Chapter Two
Once Draco had accepted the offer (and signed the requisite waivers and release forms) the pair were given twenty four hours to prepare before setting off. Luna provided him with a comprehensive list of items that he would need to pack, along with instructions for modified undetectable extension and featherlight charms that Draco had to (grudgingly) admit were quite cleverly done. One portion of the list, however, utterly baffled him.
"Why in the world do we have to bring along these muggle items?" Draco said the word 'muggle' as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Apparently Pertento believed that the original pox targeted the wizarding world because it had become lazy and overly reliant on magic. Sources from the time indicate that his family placed a spell on the cave rendering all magic useless once inside. It's another one of the tests to prove you are worthy of obtaining the scroll."
"No flying, no apparating, no magic once we get there? I'm beginning to see why so few people have attempted this before."
"You can back out if you like, Draco. There's no shame in admitting that you aren't up to it," Luna said as she checked her list against the contents of her bag.
Draco' s eyes flashed at the insinuation. "I never said that I wasn't 'up to' anything. I was merely making an observation." He grabbed his pack and began tossing various contents inside, missing the bemused smile on Luna's face in the process.
"My mistake. Your observations are always welcome. Feel free to voice any further concerns you may have," Luna said.
After double and triple checking their supplies they made their way back to the Minister's office where they took an international portkey to a Dragon Sanctuary in Romania. Once they regained their bearings Luna said, "Right, let's go find Charlie and determine our departure time, shall we?"
As they turned around, Draco saw a large, broad shouldered, red haired man approaching them. He froze in his tracks. "Um...when you said, 'Charlie', you don't mean Charlie Weasley did you?"
"Yes! Do you know him?"
Draco tugged at his collar. "Not to speak of. I'm, uh, not exactly on his family's Christmas card list. I don't think this is going to go well..."
"Oh, don't worry, Draco. I've known Charlie my whole life. It will be fine."
Charlie greeted Luna with a warm embrace but only gave Draco a curt, "Malfoy." He turned back to Luna and said, "Luna - a word, please?" He glared at Draco and growled, "Alone?"
The man led Luna off while Draco settled in on a bench to observe from a distance. He could well imagine Charlie's side of the conversation but was unsure about Luna's. As he watched their discussion became decidedly more animated and at one point Luna gave the older Weasley a cross look and a sharp poke in the chest. Draco was amused to see the large man actually shrink back from the small blonde. While admittedly humorous, this also gave Draco pause. If this tiny slip of a woman could frighten a hardened dragon wrangler whom she had known for many years, perhaps he ought to tread with a bit more caution.
Luna finally retrieved Draco and informed him that they would have to wait for nightfall before setting off on their quest. In the meantime she excitedly informed him that Charlie had offered to give them a tour of the sanctuary. They were shown the nursery and the infirmary before Charlie took them to see the newest inhabitant of the preserve - a rescued Erumpent, recently liberated from a group that had illegally poached him from Africa to serve as an exhibit in an underground zoo in Bulgaria. The dragon sanctuary was housing the creature until safe passage could be secured to return the animal to his natural home.
As they arrived at the Erumpent enclosure a small group of rangers ran up to Charlie and informed him that one of the handlers - a man with an apparent history of heart problems - had collapsed inside the pen but the beast would not allow anyone near enough to assist him. When Luna questioned why they didn't just levitate the man out, Charlie grumbled, "This section is under strict ministry control and as such we are obligated to follow very specific protocols and wait for the official Rapid Response Team in a situation such as this."
Draco could tell from the tone of the man's voice that he thought very little of the Ministry, their protocols or their Rapid Response Team.
They waited for about thirty seconds before Luna said, "Hmm...The word 'rapid' must have a different meaning in Romanian." Before anyone could stop her, she slipped through the fence and went striding across the field.
Charlie spewed out a stream of what Draco could only assume were Eastern European swear words as Luna made her way towards to the beast. The local guide grabbed Charlie and responded in a manner that sounded just as confused and alarmed.
"I KNOW that!" growled Charlie. "But we can't DO anything!"
Draco began to panic. If Luna got herself killed before the mission even started then there would be no way his deal would be honored by the ministry. "What do you mean, you can't do anything? Stun the damn thing!"
"That 'thing' is an endangered species and is protected by..."
"SHE'S about to become an endangered species if you don't..."
Before Draco could finish, the guide began gesturing wildly towards the enclosure, causing everyone to turn and stare in amazement.
Luna had stopped a few meters in front of the beast. She crouched down with her legs shoulder width apart, one hand behind her back and the other extended slightly in front of her. She took a deep breath and let loose with what could only be described as a loud bellow while tracing some sort of pattern into the dirt with her foot.
Once she was certain that she had the animal's full attention she repeated the same sequence then began a series of increasingly bizarre movements - turning, crouching, prancing side to side, flipping her hair - all the while backing up towards the fence. After a moment, the creature began to follow her.
"Well, I'll be a hippogriff's uncle..." whispered Charlie.
"What is she doing?" hissed Draco.
"She's distracting him with a mating dance."
Draco gaped at the other man. "A what?"
Charlie laughed quietly. "It's the mating dance of the Erumpent. Where in the world did she..."
The guide gasped and the men once again focused their attention to the spectacle in front of them.
Luna dropped to the ground, rolled over slowly and hopped back up into a crouched position. She waited a few seconds then repeated the procedure. The beast tipped his head, looked at her carefully and then copied her movements - dropping to the ground and rolling over, pausing to wriggle his enormous hooves in the air halfway through.
Once the animal was back on his feet, Luna continued to draw him towards Charlie and the others. Finally the Rapid Response team arrived and Charlie instructed them to go to the other side of the enclosure to extract the sick guide as quickly and quietly as possible.
Meanwhile, Luna kept moving towards the fence line. Once she was within two meters of them she whispered, "Charlie, as soon as they have him out I am going to need you to cause a distraction on the other side of the field."
"Got it." Charlie hurriedly sent one of his team off in that direction then said, "Be just a few more seconds, Lu. You okay?"
Luna kept her eyes trained on the Erumpent. "I'm just fine, thank you."
Everyone held their breath until a loud noise erupted on the other side of the enclosure. The Erumpent whipped around as Luna dived under the fence to safety. Charlie helped her up and exclaimed, "That was brilliant, Luna! Where did you learn to do an Erumpent dance?"
Luna picked a twig out of her hair and adjusted her jumper. "Rolf's grandfather would sometimes demonstrate it if he had too many fire whiskeys with dinner. It's not something you easily forget once you've seen it, especially when it's been performed by an elderly man wearing a paper Christmas crown on his head."
The Erumpent bellowed and Luna turned to face the beast. "Sorry, big guy. Hated to lead you on like that. If it's any consolation, a male hasn't looked at me like that in quite some time, so thank you." She picked up her pack and began walking casually back to the ranger station.
Draco stared after her then looked at Charlie. "You say you've known her all of her life?"
"Yep. Been my little sister's best friend since they were babies."
"Is she always like this?"
Charlie smiled broadly. "Oh, no." Draco's shoulders had almost relaxed when Charlie added, "Sometimes she's reckless." With a wink the red headed man began to follow Luna down the trail.
Draco ran a hand through his hair and muttered, "Bloody hell. We're going to die."