Twenty-nine: Liberty
It was another brilliantly hot day, and Draco was enjoying his day off from work with Luna. He had never realized how fun it was to be around her. Luna never dragged him shopping the way Pansy always did, and she always had interesting things to say. Luna's personality was so carefree and spontaneous that being with her made Draco feel like he had all the freedom in the world. She never criticized him and didn't expect him to be perfect like Pansy did; with her he could be himself, and wear whatever he wanted and leave his hair messy and his robes un-ironed.
Today Luna had wanted to visit her father. "I know you wanted to spend our holiday together, and so do I," she said quietly. "But I think I really ought to spend more time with him. Sorry Draco. Next time, I promise."
"I'll come to St. Mungo's with you, Luna," he insisted.
Luna hesitated. "It won't be fun, you know. You don't have to do this. Enjoy your day off with your friends."
Draco took her hand. "You're more important. I'd rather come with you to see your father."
A relieved smile swept across her face, illuminating her innocent visage. "If you're sure that you don't mind spending your day visiting my father..."
"Not at all," Draco said firmly.
She embraced him tightly, and the two of them left for St. Mungo's.
Luna had baked a cake. It was strikingly large and shaped as a dome, with neon purple icing and orange sticky-looking balls stuck onto it with toothpicks. Draco eyed it warily and couldn't stop himself from asking what flavour the cake was.
"Asparagus and watermelon with macadamia nuts. Would you like a slice?"
"Erm, no," Draco said quickly. "I think we'd better save it for you dad."
Draco helped her pick a bouquet of daisies from her garden, and then they were off. He almost regretted having agreed to this when they arrived at the hospital. He knew the sort of person Luna's father was, and he didn't fancy having to see him. He didn't say anything, however, as he knew that it meant a lot to Luna to not be alone for a change.
Draco nearly vomited as soon as he caught sight of Xenophilius, with his skin turned hideously green and large purple marks all over his body. As Dragon Pox was highly contagious, they weren't allowed to get close to him and had to wear heavy masks. Draco could tell that this bothered Luna, but that she was trying not to look upset. He waited by the door as Luna dropped off the flowers and began cutting her father a slice of cake.
All in all, it wasn't too bad of a visit. Luna wasn't paying attention to Draco, so he figured that it would be alright to leave the room and walk around while Luna was with her father. It was too awkward to be in that room; he felt immensely sorry for Luna and for everything she had to go through, but didn't know what he could do to help her.
Draco turned the same corner in the hallway for the fifth time when he found himself facing Luna. He jumped. "What's the matter?" he asked.
Luna looked much more relieved than she had when they had arrived, and she smiled. "We can leave. Daddy told me to go out and enjoy the day instead of being cooped up with him here. He said that it's a good day to find jobberknolls. Perhaps we can head over to the woods and look for some –"
Draco narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, Luna?"
"Jobberknolls," Luna repeated impatiently. "Those charming little blue birds that never make a sound until the moment of their deaths. Didn't you ever pay attention in care of magical creatures?"
"No," Draco admitted.
"Well, they are very beautiful, but impossible to find because they're so fast and tiny. But today would be a great day to try to spot one. Wouldn't it be romantic to go look?"
Draco had a feeling that Luna could make any mundane thing romantic, so he merely nodded, charmed by her excitement. "Only let's not use the Underground this time."
They left St. Mungo's, and Luna grabbed Draco's hand as they apparated. Within seconds, Draco found himself in a forest surrounded by lush greenery and blooming young flowers. Normally Draco would have scoffed at the idea of wasting a perfectly fine afternoon looking for silly creatures, but with Luna he felt a sense of thrilling freedom no matter what he was doing with her. So while she scampered around looking for her little bird, Draco stood back and observed her instead, taking in her simple yet overpowering beauty.
"What a darling butterfly," he heard her say, as she cheerfully pranced around the forest, chasing after it.
Draco realized for the first time that she wasn't wearing her usual overwhelming mixture of clashing colours. Instead she had on a long, flowing white frock which was very beautiful and gave Luna the appearance of an angel. Her long, wild golden locks floated behind her as she glided around, appearing innocent and child-like. Draco was mesmerised as he watched her. How could anybody look so carefree, as if there was nothing at all wrong in the world?
Luna seemed to realize that Draco was so still, and she stopped momentarily. "What's wrong, Draco?"
He grinned. "Nothing at all," he responded honestly.
There was no telling how much time they had spent wandering around the forest, but by now Draco was exhausted and sweating. Luna, however, was as energetic as before and not a trickle of sweat touched her forehead. Feeling that he couldn't go on anymore, he plopped down on the first patch of grass he came upon.
"Why is it so bloody hot?" he moaned, wiping sweat off his pale forehead. His own locks were sticking to his forehead.
"You shouldn't have worn such heavy robes, silly," Luna told him as she gracefully sat beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and ran his fingers through her silky hair.
"We didn't find anything," Luna said in disappointment.
"But it was still nice though, wasn't it?"
Luna nodded. She closed her eyes as she rested her head on Draco's shoulder, and for a moment neither spoke.
"He's doing much better now," she said happily after a long pause. "The healers said that he's beginning to respond to the potions. They said he'll be cured soon. Isn't it wonderful news, Draco?"
"It is wonderful news," Draco replied. He felt that Luna deserved this bit of happiness. Though he had never liked her father, he was genuinely happy that he was getting better.
"Of course, they'll need to keep him at the hospital for a little longer, so that the infection doesn't spread. But that's not too bad, right?"
He nodded in agreement.
"It feels suddenly like everything is perfect in the world," he said after another long pause.
Luna frowned. "For now, anyway. Eventually we'll both have to go home and everything will be the same again."
"Don't say that. Nothing can ever be the same again. Not after all this." He paused. "I feel like this is the first time I've felt happy ever since the war ended. I mean, the war was horrid and terrifying, but when it ended nobody wanted to talk about it. Everybody just wanted to forget that it even happened, everyone just wanted to go on living as if nothing at all had happened. But it can't be that way, you know? We can't move on until we accept the past. And as soon as it was all over, it was just like another day – the same old grudges, the same pressures..."
"It's like I never got the chance to breathe," Draco continued. "My mother has been obsessed with my relationship with Pansy since then. Maybe it's because Pansy's been in our home for so long, and if we got married it'd feel like nothing has changed at all. Which isn't possible, because everything has changed. I've changed. I can't be with Pansy anymore – it was the old Draco who liked her; the Draco before the war. The Draco who didn't really know what he was looking for and was too arrogant to realize it."
Luna was listening to his speech in silence, absorbing the sound of his solemn words. Draco felt even lighter as everything that he had held down for so long finally poured out of him, exposed and free. He thought suddenly of Vincent, whom he hadn't thought of since his death. Perhaps he was lucky that Crabbe was the only friend that he had lost in the war, when most people had lost much more. He had also lost his aunt, who he missed deeply, but to be honest she had always frightened him. He knew that his mother missed her too, though she never spoke of her anymore. It was as if she had never even had a sister. Perhaps if she were able to come to terms with what had happened, she would realize that Draco was no longer the same child he had been back then, and that he couldn't be stifled anymore.
He felt Luna's fingers gently wipe his eyes and realized that he had been crying. He had suppressed his tears for so long now, that it felt liberating to finally shed them.
He felt a tiny raindrop kiss his face, and a few more drops of cool, summer rain followed. It felt indescribably pleasant to be touched by this water after suffering through his smoldering heat, and Draco eagerly waited for more, his eyes closed and his body relaxed. It was as if the summer rain was gently washing away the misery and unpleasantness of the past and cleansing him of all previous mistakes.
Suddenly, Luna jumped up from him and began to dart away. Bewildered, Draco called after her. "Luna? Where are you going?"
Receiving no response, he scrambled to his feet and ran after her.
