Windy
Huddled in a niche overlooking the grounds of the school, Draco stared unseeingly out at the darkness. There was darkness everywhere he looked; outside, in his own mind and even in his eyes when he caught a glimpse of them in the mirror. Draco tried not to look too long at his reflection these days, he hardly recognised himself. He had always been on the pale side, but now he looked hallow and haunted, not surprising really with the mission bestowed upon him by the Dark Lord hanging over him like a shroud.
Get the Death Eaters into Hogwarts.
Kill Albus Dumbledore.
He was no closer now than he had been at the start of term over six months ago. Time was running out. Time was slipping through his fingers like grains of sand. Time was swirling away into the darkness of each night like the wind currently blowing around Hogwarts.
It had been a dark miserable day and the night was just the same. The wind had picked up, rattling the windows, creeping beneath the cracks at the bottom of the doors and howling around the castle like a soul in torment.
At least, Draco figured that would have been the description he'd read in a novel. What would novel writers know about a soul in torment anyway? He knew. He alone knew what a soul in torment was like. His soul was in torment now. It made him shiver and shake and sweat and panic and kept him up at night; but it didn't howl.
Through the window, Draco could see the Whomping Willow bending dangerously, battered by the wind, fallen leaves spun upwards into mini tornados dancing wildly across the court yard and the branches of nearby trees swayed madly back and forth.
Draco drew his knees closer to his chest, his mouth turning down at the corners. The wind wailed mournfully and Draco felt the echo inside him. He wanted to wail too. A part of him wanted to rush down into the court yard and scream out his fear into the wind where it would be swallowed up as if it had never been. For a moment, Draco felt he couldn't breathe, as if the wind had somehow seeped through the glass and clutched at his throat; he tried valiantly to push away his fear, but it didn't work. It never worked. Fear was his constant companion and nothing would shift it.
There was a sudden movement to his left. Looking up, Draco blinked in surprise when a girl appeared, long dirty blonde hair hanging down her back and a sheaf of parchment in her hand. She turned to look at him, wide spaced pale silvery eyes showing mild surprise at seeing him sitting there.
"Oh, hello."
Draco glowered. "Loony Lovegood.
"Luna, actually."
He decided not to dignify her words with a response. He figured if he ignored her she would probably just go away. He failed to take into account that Luna Lovegood was used to being ignored. She stayed. And stayed. And stayed.
And Draco felt his shoulders relax a fraction. Luna didn't speak, she just stood near his feet looking over the darkened grounds. The window whistled as the wind made another circuitous route around the castle.
Luna rubbed her hands along her arms. "Wind always makes me feel cold."
At least it wasn't just him, Draco thought.
"It's like it gets inside me somehow."
Draco, who had been absently following the curve of his shoe with his eyes, looked up sharply, a slight colour touching his cheeks as the thought of being inside her flashed across his brain. He'd never really thought about her before, unless she happened to be right in front of him and a particularly biting comment came to mind.
"Uh huh."
Her eyes flickered to his face. "Are you ok, Draco? You look a bit peaked."
Funny, how she was the only one to notice. Not one of his so called friends seemed aware anything was wrong with him and Draco knew it wasn't down to his marvellous acting skills. He was sharp and cross and short with everyone; ruder than he usually was, but they all just accepted it as a matter of course and didn't bother to ask if he was all right. Not even Pansy and she was supposed to have feelings, of a sort, for him.
"I've got something on my mind, that's all."
It was hardly a confession of major proportions but it made Draco feel a little lighter. It didn't occur to him to feel guilt or shame at her kindness when he had done nothing but belittle and ridicule her. She was showing concern and Draco lapped it up like a grateful puppy.
"You know what they say, a problem shared."
Draco snorted. As if he would ever consider taking advice from Loony Lovegood.
"It must be a very big problem to worry you so much, Draco."
"Mind your own business," he snapped, getting swiftly to his feet. He didn't want to sit there with her poking and prodding at him; too much sweetness and kindness from her might well be his undoing. Draco wanted to unburden himself, he wanted the pleasure of showing Luna the Dark Mark and throwing his mission in her face just so that, for a moment, there would be somebody else at Hogwarts as terrified as he was. But she would go running to Potter and Dumbledore and his mother's life, already balancing precariously on the edge, would tumble over into the abyss of death and he'd never catch her before the light left her eyes forever.
Unconsciously, Draco squared his shoulders to better steady the weary load he was carrying. It was a load far too heavy for his young shoulders, a load he had rushed headlong to accept without fully weighing out the consequences. Not that it really mattered. He could hardly have refused the Dark Lord.
"Draco, if something is bothering you..."
"Nothing is bothering me," he retorted rudely.
Luna wasn't fazed. "You should talk to Professor Snape. That's what your head of house is for, you know."
Draco almost laughed. Talking to Snape wouldn't do him any good. Snape was already hounding him, always wanting to know what he was doing and where he was going and how far along he was. All Snape wanted was to steal the glory that was going to be his; although now Draco thought he wouldn't mind Snape taking over and having the glory if he could just get rid of this awful dragging fear which ate at him day and night.
And, he thought bitterly, he had nobody to care about him except the school lunatic.
He tried to push past her but Luna caught his arm, causing Draco to wrench himself free and reel away from her. It was his Dark Mark arm. He couldn't have her touching his Dark Mark arm. Common sense told him there was no way Luna could know he had the Dark Mark unless he told her; but she was odd, weird, a complete loon, she might sense it somehow. He knew it wasn't possible, and yet Draco couldn't help but sort of believe anything out of the ordinary about her.
Luna gave him a strange look and blinked slowly. "Draco, are you ok?"
The wind picked up, clamouring at the walls as his fear for his life, and now his irrational fear of her, began to clamour against the walls of his mind. Did she know? He wondered wildly. Had she somehow guessed?
She didn't know. She couldn't know. Draco knew it, but still he panicked. She took a step towards him, her hand came out to touch him again and Draco grasped her shoulders, pushing her forcefully against the wall and pinning her there.
"Leave me alone," he hissed through clenched teeth.
Her breath left her in a short gasp and her eyes somehow grew rounder and larger. "I was only trying to help. You look so sad and frightened. I ... ow," she winced as his fingers bit painfully into her shoulders.
"I am not frightened."
"As you like," she said amiably. "But you are sad, Draco."
He could feel his jaw quiver and Draco was appalled. If he didn't watch himself he'd break down and cry in front of her. He couldn't do that. He needed to stay strong. The only way to get through his mission in one piece, to ensure his mother survived the year, was to stay strong.
"No. I'm not."
"I think you are. I know about being sad. I know sad when I see it. And you're it, Draco."
"Just..." Draco trailed off, why oh why did she have to be nice to him. Why did she have to look at him with such soft eyes and such a gentle, encouraging curl to her lips. Why couldn't she just leave him be.
She had such a gentle mouth, with pale pink lips parted ever so slightly. It probably wasn't an invitation but the keening lament of the wind seemed to resonate in his lonely soul, so he lowered his mouth over hers.
To say Luna was startled by the turn of events was an understatement. She'd never been this close to a boy before never mind kissed by one, yet here she was, pinned to the wall by Draco Malfoy being thoroughly kissed. Her body was ablaze even as shiver ran through her. His kiss was demanding, desperate, greedy and it consumed her, sending her to dizzying heights.
His tongue crashed against hers and Draco discovered what forgetfulness tasted like. She wiped everything from his mind. She wiped the fear from his soul and he was hungry for more. His hands tangled in her hair tipping her head back for a better angle and as the wind roared against the glass, his blood roared in his ears.
Pulse beating frantically at her throat, Luna reached blindly for him, the sheaf of parchment she held slipping from her fingers and fluttering about the floor. She pulled him closer with a soft sound which made his body surge towards her, taking the kiss deeper.
He suddenly caught the back of her thighs and her back slid up the wall as she was lifted to his hips. Automatically, Luna's legs clamped around his waist and he fell neatly into the cradle of her hips. His hands covered her breasts where her nipples were already hard points beneath the pad of his thumbs and Luna made a little mewling sound as his thumbs touched to her.
His lips brushed her throat, breath warm on her skin and Luna's eyes closed, body bathed in flames and her breaths came in ragged spurts.
Draco's hips ground against her, he was hard and thick and heavy between her legs and Luna gasped, fingers curling through his hair, pulling his head back so she could kiss him again with unchecked fervour. Fingers clawing at the back of his neck, she rode his body blindly, even through their clothes the friction against her core was enough to make Luna moan and ache.
He was losing control; Draco could feel it slipping away from him. His groan was like the wind groaning at the castle door, her moan was like the wind moaning to be let in; except there was nothing preventing him as the doors and walls prevented the wind from entering.
Hand dipping between them, Draco unzipped his trousers and before he quite knew what was happening he had breached her. She was hot, wet and tight around him and Draco groaned, surging forward for more, the sound escaping her lips one of pain rather than pleasure at the pressure of the alien intrusion into her body.
Luna enjoyed losing herself in books, always alone, wanting a friend more than anything else, it was not unexpected that romance novels captured her imagination. She often read of beautiful heroines and dashing hero's and of course, ultimately, the dashing hero ended up "taking" the beautiful heroine in throws of ecstasy.
She was not a beautiful heroine and Draco Malfoy was certainly no dashing hero, and what she felt at present, pain and pressure giving way to discomfort, could not be considered throws of ecstasy; but she understood now what it meant to be "taken". There could be no other word to describe the deep, hard thrusts he gave her as his fingers dug into her flesh, holding on tightly as though he were afraid of losing her. Luna could feel his desperation in the taunt line of his shoulders and the urgency in which he moved.
Pleasure washed over Draco in swirls and eddies. She was so soft and warm, a stark contrast to everything else in his life. She took him over, consumed him, pushed the darkness and fear from his soul and he let himself drown in her, his need driving him.
The wind had picked up considerably, a powerful force baying and squalling in the storm tossed night. The wind raged against the castle; it was a violent night and Draco's desperation to feel something good seemed to spark the violence in his veins and he moved inside her with an almost single minded determinedness; with a forceful, unrestrained passion Draco could never have guessed he could feel and would be unleashed with Luna Lovegood.
There was still discomfort, but it began to melt away into pleasure as the fierce, savage thrust of Draco's hips not only hit something satisfying inside her, but his pubic bone hit her at just the right angle to provide a delicious friction which set her nerves to tingling and her blood skyrocketing through her body.
His breath came in harsh pants against her ear and her name fell from his lips in an agonising groan tinged with reverence. Luna clung to him, pressing her lips to his neck, sucking the flesh into her mouth to stifle her cry of release when her body convulsed.
A strangled sound left Draco as he shuddered in her arms and then went still.
Luna's fingers eased their tight hold on him, wandering to his nape, stroking gently, and while the wind continued its rampage, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, enveloped in the soft warmth of Luna Lovegood, Draco felt safe.