He hadn't been at the quidditch match. Luna had scanned the grounds several times before the match but there was no sign of him. From her position in the commentators box she had the perfect view of all the stands and he was not in any of them. There was nothing left to do but commentate and so she did. Although she often got side tracked and forgot about what exactly she was meant to be commentating on.

When Harry had been knocked off his broom she had been discussing the chance of rain based on the current positions of Saturn, Mars and a planet no one else seemed to believe existed. She had, of course, been very concerned for his safety but after a brief comment on how she thought the Gryffindor keeper was getting his job muddled up and wishes for Harry's speedy recovery, she was back to discussing everything except the events happening on the quidditch pitch.

From where he was sat in the library, Draco could hear Luna chattering away. He was only half listening but the constant stream of gibberish was helping him to stay calm as he searched for a solution to his newest hurdle. Where once the vanishing cabinet had not had the capability to transport living things at all, now it was. The only problem was when he had experimented with the spells he had found, parts of the birds were constantly being left behind, something which was fine with small birds of little importance but not so fine with angry and impatient death-eaters in the mood for blood. He had given up trying to use the spells he already had and had gone searching in the empty library whilst the rest of the school enjoyed quidditch.

He had smirked when Harry had been knocked off his broom, even more so when Luna had barely batted an eyelid. It was true, quidditch injuries were easily remedied but it still gave Draco a certain sense of satisfaction to know that maybe for once, someone cared more about his well-being than they did about Harry's.

He worked for the rest of the afternoon, writing down spells, making notes on apparition and splinching and anything that seemed to have some relevance to what was happening to the birds, all the while listening to Luna as she commentated. He once heard her wonder aloud about why some people hadn't turned up to such an entertaining quidditch match and assumed of course that it was directed at him, which it was.

As a loud cheer signalled the catching of the snitch and the end of the match, Draco shut the book he had been blankly staring at with a bang which even earned a 'shhh' from Madame Price, who had so far not even acknowledged his presence, and strolled out of the library, his head full of spells and determination.

Without much effort he had found Crabbe and Goyle in their dorm, stuffing their faces with an alarming amount of cake sent by their mothers who seemed to be convinced that Hogwarts never supplied enough food. With one bark of command, they shuffled unwillingly to stand outside the room of requirement having changed into their disguises.

And so once again it began. One bird after another went into the vanishing cabinet and came back in one way or another but all with one thing in common. They were all incomplete.

The final straw came for Draco when one of the birds returned missing its head. He sank to his knees, his head resting in defeat on the vanishing cabinet but he didn't cry. Crying was his release mechanism but he was so scared that even his body could see no way out. He felt physically sick and the room of requirement, living up to its name, helpfully supplied him with a bucket when the sickness became more than just a feeling. Draco told himself that it was the sight of the headless bird that had made him sick but no amount of lying could stop him from knowing the real reason had been fear. He had three months left... if he was lucky. The dark Lord was growing impatient, his mothers letters had warned him and who knew how long it would be before he took out his impatience on Draco's family or on Draco himself.

Rinsing out his mouth with the glass of water that had appeared next to him, Draco struggled to his feet. Weakness was not something he showed in front of his 'friends'. He had earned their friendship with aggression and it seemed the only way to keep it. Whilst he had no desire for friendship, he needed their help in his mission so it was worth putting up for them for that.

The polyjuice potion had worn off and when Draco arrived outside, he met with a pair of irritated idiots who made sure to tell him just about every issue they had dealt with within the past hour. He had managed to block them out as they walked back to the Slytherin Dungeon but it seemed that everything was meant to go wrong that night as a pair of familiar faces rounded the corner. Hermione looked as though she'd got a bee in her bonnet and as always Luna did not seem to be listening to a word she was saying something which, Draco noticed, annoyed her greatly.

His eyes met hers for a second, no longer, but it was enough to tell Draco that she had seen straight through his blank expression. They had just walked past but as Draco had feared, the boredom that had been driving his friends mad couldn't be contained when the two easiest targets in the school had so readily appeared.

With a cry of 'Oi, mudblood, only capable of having lunatics as friends now?' the confrontation began. Draco remained silent, watching the bumbling baffoons try to insult girls who had ten times their intelligence and all the while wishing he could be back in the common room.

'You're pathetic, getting your friends to fight your battles for you.'

The sarcastic demon within Draco emerged without thinking.

'At least my team work together. Can't say the same for your quidditch team can we? Personally, I blame the Captain.'

'Harry's doing a great job.'

Draco was beginning to feel a bit like his old self, petty arguments like this reminded him of better times.

'Of course he is, good result was it, Granger?'

'He was knocked off his broom you insesitive ferret!'

The insult barely registered, he was worse things than a ferret now.

Crabbe and Goyle were gabbling something in reply but Hermione wasn't listening. Draco had not replied and it was frustrating her.

'You look ill Draco. You should go see Madam Pomfrey.' Luna's voice rang out from behind Hermione and all at once the three who had been aguing stopped and looked in confusion, first at Luna, then at Draco, who now not only looked ill but also angry.

'I did not ask for your opinion, Loony. So if you and little miss mudblood would be so kind as to stop wasting my time, I have more important things to deal with.'
His voice was so cold that he could even see Luna struggling to see through it. He could see the confusion in her eyes as Hermione pulled her away but he kept his expression hard. Under no circumstances could anyone suspect that he had any contact with Luna other than meetings like these. He had a reputation and a mission on which too many people's lives already depended. He did not want to add her to the list by implying that he cared about her. His world was too dangerous to let anyone else in.

So sorry again for how long it's taken to update, I had a busy second week of easter and now I'm back at college so it's going to be even harder to update.
Just a word of warning. I have big exams coming up in the next six weeks so from now until the end of May I may not update that often. I will try though because I know how frustrating it can be to want to read the next chapter.
Thanks to everyone for your patience and reviews!