Silver tears rolled down Luna's cheeks as she stared unseeingly at the incomprehensible number of stars that peppered the night sky. The cold wind caressed her pale cheeks and tousled her unruly curls.
"Trouble sleeping?"
She turned at the sound of her father's soft voice. She looked solemnly into his eyes and, ignoring his question, asked "Where is the moon papa?"
Xenophilius surveyed the endless sky to confirm what he already knew; it was a new moon tonight. Ever since her mother's passing only a few months ago, the child had suffered nightmares however she found peculiar peace in bathing in the pale light of her namesake. The moonlight glanced off her fragile limbs and subdued the demons that awoke in her usually dreamy eyes. The moon was her solace, her hope and part of herself.
This solution however was flawed if Luna happened to wake from a troubled sleep on one of the few nights a year when the shining satellite seemed to disapparate from existence entirely.
"I cannot find it papa," she continued, "I cannot find myself in the darkness."
"Luna, just because the brightest light is hidden from our view tonight does not mean it will not return. Even when the moon is lost, you may find hope among the stars."
Luna looked upwards, her orbs of eyes shining with recent tears, this time seeing the stars instead of just the empty space where the moon should be. Though deprived of the moon, the night sky in the country was beautiful and the stars seemed to shine all the more brightly, each one a sparkling hope.
Even when it was dark and she couldn't find herself amongst the impending night, there would always be hope.
The marble felt like ice under Luna's bare feet as she crept down the staircase towards the doors. Even now in her 5th year she still felt nervous slipping out of her dorm after hours though she had done it at least a hundred times by now. She was secretly terrified of Mrs Norris who, unlike almost all other non-humans she had encountered in her life, took an immediate disliking to her during her first week at Hogwarts which she displayed by savaging her ankles during every meal. This was where her seemingly strange habit of sitting cross-legged on the benches had originated: self-defence.
Once outside she began to skip, fearless now, dancing through the grounds towards the quidditch pitch. Up, up, up she climbed until she reached the top of the nearest stands: Slytherin. Luna had never really cared much for house prejudices and so had no problem that the house whose stands she sat in most frequently didn't have the best reputation. Her Gryffindor friends from the DA would probably squirm under that knowledge but she only ever came at night, when she wasn't exactly at risk of being seen.
Breathing in the cold night air deeply, Luna looked about her for the first time since reaching the top of the stands (the rest of the time her eyes had been locked on the stars, it was a new moon tonight.) and was surprised to find she was not alone.
Draco sat with his head in his hands a short distance away, deep in thought; he hadn't yet perceived her presence. She may have been able to slip away unnoticed by the Slytherin however her shock betrayed her in the form of a gasp. Uh-oh.
He looked up but to Luna's further surprise his usual cold unfeeling stare had been marred by salty tears, his pale face blotchy. For a moment, neither spoke.
Luna knew he was vulnerable, fortunately for him it was not in her nature to take advantage of that. She just hoped he wasn't about to be extremely Malfoy and hex her into oblivion just for witnessing this display of weakness.
"It's so dark Luna" muttered Draco.
Luna was shocked that Draco even knew her name, let alone was talking to her, but she recognised the look in his eyes, it was a look she'd seen in the mirror for years. He'd been having sleepless nights. Though most of her friends would have her believe that Malfoys genuinely had no feelings and were just arrogant cold-blooded killers, she saw that he needed someone right now, after all, how could the heart of a dragon be cold?
"There's no moon tonight. But whilst it's gone, don't the stars seem to shine brighter?" replied Luna softly, scooting along the benches until she sat on the same one as him, just a few feet away.
"The stars are distant. I look around the world in their light and it seems twisted and unfamiliar. I don't know what is right and what is wrong. I can't tell up from down. I can't even find myself anymore amongst the darkness. What am I even doing sat on a bench with a Ravenclaw, a mad one at that, talking about stars?"
Luna could feel him slipping away as his usual demeanour returned but she clung to the small piece of the real Draco she had glimpsed because he'd always be behind that mask, and he needed help.
"You should learn to dance in them." She whispered.
"What?" he replied, incredulous.
"Draco, the world cannot always be filled with light and hope. You will not always be able to find yourself. The moon won't always be there but it will always return and until then you'll always have the stars. They're smaller and stranger but they're always there. There's an saying about dancing in the rain but sometimes troubles are not so ostentatious and they are simply a lack rather than a plague. Dance in the stars Draco. They'll help you find your way like they did sailors of old. Look at the stars and remember you are never without hope."
By the time she had finished her speech she was kneeling in front of him one hand on his the other on his cheek. She tried to withdraw from her awkwardly intimate position but he held her hand to himself, trying to intimate his thanks to her through his eyes before the cold mask returned, his jaw set and he dropped her hands from his. His eyes shined a moment longer before they dulled into an expression of stony indifference but Luna understood. He had needed to hear what she'd told him tonight and though obliged by social status to never show it, he was grateful.
She stood abruptly, touched his cheek once more and was gone in a skipping mop of curls.