"Congratulations, Hermione!" Luna said with an airy smile, that neared on vacuous without quite touching it. "Why are two Slytherins here to play cards? And one of them, I presume, that's your date? Perhaps the rather awkwardly dressed one? You two do seem to match."

Draco looked down at his "clubbing clothes" and mentally swore. Leather and hairdye and chains were honestly not the look he preferred. Still, he looked up from his self-appraisal, and found Granger doing the exact same thing. Buy me a drink, he thought with a smirk.

"Well, I thought since our date was going so disasterously awful - oh, don't worry, you'll read about it all in the Prophet..." Hermione said, taking a breath, "I thought we ought to try this my way, and play cards!"

"You're making a profit off your date again?" Nott said with a crafty smile. Devious that one, always devious.

"Nothing wrong with distracting my mother, if you take my meaning." Draco drawled back.

Luna's voice took on an abnormal sharpness, and Draco hurriedly yanked his attention back to the main conversation, "No, that won't do at all!"

"Why not?" Hermione asked mildly.

"Because if you and Theo are going to have a bet, well, then Draco and I should as well. Fair's fair, isn't it?"

Draco blinked. Luna Lovegood wanted a bet, with him. Most people were smart enough not to bet with a Slytherin. "What have you got to bet?"

"A retraction of my opinions on you." Luna said promptly, her eyes focusing for once on Draco's steel gaze.

"What?" Draco responded back.

"Isn't that what Nott is offering Hermione? If she wins, that is?" Luna blinked at him.

"Not exactly" Theo Nott responded.

"I think he's really just offering a decent night of cards, Luna." Hermione put in helpfully.

"Oh! Well, I can certainly offer that!" Luna said with a firm nod. "Draco Malfoy, do you know how impossible it is to get anything published at that paper you run? I do believe someone's put the word out that I'm a crackpot or something! I assure you my head does not have cracks in it, and I do not care for aluminium in any case to wrap it with!" Luna Lovegood actually stamped her foot at the last.

Theo spoke up, cannily, "That might have something to do with the imaginary creatures you keep on wanting to talk about."

"Or the fact that your father has zero quality control on his own paper. You're too used to a lax editor, I think." Draco drawled out.

"Honey, play nice." Hermione said, bouncing into the couch beside Draco - and incidentally, elbowing him in the side.

Luna began a very animated discussion (with mostly herself, with occasional segues and interludes by both Theo and Hermione) about all the "imaginary" creatures that had been found in the last century. Even mooncalves were mentioned. Draco was beyond bored, and really just wanted to play cards. With difficulty, he schooled his face into "barely interested."

"And that's why I want the bet to be that if I win, Draco Malfoy has to publish an article of mine in his paper!"

"And what makes you think it's at all publishable?"

Luna smiled a daffy, vacant smile, "If it's not publishable, you needn't publish it. In fact, I'll go one more on your side. Publish it, by all means, in the appropriate section."

"So you don't mind if your next screed on imaginary creatures that only you and Dumbledore have even heard of goes in the opinion section?" Draco drawled.

"Precisely." Luna said, smiling.

Draco would later say he didn't know whether he was merely bored with the conversation, or that he was actually curious if the Ravenclaw could actually find something sourceable... But, at that moment, it just seemed like a fair deal. "Deal."

"I'll try not to ruin you." Luna said with a smile that suddenly grew werewolf teeth.

[a/n: Because we all knew that Luna's daffiness was half pose and half mask. One more chappie on the first date. Wheew, this is going long! Write me a review, you!]