January 02, 2021
Draco sighed as he glanced around watching the various people around the station. It wasn't as packed compared to September 1st but there was still a considerable amount of parents sending off their children.
"Keep out of trouble this time, will you? At least until Easter holiday, okay?" He said to Scorpius who looked ready to jump into the train. "Promise, yeah?"
"I promise, dad." Scorpius gave his father a sheepish look and a lopsided smile. "Can I get in now? I want to find a nice compartment."
The seeming agitated look on his son's face caused Draco to fight an amused look that was beginning to creep on his own face, "Nice compartment? To share with a certain redhead, maybe?" He couldn't help but tease the boy. The prospects and possibility of young infatuation familiar with Draco.
"Dad!" Scorpius groaned, his eyes wide, suddenly looking around to see if anyone had heard.
Draco chuckled at the mortified look on Scorpius' face, he looked just as bright red as the young Weasley's hair was. "I'm kidding, Scorp." He pulled him into another hug before giving him a kiss on top of his head. Something that the teenager did not appreciate, evident by the low groan that escaped him. "Watch your attitude. Go now and behave."
"Yes, dad." He replied softly this time, Draco could sense the familiar guilt in his son's stomach start to build again. "Goodbye. See you in Easter!"
And with Scorpius carrying his trunks, he hopped into the train, casting one more smile towards his father before heading off to find his friends' compartment.
Draco looked around the platform once more when he saw that Scorpius was settled in a compartment with one of Potter's sons, his eyes scanning the room for a certain blonde. He saw the blur of bright colourful clothes just a few feet from him. She was kneeling in front of her own sons. His feet moved to their own accord until he was near enough to notice that she was wearing the gift he had sent her for Christmas.
"Where's your necklace, Lysander?" He heard Luna ask. He couldn't tell them apart very much, they looked so similar except one was wearing a ridiculous looking necklace made out of Butterbeer corks that he vaguely remembered seeing on Luna before during their time at Hogwarts.
"Turned it into a keychain!" The blonde boy said proudly showing the trinket to his mother with bright eyes.
"Clever." Draco couldn't stop himself from saying. Luna turned and her eyes brightened when she saw him.
"Hello, Draco. How are you?" She smiled softly as she greeted him.
" You're Draco Malfoy?" The other boy questioned- Lorcan, Draco remembered his name was, the Slytherin- looking up at Draco with wide eyes, almost as wide as his mother's. The boy extended his hand and Draco took it in a firm handshake. "I'm Lorcan Scamander. Fellow Slytherin, I heard great things about you!"
"I hope they weren't all from Scorpius." He joked and the boy beamed. In truth, Draco wasn't sure what Scorpius got into at Hogwarts, except that he mostly spent time with the Potter's son and the Weasley girl. He hoped that his son wasn't anything like him when he was at school.
"Some of them from mum, actually." The other one - Lysander - added conversationally and Draco noticed a light shade of pink had dusted Luna's face immediately.
"Does she now?" He asked, fighting off a grin on his face.
"Of course I do," Luna replied, standing up straight and meeting Draco's eyes. "I always talk about all of my friends."
Draco had to hide the trickle of disappointment that formed in his chest when she said the last part. He didn't have the luxury to ponder what that meant because soon enough the train's whistle blew loud and clear and Luna turned to give her sons a tight hug and forehead kisses. "Don't forget to write!" She murmured into the top of their blonde heads.
The boys said their goodbyes to their mother and Draco before running off inside the train, undoubtedly to find their friends.
"Getting easier?" Draco asked once the kids were on the train.
Luna shook her head, the softly smile on her face fading a bit, "I don't think I can do this for another six years."
The train gave it's final raucous, metallic shriek and then it was off, the people on the platform started to disperse. Luna and Draco started to walk together in silence, Draco casting a few glances at Luna, she had a way of walking that made her seem like she was floating to another world, and it was only intensified by the seemingly plastered look of serenity on her face.
"How's your father?" He asked after a moment of silence as the stepped out to the street of Muggle London.
"He's out of the hospital and back at the Rook," Luna replied, her eyes fixated softly upon the white puffed cloud above instead of where she was going, her long flowing skirt swaying as she walked. Draco nodded in acknowledgement. He was glad that Xenophilius was alright because Luna had one less thing to worry about.
They continued to walk down the busy streets of Muggle London towards the Apparition zone that was hidden in an alleyway not far from the station.
"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me tonight." The words tumbled out of Draco's mouth before he could stop himself.
"That sounds lovely, Draco." Came the witch's serene reply, her eyes still focused on the clouds above. "But unfortunately I can't. Sorry about that."
"Why not?" He asked, suddenly feeling nervousness brewing in his stomach at the rejection. It sounded like he had asked her out on a date - did he just ask Luna Lovegood out on a date? The thought of dating again never crossed his mind, even with Astoria's final words saying that she hoped he would find love again. Beginning at a young age, Draco was already taught of the strict principles of the illusion of love and how it affected a marriage. Love wasn't a necessity when it came to Pureblood marriages. He was lucky to have parents who adored each other, he was luckier to have found love in Astoria and that she reciprocated that love with just as much intensity and honesty.
Before Astoria love and true happiness were unknown concepts to him.
"I'm going on an expedition tomorrow and I need to finish packing." Luna's words were casual as she finally glanced towards his direction and it took a moment for Draco to process what she said.
Suddenly Draco stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her silvery eyes.
"What?" He inwardly winced as his question came out as a hiss.
Luna watched him with curious eyes, even after all these years there were still remnants of the boy who called her harsh names when they were still students at Hogwarts. Her eyes searched his for a second until she decided to speak again.
"Rolf and I planned it before he died." She explained, taking a deep breath before continuing. The seemingly otherworldly expression on her face gone at the mention of Rolf, it still caused a pang inside her body. "We planned to go while the boys were at school but I just couldn't do it, you know. Not after... It was still too soon but I think I'm okay now. And besides, he would want me to go."
"Of course he would." Came Draco's quiet reply, schooling his features to remain neutral. "How long will you be gone?"
Luna seemed to think about that for a moment, "I don't know. Maybe a few months. Three max." The thought of not seeing Luna for three long months didn't settle well inside Draco. "The boys will be staying at Hogwarts over Easter and hopefully I'll be back before Summer Holidays."
"Oh," Draco coached himself not to sound bitter. "Sounds like you got everything planned out, then."
"You're not mad, are you, Draco?" Luna faced him, those bright silvery eyes meeting his dark grey ones.
"Mad? Why would I be?" Came his stiff reply.
She seemed to ponder this for a moment, the way she gazed at him with those big warm owlish eyes was all it took for all the fire burning inside of Draco to simmer a bit.
"Thank you, Draco." That caught him off guard, his eyes looking curiously at her. "If it weren't for our time together, I would have never found it in myself to travel again."
A heavy feeling settled in his stomach as he processed Luna's small declaration.
"I-uh, Luna." He started to say with a shaky voice.
"I'm glad we're friends now, Draco." She confessed, moving closer to him, reaching for his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "I feel less lonely."
And with that, she apparated away. A slow smile building on his face as the pleasant surprise of her words started to sink in.
Luna could hear the harsh winds outside of her tent, aside of casting a warming charm on her tent and herself, she bundled herself in several layers of clothing to keep warm as she wrote down on her journal, her wooden desk scattered with parchments, photographs and quills. Her hands stained with ink as she continued to write down her recent findings of possible Umgubular Slashkilter paw prints in the snow.
It had been a month into her expedition when she started making progress and she couldn't help herself feel elated at the possibility of making it home just in time for the summer holidays to see her boys again. She missed them terribly. She tried her best to write to them daily but often times, she would get so carried away that she missed days of sending letters to her family. She was ecstatic to see her sons again.
But that wasn't the only reason.
For the past four weeks, she also missed the placid company of Draco Malfoy.
It had surprised her truly to the extent that she missed him and their time together so much so that it almost matched how she longed to be with her sons.
She missed seeing his rare but ever bright smile that seemed to be only for her, the sound of his formidable laughter, and the glimmer in his dark grey eyes when he talked about his son. Luna missed the conversations they exchanged alone together in Malfoy Manor and the devilish grin on his face when she started to talk about her latest discoveries on magical creatures. She missed the fluttering in her stomach that slowly began to form when he was around her over the time they spent together.
She missed him more than any of her other friends.
Luna paused her writing when the thought popped into her head.
Was Draco special? Of course, he was, he was her friend but what if there was something more to it? And did... did Draco feel the same? He had asked her to dinner before she left, but it couldn't possibly more than just a friendly dinner. Could it? She shook her head violently, how dare she think such thoughts? Draco was just a friend and Rolf... he still owned her heart and soul. She gave him those so openly and willingly as he accepted every little eccentric aspect about her and she couldn't imagine herself with anyone else but him.
But with Draco, he made everything more vivid than the months after Rolf's death.
February 12, 2021
"I can't believe you're turning thirty-nine tomorrow!" Ginny's excited voice echoed in the kitchen of the Potter's household as she continued to cook dinner for her friends and family. "And yet you still don't look a day over twenty-seven!"
"That's an odd age to mention, Gin." Luna mused as she helped around the kitchen, she could hear Hermione's voice calling from the other side of the room, just getting here from the Ministry. "Did you know that Dabberblimps are one of the creatures with the longest lifespan? Some creatures don't make it to twenty-seven years of existence. I suppose it's rather sad if you think about it but living in the wild is rather dangerous."
Ginny turned to look at her friend as she rambled on about Dabberblimps, learning over the years to just let it slide.
"Dabberblimps don't exist, Luna." Hermione on the other hand, had yet to learn that lesson.
"I read about them in one of Rolf's grandfather's journal." Luna pointed out, a soft smile on her face and Ginny found herself feeling a smirk forming on her face as she saw Hermione's face. After all, having Newt Scamander as a grandfather-in-law was like a dream come true to Luna. Especially when it came to these types of conversations with Hermione.
"What do you say to that, Minister for Magic?" Ginny sniggered, a full smirk on her lips now.
"Oh, hush!" Hermione composed herself, sitting on one of the chairs available next to the kitchen island, helping herself to a glass of wine on the counter. "Where's Harry and Ron?"
"I sent them out to buy some ingredients I need." Ginny glanced at the clock, "Which was almost thirty minutes ago. I swear those two are -!"
Luna found herself drifting away as Ginny continued her semi-rant about her husband and older was rare for all of them to come together and have dinner, especially on a weekday but it was Luna's birthday tomorrow and they decided to celebrate a day earlier because tomorrow Ginny would be going to Australia for the Australian Quidditch League. Luna mused that Ginny rather enjoyed being a sports editor for the Daily Prophet. She could vaguely hear Hermione going on about the latest progress on eradication of oppressive, pro-pureblood laws. Her hands were still busy stuffing mushrooms into the vol-au-vents, her thoughts suddenly began floating away towards a certain white-blonde person.
Why had Draco suddenly in occupied her thoughts so much?
"What took you so long?" Ginny's voice caused Luna to the present as her gaze followed to Ginny who gave her husband a kiss before hitting him lightly on the chest.
"Ow, we weren't that long!" Harry said in both his and Ron's defence.
"Hey, Luna," Ron said from Hermione's side. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you, Ron." Luna smiled, watching the two couples with wistful eyes, missing Rolf so suddenly even though moments ago it was Draco who occupied her thoughts. What was wrong with her? Why was she so suddenly discombobulate? Maybe Ginny and Harry had wrackspurts in their home.
"Any plans on how to spend your birthday?" Harry asked, getting a bottle of butterbeer from the muggle fridge.
"I think daddy and I would just spend the day together." She answered, her eyes moving back to the mushrooms in front of her, although something inside her yearned for the company of Draco.
"Draco was asking about you the other day." That caused Luna to look at Harry.
"What?"
"Yeah, visited the other day asking if I knew when you'd be back," Harry answered, Luna could see a mixture of concern and unease forming in his eyes. "You didn't tell him you were back?"
"Didn't know you're friends with him." She could hear the slight indignation in Ron's voice as he spoke.
"Oh, we are." Luna had been back for almost a week now and had tried her best to keep out of Draco's radar. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him again, but ever since the epiphany during her stay at the arctic that maybe Draco was more special than all her other friends, she wanted to clear her mind and assess her thoughts before seeing him again.
"You and Malfoy?" Ginny asked, handing Harry the muggle vegetable peeler so he could continue cooking dinner. Harry took it with no argument, moving to the counter finishing off what Ginny started. Luna thought for a moment how Harry was a much better cook than Ginny. She didn't inherent Molly's cooking abilities.
"We used to spend time together before I left." Came Luna's simple reply. Honestly, it was a big deal that she was friends with Draco.
"You never mentioned," Hermione stated, looking at Luna with curious eyes.
"It's not a big deal." Luna shrugged nonchalantly, turning her back from her friends to focus back on dinner and attempting to ignore the stares she knew she got.
It was almost twelve in the afternoon when Luna heard a knock on the front door. She hadn't expected any visitors, let alone to see Draco Malfoy on the steps of her house.
"You're back." Draco's eyes were watching her carefully as he stood across the threshold of her house in his impossibly immaculate clothing. "You didn't send a letter. I thought you were avoiding me."
"I'm sorry," Luna's tone was casual and light but calculating. How would he react if she told him she was avoiding him. But not for reasons he thought. How could she tell him that after time apart, she began to long for his presence in a totally non-platonic way? "I got caught up with my work."
"Mister Malfoy? What a surprise! I didn't know you would be sharing Luna's birthday with us." Xenophilius Lovegood stood behind his daughter, wearing robes of an eye-watering shade of pumpkin juice, his shoulder-length white hair almost matched Draco's. "You're just in time for lunch!"
And with that, he went back further inside the rook-shaped house, leaving Luna and Draco alone.
"It's your birthday?"
"Yes."
You never mentioned -"
"You never asked." Luna gave a shrug.
"Luna, did I-" A heavy pause. "Did I do something wrong?"
"What gave you that idea?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Then a sudden thought came to her mind, "Oh, where are my manners? Come in, Draco, please do. Daddy made ploughman's."
Luna lead him into the kitchen, the stove, sinks, and cupboards curved to fit the walls of the perfectly circular room. The walls painted in different bright colours, doodles of different types of creatures, stars and flowers scattering all over the place. It looked like the anti-Malfoy Manor.
"I hope you're hungry Mister Malfoy!" Xenophilius said as he used his wand to set up the small circular wooden table in the middle of the kitchen.
"Call me Draco, sir." He said as he sat himself on one of the chairs available with Luna next to him, he couldn't help but notice a light shade of pink shading Luna's face as she stared absentmindedly in space.
"Alright, Draco. If that's the case, just call me Xeno." Luna's father smiled as he finished setting the table and sat down from across Draco. "Happy birthday my little moonbeam." He gave Luna a kiss on the cheek and she smiled at her ever devout father.
"Your father seems to adore the boys." Draco mused with a chuckle as the memory of how Xeno almost gushed about his grandsons and how he was sure they would follow their parents' footsteps and become a wizarding naturalist or a magizoologist as their interest in magical creatures matched that of Luna when she was young.
"Oh, they have him wrapped around their fingers!" Luna laughed. "He would always spoil them when they were growing up!"
"I'm glad he doesn't hold any grudges against me or my family," Draco said conversationally as Luna lead him down the steps of the house.
"Oh, daddy would never do that." Draco couldn't help but be amused as a grown woman who was a year shy of forty still called her father 'daddy', but then again, it was Luna. She never did follow social conventions. "And besides, I told him about our friendship. He doesn't mind, I think he's glad I've made a new friend after..."
Rolf.
"Happy birthday, Luna." Draco stopped to look her in the eyes as the arrived at the final step. "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."
Luna gave a soft smile, "You didn't have to -"
"I want to." He gave a tender smile and again, a flush of pink scattered on her face. This was ridiculous! She was a grown adult! Why did she suddenly have these juvenile feelings for Draco? Surely he would never think of her in that manner, surely - "Let's have dinner tonight. My treat, a birthday present."
Luna caught her bottom lip between her teeth and pondered for a moment, her eyes never leaving Draco's.
"I'll be ready by seven." Again, the smile she gave Draco caused a brewing in his stomach.
Luna inspected her appearance in front of the full-length mirror. She never found herself susceptible to vanity but she couldn't help but fidget as she eyed her reflection. She still looked alright for a woman nearing her forties. Rolf had always assured her that she was beautiful even covered in sweat, mud and muck while trekking down the Amazon rainforest.
But would Draco think the same?
She shook the ridiculous thought away from her mind.
Why did she have to think of such nonsense? This wasn't even a date. It was just two friends going to dinner to celebrate her birthday.
She heard the sounds of the front door open and close, and decided it was time to stop her rather absurd musings. Draco was downstairs.
"I say, there's a considerable amount of wrackspurts around your head." Luna heard her father say, followed by Draco's light chuckle.
She saw her father and Draco sat around the den of the house, her father wearing his own pair of large, colourful spectrespecs. "Maybe we can give some dirigible plums to Draco, daddy."
Draco's eyes moved to Luna, his eyes taking in her appearance, Luna looked more well-groomed than he had ever seen her. She wore a light blue off-shoulder dress with red and orange floral prints on it, her long blonde hair in a neat bun on top of her head, a pair of pink shoes that did not match her dress were on her feet. It was an odd choice, but then again, it was Luna.
"That's a wonderful idea, dear!" Xeno walked to give her daughter a hug. "There'll be some ready for when Draco escorts you back home. I am assuming that you will be escorting her home."
The look on Xeno's face as he looked at Draco made him feel like a teenager again, meeting with Pansy's father during the summer before their fifth year.
"Of course, Xeno." Draco gave his best gentleman smile, giving off a confident yet courteous air.
"See you later, daddy." Luna gave her father a hug before walking to stand in front of Draco. "Ready, Draco?"
"Sure thing."
They made their way towards the door and was down the steps when they heard Luna's father call, "Enjoy your evening!"
He offered his arm and Luna entwined their arms together as they apparated to the restaurant in Horizont Alley.
The maître d' ushered them to a table for two inside the restaurant when Draco gave his name.
Luna looked around the restaurant, she recalled hearing the name of the restaurant from Hannah Abbott, Neville's wife, saying that it was nearly impossible to book a table without a two months advance reservation. Just by the looks of the place, Luna knew that this was not a restaurant that one could get into with on impulse. It made Luna wonder, but then again, the Malfoy name still held significance in the wizarding world.
A waiter approached them with a menu.
"Just a bottle of house white, for now, thank you," Draco said to the waiter, not even looking up at him as his eyes scanned the menu. Luna wondered if he was frequent at this place. Maybe he and Astoria ate here often before.
While Draco was distracted with the menu, Luna gave another glance around the restaurant, the large mullioned windows, long embroidered curtains, dark walnut tables with candles on top, flowers on each table, delicate live piano music. It's a romantic setting, the kind of place lovers come to. She let herself soak in the ambient music for a few moments before finally turning her attention to the menu.
"See anything you like?" Draco asked, his eyes shifting to meet Luna's above the menu.
"The chicken and pilau rice look delicious." Her eyes moving back to the photo available on the menu.
Draco's tone was light, "That was one of Astoria's favourites as well."
She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from frowning. Why was the mention of his dead wife bothersome? It shouldn't be!
Just then the waiter reappeared with the wine and his notepad.
They ordered quickly; the waiter gathering the menu and left them to their own conversations.
Luna took a sip of the wine and closed her eyes, sighing in delight. It had to be the best wine she ever tasted, even the one she and Rolf had tried in Venice couldn't compare.
Draco broke into a grin. "If you two want to be alone…"
"Oh hush!" Luna laughed.
They settle into conversation. This was light and easy and it was exactly what they need; to get back some normalcy after the month apart, learning to return to the familiar flow between them.
The waiter returned in less than ten minutes with their food and she had to admit, the presentation of her dish was exquisite. It almost looked too good to eat.
"I missed you when I was away." Luna's said suddenly midway through their meal, her confession seemed to caught Draco off guard, his fork pausing in midair as it was nearing his mouth in a comical way.
"I- I missed you too, Luna," Draco said, something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and she hurried to investigate the sudden shift. It was too late, the emotion disappeared before she could identify it. The confident Malfoy aura was back. "No one around to badger me with silly theories about invisible creatures."
It was a playful tease and Luna found herself laughing like a giddy schoolgirl.
They finished their meals and Draco paid the bill, with Luna saying that she would treat him next time, Draco smiled at the prospects of another dinner with her.
Both of them walked into the streets of Horizont Alley, before apparating away back to the Lovegood house. Both of them sharing and savouring the blissful energy surrounding them in their own little bubble. They end the night with a hug and smiles plastered on their face.
It was the end of June and Luna found herself in front of Rolf's grave. Rows of tombstones stood erect in silence to the left and right, in front and behind, like a sea of the dead.
"I can't believe it's been a year." She whispered to herself as she sat on the ground, her eyes locked on her husband's headstone. The weather was steadily getting warmer, signalling the start of summer. "We miss you, Rolf. I miss you so much." She leaned forward to run her fingertips on the engraving on the cold stone. ' Loving Husband, Wonderful Father, Brilliant Naturalist '
"I can't wait to see Lorcan and Lysander. I miss them terribly, I'm sure they'll be ready to tell me all about their first year at Hogwarts." A serene smile spread on Luna's face as she imagined the looks on her sons' faces."You'd be so proud of them!"
She closed her eyes when a warm breeze and the memories of her and Rolf came flooding into her mind. When they first met in Romania when she was studying dragons with the help of Charlie Weasley. It had been a random encounter and when she found out he was Newt Scamander's grandson, she had immediately struck up a conversation with him. But it was in another chance encounter that Luna started seeing Rolf as more than just 'one of the greatest magizoologist's grandson'.
It was during her time in Zaire when she crossed paths with Rolf again who was studying the mating process of the Tebo. He had invited Luna into his tent and they shared their knowledge and interest on magical creatures and when Luna had mentioned one of the creatures that her father written about in the Quibbler, Rolf was ecstatic at a possible new species of magical creatures.
After that, they started corresponding letters and soon enough, Luna found herself falling in love with him. Luckily for her, he fell just as hard.
Luna wiped a single tear on her face as she was brought back to the present. The grief in her stomach came in waves and threatened to consume her entirely. But she refused to give in, she would always hold on to the happy memories that she and Rolf shared. Always.
But now, a year later, she was also making new memories with someone else.
She couldn't help feel that she was betraying her husband.
"Slytherin won the House Cup this year, mum!" Lorcan exclaimed with pride as he continued to tell stories from his first year at Hogwarts.
"But Ravenclaw was just a few points from winning!" Lysander countered with a pointed look.
Luna smiled as she listened to her sons recounted more of their experience at school.
"You should have seen the Quidditch game!" Luna was surprised to find out that Lysander was fond of Quidditch. Rolf was not as big of as a fan as her and they rarely had the time to bring the boys to matches. "Ravenclaw won against Hufflepuff!"
"And lost to Slytherin!" Lorcan interjected. "But Gryffindor still won over Slytherin." His tone turned a little sullen at that and Luna found it precious that her son valued his face with so much gusto.
There was a loud crash from the direction of the kitchen and Luna immediately rose from her place in the den, ready to investigate what was going on but before she could take any further steps, she heard her father yell, "Tea's ready!"
The boys laughed, "I hope granddad made jam doughnuts!" Lysander said, already making the short walk to the kitchen.
"Didn't you have enough of those at the feast?" Lorcan's question was accompanied by a chuckle.
"Never!"
Her heart swelled as she listened to the voices of her family from the other side of the small house, the past year without Rolf had been difficult for everyone, but there was only one thing that Luna held onto; a dwindling ray of hope. Hope that replaced the blanket of blackness with bursts of light that pierced through the darkness. It was hope that made her believe that everything would be better, happier, brighter, warmer. Maybe, she hoped, that welcoming of something more into her life would be worth it.
