For flutter of angel wings for the Valentine Exchange
Dean entered Gringott's bank with the intention of getting some gold out of his vault to do some shopping for new robes. Somehow, and he wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, he came out with some gold as well as a date with Luna Lovegood. They had ended up in the same cart as there weren't that many. The goblin driving it was old and rather rude. Luna didn't seem to notice. She was too busy looking around at the dark tunnel walls in fascination. Dean wished he could see what she was seeing because there was no way to distract himself from how uncomfortable he was. The cart felt as though it could fall apart at any moment and he was starting to feel sick.
He quickly grabbed his gold and he waited for Luna to pick up her own treasure. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. He'd always rather liked Luna. She was a little odd but she was also brave and nice and brutally honest which he found refreshing.
They finally arrived back at the ground floor of the bank and he was grateful that he could escape the little cart and the tunnels. Luna turned to him. "You look terrible, Dean. Is a Wrackspurt bothering you?" She reached up and waved her hand around his head as if shooing a fly.
He knew Luna well enough to know that she wasn't kidding. He also knew that she thought she was doing him a favor. It was weirdly sweet. And as he thought the words, they came out of his mouth. "I'd like to go out with you sometime." Did he actually say that? He froze in place. He hadn't thought this through.
Luna's face shone with excitement. "I'd like to go out with you, too."
Dean considered his next move a moment. Luna was staring at him wide eyed, playing with her bottle cap necklace, expecting him to say something.
"Er, great! How about this weekend? Saturday ok?"
"Saturday sounds lovely!"
"Okay," Dean fell into step beside her as they exited the bank and headed down the busy street. "What would you like to do on this date? Is there anywhere you want to go?"
Normally he wouldn't ask, but it was Luna, and he wanted to do something nice for her. Besides he had a feeling dating Luna would be a completely new experience.
"I don't know," she said. "What does one normally do on dates? I'm not very practiced, you see."
He thought a moment. His last relationship with Ginny had mostly consisted of playing Quidditch and snogging in deserted classrooms. He had a feeling those were not activities to do on a first date with Luna Lovegood. He listed some ideas. "We could go to dinner, or take a trip to Hogsmeade, or there's a place I know that we could go and listen to music. It's a Muggle place so I don't know if you like that."
"You were raised by Muggles," Luna said. It wasn't a question. Or an accusation. It almost sounded like she was saying he was raised by wolves. But he knew she was just stating a fact.
"Yes," he nodded. "Yes, I was."
"I took Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. The first thing we learned is that Muggles try to do magic. They do something called illusions. Have you ever been to a Muggle magic show, Dean?"
"When I was a kid I did, yeah." Where was she going with this?
"I always thought it would be fascinating to go to one. Would you like to go to one on our date? Or is that not appropriate for a first date? If not, that's okay." She fumbled with her necklace some more and she was too adorable to resist.
"Well, if that's what you want to do, then that's what we'll do. But I warn you, they don't really do magic and it's going to be pathetically funny. But I have a feeling you'll like it." He had a feeling all right.
Her face brightened up and she clasped her hands together. "This should be so interesting! I have to be heading home now. But I'll see you Saturday, Dean!" She waved and then disappeared around a corner, leaving Dean to wonder at how he got himself into these things. But as he entered Madam Malkin's he couldn't help but smile to himself.
Dean held the door open for Luna and she entered looking around in amazement. There were mostly young kids sitting in the front rows of the little theater. It was located next to a rundown magic shop. He'd found out that whenever the theatre couldn't book any performers they enlisted the help of the neighboring shop to provide some entertainment.
They sat off to the side next to a group of parents who raised their eyebrows at Luna's shiny blue dress robes and radish earrings. Dean had dressed like a Muggle but hadn't really expected Luna to pull it off. She still looked very nice in his opinion.
The children cheered loudly as a young man came onto the stage carrying a top hat and a suitcase and wearing a very shabby suit.
Luna leaned over to whisper in Dean's ear, "He doesn't have any robes?"
Dean laughed and answered, "Muggles don't understand how to dress like wizards. They also think magic is strictly for entertainment. You'll see."
She did see. The first trick was pulling a rabbit out of a hat. He revealed the empty seemingly ordinary top hat to the crowd. He then yelled, "Abracadabra!" and pulled the little white rabbit out of the hat and held it up to the astonishment of the children in the front row. Dean saw the parents to his left roll their eyes. Then he glanced in Luna's direction. Her forehead was wrinkled in confusion and he could see her mouthing the word "abracadabra."
He couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably. "I…I told you… I told you this was hilarious."
Next was a card trick. Luna shook her head in amazement and then started laughing as hard as Dean. By the time the magician had pulled a volunteer from the audience to "saw in half" the witch and wizard were laughing to the point where they were in tears. Luna had her face buried in Dean's shoulder and he was stroking her hair and trying to get a grip. The Muggle parents were beginning to stare. A few of them were laughing too, but most of them were disgruntled as it was about having to endure an amateur magic show, and now having to deal with two lunatics, one of whom was wearing radish earrings.
Dean and Luna were almost the last to leave as they wiped the tears from their eyes and composed themselves. They then decided to find a coffee place to chat for a while before heading home.
"So, is that what they taught you in Muggle Studies?" Dean asked.
"Basically, but they didn't convey just how ridiculous it was. Why would anyone want to pull a rabbit out of a hat anyway?" Luna sipped her coffee
"Like I said, for Muggles, magic is a source of entertainment. It's not really practical. But I don't see anything entertaining about a rabbit in a hat either."
"And sawing a person in half is not very practical. Or very nice."
"No. Not nice at all," Dean agreed.
"You know what my favorite part was?"
"What?"
"That man used the same spell for everything. Abracadabra? Really? That's the best he could come up with?"
Dean almost choked on his coffee. "Yeah. I never thought about it before I went to Hogwarts, but Muggle magic shows really are absurd."
"I enjoyed it though. It was immensely funny," Luna said.
"I'm glad you thought so."
"Muggles don't have too much imagination do they?"
Dean had to agree with her there. "No. Not really."
They finished their coffee and headed out to walk back to Luna's house. It was a clear night and it wasn't so far that they needed to Apparate. Besides they were enjoying each other's company. This date had gone much better than Dean had originally thought. He took her hand in his and she squeezed it gently.
"Is there anything else you want to do?"
She stopped walking and looked up at him hesitantly. But there was a slightly devious smile on her face that he had never seen before. He liked it.
"Why don't you use your imagination?"
This was rather unexpected, even from Luna. But Dean had been toying with the idea since they'd left the coffee shop and here was an invitation. He brushed a golden strand away from her face. She closed her eyes expectantly and he leaned down and brushed his lips to hers. He pulled away for a second but after meeting her eyes he couldn't help but kiss her again. She was too irresistible.
When they broke apart she smiled radiantly. "Thank you."
She then continued to walk toward her house. All he could do was grin and trail along behind her. "You are quite welcome."