Gertrude Fatbottom: The Untold Story

17-Not the Draco I Know

     A whole summer had felt like an eternity,  Gertrude and Draco hardly saw each other, but when they did it was only in passing. Gertrude was counting down the days, like a child counting down to Christmas. Gertrude had bought a brand new bag of bottomless animal crackers and was more than ready to start her 5th year. Draco asked to meet at the seventh car from the back of the Hogwarts express, so she waited there. Her heart leaped every time the door to the car would open. Suddenly the all familiar bleach blond stepped into the room. When she saw him she immediately ran towards him, and they shared a way over due hug. Suddenly Draco's  face dropped, "Oh you already have a new bag of bottomless animal crackers?" Draco said bashfully while suddenly grabbing a pack from out of his luggage.

     Gertrude looked shocked,"NO DRACO THAT'S WONDERFUL I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE FROSTED ONES EVERYWHERE!!!" she said excitedly grabbing the gift. They hugged once again but this time Draco broke the hug very quickly darting his eyes around. Gertrude decided not to question it as they took a seat. Instead of sitting beside her he sat in the seat across from her with his bags to his right. "Are you planning on putting some stuff up top or..." Getrude questioned. 

     Draco seemed to be off in another world,"Huh? Oh erm no" he replied carelessly. He didn't even bother to remove his coat, almost as if he was preparing for something. They sat in silence for a moment while Draco stared out the window deep in thought. Gertrude took this time to really look at him for the first time in months. Draco was never muscular but something about his figure was different, like he was teetering between skinny and skeletal. Draco's skin was light as always but it seemed more ghastly than it ever had before. Most significantly, he had developed bags under his eyes, which made him seem as if he didn't know what sleep was. Gertrude was about to express her concern, when the car door opened causing Draco to immediately grasp his belongings and begin to stand up.

     A blonde girl in Ravenclaw robes stepped in. "Mind if I join you" the girl said dreamily.

     Draco sighed, "Oh it's just you Luna, and sure" he said with relief.

     "Draco, you're carrying a lot more nargles with you then before," she said with concern, "You must have someone with an infestation at home".

     "Yeah you could say that," Draco said with a laugh, "It's tough times who isn't carrying their fair share of nargles." Gertrude stared at them confused, she now realized who the girl was, Luna Lovegood, who's known for being a bit crazy. But why does Draco seem to understand her, he seems like the last person who'd believe in nargles, or moon toads. 

     "She's good at keeping the nargles away," Luna said pointing to Gertrude, "You need to cling to her if you want to get rid of them" she said with a smile. Gertrude was even more confused than before. Draco smiled at Gertrude.

     "Oh and Draco, what you're avoiding, it'll be here soon" she said calmly while folding a paper. 

     "How did you- oh right I always forget" Draco said cryptically. He gathered his stuff and faced Gertrude, "I have to go but we'll meet up soon" Draco said nervously, before scurrying out the door. Gertrude was stunned by what just happened. She stared bewildered at Luna, who continued to peacefully fold her paper. 

     Suddenly Luna broke the silence, "It's a Crumple Horned Snorkak" she said holding up the folded paper. It resembled a muggle Rhino, except it had two horns on it's nose and and another horn on the end of it's long tale. "Crumple Horned Snorkak's are curious creature's they're from Sweden, not many people have seen them because they're very bashful creatures, they make companions to sniffle snakes, which are normally very vile to all other creatures".

     Gertrude didn't know what to say, she felt like she was missing some sort of inside joke. "Draco reminds me of a sniffle snake" Luna said going on.

     "Luna do you know Draco well?" Gertrude asked sorrowfully.

     "Well that's a peculiar question, it depends on if you're asking if I know him well, or if we know each other well. I know many people well but very few know me" Luna said unbothered. Gertrude felt crazy for even asking Luna in the first place, but something about the way she phrased things made Gertrude feel as if the blonde knew way more than she'd ever let anyone know. 

     "Do you know why he's acting weird?," Gertrude asked hopefully.

     "It's the nargles of course, he doesn't want to spread them to you, but if he gave some to you you both can fight them together" she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "Just don't let the nargles consume him, he needs you. Anyway I have to go and cleanse the other booths of Wrackspurts". Luna gathered her things to leave and Gertrude regreted asking her in the first place.

     Before leaving Luna added, "Oh and I'd avoid the Pumpkin Juice if I were you", and with that she left.

   As they gathered in the Great Hall Gertrude wouldn't stop thinking about what Luna had said.  Wrackspurts and nargles seemed like nonsense, however the way Malfoy had reacted to her, it seemed as if there were more to Luna's words than Gertrude was getting.             

     The sorting went as expected, and the feast was as amazing as Gertrude remembered, and as much as she wanted to, she didn't drink her pumpkin juice. This proved to be a smart choice, when an hour later the people around her who drank it started to turn orange. From a few tables away she saw the Weasley twins laughing hysterically. She wondered how Luna could have possibly known, when a small paper airplane  landed seamlessly in front of her.

Gertrude meet me at the third lantern outside of the Great Hall

Tell no one

-D.M.

     Gertrude got up happily and excused herself from the hall. She spotted Draco and moved happily towards him. "Hello Draco" she said sweetly. 

     "Gertrude, I listen I know I've been well, odd but there's a lot more going on then you know and I think it's best if we limit how much we see each other, especially in front of others" he said solemnly. 

     "What do you mean Draco, what's going on please let me in" Gertrude said trying to mask her sadness.

    "I can't tell you!" Draco said in a fit of anger. Tears immediately spilled from Gertrude's eyes, Draco wanted to console her but instead he backed up nervously and ran the other way. 

     Gertrude stood stunned, she didn't know what just happened but one thing was for sure, that was not the Draco she knew.