neutral_omens | (no subject)

Date: October 8, 1999
Setting: Mostly in Draco’s room.
Status: Private (Draco, Luna)
Summary: Draco invites Luna to have dinner with him.

Draco was seriously annoyed. It had been enough of a shock running into Potter in the bar. Although he had managed to make that situation work for him. However, it was hard to see how the appearance of Luna Lovegood could make his life anything but difficult. She had to be prevented from alerting anyone about Harry’s whereabouts. She also had to be stopped from letting Potter know who he really was. But how?

Come on Draco, this isn’t impossible, he said to himself. Just use the old Malfoy charm and wit. Talk things over with her, and see what comes to you. Smiling slightly, Draco sat down at his desk and started to pen a letter.

Dear Ms. Lovegood, he wrote.

It was quite a surprise to see another person from school here at the Manor. I would love to catch up with you. Would you be averse to dining with me at 8 o’clock this evening, in my room? I am by no means disparaging the skills of the Manor’s resident chef, but we would have more privacy here than in the bar, and I am also quite a capable cook. My room, located on the right hand corridor of the third floor, has been equipped with a small kitchen and a larder. It’s the door right next to the stairs. I do hope you will be able to make it. I am certain that we will have lots of things to talk about.

Hopefully,

Draco Malfoy

Draco’s eagle owl hopped up to the desk eagerly, since it hadn’t received any tasks in quite some time. Draco attached Luna’s letter to its leg, and watched as it flew out the window.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This scenario hadn't been covered by the Malfoy Code of Conduct, even though that exhaustive text gave instructions on everything from the proper length of hair for males between the ages of 13 and 15 to how a Malfoy heir with more than two prosthetic limbs should go about courting a bride seven years his senior. His ancestors had probably never had to face anyone with no knowledge of wine. Draco felt like this must be an entirely new situation, with no precedent to guide him. Travesty though this was, it was probably in everybody's best interst if he didn't follow his natural first instinct to lunge across the table at Luna screaming, "You don't quaff fine wines, filthy commoner!"

Instead, Draco took a deep breath and said, quite calmly, "I'm sorry Luna, I'm just worried that you won't enjoy the wine to the fullest extent if you drink it all at once. It comes from an awfully good year, and I'd love to appreciate it properly with you."

Luna thought that Draco looked a bit red in the face, and that was never good - it was highly attractive to Gladblatter beetles. "Oh, um, I'm sorry?" said Luna, absently fingering the stem of the wineglass. "I don't really know much about wines, you see. I just know that there's red wine and white wine, and there are lots of different kinds of red and white wines. Maybe you could teach me? You could tell me what wine this is, and we could go on from there?"

"How are your friends, Grabbe and Coyle, then?" she said suddenly.

"Well, this is a 1916 Manet Chandon," Draco informed her, taking a tiny, tasteful sip. "Its flavoring is very subtle, and takes a lot of concentration to identify. I might test your palate with simpler, fruitier wine later." He paused momentarily, so caught up in his mental perusal of what wines were available that his anger was forgotten completely.

"Anyway, I haven't really kept in touch with, er, Grabbe and Coyle. We were never really close. The only person I'm in contact with from Hogwarts, apart from you, is Harry. We're pretty close these days. He's going to be moving in with me tomorrow, actually. I can tell you that he's fine, although he's in a very delicate stage right now. He wants to escape his old life, for a while."

"Oh. Oh. So that was why you both got so defensive when I tried to talk to him on his journal." Luna pondered the situation a little, before continuing. "So he's really moving in with you? And I must say that his 'amnesia' ruse is really working very well. As a matter of fact, I really thought that I was mistaken, and that he wasn't Harry." she paused, and blinked, as if thinking back on what she said. "Oh dear, now I'm confusing myself." She smiled mistily at Draco. "Yes, I can see why he would want to escape his old life for a while. But, um, do you have any idea when he'd be back from escaping from his old life, because from what Hermione has owled me, the situation is really getting somewhat out of hand. Ron and Ginny have been constantly moving, and well..." she trailed off, not sure how much to say. This was Malfoy, after all.

Draco took another sip of his wine and considered his words carefully. "I know the situation is getting pretty dire, but Harry really needs this vacation. He's spent nearly a decade burdened with the knowledge of who he is and what he has to do, and it's hurting him. In his new identity, he's purposefully forgotten all of his old friends, but still created reasons to stay away from them if they manage to track him down. They probably won't though, unless someone alerts them about his location. Think about it, though. The effort he's put into all of this is a pretty clear indication of how much he needs to get away from them for a while. It might seem strange, but it's what he needs. Everyone has needs, I guess. I'm sure you need something as well."

Draco was apprehensive, but not very. Strange as she was, Luna was a Ravenclaw, and should be able to recognize a bribe when she was offered one. And since it was in the name of helping Harry in his time of need, she would probably leap at the bait.

"Well, I guess it'll be up to him. I just hope that the others can cope. Aguamenti!" Luna sipped at the water that had appeared in her wineglass, imitating Draco unconsciously. "I never really thought about how all this is affecting him though. I mean, I knew that he disliked being the Boy-Who-Lived, but to go to such an extent." She paused, and shook her head, sighing. "Well, best of luck to him. And you. To you both." she said, raising her glass in a salute.

I'm sure you need something as well. Turning over the phrase in her mind, Luna detected a tinge of... something in the words. She couldn't recognize it though. "Well, yes. What I need is a bit of luck. My Crumple-Horned Snorkack expedition hasn't been going too well - we need more money to buy ceolocanth eyes and the intestines of a sturgeon in heat, and although the Quibbler has managed to cover for the expedition so far, my father has been having trouble raising money for these. But that's life, I guess." Even with scrimping and saving, they were still a few hundred Galleons short. And worse, Luna had detected from her father's owls that obtaining ceolocanth eyes might be potentially illegal. They really needed all the luck they could gather.

Draco was overjoyed. She's utterly willing to sell Potter out! She's not even being bashful! he thought exuberantly.

He's such a nice boy. Even though we didn't even know each other in school - I didn't even think that he knew my name - he's still so concerned. Perhaps we've all been mistaken about him all this while. thought Luna wonderingly. I'm just glad that Harry has him to turn to now.