Ginny Weasley was not a morning person. Generally she was seen dragging her feet down to the Great Hall right around the time when breakfast was ending, muttering to herself and snapping at anyone who dared wish her a good morning. This morning was no exception. Coupled with the fact that she’d had to do her Prefect’s rounds the night before until 3am (no thanks to Mr Head Boy), she was in an exceptionally bad mood.
That was why, when said Head Boy told her to ‘kindly look in the mirror, no wonder you can’t get Potter’, she did not coolly tell him to get a life as she normally would (it wasn’t a sore spot as she had got over Harry an age ago). Instead, she didn’t hesitate to fling back a few choice insults about his suspiciously meticulous grooming habits and probable sexual preferences (she had crafted them before and saved them for times when her mind wasn’t functioning properly, like right then).
Before long, it had escalated into full-blown mud-slinging, involving incidents dredged up from years past (the ferret incident and the Valentine incident being favourites), and people were seen ducking behind pillars and taking alternative routes to avoid being drawn into the fray.
Luna Lovegood, with her usual detached air, walked right into the fray. “There, there,” she said, placing a placating hand on each of them. “No one else is here now; you can drop the act.”
This was a strange enough pronouncement to cause the sparring duo to stop in their tracks and stare.
“What in Merlin’s name…” Draco muttered. He could tell it was going to be another one of those days.
“Luna,” Ginny demanded, “is this about the ‘unresolved sexual tension’ again? Because if it is, I swear—”
“You know, I think we need to have a nice bit of chat. I’ll go get some tea and cookies, and you can just talk.” Luna winked exaggeratedly at Draco, who in return gaped at her with unabashed horror. After the incident on Friday (during which the Weasel had nearly knocked him out cold), he had thought that had been the end of that, but the loopy blonde was apparently thicker than Hogwarts, A History.
Ginny looked ready to redirect her temper. “Luna, breakfast is nearly over and we have to go for Charms right after.”
“Later, then.”
“That’s besides the point. There is no unresolved sexual tension. Malfoy and I hate each other. End of story.”
“Denial is a river in Egypt, Gin,” Luna said, wagging a finger at her and regarding her with large, solemn eyes. “It doesn’t belong in Hogwarts.”
“Look,” Draco interjected, although he would dearly have loved to see the Weaselette lose her temper with her friend (which, by his astute calculation, would have happened extremely soon), “I can understand if the Weasel is secretly besotted with me, or something. It happens all the time. But you can be absolutely certain that I, for one, have never looked at her with anything other than unbridled dislike and no small amount of pity and condescension. No offence, of course,” he added, smirking at Ginny.
“None taken,” Ginny replied, rolling her eyes. “Frankly, I’d be more worried if you had any other feelings towards me.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Weasel.”
“You won’t even try?” Luna asked, turning her large blue eyes on them.
Ginny huffed, while Malfoy stared back at her, unblinking. “I’ve got a class to get to,” he said after a moment, and strode away.
Fine. Clearly, Malfoy was too besotted with Ginny to fall prey to Luna’s beguiling big eyes. And Ginny, well, Ginny was just being Ginny, i.e. stubborn as a hippogriff. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the two were just trying to postpone the inevitable, stubborn dunderheads that they were. She would just have to take matters into her own hand.
“Luna, you’ve got to stop with this ‘unresolved tension’ thing; it’s ridiculous!” Ginny exploded after Draco had left.
“This is just like the time with the thestrals!” Luna exclaimed. “People always tell me I’m being ridiculous. But then people always refuse to see what’s staring them in the face,” she added pointedly. “Don’t you agree?”
“This is different! Malfoy and I… it’s an impossibility. Like… Filch and Madam Pince,” she said, her tongue alighting on possibly the two most incompatible people in Hogwarts. Just thinking about them together made her stomach curl.
Luna looked doubtful. “You know, I saw them the other day—”
“Nope, I don’t think I want to hear anything about it,” Ginny interjected, slapping her hands over her ears to avoid being scarred for life.
Trying to convince Luna was like trying to coax a dragon to take a bath. Ginny thought about the time Luna had insisted on dancing naked on the Quidditch pitch at midnight on the Summer Solstice. And the time Luna was convinced that Terry Boot was a vampire. And the time Luna tried to petition for the inclusion of Nargles in their Care of Magical Creatures syllabus. In all those cases, Ginny had given up persuading her friend to drop the matter after a while and had left her to her own devices. But then those instances didn’t personally involve her. This time, though, she was just going to have to try a little harder.
~
“I think the little blonde girl is stalking you,” Blaise Zabini observed with a touch of envy as he and Draco left the library on a cold Thursday night to see Luna hovering by the door for the fourth time that week.
Draco repressed a groan. He had entertained Luna the first time, but after it had become clear that her object was to ‘counsel’ him about his ‘repressed emotions’, he had begun ignoring her, hoping she would eventually give up. After all, didn’t she have anything better to do than follow him around and annoy him? As it turned out, she didn’t.
“Malfoy charm and all that,” Draco muttered to Blaise in explanation. It was best not to tell Blaise what was going on. He’d probably find the whole thing a hoot and give Loony all sorts of ‘helpful’ tips. The thought of Loony and Blaise working together to ‘counsel’ him sent a shudder through his body.
“Go ahead, I’ll catch up,” he told Blaise.
After making sure that Blaise had turned the corner, Draco turned furiously to Luna. “Lovegood, what is it this time? And if you say one word about Ginny Weasley, I’ll dock points off Ravenclaw.”
“Why, I just wanted to inform you that Professor Flitwick was looking for you. However, since you mentioned Ginny—” here she smiled, and Draco was suddenly hideously aware that she probably wasn’t the vacant little girl everyone thought she was “—I think we need to have a little talk about her, don’t you?”
“For the last time, there’s nothing between the Weasel and I!” Draco exclaimed furiously. “Give it up, Lovegood, it’ll never happen.”
Draco stalked off, but Luna’s airy voice chased him down the corridor. “You know, Father always tells me that I’m extremely persistent when it comes to things I believe in. If I fail, I try again and again and again…”
~
Ginny was walking along a corridor when someone grabbed her and pulled her into an empty classroom. She opened her mouth to scream, but the aggressor had apparently thought to cover her mouth as well.
She reached for her wand, just as the aggressor spun her around to face him, and she found herself face to face with Malfoy.
“Weasel,” Draco greeted cordially, as if he hadn’t just scared the living daylights out of her.
“Malfoy! What do you think you’re doing!”
“Well, I needed to speak to you about something,” he said, smirking at her discomposure.
“And you thought the best way was to kidnap me? Why don’t you just look for me at lunch, like a normal person?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I have a reputation to maintain. I can’t be seen strutting up to a Weasley for a little chat. In fact, I can’t be seen talking to you except by way of insult.”
“Like that wasn’t an insult,” Ginny muttered darkly, pocketing her wand. “Anyway, next time just send me an owl or something. I don’t really fancy this whole cloak-and-dagger thing. You probably shortened my lifespan by ten years.”
“Right, I’ll keep that in mind the next time I want to call you for a bit of a chat.”
“Just consider yourself lucky I didn't take your head off,” Ginny grumbled. “Well, get to it. What’s so important that you had to kidnap me?”
Draco was annoyed with himself for getting so carried away with their banter that he had forgotten the purpose of their chat. Wait—banter? They didn’t banter. That sounded too much like flirting. They were arguing, that’s what it was.
“We need to do something about your friend Lovegood,” he told her.
“Why, what’s wrong with Luna?” Ginny demanded hotly, her hackles rising at the mention of a problem with her friend. “Granted, she’s a bit odd sometimes, but she’s extremely sweet and lovely, and there’s no need to ‘do something’ about her!”
Draco’s lips quirked at how defensive she was being. She was an amusing little thing – some of the time.
“Luna isn’t just ‘a bit odd’,” he clarified. “She’s definitely gone around the bend. She’s bloody stalking me. She thinks I need counselling. She thinks I have a crush on you!”
“Oh Merlin, not that again!” Ginny exclaimed, looking apologetic.
Luna had been very persistent about this whole ‘secret love’ thing. It was enough to drive anyone mad, and for once she was glad that her friend was in a different House. However, she had no idea that Luna was also seeking Malfoy out. After all, it wasn’t like they routinely spent time together.
“She’s outside the library like clockwork every night, waiting for me,” Draco complained.
Ginny had to snigger at the mental image of Draco creeping out of the library like You-Know-Who was after him. “Scared of a little girl?”
“I’m not scared!” Draco protested. Really, the Weasel was entirely missing the point. “As I said before, it’s bad for my reputation to be seen talking to people from the lower echelons of society. My friends are starting to notice.”
“Well, what do you want me to do? It’s not like I haven’t tried to get her to stop, but when Luna gets an idea, it’s … well, it’s very hard to change her mind.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m about to start docking points off Ravenclaw for annoying the Head Boy.”
“Look,” Ginny began in what she hoped was a calm and reasonable voice, although at this point she thought her friend deserved getting points docked (stalking Malfoy? Really? ), “perhaps it’s best to just lie low for a couple of weeks until Luna gets bored. Avoid the library. In fact, avoid lingering in public areas alone.”
Merlin, she was speaking as if Luna were an axe-murderer. How had it come to this?
“Look ,Weasel, I’m not about to fail my NEWTS just because Lovegood thinks we’re secretly in love.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a bunch; I’m sure there are plenty of other places in Hogwarts for studying.”
As it turned out, there weren’t plenty of other places in Hogwarts for studying, proven by the fact that one Tuesday evening, Ginny found her study session interrupted by the appearance of Draco.
“Go away, I was here first,” she said, annoyed.
“Last I checked, the Room of Requirement was still Hogwarts property. Anyway, you’re the one who suggested I find another place to study,” Draco retorted, setting his books down.
“Yes, well, I meant someplace else.”
“It’s just your luck, then, that Loo—na seems to have found me in every single one.”
She’d even found him in the room between the third and fourth floor which could only be gotten to by stepping on certain trick steps, and which only he and a few other Slytherins knew about.
“Don’t you have your own room?” Ginny persisted. She had fifteen inches of The Use of Hellion Leaves in Levitating Charms left to write and she dearly wanted to finish it by the end of the night. She did not appreciate this disruption.
“The bed’s too distracting.”
“And here I thought the Great Draco Malfoy didn’t have a lazy bone in his body.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Draco said with a lift of an eyebrow, letting his meaning sink in fully.
“Oh, eww! Too much information there. I did not need to know that.”
“Well, now you do. Scoot over.”
“Fine. But if you make so much as a sound, I will personally see to it that you never need a bed again.”
“You know, that’s technically wrong, because if you maim me I’ll probably have to be in bed all the time.”
Ginny shot him a withering stare. “Dead people don’t need beds, do they?” she snapped, to which he had no answer.
They worked in silence for the best part of an hour. Ginny was surprised to note that Draco was a disciplined worker. Unlike her, he wasn’t prone to bouts of staring into space or doodling. He was one of the top students in his year, and now, when she actually thought about it, it made sense. Before, she’d always dismissed it, thinking that Snape had pushed up his grades. But now she saw that it had been pretty stupid of her. Favouritism would only go so far, especially considering that Potions was only one out of six or seven subjects.
“Malfoy?”
“Hmm.”
“How good are you at Herbology?”
“I’m good at everything, but that doesn’t mean I want to help you.”
“You’re a real arse, you know that?”
“Thanks, I get that all the time.”
She sat there frowning, and after a few moments of this strangely sullen Ginny, Draco caved. “Fine. What is it? And make it quick.”
Ginny’s frown was instantly replaced by a grin, and she pushed her book towards him. Draco Malfoy knew just how to push all her buttons, but perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all.
~
Draco was surprised to see her there again the next evening.
“Apparently you don’t find me that hateful, do you?” he said with a smirk.
She shrugged. “Yup, and ‘not hateful’ is probably the best compliment anyone can pay you,” she replied smoothly, and promptly went back to her work.
As NEWTS were approaching, Draco didn’t have much choice. Every evening, he went down to the Room of Requirement, toting his books and notes. The Weaselette seemed to have got used to having him around. Without a word (though with some huffs of annoyance), she’d shift her things to make space for him and they would study in companionable silence (for the most part).
Sometimes, they would talk when taking short breaks or when bored with their work. They’d tacitly called a semi-truce since this whole ridiculous debacle with Lovegood, and he found that she could be quite good company when she wasn’t yelling at him or trying to hex him.
She was interesting, he’d give her that. Unlike other girls, she wasn’t overly concerned with what he thought (in fact, she wasn’t concerned at all, which was to tell the truth a bit ego-bruising). She was quick-witted and they could banter for ages (though he’d suddenly feel uncomfortable with the fact that he was conversing so easily with a Weasley, and would stop).
On one of these occasions, Draco was just finishing up a chapter for Astronomy when Ginny closed her book with a loud bang.
He frowned at her, annoyed, but she seemed not to notice him.
“Merlin, I’m hungry,” she said to no one in particular, stretching her arms above her head.
“Me too,” Draco said offhandedly, contemplating the way the buttons on her slightly sheer cotton blouse seemed to strain when she did that.
He was shocked out of his reverie when she suddenly said, “Want to grab some supper?”
What was he doing, looking at the Weaslette as if she were a girl?
At his silence, Ginny laughed. “Close your mouth, Malfoy; I was just being polite. I won’t be offended if you say no. In fact, more food for me is always better!” Her stomach rumbled, as if on cue.
“If I don’t go, will there still be food at lunch tomorrow?”
Ginny played along, refusing to let him spoil her good mood at having finished her monstrously long and tedious essay. “Nope, I’ll have sent it all home to my starving, dirt-poor family. They rely on my handouts, you know.” She peered over his shoulder. “Are you done for the day?”
In fact, Draco had a few pages left to read. But what the heck. “Yeah, let’s get some supper,” he said.
As Draco packed his things, he felt thoroughly unsettled. He was a systematic kind of person – he woke up at seven-thirty every morning like clockwork (unless it was a weekend, in which case he woke up at ten-thirty) and took his baths at nine every night. He liked things in order and enjoyed making lists and plans. Part of his study plan was to finish Chapter Eight of his Astronomy course book by today. His preparation for the NEWTS was coming along quite splendidly, but why had he compromised? A spot of supper sounded good, yes, but he could have easily had it after he had finished his work. He didn’t need company. He especially didn’t need her company.
“Finally,” Ginny said as he made his way towards the door. “I thought we were going to have breakfast instead at the rate you were going.”
Nope, he had no idea what he was doing with the Weaslette.
~
As they walked down the corridors, Ginny couldn’t help but be painfully aware of the unlikely situation they were in. A Weasley and a Malfoy, having a meal together. What if her housemates saw them? What would she say? Would she tell them to sod off, Malfoy was—what? A real git overall, but all right sometimes? He probably wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to her, had they run into Slytherins.
As it turned out, her concerns had no chance to materialise as they reached the kitchens uneventfully.
“It’s the Miz Weazy!” Dobby exclaimed happily as he spotted Ginny. "And Master Malfoy," he added uncertainly, probably remembering his sock-less days at Malfoy Manor.
“Hello, Dobby! Nice socks,” Ginny said, nodding at the fluffy purple-and-orange striped confection on his feet.
Draco snorted, and Ginny elbowed him. “Be nice,” she warned.
Dobby preened at the compliment. “Harry Potter is giving it to Dobby for his birthday, Miz!” he informed them, eyes brimming with tears of joy at the memory. “What would the Missus and Master like to eat?”
“Everything you have. ‘Miz Weazy’ here is sending it home to her family,” Draco said as Ginny shot him a glare.
“Two plates of dinner will do, Dobby. Thanks!”
There was a silence as Dobby scrambled to get them food.
“So,” Ginny said, wracking her brain for something to say. “This is pretty strange, isn’t it?”
"It is now that you've gone and said it,” Draco told her.
Ginny frowned. “You don’t have to be an arse all the time, Malfoy. I was just making conversation.”
“Actually I do have to; otherwise I’d get kicked out of Slytherin.”
Ginny couldn’t help a grin at that. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess you’re forgiven then.”
“Really? You’re giving me permission to be an arse?”
“Like you can help it.”
They tucked in happily as Dobby set plates of bangers and mash in front of them. Neither of them heard the portrait door slide open.
“Well, isn’t this cosy!” Luna exclaimed happily, considering the uneaten plates of food in front of Ginny and Draco. This was perfect. She had them right where she wanted them – with plates of unfinished food and nowhere to run.
She settled herself on a chair and whipped a notebook and pen out of her satchel. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”
Draco suppressed a groan. All of a sudden, his bangers and mash looked more traitorous than appetising. He looked at Ginny, who shrugged in resignation.
“Fine. Fire away,” Draco said. “Just know that we vehemently deny that anything’s going on.”
“The boy speaks on behalf of both,” Luna said aloud, writing in her notebook and earning a glare from Draco. “All right, let’s start. Why isn’t there anything going on?”
“We can’t stand each other,” Ginny quickly pointed out.
As the words left her mouth, she realised that they weren’t entirely true. Given the past week, she could no longer honestly say that she couldn’t stand him. Was he a pleasant person? No. Could she stand him? Yes. In fact, she kind of enjoyed his dry, caustic sense of humour, although she would never in a million years tell him that.
“Really?” Luna queried. “Why are you eating together, then? Did you meet in the kitchens by accident?”
Ginny and Draco looked at each other guiltily. Damn Luna for being so darn observant. “Well…”
“I think we need to get this out first.” Luna turned to Ginny. “Do you hate him?”
Ginny looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Well…”
“Is that a ‘no’?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I can’t say I hate him.” The words were nearly a whisper.
Draco looked extremely smug.
“And you?” Luna asked, turning to Draco.
“Well, I don’t hate myself, obviously—”
“Malfoy,” Luna said warningly.
Draco sighed. Really, there was no point making this long and painful; he might as well give the girl some answers so that maybe she would leave and he would be able to eat in peace. “No.”
Luna’s face broke into a grin. “Right. So far we’ve established that the both of you don’t hate each other. This is going splendidly, can you tell?”
Draco scowled.
Oblivious, Luna read the next question off her checklist. “Why don’t you give each other a chance?”
Draco snorted. “Are you kidding? I think it speaks for itself.”
“No, it doesn’t. You don’t hate each other—”
“Luna,” Ginny interjected, “if I dated every guy I didn’t ‘hate’, I’d be dating half of Hogwarts, as in all the males.”
“But you’ve got wonderful chemistry! Why don’t you think it would work?”
“For one, I can’t imagine my parents would be too pleased, can you?” Draco pointed out.
“Yeah, his dad tried to kill me once, remember?” Ginny added through a mouthful of mashed potato.
“Merlin, Weasel, could you be any more uncouth?”
In answer, Ginny grinned at him and mimicked a burp, to which Draco snorted.
“Wonderful chemistry, check,” Luna said, putting a small tick in her notebook. She turned to Draco. “Now, why don’t you think your parents will be pleased? Ginny is a pureblood, no?”
“Yes, but she’s a Weasley,” Draco said slowly, as if speaking to a very small child. “That red hair is reason enough for my father to write me out of his will.”
“You know, I think the hate is back,” Ginny muttered, but Luna didn’t seem to hear her.
“Is this the only ground for your parents’ objections?” she asked Draco, scribbling.
“Probably that I can’t speak Parseltongue,” Ginny piped up sarcastically.
Draco pointedly ignored her. “As mentioned, she has terribly poor table manners.”
“Like being rude and obnoxious is good manners,” Ginny snapped.
She had no idea why she was suddenly in such a terrible mood. She didn’t want to date Malfoy, so why did she care? Obviously, her brain reasoned, it’s because she was insulted by his offhanded dismissal of her altogether as a possible candidate. After all, who was he but an annoying prick? How dare he put her down as if she were entirely unworthy?
“Anything else?” Luna pressed.
“It just wouldn’t work,” Draco said emphatically. “Not that we want it to work.”
Luna blinked. “I see,” she said in a way that made it abundantly clear that she did not see. “Ginny, what about you?”
“Given that he just spent the past minute insulting me, I think you know why,” Ginny said lightly, hoping that the hurt she felt didn’t show. “Not to mention I’d be responsible for giving Ron a heart attack.”
“That’s the first positive thing you’ve thought of, Weasley,” Draco said. “Anyway, Lovegood, it’s getting rather late and as this interrogation has been about as enjoyable as my last tooth extraction, I think I’ll be going now.”
Draco strode down the corridor, feeling unsettled by the whole encounter. When Luna had asked why he and Ginny didn’t give each other a chance, he’d considered it a stupid question. Now that he got to thinking about it, though, why was it that his family’s disapproval was the only reason he could come up with in answer to her question?
Ginny was still loud and brash and didn’t shrink from telling him when to stuff it (which she did quite often, and enjoyed far too much), but somewhere along the way it seemed he’d forgotten how to be annoyed at these characteristics – at least on her.
What had changed, and when?
~
Lucius was in his study, engaging in his favourite pastime – counting money – when he heard a strange scratching sound outside his window. At first he ignored it, but the sound became more persistent. He went to check and realised that it was a scrawny miniature owl bearing the Hogwarts crest. Strange. Draco never used school owls; there was no need to use them when he had his own eagle owl. Perhaps it was from one of the staff?
That’s my boy, Lucius thought, his lips quirking as he remembered his own ‘bad boy’ reputation in Hogwarts. Although, on the other hand, Head Boy did have a nice ring to it.
He opened the letter, and had to sit down almost immediately.
Dear Mr and Mrs Malfoy,
Let me first introduce myself. My name is Luna Lovegood, and I go to school with your son Draco. Mr Malfoy might remember me; we met at the Department of Mysteries. You may not have recognised me though, as at the time my head was swollen and also it was quite dark…
~
Luna Lovegood enjoyed mealtimes. It was the one time everyone from all four Houses sat together in one place, and she enjoyed observing the behavioural quirks of the different people. She had concluded very early on that House stereotypes were quite accurate (technically), but also quite misleading in that they only skimmed the surface of the myriad of characteristics possible in any given person.
For instance, Hermione Granger (who was currently lecturing Ron and Harry about something, as far as Luna could tell), was righteous and dared to stand up for her beliefs (she had set up an official Hogwarts S.P.E.W., although attendance was dismal, to say the least), as a Gryffindor should be. However, she was also extremely resourceful (a Slytherin trait) and much smarter than many Ravenclaws.
Luna pondered on these things as she slowly worked her way through her bacon and toast, but her enjoyment was interrupted by an angry voice.
“Lovegood!”
“Oh, hello, Draco. Good morning,” Luna greeted breezily.
Draco was brandishing what appeared to be a few crumpled pieces of parchment. “What is the meaning of this?” he bellowed.
Luna read:
Dear Draco,
Imagine my surprise when I received a letter from one of your schoolmates this afternoon informing me of your attachment to the Weasley girl. I have attached the letter for your perusal and demand to know what is going on.
Your mother and I are pleased that she’s a pureblood, but as I have always said, all that red hair is absolutely ghastly. Gentlemen (such as yours truly) prefer blondes, and you should be no exception. In short: what are you thinking, going after a Weasley? I hope I have brought you up with better taste than that.
Your mother is also extremely miffed that she is always ‘the last to know these things’. Please placate her before she spends our entire fortune in Madame Malkin’s and Twenty-Four Carats.
Regards,
Your father
P.S. I shouldn’t have to remind you that the Weasleys breed like rabbits. If you feel the need to partake in certain unsavoury activities with the Weasley girl, be sure to take the necessary precautions. I do not want to see pink-haired babies running around here anytime soon.
~
Ron Weasley was stealing some of Hermione’s bacon when he noted that a silence had befallen the Great Hall. Oh, Merlin, it must be You-Know-Who, was his first thought.
Ron looked frantically around, and was about to warn Harry and Hermione when he saw that Malfoy was stalking over to the Ravenclaw table as the rest of the Great Hall watched on. Oh, just one of those things, he thought, sinking back into his seat in relief. Malfoy was waving a piece of parchment around and gesticulating wildly to Luna, who looked only mildly interested in his ramblings.
Ron elbowed Harry. “Hey, look, Malfoy’s finally gone bonkers.”
Then he felt a rush of air beside him. Ginny had got up and was going over to the Ravenclaw table as well. Ron put his head in his hands and groaned. Why was Ginny always getting herself involved in these things? Malfoy was a prat, no doubt, and Luna was a friend, no doubt, but couldn’t she let Luna fight her own battles? As her brother, it was his duty to ‘make sure she didn’t get bullied’, as Mum had put it. Ginny? Get bullied? Ron scoffed. Who had Mum been living with the past sixteen years?
~
Ginny stalked over to the Ravenclaw table.
Although she’d come to know that Draco’s bark was much, much worse than his bite, it didn’t hurt letting him know that there was at least one other person on Luna’s side, given that those spineless Ravenclaws wouldn’t do a damn thing to help her.
She got there just in time to hear Luna saying, “You know, I never pegged you as the sort of person who did things just because your parents told you to, even if you thought differently. I thought you were your own person, Malfoy. Perhaps I was wrong.”
Draco was silent, and Ginny took this as her chance to interrupt. “What’s going on?”
In response (although Ginny had actually addressed Luna), Draco shoved two pieces of parchment under her nose. She recognised Luna’s loopy handwriting, and felt some measure of dread well up in the pit of her stomach.
… I write pertaining to your son, Draco Malfoy. It concerns his love life, which you would agree is of extreme importance. You see, I have recently found out that Draco is secretly in love with Ginny Weasley. However, he is hesitant to make a move – a very important move, I might add, which concerns his future happiness – because he believes that you will not approve. Before you get upset and cut him out of your will (as Draco predicts you will), I would like to point out that although Ginny may not have the best table manners, she is one of the best and nicest girls at Hogwarts. She is also smart, kind and good at Quidditch. And although she cannot speak Parseltongue, in my opinion, being able to curse effectively in twelve languages is a far superior skill.
Of course, Ginny herself is not too amenable to the idea of a relationship with Draco, but that is another matter altogether. In the meantime, I hope that you will give him your blessings and encourage him in this pursuit. Thank you.
P.S. Have you heard of Romeo and Juliet? With your help, hopefully it will not come down to that.
Regards,
Luna Lovegood
“Luna!” Ginny wailed. “You’ve gone too far this time!” She hated the whiny sound that was issuing from her mouth, but the situation well and truly warranted it.
“Ginny, I know what you are going to say; however, this is for your own good.” Luna said, sounding serious and mature for someone who had written a letter to Lucius Malfoy telling him that his son was in love with his mortal enemy’s daughter.
“Did you consider mine?” Draco snapped. “My father is going to have my head for this.”
Luna peered at him. “Did you read the letter properly? I rather thought he seemed okay with it. He even considered what your children might look like.”
This was apparently too much for Draco, who looked faint. Snatching the pieces of parchment away, he stormed off, muttering to himself.
On the other side of the Great Hall, Ron looked relieved that he wouldn’t have to go over and stop the fight. “Definitely bonkers.”
~
Luna thought hard as she lay in bed that night. The map that she had ‘borrowed’ from Harry (without his permission, but she fully intended on returning it as soon as she got what she needed out of it. And, anyway, what use would he have for it? Saving the world? Pfft.) had come in useful in pinpointing exactly where Malfoy and Ginny were, but it wasn’t enough. They had proven terribly stubborn, but Luna was not about to give up without a fight.
Something more had to be done. It was time to bring in the professionals.
~
That was why, when said Head Boy told her to ‘kindly look in the mirror, no wonder you can’t get Potter’, she did not coolly tell him to get a life as she normally would (it wasn’t a sore spot as she had got over Harry an age ago). Instead, she didn’t hesitate to fling back a few choice insults about his suspiciously meticulous grooming habits and probable sexual preferences (she had crafted them before and saved them for times when her mind wasn’t functioning properly, like right then).
Before long, it had escalated into full-blown mud-slinging, involving incidents dredged up from years past (the ferret incident and the Valentine incident being favourites), and people were seen ducking behind pillars and taking alternative routes to avoid being drawn into the fray.
Luna Lovegood, with her usual detached air, walked right into the fray. “There, there,” she said, placing a placating hand on each of them. “No one else is here now; you can drop the act.”
This was a strange enough pronouncement to cause the sparring duo to stop in their tracks and stare.
“What in Merlin’s name…” Draco muttered. He could tell it was going to be another one of those days.
“Luna,” Ginny demanded, “is this about the ‘unresolved sexual tension’ again? Because if it is, I swear—”
“You know, I think we need to have a nice bit of chat. I’ll go get some tea and cookies, and you can just talk.” Luna winked exaggeratedly at Draco, who in return gaped at her with unabashed horror. After the incident on Friday (during which the Weasel had nearly knocked him out cold), he had thought that had been the end of that, but the loopy blonde was apparently thicker than Hogwarts, A History.
Ginny looked ready to redirect her temper. “Luna, breakfast is nearly over and we have to go for Charms right after.”
“Later, then.”
“That’s besides the point. There is no unresolved sexual tension. Malfoy and I hate each other. End of story.”
“Denial is a river in Egypt, Gin,” Luna said, wagging a finger at her and regarding her with large, solemn eyes. “It doesn’t belong in Hogwarts.”
“Look,” Draco interjected, although he would dearly have loved to see the Weaselette lose her temper with her friend (which, by his astute calculation, would have happened extremely soon), “I can understand if the Weasel is secretly besotted with me, or something. It happens all the time. But you can be absolutely certain that I, for one, have never looked at her with anything other than unbridled dislike and no small amount of pity and condescension. No offence, of course,” he added, smirking at Ginny.
“None taken,” Ginny replied, rolling her eyes. “Frankly, I’d be more worried if you had any other feelings towards me.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Weasel.”
“You won’t even try?” Luna asked, turning her large blue eyes on them.
Ginny huffed, while Malfoy stared back at her, unblinking. “I’ve got a class to get to,” he said after a moment, and strode away.
Fine. Clearly, Malfoy was too besotted with Ginny to fall prey to Luna’s beguiling big eyes. And Ginny, well, Ginny was just being Ginny, i.e. stubborn as a hippogriff. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the two were just trying to postpone the inevitable, stubborn dunderheads that they were. She would just have to take matters into her own hand.
“Luna, you’ve got to stop with this ‘unresolved tension’ thing; it’s ridiculous!” Ginny exploded after Draco had left.
“This is just like the time with the thestrals!” Luna exclaimed. “People always tell me I’m being ridiculous. But then people always refuse to see what’s staring them in the face,” she added pointedly. “Don’t you agree?”
“This is different! Malfoy and I… it’s an impossibility. Like… Filch and Madam Pince,” she said, her tongue alighting on possibly the two most incompatible people in Hogwarts. Just thinking about them together made her stomach curl.
Luna looked doubtful. “You know, I saw them the other day—”
“Nope, I don’t think I want to hear anything about it,” Ginny interjected, slapping her hands over her ears to avoid being scarred for life.
Trying to convince Luna was like trying to coax a dragon to take a bath. Ginny thought about the time Luna had insisted on dancing naked on the Quidditch pitch at midnight on the Summer Solstice. And the time Luna was convinced that Terry Boot was a vampire. And the time Luna tried to petition for the inclusion of Nargles in their Care of Magical Creatures syllabus. In all those cases, Ginny had given up persuading her friend to drop the matter after a while and had left her to her own devices. But then those instances didn’t personally involve her. This time, though, she was just going to have to try a little harder.
~
“I think the little blonde girl is stalking you,” Blaise Zabini observed with a touch of envy as he and Draco left the library on a cold Thursday night to see Luna hovering by the door for the fourth time that week.
Draco repressed a groan. He had entertained Luna the first time, but after it had become clear that her object was to ‘counsel’ him about his ‘repressed emotions’, he had begun ignoring her, hoping she would eventually give up. After all, didn’t she have anything better to do than follow him around and annoy him? As it turned out, she didn’t.
“Malfoy charm and all that,” Draco muttered to Blaise in explanation. It was best not to tell Blaise what was going on. He’d probably find the whole thing a hoot and give Loony all sorts of ‘helpful’ tips. The thought of Loony and Blaise working together to ‘counsel’ him sent a shudder through his body.
“Go ahead, I’ll catch up,” he told Blaise.
After making sure that Blaise had turned the corner, Draco turned furiously to Luna. “Lovegood, what is it this time? And if you say one word about Ginny Weasley, I’ll dock points off Ravenclaw.”
“Why, I just wanted to inform you that Professor Flitwick was looking for you. However, since you mentioned Ginny—” here she smiled, and Draco was suddenly hideously aware that she probably wasn’t the vacant little girl everyone thought she was “—I think we need to have a little talk about her, don’t you?”
“For the last time, there’s nothing between the Weasel and I!” Draco exclaimed furiously. “Give it up, Lovegood, it’ll never happen.”
Draco stalked off, but Luna’s airy voice chased him down the corridor. “You know, Father always tells me that I’m extremely persistent when it comes to things I believe in. If I fail, I try again and again and again…”
~
Ginny was walking along a corridor when someone grabbed her and pulled her into an empty classroom. She opened her mouth to scream, but the aggressor had apparently thought to cover her mouth as well.
She reached for her wand, just as the aggressor spun her around to face him, and she found herself face to face with Malfoy.
“Weasel,” Draco greeted cordially, as if he hadn’t just scared the living daylights out of her.
“Malfoy! What do you think you’re doing!”
“Well, I needed to speak to you about something,” he said, smirking at her discomposure.
“And you thought the best way was to kidnap me? Why don’t you just look for me at lunch, like a normal person?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I have a reputation to maintain. I can’t be seen strutting up to a Weasley for a little chat. In fact, I can’t be seen talking to you except by way of insult.”
“Like that wasn’t an insult,” Ginny muttered darkly, pocketing her wand. “Anyway, next time just send me an owl or something. I don’t really fancy this whole cloak-and-dagger thing. You probably shortened my lifespan by ten years.”
“Right, I’ll keep that in mind the next time I want to call you for a bit of a chat.”
“Just consider yourself lucky I didn't take your head off,” Ginny grumbled. “Well, get to it. What’s so important that you had to kidnap me?”
Draco was annoyed with himself for getting so carried away with their banter that he had forgotten the purpose of their chat. Wait—banter? They didn’t banter. That sounded too much like flirting. They were arguing, that’s what it was.
“We need to do something about your friend Lovegood,” he told her.
“Why, what’s wrong with Luna?” Ginny demanded hotly, her hackles rising at the mention of a problem with her friend. “Granted, she’s a bit odd sometimes, but she’s extremely sweet and lovely, and there’s no need to ‘do something’ about her!”
Draco’s lips quirked at how defensive she was being. She was an amusing little thing – some of the time.
“Luna isn’t just ‘a bit odd’,” he clarified. “She’s definitely gone around the bend. She’s bloody stalking me. She thinks I need counselling. She thinks I have a crush on you!”
“Oh Merlin, not that again!” Ginny exclaimed, looking apologetic.
Luna had been very persistent about this whole ‘secret love’ thing. It was enough to drive anyone mad, and for once she was glad that her friend was in a different House. However, she had no idea that Luna was also seeking Malfoy out. After all, it wasn’t like they routinely spent time together.
“She’s outside the library like clockwork every night, waiting for me,” Draco complained.
Ginny had to snigger at the mental image of Draco creeping out of the library like You-Know-Who was after him. “Scared of a little girl?”
“I’m not scared!” Draco protested. Really, the Weasel was entirely missing the point. “As I said before, it’s bad for my reputation to be seen talking to people from the lower echelons of society. My friends are starting to notice.”
“Well, what do you want me to do? It’s not like I haven’t tried to get her to stop, but when Luna gets an idea, it’s … well, it’s very hard to change her mind.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m about to start docking points off Ravenclaw for annoying the Head Boy.”
“Look,” Ginny began in what she hoped was a calm and reasonable voice, although at this point she thought her friend deserved getting points docked (stalking Malfoy? Really? ), “perhaps it’s best to just lie low for a couple of weeks until Luna gets bored. Avoid the library. In fact, avoid lingering in public areas alone.”
Merlin, she was speaking as if Luna were an axe-murderer. How had it come to this?
“Look ,Weasel, I’m not about to fail my NEWTS just because Lovegood thinks we’re secretly in love.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a bunch; I’m sure there are plenty of other places in Hogwarts for studying.”
As it turned out, there weren’t plenty of other places in Hogwarts for studying, proven by the fact that one Tuesday evening, Ginny found her study session interrupted by the appearance of Draco.
“Go away, I was here first,” she said, annoyed.
“Last I checked, the Room of Requirement was still Hogwarts property. Anyway, you’re the one who suggested I find another place to study,” Draco retorted, setting his books down.
“Yes, well, I meant someplace else.”
“It’s just your luck, then, that Loo—na seems to have found me in every single one.”
She’d even found him in the room between the third and fourth floor which could only be gotten to by stepping on certain trick steps, and which only he and a few other Slytherins knew about.
“Don’t you have your own room?” Ginny persisted. She had fifteen inches of The Use of Hellion Leaves in Levitating Charms left to write and she dearly wanted to finish it by the end of the night. She did not appreciate this disruption.
“The bed’s too distracting.”
“And here I thought the Great Draco Malfoy didn’t have a lazy bone in his body.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Draco said with a lift of an eyebrow, letting his meaning sink in fully.
“Oh, eww! Too much information there. I did not need to know that.”
“Well, now you do. Scoot over.”
“Fine. But if you make so much as a sound, I will personally see to it that you never need a bed again.”
“You know, that’s technically wrong, because if you maim me I’ll probably have to be in bed all the time.”
Ginny shot him a withering stare. “Dead people don’t need beds, do they?” she snapped, to which he had no answer.
They worked in silence for the best part of an hour. Ginny was surprised to note that Draco was a disciplined worker. Unlike her, he wasn’t prone to bouts of staring into space or doodling. He was one of the top students in his year, and now, when she actually thought about it, it made sense. Before, she’d always dismissed it, thinking that Snape had pushed up his grades. But now she saw that it had been pretty stupid of her. Favouritism would only go so far, especially considering that Potions was only one out of six or seven subjects.
“Malfoy?”
“Hmm.”
“How good are you at Herbology?”
“I’m good at everything, but that doesn’t mean I want to help you.”
“You’re a real arse, you know that?”
“Thanks, I get that all the time.”
She sat there frowning, and after a few moments of this strangely sullen Ginny, Draco caved. “Fine. What is it? And make it quick.”
Ginny’s frown was instantly replaced by a grin, and she pushed her book towards him. Draco Malfoy knew just how to push all her buttons, but perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all.
~
Draco was surprised to see her there again the next evening.
“Apparently you don’t find me that hateful, do you?” he said with a smirk.
She shrugged. “Yup, and ‘not hateful’ is probably the best compliment anyone can pay you,” she replied smoothly, and promptly went back to her work.
As NEWTS were approaching, Draco didn’t have much choice. Every evening, he went down to the Room of Requirement, toting his books and notes. The Weaselette seemed to have got used to having him around. Without a word (though with some huffs of annoyance), she’d shift her things to make space for him and they would study in companionable silence (for the most part).
Sometimes, they would talk when taking short breaks or when bored with their work. They’d tacitly called a semi-truce since this whole ridiculous debacle with Lovegood, and he found that she could be quite good company when she wasn’t yelling at him or trying to hex him.
She was interesting, he’d give her that. Unlike other girls, she wasn’t overly concerned with what he thought (in fact, she wasn’t concerned at all, which was to tell the truth a bit ego-bruising). She was quick-witted and they could banter for ages (though he’d suddenly feel uncomfortable with the fact that he was conversing so easily with a Weasley, and would stop).
On one of these occasions, Draco was just finishing up a chapter for Astronomy when Ginny closed her book with a loud bang.
He frowned at her, annoyed, but she seemed not to notice him.
“Merlin, I’m hungry,” she said to no one in particular, stretching her arms above her head.
“Me too,” Draco said offhandedly, contemplating the way the buttons on her slightly sheer cotton blouse seemed to strain when she did that.
He was shocked out of his reverie when she suddenly said, “Want to grab some supper?”
What was he doing, looking at the Weaslette as if she were a girl?
At his silence, Ginny laughed. “Close your mouth, Malfoy; I was just being polite. I won’t be offended if you say no. In fact, more food for me is always better!” Her stomach rumbled, as if on cue.
“If I don’t go, will there still be food at lunch tomorrow?”
Ginny played along, refusing to let him spoil her good mood at having finished her monstrously long and tedious essay. “Nope, I’ll have sent it all home to my starving, dirt-poor family. They rely on my handouts, you know.” She peered over his shoulder. “Are you done for the day?”
In fact, Draco had a few pages left to read. But what the heck. “Yeah, let’s get some supper,” he said.
As Draco packed his things, he felt thoroughly unsettled. He was a systematic kind of person – he woke up at seven-thirty every morning like clockwork (unless it was a weekend, in which case he woke up at ten-thirty) and took his baths at nine every night. He liked things in order and enjoyed making lists and plans. Part of his study plan was to finish Chapter Eight of his Astronomy course book by today. His preparation for the NEWTS was coming along quite splendidly, but why had he compromised? A spot of supper sounded good, yes, but he could have easily had it after he had finished his work. He didn’t need company. He especially didn’t need her company.
“Finally,” Ginny said as he made his way towards the door. “I thought we were going to have breakfast instead at the rate you were going.”
Nope, he had no idea what he was doing with the Weaslette.
~
As they walked down the corridors, Ginny couldn’t help but be painfully aware of the unlikely situation they were in. A Weasley and a Malfoy, having a meal together. What if her housemates saw them? What would she say? Would she tell them to sod off, Malfoy was—what? A real git overall, but all right sometimes? He probably wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to her, had they run into Slytherins.
As it turned out, her concerns had no chance to materialise as they reached the kitchens uneventfully.
“It’s the Miz Weazy!” Dobby exclaimed happily as he spotted Ginny. "And Master Malfoy," he added uncertainly, probably remembering his sock-less days at Malfoy Manor.
“Hello, Dobby! Nice socks,” Ginny said, nodding at the fluffy purple-and-orange striped confection on his feet.
Draco snorted, and Ginny elbowed him. “Be nice,” she warned.
Dobby preened at the compliment. “Harry Potter is giving it to Dobby for his birthday, Miz!” he informed them, eyes brimming with tears of joy at the memory. “What would the Missus and Master like to eat?”
“Everything you have. ‘Miz Weazy’ here is sending it home to her family,” Draco said as Ginny shot him a glare.
“Two plates of dinner will do, Dobby. Thanks!”
There was a silence as Dobby scrambled to get them food.
“So,” Ginny said, wracking her brain for something to say. “This is pretty strange, isn’t it?”
"It is now that you've gone and said it,” Draco told her.
Ginny frowned. “You don’t have to be an arse all the time, Malfoy. I was just making conversation.”
“Actually I do have to; otherwise I’d get kicked out of Slytherin.”
Ginny couldn’t help a grin at that. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess you’re forgiven then.”
“Really? You’re giving me permission to be an arse?”
“Like you can help it.”
They tucked in happily as Dobby set plates of bangers and mash in front of them. Neither of them heard the portrait door slide open.
“Well, isn’t this cosy!” Luna exclaimed happily, considering the uneaten plates of food in front of Ginny and Draco. This was perfect. She had them right where she wanted them – with plates of unfinished food and nowhere to run.
She settled herself on a chair and whipped a notebook and pen out of her satchel. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”
Draco suppressed a groan. All of a sudden, his bangers and mash looked more traitorous than appetising. He looked at Ginny, who shrugged in resignation.
“Fine. Fire away,” Draco said. “Just know that we vehemently deny that anything’s going on.”
“The boy speaks on behalf of both,” Luna said aloud, writing in her notebook and earning a glare from Draco. “All right, let’s start. Why isn’t there anything going on?”
“We can’t stand each other,” Ginny quickly pointed out.
As the words left her mouth, she realised that they weren’t entirely true. Given the past week, she could no longer honestly say that she couldn’t stand him. Was he a pleasant person? No. Could she stand him? Yes. In fact, she kind of enjoyed his dry, caustic sense of humour, although she would never in a million years tell him that.
“Really?” Luna queried. “Why are you eating together, then? Did you meet in the kitchens by accident?”
Ginny and Draco looked at each other guiltily. Damn Luna for being so darn observant. “Well…”
“I think we need to get this out first.” Luna turned to Ginny. “Do you hate him?”
Ginny looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Well…”
“Is that a ‘no’?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I can’t say I hate him.” The words were nearly a whisper.
Draco looked extremely smug.
“And you?” Luna asked, turning to Draco.
“Well, I don’t hate myself, obviously—”
“Malfoy,” Luna said warningly.
Draco sighed. Really, there was no point making this long and painful; he might as well give the girl some answers so that maybe she would leave and he would be able to eat in peace. “No.”
Luna’s face broke into a grin. “Right. So far we’ve established that the both of you don’t hate each other. This is going splendidly, can you tell?”
Draco scowled.
Oblivious, Luna read the next question off her checklist. “Why don’t you give each other a chance?”
Draco snorted. “Are you kidding? I think it speaks for itself.”
“No, it doesn’t. You don’t hate each other—”
“Luna,” Ginny interjected, “if I dated every guy I didn’t ‘hate’, I’d be dating half of Hogwarts, as in all the males.”
“But you’ve got wonderful chemistry! Why don’t you think it would work?”
“For one, I can’t imagine my parents would be too pleased, can you?” Draco pointed out.
“Yeah, his dad tried to kill me once, remember?” Ginny added through a mouthful of mashed potato.
“Merlin, Weasel, could you be any more uncouth?”
In answer, Ginny grinned at him and mimicked a burp, to which Draco snorted.
“Wonderful chemistry, check,” Luna said, putting a small tick in her notebook. She turned to Draco. “Now, why don’t you think your parents will be pleased? Ginny is a pureblood, no?”
“Yes, but she’s a Weasley,” Draco said slowly, as if speaking to a very small child. “That red hair is reason enough for my father to write me out of his will.”
“You know, I think the hate is back,” Ginny muttered, but Luna didn’t seem to hear her.
“Is this the only ground for your parents’ objections?” she asked Draco, scribbling.
“Probably that I can’t speak Parseltongue,” Ginny piped up sarcastically.
Draco pointedly ignored her. “As mentioned, she has terribly poor table manners.”
“Like being rude and obnoxious is good manners,” Ginny snapped.
She had no idea why she was suddenly in such a terrible mood. She didn’t want to date Malfoy, so why did she care? Obviously, her brain reasoned, it’s because she was insulted by his offhanded dismissal of her altogether as a possible candidate. After all, who was he but an annoying prick? How dare he put her down as if she were entirely unworthy?
“Anything else?” Luna pressed.
“It just wouldn’t work,” Draco said emphatically. “Not that we want it to work.”
Luna blinked. “I see,” she said in a way that made it abundantly clear that she did not see. “Ginny, what about you?”
“Given that he just spent the past minute insulting me, I think you know why,” Ginny said lightly, hoping that the hurt she felt didn’t show. “Not to mention I’d be responsible for giving Ron a heart attack.”
“That’s the first positive thing you’ve thought of, Weasley,” Draco said. “Anyway, Lovegood, it’s getting rather late and as this interrogation has been about as enjoyable as my last tooth extraction, I think I’ll be going now.”
Draco strode down the corridor, feeling unsettled by the whole encounter. When Luna had asked why he and Ginny didn’t give each other a chance, he’d considered it a stupid question. Now that he got to thinking about it, though, why was it that his family’s disapproval was the only reason he could come up with in answer to her question?
Ginny was still loud and brash and didn’t shrink from telling him when to stuff it (which she did quite often, and enjoyed far too much), but somewhere along the way it seemed he’d forgotten how to be annoyed at these characteristics – at least on her.
What had changed, and when?
~
Lucius was in his study, engaging in his favourite pastime – counting money – when he heard a strange scratching sound outside his window. At first he ignored it, but the sound became more persistent. He went to check and realised that it was a scrawny miniature owl bearing the Hogwarts crest. Strange. Draco never used school owls; there was no need to use them when he had his own eagle owl. Perhaps it was from one of the staff?
That’s my boy, Lucius thought, his lips quirking as he remembered his own ‘bad boy’ reputation in Hogwarts. Although, on the other hand, Head Boy did have a nice ring to it.
He opened the letter, and had to sit down almost immediately.
Dear Mr and Mrs Malfoy,
Let me first introduce myself. My name is Luna Lovegood, and I go to school with your son Draco. Mr Malfoy might remember me; we met at the Department of Mysteries. You may not have recognised me though, as at the time my head was swollen and also it was quite dark…
~
Luna Lovegood enjoyed mealtimes. It was the one time everyone from all four Houses sat together in one place, and she enjoyed observing the behavioural quirks of the different people. She had concluded very early on that House stereotypes were quite accurate (technically), but also quite misleading in that they only skimmed the surface of the myriad of characteristics possible in any given person.
For instance, Hermione Granger (who was currently lecturing Ron and Harry about something, as far as Luna could tell), was righteous and dared to stand up for her beliefs (she had set up an official Hogwarts S.P.E.W., although attendance was dismal, to say the least), as a Gryffindor should be. However, she was also extremely resourceful (a Slytherin trait) and much smarter than many Ravenclaws.
Luna pondered on these things as she slowly worked her way through her bacon and toast, but her enjoyment was interrupted by an angry voice.
“Lovegood!”
“Oh, hello, Draco. Good morning,” Luna greeted breezily.
Draco was brandishing what appeared to be a few crumpled pieces of parchment. “What is the meaning of this?” he bellowed.
Luna read:
Dear Draco,
Imagine my surprise when I received a letter from one of your schoolmates this afternoon informing me of your attachment to the Weasley girl. I have attached the letter for your perusal and demand to know what is going on.
Your mother and I are pleased that she’s a pureblood, but as I have always said, all that red hair is absolutely ghastly. Gentlemen (such as yours truly) prefer blondes, and you should be no exception. In short: what are you thinking, going after a Weasley? I hope I have brought you up with better taste than that.
Your mother is also extremely miffed that she is always ‘the last to know these things’. Please placate her before she spends our entire fortune in Madame Malkin’s and Twenty-Four Carats.
Regards,
Your father
P.S. I shouldn’t have to remind you that the Weasleys breed like rabbits. If you feel the need to partake in certain unsavoury activities with the Weasley girl, be sure to take the necessary precautions. I do not want to see pink-haired babies running around here anytime soon.
~
Ron Weasley was stealing some of Hermione’s bacon when he noted that a silence had befallen the Great Hall. Oh, Merlin, it must be You-Know-Who, was his first thought.
Ron looked frantically around, and was about to warn Harry and Hermione when he saw that Malfoy was stalking over to the Ravenclaw table as the rest of the Great Hall watched on. Oh, just one of those things, he thought, sinking back into his seat in relief. Malfoy was waving a piece of parchment around and gesticulating wildly to Luna, who looked only mildly interested in his ramblings.
Ron elbowed Harry. “Hey, look, Malfoy’s finally gone bonkers.”
Then he felt a rush of air beside him. Ginny had got up and was going over to the Ravenclaw table as well. Ron put his head in his hands and groaned. Why was Ginny always getting herself involved in these things? Malfoy was a prat, no doubt, and Luna was a friend, no doubt, but couldn’t she let Luna fight her own battles? As her brother, it was his duty to ‘make sure she didn’t get bullied’, as Mum had put it. Ginny? Get bullied? Ron scoffed. Who had Mum been living with the past sixteen years?
~
Ginny stalked over to the Ravenclaw table.
Although she’d come to know that Draco’s bark was much, much worse than his bite, it didn’t hurt letting him know that there was at least one other person on Luna’s side, given that those spineless Ravenclaws wouldn’t do a damn thing to help her.
She got there just in time to hear Luna saying, “You know, I never pegged you as the sort of person who did things just because your parents told you to, even if you thought differently. I thought you were your own person, Malfoy. Perhaps I was wrong.”
Draco was silent, and Ginny took this as her chance to interrupt. “What’s going on?”
In response (although Ginny had actually addressed Luna), Draco shoved two pieces of parchment under her nose. She recognised Luna’s loopy handwriting, and felt some measure of dread well up in the pit of her stomach.
… I write pertaining to your son, Draco Malfoy. It concerns his love life, which you would agree is of extreme importance. You see, I have recently found out that Draco is secretly in love with Ginny Weasley. However, he is hesitant to make a move – a very important move, I might add, which concerns his future happiness – because he believes that you will not approve. Before you get upset and cut him out of your will (as Draco predicts you will), I would like to point out that although Ginny may not have the best table manners, she is one of the best and nicest girls at Hogwarts. She is also smart, kind and good at Quidditch. And although she cannot speak Parseltongue, in my opinion, being able to curse effectively in twelve languages is a far superior skill.
Of course, Ginny herself is not too amenable to the idea of a relationship with Draco, but that is another matter altogether. In the meantime, I hope that you will give him your blessings and encourage him in this pursuit. Thank you.
P.S. Have you heard of Romeo and Juliet? With your help, hopefully it will not come down to that.
Regards,
Luna Lovegood
“Luna!” Ginny wailed. “You’ve gone too far this time!” She hated the whiny sound that was issuing from her mouth, but the situation well and truly warranted it.
“Ginny, I know what you are going to say; however, this is for your own good.” Luna said, sounding serious and mature for someone who had written a letter to Lucius Malfoy telling him that his son was in love with his mortal enemy’s daughter.
“Did you consider mine?” Draco snapped. “My father is going to have my head for this.”
Luna peered at him. “Did you read the letter properly? I rather thought he seemed okay with it. He even considered what your children might look like.”
This was apparently too much for Draco, who looked faint. Snatching the pieces of parchment away, he stormed off, muttering to himself.
On the other side of the Great Hall, Ron looked relieved that he wouldn’t have to go over and stop the fight. “Definitely bonkers.”
~
Luna thought hard as she lay in bed that night. The map that she had ‘borrowed’ from Harry (without his permission, but she fully intended on returning it as soon as she got what she needed out of it. And, anyway, what use would he have for it? Saving the world? Pfft.) had come in useful in pinpointing exactly where Malfoy and Ginny were, but it wasn’t enough. They had proven terribly stubborn, but Luna was not about to give up without a fight.
Something more had to be done. It was time to bring in the professionals.
~
Author notes: Thank you for all your kind reviews! :)
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