Heart of the Serpent King
Draco Malfoy had lost both parents and his family mansion was half demolished by the end of the war, but he was, at least, alive and he would continue to live, he had determined. He kept to himself, answering questions when aurors came knocking and hexing reporters off of his property until finally the magical world seemed to calm down somewhat and he was able to try to rebuild the Malfoy name. Hogwarts had offered him a chance to make up for his missing seventh year, but he had determined not to set foot in the school after the war was over.
He probably would have been thrown in jail and black balled from holding a job for the rest of his existence had it not been for Harry Potter and his friends putting in a good word. Draco resented that they had salvaged him at least out of the crumbling ruins of the Slytherin House. He set up shop in Knockturn Alley selling off heirlooms that had belonged to various death eaters until he could once again claim the Malfoy family fortune that had been promised him at birth.
A year passed without much connection to the outside world on Draco's part, but he didn't exactly notice. He was too busy trying to get over the death of his mother, who had been insufferably clingy, but his mother nonetheless, and his father, who had betrayed him and offered him to the Dark Lord as sacrifice, but who had given him everything he had wanted and needed in life. Draco didn't expect to go back to being 'normal' after the war as he wasn't 'normal' before, but he did want to resume his place as an heir of the Slytherin name and as a functioning member of the Wizarding community.
People generally avoided him, however, and he resigned to the idea that he would be lonely, if terribly wealthy, for the rest of his days. He was, therefore shocked when one evening a knock on his door disturbed his quiet dinner and he found Luna Lovegood standing on his doorstep. "Can I help you?" he asked her, his voice hoarse from disuse. He wanted to send her on her way, but something inside of him wouldn't allow him to be overly harsh with her.
"Draco…hello. I know you've been in this big manor all alone for a while and wanted to know if you'd like to join me and a few friends for dinner this Saturday," she asked. Her eyes were luminescent and her voice was like sweet music that soothed his soul, but he didn't show any of the joy that he experienced at her offer.
"Please leave me alone," he said, not unkindly. "I don't want or need your charity." He closed the door before she could protest, and his heart nearly broke. He felt as though he had finally cut off all of his ties to humanity, but it couldn't be helped. Draco Malfoy would not accept the friendship of someone who he perceived as a care giver for the downtrodden. He may have been dispirited, but he was by no means weak. He finished his dinner in silence, drowning in the sorrow of being isolated.
Luna Lovegood came back the next evening, and the next, and the next, and the next, but Draco continued to wave her away, his heart sinking lower every time he closed the door. 'Keep your self-respect,' he would tell himself as he sat alone after dismissing her. But eventually he had to give in, simply to know why she kept badgering him. "I'll allow you to join me," Draco told her one wintery evening, "But you will obey my rules and explain yourself fully." Luna had agreed and had then followed him into his candlelit dining room.
"It's beautiful, Draco," she told him.
"Yes, I suppose it is." He set a place for her at the table and they shared a silent meal, Draco not wanting to know the truth until he had at least had one meal with another human being. "Tell me why you continue to come to my manor even though I keep pushing you away," he asked after they were both finished. Her silvery hair glinted in the candlelight as she moved her head and he couldn't help but admire her beauty.
"I don't want you to be alone," she told him simply.
"Why do you care? Are you here to get information so you can have something to print in your little newspaper?" he demanded, not being able to control his anger at the thought of being exploited.
"Of course not. I just suspected that you could use some company." She was completely unfazed by his harshness and looked him over with her large blue eyes. Draco mulled her answer over for a bit before speaking again.
"I don't want your charity," he told her finally, looking away from her flawless features.
"I'm not here to provide charity," she told him. "I'm lonely in my apartment and thought that you wouldn't mind my company."
"I thought that your friends were always coming over?" he asked.
"I lied. I only wanted your company, Draco."
He looked her over. "Why would I want your company if no one else does?" he asked her. Hating himself for trying to crush the one person in the world who probably understood his loneliness.
"Because no one else wants your company either."
Her statement shocked him and he bit back the rude remark that danced on the tip of his tongue. "You're very strange Luna Lovegood," he told her after a few moments. He wondered whether he could afford to let someone into his world.
"So I've been told."
Luna left soon after this revelation. She told Draco that she would return the next evening at the same time, and so she did. Every night Luna would arrive on Draco's doorstep at the same time and every night he would stifle the happiness he felt upon seeing her. They would eat quietly, talk about this thing or that for a while, and then Luna would go home to sleep. Each night Draco lay awake for a while, staring out at the moon over the mountains and wondering about the curious creature that was Luna Lovegood.
Over the months he grew to appreciate the time they spent together and even to admit to himself that he liked her quite well, despite her strange qualities. Once they were comfortable with each other, Luna started to show up on his doorstep earlier and earlier. He knew instinctively that the knock on his door was her, partially because he had come to sense her presence, but mostly because she was his only visitor. Draco grew quite attached to Luna and within a year asked her to move in with him.
"It's the logical thing to do. You spend most of your time here anyway," he pointed out. She agreed and he gave her the east wing of the manor for herself. This is where our story starts….