A/N the album Dogs by The Parlour Mob gives me life. This chapter was painfully hard to write. I'm currently being intoxicated by poisonously high stress levels. Sometimes life bores me and it's driving me slightly crazy. Late night confessions over, enjoy.

Chapter 19

The injury caused by the creature was insufferably painful, and Madam Pomfrey was leaving all sorts of draughts and potions beside Reece's bed throughout the days and nights that passed. The stern woman had repeatedly attempted to discharge Draco from the wing, but the overdramatic boy wouldn't budge. Malfoy moaned and whined in the bed across from his best friend, but Reece refused to give the blonde sympathy. What annoyed Reece most was the fact that Madam Pomfrey had said the two could have no visitors that weren't staff.

Professor Snape had visited swiftly. He discreetly rolled his eyes at Draco before checking on Reece with a hint of sincerity.

Professor Dumbledore had also checked on the two boys briefly and – like a champion – put up with the whining and ranting from Malfoy. As Snape did, he paid more attention to Reece and informed him that Madam Pomfrey would be able to remove the scarring. It was safe to say that Reece was delighted with the news.

Of course, Draco had attempted to talk to him multiple times. But Reece wasn't having it. In brutal honesty, Malfoy was annoying the living hell out of him and he had no clue why Madam Pomfrey had let the whining blonde stay for longer than a few hours.

"Lestrange." Draco nagged once Madam Pomfrey was out of hearing distance. Reece looked across at his friend through narrowed eyes. "What's up with you? You've been being an arsehole since we got back." The tension in the room was insurmountable, and the two dominating Slytherins glared holes through each other's skulls in the silence.

"Don't be such a brat Malfoy, and as for the whining, pack it in. Some of us are in here due to serious injuries." Reece spat with interwoven malice. He had been putting up with it long enough and was finally letting rip. Draco was certainly not ready for the vocal attack and slightly recoiled on the bed. "It's your fault we're in here anyway."

"What?" Malfoy squawked as he regained his panicked composure.

"You were the one stupid enough to insult a hippogriff!" He roared unintentionally, subtly wincing at the ache in his stomach. "This is your fault." Reece violently gestured to what was around them with a vigorous flail of his arms.

"And you were daft enough to jump in front of it so don't blame me for your stupid ideas!" Draco shouted, infuriated that a Slytherin dare pick a fight with him.

"I jumped in front of it to ensure you weren't killed by the bloody thing! If you hadn't been so set on beating Potter we wouldn't be stuck in here. Besides, you're thicker than me. I've beaten you in exams two years running."

"Don't try and push your superiority on me Lestrange. The name Malfoy carries a lot more weight than yours, and anyway, I have a family to go back to, where's yours?" Draco knew it was a low blow, but he was too angry to care. The two had been best friends growing up and Hogwarts had changed them both over the years that had been quickly passing.

"That was a cheap, dirty attempt to get me to kiss your feet Malfoy. This conversation is over."

"Indeed it is." Madam Pomfrey announced as she delivered more potions to Reece. "No further arguments Mister Malfoy, you can leave and attend what is left of your potions lesson. Professor Snape is expecting your arrival." He presumed that she was sending Draco away because of the conflict, and it seemed Malfoy wasn't planning to argue his case either. Draco got up and left swiftly, leaving for his class. Reece's blood was boiling, sizzling with bottled up anger that needed to be released. "You need to calm down Mister Lestrange." She muttered while sweeping over to Draco's now empty bed to cast a cleaning charm on the bedsheets. "Slytherins rarely engage in conflict with one another, and I suggest for your sake that you don't allow things with Mister Malfoy to escalate."

"He treats people like dirt under his shoe, and you expect me to become another piece of mud on his sole?" Reece snorted in disdain as he downed one of the three potions that Madam Pomfrey had placed beside his bed.

"I have treated the fall outs of Slytherin conflicts before and trust me you do not want to end up being on the receiving end of an attack from your whole house." She advised as she swept back over to him and picked up the three (now) empty potion cups. "I'm not sure if you want to hear this, but your father used to be quite the violent troublemaker. The amount of times I had him and his brother up here because they'd hurt each other during duels…"

"Yeah I get it, I'm quite like my father. It's not the most comforting thing to know; he's in Azkaban and it's as if I'm expected to end up there too 'cause I'm 'similar' to him." Reece was gritting his teeth roughly, trying to contain his aggression and remain polite.

"You know that wasn't what I was getting at." Madam Pomfrey sighed as she continued to ensure that her medical facilities were spotless. "He was often up here with all sorts of bumps and bruises. Quite a brawler your father was, always getting into fights and often ending up here with his opponent looking considerably worse off than himself." Well this woman seemed to enjoy the sound of her own voice. "The teachers all thought he was a nightmare, always having to put him in detentions. From what I remember he used to get along with the old Potions Professor though; Rabastan always loved that subject."

"Does it hurt terribly Draco?" Pansy questioned as Crabbe, Goyle and Nott listened intently, awaiting Draco's answer. Reece (who was seated beside Goyle) rose from the bench as swiftly as possible with the stretching pain in his abdomen.

"It comes and it goes." Malfoy replied, ignoring Reece's movement from a little further down the table. He was sick. Sick to the back teeth of hearing Draco go on and on about the little scratch on his arm. Reece stepped over the bench and began to walk away from the group, moving down the table towards Daphne and Blaise. Although he wanted to leave the two alone as Daphne would probably kill him for interrupting, he was whole-heartedly considering going to sit with the two.

"Listen to the idiot." He heard Weasley complain as he was limping away from Malfoy and his gang. After hearing that he was intrigued, and sat just behind them on the Slytherin bench so he could hear more. "He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" For once he and Ronald were on the same page.

"Even Lestrange isn't being that dramatic." Potter muttered to his two friends. "At least Hagrid didn't get fired." In Reece's opinion the oaf should have lost his job minutes after, and he was enraged that nothing had happened to the poor excuse of a teacher.

"Yeah but I hear Draco's father's furious." Granger said. "We haven't heard the end of this." Well she was right about that. Reece had been listening to Draco mouthing off about how his father was trying to get Hagrid fired while they were in the hospital wing. The constant ranting was tiresome for him to hear, but at least he wasn't short of gossip.

"Guess what." Reece flinched at the sudden voice, and was slightly startled by the paper that was slammed down in front of him. Tracey flopped down on the bench across from him and leaned over the table, pointing to an article on the front page. "Sirius Black's been sighted." He rolled his eyes discreetly. It was as if he was the only person in the entire school that didn't care about the supposed death eater.

"Dufftown." Reece muttered with forced interest as he reluctantly read the article. "Looks like he's on his way here." Tracey visibly shivered at the suggestion that a murderer was on the way to Hogwarts.

"He couldn't possibly get into Hogwarts, could he?" She questioned tensely as Reece shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "I mean, there's dementors guarding every entrance." He looked around the hall as he folded his arms and placed his elbows on the table. The Gryffindor huddle caught Reece's attention and he couldn't help but snort and roll his eyes at Seamus' theories and suggestions.

"Don't put any faith in dementors Trace." He mumbled glumly as his eyes scanned the article once again. "He's already slipped past them once, and escaped a place that no one is supposed to be able to escape."

Reece pushed the paper back over to her with his right hand and rose from the bench once again. He left the crowded hall, shoving one of the Weasley twins out of his way as he past the huddle of red and gold. Just as he turned to the staircase – lost in his own train of thought, he felt the small frame of a younger student almost bounce off of him. Reece kept his balance, but it seemed whoever he collided with was now on the floor. He frowned and looked down at the young Ravenclaw that was now seated on the cold stone surface. The small girl that seemed to be in the year below him looked up at Reece. She tilted her head to the side quizzically, and her glistening dirty blonde hair fell over her shoulders carelessly. "Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." He said coolly as he crouched down beside her to see if she was alright. Thank goodness no one was around to see this.

"Oh it's quite alright." The girl replied dreamily, her voice softly coating the quiet surroundings. "We were always going to cross paths at some point." Reece looked at her as if she were insane, hardly understanding what she was saying. She was obviously used to people thinking she was crazy because the expression on his face did not faze her.

"Sure." Reece grimaced. Accepting the fiction wasn't always easy. "Let me give you a hand." He stood tall over her once again and offered her both of his hands. Surprisingly, she took them straight away and rose from the floor. He let go of her timid hands and picked up the magazine that she had dropped, handing it to her while flashing one of his signature smirks. "It was nice bumping into you…" Reece paused when he realised he had no clue what her name was.

"Luna." She supplied softly as she hugged her magazine close to her chest securely.

"Luna," He repeated, suddenly letting down most walls that were built up. "I'm really sorry about knocking you over, but I can't really stay and talk."

"You don't need to put on a mask for someone who can see right through it." Luna smiled exquisitely before she began skipping towards the hall, her shiny blonde hair flying behind her. "You're actually quite likeable Reece Lestrange, you just need to spend more of your time with the right people."

A/N I just had to. I love Luna and literally couldn't help it; I had make her cross paths with Reece. If this has errors and doesn't make sense, please accept the fact that half of this chapter was written with a killer hangover. Now, this is very important… I NEED A BOGGART FOR REECE BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE COULD BE SEVERELY AFRAID OF! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.