Chapter Thirteen

When he awoke the next morning, Luna, her bed and all of the furnishings she had conjured were gone from his tent. When questioned over breakfast she simply answered, "All dreams have to end sometime, I suppose."

They resumed their journey and as the days went by Draco began secretly studying Luna as they traveled and translated runes and worked to improve their wandless magic. As time passed Draco learned more and more about her and what he learned slowly began to captivate him.

What surprised him most was how the feelings crept up on him. It started with him simply noticing little things like how the sunlight hit her hair in the afternoon, the tunes that she hummed when she was happy or the sparkle in her eyes when she saw a creature that delighted her.

Then it was her smile. One day when she smiled at him he felt his heart flutter slightly. He began looking for ways to make her smile, just so he could experience that sensation again. Soon after he found himself watching her delicate fingers fidgeting with a stray thread on her jumper as she read or staring at the spot where her ear lobe met her jawline, wondering what it would feel like to press his lips against it.

Soon Draco found himself wondering how he and almost everyone else - with the exception of Rolf and the elves - had missed what now seemed to him so blatantly obvious. When they started out he had only seen 'Looney Lovegood' - the odd, awkward girl from school but now whenever he looked at her he saw Luna - quite possibly the most extraordinary and beautiful witch he had ever met.

Once the truth of this sank in, it triggered another realization - that these observations would need to stay locked deep inside of him. In his mind, the harsh truth was that she was a war hero and the widow of a man widely considered a saint while Draco was a pariah - a former death eater with a record that included treason and attempted murder. There could be no future between them once they returned home, he reasoned, so he decided to content himself with enjoying her company during the time available to him.

xoxox

One morning as they were setting out, Luna stopped and asked, "Draco? What happened to your hair?"

Draco's ears turned slightly red. "I tried to give myself a haircut last night before bed. Had a little trouble with the back."

Luna giggled, "Why would you do that? Are you worried that the paparazzi is going to get an unflattering shot of you trekking through the forest?"

Draco rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, "I don't like it when it gets too long. I think I look too much like my father when it does."

Luna's expression softened. "Oh. I see." She conjured a small canvas camp chair and gestured towards it. "Sit."

Draco looked confused but obediently did as he was told. Luna summoned a pair of scissors and without saying a word began to straighten the back of his hair.

Draco tried desperately to think about something other than the sensation of Luna's fingers running through his hair and along his scalp, fearful that it would lead to visions of her hands in other places doing other things.

"I like it much better this way, you know," Luna said.

"Hmm...What? Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Your hair. I like it better now. You often wore it slicked back when we were at school. Not that it looked bad when you did that, mind you. I just find this way more becoming on you."

"Oh. Well. T-thank you," stammered Draco.

A few snips later Luna proclaimed, "There! All finished." She conjured a mirror to let him inspect the results. "So? What do you think?"

"I think you can add hair dressing to the list of professions you could take up if you wanted," admitted Draco. "When did you develop this skill?"

"Daddy had some rather peculiar ideas regarding barbers so I started cutting his hair after Mum died. Near the end of the war, I ended up being called upon to do the same for most of the boys when we were hiding out in the Room of Requirement. Once I started to travel I would often be the only female in the Research Camps so the guys would ask for help getting cleaned up before going into town to find dates among the local girls."

Draco once again wondered at the number of men - himself included - that had overlooked Luna in the past. That night as he was falling asleep he recalled the feeling of her hands running through his hair as he wrestled with the conflict growing inside him - the tension between yearning to feel her touch and the fear that one day he would forget himself and make a move on her - an action that he was certain would be unwelcome from the likes of him.

This inner battle was intensified by the dreams about Luna which now occurred almost nightly. Some were sweet and romantic, some were explicit and erotic and some (in which he imagined her being injured or worse) were terrifying but all produced the same basic rush of adrenaline and emotion which lead him to one inescapable conclusion - he had developed an intense and undeniable attraction to Luna Scamander Previously Lovegood.

He tried to convince himself that this was due solely to the fact that he had been without female companionship for an extended period of time and now found himself in an intense situation with an attractive witch but something inside told him there was more to it than that.

Thankfully, Draco had the benefit of advanced training in hiding his emotions so on the whole, he was successful in disguising how he felt - until the day he literally stumbled upon a force beyond his control.

They'd been walking for a few hours when Luna stopped to examine a rather unusual looking tree. When she turned around she noticed that Draco had started ambling across an open field in the wrong direction. She called his name and when he looked back at her there was a blank, placid expression on his face.

"Sorry. Are you talking to me?" asked Draco.

"Of course I am, silly," said Luna. "Who else would I be talking to?"

"I'm not sure. Do I know you?"

Luna glanced down then jumped backwards. "Oh, bollocks. Wander weed," she said. She dropped her pack and whipped off her jacket, neatly turning it inside out before donning it again. "I should have been on the lookout for this."

She hurried over to Draco who was staring serenely at her. "Draco? Do you know who I am?"

He leaned in close and smiled warmly. "No. I'd like to though. You're very pretty."

"Oh. Okay. Wow. This must be an incredibly vigorous sub species." Luna blushed furiously then asked, "Do you know who you are?"

"Of course I know who I am. You just said it. My name is..." He squinted in thought. "Hmm...Seems to have escaped me at the moment." He shrugged and knelt down to inspect a flower that had suddenly grabbed his attention. "Oh, well. I'm sure it will come back to me eventually."

Luna took his hand and pulled him back up. "Your name is Draco Malfoy. You and I are out here looking for Pertento's scroll. To stop the pox. Do you remember that?"

" You and I? Together? No. That can't be right. I would recall travelling with a beautiful woman." He paused then shook his head. "At least, I think I would. Everything seems a bit...foggy just now."

"That's because you accidentally stepped in a field of wander weed," Luna explained.

"What?"

"Wander weed. It's a magical plant that causes anyone that walks in it to forget who they are, where they are going and why they were trying to get there. The strength and grouping of this particular variety indicates that it was planted on purpose which probably means we are getting close to our destination. It would serve as a terribly effective deterrent to anyone looking for the scroll."

Draco gave her a vague look. "Huh?"

Luna sighed and pointed to the ground, "Short version - The grass makes you forget things."

"Then how come you know what's going on?"

"Because it's actually very easy to counteract the effects of wander weed as long as you are aware of the plant's presence before you step on it. You simply turn at least one piece of clothing inside out."

"Really? That seems...random," mused Draco.

"You're right. It is," Luna said. "Funny story about that. The preventative was discovered accidentally by a rather absent minded wizard named Tovenaar who often dressed in a rather haphazard manner. Went out one day with both socks and his pants on inside out and was the only member of his party not to succumb to the effects of the plant. Wrote a rather interesting essay on the subject in 1328. Neville loaned it to me once."

"Huh?"

Luna sighed again. "Short version? Take off your shirt and turn it inside out."

Draco's eyes lit up. "My, my. This is a most promising turn of events. An attractive woman asking me to undress in a secluded forest? I hope I don't forget this as well."

"You will.," Luna said. "Forget that is. You'll have no memory of anything that happened after you stepped into the field."

"Pity." Draco tipped his head. "Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Remember any of this."

"Yes," Luna said softly. "I will remember every word."

Draco studied her face. "And that makes you sad?"

"Yes. I-I suppose in a way it does."

"Then I'm not sure I want to do it. I may not know who I am or who you are but I have an overwhelming feeling that making you unhappy is not something I want to do."

Luna reached for his hand. "Thank you, Draco. That means a lot to me, but what I really need is for you to remember why we're here so..." She held onto him for a moment before slowly letting go. "Please. For me. Take off your shirt and turn it inside out."

Draco bowed his head. "Who am I to deny such a heartfelt request?" He did as he was asked and removed the shirt. He turned it inside out but before he put it back on he hesitated. "Are you sure?"

Luna gazed at his well toned chest longer than she meant to then inhaled sharply and nodded. "I'm sure."

Draco stared at her for another second then pulled the garment back on. The effect was instantaneous. He jumped slightly, eyes darting around.

"Luna? What's happening? How...how did I get over here? Just a second ago, I was standing by that tree..." He pointed to a spot over a hundred yards away before something else caught his attention. "And why is my shirt on wrong way around?"

"You stepped into some wander weed."

"What?"

"Come on," Luna said. "I'll explain it again as we walk."

Luna filled him in on everything except the personal comments he made during the incident, focusing instead on how near they must be to the cave since that variety of wander weed was not native to the part of the world they were travelling in.

As they finished dinner Draco said, "There's still one thing I don't understand. If I didn't remember anything, including who you were, then how in the world did you convince me to do something as ridiculous as turning my shirt inside out?"

"I simply asked nicely."

"And I complied? Just like that?"

Luna picked up a stick and busied herself stoking the fire. "Just like that."

"Huh. Doesn't sound like me. Those plants must also possess a substantial mellowing effect," he chuckled. "Perhaps you should have made me stand there a bit longer."

Luna kept her focus on the campfire. "Perhaps I should..."

She shifted the conversation back to the search for the cave but to Draco she seemed a bit more subdued than normal and she excused herself and turned in earlier than usual as well.

Draco's dreams that night consisted of him making some rather embarrassing declarations while in the field of wander weed before gathering Luna into his arms where they forgot everything except each other.