A/N: A bit of an interlude to the story, sorry about the delay and I hope you'll enjoy it!

A tiny TW for heartbreak, just letting you know.

Wishing you all happy holidays and a fantastic new year!

HBSJ x

Chapter 29

Blaise stood watching the happy family in front of him.

Though he had been flirting with the duchess for years, it was just a joke to piss off Draco. And it worked like a charm every single time, he thought with immense satisfaction.

But Luna… Luna was special, she was to be cherished and her creativity should be nourished. Some would call her strange or odd but he liked that very thing that made her stand out from everyone else.

She was human but at the same time apart from it all. And he couldn't get her out of his head.

She was amazing, funny, clever, intuitive and so other.

So different to any other person he'd ever met. She didn't throw herself at him, she didn't even care that he was titled, that he got invitations to royal weddings, parties and you-name-it from all over the world, that he was rich beyond measure or that he was, in his own excellent opinion, as sight for bloody sore eyes.

In bed she was fucking amazing! She was a freak, willing to try anything and her curiosity was a massive turn on for him. And then there was the time when she'd been ordering him around. Ahem, he had to adjust himself a bit as he recalled that particularly enticing memory.

He was so used to being chased by women, hounded in fact, that he'd entirely forgotten what it was like to do the chasing.

He was looking out to the gardens when he saw her hunched over some plant, he would always be able to recognize that beautiful dirty blonde hair of hers.

Decision made, he walked towards her with purposeful steps.

She didn't even look up. "Hello Blaise."

He chuckled, he didn't even think to ask her how she knew it was him anymore. She just knew. "Hey Luna, I've been looking for you."

Her eyebrows raised, though she was still hunched over the plan, searching for the finest of the leaves. "Have you? I've been here a while."

So other. She would always surprise him at every turn. He was definitely gone for her. "Would you consider come to live with me?"

At that, she stood up and looked at him curiously. "No." And just like that, she turned back to the plant, a herb of some sort.

He huffed out a breath, feeling very frustrated. "Will anything I say ever convince you?" They'd had a conversation like this a couple of times before, but she didn't seem to want him… at all in fact. It grated.

She shrugged and continued picking the herbs she was looking for. "I am comfortable here and I am comfortable with my work. I don't want to come work for you."

He barked out a laugh, relieved that it was a misunderstanding. "I don't want you to come work for me darling, I want to invest in whatever work you want to do and let you build it yourself. If I could, I would shower you in money and presents and keep you off your hurried feet forever, but I am very well aware that you'd never accept it."

This time she smiled and stood up, tilting her head slightly as she watched him. It made him feel so naked in front of her, as if she was watching into his very soul. After the longest time, she simply said, "You know me."

He exhaled. "I do. At least, I hope I do." He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to calm down. "I want you to be happy, I want to give you the world actually."

He took her hand, keeping eye contact with her all the while. "I just want you to share yourself with me, as I wish to share myself with you. We may clash and we may not work out in the long run but please don't hide yourself from me."

He expression was one of complete serenity, only a tiny frown of her mouth displayed her actual feelings. "I thought you said that you and I was just for fun. That we shouldn't tell the others and that it would end once you left. I'm not hiding myself from you Blaise, I'm protecting myself."

Danm.

He had said that.

Bloody fucking idiot.

He'd spouted the same shite to her that he had to all of the other women before her. That first night together was pure fucking magic and the next morning he'd panicked and said that to her. Like an arsehole.

"Fuck." He whispered to himself, because how stupid of him. And of course she was the one person of all of them who believed him. The one person he wished hadn't believed him. "Look Luna, I can be a real bellend sometimes."

A tiny smile quirked at the corner of her lips. He wanted to kiss all sense out of her. But he had to wait for her to make that decision. It was all up to her after all. She nodded. "I would accept that as truth."

He laughed once from the surprise. He couldn't help it. Always expect the unexpected with her. He cleared his throat. "So, I'm sorry I lied to you. I don't want it to be just for fun, I'd like to try this between us."

She watched him for the longest of times and he became restless and started fidgeting under her intense stare. "Try… what exactly?" She finally said.

Bloody hell, she was actually making him explain himself. He probably deserved that. "Us. Try a relationship where I don't act like its all fun and games, when its not and where you can do whatever you want to do. Even try out herbs on my wine."

She perked up. "You have wine?"

He chuckled, a bit disbelieving. "I have a whole vineyard in Italy where you can go nuts Luna."

She cocked her head again. "Do you think you deserve that chance?"

His eyebrows shot up. "Honestly?" She nodded, those big eyes of hers still locked on his. "Not really, but I'm a selfish man so I'm asking it of you anyway."

She shrugged. "Okay then." And then she went right back to her herbs.

He stood there awkwardly. "Okay as in…?" He trailed off, not wanting to get his hopes up too high.

She didn't even look at him, still picking those herbs. "I'll hand in my resignation tomorrow and we'll go from there. I'd love to see your vineyard, should we backpack there? I know a secret way across the channel but you might not like it. Can I have a garden at the vineyard be mine?"

He blinked and then smiled. "Yes you can have a garden darling. And no, we don't need a secret way to cross the channel. We can go by car, plane or even helicopter."

"Oh. Well, in that case a car is probably best. I'm not sure if I ever got off that no-fly-list from a while back."

"What? You're on the no-fly-list?" This girl would definitely keep him on his toes…

"Hm-mm,-" She confirmed, supremely uninterested. "-it turns out they're not fond of repeated attempts to fly across continents with hidden pets. And plants." She shrugged as if it was just a minor inconvenience.

He chuckled again and pulled her up from the plant she was picking from and took her in his arms. He kissed her and she smiled. "Whatever you want darling."

She smiled back at him. "I like that." And then she kissed him right back.

Daphne was wondering if she should excuse herself.

Lunch was over long ago, and she was on the outskirts of it all. Though Sirius seemed to be watching her rather closely.

Harry and his grandfather were talking about the Sunderland estate and the others were chiming in as well. Especially the Princess Royal seemed to be very happy about the way things had turned out. And a tiny but smug too. She'd seen the same expression on Draco too many times before.

She was listening for a break in the conversation so she could take her leave when she felt her phone vibrate in her clutch. It was a text from an unknown number.

?: I told you I would find you.

She rolled her eyes and wrote back.

D: Sinister much? Who is this?

The reply came instantaneously.

?: Only the most handsome polo player ever.

She smirked and tried to calm herself. How on earth had he gotten her number that quick?

D: I know lots of polo players, you'll have to be a bit more specific.

The three dots were moving and then,

R: You're really killing my game here. It's Regulus.

D: I knew that, I was just messing with you.

R: So... do you still not want to be a princess?

D: Not particularly.

R: How about dinner then?

D: Could a dinner make me a princess?

R: Not that I know of.

D: Alright then, where and when?

R: Are you still at Dartmoor? I could come to you. Less invasion from the media.

D: Yes, I'm here still. It was only yesterday we spoke you know.

R: Funny, it feels like ages ago.

D: You sound smitten.

R: I am smitten. Otherwise I definitely wouldn't be about to cancel or postpone several public appearances just to see you.

D: You really don't have to do that.

R: Yes, I really do. Is tomorrow too soon?

D: No. Could we have a private dinner though?

While the reunion between Harry and his grandfather was lovely, they'd been a lot of people for a while now. And she didn't want a first date with Regulus to be the two of them with all of her friends and a large part of his family.

R: No problem, I'll arrange that.

D: So… It's a date?

R: It's definitely a date, I can't wait to see you.

D: Me too.

R: I'll take that to heart. Have a good night, lovely Lady Daphne.

She didn't reply, her heart was beating out of her chest.

Just five minutes later Hobson walked in and said something discreetly to the duchess. She smiled and announced to the room at large. "Well, another visitor will join us tomorrow. Prince Regulus is coming to see us all."

Theo turned sharply to Daphne and she ignored him as best she could. Hermione and Draco smiled at her and Pansy was positively beaming.

Sirius Black came ambling casually over to her just as she stood up. "That wouldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that Regulus asked me for your contact information earlier, did it?"

She tried to hold back her smile. "Possibly? Did you give him my number?"

The Marquess gave her a wolfish grin. "Nope." He paused dramatically, his eyes twinkling. "Draco did."

As she walked back to her rooms, she wondered about fate. Was it fate that she'd met him? Or just a happy accident?

However Theo came barreling down the corridor after her. "What the fuck Daph?!"

She sighed. "Not this again. I told you Theo, it's none of your damn business." She was really not in the mood for this.

"It IS my business! Why the hell should I be standing by when some other fucker is trying to court you? I fucking love you!" He seemed almost unhinged.

She could feel the tears gathering in her eyes but no. She refused to cry in front of him. She refused to cry because of him again. "I used to love you too, you know. Quite a lot." He made to say something but she held up her hand. She had to say this. "But I don't anymore. You destroyed me Theo. I've lost count of how many women I've discovered you fucking. How many of them who believed they were in a real relationship with you while you were publicly courting me."

He frowned as if he didn't understand. "But… they didn't mean anything. None of them meant anything. We were supposed to get back together. We always get back together." He seemed lost. As if he didn't understand that it would kill her a little every time he was unfaithful to her.

The words were wrenched from her soul. "I don't want that any longer Theo. You ruined us. You stomped on my heart and my love too many times and I can't do it anymore. I've told you. You don't get a say in my life."

She left him standing there alone. She didn't want to be standing there with him. Why was this happening just as she might find a bit of happiness?

She felt so broken by their years of back and forth. By the volatility of their relationship and it made her question herself all the way through the hallways of Dartmoor Manor.

When she finally closed and locked the door to her rooms, she fished out her phone from her clutch.

D: Are you really sure you want to come all that way just to see me? I'm really not all that.

R: I'm sure.

R: Are you okay?

D: Not really.

R: I'm a great hugger.

D: I could really use a hug.

She hugged her pillows as she fell asleep.

A/N: To be continued...