Nine Times Nine

The Quidditch League Competition
Title: Nine Times Nine
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Chaser Two
Prompt: Write about the Number Nine
Extra Prompts: (Object) Portrait; (Object) Door; (Creature) Ghost
Word Count: 1,641

If anyone had told Draco Malfoy when he started at Hogwarts that he would be sneaking down a long, dark corridor, under a disillusionment charm, in the early morning hours of a cold, blustery mid-February night in his fourth year, looking for help from one of the least likely people imaginable (thank MERLIN she wasn't a Gryffindor at least!), he would have laughed in the face of whoever told him that.

The thing was so utterly ludicrous that he still wanted to laugh, and laugh in his own face at that! Since it was after Three, there were no lingering prefects or teachers prowling the halls or patrolling the corridors. And yet Draco was sweating, despite the cold that permeated the castle's corridor, accentuated by the howling of the wind outside. Pausing for a moment in an alcove, he unfolded the parchment he had received and read it once again in the dim light. Draco had never been in this part of the castle before, and wanted to be certain he was on the correct path.

For what seemed like the hundredth time since he hatched this crazy plan, he read the elegant, flowing script (Who knew she has such beautiful handwriting?), and nodded to himself. He was headed in the right direction. Draco refolded the parchment and stuffed it back in his pocket. Continuing his walk, he passed the suit of armor that had a rusted foot, turned left at the portrait of Suiggleus Wiggleus, a former potions professor who had taught at Hogwarts some five hundred years before, turned right at the Statue of a tall witch who was pointing into the air, and continued straight on for another eight hundred paces.

Draco felt as though he was on some sort of treasure hunt.

Finally, he reached the door that said, "Keep out!" in bold, black lettering. He stood in front of the door with its rather ominous warning for several moments before he reached up and gave a soft, hesitant knock. As no reply was forthcoming from inside the room, he knocked again, a bit louder this time. Still receiving no response, he tried once more, loudly this time.

There was a muffled crash in the distance, and he heard the voice of Peeves yelling from down the corridor behind him. "IS THAT A STUDENT OUT OF BED? WE'LL SOON FIND OUT! MAGIC WON'T HIDE YOU FROM ME! HEHEHEHEHE!"

Draco began to sweat worse than he had the entire walk. In desperation, he tried the door knob only to find it locked. Glancing around, he didn't see any place he could duck into to keep Peeves from finding him. He heard the whoosh of Peeves approach, heard the ghost cackling as he drew nearer, and resigned himself to being seen by the bothersome poltergeist.

Just before Peeves came around the bend in the corridor, the door creaked open, and a hand yanked Draco inside. He gave a slight yelp of surprise as the door creaked shut just as Peeves rounded the corridor. Draco heaved a sigh of relief as he heard the ghost's cackles grow fainter, and realized he was safe. Then he turned to face his rescuer. Only to find a one pointed at his nose from a couple inches away.

Luna Lovegood, despite what the majority of her fellow students thought, was not an out of touch fool with her head always in the clouds. And when she received a message from none other than Draco Malfoy, a deep suspicion that it was probably a trap filled her mind. It was not a common occurrence when anyone trusted a Malfoy. There was always some scheme, some hidden, underlying plot. And she was prepared.

As to why she decided to meet him in the first place if she suspected a trap, well…Luna was a very inquisitive young lady.

"I hope you'll forgive me for my wand, Draco, but surely you must understand my caution." Luna said it in the same wispy, dreamy, not-quite-there voice she always spoke in. "Please put your wand on the floor very slowly."

"I—I didn't bring it," Draco mumbled, glancing away. "It's down in my dorm room."

Luna took a half-step back, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "Really? You truly don't have your wand?"

Draco glanced back at her, shaking his head with a sigh.

Luna smiled and lowered her wand. "All right, I believe you."

Draco blinked at her. You—you do?"

"Of course I do. I can tell when you lie. You know, you lie an awful lot, Draco. But it's understandable to a point." She gave him the serene smile that frequently covered her face, and Draco wondered how she always seemed to calm. He shook his head slightly to clear it.

"Anyway, what's so important that we're meeting in an empty classroom in the middle of the night?" Draco noted that she was still smiling.

Best to just get it over with, he thought. SO with a sigh he asked, do you know anything about the number Nine? I mean, is it good luck or bad luck? Or neither?"

Luna tilted her head to the side as she continued staring at him. "Why do you wonder that, Draco?" There was a small smirk on her face now, but it wasn't a mean one.

Though it was the middle of the night and the two were alone in the room, Draco stepped closer and lowered his voice, barely resisting the urge to cast a furtive glance around the mostly dark room.

"Well, it's just that I've been seeing the number Nine repeat a lot around me for the last few weeks," He explained as he began pacing in small circles within the glow of Luna's wand. "Even in my dreams. At first I didn't realize it, and when I did I tried ignoring it for a while. But this last week instances of Nine have been popping up all around me! I mean, nothing sinister, just repeat occurrences of Nine."

He paused and glanced at her. "So, I was wondering if you could tell me: is Nine lucky or unlucky?"

Luna giggled. "Oh, Draco. I can't tell you that!"

He turned to face her, a small frown on his face. "Why not? Is it because I'm Draco Malfoy, the bane of your friends' existence? The blonde ferret? The evil teenage follower of the Dark Lord?"

Luna laughed out right now. "No, silly! I can't tell you if Nine is lucky or not because it depends on who you talk to. To some, the Japanese for example, Nine IS unlucky. But to others, like the Chinese, it's considered lucky. Cats have nine lives, yet some say parsley goes nine times to the devil. It is the number of magic, the number of fulfillment and completion. It's the number of good leadership, wisdom, and Heaven itself. It's a lucky number for Aquarius, and in the Tarot it's the card of the Hermit.

"In Hinduism it's the number of Brahma. In Christianity there are nine Fruits of the Spirit, and it is the hour of prayer. in England, Lady Jane Grey was queen for only nine days before she was beheaded, and in America the ninth president was only in office for thirty two days before he died. There are nine Muses, nine daughters of Aegir and Ran, nine worlds in the Norse religion, and nine days and nights of terrible pain for Leto, goddess of the night, before her twin children Apollo and Artemis were born."

She smiled at Draco. "So you see? As with most things in life, Nine is simply what you make of it. Look for the good, and that's what you'll find. Same with the bad."

Draco frowned in thought, staring at the floor in silence a few moments before looking at Luna once more. "In other words, I shouldn't let it bother me?"

Luna, still smiling, shook her head. "Be mindful of it, but don't let it control your mind."

Draco considered her words before nodding. "OK. I will. Thank you, Loon—I mean, Luna." He blushed as he almost used the rather derisive name for the girl that most of the students at Hogwarts did.

"You're very welcome." Luna cocked her head to the other side. "You are a very strange boy, Draco. But that's not necessarily a bad thing." She held out her hand. "Take care of yourself."

Draco glanced at her hand before giving it a hesitant shake. "Um, please keep this just between ourselves?" He asked, a slight look of pleading on his face.

Still smiling, Luna replied, "Of course." Draco Nodded and turned to exit the room. Putting his hand on the door knob, he paused, turning back to Luna. "Just know that the Draco Malfoy you see in school all the time isn't the real Draco Malfoy."

Luna gave a light laugh. "Oh, I know that silly! You have a lot of pressure on you, and it's difficult right now. But one day you will learn how to become your own man, and things will change for the better." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, hitting rock bottom isn't a bad thing, because that's where our eyes are truly opened."

He regarded her in silence for a moment. It sounded perhaps like an insult, yet he knew that Luna hadn't meant it as one. She'd meant it as an encouragement to him. And he'd never done anything but be mean to her. He gave her a small yet genuine smile of his own. "Thanks." Then he turned and entered the corridor once more, heading back to the Slytherin dorms lighter of heart than he had felt for a long time. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.

Time would tell, not the number Nine.