Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I stared into the compartment, watching Luna and Malfoy who were both peering out the window. I finally opened the compartment door just as the train went over a particularly big bump. "Luna? Why are you sitting with Malfoy?" I asked. I noticed Malfoy’s cheeks go red, "I go by Draco now... I want to forget what I did last year... I was an idiot. And I know I don't deserve to be forgiven... but I just want to start new... I barely escaped Azkaban and now I want to make sure that I'm never in a situation like that again." Malfoy said nervously. "Yes... but why are you sitting with Luna?" Harry asked as though he was unsure whether to hit Malfoy or not. "Well... I sort of get Draco... I mean I didn't make those mistakes, but my dad did, and all summer I've had to live with that." Luna said. “Sit down.” Luna said in a pushy tone that sounded much like Hermione a few minutes later.. Everyone sat down, I sat down next to Luna and asked, “Did you get on the train quickly?” Luna considered for a moment, “No, I got on the station a few minutes before the train left so I had to get on immediately.” she finally replied.

We sat in silence for a bit then Luna said, “Are you alright Harry? You look like you're being controlled by capperlumps, but you obviously can't be because anyone who's ever ridden on a thestral is immune to them because they're scared of thestrals." Everyone sat looking slightly awed at this information, we might be used to Luna talking about strange creatures but that didn’t mean we always understood what she was talking about. "It's nothing," Harry said vaguely, "I was just thinking... it's going to be weird going back to Hogwarts, last time we saw it we were in the middle of a wizarding war. And I was just wondering if it's going to feel the same." we all sat in silence pondering this until Ginny answered him. “Of course it'll feel the same Harry, it's Hogwarts. You always said that Hogwarts was your home, and it still is."

Looking around at Harry and Ginny, and Hermione and Ron, I realized how lucky they were and that I might be lucky too, but not as lucky as them. They had each other, and not just in the way that we all have each other as friends, they really had each other. I wanted someone to love and cherish me. I had Gran, true, but around her I couldn’t show signs of grief and weakness because she was so proud of me for fighting the way I did. I wanted someone to be weak around and to be sad and mad around, someone who felt and wanted that in return. My thoughts were interrupted by Malfoy, he had been so quiet I had forgotten he was there. “We should get into our robes, I think we'll be there soon." he said quietly. I wasn’t going to change, not just because he said we should, but then Luna, Ginny and Hermione started to change, so the rest of us followed suit. A while later the witch pushing the trolley full of candy came by and opened our compartment door, “Anything from the trolley dears?” she asked. Everyone except Ron (Who’s ears went red) and Ginny (Who mumbled something about not being hungry) stood. We all returned from the cart and dumped our sweets onto an empty seat for everyone to eat, even Malfoy did this but he didn’t seem to know if he should because he only took one chocolate frog. We all sat talking happily, all except Malfoy, Luna offered him a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and he cheered right up. He did seem sincerely sorry, but I just wasn’t ready to forgive him, not after seven years of bullying.