Almost a week at the Lovegood residence, and Draco gets the ride of his life, as well as a horrible scare. Enjoy and review! =)

Chapter 11

Day 6

Draco remained in the living room the majority of the day, away from Luna. What has gotten into him? He read through the full ninth volume of encyclopedia for magical creatures, and he read a good majority of Xenophilius Lovegood's The Quibbler manuscripts. Lord, he even read full The Quibbler magazines! He was truly out of his mind.

Luna walked through the front door around four o'clock in the afternoon, dressed in purple pants and a dark blue t-shirt with a yellow star on it, and Draco intentionally kept his gaze in the magazine.

He had a good idea of what Luna was thinking as she stopped to look at him, and heat traveled up his neck to his cheeks.

"I didn't know that you liked The Quibbler," she commented.

That startled him. "What?"

"You're reading The Quibbler. I noticed that you read a few of them all the way through."

He swallowed, still staring down at the magazine. "Well, I said before that you don't have any other good reading material."

She nodded. "Would you like some lunch?"

"Already ate," he lied.

"Alright"

She went about the kitchen, humming a new tune and dancing around as she made herself a plate of the usual cheese, grapes, and bread. His eyes flicked up to her, and he found himself watching her and her slender body move. Only when she turned did he bring his eyes back to the magazine.

Luna left out the door with her plate.

Draco threw the magazine on the messy table next to him, and rubbed his temple with his thumb and pointer finger. He sighed long and hard. He shockingly wished that the Death Eaters would take him away now so he wouldn't have to be tortured by Luna Lovegood.

And she didn't even know she was torturing him! With her graceful moves, her light, airy voice, her care-free and caring attitude, her very presence…

He stood up and looked out the window. He saw Luna sitting on the grass near the front path cross-legged, eating her humble meal. She paused for a moment as she held a grape up to her mouth. She set it back down on her plate and then touched her fingers to her lips. She smiled.

Draco's heart sped up when he realized what was most definitely running through her mind. He's no air-head. He knew how giddy girls can be after a man kisses them. Pansy had the same reaction, as well as other girls he has heard talking among themselves in the Slytherin common room, talking about how they've been kissed by boys they fancied.

"Bloomin' idiot," he said to himself again.

Luna set her unfinished plate off to the side and lay in the grass, facing the sunny sky. Her whole hand covered her mouth now. Draco turned away, not wanting to watch her roll around gleefully in the grass.

He sat back down in the leather chair and stared ahead of him blankly. He brought a hand up to his own lips, recalling them on hers. A smile tugged at the corners. Then a full-on grin. Laughter bubbled out of him.

"Draco?"

He jumped at the sound of Luna's voice. He immediately put his hand down and attempted to gain dignified composure. "Yes?"

"We have visitors."

His heart sped up in alarm and a frown formed on his face. He never thought… after only just thinking it…

Draco stood up and walked out the door, Luna at his heels. He screamed and nearly fell backwards onto Luna when he saw what was standing in the grass.

"What… what is that thing?!" he demanded.

"A thestral," Luna said lightly, and went down the steps to the tall horse-like beast. It was black and its body resembled a horse's skeleton, no flesh or muscle, and had large, bat-like wings. "You read about them."

Draco remained silent as he stood against the door, his hear hammering in fear. He watched in horror as Luna petted the thing's nozzle and it whinnied like a normal horse.

"They came to say hello," she said.

"Hello?" he repeated in disbelief. "That thing? Wait—They?"

"Yes," she said, and pointed to the back of the beast to a much smaller one. "That is her baby. Come, Draco. They are really gentle creatures. They will not harm you."

Draco recalled reading that in that encyclopedia. He cautiously stepped down the stairs into the grass, nearing the beasts.

The horse whinnied again and he jumped back. It nudged Luna's shoulder. She petted its nozzle more, and it touched her cheek. Luna smiled.

Draco stared at the scene, both mesmerized and confused. Something nudged his arm and he yelped when he found the baby thestral next to him.

"Get…" he started but the baby nudged him again, whinnying in a much higher pitch than its mother.

"I think he likes you," Luna commented. She laughed when the baby rested its boney head on Draco's shoulder from the front. He shuddered.

"What… what's it doing?"

"Giving you a hug, it looks like." She chuckled at the look on Draco's face.

Draco stepped away and started walking around in the grass, the baby thestral at his heels. He walked faster, and then into a run, but the baby just thought it was a game and followed him and whinnying gleefully. Luna started laughing even more at the hilarious sight of Draco Malfoy being pursued by a baby thestral.

"Make it stop following me!" he hollered and stopped to where Luna was crouched over, laughing. "Oh, so you think that this is funny?"

"Very," she let out through her laughter.

He couldn't help but smile at that. The baby thestral nudged him again, blowing air out of its nose.

"He wants you to do that again," Luna said, standing up and taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"There's no way," he said and folded his arms.

The mother thestral nudged Luna's shoulder and she turned her head to the beast. It made gruffing noises. Luna nodded.

"She wants you to ride her."

Draco's eyes dilated. "What? How do you know?"

"I spent a lot of time with thestrals at Hogwarts. I learned to speak their language."

He should have thought as much. "There's no way I'm getting on that thing."

"You don't need to be afraid," she said. "They're not like hippogriffs who would knock you down and hurt your arm."

He stared at her as she smiled, and he eyed the larger beast. It nodded it's head and flapped its wings, sending a gust of air his way. "Okay. Fine. But only for a minute."

Draco went over to the beast and looked up at it, wondering how to get up. He decided to grab its wing in order to hoist himself up. The thestral flapped its wing and Draco flew off the ground screaming until he landed square on its back.

"Ah-ha!" he hollered. "I'm finally on this thing! Now, just for… AHH!"

The thestral started flapping its wings, and Luna suddenly became smaller and smaller on the ground. Draco wrapped his arms around the beast's neck for dear life as he saw that Luna's house became only a speck on the ground.

The cool wind blew through Draco's hair and clothes, and the sun warmed his pale face. He looked around him and saw that the fields did indeed go on to no end, only he saw a town off in the distance. Or a city? London maybe? He looked around at the farm land coming into view, and bodies of water, like lakes. No, that wasn't London. This must be eastern England, probably somewhere near Devon.

Draco watched as the thestral flew over water, and he could see his and the beast's reflection in it. Then it shot back up over the clouds again. Draco clutched the beast's neck with one arm, and stretched the other out to have it go through the moisture of the clouds. He smiled. Luna would love to do this.

The thestral suddenly did a nose dive and Draco hollered. He didn't know that they hit ground until Luna called his name, telling him to open his eyes since they were squeezed shut.

"Draco!" he heard again, and opened his eyes to see Luna beaming up at him. "You can get down. She knelt on the ground so it would be easier for you."

Draco practically slipped off the horse-beast and fell to the ground, his limbs feeling like pudding. He sat up and fixed his wind-blown hair with his hands.

"How was it?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

"Dandy" he said, and she laughed at his sarcasm.

The two thestrals suddenly flapped their wings and lifted themselves to the sky, whinnying to both Draco and Luna, and the baby, hitting Draco playfully in the shoulder with its foot. He hollered.

"They're saying goodbye," Luna said as Draco rubbed his shoulder.

The two watched as the thestrals left out of sight in the clouds. Luna looked back at Draco.

"Would you like to go inside? It seems like you haven't eaten."

"But I told you I did."

"You would have lost your lunch before now if you did."

He huffed through his nose. "Fine."

The two got up, and Luna had to support Draco to his feet since his limbs were still weak. He felt her slender, curvy form against him, and stepped away.

"I'm fine." He pulled out his wand and cast a strengthening charm over himself. He walked into the house before Luna even reached the steps.

"AHHHHH!"

Draco blood curdled at that shrill scream, and he ran back out of the door to find that Luna was nowhere to be seen. He ran down the steps, and circled the house once, calling her name frantically, but there was just empty air and fields.

"Luna!" he shouted again, his heart pounding in fear.

He heard a growl behind him.

"Found you, lad," said the rough animal voice of Renrir Greyback.

Draco's pulse turned to a boiling point as he turned around to face his fellow Death Eater. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at him.

"What'd you do with her?" Draco demanded in a fierce voice.

"You don't need to worry about the girl," he growled, then laughed menacingly.

Draco's hand clasped around his wand so tightly, his nails were digging into his palms painfully. "Why didn't you come and get me?" he demanded through gritted teeth. "I've been here for days."

"We are aware. We never bothered because we had no idea where you were. The moment you thought about where this place was, we immediately took action."

The massive werewolf walked closer to Draco until he was right in front of his wand. Draco's pulse rose more, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Let's go, boy," Greyback said and pulled Draco by the arm, away from the house. "But before we leave…"

Greyback pulled out his wand and cast a spell that caused Luna's house to completely explode. Draco had to duck so things wouldn't hit his face or head. When he looked back up, Luna's house wasn't in shambles like before, but was completely gone, even the stone steps, and in pieces everywhere in the grass.

Draco held in a hysterical scream as the plate Luna used for her lunch rolled to his feet and stopped.