Anise

Snow began to fall, blanketing the open courtyards and leaving frosted designs on all of the window panes.

Moody didn't act any different, nor did he approach Adrian since the eventful night.

Adrian didn't talk to anyone, nor did he have reason to. Since his deals were off and monitored carefully by the ever looming Snape, he didn't bother to talk to any other students. Already he had been attacked by one stubborn Hufflepuff, who had racked up over a dozen detentions from public hexes against Adrian.

Lutain came with him constantly, watching out but also sleeping around Adrian's throat for warmth. On occasion, the cold winter air hurt his familiar's lungs, and he was forced to remain in his magic cage where the humidity was just how he preferred.

Magical creatures were his comfort, at least they didn't mind that his scars made him look hideous or that he had become the lowest of the low. They remained ignorant of his position on the asinine Slytherin and Hogwarts hierarchy.

The Thestrals watched him, the black skeletal creatures stood out in the snow like something from a child book story. They walked loudly, crunching frost under their hooves as they rattled curiously towards him.

Hagrid appreciated the help, offering some of his old clothing and thick leather coats just for Adrian to hike around the cold snow in if it would help him bite back the chill.

Luna accompanied him often, well, she tended to show up in the strangest of places; waiting for him expectantly when he didn't notice. One day when he was dragging a rather impressive wooden sled loaded with carcasses towards the Thestral's nesting grounds; Adrian could have sworn he saw the fae looking girl sitting on one of the creatures' back.

He dragged the sled over the one root that always stuck out a bit too far, waving to the first curious creature which clicked its beak in excitement.

The other few padded over, crunching over frozen grass and other twigs. Adrian dragged the carcass off the sled, dumping it in the middle of the clearing. They could strip it bare and crack the bones.

"I wondered if you were going to come by." Luna smiled, appearing almost out of thin air by the largest thestral. Her hand was on its flank, stroking smooth patterns into its scarred hide.

"I wondered if you'd be following me again," Adrian snarked back, glaring slightly as one of the smaller thestrals got slightly nippy.

Luna smiled the dazed look she always had, patting the nearest beast affectionately, "Walk with me?"

Adrian wasn't going to say no.

They walked side by side, Luna wearing a thick cloak that looked to have random feathers stuck on with bits of gumpaste. Adrian looked odd with the thick coat he had borrowed from Hagrid, at least the two of them made a pair.

Luna stopped by Hagrid's hut, greeting the half giant as Adrian returned the blood stained coat and assured him that he would be by the day after the next. Luna skipped past and up the stone steps, making sure that Adrian was following somewhat close by.

"I tried to see the pegasus that came with the Beauxbatons," Luna started the conversation, "They wouldn't let me into the stables."

"I wonder why," Adrian dryly added, "Were you wearing that cloak? They may have thought you'd pluck them like a goose."

Luna playfully smacked his upper arm, peering up into the sky and spinning dizzily. She gave a small yelp as she lost balance, tumbling into a snowbank in surprise.

"Careful there," Adrian noted with a small sniff against the cold, "I hear gravity is a fickle thing."

Luna blinked wonderingly, not bothering to clamber out of the snow yet, "Do you think there are Hobskeins on the moon?"

"I doubt it," Adrian responded instantly, not even questioning her anymore.

Luna huffed a sigh, as if disappointed Adrian hadn't even entertained the thought. She reached out, grasping the offered arm as Adrian hoisted her out of the snow in a single movement.

They ascended the steps and under the stone archway, careful to not dislodge any of the large ice chunks. Luna paused and gave off a tone deaf bird song, waving to the Whomping Willow excitedly. The tree waved back.

"Are you going to go to the Yule Ball?" Luna asked curiously, tilting her head and jiggling her silver earrings.

"I doubt it," Adrian snorted with one hand tapping his scars for emphasis, "I look like I was ravaged by a werewolf."

Luna smiled faintly, "A ravishing werewolf?"

Adrian blinked and quietly sighed at how Luna had altered that. They crossed the covered bridge, pausing just before they entered the castle to stare down the fjord that split the castle from the forest. They tended to stay there, it was almost a common haunt of theirs.

"It's beautiful," Luna noted quietly, eyes appearing sad as she stared straight down, "do you think there is green grass at the bottom?"

Adrian looked at her puzzled, "It's winter, Luna."

She smiled, "I know. You should ask me to the Yule Ball."

Adrian stumbled, nearly tripping as he jammed the ends of his fingertips against the stone of the window arches, "Luna, I am not going to the ball."

Luna hummed, sounding much more in tune than she did when she sang to the tree, "I know, you should be going. I think someone is looking for you."

Adrian ran one hand through his hair but said nothing more. Slipping through the warming ward was an instant relief, the icy chill vanished from his bones the further into the castle he walked.

His first destination was the dungeons where he was going to obtain Lutain from his box. After that, it was unlikely that he would be bothered, especially with the frenzy around the castle of students asking students to the ball.

Adrian was mostly safe unless he approached any girl, in which case the nearest boys would tease and dramatically call him out. The joys of being surrounded by children.

He descended the stairs, slipping through the corridors to where the door set.

Adrian slid inside and without glancing at the couches he started instantly towards the staircase where his room and Lutain waited.

"Selwyn," A composed smooth voice interrupted, causing Adrian to pause and grab his wand.

"Greengrass," Adrian nodded, turning and addressing the pureblood heir who closed her book calmly and stood to address him.

She had a silvery green scarf around her neck, her corn silk hair pinned back, although she didn't look any more stunning than normal.

She stepped forward and smiled thinly, holding one hand out showing him her nails. They were painted silver and artificial with small points.

"You're taking me to Yule." She spoke calmly, her eyes flickering to her hand where the pureblood custom was to kiss her knuckles.

Adrian felt anger, as was normal, "I must decline."

Daphne smiled, something sharp and predatory in her look, "You misunderstand, I've decided that you will take me to the Yule Ball. I'd like to show you off."

So that's what she wanted. She wanted to walk him around like an ensnared dog, publicly speaking how she had coerced him into some sort of deal when he himself had all of his yanked away.

If that was how she was going to play, he was going to avoid it all together.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Greengrass, but I've already asked another to the Yule Ball."

Her jaw fell ever so slightly, opening her mouth instead of keeping her jaw shut. "Excuse me?" She nearly laughed, eyebrows raising as she surveyed his face, "Don't be petty and resort to lying now, Selwyn."

That hurt slightly.

"I'm not," He bit back icily, "if you excuse me, my familiar is waiting."

She flushed and her calm expression faltered, "You do not walk away from me!" she hissed angrily. "You can not say no to me!"

Adrian wondered if it would be appropriate to punch her.

"Oh I'm sorry, ma'am," He growled back with a terribly mocking tone, "Would you prefer I write it down and send an owl?"

Her nostrils flared and she looked ready to curse him. She paused, exhaled slowly, and then gave a pinched smile, "Then I look forward to you and your date."

He watched her return to the couch and open her book again. Her fingers around the cover were pale white.

Sometimes Luna knew too much for her own good.

One benefit to the school wide treatment of Adrian, was Theo's desire to not be in the same room with him. This left Adrian with plenty of time alone, sometimes the other boy never returned at night although Adrian didn't know where on earth the other slept.

The privacy allowed Adrian the time and opportunity to converse with his father through the horrid technique that was his tattoo. The sensation of the Nagini mockery sliding through his flesh never felt better, it always made him feel nauseous in the end.

He learned that his father genuinely was surprised to hear the name Barty Crouch Jr. The man having been sentenced to Azkaban during the first rising of the his father. According to his father (and a few sources), Barty Crouch Jr. had died in Azkaban, his body left behind in the cells and visibly removed for burial.

His father was fascinated in regards to how the man escaped and left behind a body, also how he managed to subdue and keep the real Alastor Moody enslaved and captured all the while not alerting Dumbledore.

His father assured him that the man was able to be trusted, especially if he had accomplished so much.

(Adrian noticed instantly that despite knowing a fair bit about Barty Crouch Jr., his father didn't actually tell him anything about future plans.)

Barty Crouch Jr. apparently, was an expert in use of disguise and manipulation of others. A skilled Occlumens (which spoke volumes of Adrian's unexplained Legilimency) but also a master of more unspoken magics. Although he wasn't a phenomenal dueler, his array of spells and curses were almost entirely exotic to the degree that reversing the effects were immensely difficult.

Adrian could use spells like that - it wasn't as if he could simply grab books and do with them what he wanted. Hogwarts tended to alert the headmaster of any dark magic or suspicious artifacts and books.

Daphne had become even more scathing, sending him even more vicious threats and comments. If he thought she had been ruthless before, well now she was absolutely savage. A glass flower edged with a strong cutting curse.

Luna was wonderful and in that unexplained way, she had already informed him that she had secured a dress for the ball. Part of Adrian wondered if it would be something crafted entirely out of Spell-O tape; part of him was imagining how fabulous it would be if Daphne saw him reject her for a Spell-O tape dress.

Adrian secured a set of dress robes, or rather he had his set of dress robes shipped from his room to the castle. He mentally thanked the entire wardrobe hemmed carefully and fashioned from the finest materials just for his status. That, and his father liked indulging with expensive trinkets.

Large horses were rented from Hogsmeade to pull the normally horseless carriages from the various courtyards to the main hall for a more romantic path. The snow fell softly from the sky; no lightning although Adrian had been watching closely for the next lightning storm.

Adrian knew better than to invite Luna down to the depths of the dungeons to meet him, it would be much easier to meet her outside the Ravenclaw tower.

Adrian wondered slightly if he should cast a rudimentary glamour or try muggle makeup to try and disguise the scarring. In the end he decided against it, mostly because the reason the scars were there were to hide his true appearance.

Various pairs and small groups noticed him and gave him a wide berth. On his trek from up the stairs towards the higher towers, the only group who actively chatted with him ended up being the Weasley Twins; the two girls accompanying the twins didn't refrain from staring outright.

Girls that he never had noticed before swept past him with students on their arms. Other boys looked pleased, some nervous and awkward with the highly decorated girls on their arm. One pair of two girls in matching dresses practically skipped down the hallway, laughing excitedly and flaunting their dates happily.

Adrian walked past and suddenly felt painfully self-conscious with how horrid his own appearance likely was. He knew his dress robes were of higher quality than the majority of students, yet that didn't dispel all of his unease.

"Hello!" Luna chimed happily, appearing from the stone staircase that led to the Ravenclaw tower. She didn't even glance once towards where he knew the darkest of the purple disfigured his cheekbone, "You look nice."

Adrian interpreted it as permission to survey her own work. He saw the dress and couldn't stop the amused laugh that emerged as an ugly guffaw.

Luna seemed to smile even further, tucking one loose ringlet of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Is that…" Adrian trailed off breathlessly, eyes almost sparkling at the horrid fashion statement Luna proudly flaunted, "Is that a tiara?"

"Do you like it?" Luna asked curiously, tilting her head where the large horned monstrosity stuck magically to her pinned hair, "I didn't like using them in Potions."

"So you stuck unicorn horns on your head?" Adrian couldn't help the smile, finding the hairpiece uncannily similar to a crown.

"I made it myself." she explained proudly, almost beaming under the lanterns decorating the hallway.

Adrian let himself observe her outfit even further, noticing the sheer fabric arranged in ornate frills that were overwhelming and garish in contrast to the glittering shawl and what looked like an antique necklace.

"Oh!" she gasped in horror, fumbling around in her pockets frantically. Adrian didn't know that dresses even had pockets.

"Ah hah!" She chirped happily, pulling out what looked like small twigs tied together with tiny ribbons.

"What is that?" Adrian blinked, watching in utter bafflement as Luna tied the small bundles to her nondescript silver earrings. Well, they had been nondescript.

"They're herb bundles." Luna blinked as if it was rather self explanatory, "Anise, catnip, some lavender. They're magical you know."

Adrian paused and laughed loudly, "Luna, you're a witch, not a muggle fraud."

She pouted and rolled her eyes, "Oh Adrian, just because you can't see it doesn't mean they don't work."

Adrian shook his head but offered his arm politely, "All right then, ma'am. Perhaps you could explain to me these so called magical properties of Professor Sprout's bedroom flowerpots."

Luna took his arm dainty, walking with a smile as other couples gaped at them either due to Luna's outrageous outfit or Adrian's own skin.

They descended out of the main traffic staircase, peering out into the overhang to join the waiting students who were in line for the carriages. The snow began to falter, raining down from the sky in small tufts illuminated by the various lanterns placed around the path outside.

"Catnip helps nervousness, anise helps ease the pain of curses and lavender helps depression and sadness." Luna repeated out loud as if an ancient apothecary.

Adrian hummed absentmindedly as if the information actually was true, "You should move to the country. Grow flowers and sell them to muggle post workers."

Luna giggled, muffling the sound with her hand. The herb bundles swayed and swung under her ears, brushing her jawline slightly.

"Luna?" A student gasped, hurrying over uncomfortably in clicking shoes, "Luna you look amazing." The girl gushed, observing Luna's outfit with genuine amusement.

"Thank you," Luna smiled, head lolling slightly as she didn't glance at the other girl's dress at all, "You look nice."

"Oh! Here," The girl peered into the line, waving to some student further up who dutifully slipped out of line and walked back confidently towards them, "This is my date! I don't think you two have met…" she trailed off unsure, gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Cedric." The man smiled, looking recognizable to the entire school as the selected Hogwarts Champion, "It's nice to meet you, Cho has told me all about you."

Luna nodded and shook his hand carefully, "It's nice to meet you - the Shortsnout you faced had a headache but you did okay."

Cedric blinked and looked at Cho, "Er…"

"This is Adrian." Luna tugged on Adrian's arm, pulling him a little more central to the group.

"Selwyn?" Cedric blinked rapidly in surprise, brows furrowing as he blurted out, "I thought they expelled you?"

Ouch. That hurt.

Cho's eyes widened and she whacked her date's arm, casting him a meaningful look, "I'm sorry, I uh, there's been rumors and…"

Her apology trailed off although she did seem sympathetic. Adrian noticed the way her eyes kept slipping, glancing at his face noticeably. Luna's arm tightened the smallest degree around his arm.

"Oh, pity the Thestrals aren't pulling the carriages this time," Luna sighed, looking out of the open doorway as a large ethereal white horse pulled around and students clambered into its carriage.

"Er, I thought the carriages are spelled?" Cedric murmured lowly to Cho who tried to keep her smile on her face, although it looked a bit more pained.

"Thestrals are big creatures," Luna offered, lifting her arms to try and explain how large a thestral really was, "They're black and have white eyes and wings, and they look scary but really they're just misunderstood."

Cedric gave an unsure smile and nodded along, tugging on his date's arm slightly.

They slipped back into the line and for the first time ever, Adrian realized that Luna was treated like he was.

"That's why you wore this dress." he realized, speaking out loud as the epiphany struck him. "So people would stare at you. Instead of staring at me."

"People always stare at me," Luna offered dismissively, "I'm different and people don't like that. I think it scares them, like thestrals do."

"I think you're more of a unicorn," Adrian added with a small teasing turn of his mouth. It didn't change his sad expression entirely.

He lifted his hand, over her head to trace the sparkling points of her crown, "Or maybe something with five horns. A Quincorn?"

"You're making that up," She smiled, looking horribly amused as she swatted his hand away from her crown, "I'm an Ogopogo obviously."

Adrian's metaphorical ears twitched, he certainly knew that creature. "I'm sorry, an Ogopogo has decidedly more flippers than you. You only have three that I can see."

Luna laughed, eyes sparkling as he played along with her bantering, "You forgot my gills. You can't see them because they're on the bottom of my feet."

"That's preposterous. I see the bottom of your feet all the time since you protest the use of shoes."

Luna flung her head back and laughed, the sound was carefree and gentle and for the first time in a very long time, Adrian realized he was smiling.