Luna Lovegood stood at the doorway, head tilted to the right. If someone were to be walking down the seventh floor hallway as she exited the Room of Requirement, the game would be up. That was one reason that those inside the room tried to leave and return only during the night. However, she had to make an appearance at dinner and so would have to chance Fate.

"Luna," came a nervous voice from behind her, and she turned and perked her chin up.

"Neville," she responded evenly in her unique voice.

"Luna, please do take care of yourself." Neville's awkwardness faded away as his face hardened. "The Carrows are evil and the Slytherins aren't much better. We'll fix this - we will." He paused and his voice took on a very careful tone. "But maybe you should be trying to fit in, for a while. Don't attract attention. It might even be safest if you moved in here soon."

Luna blinked her round eyes at him. Neville always thought her expression made her look both incredibly engaged and disengaged simultaneously. On one hand you could tell that her mind did not work with the same rules as others'. On the other hand, when Luna listened she listened with her whole being.

"Perhaps, Neville. But then, you have an ulterior motive for asking, don't you?" queried Luna with no judgment in her voice.

"Wha-... What?" Neville sputtered and glanced around quickly to make sure the few others in the room were paying them no mind. The color began to rise in his cheeks.

"Well," explained Luna, her voice dreamy, "You seem to appreciate my visits very much. Much more than you like to talk to Anthony Goldstein, which is understandable given that you rarely leave the same room as him. Lavender and you seem to have very little in common despite both being Gryffindors. I suppose I make for an interesting break from routine. Right?" Her big eyes looked up at him and slowly blinked.

Neville put his hand behind his neck self consciously. "Um, you must be right Luna. Just please take care of yourself."

Luna let the glow of being cared for slowly seep into her chest and warm her. She blinked once more at Neville, not breaking eye contact, and slowly let a big smile slip onto her face.

"Of course, Neville. I will be seeing you soon." Without pausing to question Fate, she turned to the door and slipped quietly out into the hall, the door sliding shut behind her. Neville watched her go, then stared at the closed door for a moment longer before letting out a light sigh and turning back to the strange room he lived in these days. During her report Luna had promised to visit once more before going home for winter break in a week, and Neville already wondered how soon she would be back. Guilt filled him momentarily for his impatience with his living situation, before he got himself under control.

Help the students and stay alive. Those were the goals he had set himself. Luna was a student but also a soldier in this neverending battle he fought against Severus Snape. He knew that he was her General, in a way, and that she was not a weak pawn in this game. But looking at her it was sometimes hard to remember it. He took a moment to let his mind move past her visit, then walked back toward the central reporting table to plan his next assault.

Silver eyes watched as Loony Lovegood made her way down the stairs, arms swinging in tune to the quiet humming she was doing. These silver eyes knew better than most what would interest a student coming down this particularly set of stairs. There was only one room of note in the corridor above.

He watched as she slowly stilled and turned her head around her in a slow circle. He imagined her pulse speeding up and a sixth sense telling her she was not alone. He saw through her humming and overall battiness. In a strange way, it reminded him of his mother.

When most people saw his mother, they thought they knew everything about her in just a few moments. Beautiful, wealthy, ambitious, and married to a powerful man, and all those things were true about her. However by letting everyone see a superficial version of herself, his mother was allowed a level of subtlety and secrecy that most could not obtain. Any question to an Auror about her strength in battle and they would answer with a description of her pale countenance when her husband was sentenced to Azkaban two years ago. If one wondered about her loyalties they would think instead of the Malfoy family that she had married into, and forget entirely that she was born a Black.

Lovegood had resumed walking down the stairs with slightly more urgency, and he didn't leave his alcove or remove his Notice Me Not charm until she was long gone. He pondered what to do with this information, which of course he had already expected before planting himself in this spot and barely moving from it for two days.

There was a Mark on his arm pronouncing what he was to the world, and like simpletons most saw that and nothing else. Some of them had judged him differently than others - he scowled at the memory of Dumbledore - but it was this Mark that defined him to them. Like his mother, like Luna Lovegood, and like others he had yet to consider, he had many layers. He had first been Draco Malfoy before he ever was Marked, and the question now was, what would most benefit Draco Malfoy?