Hey! Talk about random. According to I haven't updated this story since June of last year. That's a freakin' LONG time. I've been steadily working on this chapter since then, but it's a little all over the place.
This chapter goes out to all the crazy fans that added me to their watch list, their favorite list, or simply commented. You truly made me write at least one more sentence. You all seriously are incredible. If I could give each one of you a hug, I would.
The idea in this chapter is morphed from a story by RootBeerFloat (who was kicked off about a year ago, but I think is back with a new username…. Rootbeerfloatreturns, maybe?), and so the idea was hers. So that I don't ruin the ending of this chapter, I'll tell you what it was at the end.
But enough rambling from me, I'm sure you'd all love to get to the good stuff, the actual story.
So here it is, chapter 8 of Matchbox.
Emily Malfoy
Chapter 8:
Luna sat on the cold classroom floor, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Did I just-" she started, then leaned her head on the wall behind her. "Did he just-" she tried again to no avail. "He… I just-… WHAT?!" Luna placed her head flat on the cold floor in front of her. If she could just sit, and calm down for a while, then perhaps she could better grasp the situation at hand. She could perchance understand why Draco had just-
Suddenly the door of the classroom opened, and Professor Reynolds entered, looking clean and showered.
"Oh, Luna." He smiled politely, and walked over to her. "What happened to the detention?"
"Well," she began, still from the floor, "if you must know," she attempted to raise herself off of the ground, but her head started to spin. She tried again.
"If you must know, Professor, Draco gave me…" She stopped suddenly, and looked at her Professor quizzically.
"Professor? Why is there a popsicle laughing at me in the corner? And when did you buy a unicycle?" And then, everything went black.
-
If it weren't for the late hour, Draco would have been rolling on the floor with laughter. That was, by far, his most prominent and rewarding triumph. He had officially set the Loon off, and now, she was under his spell. She would, for the next 24 straight hours, follow him, obsess over him—lust for him. And he would take advantage; with recordings, and charms and embarrassment at it's finest. When he saw her again, it was going to be incredible.
As Draco pondered the wonderful world of revenge, pranking and confusion, the one thing he truly should have been thinking about dropped from his mind. Hermione, who was supposed to be in the common room, was still lusting after him, and would continue to do so, for the same amount of time as Luna.
How shocked Draco truly was when he was blitzed in the middle of the deserted hallway and pressed up against the wall, by a strong force.
"What the-" was all he could manage before his mouth was devoured by hers. She pressed her face into his, sucking painfully, and bruising his lips. Her tongue pushed roughly into his mouth, and her breathing was heavy. Hands were roaming where they shouldn't have been, and Draco felt oddly violated. He finally caught his breath, and his footing, and shoved her off with all of his strength.
"What the hell, Hermione!?" He shouted, wiping off the side of his mouth. Her taste still lingered and he couldn't help but grimace. He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. Her lips were bright red, her hair a disheveled mess, as though she had just spent the last 4 hours looking for him.
"Oh, lover!" She shouted at him, running back. Draco was ready this time, and quickly ducked below her outstretched arms. "Don't deny our love!" She cried, following him down the hallway.
Draco had run from women before, but never like this. He had broken hearts, and bruised egos, and had even hit a woman or two, but this was different. This was psychotic over-achiever needs to get what she wants. With Hermione's headstrong personality, and perfectionist nature, Draco was in for it.
Yet, the unexpected happened to him, for the umpteenth time that day. His head suddenly pounded insanely, and he couldn't run anymore.
Apparently Hermione didn't notice that he had stopped, and sacked him once more. They landed on the floor with a painful thud, and Hermione giggled like a first year.
"Oh, Draco," she smiled, and stroked his hair. "This is a perfect place for you to take me!" She giggled once again.
"I-" he tried suddenly, to no avail. "You-"
"Draco!?" Hermione shouted in his ear, making his head pound even more. "Draco, baby, what's wrong? DRACO!?"
And then, it all went black.
-
Draco was the first to wake. And it wasn't pleasant. He had a pounding headache, blurred vision and found himself handcuffed to his bed. Once again—not quite what he had expected.
"What the hell?" He mumbled roughly, running his free hand through his hair.
"Language, Malfoy." It was Dumbledore, warning him again about his dirty mouth.
"Sorry, Professor," Draco sighed heavily, putting his head back onto the pillow. "What happened?" He asked, closing his eyes to the light around him.
"Well, that's exactly what I would like to know. Ms. Granger ran like the castle was on fire in order to get help for you, something largely out of character for her, and Professor Reynolds arrived only minutes before to bring Luna to the infirmary."
For the first time Draco looked over and realized Luna was right next to him. He noticed her hand cuffed to the bed as well.
"So, what's with the handcuff's, Professor Kinky?" Draco asked with a sly drawl, brandishing his cuffed arm.
Dumbledore ignored his comment and responded, "You'll know soon enough, Mr. Malfoy. Luna is just beginning to stir."
Luna's eyes fluttered slightly, as she grabbed her forehead. The room around her was still spinning, and when everything came into focus, it wasn't quite what she had expected. Her left hand was hand cuffed to the bed she was asleep in. There was a slight scratching on the large infirmary doors outside, and Professor Dumbledore and Professor Reynolds loomed over her, looking ready to pounce. Adding to the fun Draco sat in the bed next to her, giving her the look she was feeling: what the hell is going on?
Luna was quicker on the uptake.
"Get away from me." She said in a small voice, pointing at Draco. His eyes widened in shock.
"What was that, Luna?" Asked Professor Reynolds in a fathering tone.
"Get him away from me!" She was shouting now. Luna's mind had suddenly reverted to the detention she had just served, and it all came flooding back. The massage was the reason she was here. Draco's damn potion, his idiotic plan, his lust, his stupid personality in general. He was the reason that she was chained there, and she was going to let the whole castle know.
"Luna, please calm down-" began Dumbledore, but she wouldn't listen.
"No!" She cried, never breaking eye contact with Draco. "He's the reason we're here! It's all his fault. The explanation behind this grand scheme, Professors, is that of Draco Malfoy. Ask him why we're here, why don't you? Ask him why his damn penis can't-"
"Luna, that's enough." Dumbledore stated calmly, finally cutting off Luna's insane ranting. Stopping for a few seconds she suddenly realized what was going on. Draco was doing it again. Making her go crazy for his own gain. Draco regained his smirk, and maintained eye contact. The more connected he stayed, the stronger his ecstasy was.
"Mr. Malfoy, what has happened here?" Dumbledore turned to Draco with a fleeting look of annoyance. Or, perhaps, it was only a trick of the light.
For a fraction of a second, while Luna and Draco stared hard at each other, it seemed as though Draco would tell Dumbledore what truly happened. He would tell both the teachers standing over the students what really was involved in the past three hours. He would state he was a conniving jackass who thought only with his lust and addiction. He would explain everything about the potions, everything about the war they've had, everything about his constant annoyingness.
Alas, Draco isn't a good guy.
Finally breaking eye contact he turned to Dumbledore with a polite smile and replied, "I haven't the slightest idea, Professor."
Luna could have cried. And that's what she did.
"WHAT!?" She screamed, attempting to crawl out of her bed and strangle Draco. Professor Reynolds put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.
"Luna, please calm down." Dumbledore asked kindly, sitting on the edge of her bed. She stopped suddenly and looked at the headmaster.
"That's better." He smiled once again. "Now, tell me your side of the story."
"Well," Luna began quietly, not looking at Draco. "It all has to do with a potion. . ." It took Luna about 15 minutes to explain her whole side of the story, with everything she could think of, every detail, even the horror of telling the massage story. The whole time her eyes remained locked with either Dumbledore or Professor Reynolds, and she completely ignored Draco. When she was finished, Dumbledore looked thoughtful.
"Hmm . . ." Was all that he said. He turned and motioned for Professor Reynolds to follow him to a corner of the infirmary. They began to talk in hushed voices, whispering and motioning with their hands, constantly looking over at the two.
Luna tried her hardest to hear them.
"You do know that you won't catch a word they're saying—"
"Shut up." Luna stated plainly, still looking at the professors, attempting to read their lips.
"My theory on what they're saying? I think they're discussing what to do with you. They think you've gone crazy, and they can't very well keep a crazy girl locked up in a school with a whole bunch of sane kids, now can they? No, they can't. Right now I bet they're trying to figure out which ward in St. Mungo's to put you in. I think the long-term ward would be best, honestly, it'll do you the most good. You need it. Feeding them that whole story about the potions and the massage. Where did you come up with all that nonsense? Seriously though, Loon, you should really take their advice, check yourself into St. Mungo's. It'll do you good, a nice vacation."
Luna knew what he was doing. He was trying to get a rise out of her. But she was getting better at this game, and if she was going to be stuck near Draco Malfoy for a while, for she had a feeling she knew what Professor Dumbledore was planning, then she needed to know how to play his game. She needed to understand her place, and her amount of control. She always needed the upper hand.
Finally, the two professors turned and approached the bed.
Draco sat in his bed, fingers crossed, repeating the phrase "St. Mungo's" over and over again.
Dumbledore was the first to speak, standing at the foot of Luna's bed.
"Luna, I want you to know. . . " He waited a few seconds as Draco continued to whisper. "We believe you."
"YES!" Luna shouted, quickly, throwing a fist in the air. "In your face, Draco Malfoy!"
"However—" Dumbledore interjected, "believing you causes a bit of a problem."
"Problem, Professor?" Draco asked, sitting up slightly, looking worried.
Luna had been afraid of this. She quickly hoped that she was wrong.
"It appears, after a short discussion with Professor Reynolds, and an upcoming confirmation by Professor Snape, that your two potions were never supposed to mix."
Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Please don't say what I think you're going to say.
"This leaves us with our little, surprisingly ironic, dilemma." A hint of a smile passed through the Headmaster's eyes, but was gone quickly. "Once the two bases of the potions are mixed, turtle dove feather and dragon scale, it creates an unbelievably strong attraction charm."
"Well I certainly don't feel anything—" Draco began idiotically, but was cut off quickly.
"Not that kind of attraction, Mr. Malfoy." Luna chuckled slightly as she saw Draco's cheeks tinge crimson. "It's a physical attraction. One that means that your two bodies need to be near one another. It's a magnetism sort of charm. The two potion bases, now that they have met, cannot be separated, or we'll have a repeat of what happened earlier: hallucination and fainting spells."
"Wait," Draco began again, looking over at Luna, warily. "Does this mean that I'm going to be stuck with the Loon forever?"
"Oh, no, Mr. Malfoy, not forever. Just about four months until the charm wears off." Professor Reynolds responded, looking much more amused than he should in a situation like this.
"Four months!"
"Or however long it takes Professor Snape to come up with an antidote."
Draco sat on his bed, gaping at the two adults in front of him. Luna simply smiled, taking in the stupidity of his nature. He was classically dumbfounded. He couldn't even speak.
"Now, what we need to do is make arrangements for your accommodations. I'm sure Hermione would be willing to let Luna stay with you for the time being. The largest distance you can be apart depends entirely on your moods, so some nights she'll be fine in Hermione's room, other times you might need to be closer. This whole situation entirely depends on you two." Dumbledore spoke to both of them, taking care to emphasize the importance of everything.
"You mean, she's moving in?" Draco asked coarsely, still looking entirely helpless. His eyes were wide, and he looked ready to cry.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. We'll also rearrange your schedules to work better, and plan everything, to make this the most painless situation possible. You won't even notice it." Professor Dumbledore said.
"Oh, and one more thing." Professor Reynolds began, smiling at the both of them. "There is another layer we can add to the potion, so that the fainting can be avoided. Once you reach your maximum distance, before you faint, you'll feel like you've met an imaginary brick wall. The only side effect is that it may make the distance a few feet smaller at times."
"No." Draco stated plainly, looking at the professor in front of him. "I won't do it."
"Well, that's where I come in." Professor Dumbledore spoke. "I can't exactly have the two of you fainting all over the place. Madaam Pomfrey will be ready to wring my neck. No, Draco, due to the medical aspects of this case, I am going to require that you take the potion. Oh, and Luna can move in tonight. The sooner the better, I think. I'll just go talk to Ms. Granger, who's right outside the door." And with that the two professors left toward the infirmary door.
Draco placed his head into his hand, ready to cry. How did something that was supposed to be perfect, go terribly, terribly wrong? How was he supposed to live with Luna for four months? He looked over at his new attachment, and he realized she was smirking at him from across her bed. It was his trademark smirk.
"Hey, roomie."
X So there you go.
The idea from rootbeerfloat comes from her Draco/Hermione fic called I Didn't Know You Cared. If you have the time, sit down and read it, it's awesome. The plot line part that I have borrowed is the attachment thing. Their stuck together, so they have to live with one another. Hers is probably done much better than mine, but it was originally her idea.
Thanks again for reading guys. You rock, and I love you all! Comment, keep me going!
Emily