A/N: Entry for the Twin Exchange December Challenge and Secret Santa Gift Exchange.
Pairing: Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood.
Written For: Book Mad TJ
Rating: K+
Summary: Draco finds the Room of Requirement already occupied and Luna has no intention of leaving her winter wonderland.
Quote:'It looks like a Christmas tree threw up here'
Prompt: Baked Goods.
Theme: Christmas.
Cupcakes and Tinsel
Looking around the corridor he found it to be completely deserted, everybody was at lunch, which was probably a good thing since his aim was to remain discreet and undetected. Upon discovering the coast was clear he crept along the hallway until he stood directly in front of the blank wall.
Clutching the large parcel in his arms he walked back and forth three times until a large doorway appeared. With one last glance around him to make sure nobody had appeared in the last few moments he ducked inside.
"What the …" he started looking at his surroundings in disbelief, almost dropping the box in his arms out of shock.
The room was decorated to the nines; four massive Christmas trees stood sentinel in each corner with tinsel, baubles, reindeer and lights decorating and surrounding him in the most suffocating display of Christmas cheer imaginable.
"This bloody room is broken; I did not require this monstrosity. Dumbledore will be hearing about this," he muttered to himself, about to turn around and march right to the old man's office to give him a piece of his mind.
"No, it's what I required," a breathy far away voice replied from somewhere amongst the tinsel and trees.
"You mean you wanted the room to produce this eyesore?" he snorted in the direction of the voice.
"Yes," was the simple reply before the short blonde fifth year girl emerged from behind an army of life-sized Nutcrackers.
"Oh it's you," he sneered, his upper lip curling in disgust to find his companion in the Room of Requirement was none other than Loony Lovegood.
"It's lovely isn't it?" she said instead, completely ignoring his less than warm greeting.
"It looks like a Christmas tree threw up in here," he muttered, looking around the winter wonderland in disgust.
"Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy," she sighed, flopping down in the circle of cushions in the centre of it all, patting the spot beside her, which Draco chose to ignore.
"Charming as this all is Lovegood, I need you to leave now," he commanded, pointing to the door.
"No, I don't think I will," she replied, with absolutely no anger at all, only mild curiosity shining through her voice.
"As a Prefect I demand you leave at once, or I will start taking house points," he said imperiously, turning his nose in the air and pursing his lips, waiting for her to run screaming from the room.
Luna neither ran nor screamed infact she giggled instead. Draco's face turned pink in anger as he spat, "What's so funny?"
"No you won't, because if you took points from me you would have to explain why later on and in doing so you would have to explain why you were here in the first place,"
"Malfoy's don't have to explain anything,"
"But Prefect's do, no matter what their last name is. So thank you for the offer Draco but I think I will stay here a while longer," she smiled, settling back amongst the red, gold and green pillows, staring up at the twinkling fairy lights.
"Well … well," he faltered, not used to having people ignore his orders, "Well if you don't go then I am just going to have to stay here," he finished with conviction, moving over and plonking himself down in the massive red and gold thrown, the kind men in Santa costumes sat in and had photo's with babies over the Christmas season. He carefully placed the box in his lap and glared in her direction.
"The more the merrier," she practically beamed, following the sway of a suspended snowflake above her with her toes, swaying her leg back and forth in an almost hypnotic motion.
"Will you stop that?" he hissed, tearing his gaze away from her leg at the same time as trying to avoid the creepy stare from Rudolf in the far corner; he suspected taxidermy was to explain for the life like creature.
"What else am I to do?" she asked, sitting up and giving him a wide eyed look.
"Leave perhaps?" he suggested rudely.
"Why would I leave? I was here first," she asked, looking around at the twinkling lights that seemed to shiver as she observed them.
"Because I need this room and you are just sitting in it," he replied curtly.
"What do you need it for? Can I help?" she asked eagerly, raising to her knees and bouncing with excitement.
"It's none of your business," he snapped, holding the box on his lap protectively.
"That's okay, I will just ask someone else," she shrugged, lying back down amongst the cushions.
"You will not. Nobody can know I was here!" he almost shouted.
"But I know," she said simply, not even flinching when he raised his voice.
"And you are a nobody," he retorted, shifting so the box was carefully ensconced in his arms.
She didn't respond instead she closed her eyes. Draco sat back, waiting for the tears and subsequent running away to come but she did neither. After almost ten minutes of them sitting there in silence he wasn't even sure she was awake anymore. Tilting his head to study her even breathing he decided it was probably safe to do what he had come to the room to do.
Biting his lip as he slowly lifted the lid off the box in his lap and tried not to drool. Casting another covert glance at his unwelcome companion he slowly lifted one perfect cupcake. He examined the baked good, admiring its glossy icing, the perfect letter 'H' piped onto its cap and the fluffiness of the base.
"Oh, you bought cupcakes!" cried the voice from across the room.
"No I didn't!" he said, quickly putting the treat back in its box, but she had already seen it.
"Yes you did," she said. Draco wondered why she couldn't act like a normal person and go along with the 'you saw nothing' ploy.
"Well you can't have any, they're mine,"
"That's okay, I didn't want any anyway," she said, still staring at him curiously.
"That's nice, because there wasn't a chance of that happening," he continued, almost afraid to produce the cupcake again for fear she would fly across the room and snatch it from his grasp.
"Why did you need to come here to eat cupcakes?" she asked, once again letting his insults slide.
"Haven't you ever heard of minding your own business Lovegood? If a man wants to sit in a quiet room and eat his birthday cupcakes in peace then he has every damn right to do so!" he snapped.
Once again rather than running from the room in tears like he wished she would just get on and do he was shocked, disgusted and a little confused when the younger witch launched herself from the floor and flung her arms around his neck.
"Get off, get off," he cried, prying her bony arms from around him, attempting to put as much distance between them as he could at the same time as protecting his precious cupcakes.
"Happy Birthday!" she cried in his ear, pulling back to beam at him.
"Get off me, before I hex you so far across the room you will be lodge in the reindeers arse for the next three weeks," he threatened in response.
"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked breathlessly, pulling away slightly but still close enough that he felt his personal space being violated with every blonde inch of her.
"Because I didn't want to, is why. In case you haven't noticed, I am not the most popular student this year," Draco admitted, pushing the fifth year even farther away with the toe of his shiny black shoe.
"I am sure despite your slump in popularity that your friends would like to wish you a happy birthday. The very least you can do is thank whoever made the cupcakes for you," she said earnestly.
"My mother made them for me," he mumbled, looking down at the plain white box.
"That was really nice of her," Luna smiled sincerely, "I bet she made enough to share,"
"For the last time Lovegood, you aren't getting any," he snapped.
"Oh no, not for me silly, I meant for your friends,"
"They don't deserve any. Not one of them remembered it was my birthday anyway," he snarled, opening the box again and taking out his cupcake. Now that she knew what they were there was no use hiding them.
"Did you tell them?" she asked.
"Why would I do that? Then I would actually have to share my cupcakes and they're mine,"
"So you didn't tell your friends it is your birthday because you don't like to share?" she asked.
"Exactly. There may be a brain in that head of yours after all," he exclaimed, slowly bringing the cupcake to his lips preparing to savour the taste.
"What does the H stand for?" she asked instead of retorting to his insult like a normal person would do.
"Happy," he replied absently, slowly taking a bite and suppressing a moan.
"Does you mum bake them for you every year?" she persisted.
"If you must know, yes," he replied curtly.
"That's very sweet of her, to make something home-made to go along with all of those expensive presents I am sure your parents give you,"
"Yes I suppose it is. Now stop talking," he commanded, picking at the icing.
"My mum used to bake," Luna said dreamily, plucking at the threads on one of the cushions she was now sitting on again.
"That's nice. Did I mention something about shutting up earlier? I am sure I did …" Draco said, more to himself than the girl who seemed determined to talk across from him.
"She wasn't very good at it … not like your mum obviously is. I miss her cooking though," Luna sighed.
"I am sure when you go home for the holidays she will stuff you full of poorly made home cooked meals,"
"Oh no, she's dead," Luna laughed lightly.
Draco stopped eating for a moment to look at her over his cupcake, "Don't beat yourself up over it or anything," he muttered sarcastically.
"How could I be sad about it when I am in here?" she asked, still smiling at him as he polished off the first cupcake and licked his fingers clean.
"So this … Santa's Hell House setup is just something you invented when you were feeling depressed?" he asked, selecting the 'A' cupcake and giving it the same once over that its predecessor got.
"I suppose, that and I really like Christmas," she smiled blissfully.
"So just for curiosity's sake and because you don't seem to be leaving me so I may as well attempt polite conversation; what made you come here today?" he asked, hoping to get some rational answer out of the strange girl.
"You share your birthday with my mother's death day," she said simply. Draco frowned as she got up off the floor with this announcement, brushed her robes off and stuck her wand behind her ear; she was heading for the door when he finally found his voice again.
"You're leaving?"
"Why yes, it has been lovely chatting with you Draco, I feel as if I have got a lot off my chest. Enjoy your cupcakes," she said cheerily, stepping from the winter wonderland back into the corridor.
"Girls," Draco rolled his eyes.
Looking back down at the cupcakes that had once spelt 'Happy Birthday' he sighed and thought of her earlier words. Maybe he should write to his mum and say thank you, after all this was the only time of the year she insisted on being in the kitchen and it was all for him.