Chapter Nine

Draco fell asleep quickly but it wasn't long before his brain, triggered by the scent of the incinerated poachers, conjured up the all too familiar memories of being caught in the Room of Requirement, reliving the horrific moments during the final battle where he heard and smelled Vincent Crabbe burning to death.

He struggled to wake up but found himself trapped - as he so often did - inside the nightmare. As he fought to break free he slowly became aware of a soft voice infiltrating his thoughts, making him dimly aware of a world beyond the cloying smoke and stifling heat surrounding him.

"Draco? Draco, it's me. Luna. Can you hear me? Please nod if you can hear me."

He nodded reflexively but was still unable to escape the dark vision that encircled him. The soothing voice continued, "Good. That's really good. Try to focus on my voice, okay? Block out everything else and while you are doing that I want you to try to feel me breathing. Can you do that for me? Concentrate on trying to breathe like I am - deep breaths in and out. In and out." She inhaled and exhaled slowly to demonstrate. "Just like that - got it?"

He tried to mimic her actions and heard her say, "That's it. You're doing really good. Now I want you to focus on finding a smell. Nothing from the dream, something from the present, okay?"

Draco worked hard to push back the acrid odor of soot and burnt flesh that clamored for his attention. Instead he zeroed in on a fresh, clean scent which now seemed to envelop him. It took a moment for him to realize that it was the smell of Luna's newly washed hair.

"Do you have one?"

Draco nodded.

"Good. Remember to keep breathing with me, okay? Now I want you to find something you can feel. It can be your clothes, the sheets, anything at all. Just pick something and let yourself concentrate on that for a minute."

The first sensation he became aware of was the soft feel of Luna's jumper under his fingers and it was then he realized how tightly he was clinging to her. He relaxed his grip ever so slightly while still allowing himself to take in the reassuring warmth she was providing.

As he savored that feeling it occurred to him that he couldn't remember the last time anyone had actually held him. He had almost forgotten how comforting the touch of another person could be. Slowly the tension began to ease out of his shoulders.

Luna felt him relax and whispered, "Good. Good job. Now - try to open your eyes and look at something - something here in the room, something you know is really here, right now."

Draco managed to force his eyes open and the first thing he saw was a forest of blond hair and the pale shell of Luna's ear. He stared at that for a moment then moved back just far enough that he could look at her face. Their eyes met and he was touched by the deep concern he found there. She placed a hand gently on his cheek.

"Draco? Do you recognize me? Do you know where you are?"

"Yes. I do. Thank you." He cleared his throat and sat back a few more inches. "Sorry about that."

Her hand dropped into her lap . "It's okay. I understand about bad dreams. To be perfectly honest, it's another reason I requested you for the expedition."

Draco blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I suffer from them as well. I was worried about what might happen on this trip if I forgot to cast a silencing charm before bed but...well, I had a sneaking suspicion that you might understand." She gave him a soft smile then said, "You were yelling something before. A boy's name. Vincent? That was your friend at school, wasn't it?"

Draco nodded. Luna sat very still then said, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to but I've found that sometimes talking about a traumatic event can be helpful. If that's the case then I'd be willing to listen - if you'd like."

To his surprise Draco, perhaps emboldened by the way Luna had shared about the loss of her husband earlier, found himself opening up a bit about Crabbe. "We'd known each other since we were three years old. He wasn't really the best friend you could have. Truth be told, he was kind of an idiot but..."

"He was your idiot?" Luna said gently.

"I suppose," Draco said. "We had a massive falling out just before he died. He was being stupid and reckless. Cast the Fiendfyre that day at Hogwarts without knowing the spell to extinguish it. I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen. All of a sudden there was fire and smoke and the smell..."

Draco's voice trailed off and to his relief, Luna simply nodded rather than pushing for more detail.

He took a deep breath and attempted to change the subject. "So, th-that thing you did just now - to wake me up. What was that?"

"Something Daddy taught me. It's a way to help you sort out what's part of the dream and what's real. After what happened with my Mum I had horrid nightmares and it would take ages for Daddy to get me to wake up. It used to help me so I thought I'd try it with you."

"What happened to your Mother?" Draco asked then immediately regretted it. "I am so sorry, Luna. That was uncalled for. I shouldn't have..."

"No. It's okay. My Mum was quite an extraordinary witch but she loved to experiment. When I was nine she tried out a new spell and it backfired badly. She tried to shield me and..." Luna stared at a spot across the room and her voice dropped to a near whisper. "I've never told anyone this, but after the spell struck her, she fell on top of me. At first I thought she was just stunned, you know? I rolled her over and started shaking her but she wouldn't wake up. Then Daddy ran in."

Luna shivered at the memory. "The scream he let out was so raw it was barely human. I'd never heard anything like it and hoped I never would again. Then the war came a few years later and...well, there was a lot of screaming after that."

Draco pushed back at the memory of Vincent's shrieks of pain and tried to distract himself by focusing on Luna instead. He had limited experience in comforting other people and was unsure how to respond so he opted for a tentative pat on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Luna. That must have been awful. I can't imagine losing my mother in such a manner, especially at that age."

"Thank you."

Draco was at a loss as to what to say next so he simply sniffed and looked about the room as if the appropriate words might materialize out of thin air.

After a moment, Luna ventured, "Draco? Would it be all right if I slept in here tonight?"

Draco shrank away from her and adjusted the duvet on his bed. "I hardly think that's necessary. I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter."

"I don't mean for you. I mean...It's just...well - honestly, otherwise I won't be able to get back to sleep. I'll be in my tent listening to hear if you start screaming again, even if I know you've cast a silencing charm. I wasn't implying anything inappropriate. I could set my cot over there," She gestured at a spot several feet away. "Of course, I completely understand if you find that arrangement unsuitable. I simply thought..."

Draco quickly jumped in. "Well, if it will make you feel better then I suppose there's no harm in it for one night. I suppose it's the least I can do for disturbing your sleep."

Luna gave an almost imperceptible nod then pulled her wand from the pocket of her jumper and summoned a small cot which she levitated to a spot on the other side of the tent. Draco took one look at the tiny camp bed and rolled his eyes. He reached for his own wand and with a flick of his wrist transformed her cot into an ornate little sleigh bed complete with intricate wood carvings on the headboard.

"Just because we are staying in tents doesn't mean we can enjoy a few luxuries, Loveg...Luna."

"Thank you, Draco. That was very thoughtful." She moved towards the bed, which neither one of them acknowledged was now significantly closer than the position that Luna had originally indicated. She slipped under the pile of soft blankets that Draco had conjured for her and - to the surprise of both - they soon fell sound asleep.

At one point in the night Draco woke up and saw their arms were extended towards each other with their hands almost touching. His fingers reflexively twitched towards hers but then he came to his senses, snatched his arm back, rolled over and went back to sleep.

When he rose in the morning both Luna and the bed were gone. As they went along that day neither of them mentioned the incident and Draco couldn't decide if this relieved or annoyed him. Already feeling vulnerable about sharing such private emotions, he determined to put the whole thing out of his mind and keep his guard up in the future.

The day after that was fairly uneventful. They covered a lot of ground and Draco continued to quietly pay attention to the remarks Luna made regarding the unusual flora and fauna specimens that they encountered along the way. They had dinner as usual then retreated into their own tents for the night.

That evening he had the first dream about her. It started off as a simple replay of the moments after being saved from the poachers. Everything was the same until the point where Draco gave Luna the dittany for her bath. In the dream she asked for his help placing the oil on a cut on the back of her neck. As he leaned in to apply the ointment Luna turned and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was beginning to turn heated when Draco awoke with a start.

His eyes snapped open and he lay in bed for a long time before reluctantly rising to join her for breakfast. He rushed through the meal, trying avoid eye contact with her. As they travelled along he found himself being terse and surly towards her. By the time they selected a campsite in the late afternoon he had resolved to steer clear of her until he could get a better handle on what was going on inside his mind.

He grabbed a couple of the journals, flopped down under a large tree a few yards away from the tents and dove into the task of translating more of the runes. He vaguely recalled hearing her say something about bowtruckles but he merely gave a distracted grunt and continued reading. It wasn't until he became aware of how the shadows were beginning to lengthen that he actually noticed her absence.

He called her name but received nothing but silence in return. As the minutes ticked by he found himself growing concerned. He paced about the camp and shouted for her a couple of more times. When he got no reply his concern began to morph into apprehension. He ventured further into the woods and called out again. This time, in the distance, there was a faint response and what he heard vaulted him firmly from apprehension into panic, because in it Draco detected the one thing he never imagined he would hear in Luna's voice.

When she called out his name, Draco could swear that he heard fear.