This was written for the Hogwarts Auction, Auction 1, day 25. The prompt was dialogue: "Of all the things I thought would happen today, this was not one of them."
"Of all the things I thought would happen today, this was not one of them," Blaise says, slowly stepping around what could be a giant mushroom, but also might be sentient. He doesn't really want to find out which one's true.
Ahead of him, Luna is skipping through the dappled shadows and light like there's nothing to be afraid of. Blaise, in contrast, thinks there are a number of things to be afraid of and some fear might actually be useful here. Then again, in all his time of knowing Luna, she's never really shown an abundance of common sense. She's smart, yes, and very clever—and very much willing to go in the direction of danger, rather than away from it.
"You must open your mind to the possibilities," Luna says in a dreamy voice. Her words bounce off the trees until Blaise isn't quite sure what direction it's coming from. It's definitely some form of magic and, considering where they are, it's very likely to be the natural magic of the forest itself.
Which. Magical forests. Danger. The two really go hand in hand and they should be getting out of the forest, not traversing further into its depths.
Scowling, Blaise continues following the path Luna walks, even if there's no sign of any proper path here. "Your cousin will kill me," he calls out, all too aware of how silent the wood is around him. Up ahead, Luna finally pauses, turning to face him and waiting. He hurries faster.
When he reaches her, Luna is smiling, eyes vacant, and considering how that's her normal look, Blaise isn't too worried, just rolls his eyes instead. "My dear cousin needs to learn to be a bit more patient. What he waits for will come for him, in due time."
That causes him to roll his eyes yet again. "I want you to know that I'm not a fan of this whole mystical aura you've got going on and you might be the next step in for Trelawney, but that doesn't mean you need to start right now."
Luna hums and holds out her hand, wriggling her fingers. With a sigh, Blaise takes hold of it, threading their fingers together, and pretends there's not a furnace in his chest. "You know who I am," she says, voice slightly less dreamy and closer to confident. She glances at him and smiles, something that tugs at her lips and makes her look extraordinarily young—like they're not in their late twenties and only getting older. "You are the one who married me."
Pulling a face, Blaise says, "I was coerced into it."
At that, Luna laughs like she's never heard a grander joke and she squeezes his hand. She doesn't say another word, just tugs on his hand, and they continue working further into the forest.
Their marriage hadn't been widely publicised, so of course everyone had known about it from the moment it'd been proposed. It's not a love match, neither of them desire romance. However, they had been friends for years, close friends too, and the world had been waiting for them to get married. After Blaise had blown up another marriage proposal from someone back in Italy, Luna had suggested that they get married simply so people stop asking. Now, two years later, they're happily married with no romance between them and enjoying everything life has to offer.
"I love you, Luna," Blaise says, glancing at a branch he swears just moved. "But I don't believe this is what normally constitutes as a date."
Then again, Luna's ideas for their dates are usually quite strange. One time, they went diving into the depths of the sea to find a creature that quite possibly doesn't exist. Another time, they went out for lunch at a high-end restaurant somewhere in America that Blaise had never heard of. There's really no guessing what could happen on their date or where they might end.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Luna says, like Blaise can't tell that she's grinning in amusement, "I warned you perfectly well."
"You said we were going for a picnic," Blaise counters, jostling their hands as he goes to raise his in confusion, only to remember he's holding her hand. "A picnic normally doesn't include a stroll into the depths of a magic forest that's known for being distinctly unfriendly to everyone and also forbidden."
Luna hums. It's a three-note thing that may or may not have formed the basis of one of Blaise's composed songs. "I came here as a student," she says like that makes anything better.
"And you," Blaise says, unable to keep the fondness from his voice, "were a terror of a student."
"Like you were any better," Luna shoots back and Blaise laughs, before glancing at her. She's laughing too, quieter, eyes crinkling as she does so. Here, caught in the shadows and the light, surrounded by plants, she looks like some fey character.
Blaise hums but doesn't counter her argument. After all, she has a point. Sure, Blaise wasn't galivanting with thestrals or deep in the Forbidden Forest, didn't run any underground mafia, and certainly didn't get caught breaking the rules and receive a detention as a result. But he might've caused a few distractions that led to students avoiding detentions and preventing his house from losing points. He might've caused a few pranks that left people taking gibberish for two hours and rainbow hair when his house had been insulted them. And sure, he might've shown a few students hidden passages that they definitely shouldn't know about. Of course, there's no proof of such a thing and Blaise certainly wouldn't say he did anything.
He is, after all, a model student. Who would argue otherwise?
"We're almost there," Luna promises.
Blaise doesn't ask where, he knows better to. Luna won't say anything until she wants to.
Together, they walk further into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, until they reach a clearing. On the edge of it, Blaise pauses, breath stolen away from him by the sheer beauty of the clearing.
It looks like any clearing really, greenery surrounded by trees that stretch towards the sky. In the middle, though, there's a small tree. It doesn't stretch towards the sky. Instead, its branches drape downwards and are covered in flowers of every colour imaginable. Scattered around the clearing, there are all sorts of magical creatures, including a few unicorns who don't seem worried the humans who have entered their space.
"This is gorgeous," Blaise says. He can't stop looking around, doesn't know what to watch. He shakes his head. "I don't know what I was expecting today, but it certainly wasn't this. You outdid yourself, Luna."
"I told you that you'd love it," Luna says. She's smiling at the clearing too, but also at him. And Blaise is caught, yet again, by how much he loves her.
"And you were right," he agrees. "Shall we have a panic?" He asks, smiling as he gets out his wand.
Luna grins back, lifting her own wand up. "Let's."