𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 ⤿ 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘺𝘭𝘦

-1- LIN TAKAO

THE SLYTHERIN STUDENT HASTILY made her way to the dungeons, said the password, which had slipped her mind earlier on before she had asked Theodore Nott what it was, and was met by the distasteful glare of Pansy Parkinson. The one girl who was keen on making Lin's life horrible. Lin didn't know why she didn't leave her alone like Millicent Bulstrode. Not far from Pansy, stood Draco Malfoy, his arms were folded across his chest. Lin hated Draco because she was terrified of him. She had good reason to. On the train, Draco had proudly showed them his Dark Mark. Lin nearly fainted when she saw it. He was sixteen yet the Dark Lord chose him. Gregory Goyle stood on Draco's left, and Vincent Crabbe on his right. She gulped as their eyes traveled to the necklace she clutched. They know, they surely know! She chanted in her head over and over again until Pansy grabbed the necklace from her grasp.

"You were with that loony again weren't you?!" Pansy angrily asked and Lin Takao moved to grab her necklace back, but Draco snatched it from Pansy and inspected it.

"You were with that daft loony." He grumbled and threw the necklace at her feet. Lin picked it up before Pansy could grab it, however the girl had lost interest in the radish necklace. "How many times do I have to tell you not to speak with that Luna Lovegood?! You could be blabbering our secrets to her! Us Slytherins do not associate with lost causes like her! You could've already told her about my mark." You mean MY mark? Lin thought before she immediately snapped herself out of it and began acting like the weak Slytherin. Though it wasn't hard, she feared Draco, and she envied him at the same time.

"Don't...." She hesitated, looking down to the radish necklace in her hands. Luna was her friend, and she shouldn't hide her friendship from Draco or any one for that matter. But she feared Draco, and for good reason. "Don't call her — I — she's not a lost cause! Nor a loony!"

They all laughed, Draco was first to laugh, Pansy following, like the little bitch she was. Lin was suddenly pushed against the wall, Draco breathing heavily down her neck. She could smell the mint on his breath but to be frank, she preferred Luna's breath. Odd as it may sound, she liked the smell of pudding on her breath.

"Don't ever talk to me like that again Lin. I took pity on you when no one wanted to be your friend. When you got sorted who was first to clap, I was." Lin wanted to tell him that Blaise Zabini had been first but she kept quiet as he let go and the poor girl nodded, tears threatening to fall. "Wash your pathetic face, we have Quidditch practice."

As she walked away, she held in a sigh of relief. They don't know, not yet at least. And she hoped that they would never find out about who she truly was. No one could find out, not even Luna. Or they'll all hate her, including Luna. She'd never understand why Lin was like this. She'd never understand why she was chosen. No one would.

**

As soon as Lin's feet hit the ground, Draco hurried over to her. He towered over her, as Lin was short. Her grandmother used to tell her she took after her mother, but Lin couldn't tell for sure. She had lived with her grandmother since she could remember. At first Lin had thought her aunt, Chiyo, was her mother but later learned she wasn't once she could read and speak properly. Just last year, she found out her mother died while giving birth to her. Naturally, she didn't know what to make of the newly found information, so she told Luna, who had comforted her even though she wasn't crying. She didn't know her mother, so how could she miss someone she had never met? How could she love someone she had never met?

"What's the matter with you Lin?"
Draco angrily growled. Lin so badly wanted to stand up to Draco. Luna had told her to do it, but she wasn't as brave as her friend. She wasn't a Gryffindor, there was a reason why she was sorted into Slytherin and not any other house. "You better not fly like that against Gryffindor. We can not loose to those pathetic mutts."

She wanted to tell him that he was the pathetic mutt, but instead muttered a, "Sorry, I'll do better." Draco sneered but thankfully said nothing. He stormed away and Lin watched as he rammed his shoulder into Luna, who fell over and smiled at Draco as she stood up. Lin could see him saying something, to which Luna replied with a smile and a wave as he marched away. Lin then gathered her things and made her way to Luna. "Are you okay?" Luna nodded and Lin added, "Draco has been acting like a idiotic git the whole day."

Luna first said nothing and as they began walking she said, "I see you're not wearing your necklace. I wonder why."

"Oh — er — about that...." She scratched her head awkwardly. "Draco forbid me." She said, remembering how he roughly pushed her against the wall and later on, at the beginning of Quidditch practice, forbade to wear the radish necklace her friend so graciously made her. Lin had lost her temper, nearly blowing her cover, and had flung the necklace at him. Draco made sure she was watching when he destroyed it, a smile on his face.

"It's all good Lin." Luna smiled, and it was hard to tell whether she was sad or happy, or heartbroken, or angry. Luna was always hard to read while Lin was an open book with a few hidden chapters. Perhaps that's how they became friends.

"I should — er — get going." Lin said as she saw Draco, who was in the distance, look back at them.

"It's getting ridiculous you know? You having to hide our friendship from Draco." Luna spoke, her eyes found their way to Lin, who frowned deeply. "You have to tell him eventually where your true loyalties lie."

"I know Luna but you don't understand. Draco — he — I can't. His dad works with my aunt and I just can't risk her life." She started walking away. "I'm sorry." Though she really wasn't, and she yelled, "Stay away from me!" Just loud enough for Draco to hear. Lin then stormed off with regret gnawing on her heart. Did she really care about Luna now?

She found Draco waiting for her when she rounded the corner. He was grinning at her and flung his arm around her. "About time you told that daft airhead to venture off."

Sh flashed him half a smile and muttered, "Yeah, it was about time. You were right all along about her."

"Say, we celebrate it?" Lin so badly wanted to refuse but it was Draco Malfoy. He didn't take no for an answer, and Lin wouldn't even dare to say no to him, no matter how badly she wanted to. She knew he'd hex her here and now. "Just a small little party in the common room?"

"Of course." Lin was uncontrollably and utterly afraid of Draco Malfoy, and for good reason.

But there's also a reason why Lin was sorted into Slytherin and not Hufflepuff like her parents, and it was not because she was resourceful.