The tail end of October's blistery winds churned their way around the solid stone corridors of the castle and twisted their way out onto the vast grounds that surrounded them. They lifted the hem of Seymour's Quidditch robes as he strolled across the school's wet pitch towards the castle. The sweat rolled down his forehead and cooled his face as it met the cold chill of the morning air. He breathed in heavily and waved to his fellow team mates as he left the pitch.

"How was practice Sey?" inquired Lloyd as he ran up to meet him, his bag literally at bursting point with books and parchment.

"Not bad, didn't fall off once." he smiled back as they both made there way towards the courtyard. As first practices go Seymour had to admit it had turned out to be a lot better than he'd hoped for and considering he hadn't expected to make the team in the first place it was a pleasant surprise to find that after overcoming his nerves with flying he found it rather easy to settle into the practice routine as they prepared for their first match against Ravenclaw.

"Where have you been?" he asked Lloyd eyeing up his friend's rather dishevelled appearance.

"Me and Neville have been nursing a year old Weltsnap root. It's just grown it's first vine and it smacked me right in the face before nearly throttling poor Neville."

Seymour thought the idea of tending to a baby Weltsnap sounded like something no sane person would willingly partake in but Lloyd was positively frothing with enthusiasm as he smiled cheerfully at his friend.

"Well… good." Seymour grinned back making a mental note to never go near the greenhouse whilst Lloyd or Neville were it's occupants. "I just wish we didn't have lessons this afternoon. I'm knackered." Seymour could already feel the pangs of muscle ache linger on his joints as he rubbed his shoulder over his uniform.

"Why don't you just skip then, you've still got a few puking pastels left from last year haven't you?" Lloyd's suggestion sounded rather tempting at this present time but Seymour shook his head and frowned.

"Better not, I fell asleep twice in Divination last week, if I skip as well then I'll never catch up."

Lloyd returned the frown and said, "I don't even know why you went for Divination Sey, it's boring. I know Alice is all for it but even Robin was wise enough to realise it was no use carrying it on after last year."

"Well according to Trelawney Robin was suppose to be dead by now so he couldn't really see the point in carrying it on. I need my sleep though and Divination's perfect for that."

Lloyd chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Fair enough but I wouldn't carry that habit over into Dark Arts. I know he's great and all but Professor Goodwin is really starting to freak me out."

It was true that after the fairly intense first session Professor Goodwin's lessons had only escalated since then. He didn't let one lesson go by without recounting another gruesome tail on the lengths some Death Eaters would go to serve Voldermort. He spoke about them with such loath and hate in his voice that no one dare point out that some of the students were becoming scared of turning up to his lesson for fear of having to relive another graphic chapter of the Professor's past. Not that they weren't learning anything of course. Every tale seem to revolve around one new charm he'd had to use to over come certain death. If only he wouldn't demonstrate them with such enthusiasm, thought Seymour as the image of William Elsegood from their last lesson sprang to mind. The poor boy had been singled out to have the Levicorpus Jinx performed on him to show the whole class it's effects. He spent a good ten minutes held aloft upside down whilst Professor Goodwin pointed out the finer points of the spell. Towards the end William's face was redder than the professor's cloak and the boy's cheeks kept bulging periodically for the next twenty minutes as if wrestling with the urge to throw up there and then.

"Yeah you're right, he's a little intense isn't he?" Seymour grinned glancing sideways at Lloyd who nodded.

"Yeah… just a bit." Lloyd shouldered his heavy satchel and stumbled sideways as they approached the windswept courtyard. "I've got a free period so I'll probably see you at dinner." he gave a wave with his free hand and made for the large stone steps that led to the castle.

"Yeah, see you." replied Seymour but his attention was already diverted in the direction of the only other student in the courtyard that at present time was busy trying to pull her house scarf from the nearest branch of a tree.

She jumped several times failing to grab its trailing end before patting herself down as if searching for something. Smiling weakly Seymour rolled his eyes and made his way over to the girl whilst watching her blonde locks of tangled hair bounce around her shoulders as a strong gust of wind took hold.

"Luna it's evidently clear that you and trees don't get along too well." Seymour observed as she turned to his voice smiling serenely before making another wild jump for the scarf.

"I'd agree Seymour if I had been the one to put it there but this would appear be the work of my classmates. I told you they like to hide my things." Luna carried no hint of weight in her voice as she said this but Seymour did his best anyway to pass over it with as little annoyance displayed on his face as he could.

"I wouldn't mind but today has been particularly cold and I've got Herbology in the greenhouses later this afternoon." She made one last valiant attempt to procure the tied scarf before giving up and patting around her robes once more, blowing the tangled hair from her face.

"Looking for this?" asked Seymour as he took hold of the wand resting behind her ear and offering it to her, desperately trying to keep a straight face.

"Ah yes. Thank you." she clapped her hands before taking it from him and gracefully waving it in the air to which the scarf unravelled itself from the branch and floated down into her hand. "I forgot I put it there."

"I thought that was the point in the first place. "You never know when you'll need your wand handy." Remember?" he reminded her of her own words.

"Yes well that's neither here nor there." she replied trying her best to look annoyed before breaking out into a grin.

"Are you ready to be told what day you'll be dying this week?" he asked shouldering his broom whilst picking up her bag.

"Daddy says Professor Trelawney isn't a particularly gifted Seer anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about the things she says." Luna took her bag from him and once again stuck her wand behind her ear.

"Well considering she said I'd have a severe case of Spattergroit by now I'm inclined to agree with him." he smiled at her as they made there way towards the castle entrance. "I'll have to change first so I'll meet you there. At least it'll be warm, I nearly froze to death during Friday's potions lesson and I… Luna, what's wrong?" Seymour turned around to find that Luna had stopped a few paces back and was staring over across the other side of the courtyard.

"Seymour." Luna called him over and he stood next to her watching as short first year girl came running out from the deserted corridors. She was clearly in distress as she was sobbing as she ran, her tears flew behind her with the wind until she came to a halt at the nearest bench and slumped down onto it, burying her head in her hands and putting them onto her knees.

"I wonder what's wrong?" Luna pondered and before he had a chance to reply she had already grabbed Seymour's hand and was marching over to where the small girl sat, her sobs drowning out any sound of their approaching footsteps. "Excuse me." Luna stopped in front of student and looked down at her. "What's wrong?"

The girl's sobs stopped almost instantly and she wrenched her face up from her hands and peered through streaming eyes at the two of them. Her face was soft and slender with skin almost porcelain white, her eyes if not for the tears obscuring them where a dazzling green and sat as the predominant feature on her face which was framed by long lengths of straight slinky black hair which reached as far as her waist. She looked almost doll like in appearance.

The girl stared at the two of them for a few seconds before opening her wet eyes wide, searching around her looking for any other students.

"Me?" she inquired as if the question put to her was almost absurd. She sniffed and did her best to wipe her damp eyes on the sleeve of her robe.

"Yes." replied Luna dropping down to her knees and pulling out a blue handkerchief from her pocket and handing it to the girl. "What's happened, why are you crying?" Luna's eyes were focused solely on the emotional girl and she frowned in concern as she watched the girl dry her face. She took them both in once more before more tears began to roll down her white cheeks.

"I don't want to go back in there. I can't stand it." she sobbed even harder and let the huge tears roll down onto her lap as she peered desperately into Luna's eyes.

"Back in where?" Luna asked rubbing the girl's shoulder as Seymour took a seat next to the girl. Her Hufflepuff robes were doused in tears and she tugged hard at the neck before rubbing at her eyes again.

"Back in there." she pointed towards the castle and stemmed the flow of tears before she continued. "It's the same as back home, everyone ignores me. Dad said it would be different once I got here, said I'd make friends but he lied. Nothing's changed but I can't say I want to leave, Dad would be so mad."

Seymour could sense the tears lingering on the surface of the girls words and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she looked at him and then back at Luna biting her lower lip. "I don't like it in there." her voice trailed off as she sniffed and handed the handkerchief back to Luna who looked to Seymour and then back at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Marie." The girl tried her best to smile but the sadness still lingered on her face.

"Well Marie I'm Luna and this is Seymour." she pointed towards him and Seymour smiled back at the girl. "I'll happily be your friend, I don't have many myself so I know what it's like."

Seymour watched as Luna smiled happily at the young girl and instead of feeling pity he was filled with an immense warmth towards her and for some reason was also finding it difficult to look away from the blonde haired witch before him.

"You will?" the girl asked hopefully gazing back at Luna and then at Seymour who nodded reassuringly.

"Your lucky Luna found you first, she's a really good friend to have you know?" he added matter-of-factly with a grin giving the girl a playful nudge. Marie smiled back before turning her attention to Luna who for the first time wasn't looking at Marie and instead was looking straight at Seymour her expression oddly hard to read.

"Really?" asked Marie looking at Luna with an awed expression.

"Yep, wouldn't swap her for all the chocolate frog cards in the world." Seymour replied causing Marie to laugh and wipe the last of her tears from her face.

"You really don't like it here?" asked Luna finally looking back at the small girl.

"I love the grounds, out in the open with the lake and the forest." she smiled back looking into the far distance. "But not in there, it's too dark and cold. I can't stand it any more." She cast a sad look at the old castle and turned to the both of them. "What would you do?" she asked, the plea in her voice hard to ignore.

"Me?" Seymour stammered not really knowing the answer, "I'd probably run away." he joked, "But that's not really a good idea." he quickly added noting the hint of agreement in Marie's eyes. "Luna?"

"Well I'd try my absolute best before giving up. I know it's hard coming to a big new place full of strangers but I'm sure you'll love it given time and I'd want to be sure I'd done everything possible before deciding it was just too hard. Life can be difficult sometimes and it can be hard but if you don't learn to deal with these things you'll never achieve anything." Luna's voice was suddenly much clearer than her usual dreamy tone and she smiled confidently up at the girls face. "You've got to take action and decide what's best for you."

Marie's nodded and a flush of colour had finally returned to her face. "You're right." she rose from the bench and sheepishly ran her robed arm over her eyes again. "Thanks." she smiled and took a deep breath.

"Of course, we're friends now remember?" Luna stood up too and grabbed her bag off the floor.

It was only now standing next to Luna that Seymour realised how small Marie was. "Are you out here often Luna?" she asked as she took a few steps away from the pair.

"All the time. You can come to Hagrid's with us or help feed the Thestrals, it's great fun." Luna bounced on her feet and waved as the girl walked off towards the direction of the greenhouses where a group of other first year students were making their way. Marie waved back and turned away with a rather cheerful spring in her step.

"Wow Luna I'm impressed." Seymour looked down at her and smiled. He patted her softly on the back before grabbing his broom from the seat. Luna sighed heavily, "She reminds me of me when I first came here."

Seymour raised his eyebrows and looked back at Luna in shock. "Really?" he frowned as he tried to imagine Luna sitting on her own in floods of tears. "For some reason I can't quite picture it."

Luna continued to smile but something seemed different about the look she now wore. "I just never showed it quite like she does… but being alone all the time-" she trailed off mid sentence her face oddly distant as if far off somewhere. "Did you really mean that?" she asked finally, her eyes still drawn towards the far off grounds to where Marie had now disappeared.

"Mean what?" Seymour gazed at her and frowned.

"What you said." Luna finally looked back at Seymour and laughed at his bemused expression. "That was very kind of you." she added before putting her scarf inside her bag and patting it cheerfully. "Come on then, you'd better get changed unless you want to take Divination in your Quidditch robes. I hope something really interesting is going to happen in my future, I'm rather bored of the same old "you'll be dead by Monday."" She turned on the spot and skipped off towards the large castle doors. Seymour made his way after her still pondering on what had made her so happy.

The line leading up to the trapdoor of their Divination class stretched right back to the spiral staircase as Seymour trudged up the last few steps. He searched the small crowd and was surprised to find Luna and Alice stood together towards the end of the line, what he wasn't that surprised about was the fact that Luna was in mid performance of the odd little charm she had performed for Seymour during his Quidditch tryouts. Alice meanwhile had turned a bright shade of red and was desperately trying to pretend she had nothing to do with the peculiar ceremony even thought it appeared Luna's efforts were directed at her.

When she finally caught Seymour's eye she looked over at him pleadingly as if begging him to come and save her from the rather embarrassing situation. He himself couldn't contain his grin and he walked over and greeted them both.

"Hi Alice. What you up to Luna?" he asked flashing a smile at Alice.

"Seymour hi, I'll be with you in a moment. Alice was just telling me about how much of a struggle she was finding all of her O.W.L homework so I thought I would just pass on any of the leftover Wootburps I had to give her a hand." Luna explained this as if it was obvious and Seymour couldn't help chuckling as he watched on ignoring Alice's daggered stares.

"No Luna really it's alright, I think I'll be ok." she stammered backing so close to the castle wall it looked as if she was trying to walk through it.

"It's not a problem." said Luna as she continued to wave her arms above her head and through her hair.

"Yeah it's easy Alice. I might still have some left over from last time, do you want those too?" added Seymour dropping his bag and pretending to prepare to mimic Luna.

"NO! Thanks but that's just fine." Alice quickly grabbed hold of his arm and squeezed it tightly in a grip that was much harder than he thought possible. Just then the trapdoor to the classroom swung open and Professor Trelawney's voice could be heard from above beckoning the students in. Luna dropped her arms and beamed back at a bewildered Alice.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I… ah… really good, great. Thanks." Alice tried her best to smile but it broke out like a jagged line on her face and looked more like she was about to sneeze.

"Fantastic. Shall we?" Luna picked up her bag and motioned towards the ladder which the last of the class had now ascended. The welcome warmth of the large fire and the scented candles hit them instantly as they clambered into the circular classroom. As usual the comfy armchairs and poufs were laid out around the room next to small tables that contained cloudy crystal balls and empty china teacups.

Professor Trelawney still looking very much like a large insect floated around the room clutching her own crystal ball and was muttering something about Firenze under her breath. The three of them made there way over towards the remaining table and settled down into the soft chairs before pulling out their things.

"I wonder why Dumbledore bothered keeping both teachers on this year. I mean Umbridge isn't here anymore is she?" Seymour whispered ignoring Professor Trelawney who was busy addressing the class in her usual manor of predicting doom and gloom for any student who she happened to pass. Alice shrugged as she stuffed her bag under her chair.

"Ooh it looks like we'll be doing some tea leaf reading today. I can't wait." announced Luna as she picked up the empty tea cup and held it in her lap with a cheerful grin.

"Why's that Luna, do you think it's more accurate than the crystal ball?" asked Seymour leaning over and peering into the glass sphere between them.

"No I just fancied a cup, I'm really parched." she replied causing Seymour to snort with laughter.

"Shhh." Alice hissed not averting her gaze from the lesson going on before her. "This is really important you know? It could save your life if you know how to do this stuff properly." she stole a brief moment to give them both a stern look and then went back to hanging on the professor's every word.

"Sorry Alice." Seymour replied with a smirk catching Luna's eye, both of them trying not to laugh.

"Today we will once again be practicing the art of Tasseography but before we do I though a light spot of palmistry wouldn't do any harm." announced Professor Trelawney trying her hardest not to stumble over her long robes. "For our future we hold in our very hands, it does not bode well to ignore the clear signs they present to use before our very eyes. Please find partners everyone and open your books to page 154, I will make my way among you and guide as I see fit."

With this there was a great shuffling of chairs as people split off and moved closer to one another. Seymour sat with only Alice and Luna at the table looked at them both before suggesting, "Why don't you two work together, I'll go and work with Gregory Spencer from Hufflepuff, he looks like he hasn't got anyone to work with… that could be because he doesn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom but anyway..." Seymour grimaced at the two of them and stood up to make his way across the room but was stopped when he realised Luna had grabbed hold of his hand.

"Don't be silly Seymour, we can take it in turns can't we?" Luna looked over at Alice who in turn looked back at Luna's hand which was still holding on firmly to Seymour's and not looking likely to let go.

She smiled to herself and shook her head. "Don't worry I'll go work with someone else. I have no desire to go anywhere near Seymour's hands. He's a grubby boy you see?" Alice gave a triumphant smile noting Seymour's annoyed reaction before picking up her book and moving over towards Harriet Adlard making sure not to veer too close to Gregory Spencer on the way.

"They don't look too grubby." pondered Luna grabbing his hands with both of hers and turning them over.

"She's joking." said Seymour quickly still glaring in Alice's direction. "She's getting me back because I told Robin about her having to borrow my notes- hang on what do you mean "too grubby"?" he turned his head towards her and frowned, then held up his own hands in front of him.

"Well I mean you have just been to Quidditch practice so they weren't going to be spotless were they?" she grabbed hold of his hands and pointed out the light marks of mud that had come from his broom handle.

"Well yeah but they're not normally like this you know?" he pointed out hurriedly wiping them on his robes.

"Oh I wouldn't worry, look at mine they're not fairing too well either." she held out her hands and presented them to him. It was another one of those instances where Seymour wished he had somewhere else to be because as easy as it was for Luna, Seymour was finding it rather awkward as he took hold of her hands and turned them over in his palms. They were tiny compared to his but she wasn't lying for on her fingers and palms bore numerous scratches and scraps no doubt from constant tree climbing or Nargle catching.

"I got that one from Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewt last Wednesday." she noted proudly. Seymour nodded with a smile and traced the nasty scratch on her palm with his finger, he ran it over soft lines and noted that even though it was toasty warm inside the classroom her hands still felt slightly cold as if they longed to be outside in the chilly grounds. He smiled again and took both her hands in his and rubbed them together trying to bring the warmth of the room to them.

"I don't think you'll get very far without your book handy Seymour." Professor Trelawney's large owl likes eyes peered over his shoulder as she passed by their table.

"Book? What book?" Seymour leaned back away from her before realising what she meant and scrambled inside his bag for it. "Sorry I err… forgot." he looked over at Luna apologetically but realised she wasn't looking at him but was still looking at her hands which remained where they had been as if he hadn't let go and only peered up when Professor Trelawney cleared her throat and eyed Luna expectantly.

"Book dear?"

After another 10 minutes of palm reading Seymour didn't expect to live much longer due to his lifeline being shorter than Colin Creevey. Luna on the other hand was much harder to read due to the fact her cuts and scrapes had a tendency to cover any important lines that would help them decipher what they meant. Not that it bothered Luna in the slightest she merely pointed out that it would make her death a nice surprise.

"I mean it's not very accurate is it, so I think I'd rather not know." she mused whilst taking a long sip from her teacup. "Daddy says some of the greatest minds have been wasted pondering on the thought of death, he doesn't think it's right to meddle in such things." She drained her cup and placed it back on the table.

"That's alright for you to say but I could be out of here by next week if my hands have anything to say about it." replied Seymour taking a final sip from his cup.

"Don't be silly, according to the book you've still got at least a year left in you." she smiled encouragingly back at him before leaning over and picking up his cup. "Let's have a look shall we? You've still got some left." She tipped the cup back and drank the remaining contents before peering deeply into the bottom of it. "Well that shape there looks a bit like a cigar so that's a new friend but that looks like a knife running through it which represents a broken friendship… so… that could mean a new friendship causing the break up of an old one." Luna frowned and appeared troubled at this revelation, Seymour was still too busy dwelling of his dwindling lifeline to notice. "And the flag shape underneath it could represent danger arising from the bond formed."

"Does it say anything about how many days I have left? And could you add another ten on top to soften the blow please?"

Luna tried her best to stifle a laugh as Professor Trelawney arrived at their table, her long arms reaching for the cup in Luna's hands. "Oh dear." She gave Seymour a gentle pat on the shoulder and put the cup back down before instantly moving on to Luna's which had remained untouched since she had drank it. With a loud gasp the professor released the cup and let it roll off the table where it landed with a soft thud onto the carpet at Luna's feet. "The grim." With a dramatic flail of her bangled arm she pointed a thin, long, bony finger at Luna. "You have been marked."

"Really?" Luna looked ecstatic and scrambled off her armchair to pick up her cup, still on the floor she gazed at it before her face lit up. "So I have. Look Seymour it is one isn't it." She handed him the cup and sat back into her chair.

"Oh yeah, look's like it." In the remnants of the cup bore a very distinct image a dog type creature. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time a grim had been spotted lurking within the bottom of some unsuspecting students cup and was common place if the professor was in a particularly pessimistic mood. The story of Harry's similar experience was well known within his house and he was still alive and well so most people took this reading with a pinch of salt nowadays.

"Oh I can't wait, I've never seen a grim before." Luna clapped her hands together and beamed back at Seymour.

"Yeah but Luna isn't the whole point of the grim being if you see one you die?" he pointed out.

She merely shook her head and continued to look unfazed. "Oh I'm sure I'll manage to reason with it somehow, Daddy says he was certain he saw the grim once on his 18th birthday but it was carrying a Wurtwurzle in it's mouth at the time so it couldn't kill him."

"What's that?" inquired Seymour leaning closer in his chair.

"It's a type magical creature that drains all magical power into itself from anything it touches, so you see the grim couldn't have killed that night because it had one in it's mouth."

"But wouldn't the Wurtwezzer have killed him instead?"

"It's Wurtwurzle and no you see it doesn't-" a loud and very disgruntled cough interrupted the two of them and brought their attention instantly back to Professor Trelawney who remained at their table side with tightly crossed arms and a very put out look on her face.

"Well if you two have finished your little discussion I think I'll use my skill on someone who understands the seriousness of such things." Clearly the impromptu lesson on Wurtwurzles had drained any dramatic atmosphere the grim had created and with her moment gone the professor joined the next table and instantly predicted a painful death to the poor Hufflepuff boy sitting at it.

"You got the grim Luna?" Alice squeaked nervously at the end of class after listening to Seymour retell the moment.

"Yes, isn't it fantastic?" Luna smiled broadly towards Alice as if she'd been awarded 50 house points.

"How could it possible be fanta-"

"Anyway come on Alice dinner next." Seymour quickly ushered Alice down the trapdoor steps before turning to Luna, "You too Luna, Robin won't have left anything if we give him too much of a head start." He held his hand out to help her down. She took hold of it and took two steps at a time.

"I hope they have shepherds pie." she answered dreamily pulling him along the corridor with Alice trying to keep up. They'd made it down to the first floor entrance when their path was blocked by a group of Slytherin students.

"Well look who it is." Malfoy's greasy voice poured out from the group as he stepped into the front, a large pointed smile painted on his face. "I've been waiting till I bumped into you two again."

Some of the students making their way to the great hall had already stopped to watch, the large group had drawn a fair bit of attention and Malfoy's tone hinted that something was going to happen. He eyed Luna and sneered at her as he lingered on her rather large radish earrings. "I suppose you think that was funny that little stunt you pulled on the train? Oh yeah I know it was you." He stepped closer to her and put his hands into his pockets.

Luna didn't say anything but merely tried to walk around him but he followed her movement and stopped her in her tracks. "Those things of yours ruined my new robes Loony and they were worth more than your entire wardrobe by the looks of it."

Luna still remained tight lipped and once again tried to go around the sneering malcontent but this time he grabbed her by the arm. Seymour rushed forward and shoved Malfoy hard in the chest sending him back into his group of bodyguards all of whom lunged forward and were only halted by Malfoy's outstretched hand. "Think you're a tough man do you?" he gritted his teeth and turned on Seymour. "Now you've got your little freak to back you up with her box of tricks. I thought even Loony here could do better than a dirty little blood traitor like you. She must be hard up for friends when she has to turn to a filthy, stupid, pathetic-"

"Be quiet." Malfoy spun round on her words and glared at Luna.

"What was that!"

Her voice was barely louder than a whisper but it was enough to fill Malfoy's face with an angry red tone.

"I don't care what you say about me but it's not nice to say things like that to other people." Luna's voice was as soft and serine as ever but Seymour couldn't help notice something about the look in her eyes had changed from the look he was used to.

"Oh I see, you're going to tell me who and how I talk to people now is it?" Malfoy's body shook and he turned around, for a moment Seymour thought he was going to walk away. "I'll teach you to learn some respect." He spun round and pointed his wand into Luna's chest, a loud bang erupted from the end and covered the crowd in black smoke.

As it filtered away all Seymour could hear was Alice's scream of terror and it took him a few second to realise why. Luna remained where she had always been but the entire front of her robes was covered in blood, she clutched at them and looked back at Seymour, a rare look of panic on her blood stained face.