was probably not the best way to start a new year but he didn't care anymore. He was so tired and stressed. No-one would come to find him. Lessons were going on and he had made his excuses. No-one cared enough to question them.

He could see his vision start to go cloudy and with a slight smile he let himself relax. Maybe at last he would get some sleep.

'Malfoy?'

Draco had started to open his eyes before his brain had realised who that voice belonged to. He found himself staring straight into the silvery-grey eyes of Luna Lovegood. She was knelt next to him, looking at him in a way only his mother had ever looked at him; with concern.

And so he asked her the first question that had popped into his head.

'You called me Malfoy?'

'I thought you were more likely to respond. Can you lean forwards please, you seem to be bleeding.'

'I don't need you to help me, Lovegood.'

Draco tensed as Luna's fingers found the gash at the base of his skull, breathing sharply.

Luna apologised and began searching through her pockets for her wand, before finding it tucked behind her ear.

'Oh I know you don't want me to help you. But I think perhaps you do need me to.'

She looked at him sternly before pushing away his hand, pointing her wand at the wound and uttering a spell Draco had never heard before.

Draco felt his head jerk forwards slightly but at the same time, he noticed the pain disappear. He rubbed the back of his head, as though making sure she hadn't actually damaged his head any further. Satisfied that his head was still attached to the rest of him, he sat up.

'So, what brings you to this deserted bathroom, Loony? Stalking me again?'

'Actually, I got something strange on my hands in potions and Professor Snape told me to wash it off and if my hand started to burn, I had to go to see Madame Pomfrey. But I've washed it off now and everything seems to be alright.'

'I mean why are you in here?' He watched her closely. 'No-one ever comes in here. That's why it's so perfect for whenever you want to... be alone.'

Luna smiled. 'I don't really mind coming in here. Sometimes it's worth putting up with Myrtle's screaming to just have some time when you don't have to answer everyone's questions. And besides, maybe it's fate. If I hadn't come in here, you would have just been left to bleed.'

Draco resisted the urge to make some sarcastic comment about how that would have been preferable to actually having to put up with her and instead turned his attention to the state of his 'rescuer'.

Something had slipped out from her shirt as she had leant over and it was now hanging at an odd angle around her neck. Taking the single cork between his fingers, Draco looked at her with a bemused and slightly mocking expression which Luna seemed to ignore.

'It keeps away the nargles. They live in mistletoe. It was useful this christmas, my house was full of it.'

Draco nodded. He wasn't agreeing with her. Merlin knows, all that came out of her mouth was gibberish. He was simply accepting that he had heard her and understood her mostly. She was keeping him from thinking about the more disturbing things that had plagued him the entire holidays with her nonsense and for that at least, he was grateful. He let the cork drop from his fingers shifting his position so he was more comfortable. Luna seemed to suddenly become aware of how close they were, leaning back and looking awkwardly to her left.

Draco watched her and realised in that moment that he actually had a lot to be grateful to Luna Lovegood for. He would never say thank you, it wasn't in his nature and she was on scarface's side and voldemort would probably kill both him and her if he found out he had been talking to her...

The excuses and reasoning kept coming and Draco argued with himself for all of fifteen seconds before coming to the conclusion that Voldemort was going to kill him anyway for not killing Dumbledore so it didn't matter what he did.

'Luna?'

As Luna turned her head, Draco slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips to hers in the most gentle of kisses he could have managed. He pulled back slowly but only far enough for his eyes to meet hers. She looked shocked but not disgusted. Taking this as a positive thing, Draco used his other hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting onto his knees so he was higher than her. Her eyes never left his for a moment but strangely her eyes were not scared, more expectant.

As he leaned in again, Draco saw her eyes close and he kissed her more confidently. She was inexperienced, he could tell, but that made it all the more interesting.

They did not separate for a long time and when they did, the realisation of what he had just done dawned on Draco. His disbelief was obviously evident in his face Luna smiled reassuringly.

'A knock on the head can make you do strange things.'

Draco nodded, trying to convince himself. Gently Luna removed his hand and took a step back , her eyes never leaving his. Pivoting on one foot, she began to skip towards the door. She was pulling the door behind her when Draco called her again.

'Lovegood?'

Her head popped around the door, her eyes wide and her faint eyebrows raised.

'Yes?'

'If a knock to the head can make you crazy, did your Dad throw you at a wall when you were a baby?'

Luna smiled, nodded and disappeared, leaving Draco wondering if her Dad had actually thrown her at a wall.

Hey ho! Another long chapter - I think it's because things are becoming a lot more interesting. I had some trouble deciding if this was the right place to put this chapter since I've had it written for months but I think it is right. I've been in London with my friends for the past few days and I have been to kings cross and seen all the sights. It was so much fun!
So if you enjoyed it, tell me. I love reviews so much.

I would also like to thank everyone who had reviewed so far. Reading through the reviews has helped to push me in keeping the chapters coming. I'll get the next one up soon.