A/N: Ravenclaw House, Year 2. Additional: "Studying dragons." W/C: 1155
A great big thank you to my wonderful beta reader: Celestia0909
It wasn't Draco's idea of a perfect first date, but he supposed he should've expected it when he asked out the oddest girl he'd ever met. There was something particularly special about the way Luna's soft face lit up when she discussed her interests, and even if Draco thought Nargles probably weren't real , he couldn't turn down an opportunity to see her get so excited. Of course, he didn't actually know what she was excited about most of the time.
When Draco had asked Luna Lovegood out, she'd replied with an enthusiastic yes.
"But let me plan it," she insisted. "We'll go creature hunting."
Draco, surprised, acquiesced. She'd looked far too excited- and far too adorable- to turn down.
Now, dressing in what he could only assume was appropriate for a creature hunting date, Draco wasn't so sure about that decision. He had forked out the money to buy a pair of jeans, and the clean denim came just to the top of his black Oxfords. He'd considered purchasing a tee shirt, but couldn't quite bring himself to dress that way, particularly for an occasion like a first date, and settled on a pale green button up shirt with a black vest. A faded Dark Mark stood out against the skin of his pale forearm, but he'd long since learned to ignore it and hardly noticed it anymore, except when someone else eyed it and shirked away from him. He understood.
But Luna never reacted that way, and such kindness was the start of what would become true affection for her. She was kind and skilled and very smart. She was also beautiful, although he couldn't help laughing that he'd be so attracted to a pale, blonde, thin-faced girl with silvery eyes; they could practically be twins.
These thoughts all washed over him as he stood in front of a wardrobe mirror and examined his appearance.
"It'll do," he said aloud to himself, deciding that was as close to a compliment as he could give himself these days.
Breathing to steady himself, he imagined the grassy field where Luna had told him to meet her, turned on the spot, and disappeared. After a nasty tug behind his stomach and a moment of the world spinning wildly past him, he arrived in knee high grass. The sun was setting and the scent of smoke drifted on a light breeze.
Draco blinked and smiled. Whether or not there would be Nargles here he didn't know, but at least it was a beautiful place, and Luna apparently trusted him to meet him someplace so remote. Or she wasn't coming. He hardly had time to panic at this thought because the girl in question Apparated beside him after just a few heartbeats.
"Hello," Luna smiled, speaking airily. She didn't sound absent-minded or anything, like so many people said she did. Instead, Draco thought she sounded exactly like the cool breeze felt on his skin, and he smiled back.
"Hi," he replied.
She looked him up and down, apparently examining his outfit, and stifled a giggle. "That'll do," she said softly.
Before he could comment on this, Luna turned and marched off in the direction of the nearest treeline. Feeling quite grumpy over such an assessment of an outfit he'd worked hard on, Draco grumbled his way after her.
They stopped together in the clearing that separated the grass from the forest and Luna looked Draco in the eyes again.
"Before we go any further, I wanted to get something out in the open." Her voice was serious and her eyebrows pulled together in a look of concentration. "I think that you're very nice and I'd like to date you. Also, if it's alright, I'd like to kiss you."
Draco blinked, taken aback by her forwardness. He nodded, feeling stupid, and leaned forward. Luna reached up to place one of her soft palms against his cheek and kissed him gently.
"Thank you very much," she said. "Now let's go study some dragons."
He wasn't sure whether this assertion or the last one was more surprising. "Study what?" he gaped.
Luna smiled mischievously and grabbed him by the hand, leading into the forest. Now that Draco was thinking of dragons, he realized that the scent of smoke in the air was stronger here and fear dropped in the pit of his stomach. If he put some thought into it, he was probably excited. But in that moment, with the taste of Luna still lingering on his lips and the roar of nerves in his ears, he didn't feel excited at all. Or perhaps it was the roar of dragons.
Following the bobbing blonde head in front of him, Draco poked his way through the undergrowth until the forest opened up into another clearing. It wasn't as far as he felt it should have been and he suspected there was magic at work. He didn't think long on this, though, because the clearing was full of dragons.
Trainers wrestled them into cages or took them on walks (on walks!) but standing at barely knee-height to most of the beasts made it hard for Draco to believe the trainers would be able to do much more than yell if something went wrong. A great woosh of breath left him all at once and he looked at Luna with wide eyes.
"They're beautiful," he said. He didn't mean to say it. He meant to say they were terrifying or horrible or dangerous. That's when he realized that he did actually think they were beautiful and so was this strange girl who had brought him here.
"Good," Luna replied, smiling that devilish smile again. Reaching for her bag, she withdrew a pad of paper and slapped it gently into Draco's chest. "Let's find a place to sit."
He followed her to a low hill and took a seat beside her at its crest. At first, he just watched her, waiting to see what their date would consist of, and then a smile spread across his face. Moving with careful precision, Luna retrieved a set of quills and a stick of charcoal and began drawing, sketching the magnificence in front of them.
"So when you said 'study dragons'...?" he ventured, smirking. He scooted closer to her and she looked up, kissing him on the cheek.
"Well, we're drawing them, that's a type of study. It's called a figure study. Besides, you're the one I was studying," she responded. "'Draco' means dragon anyway, so it wasn't really an untruth."
Draco rolled his eyes, surprised at the pink blush he felt rising in his neck and face.
"Don't be embarrassed," Luna said when she noticed. "Just draw, I want to see what you come up with."
It was an odd first date, but he'd gotten a kiss from a clever girl, seen some dragons, and done a drawing that he would be embarrassed to show anybody, but still, he'd call it a success.