5/6

Aside from being the voice of reason, Gaara was also busy concealing his shock. He had not expected such an offer from Sirius, after everything that Sirius had already done for him. And while Gaara could see the logic behind it, he also felt conflicted. He would not be staying in this world for too much longer, and while he was sure Sirius was doing this to be a good friend, Gaara knew that ultimately he would make a terrible son, even as a fake.

Gaara had let his attention drift too far and apparently Sirius had noticed. "So, are you really okay with this, too, Gaara?"

"It makes sense." Was all Gaara would say on the subject. Far from the excitement of Harry's reaction, Gaara actually seemed morose.

Harry wanted to voice his criticism, to tell Gaara to understand the amazing opportunity that had just been offered to them both of them, orphans. Gaara was probably just pretending he wasn't bothered because he wanted to look like he didn't need anyone. Which made Harry wonder how Gaara could stand to hang around mister 'I'm-telling-my-father'.

"Right." Sirius wanted to talk this through with each of them properly but time was running short so it would have to wait until he could visit them again. Jokes aside, he knew he would be barred from visiting entirely if he abused McGonagall's accommodating nature, so he would probably have to wait a while. If he gave in to his impulses, he would have visited every day.

Remus said he needed a hobby. As if that unemployed layabout could talk.

"The Ministry, the bits that Fudge has his fat little fingers in, anyway, shouldn't be able to do anything to stop this from going through, but don't tell anybody about it. I don't want to tempt fate after it's given me such a kicking over the years."

"Of course." Harry said, and Gaara nodded.

Both of them were already formulating how they would immediately tell their best friends. For Harry, he just wanted to share the amazing news with people who would share his excitements. For Gaara, he needed help in understanding the emotional fallout of this. Potter was clearly experiencing a significant emotional reaction to this news and Gaara wondered if he was supposed to be feeling something too.

"Good. In that case, all that there's left to do is wait for the interviews, a home-study, and then more paperwork. I've worn down three quills just from filling out forms so far." Sirius said. When he noticed Harry's smile droop a little, Sirius hastened to add, "But I would happily ruin a dozen more of my father's precious antique quills to make this happen."

The door opened and Ron stumbled in, understandably shocked to see Gaara and Sirius Black standing next to Harry in their bedroom. Apparently the upper years thought it would be funnier to let the youngest Weasley boy stumble upon the meeting without any fair warning.

"Wha- what the bloody hell are you doing in here?!" Whether Ron was talking to Gaara or Sirius was unclear, but it didn't really matter.

"Oh, Ronald, sorry to intrude. We were just leaving." Sirius said pleasantly. He was still living in fear of Molly finding out he had broken Ron's leg so he would try as hard as he could to keep the peace.

"I'll walk you out." Harry was quick to offer, resentful that the moment had been interrupted, and because it had been Ron, who had been acting off for too long to be excused entirely.

"No, thank you, Harry." Sirius smiled. "You'd best start getting ready for your lessons. I would hate for anybody to get the impression that I don't place the highest priority on schooling."

"That wasn't a convincing lie." Gaara called him out.

Sirius laughed and slung an arm around Gaara's tiny shoulders, ignoring the tensing that instinctively followed. "Gaara can show me the way. It's on the way to the dungeons anyhow."

"You know the way to the exit." Gaara craned his neck to look up at Sirius, who had still not removed his arm.

"It's a figure of speech, Gaara." Sirius said, guiding Gaara to the door.

"I'll see you again soon, Harry. In the meantime, don't lose heart, whatever happens. I believe in you and know you will do fine. Just do your best and accept any help that's offered."

"Thank you." Harry said, for everything.

Sirius smiled once more and finally removed his hand from Gaara's shoulder to give him a gentle push out the door.

Through the bewildered and hostile Gryffindors, Sirius marched behind Gaara all the way down the castle to the ground floor.

"I'd like to continue with you but I know for a fact that Snivellus wouldn't be as forgiving about letting outsiders into his House as I'm sure McGonagall will be." That would be sure to bring up unpleasant memories for the greasy-haired bat.

Gaara did not say anything.

"I want to talk to you more about this, about what I'm doing, but this isn't the time or the place. Please just believe me when I say that I only want to do what's best for you. And I think giving you somewhere you can call home permanently will do that. As long as you're here anyway." Sirius said. "And as for the Tournament, I hope you feel you can tell me the truth someday too."

Sirius moved straight in and gave Gaara a proper hug before Gaara could think to dodge or block the attempt. He didn't want to make Gaara uncomfortable, as he knew human contact made him, but sometimes expressions of caring needed to be shown rather than spoken.

"Stay well, Gaara. And write back to me next time, otherwise I really will be visiting again soon. I'll get a job teaching here if I have to."

Sirius walked out, heading towards Hogsmeade for a quick morning drink before going home to his liquor cabinet.

And Remus said he didn't have a hobby!

Gaara was fifteen minutes late for Herbology but he didn't bother giving an excuse. Professor Sprout pretended not to notice, having seen the beginning of the unfolding drama in the Great Hall at breakfast, and she felt she could make an exception this once.

Draco, conscious of the prying eyes all around them, tried to discreetly ask about what had transpired, including the rumours that Gaara had been hanging around the Gryffindor common room with his feet up. Gaara refused to answer the enquiries in company.

That evening, Draco was predictably dramatic when Gaara broke the news. Draco started right off on the history of individuals being adopted into the old pureblood families, particularly the Blacks. It was rare but not without precedence, usually to ensure the family name continued when the main branch had only sired daughters. After all, to a family like the Blacks, nobody would think twice about a step-brother and sister marrying. Of course, Draco left unspoken the judgemental observation about the Black history of incestuous couplings and the eventual ruination to which it led.

Draco did have a few words to say about Potter's inclusion in the affair. The platinum blond seemed to take great offence at the notion that Gaara and Potter would be step-brothers. Gaara didn't have a great deal to say on the matter, beyond the fact that he would not consider Potter his brother, and that family was not determined by blood or by the law. Draco could not understand the sentiment behind the statement and wondered if it might have been another cultural barrier, their divergent understandings of the term 'family'. To Draco, from everything he had ever been taught, blood and family were some of the most important and linked concepts that any witch or wizard should know.

Gaara noticed Draco calmed considerably when he realised they would be step-cousins. Gaara wisely decided not to mention how far removed they would be, nor how little such a relation really meant, not when Draco's mind was focussing on the importance of establishing Gaara properly in society if he were to be the legal son of the last scion of the Black family. The eldest son too, come to think of it.

Even if Draco was outwardly excited and (mostly) logical about the news, inside he wanted to know whether Gaara's acquiescence to Sirius's offer meant that he had some interest or intention in staying around. Why else would he be making long-term arrangements?

Draco didn't ask Gaara directly for any sort of confirmation because his assumption was the safer option. If he asked and Gaara answered, there was a real (and probable) chance that this did not mean what Draco hoped it meant, and he would rather hide inside his delusion while he could, rather than know for sure that Gaara would, in all likelihood, not remain.

Gaara remained engaged in the conversation for all of three minutes before the it grew tiresome for him and he moved on to reading his latest book, just as Draco started lecturing him on refining his downright crude manners, as well as the political advantages of being a member of the pureblood elite, even if only by adoption.

The Golden Trio were just as excited as Harry was, but Ron and Hermione did try to add a note of caution to Harry's uncharacteristically good mood, which practically had him bouncing in place. Hermione had warned Harry to be carefully of Sirius's immaturity, mostly because she was not convinced of Harry's own maturity and she did not think it would be fair for Professor Lupin to have to keep an eye on both of them.

Ron, on the other hand, was focussed on the other salient fact, that Gaara would be joining the family also. Ron warned Harry that, living under the same roof as Gaara full-time, Harry would be lucky to make it out alive. Then an argument broke out, with Hermione defending Gaara, Harry defending his ability to take care of himself, and Ron taking the side of keeping his friends alive, even if one of them was lying about not entering the Tournament.

Eventually the three decided to focus on the positive of Harry's adoption by someone who cared about him and that he would never have to set eyes upon Privet Drive ever again. He would quite happily sacrifice the handful of discards and other assorted rubbish that had been graciously given to him if it meant he never had to go back.

When Sirius had returned that afternoon, it had been to find a letter waiting neatly on a silver-embossed butler's tray, presumably set out by Kreacher after the morning post. Sirius had gone to some lengths to avoid publicising in which of the half-dozen British Black estates he was currently residing, so he did not tend to receive a great deal of post, outside of letters regarding the adoption, occasional missives of Cisssy, the ones from Harry, and now this one. Clearly Gaara's handwriting.

Sirius immediately suspected that Gaara might have written it subsequent to their meeting, but there was no way an owl would have made it back before him, and Sirius doubted Gaara would be able to return to London through any magical means in that time either, even if Sirius had spent a little more than an hour drinking at the pub.

Sirius smiled ruefully, sinking into his chair, plucking the letter from the tray and sliding the sterling silver, bone-handled letter opener to break the seal.

Inside was a laughably short letter that might have been more suited to the first half of a postcard message. Even if Gaara had been telling the truth and he had sent the letter last night, not that Sirius ever intended to admit that, he would be writing in his next letter to Gaara (after he sobered up, since he'd promised to stop drunk-corresponding) that he expected at least a full page from Gaara next time, or else.

Sirius really didn't like to have to make rules but Gaara needed a surprising amount of structure, considering how mature he seemed at times. If things weren't spelled out to him in the simplest possible terms, in black and white rules and statements, there was a reasonable chance he wouldn't understand.

Remus wasn't even pretending to job hunt that day. He was just sat reading the paper with his feet up and a cup of tea by his side. He'd barely glance over the top of his broadsheet when Sirius had come back from his morning mission, and refrained from commenting. Sirius could have mocked Remus's lack of drive that day, but he was already a little sleepy and he might take a nap. After his nap, he might come back and tell Remus off for being lazy.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Over the following weeks, Harry started to wonder if his hairline would last until he turned twenty with the stress he was under. He had frequently been spending the bulk of his time with Hermione in the Library to research past first Tasks, to try and narrow down what it was likely to be and how he should best prepare.

Turned out, the Task could be just about anything, including a written test, a duel, a physical challenge, taming a manticore, brewing a potion, or writing a ballad. When he asked Hermione, she told him there wasn't a spell for 'everything'. Typical.

She had started writing up a 'short' list of spells he should consider or try learning in preparation, things that would help in a broad range of circumstances. After the third option on the five-page list was a spell for learning multiple languages in a single sitting, Harry decided he might be better off looking up spells himself and asking Sirius for advice.

All of this stress wasn't helped by the fact that Gaara appeared to be entirely unconcerned. Being in the Library as often as he was, Harry frequently saw Gaara coming and going, but instead of preparing for the Tasks, or even doing homework, he was just doing his own thing as usual. Reading about esoteric subjects and even some novels.

Then again, compared to Malfoy, Gaara's nonchalance didn't bother Harry at all. The blond had started acting up again for no reason, with his whole 'Hogwarts' true Champion' tripe. Prick. And Ron was still intermittently being a prat, though at least he wasn't going so far as to outright avoid Harry anymore. He just made the occasional snide comment and was providing no help or support in Harry's preparations, unlike Hermione who was spearheading the effort.

When it came time to compete, Harry knew he would be fighting the cowardly impulse to suggest Hermione take his place, since he had no doubt she would be even better prepared than he was.

Harry had been focussing on trying to learn as many potentially useful spells as he possibly could, but beyond learning to use them properly, Harry was beginning to struggle to remember half of them. Turned out, the reason Hogwarts didn't load students up with every arcane and powerful spell available in the Library was that half couldn't be performed until the spellcaster was older and more powerful, and the students would be lucky to remember five of them.

In solidarity, Sirius had sent over a few books filled primarily with combat spells. Though, and Harry didn't care to admit this to his helpful godfather, that at least one of the books he had already found in the school Library. It didn't surprise anyone to know that Sirius wasn't familiar with the contents of Hogwarts' Library.

Harry was comparing the effects of two offensive spells, one from Sirius's book and the other from a school textbook, since they seemed similar but one was apparently dark and forbidden and the other was a common defensive spells used by the Turkish equivalent of Aurors, who abhorred the use of dark magic.

"When it says the potential to flay, does that mean what I think it means?" Harry asked, going a little green as his mind conjured up an image.

"I think it means you should stop reading that forbidden book and focus on the ones in the Library, Harry. It was nice of Mister Black to send you those books, but you should send them back to him before they get confiscated, or you get arrested for using something in them."

"They can't all be dark, Herm. Sirius wouldn't have sent them to me if they were, surely."

Hermione considered saying the obvious, that Sirius Black was a juvenile delinquent in the body of an adult, and no decisions should made on the basis of his maturity or good judgement, but instead she said, "He might not have read them."

"I suppose…" Harry said, wistfully thinking of the some of the more powerful blasting and fire spells the books had contained. The one called Fiendfyre had seemed really cool. Sentient, unquenchable fire that he could direct to burn and destroy anything. That could have been his signature spell.

Never mind.

Hermione had been giving him a fair number of non-combat spells, since the Tasks were not likely to all be centred around fighting. At any protestation on his part, she would just huff out "boys…" with a put-upon sigh and then insist harder. Harry admitted he might have been focussing a little too much on a single, cooler area of spellcraft.

"Ron's still hiding from his cousin, you know." Hermione said, flipping through the latest lead on spells that would make Harry's experience super speed. Though it might also cause his feet to fall off if it was improperly cast.

"Oh yeah?" Harry said half-heartedly. It seemed Ron's mood could not be predicted these days, with some mornings starting with a tense but friendly greeting and others where Ron would outright ignore him. Not one to be shunned one-sidedly, Harry was happy to reject Ron in kind on days like today where Ron had decided he could not trust Harry.

That said, neither of them wanted Hermione to know the extent of their feud so they had silently agreed not to discuss any of it with or in front of her.

"Yes, she's evidently managed to alienate all of the influential Slytherins she'd been targeting and now she's got no one to speak to. I would feel sorry for her if she hadn't brought it all on herself."

"She's a scary one, alright." Harry said. He had hoped someone, even Snape, might reel her in.

"Yes, well, I hope nobody lumps the rest of the girls in with her." Hermione had even tried to sit down and speak with Ron's cousin, to try and get her to tone down her hunt for a powerful boyfriend. Mafalda had said some very discourteous things to Hermione and that had been the end of the conversation, and the end of any pity Hermione might have had, remembering her own initial isolation in her first year. "I couldn't imagine anyone in our year acting like her when we were eleven! Can you imagine it?"

"I'll try very hard not to." Harry said.

"She's trying to get Ron to introduce her to someone in Gryffindor, you know. Wouldn't surprise me if it was you." Hermione said.

Harry stopped trying to read his book and immediately look Hermione in the face. "What?"

"The Boy-Who-Lived, soon-to-be-heir to the Black estate, Triwizard Champion, and slayer of the beast in the Chamber of Secrets. It wouldn't surprise me if she had you in her sights now that she's searching outside of the Slytherin pool."

"B-but I'm- and she's only eleven!" Harry said.

Hermione frowned, "Well of course I wouldn't expect you to take her up on it! And that's aside from her gaping personality flaws. But that doesn't mean she won't start bothering you or following you around like she did to Malfoy."

"I don't suppose I can count on getting any tips from him about getting rid of her, can I?"

"I wouldn't think so. Anyway, I heard a rumour he resorted to threatening to jinx her if she didn't stop harassing him, so you probably couldn't do it the same way he did."

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did. He's still a Malfoy." Harry would admit that the antagonism between him and Malfoy had settled quite a bit in the last year or so. Malfoy was still an arse, and he still did things to annoy Harry, but they hardly ever fought anymore and it was mostly childish squabbles, rather than outright hate speech. Hermione had been the one to term them childish squabbles.

"I don't think it's fair to base it on him being a Malfoy. He can't help which family he was born into." Hermione was making an abstracted point about the dangers of prejudice, as she would never want to be the one to defend Draco Malfoy.

"Have you forgotten the time his father almost killed Ginny with that diary and then he tried to kill me? Would have, too, if Dobby hadn't been there."

Hermione did not like to back down from a debate, but Harry had a major bone to pick with Malfoy sr. and she didn't want to put herself in the line of fire. Not when the only two Malfoys either of them had ever met had turned out to be loathsome.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Some people had said of Gaara that he had an unhealthy appreciation for being left alone. Even after leaving behind his more violent and psychotic tendencies and accepting the love of others, Gaara still preferred to be left in peace. So, with his nomination as one of the Champions of Hogwarts, Gaara found the past few weeks lamentable.

No longer could he sit quietly in a corner and expect to be ignored or avoided. Now, even worse than after his defeat of the dementors, people flocked to him, expecting some form of casual friendship with him. Draco had been the one to keep Gaara from ensuring the distance was resumed through a violent display. Making an example of interlopers would, apparently, only result in Gaara and Slytherin being penalised.

So, Gaara had taken to hiding away from people again. Draco had seemed okay with Gaara's added distance, as far as the redhead could see. Draco was keeping busy with the secret project he thought Gaara didn't know about as well as hanging out with his other friends. Gaara had decided to allow Draco to keep his secret for the time being, particularly now that there was a little more distance between them.

Along with his increased notoriety in the school, his magical ineptitude was drawing renewed interest from both his classmates and the visiting students, who found it necessary to comment upon it loudly and within his hearing. They found it incongruous, that the boy who was said to have fought and maybe even killed dementors, and who had been selected as one of the Champions of a magical school renowned for the achievements of its alumni, would be so shockingly bad at casting spells.

Gaara had struggled casting spells since he arrived, with one theory being that he was unable to adequately throttle the volume of magic he was delivering into each spell, causing half of them to explode. Draco had given him a great deal of help, with extra tips and help practicing them so that, while he was still at the bottom of the passing margin in his classes, he did still manage to pass them. With Draco otherwise engaged, Gaara had to approach the only other person he could rely upon in the school to help him (without leading to other headaches, like with asking Granger, or any of the dozens of people who tried to insinuate themselves with him every day.)

Luna was more than happy to help him practice, both for the social aspect as well as for her academic curiosity over the cause of his difficulties. She had been dedicating this year at Hogwarts to learning about the nature of magic, which was, as it sounded, a lot trickier than most would be to delve into. For instance, she had started her journey of discovery with a series of apparently enlightening Norse poems that she said had enumerated some of the less tangible concepts of magic. When she had tried reading them for Gaara, he stopped her after six Norwegian stanzas since he felt he knew less about the nature of magic than when he had started.

Luna was, sadly, not much better as an instructor than Draco was, but they were each deficient in different ways. While Draco was unsympathetic and impatient, Luna was too easily side-tracked and obsessed by the irrelevant theory of spells Gaara only needed help in casting. Still, she did a great deal to help him keep up with his peers.

In was during one of these practice sessions that Luna realised she was just as tall as Gaara was. Being one of the shorter girls in her year, which was the one below Gaara's, it was surprising to find them perfectly eye-to-eye.

Interesting as this observation was, even Luna knew better than to actually mention it to him. Still, it was a perfectly strange effect of Gaara being in this world, she thought. However, sadly, there was almost nothing she could read on the subject that might offer any insight. Luna had started a journal to note down some of her research findings and observations about Gaara (ciphered in an impenetrable code), in case she ever wanted to publish a paper about his experiences. But she couldn't share a word of it while Gaara was still here, hiding his origins.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gaara thought there might be someone hiding around the corner when he approached, but his sand did nothing to prevent them from grabbing the shoulder of Gaara's robe and pulling him aside and throwing him against the wall. It cushioned what might have been a jarring impact with the wall, but otherwise it did not seem to think this represented an attack. Seeing Potter standing there, looking about as happy to have forced the encounter as Gaara was to receive it, Gaara himself doubted there was any real danger.

"What?" He asked, hoping this would not end up being another attempt at a heart-to-heart.

Potter glared at him, looking like he would rather be anywhere else, but this frustrated Gaara, despite him feeling exactly the same. It was only when Gaara pushed off against the wall in a bid to leave that Potter finally spoke.

"I've something to tell you, hold on."

"What is it?"

"I- I found out what the first Task will be. Or, at least, what's going to be involved. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't tell you, so, it's dragons." He said, "They're going to make us do something involving dragons!"

"I know."

"What?"

"I've known about the dragons for around a week now." Gaara said.

"You've known about the dragons in the forest that we'll have to face for a week and you didn't think to tell me?" After Harry had deliberated and finally decided to share the advantage, rather than risk Gaara coming to unnecessary harm because of his ignorance.

"I did not think it was a secret. They are in open cages in the middle of the forest for anyone to find."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. He roared with frustration and then stormed off before he could do something he might regret, like reducing the number of Champions to the correct three.

Gaara watched him go and tried to work out if he was now supposed to tell Delacour and Krum about the humongous fire-breathing lizards out in the forest, since nobody seemed capable of going for a walk in this world.

"Of course you shouldn't say anything!" Had been Draco's reaction that evening in their room. Draco had initially been shocked by the presence and future involvement of his namesake, as well as by the stupidity of Potter for ceding the advantage. But ultimately, Draco felt it was his duty as Gaara's friend (and as the stand-in for Gaara's missing common sense) to remind him that "It's a competition. You're competing!"

"Potter told me."

"That's because he's a stupid, poxy Gryffindor! Merlin help me!" Draco would have thrown his hands in the air if his narrow allowance for histrionics would have permitted it. "Leave them alone to figure it out themselves."

Gaara thought it was a little unfair, to exclude the other two Champions like this, and tournaments like this were supposed to be fair, but being a shinobi, Gaara was used to ignoring any such notions of fair play when needed. Plus, Draco knew far more about Wizarding customs and culture than Gaara ever intended to learn, so Gaara would have to take him at his word that this was how the Triwizard Champions were supposed to conduct themselves.

Speaking of how to act in the Tournament, Luna asked, in their next practice session in the Forbidden Forest, what Gaara's strategy for the first Task was going to be. There would be some competition against the dragons, and presumably the challenges would be individual, since there was one dragon per Champion.

"I will defeat it." Gaara said.

He had read up on dragons after first discovering them in the forest, and he had even asked Hagrid about them, since the half-giant seemed to be an enthusiast of some kind. They were large, possessed sharp teeth and talons, could fly, and almost all of them could breathe fire. Even if the fire posed an increased risk, Gaara was confident he would be able to take down any of the dragons with his sand.

"If you say so." Luna had said, continuing to read her latest book on dragon wrangling and management, just in case Gaara's sand or animal magnetism fail to do the job. She was sat on one of Fluffy's paws at that point, having grown so used to the presence of the enormous Cerberus that it seemed only natural to rest with the dog.

Fluffy for his part seemed to like any positive human attention, after they came to trust one of the diminutive redhead's friends. Draco had not yet earned the privilege of approaching Fluffy, which he said he was okay with. After all, Luna was already covered in slobber from Fluffy's panting heads stationed directly above her, which was a common occurrence. She had brought an umbrella with her once, to guard her book from the slobber rain, but Fluffy thought it was a toy and… Luna needed an new umbrella.

"Draco and I are worried you've not prepared enough." Luna said after biting her lip.

"You've been talking with Draco?" It wasn't an accusation, more a surprise. Gaara had been under the impression that Draco only tolerated Luna's presence on rare occasions when they were around Gaara. To hear that they had been meeting up and discussing Gaara was… odd.

"Just the once."

Gaara would admit, he had not taken to preparing for the first Task with the same zeal that was exhibited by the other Champions. Potter had spent more time in the Library over the past couple of weeks than he had probably spent in the last three years. And he had seen Delacour and Krum on separate occasions practicing their spells or even duelling their classmates. Gaara, on the other hand, had been reading a series of novels.

"He and I are just worried."

"Yes, Draco had expressed concern to me directly."

"He has?" Luna asked. Her acquaintance with Draco was not a deep one, but she was surprised to hear Draco was, in fact, the kind of person to open up and share his feelings like this.

"Indeed. He tried to hex me because he was frustrated." Gaara had taken five minutes to work out why Draco had tried, and failed, to cast a relatively harmless spell at him.

"Really?! Were you okay?"

"Of course. My sand protected me, as always. In any case, friendship is sometimes violent."

"What do you mean by that?" Luna asked, tilting her head.

"My first friend once head butted me." Gaara reminisced.

"Oh my! Why did they do that?"

"I was trying to kill him and everyone he loved. It's how we became friends." It was admittedly a rather abridged recounting of the Konoha-Suna war, but it contained the most important parts.

"…right…"

"After that, he sometimes used to throw rocks at me when we met."

"He threw rocks at you? Are you sure you were friends?"

"Yes. He knew they would not hit me. My sand protects me absolutely. He was also an idiot." There could be no more apt a description.

"He sounds like a bully to me."

"No, he was the only one who would make fun of me. He treated me like a person, an equal. It was… nice. And he stopped throwing things at me eventually."

"Why did he stop?"

"I started throwing things back at him." Of course, instead of pebbles and twigs, what Gaara threw back at him were large clods of sand. "Draco is my friend, he is not afraid of me."

"Well, I'm not afraid of you either, but I won't throw hexes or rocks at you." Luna said quickly.

"Thank you." Gaara replied.

Luna was very kind to him, but Gaara was becoming suspicious that this latest kindness might have been motivated by Luna's obsessive desire to spend time with Gaara in his transformed state on the full moon, which happened to be that night.

After last month's unpleasantness, Draco had made Gaara promise to not resist the transformation again. It had nearly killed them both and, even if Gaara believed there was a chance that a subsequent month might have changed the circumstance, Gaara was willing to keep his promise this time and just transform.

Besides the promise, it wasn't too long until the first Task and Gaara didn't want to be in the process of recovering from fractured bones or missing nails in the finals days before competing. He did not anticipate having to do much moving but it wasn't worth the undue risk to avoid the routine humiliation of transforming.

That said, there was no reason anyone needed to see him in that ridiculous form.