AU. Drabble. Harry/Luna. Year 5 if Harry hadn't been seated with Luna in the carriage ride to Hogwarts, he might not even have noticed the thestrals. So this scenario imagines him learning about them a bit later in the forbidden forest around the castle.
Luna grabbed Harry's hand as she led him towards the thestrals.
"What do you think?" she beamed, excited she could share her love of this magic creature, with someone else at least.
"I- I think.." Harry stammered and he adjusted his glasses as he stared in disbelief at the large herd of thestrals. Which he hadn't known existed til now.
"You can see them right?" Luna asked him anxiously.
"Yes, I can see them...but what on earth are they," Harry muttered as his eyes roved over the skeletal-like creatures.
"I told you they exist, even though Hermione didn't believe me," Luna said pleasantly and her large blue eyes wandered between Harry and the thestrals, wondering which of the two she liked best staring at.
Harry stepped closer to the thestrals, as if he wanted to touch them, before looking back to her for guidance. "Can I pet them...or will they bite?" the boy-who-lived asked nervously.
Luna placed her hands on her hips and joined him in getting closer to the thestrals. "Yes, I pet them all the time, Harry. Though I haven't been able to get close enough to try to ride them. Do you think you'd want to have a go flying on one?"
Harry was usually not one to try the temper of dangerous, magical creatures if he could help it, but he admired them and Luna seemed inordinately excited by the prospect. He scratched at the back of his neck. "I don't know Luna, I've rode on a hippogryff before but that one, er, Witherwings had been trained by Hagrid, and I'm not sure it's a good idea to just try to ride a wild thestral."
Luna tried not to laugh at Harry's hesitation, she could tell he secretly liked the idea of riding a thestral because he loved all types of flying. "They're not really wild, Harry. The thestrals here are the same ones that pulled the carriage, but Dumbledore let's them roam free the rest of the time."
Harry bit down on his lip. "That doesn't make them domesticated either, Luna. Pulling a carriage is one thing, but riding with a human..."
Luna smirked and pulled Harry by the hand, closer to one of the winged creatures. "There's only one way to find out Harry...let's try to ride this one!"