Title: In the Eyes of Naïveté

Rating: Teen

Author: Icequeenrex

Tarot card: The Fool

Characters: Luna Lovegood/Draco Malfoy

Summary: Written for 78Tarot challenge on Livejournal: Luna is said to be a very perceptible person...but is she truly? For some things definitely, she could tell a pixie from a fairy but what about more personal things, such as a little crush for example? LlxDM

Luna was a bright girl. In most ways anyway. Her grades were a little above average and her sometimes-witty remarks didn't leave much to be desired but there were other aspects where she was just plainly...dense. So on this wonderfully rainy day, dear old Luna was musing happily in a corner near the window, trying her hardest to count the number of drops that actually fell onto the window.

She was in a fairly good mood today, dreaming of a certain steely eyed boy...who was just another one of her true loves derived from a very good book. "Rogue in a Duke's Outfit" the book was called and of course it just had to have a devilishly handsome and rough main character...it was easy to fall for book characters, they were just...perfect.

They kept her happy enough even if they weren't real, and they let her dream and fantasize of fairytale endings and naughty trysts full of passion and love. What a life that would be. Perhaps every girl out there was exactly like her, dreaming of their own true prince charming.

She smiled silly to herself and gave a little giggle, uncaring of the weird looks that she received at her little outburst. Madame Pince just shook her head and smiled somewhat, returning to her work.

Of course though a dark cloud did have to darken the already dark spot by the window and annoy her slightly. A dark cloud? Was it just her imagination? Because the clouds outside didn't look as if they had moved...at all. She turned her head away from the outside and raised her brows in surprise. It was a rather tall boy who had cast this little bit of shade over her.

There stood Draco Malfoy scrutinizing her with his steely eyes, yet a small amount of amusement tugged at the corner of his lips. "Evening Lovegood, having fun conversing to the voices in your head?"

She thought about what he had just said, realizing suddenly that he somehow knew of her little conversations. But she hadn't been doing it just then...better keep quiet about it then. "Not at present. I was actually just...thinking." Her voice betrayed nothing but innocence and simplicity, enough to drive a person insane if they were trying to dig something out of her.

He scoffed and raised a silvery brow. "About what, pray tell?"

'Sarcasm? Ah, yes of course.' Luna allowed a small smile to tug the corners of her mouth as she let out a breath. Sarcasm as she had learned, was the epitome of Malfoy decree. Twisting a lock of dirty blonde hair around a pale finger, the Ravenclaw asked casually,

"Why do you want to know exactly, Draco Malfoy?"

His eyes narrowed and he said with a hint of annoyance, "You seemed to be enjoying yourself only a few moments ago and if you hadn't noticed, some of us were in the midst of studying and it's easier to do that when people don't spurt out bouts of giggles at random."

Widening cerulean eyes defensively, the girl said in retaliation, "I wasn't giggling! It's not my fault books can lead to audible thinking! It happens to everyone, especially if there's a proxy bat in the room. They seek out hidden thoughts you know."

Draco took a step back at this and folded his arms, trying his best not to burst out laughing at her little speech. She was one crazed girl, probably the reason as to why he had often found himself staring at her whenever she just happened to be in his range of vision.

She was a very interesting person, not the brightest according to him, and she wasn't the prettiest either, but she was interesting. And Draco Malfoy had a little obsession with interesting things...or people in her case. It wasn't often that someone would capture his attention the way she did and he found he rather liked her different and fantastical way of thinking.

Needless to say though, she obviously hadn't a clue as to why she caught his gaze the few times she did notice him staring. Daft, dense and a bit of a dolt was all he could say...add dwarf to the list too...she was as tiny as an imp. Though not as small as that Weasley girl...now she was small.

But off the matter of size, Luna Lovegood. Luna Lovegood was a rather spectacular thing. Having few friends other than the Weasley girl and surprisingly, even a few Slytherin girls. All of them seemed to be in one little group of their own, chatting wildly about stuff even he didn't know about. Girls were the newspaper you went to when in need of gossip.

But as he looked at the blonde little girl before him he wondered if she'd ever realize his attentions towards her...probably not. Her head was probably all the way up in the clouds that she couldn't look down below for a few minutes or so...how troublesome. And if it wasn't worse, if it was one thing Draco hated, it was not being noticed when he wanted to be!

Trying a different approach, he smirked and asked casually, "Hidden thoughts huh? How about you enlighten me with some of yours, I've got time and well, if a proxy bat as you say is interested in yours, I might find them interesting myself. I'm bored out of my skull anyway."

Blue eyes gazed with surprise up at him and a smile made its way across her lips. "Of course! Though, I suppose you'd better sit, my thoughts do tend to take a long time to speak of."

He gracefully took his seat across from her as she began.

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Anything and everything about the mystery that is you." He drawled lazily, playing with a quill.

"Hm. That's not much...but do you happen to read romance novels?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Never, they're way too cheesy and boring. Hardly realistic."

"That's what you think. And perhaps you're right...but a girl can dream can't she?" Her eyes misted over.

Raising a brow, he stated coolly, "Yes but not if it isolates them from reality. That's just a waste."

Luna thought for a moment at his words. A waste? A waste. It never really occurred to her that way before. Hesitantly, she asked him, "What do you mean that it's a waste?"

Looking across at her, no emotion evident on his face, he cut bluntly, "You're a fool Luna Lovegood. It's a waste because you don't take the time to realize what's going on around you. You're missing out. Not on school work, you're probably fine with that. But on other things. People for example."

"I've got many friends and I sociali-"

"That's not what I mean!" He hissed. Now she was interested, shocked, but interested.

"What else is there to notice?" She asked quietly, her eyed burning into his like blue fire.

Looking up from under his lashes with a feral smile, he reached a hand across the table, waiting for her to take it. "Come with me and I'll show you."

Her eyes twinkling with adventure, she smiled mysteriously and took his hand. "Alright then, show me."

End

A/N: Short yes, good, I don't know. Tell me in a review! As you can see it's obviously AU...Draco being in Hogwarts and all...I don't know, I didn't like the way things ended up for him in HBP...but ah well, it was still a good book! Now...be good little readers and REVIEW! No flames but constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome:D

Peace out!

Rex