A/N: Haven't updated in EVER, I'm so sorry!
The food was served, but Harry wasn't feeling very hungry. He looked over at Luna, who was politely nibbling at a small piece of chocolate cake, still glancing around nervously, as if waiting for something to happen. Harry leaned in. "So, what is this banquet for, anyways? Fundraiser, or something?" he whispered. Luna swallowed a bite and shrugged.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Draco's holding this banquet as a fundraiser for the Quibbler, didn't I tell you?"
The Gryffindor choked, green eyes wide. "Wh-what?! Malfoy actually reads that?" he questioned, shocked. Luna pouted with silver lips and looked away, nodding. Harry paused, suddenly feeling very guilty. "Oh, no, Luna, not like that, I d-didn't mean it like that! I'm just suprised that... he's interested in the subjects brought up in the Quibbler, not that it isn't a good paper, obviously..."
She looked over and smiled lightly. "It's quite alright, Harry, I know my paper can be a bit ... eccentric, at times."
A blatant understatement.
Draco Malfoy appeared from out of a door across the room, quickly making a beeline for Luna and Harry's table, which he was seated at as well. A black-gloved hand on Luna's shoulder caused her to jump and look back. "Oh, Draco, don't startle me like that!" she gasped, smiling anyways, a thin hand over her heart. The blonde man laughed, and for a moment it sounded true, as he dragged out his seat next to Luna and sat down, smiling.
"I'm terribly sorry, Luna, I swear I meant no harm."
"Swear to God?" he snorted, not being able to control himself. A fleet of childish rage swam over Draco's face, but he fought it down, vein in his temple twitching in repressed anger. Harry thought it reminded him of Uncle Vernon, causing him to smile. He quickly tripped over his words when shot a fatal glare from Luna's pretty blue eyes, and the pure wrongness of anger on Luna's face was enough to make Harry promise to keep her happy. Anger just didn't suit her. Malfoy glared too, but only for a moment.
"Well, the initial feast is done, and I'm planning to make a small speech, then move the desserts and drinks to the side for some while the orchestra starts playing. A banquet can't be a banquet without some fun." he laughed, winking. Harry's hand itched for his wand. It was true, he had never gotten over his hatred for his school rival, and now that he had an excuse to curse Malfoy if he came to close, he was just dying to use it...
"Oh! That sounds lovely!" Luna exclaimed, eyes wide, clapping her hands together. The Malfoy smirked and nodded, moving to take Luna's empty glass and grabbing the wine bottle from the middle of the table, taking the liberty of pouring Luna another glass of the drink, and Harry wondered... just how many drinks Draco had already poured for Luna, exactly? "Thank you, Mr-, uhm, Draco. Thank you, Draco." she said with a rather absentminded giggle, looking up at the other blonde and taking her drink eagerly. "You know, you've really changed since we first met."
"I'd certainly like to think so. I was an awful prat."
And still are... Harry thought to himself.
"And you were simply... weird."
Still ever-so-polite, aren't we, Malfoy?
Luna twitched visibly, but held her tongue, and Harry could see her try to restrain her outburst. "I was rather loony, wasn't I?" she said airily, running a sharp blue fingernail along the rim of the glass, humming with the haunting echo of her finger on the edge. Draco laughed and nodded.
"But it doesn't matter, love, because... well, look what you've grown into!" Draco exclaimed, grinning and gesturing to Luna with his gloved hands. "You're a smart, shining, and well with a wand, and you're outrageously beautiful, and you've been holding a celebtrity status just a year after Hogwarts! That takes one amazing woman, Luna, let me tell you." he said, smirking, as if he actually thought it was a good compliment, instead of just a comparison.
The witch blushed prettily, but Harry easily saw behind it. She was a tad uncomfortable.
"Th-thank you, Draco, you're too kind..."
"Oh no, not at all, just appreciative of the talent in front of me." he said smoothly, fixing his tie. Harry groaned.
Stop, Malfoy, now it's just weird.
After a few minutes of aimless chatting, dessert-testing, and wine-drinking, Harry's ears twitched as he heard a dark, beautiful song begin to play, and he looked around, only to find that the sound seemed to come from the walls, as though surrounding the entire crowd. He was vaguely reminded of Fawkes singing, but decided it was too dark to compare to the lovely bird. Luna snapped him out of his reverie with her airy voice. "Ah, is this the music?" she asked, swaying from side to side with the creeping beat. "It's lovely."
Draco smirked at her. "I rather like it too."
Harry rolled his eyes.
And in a blink of an eye, Draco had taken Luna from her seat and whisked her away into the center of the room, as the tables lifted and spread, along with their occupants and chairs (and yet only a few seemed at all suprised). Luna looked over her shoulder and waved at Harry, telling him she was okay. Harry watched as the two blondes began to dance, and in the back of his mind he noticed that Luna seemed to be floating, heeled feet as smooth as wind on the floor, making her glide swiftly into Malfoy's steps.
The black-haired man had always been protective of Luna, he just didn't realize to what extent. When he heard of Ollivander and Luna in Azkaban, his first thought had been, "Not Luna." He'd always yelled when his friends made fun of her, true or not. Instead of inviting Ginny, or Hermoine, or Parvati, or Angelina, or Katie, or Cho to Slughorn's stupid little party, but he chose Luna. The lunatic. The freak.
Harry knew what that felt like.
But he slowly began to realize just how much he wanted to protect her. He'd get angry when Malfoy even touched her hand. And right now, he was more then angry, because Malfoy's hand had just slid lower from the small of her back, dangerously low, but just barely. Without even thinking, Harry stood up and strode over to them, dodging the other dancing couples and putting a hand on Malfoy's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?"
The blonde-haired wizard turned, "Actually, we d-"
"-Not at all, Harry! Draco doesn't mind, does he?" she asked, and sent an icy glare to Malfoy, telling him to agree and flee, or disagree and lose his balls. Draco nodded and bowed out, obviously pissed, but he pressed a kiss to the top of Luna's hand before retreating. Harry stepped in with ease, a hand at her waist (lightly, less controlling and more respectful then Malfoy could ever hope to be), and began stepping to the beat with Luna. He was suprised that Luna could dance so well, extremely well, and it seemed that neither of them were following the other, instead moving as one on the floor, both of them leading in there own way. And it turned out flawlessly.
And for a brief moment, Harry swore that they were both skating above the floor, feet hovering a few inches as Luna moved gracefully with him.
The song ended, and Harry couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Luna led him back to their seats, taking a deep breath as she sat down. "I didn't know you could dance so well, Harry Potter. You seemed rather awkward at the Yule Ball."
"You were there?"
"Oh, no."
"How'd you know, then?"
Luna smiled, and it vaguely reminded Harry of Dumbledore's wise smile, back at Hogwarts. Her eyes seemed to twinkle like his, in the right light. "I just know things." she said simply with a shrug. "Hm. I'm getting quite bored. How are you feeling, Harry?"
"I, uh, I'm good either way, banquets aren't really my thing, y'know?"
"Mm. Too formal and uptight?" she suggested with a smile, reaching under the table to grab her purse and sling it over her shoulder. "As long as there's dancing, I'll be able to cope with almost anything!" Luna then stood up, moving to extend her hand to Harry. "If we slip out now, we can get out without running into Malfoy. Shall we go?" she asked. Harry nodded, smiling as he took her hand, following Luna out quietly among the crowd.
"We should go out through the courtyard, there are still some people out front." Harry whispered to her, glancing through the window next to the corner they hid themselves in. Luna was looking at the ceiling as Harry spoke and nodded, letting herself be led by the hand down a mostly-empty hall, swinging through a wrought-iron gate which led to the courtyard path. A few people were still lingering, sitting on the benches and looking at statues, chatting mindlessly to eachother, but Harry wasn't worried. He couldn't spot Malfoy anywhere.
Luna took the first step onto the grass, and Harry was amazed that the tall, thin heels of her shoes didn't sink in the ground. She turned and smiled, grasping his hand. "Follow me, Harry Potter." she said with a smile, large eyes glittering. For a moment, Harry's head spun, and he knew it wasn't the alchohol. They walked through the courtyard, deciding to follow the path through the small hedges for better cover, just in case. As they reached the rotunda in the middle, footsteps were heard behind them.
"Luna, I've been looking all over for you!"
Harry froze. Great. Malfoy.
They both turned in unison as the Slytherin came towards them. "Oh, Draco!" Luna exclaimed. "I... uhm..."
"Just going for a walk?"
Luna glanced over to Harry and shrugged, then turned her gaze back to Draco. "I was waiting by the table, but you hadn't come back for awhile, so I dragged Harry with me to come looking for you. I hope you don't mind." she said softly, lifting a gloved finger to play with a strand of her hair. "I got a message from my advisor, urgent business, and I must leave, but I really didn't want to go without saying goodbye!"
Harry gathered what she was up to, trying to say what Draco wanted to hear, acting as if she was nervous around him and truly didn't want to leave. Oddly enough, it worked, and Harry admired Luna's acting skills.
"Oh, how sweet of you, Luna! I'm sorry to see you leave, I've been having a wonderful time talking to you, and I must say, you are an amazing dancer. But I was hoping to catch a word with you, and since you're about to leave, could I borrow you for a moment?" he asked with a grin, although it turned to a leer when he looked at Harry. "I hope you don't mind?"
"Well, err, technically I'm not supposed to leave her side..."
"--And we really must go--" Luna said quickly, but she was already being led away by Draco.
"She'll be safe with me, Potter. Why don't you wait by the main doors? I'll see to leading her out once we're finished." he said, and Luna shrugged nervously, but gestured for him to go away with her hand. There wasn't really any other choice. Harry sighed, and walked back through the courtyard. But instead of heading out to the gates, he hid behind a hedge, squinting through the branches to watch the two. It was his job, after all. To watch over Luna.
Draco stopped to face Luna, a hand on her shoulder. Harry could barely make out what they were saying, only getting a few words...
"Luna, I would like to thank you for...." Harry heard a snatch of, and then, "...And you look lovely, I must say..."
The man put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the stars. He pointed to one of them and said something nondescript, causing Luna to put a hand to her mouth and giggle. Draco chuckled too, looking back at her with a grin. The-Boy-Who-Lived's green eyes widened when he saw Draco moving to step closer to Luna, and leaned down, whispering something in her ear. To Harry's admiration, Luna stepped away, saying how she really ought to be going. He could see Malfoy frown, but accept her dissmissal, kissing the back of her hand and bowing. Luna scurried away, passing the hedge Harry was behind, and she hissed. "I see you, so let's get out of here!"
Harry looked back, seeing Malfoy was gone and nodding, standing up from his crouch and following Luna down the hall from the courtyard, and, with the speed worthy of his FireBolt, they hurried out of the Malfoy Manor.