NOTES: To be honest, I hate this chapter A LOT. I tried to improve it, make it all better, but it's just that horrible. It's partly why it took me ages to update. In the end, I have no choice but to post it anyway. I'm sorry if you end up hating it as much as I do.

Draco was nervous as hell.

All his life, the only times Draco was this nervous were when his father looked at him poorly disguised disappointment in his eyes. Well, he was a little nervous during the Sorting ceremony, but he always had a feeling that he would end up in Slytherin. Not only his parents were Slytherins, but he had a long line of Slytherin ancestors from both sides of his family. So, it was actually a given that he ended up as one. Now, the reason the young Malfoy was feeling nervous was because of the little piece of paper Marcus Flint was holding in his hand. Marcus was a complete idiot, in Draco's opinion, but the imbecile also happened to be Captain for Slytherin's Quidditch team – and Draco wanted to be in the team so badly. Following the footsteps of his father, Draco tried out for the position of a Chaser. Draco was actually pretty confident back when he was on the field as he scored eighteen out of the twenty shots he should to get the position he wanted. No other candidates scored as much as he did, so he had been sure that he'd get the position. But that was before he found out that Flint had promised the one position left for Chasers to his friend.

He should have known that nepotism always happened in Slytherin.

"Come on, Draco," Theo said, pulling him by the hand toward the piece of paper Flint put on the notice board. "Let's see whether you get Chaser or not."

"I'm not getting it, Theo," Draco sighed, resigned. "Flint promised it to his friend Adrian Pucey."

"Pucey?" Blaise repeated, frowning as he pictured the older Slytherin's tryout. By then, the trio was standing in front of the notice board. "Mate, didn't you see Pucey back there? That guy scored only a quarter of your goals."

"That won't matter to Flint. As long as Pucey didn't totally suck, he'll take him."

"Have a little faith in yourself, Draco," Theo said. "Go and have a look."

Knowing how annoying his friends could be (Draco still couldn't believe he had them), Draco relented and tiptoed to have a look at the notice board. He set his eyes on the names under the column titled CHASER, and found that his name wasn't there. But just when he was about to turn around, his eyes caught something really interesting. Under the column titled SEEKER, he saw his name there. Draco thought he was imagining it, so against his better judgement, knowing that he'd look like a fool, Draco actually rubbed his eyes and blinked about seven times. Nope, he wasn't dreaming. The name was still there. His name was still there. Perhaps, one more time? Yep, it wasn't going away.

"Draco?" Theo called his name as he and Blaise squished themselves in between everyone else so they could read the notice.

"I didn't get Chaser," Draco said slowly, his grey eyes were still set on his name. "But I got – "

"You got Seeker?" Blaise exclaimed, cutting him mid-sentence. "Wow!"

"Wait, what?" Theo said, nudging Draco aside so he could read it himself. After sometime, Draco's childhood friend let out a low whistle. "Whoa, Draco…"

"Seeker is definitely way better than Chaser," Blaise said, clapping Draco in the back, even though he looked at him with sympathy. "You can finally make it even with Potter."

Oh no.

"This is wrong," Draco muttered under his breath. "I can't be a Seeker. I'm a Chaser. I can't possibly become a Seeker."

"What's the difference, mate? You just have to fly," Theo said carelessly, being the only one in their little trio who wasn't that into Quidditch. He flinched when Draco whipped around and glared at him. Even Blaise sent him a look of displeasure.

"Oh, Theodore," Blaise scolded like a mother to her son. "How ignorant you are about Quidditch. Are you sure you're of the right species?"

"Cut it out, Zabini," Theo snapped, deeply offended. "There's nothing wrong about not being all that crazy over a sport."

"It's the sport, Theodore," Blaise said, rolling his eyes at the other boy. "And if you were just a wee bit more informed, you'd know that you can't force a position to someone. That's just not right. And I think that applies to all kinds of sports."

"Well, Chaser and Seeker aren't that different. It's not like Draco had to change from being a Beater into a Keeper."

"See? Draco, did you hear him? This just shows how awfully – "

"Just shut up, you two," Draco said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just…keep it shut. I'm trying to find a solution right now."

"Get your father to bribe Flint," Theo said, earning a nod from Blaise. "I'm sure he won't be able to say no if your father buys him the newest broom or something."

"Quidditch Illiterate over here is right. Do it the Slytherin way," Blaise said as he dodged a wayward kick from Theo.

"My father bought the entire team new brooms to ensure I get into the team," Draco said in a small voice, feeling a little embarrassed at the revelation. "I've gotten into the team already. I don't think my father will be pleased if I ask him for more."

"Oh, damn," Theo said, feeling frustrated as well for his friend. "You're screwed then, Malfoy. And your father was a Chaser as well, so there's no asking him for suggestions."

"If only you had someone in your family who you could turn to," Blaise quipped, unaware that what he said had sparked an idea in his friend's mind.

"Hold on, Blaise… I do have someone I can ask suggestions about this," Draco said, cheering up a bit.

"Who?" Theo and Blaise asked in unison. But Draco wasn't answering them. He'd gone running into the boy's dormitory to write a letter.

Ever since his father took him and his mother to Black Manor for the party in honour of Regulus Black's return, Narcissa had managed to secure a rather good relationship with her estranged cousins. Especially with Regulus. What with the both of them being the youngest and always felt like they were overshadowed by their older siblings, Regulus and Narcissa had always been close since they were little. Thus, before the Malfoys excused themselves, Narcissa made sure that Regulus knew she still considered him as her best friend. Draco found out just a few days later that since then, Narcissa always tried to meet up with Regulus at Black Manor when no one else but Regulus and his wife were home. The last time she went to see Regulus, the blonde took Draco to come with her. It didn't take Draco long to decide that he liked his mother's cousin. He was very nice toward Draco, and he treated him as if he were his equal rather than a child. It granted the man a huge positive point in Draco's eyes. The young Slytherin could say that Regulus probably liked him too, seeing that the man sent Draco a letter just to wish him luck for his Quidditch tryout. Draco did tell Regulus about his plan on trying out for the team, and he was glad that Regulus took him seriously. If there was anyone he could ask about how being a Seeker, it was definitely Regulus Black. The man was as Seeker back in his days. And a fairly good one, according to a reluctant Snape.

Grabbing a piece of parchment and his quill, Draco began his letter.

Dear Regulus…

"Why did you save me?"

"Well, you'd have drowned if I hadn't saved you."

"What if that was what I wanted?"

"Are you saying that you wanted to die?"

"We all live to die after all. Doesn't matter how."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, of course."

Cedric opened his eyes abruptly, shooting up from his pillows as he woke up from his dream. It was more like memories, but whatever. Sometimes details didn't matter at all. He ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair, swallowing thickly as he felt his heart beating madly. It was the same dream he had been having since he met her. Luna Lovegood, his little moon princess who wanted to die. They never spoke about it, but Cedric knew she still remembered how exactly they met. Whenever their parents asked them to retell the stories of how they became friends, they'd say that she was playing by the pond and nearly slipped into the water when Cedric came to the rescue. Amos Diggory made it a habit to remind Xenophilius Lovegood that he owed Cedric a great deal for saving Luna. What none of their parents knew was that Luna didn't slip that day. When Cedric came by the pond, just a few days after he attended the funeral of Mrs Lovegood, the Hufflepuff saw a whole different scenario. Nine year old Luna Lovegood intentionally jumped into the pond to drown herself so she could be with her mother. The water wasn't deep enough to drown her, true. But it was poisonous enough to kill her if she swallowed some. After he found out Luna's true intentions, Cedric vowed to himself that he'd always make sure Luna didn't make another attempt on her life. Every morning at nine, Cedric would come to her house and spent the whole day accompanying her picking up plants and running after every weird creature they came across on their little trip around the forest near her house. When he got back home every evening, Cedric was always haunted with the thought of Luna jumping from the window of her room in the middle of the night.

For someone so young, Luna had very dark thoughts running through her young mind.

In the two years he knew her, Cedric learned that Luna was always bullied by her cousins from her mother's side. Her father being who he was, Mrs Lovegood's family didn't think that highly of him. It resulted badly for Luna. Ever since she was young, her cousins would tease her and make fun of her because she was different. Cedric had no idea why exactly he'd become so protective toward the younger girl, but he couldn't help himself from feeling really angry at the thought of someone being cruel to Luna. The bullying took a toll on Luna, especially after her mother's death. People would often remark that Luna's honesty knew no bound. But, the truth was, when it came to herself, Luna was a proficient liar. She had the ability to put up walls to guard her true feelings. She could act nonchalantly as if nothing could hurt her, but that was just a façade. A bloody good one. It if was someone who was older (like much older), it wouldn't be weird for Cedric to see it. But for Luna, who was only nine back then, it was worrying. Cedric himself was only thirteen when he first met her, but even then he knew that children shouldn't be afraid to show how they really felt. The few times he managed to make her speak about what she really had in mind, he really wished she hadn't talked about death so casually.

He supposed it was a good thing that he was four years older and a Prefect too. That way, even though she got into Ravenclaw while he was in Hufflepuff, he could still watch her back. Cedric had a lot of friends in other Houses, but he knew that none of them would look after Luna the way he wanted them too. Just the other day, he saw some third year Ravenclaw boys mocked Luna for the Butterbeer-cap necklace she was wearing. He would have bashed those little pricks' head if Ginny Weasley weren't there to help Luna. Ginny threatened that she would tell her brother Percy if those boys didn't leave Luna alone. At first, Cedric was worried that they would probably hurt Ginny too because she was getting in the way, and the last thing Cedric wanted was to explain to Percy and Weasley twins about why their little sister was hurt. So when he saw the sixth year Prefect miraculously coming to his sister's aide as if Ginny just summoned him out of thin air, he let out a huge breath of relief as he watched Percy took points from those boys. From the corner of his eye, Cedric saw Ginny led Luna to their next class that they had together. He only left them alone to go to his own class once he was sure that the both of them would be alright. Cedric knew that there were other kids that would tease Luna again. But, as long as Ginny was with him, Cedric didn't worry that much about her.

"Diggory, you awake?" a sleepy voice said as the door to the boys' dormitory was opened. A boy in his year, who was known for his partying habits, named Don Edwards came in, still dressed in his uniform. Cedric spared a glance at his watch and saw that it was almost two in the morning. Good thing it was the weekend.

"Yeah, I'm up. Why? You need some Hangover Potion for later?" Cedric asked, having been asked the question many times before. Despite their rather obvious differences, Cedric could say that Edwards was rather a good friend of his.

"Sod off, you git," Edwards laughed. "There was a little girl outside the portrait asking for you. I think her name was Luna. Is she your cousin or something?"

"What?" Cedric practically yelped, leaping off his bed. "You're not messing with me, right?"

"Why in the world would I do that?" Edwards said as he swayed a bit, the alcohol in his system obviously making him a bit woozy. "Look, Diggory; you better get out there quickly. She was lucky I was on my way back here and saw her out there by herself. What with the attacks lately, it's not safe for her to be out so late at night."

"You're right," Cedric agreed. He quickly picked up his shirt from the foot of his bed, slipped them on and headed out of the room.

Cedric spent no more time and opened the portrait, hoping that he wasn't too late. His breath got caught in his throat when he saw Luna sitting on the floor, curling into herself as she leaned against the wall. At the sound of someone opening the portrait, Luna turned around her toward him, and that was when Cedric noticed that her usually long hair was much shorter than he remembered seeing it just a few hours prior. He didn't need to ask her to know what those horrid girls had done to her. In less than a second, Cedric felt the immense anger toward those girls. Calling people awful names was one thing. But this? This was too much. Pulling Luna closer to him, Cedric led her into the common room. He Summoned his quilt from the boys' dormitory and wrapped Luna with it as they both sat by the fire. The poor girl was trembling from the cold, so he hugged her tightly. Cedric's heart clenched when he felt the the small Ravenclaw leaned into him, burying her face against his chest. Luna never cried, but this was probably the most vulnerable he'd seen of her. The next thirty minutes passed with Luna in his arms as they huddled together, silently watching the flames dancing like little fairies. He felt her little hands playing with his collar as Cedric himself was absentmindedly stroking her hair.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Cedric asked in a small voice. "I know you don't like to talk about it, but I need to know, Luna. This has gotten too far and I can't keep quiet anymore."

"It's nothing," Luna answered, her sweet voice sounded tired. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Luna…" Cedric took her chin and lifted her face up so she would look at him. "I told you that I'll always be there for you, right? Please don't shut me out. Tell me what happened."

It took the girl a minute to finally relent. Sighing heavily as she pulled her knees to her chin, Luna said, "I was asleep when I heard them looking through my things. I saw them reading Daddy's letter, laughing at what he wrote. I told them to give it back, but they wouldn't do it. I got…I got angry at them, but I didn't mean it to happen, I swear."

"What did you do to them?" Cedric asked, though he had an inkling already.

"I made their things attack them," Luna said curtly. "And it only stopped when someone pulled my hair, distracting me. Then they held me down on the floor as one of them cut my hair. After that, they decided to kick me out of the Tower."

Cedric was at lost for words. He had guessed that her fellow Ravenclaws had bullied her. But he never thought it was that bad. Judging from how casual Luna talked about it, he had a feeling that it wasn't exactly the first time she suffered abuse from her dormmates. He decided that when morning came, he'd talk about it to Professor Flitwick. Cedric told Luna about his plan, firmly ignoring Luna's request to just leave it alone. He tucked loose stray of her hair behind her ear and added, "I also want you to promise me that if anything like this happens again, I want you to tell me about it."

"Fine," Luna sighed in defeat. Cedric was about to grin triumphantly when she continued. "Sometimes I think that it'd all be easier if you'd let me drown that day, you know? If I'd died, none of this would happen."

No.

"Stop it," Cedric said through gritted teeth, his jaw clenching hard.

"People have started talking about it now. They know you're there to protect me, and they don't like it. One day, they'll make fun of you, and you'll lose everything. It's better for me to die."

"Luna, stop it."

"I'd see Mummy again. I'd be sad about leaving you and Daddy, but it's better – "

"Luna!"

Cedric didn't realise it that he'd yelled at her until he saw the surprised look on her face. He felt guilty when he saw the slight fear in Luna's pale eyes as she unconsciously drifted out of his arms, knowing that he had scared her. Heaving deeply, Cedric pulled her back into him, gently stroking her hair like he just did as he buried his face in her hair. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Luna. But, you should know by now that I hate it when you talk about dying. How do you think it'd make me feel? And what about your father? He's already lost your mother. Promise me that when things get too hard, you come find me. I swear I'll help you through it."

"Okay…" Luna said in a soft whisper, and Cedric let out a sigh of relief when he felt her relaxed.

"Thank you," Cedric said. "In the morning we'll go to Professor Flitwick, okay? Hopefully, he can also help with your hair. If not, we'll go to Madam Pomfrey."

"Why are you so nice to me, Cedric?" Luna asked, pulling back a little bit so she could look at him. "You've always been so good to me. We're not related and as far I'm concern, our parents don't even like each other. Why, Cedric?"

"I don't know, Luna," Cedric said honestly. "But I do know that I care about you and I'll be absolutely devastated if you…if you're gone. So, please, don't do anything stupid when I'm not looking."