Here it is!
Prejudices, sequel to Possibilities. Only this time—it's Luna's POV!
We were sitting at a table in the Three Broomsticks. It being just after the Christmas holidays, a lot of people were in the crowded place to stay warm and gather with friends. His eyes were flashing as he glanced around nervously—like he was seeing ghosts, and they were reflected in his silver grey eyes.
"What's wrong," I whispered.
"Your friends are glaring at me from all sides," he muttered. I looked around to find that Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and all sorts of others were indeed glaring at him.
"Haven't they always? You never seemed to mind it before."
"That's when I was allowed to glared back," he said absentmindedly. I grabbed his hand, squeezing it slightly.
"Once they got over the shock, I knew they would act like this," he continued, "I half-expect your friend Ginny to hex me from across the room. And if I defend myself, you know full well the brawl would be my fault in the papers."
"Let's leave then, and visit Zonko's. Or Honeyduke's. Whatever you want—I got to pick last time," I smiled.
"Sure, let's go to Honeyduke's; something sweet instead of the butterbeer," he agreed. We headed towards the store and each got our fair share of sugar and chocolate—he wanted to buy it for me, but I insisted on at least paying for the chocolate frogs. If I didn't, like daddy always said, I would seem greedy and dependent. That's something I never wanted to be.
"Do you collect the cards?" I asked as he turned one over in his hand. He rolled his eyes.
"I'm a little old to do that, aren't I? I never collected them anyway. Inappropriate behavior according to Father, you know," he explained. "Just... it's Dumbledore's. And I wondered how long it would be until Potter and company get their own. After all, they're all heroes. I'll be lucky to get a job after school. I don't even know what I want to do..."
"You've always been rather good at Potions. And Arithmancy, from what I hear. Perhaps you could start a company to sell potions straight to the public," I mused, "Or perhaps start a string of Apothecaries. Of course, it's all in your decision-I plan on taking over the Quibbler from Daddy, perhaps writing more about public events, with a separate section about the creatures we both normally go to find."
"Nargles? Crumple-horned Snorcacks?" he asked amusedly.
"And Lacewing Fey, and sometimes I try to find a Peace Bloom myself. It is supposed to have a calming effect on people-make them less likely to quarrel."
"Can we call that plan B for getting your friends to stop glaring at me?" he sighed, "I'm tired of fighting. I know I've instigated more brawls than any other Slytherin in the school, but after everything that's happened, well, I could use a Peace Bloom."
"Maybe we won't need it," I said, "I have an idea. Are any of your friends actually okay with our relationship, or do you want to bring them into it as well?" Then I blushed, because we hadn't discussed at all whether we wanted to keep this up or not. Then he smiled.
"Do you want this to be a relationship? I would love to be able to call you my girlfriend, or perhaps darling," he said, a playful smile on his face. I shivered and nodded.
"I would like that, Draco," I said bravely, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. We walked back to the castle together as I explained my idea.
We were in the Room of Requirement together. Draco was wearing plain black trousers and a white button-up shirt. I tried to get him to not gel back his hair like usual-and surprisingly, he listened. The silky light blonde locks hung forward, and it was actually somewhat messy-like the wind had decided to play with it.
My hair was curled lightly as usual, and I was wearing a simple black, knee-length skirt and a silky pale yellow blouse. The Room was a simple style, like the common rooms, only there were no House colors. I'd chosen to get everyone into the room. As it turned out, Draco's friends were just as shocked by us being together as the members of the DA. It was simple to do so-I only had to make sure that my owl would bring notes to both Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini. The nature of the notes, though I wouldn't tell Draco in detail, would definitely bring a large group of Gryffindors and Slytherins into the room within approximately five minutes.
Well, I wasn't wrong. They barged in, and I waved my wand almost lazily to close the door behind them.
"Let me guess, those letters were forged, Malfoy," spat Ron.
"I made them, actually. I had to get you all here somehow," I told him, but that did nothing to ease the tension. The groups of Slytherins and Gryffindors glared at each other.
"Don't you all think we're a little old to hate each other for what the Sorting Hat yelled on top of our heads when we were eleven?" Draco said.
"It's not because of that, as you know, Malfoy," spat Hermione.
"This wasn't my idea, Hermione," he replied, anger quietly held back. I knew it was hard for him, but they did seem taken aback by his use of his first name.
"Luna, you aren't seriously going out with him, are you?" said Ginny.
"Draco Malfoy is my boyfriend. I care for him more than Nargles could ever let anyone's mind process," I stated firmly. Hermione snorted. But Draco's face softened.
"I thought we fought the war to bring peace," he continued, following my lead, "Either side just wanted it to end. I didn't care as long as I could survive through it. That was my initial thought, anyway. Isn't this animosity between houses just going to follow us years later until someone else starts a war?"
"I highly doubt you came here and brought us with for a peace speech, Malfoy. Aren't you the one who always started the fights?" growled Ron.
"Oh, yeah, Weasley? Two words: second year." Blaise replied, and Ron turned green in remembering the slugs.
"We kind of brought you here to end arguements, not to start them," I said. Finally, Harry spoke.
"It is kind of childish, I guess. We're all legally adults now. The war is over... I'm tired of fighting too. I don't think we'll ever be close friends, Malfoy, but I'm willing to make peace. Luna is our friend, sort of an honorary Gryffindor to a lot of people-if she can decide for herself that you're not all bad, then I'm willing too." I smiled-though Harry had never wanted to be a leader, it was easy to tell that his decision was pivotal. He and Draco were definitely the ones with the most animosity and negative history. Perhaps besides Ron and Draco... that went back to their fathers.
"I agreed to call you all by first names, in case you're questioning my sanity. Thank you, Harry," Draco said stiffly. Harry smiled slightly and held out his hand to shake. Draco raised an eyebrow.
"This seems familiar," he said as he grudgingly shook the hand of The-Boy-Who-Had-Too-Many-Nicknames (my personal name for him. Draco had snickered a lot when I told him of it.) Harry laughed.
"Well... Draco... I only have one thing to make clear before I head to bed. Hurt Luna even remotely, physically or emotionally, and I will not regret using anything similar to the spell from sixth year." I didn't know what he was talking about, but it made Draco freeze up and nod. Then he walked out. The others reluctantly followed suit in Harry's decision, Ron and Blaise being the last ones left. They had just finished a shouting match, now glaring at one another and preparing for another, and Draco had muttered that he could really use a Peace Bloom any minute now.
"Now that I think about it... Damnit, this is my fault," Blaise realized. Ron looked at him strangely.
"How did you manage that?"
"I placed a bet with Draco here. If he lost, he had to go on a date with Looney Lovegood. If I lost, I had to write a love note to your sister. I won. He came back to the dorm with a freaking grin on his face... and told me that he had a date to Hogsmeade out of it..."
"Seriously?" Ron said.
"Yeah. Told him I could eat twenty chocolate frogs in thirty seconds. It was supposed to be funny..."
"How'd you manage that?"
"Shrinking Charm does wonders, my dear ginger."
"Are they talking civilly?" Draco whispered to me. He seemed concerned for their sanity-possibly wondering if I'd hexed them somehow.
I smiled and pointed at the light pink rose-like flower sitting between them.
Cute, huh? I decided that Dumbledore's quest for house unity might as well start with a little romance. Romeo and Juliet, minus the whole death thing. I happen to prefer MacBeth... that's saying a lot. Can't wait to read A Midsummer's Night's Dream for English this year though.
How'd I get to talking about Shakespeare?
Anywho, there will be a third and final installment of this little Druna series called Promises, which will be likely a threeshot. I merely have a few questions for anyone who wants their input on the story:
-Should I include more dates? I plan on it, but I need ideas for what they might do.
-I will do it from third person POV-what should I describe their first kiss like?
-Should I include them meeting each other's parents? How should the reactions go?
-Finally: if you know what the promise will be (Don't say it in case someone doesn't know!) should it be made at the end of the school year or in a different setting? Give me ideas... oh, and if you don't know what the promise is, here's a hint: I was originally going to name it Proposals but thought that Promises was sweeter.
Later!