The days following passed quickly and uneventful; Draco would attend his classes and in the evenings he would spend his detentions with Luna. He was glad to have her company. As they talked and laughed the time passed quickly, and the otherwise tedious punishment was bearable; even enjoyable. He found she had the most bizarre yet interesting things to say, and spoke whatever was on her mind without blinking an eye about being tactful. Something they had in common, he noticed... With the difference being she did it out of honesty; he generally did it out of spite.

He chuckled when he thought of this one evening, and Luna looked up at the warm sound. It was a sound she enjoyed hearing, maybe because it was rare to even make him smile.
It was odd, she thought to herself, how Draco and her have almost become friends through such unlikely events.

"Have you spoken to Astoria yet?" She asked after a while. Draco's smile became sad. He knew Luna was an observant person, and of course it wasn't really a secret anymore that Slytherin's dream couple – as Pansy liked to call them – was frostier than an arctic blizzard, so he couldn't be mad at her for bringing it up.

He hadn't yet made an attempt to speak to her since the incident in the common room earlier in the week, but likewise, she made a point of avoiding him in a fashion that you couldn't miss. Like two days ago at lunch, as soon as he sat down at the table, she slammed down her cutlery and marched out of the hall; obviously not caring Draco was sitting more than 5 feet away from her anyway.

He sighed and shook his head. As he thought about the events of the past few days, he contemplated his feelings about the whole situation. On one hand, he really cared for Astoria and desperately wanted to fix things, but on the other hand he was just so tired of always fighting a losing battle with her. If it wasn't one silly argument, she would find another reason to create drama, and the stress just didn't seem worth it anymore.
"It'll come to you, in the end." Luna spoke softly. "What you feel is the right thing to do, will come to you." She shrugged, and laid her hand gently on top of his, and a rush of calm swept over him.

"How do you do it?" Draco asked her quietly. "How do you always stay so ... relaxed, and optimistic? It's... It's ..." He fished for the right word.
Infuriating. Comforting. Impossible.
She removed her hand as she thought about this, tilting her head slightly to the side in that unique way whenever she was contemplative.

"After my mother died, I was always a bit sad too. She was my best friend and I missed her terribly; I suppose I still do. But my father was going through the same loss and, well we helped each other out, with the sadness. Things got better, and we became best friends, just like I was with my mother." She paused.

"I stay optimistic because I think life is a spectacular thing, and there are too many things to learn to make the world a grey place through misery."

Draco considered this, and after a brief moment he nodded grimly. He noticed how this conversation was knotting up his insides, the thoughts he'd had at the beginning of this week rearing their heads from their suppressed shell within him. He swallowed hard and pressed his lips together tightly, until he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"It's okay," Luna interjected quietly, as the words were about to come tumbling out of his mouth. "You don't have to say it." He looked at her incredulously.

"How-"

"You don't have to apologise; you couldn't have done anything, I know that, and I forgive you." She leant forward to find his gaze, buried underneath his hair. "You were as much a victim as I was. I know not everyone understands, but I saw your suffering, in your eyes. So it's okay. You don't have to say anything."

With those words of comfort she enveloped Draco in an embrace before he could even react. He stiffened, but as he realised she was leaning her head on his shoulder and not letting go, he sunk into her arms. As he did this he inhaled deeply and sighed. With the exhale of his breath he felt a weight fall away from him and relief filled his whole body. Leaning against Luna he closed his eyes and breathed steadily, bathing in his new-found peace of mind. The guilt he felt for so long was finally dissolving and fading away.

Gently she released her hold on Draco, and looked up towards the clock on the wall opposite.

"Merlin Draco, we've been here an hour more than necessary!" She exclaimed in surprise. She looked back at Draco and then towards the floor, before breaking out into hearty laughter.

Puzzled, he stared at Luna, but she couldn't catch her breath long enough to explain that he was sitting in a puddle of the foul-smelling polish that must have spilled, so she just pointed in between his legs and continued laughing.

Still puzzled, he looked at what she was gesturing to and gasped.

"Eurgh!" He cried and jumped up, trying to mop his trousers with his robes. Much to his dismay, the stain had hugged the crotch of his trousers perfectly with a damp shine for it to be misconstrued very easily. "This isn't funny Luna!" He scowled at her, but she was holding onto her side with one hand and wiping tears from her eyes with the other and not at all concerned by his frown.

"Fine." He said as he raised an eyebrow and calmly walked to the cupboard.

"What... What are you - doing?" Luna said between gasps of hysteria.
Draco turned around, a new bottle in his hand and slowly uncorked it, a sly grin on his face.

"No, Draco...!" She squealed and got up to run away, but he waved his arm and the liquid splattered over her robes before she could escape. He smiled triumphantly, but Luna was too quick. Before he knew it, she had pulled her wand and with a flourish the bottle flew out of his hand and into her free one. Draco's smile disappeared and a look of concern clouded his eyes. "Okay we're square now, don't do anything..."

She took a step towards him, tilted the bottle upside down over his head, and the remainder of its contents poured onto Draco's head and down his face. He wore a look of resignation as he slowly raised his hands to wipe his eyes and was faced with a very satisfied, grinning Luna as he opened them.

"...stupid."

He looked at her, a menacing twinkle in his eye, but Luna was too fast. She took off into the corridor laughing, leaving him standing there somewhat dumbfounded for a second before he chased after her. He caught up quickly and grabbed her by the waist as he picked her up and spun her around with the momentum. Not letting go of her, he began rubbing his soaking hair into hers, making sure to keep a good grip on her as she giggled and tried to wriggle out of his embrace.

"If my hair is ruined, then so is yours!" he laughed.

Finally she managed to escape his grasp.

"Aguamenti!" Again, Luna had her wand at the ready, and before he even had a chance to respond he was soaking wet, and that same, surrendered expression occupied his face. He stood there for a moment after the spray had stopped, before spitting out some water he'd managed to almost ingest, raising his eyebrow at Luna.

"Now you won't smell so awful anymore," she chuckled and spread out her arms, waiting. Draco shook his head with a smile and drew his wand.

"Aguamenti!" She danced in the spray of water, shaking her pale-golden locks as she twirled on the spot. Draco laughed and lowered his wand, staring at an exhilarated Luna. For long moments they just stood there watching each other, standing in puddles that expanded as their robes dripped, when Luna shivered.

"I'd probably get back to the common room and dry off," she said as she pulled her wet robe around her as she shuffled over in Draco's direction. He watched this amusing ordeal until she was right in front of him. Once again, he wasn't prepared for her embrace, but after a second of his arms awkwardly hovering, he laid them on her back as hers laid on his.

"Yeah, me too. On second thought," he released their brief contact. "I'm going to have a proper shower. With soap." They both laughed.

"So, your detention duties are all over! You must be happy." Luna smiled at him and he nodded.

"See you around, Draco." She rocked on the balls of her feet for a moment before she twirled past him, waving as she went. He raised his hand the same way he always did and began heading towards the dungeons, too caught up in the concerns of his wet robes to notice an enraged Astoria hiding behind a suit of armour next to the stairwell.

Dun, dun, duuuuuun! Where's a dramatic Gover when you need him ...

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