Luna approached the table, or rather glided over to it with whimsical hops and skips, taking Hermione by the hand and gently shaking it with a dreamy smile upon her face, her eyes glancing between the three other students. The tension in the air from both Gryffindor students spotting the blonde Slytherin, was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. It would be up to her to break the atmosphere then and try to warm both houses up to each other then - There would be little point to this newsletter if neither party could get along during the process. It would just end in shambles and then she might as well just get along with the paper by herself, and a part of her didn't want that. The Quirky Ravenclaw was often alone and even most of her fellow housemates would avoid her like she were a Death Eater, so long as they weren't noted as a friend of hers so that they could be lumped together with Loony Lovegood and her Lunatic Father. It never bothered her of course - Sticks and stones may break her bones and all that jazz, so the solitude was something she was used to. But just once, it would be nice to have friends.
"...Malfoy," Harry nodded, giving an equally stiff and reserved greeting as the Slytherin. As Hermione had told him to leave, he knew doing so would just appear cowardly, and besides, he wasn't going to just leave Hermione alone with this snake of a man. He shook his head, though he didn't give a reason, knowing that the intelligent witch would figure it out on her own without him bringing up that they were talking about Draco behind his back whilst being sat right in front of the blonde male. That would not be an smart move on their part. Choosing not to converse with the Slytherin Student, Harry turned to Luna and smiled, raising his own hand out to the Ravenclaw and shaking her hand. "I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, Luna," He introduced himself, giving her a small smile as she shook back, though he had to note how vacant her expression was, as if she wasn't exactly thinking about their meeting but something else entirely.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione. It's very nice to meet you both," Luna finally spoke, smiling at them both with hope that she could drive away the strained atmosphere between the Lions and the Snake. She gestured for Draco to take the seat across from Hermione whilst she sat across from the Boy who Lived. She didn't know it, but her decision was right - Making sure that the two rivals were not sitting across from each other was a blessing in disguise for both Harry and Draco. As she dug around in her messenger bag, eventually pulling out her notes on the newsletter, she looked over them. Several messy notes, completely unorganised and scribbled in rushed handwriting from her noting down ideas as she walked around the castle. Clearing her throat, Luna ran her index finger down the page before she found the right set of notes, tapping the parchment as she felt her fingertip brushing over the indent where she ran out of ink.
"You'll have to forgive me for the short notice, but Draco here is last minute volunteer. Professor Snape was very insistent, and he caught me as I was on my way up to the library to tell me," She explained, gesturing to the Malfoy's only son before continuing. "I don't want to bring any previous hardships into this, so it'd be nice if we could all be civil and friendly when we meet up to discuss the newsletter," She added, giving a cheery smile as she placed one hand on the desk, the other holding her parchment in front of her as she scanned her notes before speaking. "So for the first newsletter, I think it would be a very good idea to write several articles about the history of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. We can talk about several of the trials, some of the more controversial ones, the dangers and some of the more notorious winners from all of the schools. But I'd really like it if we could make a page about what the schools think of the tournament itself, whether they are worried or scared by the notion of the event, or even excited to see the upcoming trials,"
"Well...I like that idea. But we'd need to find a way to split three schools between two pairs," Harry pointed out. He wasn't going to negotiate on this point, but the Gryffindor was only doing this to gain a better understanding of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, as he was still quiet new to the Wizarding World. So if he had to go away and interview complete strangers, he would prefer to do it with his best friend, the one who had suggested he get involved with the Tournament's Newsletter, Hermione Granger. A part of him was glad that Ron wasn't here after all - Their red-haired companion would be kicking off at the thought of having to work and be civil with Draco Malfoy, of all people. Harry could even already hear his friend calling Draco a slimy git and how they should just stop participating in the newsletter all together. But why give the Slytherin the satisfaction of sending two Gryffindors running.
"I've thought about that. Since we're all more acquainted with one house than the other, I think it would be best if we split the interviewing between our groups. Draco and I shall see to interviewing the students of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, as we're both from those houses respectively. We'd communicate better with them as we've been with them for a longer while. I see no rivalry between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and they have a better track record with being more friendly and open towards everyone and anyone. I believe if you were to approach them and speak to some of them about their thoughts, they would have no problem talking with you and obviously you can talk with your own housemates about their feelings on the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Maybe even ask about who they think would be the champion for our school..." She gave a quick breakdown of an easy way to approach the task of interviewing other houses between them, sticking to an easy to follow plan. If Harry looked taken aback, it was because she gave the impression of being a more...unique person, for lack of a better term.
"What about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?" He questioned, remembering the other schools. It would be foolish of them to begin writing a newsletter article about the student opinions on the event without including the two visiting schools. But even Harry didn't have a plan to approach the other schools. Beauxbatons had given off an air of wealthy, upper-class witches and wizards, all of whom were aristocrats or at least thought they were above the students of Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Durmstrang had been cold and unapproachable, both male and female students alike marching in with stoic expressions, each of them with a gaze hardened from the freezing cold land that they called their home. Harry recalled reading somewhere that Durmstrang's institute was fully pure blood, never accepting of those who were muggle born or even half-muggle born. For both him and Hermione, approaching Beauxbatons or Durmstrang would be difficult.
"Well, out of the two, I would say that Durmstrang is harder to approach than those of Beauxbatons. If I recall, the representatives of Durmstrang sat with at the Slytherin table when they arrived, so perhaps Draco and I should interview them. The students of Beauxbatons are not as snooty as you believe them to be, Harry. They are quite refined is all, and maybe a little intelligent from what I gathered when they sat at Ravenclaw's table. They won't push you away just because you're younger," She reassured with a smile. "If you're all happy with that arrangement or have any suggestions about any other articles, please speak up. I want to make this newsletter as impressive as possible," She then placed the piece of parchment down and looked between the three, waiting for their response. Whilst Harry merely nodded, happy with the plan to interview Beauxbatons, Hufflepuff and his own house, Gryffindor, he waited to see if Hermione would bring up her suggestions. Giving her a gentle nudge with his elbow to encourage his female friend to speak up, he fell silent.