Draco Malfoy was taking a stroll by the lake-or rather, walking alongside it while kicking any tufts of grass that happened to be in his path.
He had been appointed the task of killing the headmaster, one of the greatest wizards to ever have lived, and help Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Needless to say, he was extremely stressed.
The moon was high in the sky, glowing brightly and bathing the quiet landscape in a silvery luminescent light. It wasn't quite a full moon yet, so there was no chance of werewolves wandering about. Sneaking out of the castle and avoiding prefects hadn't been too difficult; he was a Malfoy, after all. What he hadn't counted on was the girl dancing by the lake in the middle of the night.
He paused, having looked up from the ground. He froze, his face caught in between an expression of anger, anguish, misery, and surprise. To any onlookers, it could have been described as comical.
There, not ten feet from him, was a girl. She had on purple leggings which stopped mid-calf, a bright yellow flowery shirt flowing halfway down her thighs, and a bright red vest on. She had many silver bangles on her right arm, and a bracelet with an odd assortment of charms attached to it. Her arms were raised about her head in a triangle-like form, and her bare feet moved quickly as she twirled 'round and 'round in a circle. Her pale blonde hair flew out in all directions. It seemed as if it were catching the moonlight and holding it captive; the strands were so light and delicate looking.
He must have been standing there in a befuddled daze for nearly a quarter of an hour, when she stopped. She stood there, catching her breath, her chest heaving and her lids covering her eyes from view.
Draco finally dared to breath. Her eyes snapped open, revealing the tiny moons that were her eyes. A lopsided smile broke out across her face, causing Draco to suck in a deep breath. She skipped towards him, holding out her hand.
"Hello, Draco Malfoy," She said in a light, dreamy voice. He stared down at her open palm, unsure of what to do. She laughed from the back of her throat. "You're supposed to poke it, silly."
His eyebrows furrowed. Now that she was close, he recognized her. How he hadn't realized who she was before was a mystery: Loony Lovegood was hard to miss. Tentively, he reached a hand out. He looked into her eyes questioningly. At her eager nod, he delicately poked the middle of her palm. It was soft and smooth. He jerked his hand back and sneered at her.
"What are you doing out of the castle at this time of night, Loony Loony Lovegood?"
"Dancing. Snupperlics come to those who dance outside during the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month," Loony Lovegood answered passively.
He snorted, "And I suppose they eat Nargle-infested mistletoe, too?"
"Not at all," She replied smiling, "They prefer moon frogs. Ever since that person who flew to the moon on a Cleansweep 6 and brought them back the Snupperlics have been positively flourishing!"
Once again, Draco snorted. "Just because some blithering idiot claimed to have flown to the moon doesn't mean it is true. They probably just made up that rubbish because they knew they would get an interview with The Quibbler." He said dismissively. An odd glint came into Loony's eyes.
"How did you know The Quibbler interviewed the person who brought a bag of moon frogs back, Draco Malfoy? Only someone who reads The Quibbler would know that. Though, I suppose if you found a Blibbering Humdinger and asked them about it, they would say you heard it somewhere and your subconscious remembered it, though I don't believe that one bit."
"Uhm... right." Draco answered lamely.
"Did you know Fudge had an army of Heliopaths back in my fourth year?" Loony inquired curiously.
He just stared.
She giggled and grabbed his hand. Before he could protest, she was dragging him along to the edge of the lake. She stopped inches from the water and dropped his hand. Strangely enough, his hand felt tingly. Must have slept on it wrong, or pinched a nerve, he thought mildly.
"Take off your shoes and roll your pants up," She said this as if commenting on the lack of wrackspurts floating in the air. Normally, Draco would be averse to obeying a lunatic, no matter how pure her blood was. Then again, this was not a normal night.
Draco took his shoes off and rolled his pants up to his knees.
Once again, Luna took his hand. The numbing tingles stopped, and instead molten fire coursed up his arm and stabbed him in the heart. She glanced at him at his sharp intake of breath. He turned his head and met her eyes. Her smile widened in response, and she gave a little squeeze to his hand.
"C'mon, Draco Malfoy! The Aquavirus Maggots like to feed on the enchanted jellyfish on nights like these!"
And, though on any other night or day he would have turned Loony Lovegood away and sneered at her and called her names, on this night Draco Malfoy allowed Luna Lovegood to tug him into the cold, Novemberk-chilled lake to search for Aquavirus Maggots... whatever those were.
AN: So this is my first One-Shot. I hope you enjoyed!
Luna and Draco aren't mine. However, Snupperlics are.(: Reviews are wonderful, flames will be given to the Heliopaths for lunch!