Draco Malfoy woke up with a pounding headache the next morning. He was completely disoriented for a few seconds as he sat up in a small cot in a dingy and somewhat damp room. In a flash he suddenly remembered how and why he had come to his present abode. That Loony Lovegood had actually purchased him as a slave!
Draco sat and pondered on this cruel and unusual fate for a Malfoy. No one in generations had ever suffered the humiliation that lay before him. He wanted to stay locked in that room; the walls dark and marked with damp patches. His eyes strayed over the patches, seeing in them his own pathetic reflection. The rain had gathered on the roof and slowly it spread into the cement and mortar, creating drab patterns on the wall. Similarly it seemed to him, generations of Malfoys had earned their place in society, but the end-result was Draco - a slave now and of no importance – with as much autonomy as a useless patch on the wall. In his grief he turned from one side to the other on the little cot, repeating two words again and again, "Why me?"
It came to him then that it was his destiny to be a wanted man…one way or another. Loony Lovegood had probably had a major crush on him in Hogwarts. This was just her way of getting him in her life. What other option did she have? It wasn't like men were dying to know her, so she probably had time to brood over her fascination for him. Draco sighed, the burden of being a handsome pin-up guy lay heavy on him and he bore it with the attitude of a martyr.
After sometime spent wallowing in misery, Draco's curiosity got the better of him. Where was she? Was she even at home? If she wasn't, he could have a look around and think about how to get out of this situation. There had to be a way.
Draco cautiously stepped out onto a landing. There were stairs leading down to his left and a corridor to his right. The house was silent. He stood debating where to go; his stomach made that decision for him by emitting a loud growl. Right. Time to feed oneself. Lets see what Loony kept in the fridge.
She was a major foodie. Draco knew that as soon as he entered the kitchen (which he had rightly guessed was on the ground floor). The fridge afforded him a happy sight. It was loaded with food. She was apparently not a calorie conscious person, though her kitchen was stacked with plenty of fruits and vegetables. What made Draco happy were the processed foods like salami, ham and bacon. Cheese, jams, pickles, and various jars of cookies stood in groups or in isolation all over the kitchen. There was some sort of beef-curry dish in the fridge which smelled as good as it looked. Some remnants of a pizza sat in a box next to it. Lots of garlic bread. The freezer had ice-creams.
In five minutes Draco had whipped himself a four-course meal. He sat at the kitchen table and began to devour the food. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until the first bite. After that he couldn't slow down. He barely got a taste of the food he kept greedily shoving into his mouth. He felt that the plate was too far away and sat hunched over it, his face barely an inch away from the plate. So involved was he in gorging that he never noticed a small figure walk up beside him and stand a few feet away.
Luna watched with extreme fascination as Draco chugged food down his throat. He was eating like it was his last meal. She watched as all traces of the four-course meal disappeared from sight. After finishing his brunch, Draco took one long sip of a glass of red wine he had found in the fridge and sat back in the chair, sighed in relief and exhaustion, and noticed Luna Lovegood staring at him; her bespectacled eyes looked slightly puzzled and amused. She was thinking to herself that she had just acquired a slave who was probably going to eat her out of home and hearth.
Draco's pale skin slowly turned red. His position here was something new for him. He felt guilty at being caught. The problem wasn't that he had eaten, but that the way he was found out made him feel like a thief. He was still clutching the glass of red wine and in his brain the words 'Caught Red Handed' kept flashing in a variety of neon colours. His face turned a deeper shade of red as he thought about how he must have looked, gulping down everything in sight. And she stood looking at him with a laugh in her eyes. Was she laughing at him?
"So how come you ended up here?" asked Luna abruptly. It was tough for her to think of Draco Malfoy as serving anyone. Through her school years she had seen him bully people and get his away either by cunning or with his father's connections. Their paths had rarely crossed; Luna had easily ignored the few hurtful words that he did level at her. She just didn't bother about people liking her. Her brain kept her too occupied for her to worry about much.
"Because you couldn't keep your dirty thoughts away from me," Draco said smugly. He still felt the humiliation of being caught by her. "You think I want to be here? With you? Have you looked at yourself recently…or ever? The only way I can be part of your life is unwillingly."
Draco felt smug; he had the gift of the gab and he could rip people apart with his words if he wanted. She didn't look particularly upset as she just gave him a polite smile. She hadn't expected better behaviour from him, so there was nothing that she was shocked at.
"Then you wont have to either," she said in a monotone, "You're popular. There have been other bids for you. I went to the Ministry today and it seems that one person has placed a higher bid on you. Since I didn't want a slave anyway and I don't lose any money by it, tomorrow morning you will be taken to your new owner – Neville Longbottom."