Chapter 13

It was almost a week; Draco had to tell her soon. Luna was very curious about this secret that Draco was going to reveal, it had been bugging her all week. Soon though, the week would be over and she’d force his secret out of him. Luna winced, that had sounded meaner than she wanted it too and she was glad that she was the only one capable of hearing her thoughts.

Luna was daydreaming during last period charms. She wanted the class to end soon; not only was it a very boring lesson but she found that she couldn’t concentrate. Luckily, someone decided to end the class early by casting the rictusempra charm on Professor Flitwick causing him to be endlessly tickled by invisible hands. Unable to cast the counter spell through bouts of laughter, the professor was forced to leave the class unattended while he went to the hospital wing. Luna wore a slight smile and let herself become fully immersed by her countless daydreams.

“Luna?”

Luna looked up sharply, snapping out of it. When she saw who was talking to her, her breath caught. She swallowed hard, willing herself to say something somewhat smart sounding, “y-yes?”

“I was wondering if I could borrow some ink,” Donec Vruce grinned, “daydreaming?”

Luna blushed, “um, yeah.” She said and passed him her ink; she had more in her dorm.

He smiled, “I do that all the time, sometimes life’s better in your head, you know?”

“Yeah, I do,” Luna said with a smile. She was wondering why Donec was even talking to her, he was one of the most popular guys in her year. Not that she minded that he was talking to her.

“I bet you do, I heard about the pranking thing...” He trailed off uncertainly, as if worried that she might be upset that he brought it up. He was so sweet.

Luna blushed slightly and played with her hair self-consciously. There was still a hint of green but other than that Luna was blonde again.

“Yeah, that’s been pretty bad. It’s over now though, we talked about it and decided that it just wasn’t worth it.”

Donec nodded, “that’s good, and pranks are kind of stupid anyways. No one wins; it just keeps going on and on until someone gets hurt.”

Luna nodded, “I feel the same way about them. I normally wouldn’t sink to his level but... he pranked me pretty bad and I wasn’t really thinking straight. I just wanted to get him back, which wasn’t really the right way to go about it,” she admitted.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Donec said, “everyone has their breaking points and Malfoy went well past that line.”

Luna smiled, glad that he understood.

“Well, thanks for the ink. It’s been nice talking to you Luna, we should do this again sometime,” Donec said with a warm smile.

Luna nodded, speechless and Donec left with a parting smile. She sat like that until the bell rang.

She hadn’t made it five steps from the classroom door before she was stopped by Draco. She’d almost forgotten about the secret but his presence had reminded her.

“Are you ready to tell me?”

Draco shook his head wordlessly and Luna sighed. She saw Donec leaving the classroom out of the corner of her eye and turned to wave to him. Luna couldn’t quite place her finger on it but she noticed something different about his smile and wave, it had almost seemed... flirty. Draco had seen too.

“Who’s that?” He asked a hint of jealousy in his voice.

“Donec Vruce, you know him.”

Draco cleared his throat, “I didn’t think he hung around girls like you.”

Luna felt anger boil up in the pit of her stomach, “what do you mean girls like me?”

“Weird girls,” he smirked.

Luna’s hands curled into fists, “so what your saying is you don’t think I have a chance with him?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Well how would you know!?” She yelled, really angry.

“Have you had a boyfriend in your six years of Hogwarts?”

“...no...”

Draco smirked, “well then what makes you think you’ll get one now?”

Luna’s bottom lip quivered with anger, “Do me a favour and stay out of my life!” She yelled and ran from the corridor.

Draco stood there mentally cursing himself for saying that. She was obviously sensitive about her dating life and he’d known it. He knew that he’d said that to get her back for liking Donec but why? She didn’t even know how he felt so why should he be angry at her for liking someone else? Draco followed Luna, ready to apologize and maybe... just maybe, tell her how he felt.

Luna ran to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, where a small meadow was hidden by the menacing trees surrounding it. The meadow was very pretty and Luna would often go there when she was sad, it was a place to cry when she didn’t want anyone to see. Luna did that now. She let the tears snake their way down her face and hit the grass below her. She sat in the long grass and thought about everything that had happened in the last few months. She heard a noise and quickly wiped away her tears. Draco entered the meadow and Luna felt like crying again. She had no will to deal with his constant jabs about her social life right now.

“Luna... were you crying?” He asked looking extremely guilty.

Luna sniffled and wiped away a fresh tear. She didn’t answer him but she didn’t have to.

“I am so sorry,” he said, looking Luna in the eyes, “I really didn’t mean any of that...I was just... jealous.” He finished, and looked at the ground between his feet.

Luna looked at him surprised, “j-jealous?”

Draco nodded and held out his hand to help her up. She accepted it gratefully and when she stood they were just inches apart. Draco didn’t let go of her hand. Luna watched him suspiciously. She was all for forgive and forget but this was crazy, just yesterday he had been her enemy. He stroked a strand of her hair gently, staring intensely into her eyes. His gray eyes bore into hers and she felt as if her life was hanging on a fragile string that he had complete control of. He leaned in slowly and her heart starting beating ten times faster; she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She was about to kiss Draco Malfoy. His lips brushed against hers softly and she felt a shock run through her. Her mind was wiped of all uncertain thoughts and she kissed him back, full force. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she vaguely remembered throwing her arms around his neck. Their mouths opened, the full impact of the kiss hitting Luna head on. She felt light-headed but wasn’t willing to break away from the kiss anytime soon. Draco broke away, gasping for air, and was about to dive back in but Luna turned her head slightly, stopping him. He looked at her puzzled and, although he was trying not to show it, a little hurt. Luna saw the hurt in his eyes and glanced at him apologetically before turning and walking quickly in the opposite direction.