Unexpected Danger

Chapter 11

Luna's POV

After witnessing the gruelsome challenges - particularly Harry, I felt sorry for him. He had to battle the dragon while attempting to reach out for the golden egg.

I skipped through the Hogwarts grounds and hummed some random songs, hoping to find Harry as I'm sure he needs a friend to comfort him. Instead, I found Malfoy - huddling all by himself under the Whomping Willow. I'm not sure why, but I found my legs making steps towards him.

"Hello, Draco," I greeted. He seemed startled, I assumed wrackspurts were plaguing his mind till he wasn't aware of his surroundings.

"We need to stop meeting like this, Lovegood," he grunted, exasperated by my presence.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" I asked, ignoring his bitterness.

"Like you care, Lovegood," he snarled, still being evasive.

"As a matter of fact, I do," I replied genuinely. He looked at me as if I was the craziest person to walk on this earth, and a sane wizard beside me trying to figure out how to hex this tiny witch.

"Why would you want to care for someone like me? You're with Potter. I'm sure you despise someone like me."

Those words felt like a pang to my chest, and I kinda felt sorry for him. While everyone else he seemed arrogant, always tooting his horn - but now, I see another side of him. Draco is vulnerable, whether he wants to admit it or not.

He had no true friends, while Harry had plenty.

"You probably had no idea what it feels like to be rejected," he said while looking at the serene view in front of us.

"Maybe not directly, but I was never validated by the society. Everyone thinks I'm Loony, that I'm nuts by just being myself - so thats kind of a rejection too," I replied, stoic expression on my face. Suddenly all the emotions running through inside me, and I tried my best to repel the negative ones.

Draco remained quiet, finally tolerating my presence I assumed.

"I asked Astoria to the dance, but that bloody Goyle asked her first. I thought he was my friend you know, he knew that I had a ...thing for her," he trailed off. "I mean its not really about her amd the dance. It's about being betrayed by the people you thought was your true friends. And I realized, they just followed me around so they could get some sickles to buy candy."

I was taken aback by Draco's confession, and tilted my head to look at him, and he did the same. His bluish-grey eyes - they were gorgeous. They twinkled - I noticed when he was bullying his eyes were like dragon - full of rage and fury and you don't want to upset an angry dragon. But when he's vulnerable, his eyes could make you drawn to him more and more, like a magnet.

After a couple minutes of silence, I quickly looked back at the front view to avoid any misunderstanding.

"Not all rejections are bad, Draco," I assured. "My father said that he was rejected by the Ministry because his writing was different than what they expected. But his quirkiness in his writing made him the editor of The Quibbler today - which makes it the only magazine in the Wizarding world to write about magical creatues, and many magizoologist were fascinated by his research. He may not be working in the Ministry, but he runs his own business, and makes a decent money to take care of me while being the pioneer of something unique." I smiled, reminded of my father who would stay up late just to find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

Draco still didn't speak, but it was okay. I understood even if his lips refuse to admit that I gave him an epiphany.