第8章
It was dark when Luna finished her library shift. The hall now glowed serenely with subdued lamplights and hushed whispers circulated round the scattered study groups. Some were about her, but of that, Luna was blissfully unaware. Between inquiries at her reception desk, Luna had perused a book on the aesthetics of motion, which she now returned to the shelves before knocking on Ravenclaw's door. She asked if she could exceptionally move her shift to attend Leusandro's astronomy tower show. Rowena gracefully agreed.
She made for the exit, never noticing the eyes following her unusually long-haired, sylphlike form as she crossed the hall.
Stretching like a cat after a pleasant nap, she picked up her phone from her cardigan pocket and opened her SnitchApp.
Welcome back to SnitchApp Luna !
She opened the *new* group Flatmates4lyf (you, Ginny Weasly, Hermione Granger)
You are typing…
You (7:10 p.m.): hi, I'm heading back to the flat. Would you like me to pick up dinner?
Ginny Weasly is ty—
Ginny (7:10 p.m.): Omg YES!
You (7: 11 p.m.): I'm having fishcake soup. What would you like?
Ginny (7:11 p.m.): Make that two! I want to try more of your stuff!
Hermione (7:12 p.m.): I'm still at the lab with Zabini. We already picked up sandwiches. Thanks for suggesting Luna.
Ginny (7:12 p.m.): A sandwichy lab date with your paramour huh ;) Looks like it's just you, me, and Snitchflix Lunes! I'm one starving, happy gal! (next time's on me :'D)
Hermione (7:15 p.m.): I bet nobody warned you that you were moving in with a food black hole, Luna.
Ginny (7:15 p.m.): Very funny, Hermione. No refunds though.
You (7:18 p.m.): I just left the cafeteria, hang in there Ginny ^v^
Ginny sent a sticker *festive cat kisses*
You have 1 New Message
Balancing the takeout in one arm, Luna checked the picture her father just texted her, showcasing Whiskers the Terror; her aunt's listless, old kitty. She pressed the call icon.
'…moshi moshi? Hello? Oh, good evening, daddy, you didn't tell me you were visiting aunt Cassandra, how lovely!'
'Er, yes love, just visiting her and Whiskers...,' he was nervous. Luna wondered why. 'How was your day, my little moon? How was your first shift?'
'It was very nice, daddy. I had a sculpting class this afternoon and I enjoyed the library shift. Right now I'm going back to the flat to have dinner with Ginny.'
'That's grand, cupcake.' His voice was smoother now, but Luna was gripped by a sense of premonition. As they talked a few more minutes on her way to the residence, Luna convinced herself that she just missed her father, that he wasn't hiding anything from her, he never did. As they exchanged goodbyes, she nearly slammed into something so dark it seemed indissociable from the surrounding night.
'Watch your step,' a black-haired professor said, eyeing her sternly before swooshing away toward the opposite building.
'Apologies,' Luna bowed, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She released a sigh. Was everything all right back home?
暂停
Draco wasn't a rash man. Like his father, he plotted, deliberated, and only lurched for the win.
But something spurring and irrational had spread in him like an inebriating poison, and he'd left his flat driven by a guttural fire, a thirst to quench…
Someone to see.
When Draco spotted her, bowing down steeply after coming close to bumping into Snape, he felt something click in recognition, and it was no secret to the night that he smiled.
He surveyed her for a moment. He never stood a chance. She'd laid the anchor without a noise, gotten under his skin before they'd met, managed to excel in her art so that they would, and finished him off with angel eyes and walking-novel mannerisms when they did. Well played.
My turn.
He approached her as Snape receded into the adjacent building. She looked preoccupied, lost in thought. She failed to notice him. The image of her nine year old past stuck to his mind, flooding him with inexplicable affection.
'Luna,' he called. Luna turned around to face him, and her hair did that thing where it looked like it should have flowers in it.
'Oh…good evening,' she whispered, breathless with surprise. She gripped her takeout bag with both hands, casting about for something to say. His eyes had a different glint on her, she noted, something softer...but it was rude of her to stare. She willed her gaze to slip away from his.
'I took your advice.' He said, shifting closer, calling her eyes back to him. Her floral perfume, already registered in his memory, sweetly carried his way.
'My advice?' She asked curiously. He saw her face brighten spontaneously. 'Oh, on herbal tea before bed?'
'Yes. I took your advice on the herbal tea before bed,' he repeated, focusing on her smile. She was easy to please. She was easy to choose. 'Next, I intend to take you,' He said, easily.
Luna's wide blue eyes flickered up at him sharply, 'Pardon?'
'I'm clarifying my intention towards you.' Draco's voice rippled like a storm on her skin. She watched him with bated breath, heart racing frantically. 'Ad campaign aside, I intend to claim you, Luna.'
Luna quieted, feeling her own name snake around her, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.
'You must mean to test me because I'm new. I understand.'
Draco smiled, watching her, drinking her in.
'Got a job at the library?'
'Yes.' Luna brightened anew, smiling with delight at her new nametag. His heart wasn't used to this, so it made it clear in his chest. Standing with her hair drenched in moonlight, she looked…holy. He'd never felt this impatient…this eager to just…
'How do you like it?' He bit his tongue, feeling his hands clench in his coat pockets.
'It's lovely, thank you for asking.'
'What time's your shift?'
'5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on week days. 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. '
'I see. Any questions?'
'About?'
'My intention to have you, Luna Lovegood.'
Luna smiled softly.
'I appreciate your notifying me in advance, but please don't hurt yourself, Draco Malfoy.'
Draco nearly fell off his stride, her sweet threat disarming him in a blink. He ached to hear her say his name again, on repeat, in his ear—
'I know you must be teasing me,' Luna said, in a kind, brazen way that was particularly hers.
'You misunderstand, little girl,' His hand moved between them, trapping a lock of her long hair between his fingers, 'This is not the part where I tease you. Not yet.'
Luna blushed behind the veil of night. In a sobering thought, she realized that however forward his verbal language, his body language was not trying to overpower her. It was inviting with unspoken promises, like a fresh dawn on a spring day, but not intrusive. Because of this, the alarm bells she had acquired from martial arts training remained peacefully dormant.
'I have looked at the brochure you sent me last night,' she said, attempting recenter the conversation in safer grounds, her scalp and shoulders tingling faintly from the movement of his hand, his ring a reflective speck of light against her blond wave. There was a hypnotizing sense of safety and it swaddled her gently—the sensation both confused and calmed her, her worries about her father slipping away—until the spell was revoked by the lazy drawl of his voice.
'Good. I'd like it by tomorrow.' Being near her made Draco's tension melt away. He wanted to close his eyes, breathe her hair—
'Tomorrow?' Luna said, the word sinking in, 'Oh, that's a little short notice…'
'I know. Is it going to be a problem?' He challenged, the tone of his voice clashingly soft. He wanted to push her, see what raw material she'd come up with upon the first impression of his theme, of his company. Yes, he wanted to push her, right into his arms, which couldn't happen soon enough.
'It doesn't have to be,' Luna said optimistically, 'I was rather inspired by your theme and have written some ideas. Should I email it to you?'
'No,' Draco said, 'I want to see you.'
'Yes,' Luna nodded, 'I suppose discussing it face to face would be more professional. Would you like to meet at the constellation show, at the astronomy tower? I've pushed back my library shift to attend it at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Also,' she patted her cheek musingly, 'doesn't going to a constellation show compliment your first name nicely? You might be asked to stay and partake.' She giggled.
'I like that you're tailoring our meeting coordinates to my name, Luna. I don't mind partaking if the moon's there to keep me company.' He smiled leisurely. He felt relaxed, solid. Heaven, he felt so good. 'I'll meet you wherever you want.' He added, dropping his voice.
'Thank you,' Luna's cheeks burned uncontrollably. Her phone vibrated, making her start.
Ginny (7:55 p.m.): Luna I'm eating my pillow…I'm sorry to nag but please hurry :'p
'May I?' Luna looked up him. He was asking for her phone. Slightly staggered, she allowed him to take it.
He opened her contact list and quickly added his number, then slipped the phone in her cardigan's pocket. She felt its weight differently.
'My friend is waiting for me,' Luna said, nodding at her paper bag, 'for dinner. I will try my best with the pitch tonight.'
'Perfect.' He replied. 'Sweet dreams, moon.'
Luna stilled, her heart rate picking up loudly in her chest. Why did it sound like he had just said Dream Moon, her YouTube channel name?
Guuzen da yo ne…guuzen deshou…
Of course. It was a mere coincidence. Her channel was very small, after all. What were the odds?
She entered her flat in somewhat of a daze, having stumbled in the staircase twice and mistakenly walked in the opposite hallway.
'Lunes!' Ginny jumped, wearing pigtails and strangling a carrot-shaped pillow. She eyeballed the Hogwarts-branded paper bag hungrily. 'Quick, throw that in the microwave!'
After dinner, Luna took a shower and mistook her shampoo for her conditioner. She slipped into her room, changed absently into her lavender dressing gown and lowered herself on her bed, nearly missing the mattress and crashing on her carpet. She took a steadying breath.
I intend to claim you.
'Aah…' She covered her face with both hands. Her heart was still performing acrobatics. 'He's teasing me, why am I being like this?'
When she had moved away from Japan, she could barely speak English and had been teased for it for years. Before long, it became routine for her. As she assimilated herself in her new environment, she learned to slip unnoticed. Unlike in Japan, where she felt a part of a community, of nature, of everything, here the world passed her by, regardless of her opinion…people didn't pay particular attention to her, and while she missed her old life, she didn't mind keeping her own company. She knew her worth and believed in herself, answering wrong with kindness and helping those in need, just like her mother taught her...eventually returning to the anonymity of a traditional town girl in a big, busy world. She started a YouTube channel to help people relax at night because she knew how terribly long nights could stretch after a cold nightmare. She worked on her portfolio and was accepted at her city's best art school. She created an aquarelle project based on her childhood memories and was accepted at Hogwarts. Nothing in her trajectory had prepared her for Draco Malfoy, as they alternated in somehow locating each other by the end of each day since she'd arrived.
Luna was not one to judge. At least, she hadn't taught herself to. She was perpetually accommodating of people's differences, their idiosyncrasies. Draco Malfoy was someone who everyone noticed, yet somehow, Luna felt that he wasn't truly noticed at all. There were rumors, people talked, and he was like a reflective surface, throwing back the image that people saw in him. Who was he, beneath that? He possessed an unusual energy that perplexed and fascinated, as though it could go either way; giving you, or taking from you. Like nature.
She couldn't explain the strange sense of peace he made her feel just by standing tall before her, wrapping her in his undivided attention, distracting her from her worries. Perhaps that was his giving side.
Using her name like a statement of possession when he addressed her, that was his taking side. She slowly poked her phone, then picked it up, the screen flashing with the contact list.
*new* Draco M. +855-465-1244
Luna stared at her screen, feeling her cheeks blaze again, when she remembered that she had better complete her pitch before she made a fool of herself when they met. He had high expectations of her, and because of that, Luna wanted to outdo herself. Thankfully, she had already spent last night and most of today ruminating about his project. Cars. Motion. Nature. All of it melted in fluid strokes in her artistic mind. She opened her notebook and began to write.
MuffinMoe: I love how you just know that there's going to be a whirlwind marriage. Girl yes :'D. Binging on carbs, eh? (channeling your inner Ginny XD? I know she'd approve of your pseudonym, Muffin)
PS: from your last review, on the topic of Persephone and Hades, I see the poetry in it (unless Hades is a selfish old goose that intends to Stockholm Syndrome my girl Perse in that case heyyll no *snaps*) I recommend Louise Gluck's poem 'A Myth of Devotion' about them, I took a line from it in Luna e Sol somewhere. I think even its title is meaningful.
Lucky to have you Muffin, thanks for always being there :')