Later, they lay in his bed, staring at the canopy overhead.
"Luna, I'm sorry." he whispered.
"Draco, don't." she pressed a finger to his lips.
"You should have told me you were a virgin." he huffed. "I would have been more gentle with you."
"I wouldn't change anything." she assured him.
"How were you twenty five years old and a virgin, anyway?" he narrowed his eyes at her.
"You know the only serious relationship I've ever had was with Neville." she sighed. "He and I weren't ready to go that far at the time, and there hasn't been anyone since."
"You should have told me." he said stubbornly.
"This is the most I've heard you talk since the funeral." Luna smirked at him.
"Luna," he sighed. "I meant it. I will do anything if you don't leave me. But I don't know if I can do this."
"By this, you mean a relationship?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I'll make you a deal." she offered. "You make an effort to feel, every day. You get out of the house other than going to work at least twice a month. You do those things, and I won't press you for anything between us. We'll just take things as they come."
"Okay." he whispered, pulling her to his side and burying his face in her hair.
Luna flooed him the next day. He told her that he had smiled that morning. She was proud of him. She also told him that she was picking him up after work the next night, so be ready in casual clothes. He protested, but she reminded him of his promise that he would leave the house at least twice a month.
She took him to a Quidditch match. He hadn't been to a Quidditch match since before Astoria died. It was the Cannons against the Arrows, and he was a Falcons fan, but it was the most light she had seen in his eyes in two years.
"If I had known it was this easy, I would have done this long ago." she teased.
"It wouldn't have been, if you hadn't broken the dam night before last." he told her, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Come home with me."
She smiled and nodded, then waved at Ron and George Weasley, who were giving her strange looks.
By the time they were out of the floo, Draco's tongue was in her mouth and his hands were on her bum.
"Wait." she pulled away from him, pulling a foil square from her purse. "We should use this."
"What is it?" he asked, pulling her back in for another kiss.
"Muggle birth control." she mumbled around his lips. "Hermione gave them to me a few months ago, when Ginny found out she was pregnant. It's called a condom."
He held up the packet. "Please tell me you can chew it and don't have to swallow it whole." he frowned.
"No. That's not how you do it." she giggled. By the time she finished her explanation, she was doubled over laughing at his horrified expression.
"No. Just ... No. Absolutely not." he shook his head. "I am not putting that on my ... "
"I don't have any birth control potion." she reminded him.
"We'll do other things. We won't actually have sex." he hedged.
The next night, he was desperate enough to try the condom. He was not impressed.
"I will give you 100 galleons if you go buy birth control potion first thing in the morning." he told her.
She laughed. He did too.
"What happened to the not wanting a relationship?" she asked.
"We're still going to wait and see on that." he replied. "But you did remind me that I really do like to have sex."
She started on birth control potion the next morning. She stayed away from him for two days to make sure it was in her system, as the lady at the apothecary had instructed.
In the meantime, Hermione and Ron invited her for dinner. They expressed concern that she was getting over her head with a man who had been in a two year depression mourning his wife. She thanked them for worrying.
He practically attacked her as she came through the floo, and they ended up ruining the carpet in the hall.
She had to go out of town for three days, to a cousin's wedding. When she came back, he held her for an hour, just held her. He told her that he had missed her so much he hadn't eaten for two days.
"Draco, that's not healthy." she shook her head. "Maybe we should back off ... "
"Or maybe you should move in with me." he suggested. "You make me better. I can't function without you."
"Draco." she sighed. "Obsession is not a good thing."
"Then move in with me and help me get it out of my system." he smirked.
In the end, she did move in with him, but not until after he swore that he would not let himself fall into that kind of depression again. And to her surprise, he did continue to improve.
"See?" he told her. "You should have shagged me and moved in a long time ago."
Their newfound bliss was magical, but sometimes, Luna laid awake, watching him sleep, with the sinking feeling that it was all about to be snatched away from her.
Six and a half weeks into their relationship, Luna woke up nauseous. She figured it was the leftover chicken she had eaten last night, and didn't say anything to Draco. After all, he never ate leftovers, and swore that one day she was going to get food poisoning from doing so. While she was glad to have the old sarcastic, arrogant Draco back for the most part, there were times she didn't want to inflate his ego by letting him know he was right, and this was one of them.
By the next morning, she was fine. The morning after that, however, was a different story.
Draco woke her by nuzzling her neck and trailing his fingers up her thigh. She opened her eyes and tried to smile at him, but the sickness hit her all at once. She shoved him away, bolting for the bathroom, barely making it in time before her stomach emptied. She flushed the toilet, rinsed her mouth, and wiped her face. As she reached to put the towel back, she caught sight in the mirror of Draco, white faced and horrified, standing behind her.
She turned, but before she could ask him what was wrong, he shook his head vehemently and began to back away.
"No. No. NononoNO! You cannot be pregnant!"