A/N: This is my Round Three submission for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I am Captain of the Ballycastle Bats. Our prompt was the word Bat(s) and my specific word count range is 1751-2000.

Prompts:

Pinterest: "You have blood on your knees. No one goes nowhere and gets blood on their knees."

QFLC: Bat, 1751-2000

Quidditch Pitch: Sentence: Such a sweet kiss for such a devilish person.

Drabble Club: "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud." by Maya Angelou (not directly in the story but an overarching theme)

Final Word Count: 1988 (Google Docs)

First Year

The blonde with wide, silvery eyes had been quiet the entire train ride to the school. She had spent the entire time gazing out the window, smiling as if she had a secret that nobody else knew. The other girls in the compartment had tried to include her in their conversation, but all they managed to get from her was a sing-song answer that her name was Luna Lovegood. A couple older kids had snickered, but she paid them no mind.

While the others in the compartment had already changed into their robes, it took them nearly the whole ride to convince her to change into her own. She managed to do so just as the train stopped.

As the first years rode the boats across the lake, Luna stared up at the stars, her smile unwavering. It was as if she were in her own little world, not about to attend the greatest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Miss Lovegood," a Scottish woman's voice commanded, finally pulling her from her daydream. "You'll have to exit the boat now."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Luna replied with a smile, her voice soft and sweet. "It must be Wrackspurts. They fly in your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy."

That was beginning of Loony Lovegood.

Second Year

Severus Snape had long since accepted the student body's prognosis that he had no heart unless Slytherin was involved. He didn't particularly care either way; the only reason he favored the house—aside from it being his own—was because the other professors clearly favored any other house over Slytherin.

As he roamed the halls, he turned a corner and a student bumped into him.

"I'm sorry, sir," came the familiar sing-song voice.

Lovegood. That was her name. He looked at her through his indifferent glare. She had always paid attention in class, if she was a bit off in her own world. On occasion he thought that her lack of attention would cause an explosion, but her potions were the top of his Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff classes.

"It would be wise to watch where you are walking, Miss Lovegood," he sneered, examining her. As usual she was dressed in an odd demeanor, and her eyes stared at him, bright and wide. It was unsettling. Then he spotted her knees and the crimson color that ran down her legs just a little. "Where have you been?"

"Nowhere, Professor."

"You have blood on your knees. No one goes 'nowhere' and gets blood on their knees."

She looked down, and then smiled at him. "It's nothing, Professor. Just some classmates having some fun. I fell. I'll be fine."

He had seen many students bullied in his life, and he had cared very little because no one had cared when it had been him as a boy in school. But the fact that she smiled and brushed the events off as if they were nothing, it got to him. He knew what they called her, and he had even thought it himself once or twice, yet she still smiled.

"You shouldn't let others treat you that way, Miss Lovegood."

"I don't suppose you're going to punish them, sir. I don't mind, honestly. I just lost my balance is all. I'll just be going now. Good evening, Professor."

She started to walk away, and he almost let her. "Miss Lovegood, you will come with me."

She turned to face her professor with a curious glance. "It's almost curfew, sir."

"You will not be punished. Let's put a salve on those scratches."

She followed and he suddenly became very aware of how alien it felt to show sympathy. Perhaps because he himself had never been shown any. Either way, the girl had worked her way under his skin… in a way that wasn't unpleasant.

Third Year

Luna stood, stirring her cauldron for the last few times as she added a few petals from a forget-me-not flower, turning the potion a pale lilac instead of the disgusting green.

"Miss Lovegood, what do you think you're doing?" Severus drawled, appearing behind her.

"Flower petals can be added to change color. The color doesn't give off a nice vibe, and it attracts Wrackspurts. So I've changed the colors."

"Experimenting with potions in class is a hazard to my students—"

"I'm not experimenting. I already know it. You can test the properties once it's done."

"Miss Lovegood, I would like to speak with you after class," Severus drawled as their next Potions class ended. He had again watched her add flower petals that changed the color of the potion. The last time, she had been right. It was the same potion, simply a different color. It boggled him to think that she had done that.

As the rest of the students filed out of the potions classroom, Luna sat in her stool, staring up at the ceiling.

"Miss Lovegood, explain to me how you knew to do this with your potions."

She looked at him curiously before speaking in that far off voice of hers, "Oh, it's nothing really. Just that I wouldn't take potions when I was younger. The colors made me cringe. Daddy started experimenting."

"What about the fact that flower petals are ingredients in several potions?"

"Oh, that's simple really. You wait until the very end of the brewing process, then only the color changes."

"And he taught you this?"

"Only over this summer. I still don't like the colors. Now they look much prettier."

Severus stood, confounded by the girl. "Miss Lovegood, from now on you will make the potions exactly as I instruct you to. Is that clear?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I cannot do that. It keeps the Wrackspurts at bay."

"I will take away points for every attempt at anything else, Miss Lovegood."

"My housemates already dislike me, Professor. It'll be an addition to the list of things they dislike. I'll continue to add the petals."

Fourth Year

Severus was making his rounds when he heard the familiar sounds of kids tormenting their classmates. He stopped, listening for an excuse to serve a strict punishment.

"How can you be so stupid?" demanded one of the students. Severus was fairly certain it belonged to an older Ravenclaw boy. "You keep losing us points over stupid things that don't exist!"

A soft thud could be heard as someone fell to the ground. "Wrackspurts are very real. How else do you explain leaving potions tired and dizzy? I'm certainly not."

Of course, it was Luna. Who else would be tormented by the Ravenclaws?

"Get it through your thick skull, Loony! Wrackspurts are fake. If they were real, they'd be in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but they aren't. Why is that?"

"I—" she was cut off by something that sounded an awful lot like a kick.

Severus had had enough, deciding to continue towards the students. "Fifty points from Ravenclaw for each student who ever lays another hand on Miss Lovegood in a violent matter. One month's detention, every night, for you, Mr. Davies. This is your last year, I would have thought you'd like to leave a good impression for your fellow Ravenclaw students."

The boy turned beet red, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment no one could tell.

"Furthermore, two-hundred points to Miss Lovegood for showing an interest in her schoolwork outside of school."

Severus glared at the students until they scrambled away. Once they had disappeared from the corridor, he stepped forward and held out a hand for the young girl sprawled on the floor, though he kept his gaze forward.

Luna accepted his offer and got to her feet, brushing off her skirt.

"Thank you, Professor."

"You shouldn't let anyone treat you like that. Learn to fight back, Miss Lovegood."

"You've said that before, Professor. Though last time no one was punished."

"Well, you shouldn't. Now get to your dormitory."

Fifth Year

Severus wasn't sure why, but he felt surprised when he saw Luna Lovegood's cheery face enter his DADA class for the first time. Perhaps it was because he had never seen her defend herself, but then again she had accompanied Potter and his friends to the ministry the previous year.

She further surprised him as she dueled all her classmates, bearing each of them with relative ease. As she had in potions, she almost looked like she wasn't paying complete attention, and then when it mattered she blocked every spell.

"Miss Lovegood, I'd like to speak with you a moment," he spoke as she prepared to leave with her classmates.

Instead of responding, she gathered her things and made her way to the front of the classroom.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"From Harry, sir. In Dumbledore's Army," she responded, almost as if it should have been obvious, though her voice remained as sweet as ever.

"Why don't you ever use that when your classmates—"

"No one has dared lay a hand on me, sir. Not since last year."

He paused. Her entire being seemed to scream thankfulness, and somehow it warmed him to know that she was suffering less, simply because of a small intervention.

"Well, you should fight back if there's ever another issue."

"Yes, sir."

Sixth Year

Severus heard the terrified screams come from the basement as he prepared to leave Malfoy Manor and immediately knew who it belonged to.

"Now, now, Wormtail," he drawled, forcing himself to keep his indifference clear. "You mustn't touch what isn't yours."

"She w-was provoking me," the rattish man replied.

"I have taught that ridiculous girl for six years. She's incapable of provoking anyone."

"B-but-"

"The Dark Lord will be quite displeased to hear you used his guests without his permission. You wouldn't want me to tell him about this would you?"

"N-no!"

"Then be gone."

Seventh Year

Luna made her way towards the potions class, the graduation ceremony over. All professors were forced to attend the ceremony, but they didn't have to attend the celebratory feast following. She knew her professor wouldn't be there.

As she expected, he was in store room in the potions class, reorganizing it to perfection. He levitated, his arm stretched out, making his cloak hang down like a wing.

"I think I finally understand why you are called the bat of the dungeon," she spoke, startling him from his work. "N-not that I ever cared for it. I think it's awful to call someone by a name they don't give you. Why did you never call me Loony?"

"Would you have preferred I did?" Severus asked after regaining his composure.

"N-no, it's just-" she paused, looking at him, seeing the scars from the snake bites peek out from under his robes. "Even some of the other professors did, whether or not they were near me. As far as I know you've never called me Loony."

He studied her for moment. "Snivellus."

"Pardon?"

"I was Snivellus. And picked on mercilessly. No one ever did anything about it, even wh— it doesn't matter. Why didn't you fight back?"

"I'm not a violent person. I never have been. Did you fight back?"

"I tried."

"Did it make any difference?"

Severus opened his mouth and closed it. "Why do they call me the bat of the dungeon?"

She smiled. "Your cloak gives you bat wings. Anyway, I came by because I wanted to thank you. For last year and for all the years in school. You were easily one of my favorite teachers."

Then she took a step closer, pressing her lips to his. He tasted like honey, as if he had just had some in his tea. Such a sweet kiss for such a devilish person. Then she pulled away, meeting his gaze.

"What was that, Miss Lovegood?"

"A kiss between friends. And it's Luna."

She left him without another word.

"I'm not a bloody bat," he mumbled, returning to his sorting.