familiar ; draco malfoy

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Theodore Nott was sat at the very edge of the table of Slytherins. Ramona didn't like his gaze and the way his lips twitched into a smirk, but she could see that the awful boy was amused as well. With a shaking of his head, he turned to Graham, whispering something but keeping his eyes still on Ramona, not trying to hide he was talking about her.  Graham seemed intrigued by his words and, as Nott spoke, his eyes met Ramona's.

Feeling that nothing good was to come from their whispering, she turned to face her cousin who had finally calmed down, but just enough to speak.

"Oh Merlin," wept Blaise who, once Ramona turned towards him, had his hand around Luna's shoulders. A blushing Luna supported him from collapsing, hesitantly placing her hand around his waist as he rested his entire weight on her. Blaise was not aware that the white-haired girl was looking at him, trying to suppress a giant grin, for he was too focused on staying upright.

"Lovegood, you're a genius," wheezed out Blaise. He roughly kissed the top of Luna's head before letting her go, walking towards Ramona. Luna stumbled backward and then froze where she stood, eyes wide, staring after Blaise.

"Wait. I need to preserve this memory," he said. Blaise placed his hands before him, as if framing Ramona's face with his fingers.

"Blaise, cut it out," Ramona grunted, slapping his hand away.

"Ramona, I am begging you, let me have this. This is the single greatest moment of my life," he pleaded, gripping onto her hands to pull her back. She huffed and stood still as he drank in every detail of her look, face split by a grin so large she wasn't sure it was Blaise before her eyes.

"You've had your moment, twit, be gone now," announced Ramona as tears returned to Blaise's eyes. Grabbing Luna's hand, she dragged her to an empty table, away from prying eyes.

Blaise followed along closely, trying to contain his laughter- but the resonating giggle of her cousin was hard to ignore.

"No. Absolutely not. Piss off," she told him, holding onto the chair he tried to pull out.

"Oh come on," he complained, "Lovegood wants my company. Don't you?" He turned his gaze to Luna, who's cheeks were still tinted pink. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Like a fish, Luna Lovegood opened and closed her mouth, eyes twinkling as she looked at Blaise. Her eyes only snapped to Ramona for a brief second- but enough for Ramona to know what she meant. Damn you Lovegood.

"You can sit. But I swear to Merlin, if you make one more comment-"

"Allow me one joke, just one joke," begged Blaise. He pulled out the chair and sat down opposite Luna, eagerly waiting for permission to begin. He was bursting with joy the more he looked at Ramona and she couldn't help but be amused herself.

"I'll get the drinks," Ramona sighed, standing up just as Blaise started to blabber.

"So a lion and a mouse walk into a bar, right? Appropriate," he said with a wink and Ramona slapped him upside the head as she walked away from their table. "They're sitting there chugging away at a few beers when a giraffe walks in. And the mouse says, Get a load of her, I fancy that!"

Luna was engrossed in Blaise's story, not even looking at Ramona as she left.

"Doesn't fancy him my ass," muttered Ramona under her breath, adjusting the lion head so that it didn't slip down her forehead.

On her way to the bar, snickers and laughs were heard as she passed. She'd smile awkwardly, nodding politely at the people that would crack a joke, eventually laughing herself. She didn't mind it that much at that point, the initial embarrassment passing, and felt rather happy that people would look at her with smiles instead of weary faces.