Chapter Three

A/N: In order to fit in with HBP canon, pretend that Draco is juggling his class time, homework, Luna and fulfilling Lord Voldemort's orders, which is one of the reasons he's so stressed later on. You should also pretend that Luna became prefect after the female Ravenclaw prefect from her year was taken out of Hogwarts (like the Patil twins were). This is mainly happy, fluffy, and fairly plotless.

Draco straightened the bow on the gift box he held in his hand. He straightened it again several times before deciding it looked best the way it had been originally. He held it up in front of his dormitory window, allowing the light streaming in to fall on it. The clear, iridescent cloth of the bow shimmered and made the silver wrapping paper underneath it appear as if it was made of glass. The parchment tag was simple. It read: To My Love.

Although he had ordered it two months previously, it hadn't arrived until late last night. He had bullied the people around him relentlessly until it came, taking his frustration out on them. Draco wanted this day to be perfect.

He was going to ask Luna to be his girlfriend once and for all. None of this meeting just to snog each other senseless every other day... He wanted her to be his. Most of his friends were preoccupied with their own romances to give a flying broomstick why he was spending so little time with them. Crabbe and Goyle didn't have a romance to worry about... they had their own problems like knowing which end of a wand to point away from themselves.

Draco checked his watch, noting that it was time to go and meet Luna. He grabbed his cloak and safely stowed the gift for her in one of his pockets before heading out the door.

The snow crunched under his feet as he made his way to one of their secret spots. It was past the graveyard and in a small clearing in a patch of trees. He brushed off the large stump where they normally sat. The cold seeped in through his dragon hide gloves and boots. He wrapped his wool and cashmere cloak more tightly around himself so that he'd be nice and cozy warm. Luna always wanted to be warm, so she didn't like snuggling with him if he was cold. Draco had never minded winter, snow, or ice before he got to know Luna. Since then he always needed to be warm, preferably with her in his arms. He loved the scent of her hair, the way she looked in the moonlight, and the way she always made him feel content.

He heard some muffled movement through the trees and before he had time to react, a dirty-blonde-haired figure came hurtling towards him. The force of the hug she gave him toppled him right over so they both landed in the snow. Luna giggled a bit before rolling off him. She pointed up at a nearby tree and said, "The winter will be long. Look at the shape of the icicles. They're like a palisade."

He managed to stand up so he could brush himself off. "Yes... palisade. I wanted to tell you something."

Her eyes filled with curiosity as she pulled herself up using the stump Draco had previously been sitting on. She walked over to him and swiftly kissed him before asking what it was that he wanted to tell her.

"I don't like meeting you just to snog. I think it should stop."

Despite her usual control with keeping her hurt bottled up, he could see her visibly flinch when he said this. He rushed to grab her hand, but she yanked it away.

"That came out wrong... I've been contemplating how to say it and every time it sounds horrible. I want you, Luna, more than anything else."

This however, was also the wrong thing to say, because she now looked ready to slap him.

"I didn't mean it like that either, damn it! Just open this," he said while reaching into his cloak and retrieving the gift for her. He shoved it at her and she took it.

She studied the wrappings for a second before turning her attention to the tag. A dreamy smile formed on her face as she set the gift down on the stump and wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her face into his chest. "I love you too, Draco."

The nausea and tension in his body that he had been feeling the past two months melted away. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close.

She brought his lips to hers by guiding his head with her mitted hands. The kiss was sweet, warm, and over much too soon for his liking. She stepped out of the embrace and tugged on his arm. "Let's head back to the castle now. I've got icicles hanging from my nose."

He smirked at the idea of icicles hanging from someone's nose. The smirk faded from his face when he glanced back at the stump and saw his gift still sitting there. "Aren't you going to get your gift before we go in?"

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot it! I'll treasure it always." She pounced on the package as if it were her prey, grasping it to her chest, hugging it close.

"When do you want to open it?"

"Open what?"

"Your gift." he replied, pointing at the box in her hands.

"You mean there's actually something in there?"

He looked incredulously at her. "Of course there is."

"I suppose that would make sense. It'd be silly to wrap up a box just so you can put a tag on it declaring your affection for me."

She looked about ready to shake it to hear what was inside, when he grabbed her wrist in a panic. "Don't do that! It's breakable!"

"Draco, even if I was to break it, I could repair it with a wave of my wand."

"The charms on it won't work even if it's repaired. They're only there one time."

Draco had barely blinked when he saw the ribbon, wrapping paper, and box go flying into the snow as Luna ripped open her gift eagerly. He was sure he had the same surprised look on his face that she normally had. She was like a little child on Christmas...

In her hands was a statue carved from moonstone. It was a Swedish Short Snout lying protectively on top of the moon.

Luna took Draco's arm and put her head to rest on his shoulder. "Thank you, Draco. It's...us."

"You're welcome. So no more running off right after we snog?"

"Of course. I just did that so that if you told me you loved me, it wouldn't be because you were out of your senses. I wanted you to be perfectly in your senses if you said those words to me."

"Then why didn't you just let me tell you before we started snogging one day?" Draco asked.

"Because I was impatient and didn't want to wait any longer to have to kiss you," Luna explained, sounding as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're insane," he teased her.

"Yes, but that's besides the point. I believe we were headed inside to thaw out." She pointed out, steering him back towards the castle.

"So we were."