For the Better

The first of many days

After that one evening in the flower shop things began to change, slowly at first, but still changes. And they were good ones too. Like how now when in the hallway between classes Ginny would make a point to say hi to Luna and when Ginny had questions on homework she would go to Luna, but it wasnt until Wednesday, two weeks after the flower shop, that things got even better.

Neville was out sick. He had caught an awful cold and his grandmother wouldt let him leave the house. When Luna received a text from Neville saying he wouldnt be in school Luna felt a pit of distress settle in her stomach. She only had one friend, and that friend was Neville. So that meant she would be on her own for the next few days.

As Luna walked in the door she saw Ginny, she was standing with her usual group of friends, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Ginny smiled when she saw Luna and gave her a wave. Luna smiled and waved back too, feeling the familiar butterflies rise in her stomach. She walked over to her locker and began to get out her books. Neville's locker was right beside hers and it was strange not having him there. She had her head buried in her locker, not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Hey, your a man down Luna"

The voice startled Luna and she leaped back away from her locker. There was Ginny, leaning against Nevilles locker, smiling.

"Oh sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." She exclaimed.

"Oh no, um it's fine don't worry! And yeah, eh, Neville is sick." Luna was shocked that Ginny took enough notice of her to realise she only hung out with Neville. The two of them werent exactly popular.

"Ah that sucks, I guess you are just stuck with us for until he gets back!" Ginny grabbed Luna by the arm and pulled her over to the others.

Luna, taken by surprise, almost tripped over her own feet.

"Guys! This is Luna! I'm sure you know that though." Ginny gestured towards Luna causing her face to turn a magnificent shade of pink.

"Erm, hi..." she said nervously.

"Oh Luna hi!" It was Hermione.

"Ohh we did a project together last year!" That one was Ron.

"Nice to meet you." And there was Draco.

"Luna! We are in the same physics class!" And finally, Harry.

As Luna looked at all the people around her she saw how happy and at ease they were with her around. A small bit of her nervousness washed away. Just then, the bell rang.

Morning classes passed by and Luna found herself included in whoever of the others were in her class's conversations. It felt really nice. As the bell rang signaling the end of English and the start of lunch Ginny and Hermione ran over to Luna.

"Right! Off to lunch." She announced smiling.

The lunch hall was as busy as usual but instead of sitting down at one of the benches Luna and Neville would usually take, they all headed through the double doors out onto the lawn. Already there was Ron, Harry and Draco. They all said hello and sat down.

"How was class?" Harry asked everyone.

Luna looked over at Harry and it wasnt until then that she realised Harry and Draco were holding hands. She blinked in confusion before looking away.

The rest of the group broke into a pleasant chatter and Luna was happy to find herself partaking in it. By the time lunch was over Luna had already gotten to know everyone a little bit better.

It turned out that Harry and Draco were dating and had been for almost 6 months. The decided to just keep it quite, not make a big deal because of Dracos family, but whoever put it together, put it together. Luna had heard many rumours that Draco was dating Pansy Parkinson but now that had been cleared up and harry had endless lines of girls wanting to go out with him that he had to keep turning down.