Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 3: loony lovegood

Lorelei Jones | 2nd Year

After her incredibly awkward encounter with those Slytherin boys, Lorelei began to search again for an empty compartment or at least an empty seat amongst friendly enough people. She exited the Slytherin section of the train and made it back into the Ravenclaw section. Maybe she would see if there was any room here.

Lorelei knocked on a couple doors and got a few curious or irritated looks from students in full compartments. Her shoulders were stiff at that point, and she really just wanted to sit down somewhere.

She knocked on another door, certain that she wouldn't find a seat once more, but this time, she only found one flaxen-haired girl sitting by herself inside. The girl wore interesting glasses that had an intricate design of tan, red, green, purple and other colors around the frame. Each lens was colored, but one was blue and the other red. She had a stack of newspapers on the bench beside her, and a gentle smile on her face when she looked over at Lorelei.

"Uh, hi. I was just looking for a seat," Lorelei said as she lingered in the doorway.

"Well, you're welcome to sit with me. Plenty of room in here for you and your friends," she said with a dazed smile.

Lorelei wasn't sure why, but she felt so immensely comfortable in the presence of this girl. So, before she even realized what she was saying, she had already said, "Actually, it's just me."

Lorelei took a couple steps into the compartment and pulled the door shut behind her. By the time she had sat down on the empty, cushioned bench, the girl had said, "It's just me too."

"My name's Lorelei Jones, by the way." She set her bag on the seat beside herself and tried to get settled. She couldn't even explain her relief at being able to sit down and just relax after her long struggle to find a place to sit that day.

"Luna Lovegood," the flaxen-haired girl supplied in an airy voice. She then plucked one of the Quibblers off the bench beside her with a light touch and asked, "Would you like one?"

Lorelei nodded and sat forward on the edge of the seat, so that she could grab the Quibbler from Luna. She hadn't ever heard of the Quibbler before, but she was happy to read it if it came from this kind girl she had just met. She flipped through some of the pages and smiled. "This looks great, Luna." She truthfully hadn't heard of most of the things it talked about.

"You're a Hufflepuff, aren't you?" Luna wondered, seemingly out of the blue. She had pushed her colorful glasses up onto the top of her head at that point, so Lorelei could clearly see her misty eyes and how they were a beautiful silvery color.

"Yeah, I am. What house are you in?" Lorelei fiddled with the Quibbler in her hands as she spoke. She wondered if Luna would be offended that she wasn't aware of her house.

"Oh, I'm a second year Ravenclaw. You're a second year as well, aren't you?" Luna said without a hint of offense in her soft-spoken voice. While waiting for Lorelei's reply, her head drifted over so that she could look out the window at the rolling hills and soft green landscapes.

Lorelei nodded, and the movement attracted Luna's gaze once more. Luna softly smiled, but she didn't say anything more for the short remainder of their journey to Hogwarts, other than to excuse herself to go change into her robes when they got close. Lorelei changed into her own robes once Luna returned, and they both stared out the window quietly for the last couple minutes of the ride.

Once they got off the train, they moved together and each collected their chests. They then approached the carriages for the first time, but while many of the students believed the carriages just moved on their own, Luna and Lorelei saw the thestrals that guided the carriages.