Author's Note: You ought to be crazy if you think I own the characters
And How Does That Make You Feel?
Fanfiction by CranberryIce88
Sunlight drifted through the transparent ice blue curtains, slung lazily across the frosted window. There was a faint tapping of feet on the wood floor and the whole room filled with awkward silence. Luna Lovegood, 27 year old graduate of Hogwarts School paced around the strangely decorated room, stopping every so often to look out the window. Her hair was a fair shade of blonde, and her big eyes were buried in thought. "Whenever you're ready to talk, Carol"
Silence still remained, as the frizzy black haired girl lay on the couch. Her eyes were narrowed and had a look of confusion about them as she fixed her eyes on Luna. Giving the girl a quick glance, Luna continued her pacing, yet to make a breakthrough. The satin mint green robes she wore were torn at the bottom from the tears her heeled shoes left in them. But she loved that robe, and wore it quite often. Carol, much to her relief, finally spoke. "I. . .I'm just so confused, I've never done anything like this before, but Mum insisted that seeing you would be good for me since she heard of your reputation and. . ."
Luna let out a small smile, and shuffled her feet under her favorite robes. "So, why did your Mum send you here?"
The teenage girl held out her wrists, revealing a series of cuts that she apparently didn't know how to conceal with Magic. "First of all," Luna said to the girl "I can teach you a spell to cover those up, and second of all, why on earth did u mutilate yourself for?" The therapist let out a childish giggle, while Carol gave her a questioning look as if to say what in Merlin's name was my Mum thinking?
Luna merely nodded, used to the semi-shocked faces she received from her patients, after they realize that she wasn't going to sit down and analyze their every move. What good would that do, other than point out all their faults and make them feel more inferior then usual? At age 27, Luna was extremely successful, although not widely known as a professional in the psychological field. Still, she had the same quirky spirit she always possessed. Our little dreamer. And through that, Luna learned to understand people. Their flaws, their insecurities, and all the mistakes that resulted from them.
She lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of Diagon Alley, past a winding road, and into a forest that barely a soul thought to remember. But Luna loved it, and all its quaint beauty. Waiting for her, when she left the office, would be Harry Potter. Brilliance as she knew it, with that cute smile and the dark eyes that told tales from long ago. Of death, of heart ache, and adventure. Luna loved those eyes. She wasn't wed to Harry, but it had been for a good 2 months that they were living together.
Harry loved her oddities, and many they were. They were a dynamic couple, both out helping to improve the wizarding world. Harry, being an Auror and Luna, being a therapist. Voldemort's fall had long died down, but the new buzz around the Ministry was the recent revival of Death Eaters. Luna, however, was not scared.
Meanwhile, Carol was holding out her wrist, beginning to tell the history of the gashes. "I just couldn't take it anymore. Travis dumped me, he told me he loved someone else, and that he shagged her, and now he's bragging about it to all the Slytherins. . .And I'm such a failure I can't do anything right. . ."
"Not at all. You're just not creative enough to find other ways of relief." Luna resisted laughter, as she watched the girl's appalled look. "I've seen many of those looks." Wrinkling her tiny nose, she flipped back her blonde hair and sat down next to the girl. "Would you fancy a sugar cookie?" Luna offered, holding a tray in front of the girl.
"Um, sure" Carol said, chomping on the sugary food. When all that was left were the crumbs she turned to Luna "You are a pretty bad therapist. You just sit there and you don't even offer ways of improvement. You don't tell me what to do, and how to get better."
"Why should I tell you something you already know?" replied Luna, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I don't know this! I'm so confused, and my Mum is paying good money for you to help me. So bloody hell, woman, do something!" Carol's attempt at dominance of the therapy session failed.
"You've got quite a temper!" Luna only laughed slightly "If you keep getting told what to do, you'll never learn how to do it, therefore never improving. So talk, you'll eventually find your direction." Carol, the third year Slytherin, began searching for words, obviously scared of bearing her innermost thoughts. "Come on, locking everything up will only make you falter faster"
"No pressure" Replied Carol, bitterly. Luna did nothing but giggle at the remark, pretending to write notes on her clip-board. Luna never took notes, nor was she qualified to submit anyone to St.Mungo's or cure them with Magic. She was nothing more, nothing less, then a noble counselor. And according to Carol, a skill-less one. "I don't think I was pretty enough for Travis, I think that I wasn't bad enough for him, or I wasn't evil. Maybe I was too young"
"Well then what are you doing missing someone who sees those qualities as imperfections? If what you had was ever once real, he'd never see ugliness, he'd never see your lack of bad-arse-ness. . .Is that even a word?" Muttered Luna, as Carol sat and thought about it.
"But . . .I don't know why I miss him. I think I'm scared of being alone. I don't like being without someone. . ."
"Good Job." Said Luna proudly, as she cast the girl an award winning smile. "You've just figured out your problem. Dependency"
Carol attempted at a smile, but scowled again. "How do I fix that?"
"You'll have to find out next week, time's up. Just remember, you're just as capable as the next person, so don't think you need to rely on anyone else."
"Whatever" Carol said, as she walked out of the office, hiding a smirk from forming. The door closed behind her and Luna was left all alone. It was lonely, but at the same time, busy. All the thoughts swirling over and over in her mind, beautiful thoughts, tragic thoughts. . .anything imaginable. Her next patient was due in a few minutes, so she figured she'd best grab a cup of hot Butterbeer from the lobby area, and sit down to read her father's old magazine.
Her father still ran the Magazine "The Quibbler" but was getting near the age where he'd have to retire. They'd often talked about letting Luna take control of the magazine, which delighted her very much. She always did love her father's work. As she jogged down the lobby, her pretty robes flew behind her, swatting other people as they passed. She stopped short at the counter, catching a bit of her breath. "Luna!" Cried the Cashier "Hot butterbeer?"
"You bet" She said, giving the young male cashier a wide grin. Within seconds she was served a nice hot drink as she headed back up for the stairs, to where the rest of the offices were. "Have a good day". Generally, Luna liked the workplace. She worked in a small section of England's finest privately owned medical clinic called "Healing Wands". Apparently, she worked in the mental health section as their very own counselor/therapist. It was a quiet kind of a place, with a small cafe for the employees during lunch hours. The Senior Citizen's also enjoyed the Cafe. (Healing Wands also had a branch dedicated to Care of the Retired).
Luna, on her way to the staircase, spotted a tall blond haired fellow in the waiting chairs. He looked her up and down, almost with disgust. Finding his unhappiness funny, Luna just waved to him happily, causing him to look a bit more sour. He looked to be around her age, and vaguely familiar. Angry, but familiar. Luna assumed he was here for the Anger Management classes. With butterbeer in hand, she walked into her office and began to search the scattered papers for her charts. She had no idea when the next appointment was, or the patient's medical history.
Oh dear.
She heard a faint "ding" and a monotone voice filled the room. "Your next patient is waiting, Miss."
"Send him, or her, or it in" called Luna, to nothing in particular. The voice however heard and Luna propped herself on the couch awaiting her next appointment. After this she could go home to Harry. One more hour. The door opened, and she saw an old, brown haired fellow in a blue shirt. On his shirt read the word "Custodian". (Healing Wands didn't believe in use of House Elves)
"Sorry Ma'am. Collecting that rubbish" he said, motioning to the Trash can.
"Ah, so you're not my next patient"
The custodian smiled unenthusiastically. "You got that right. Have a good day, Miss." As he left, his footsteps were immediately followed by a manly yelp and a thud. Luna rushed to the door to see what the ruckus was about. She walked outside to see the custodian furiously apologizing to a tall gangly fellow who lay sprawled on the floor. "I'm sorry, the garbage can knocked him over, Miss"
"Merlin! That Hurt! Get away before you cause me any more harm then you have" The victim of the accident seemed very displeased, and more so, spiteful. It was only just an accident. The trash blocked the Custodian's view. "Go!" he shouted at the Custodian, who scurried off uttering one last "Sorry, mate"
"Hello, you must be my next client Let me guess, you're transferring from Anger Management?" Luna was being sarcastic, but of course, the man never picked up on it.
"No." he snarled "I'm doing my time."
"Oh, right. You must be the one the Ministry sent to me. Come on in, have a seat"
The newcomer looked around, and observed the room. "You have horrible taste in furniture, really. What wack-job did you hire to design this?"
"I designed it" Luna said, with an element of pride. "I guess you think you could do better?"
"Much better"
Luna only nodded, as she watched the gentleman eye her over. Those very same eyes nearly grew 10 times when they landed on the picture of her and Harry in France over the summer. "That is Harry Potter."
"Good one, you know your famous wizards."
"You're dating Potter?"
"Yes" Luna said, now swelling with pride "I am". She had always been proud to say she was Harry's girl. Not for his once famous defeat of the Dark Lord, but just because he made her feel like no other had.
"You ought to be the psycho here. . ." he said, as his eyes now traveled down to where her name plate lay on the desk "Lovegood?"
"That's my last name, is that a problem? Surely you must have known it if you were the one that made an appointment to see me?"
"I didn't. The Ministry did."
"Right, well I'm Luna Lovegood. And I seem to have misplaced my charts, so I am going to have to ask you for your name"
"Malfoy. Draco, Malfoy"
Luna's eyes lit up, and she had the sudden urge to embrace him in a big bear hug only because she knew it'd piss him off. "No wonder you hate Harry. You're Malfoy!" The irony of this situation was enough to make her burst out into laugher. It took her awhile to regain composure. Luna Lovegood had always disliked Draco, and had plenty of reason to. Always trotting around with a new girl, looking sharp and inconsiderate. He fought for the Dark Side, and most likely he was one of the Death Eater revival activists. And if Luna had to take a bet, he was probably here on charges of Muggle endangerment, or statutory rape of an under aged girl.
Malfoy apparently did not find being psycho-analyzed by Potter's girlfriend to have been the slightest bit amusing. "Can we just get this over with? You're wasting my time."
"Oh, Hush. So lets start with the basics, what brings you here?"
"The Ministry. How many times must I tell you?"
Luna nodded quickly, and ran a hand through her curly locks of blonde. "You're playing dumb. Now let's try this again, Mr.Malfoy. . .I'll rephrase it for you. WHY did the ministry send you here?"
Malfoy looked reluctant to speak, and for a moment Luna could have sworn this was going to be another one of those awkward silence, speechless kind of sessions. "I don't need to tell you anything." Then again, maybe it was. "It was required of me to show up, it wasn't required that you actually got information out of me."
"Fine then shut your yapper. And we'll sit in silence, just like the rest of my difficult patients."
Silence. It was a beautiful thing it really . . ."What the hell possessed you to date Potter? God, I should be the one getting you therapy, Lovegood."
"You will address me as Ms.Lovegood, and you will shut your yapper until you can talk about yourself and why you're here. Clear?"
"Crystal" He said, taking her glass of butterbeer off of her desk and drinking it.
Luna cast him a repulsive glance "What are you doing?"
"I happen to be thirsty."
Quickly, Luna snatched the drink out of his hands and pushed it far out of reach. She sat there, staring into his eyes and him into hers. It was a still, unmoving kind of stare that was neither good or bad. Just blank, empty, bored stares. Time ticked on, and Luna had never been so bored in her life. She hoped he'd talk, or say something extremely cocky, this way she could reply back. She didn't bother questioning Malfoy. . .or helping him. What good would help be to someone who's not accepting it?
At the stroke of 6, Luna got up from her chair and grabbed her bags. Quickly she headed out the door, as she expected Malfoy immediately followed. "Where the hell are you going?" he called after her down the hallway.
"Home to my Hunk" Luna said, knowing it'd make his stomach turn over in disgust. He deserved it for being such a pain today. "Now get out of my office before I call security!"
She ran down the stairs, and apparated before he could catch up to her and confirm his 4:30 appointment tomorrow afternoon. When Luna apparated, she found herself in a patch of dense woods, not far away from her cozy little cottage. A couple of gnomes were running around outside, through the trees and back into the lawn. Luna followed them, peered into the kitchen window from the outside. She saw nothing but her cute stone fireplace and a dying fire. Harry, was obviously not there. Instead of being a peeping tom, she decided it best to open the door with her key. When she got into the house both Harry and Sundae (the black/white spaniel puppy) came trotting up to greet her. Harry kissed her cheek, as the dog circled her, begging for attention.
Luna sniffed, hoping to smell her favorite scent of candle, but instead she caught wift of a rather peculiar perfume. It certainly wasn't hers; perhaps Harry had been experimenting with a more feminine scent. But that is doubtful. "I smell perfume Harry" she said, sounding extremely distant. She mentally noted Harry's flushed face.
"It was Mrs.Weasley, she came over to check up on me." He held up a batch of muffins "She baked these for us" he offered, holding one out to her. "Try them, they're good"
Luna was skeptical, but wasn't in the mood to grill him with questions, so she grabbed a muffin and pulled him in for a crumby, apple-cinnamon kiss. Needless to say, he pulled away rather quickly. "Fine, be a party pooper" she said, laughing for no real reason. She collapsed on the sofa, delirious from a long, boring day at work. How much she'd love to slip into a great dream and forget that she'd have to see Draco Malfoy's annoying mug tomorrow at work.
Of course, she still had hours to go before sleep. She still had to run over some files for Healing Wand's record, play a little Wizard's chess with Harry, then dinner, which of course is followed by some heavy duty snogging and then bed. She waltzed into her bedroom, and smelt that funny perfume again. "Har'?"
"Yeah?" he answered from the other room.
"Why was Mrs.Weasley in my bedroom?"
"I gave her a tour."
"Mrs.Weasley has very provocative perfume. It smells so. . .sexy." The questioning had begun. It was quite hard to believe that Mrs.Weasley would wear such a daring, peculiar scent. But Harry had never proven a liar, plus where else would those Muffins have come from? Surely Harry wouldn't dare to cook?
"Ginny brought her the perfume, she wore it to humour her."
Fair enough. Luna decided to lay low on the questioning for the time being, Harry loved her. And that was all that mattered. For the rest of the night, they followed their usual schedule. The chess, the food, the snogging, the sex. Then, Luna's favorite part, cozying up next to Harry's soft skin, closing her eyelids and drifting off so far that nobody could catch her, until the pink sun rose the next blistery morning.
I tried to make them all in character, and leave a bit of suspense in why Draco's there and Harry's mysterious Visitor. I hope you liked it, i haven't written a fic that wasn't totally relied on Dialouge and one person's perspective yet, but i really like writing that way. Bleh, u tell me if the results are good. I hope you'll all leave a review, and if you feel the need to be repulsivley mean, please do so in another fic. Flames are disrespectful.