Chapter 16

Luna was sitting in the meadow, trying to forget about everything. She wanted to be able to let her mind wander and just take in the beauty of the meadow but all she could think about was Draco and their kiss. She sighed, wishing it would all go away. There was a noise in the bushes and Luna got up quickly, if that was Draco then she wanted to get out of there. Luna looked around for a way to get away from the meadow quickly. Draco was at the only entrance to the path and she didn’t know her way through the forest but it was worth a try. She dashed into the trees, hoping to lose Draco.

Draco saw Luna run deeper into the forest. Was she stupid? The forest had all kind of dangerous creatures, not to mention it was naturally creepy... he’d had an irrational fear of the forbidden forest ever since first year when he’d been forced to have a detention in there. He couldn’t let Luna go get herself killed in the forest... he bit his bottom lip nervously and chased after her.

Luna saw him chasing her and ran faster. She really didn’t want to deal with him right now, he was already making her life a mess and she’d just started to figure things out. He’d just mess it all up again if she let him talk to her. She ran deeper into the forest, without really looking where she was going. Just when Luna thought she couldn’t take anymore running, her foot snagged on a tree root and she fell to the ground.

Draco finally caught up to her and found her sprawled on the ground. He offered her a hand, “Need help?” He smirked.

Luna ignored his hand and stood up, “what do you want? And why were you following me?”

“Why were you running away from me?” He countered.

Luna shut her mouth. She couldn’t answer that. She looked around, wondering if she could make a break to the castle but... she didn’t know where the castle was.

“Draco... do you know the way back?”

Draco’s face paled, “y-you don’t?” He asked a note of panic in his voice.

Luna shook her head nervously, “So we’re lost?”

Draco shook his head in denial, “no, we can’t be lost... not in the Forbidden Forest, there’s no way we can be lost in here!” Luna could clearly hear the fear in his voice now.

“Draco... it’s just a forest,” She said softly.

“I-I know... but if we get caught in here then we’ll have detention forever,” Draco said, catching himself. He didn’t want to look like a wuss, especially not in front of Luna.

“The worst things that can get us in here are the nargles,” Luna said.

“N-nargles?”

“Yes, although they mostly live in mistletoe. A lot of nargles are said to live in trees though, they can be very vicious.”

Draco sighed in relief; these must have been another one of Luna’s made up creatures. He looked around nervously; there were a lot of real creatures in here too... one’s that could hurt them.

“L-Luna?” He said.

She noticed that he kept stuttering. He looked really scared and Luna wondered why he was so afraid of the forbidden forest.

“Yes?”

“Can we come up with a plan or something?”

He wanted to get out of there, Luna could tell. She could see the fear in his eyes; his hands were shaking and his bottom lip was quivering. His face was pale and his eyes were wide; he looked so much like a lost puppy that Luna couldn’t help it, she hugged him.

“Don’t be scared,” She said, still holding him tightly.

Draco was surprised but hugged her back. Her warm touch made him momentarily forget his fears. Tears dotted his vision; not because of the forest but because he realized something; he was really in love with Luna Lovegood... and she wasn’t in love with him. He hugged her tighter; afraid that this might be the last time that he got a hug from her. Eventually though, Luna pulled away. Draco wiped his tears away with his sleeve before Luna could see them.

“I’m not scared,” He said although it was probably too late for that.

Luna smiled, “it’s okay to be scared of things Draco everyone is.”

He shrugged and Luna started trying to think of a plan. It began to once again sink in that they were in the Forbidden Forest and Draco felt panic seize his stomach. He tried to ignore it but the fear was still there.

Luna finally said, “Maybe if we head north then we’ll find the way out.”

Draco nodded, “which ways north?”

She pulled out her wand, laid it on her palm and said the spell, “Point me.”

Her wand spun around in her hand and pointed north. The two started walking in that direction, using the wand as a compass. They walked in silence for a while. Draco was still really pale; even more pale than usual. Eventually, they came to a clearing that Luna recognized. She’d often come here to feed the Threstrals. As if they heard her thought, a group of Threstrals timidly approached them. Luna smiled and petted one, telling it softly that she had no food for them today. She was peacefully petting the young Threstral when Draco suddenly shrieked.

Luna whirled around to face him, “what!?

“Something touched me!” Draco said, panic laced through his words. Luna saw a baby Threstral standing next to Draco and smiled. The baby rubbed its head against Draco’s leg, almost like a cat. Draco screamed again and jumped away from it.

“What is it!?” He screamed, cowering behind Luna.

“Can’t you see it?” She asked, noticing that Draco was still looking for what touched him.

Another Threstral brushed against him and he started running from the clearing screaming, “Nargles! Nargles! Get them away from me!”

Luna giggled, “Nargles aren’t invisible silly, and these are Threstrals. I forgot you can’t see them, can you?”

Draco stopped running but didn’t come any closer, “w-what are Threstrals?”

“They pull the carriages at Hogwarts every year, you can only see them if you witnessed someone’s death.”

Draco stepped towards her hesitantly, “so they won’t hurt us...?”

“Of course not, they’re very harmless. The one that scared you so badly was just a baby, he’s only about this big,” Luna said, holding her hand up to her knee to show him the size of the Threstral.

Draco blushed, “oh, um,” he cleared his throat, “so... you can only see them if you saw someone die?”

Luna nodded and he asked, “who’d you see die?”

She felt a pang of sadness but answered him anyway. “My mother, she died when I was nine. She was a wizard scientist, you could say, and one day... the experiment went wrong.”

Draco didn’t look her in the eye, “I’m so sorry.”

Luna shrugged, “I miss her a lot...you wanted to know why my earrings were so important to me, it’s because my mother made them for me before she died. They’re one of the last things I have of her.”

“Luna... I had no idea... “

“I know. How could you if I wouldn’t tell you?”

Draco shrugged and took a deep breath, “so... do you want to get out of here?”

Luna nodded but paused, “You said you’d tell me your secret if I told you mine. I just told you mine, your turn.”

Draco hesitated, “I...I don’t know...” Blaise’s words echoed through his mind. He needed to tell her, before it was too late, “Luna... this might sound pathetic but....I-I think I’m in love with you,” Draco said, stumbling over his words. He couldn’t look at her; as much as he wanted to know her reaction, he was afraid it would be bad. Luna hadn’t made a sound. The suspense was killing him and he couldn’t help it; he looked up.

Luna wore a confused expression. Then, something flickered in her eyes and before he knew what was happening, her lips crashed against his. They fell to the ground but kept kissing, Luna was laying on top of him now but he didn’t release his hold on her. Draco didn’t know how long they were kissing for; it could have been hours or only a few minutes. Luna stopped kissing him and laid her head on his chest. Her breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Draco held her in his arms as she slept, wondering how this had happened. Was he that irresistible? That must be it.