A/N: First of all, thank you for your comments! At least, the ones I received by Mail, because doesn't show them here, funnily enough. I guess this site hates me.

There you go, Chapter 3. I'm rather proud of it, as it gives much insight into Draco's thoughts.

Disclaimer: Nope, not JKR. It would be great, though. All that money...

Edit: does hate me. There are mistakes in my A/N I'm sure I haven't made. Absolutely.


Even if it was a week ago, Draco still felt an enormous pang of guilt when he passed the hospital wing. He knew Ron Weasley was getting better from day to day, that he will make a full recovery and that there was no real harm done, as Potter had reacted quickly enough with the Bezoar, of course he knew it. But he couldn't believe that he had almost killed a fellow student – no matter how much Draco loathed and despised Weasley, he would never want him dead.

Draco knew he couldn't kill someone. The guilt of almost having killed Katie Bell and Weasley nagged at him all the time, but he knew he had to do it. He had to kill Dumbledore, his headmaster, otherwise…he didn't want to think of it.

It was with the usual and familiar mixture of desperation and guilt that Draco walked away from lunch. As it was Sunday, he had some hours to spend in the Room of Requirement, and so he began to descend the stairs to the seventh floor. In the second floor, however, he met the one person tried to avoid as much as possible.

"Draco!" Luna said, smiling widely. "I was just about to go outside, do you want to come with me?"

Draco didn't even have the heart to argue or snap at her, and so he followed her quietly, inwardly glad to have a reason for not going to the Room of Requirement.

"There's something I wanted to show you," Luna answered Draco's unasked question as they arrived on the grounds. "Do you see that little gap in the clouds over there? The sun's coming out at last."

And really, as Draco followed Luna's gaze, he saw that the clouds had opened a little bit, letting through a small patch of pale blue sky. A little ray of sunlight shone through.

"Come on, let's catch the sun!" Luna called and set off again. Draco followed her confused, asking himself what in the name of Merlin Luna could mean.

Finally they reached one of the trees near the lake, the only spot where the sun reached the ground. Luna stepped directly into the sun, closed her eyes and smiled. Draco found himself watching the lights that danced in her blonde hair. Moments later, he realised that this was the most beautiful sight in his life. He tried to find words to say.

"Come on, Draco, come into the light," Luna said then, opening her eyes again. "It would do you some good."

Draco went over, standing next to her in the pale sunlight. Luna put her arms around his waist, but Draco found it didn't bother him at all. On the contrary, it was a good feeling. He put his arms around her back and enjoyed the sunlight as well as the girl he was holding.

"It means hope, you know," Luna whispered then, pressing her face against his chest. "The sun makes us hope that the cold and the darkness will be over soon. Spring is coming."

"Lovegood…" Draco began, but Luna made a gesture with her hand to quieten him.

"You don't have to say anything, Draco. I know you're not ready for a decision yet. But what I want to say is that there is hope. Hope for the sun, and hope for us."

Draco felt that he wanted to say so much. He wanted to tell Luna about him being a Death Eater; he wanted to show her his Dark Mark. He wanted to tell her what he had done, what he had to do, and what he was planning right now. He wanted help; he wanted Luna to tell him that everything would be alright. But he knew he couldn't do it. There was just a small chance for Luna to accept this, to see him for what he was, to not see a Death Eater who was about to murder. As he thought about his mission again, Draco wanted to step away from Luna. He didn't want to touch her innocence, while he himself had done so terrible things. But as he looked at her, smiling peacefully with her head still resting on his chest, he knew he couldn't just leave her. This moment was everything he had in the terror of being a Death Eater.

"It's not so bad to be in love," Luna said. "You just have to see the positive things instead of the negative ones."

"I've never been in love. It's the first time for me, Lovegood, and…" Draco stopped himself before he could say what really was on his mind.

"What, Draco?"

"I wouldn't ever dream of admitting that to anyone else, but I'm scared. I mean, I'm scared of what will happen…in the future."

"Well, Draco, the trick is not to think too much about the future. Concentrate on the present, that's what matters right now. You just have to do what you want right now. It's Sunday, and the sun is shining at last, there couldn't be a finer day."

And without thinking about his mission, or the Dark Mark burned in on his arm, but just about Luna and nothing else, Draco bent down to press his lips softly against hers, doing exactly what he wanted to do in this very moment. He didn't know how long they stood there, entangled and kissing, but he felt happier than he had been in some weeks.

As they broke apart, Draco raised his hand to cup Luna's cheek, smiling for the first time in months.

"I've never liked the sun very much before," he said, still smiling.

"That's why you are so pale," Luna noted earnestly.

"Yes, maybe. But I think you're right, Lovegood. About the sun, I mean."

They remained like this for quite a while, enjoying the first sunlight of the year.


As always: please let me know what you think!