"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass,
It's about dancing in the rain."
Luna Lovegood, Loony Lovegood. She was crazy, everyone knew that. Neurotic, insane, gullible, naive... To Hogwarts, Loony Lovegood would always be that girl who believed that there were nargles hiding in the mistletoe, and who wore a lion costume in support of Gryffindor, even though she was a Ravenclaw. Did no-one else get it? Does no-one else understand that everyone has secrets? Everyone has something hidden. Everyone wears a mask. And Luna had been wearing hers for so long, that sometimes she forgot that it was that, a mask. She believed her facade to be reality, and those moments were the best in her life.
But then, then she met Malfoy. Mal foi, bad faith. Bad faith. It was in his name; in his blood. Draco Malfoy never trusted anybody. He never let them in. His thoughts, feelings, true and raw emotions were all bottled-up and hidden behind those frosty grey eyes. Draco Malfoy never let anyone in.
He used to watch her, whilst she danced in the rain, with her mask fully intact. When his friends, when Blaize and Crabbe and Goyle caught him staring, they laughed, and jeered, and joked about Loony Lovegood, the crazy one who showed off her ridiculous dance moves at the Yule Ball. And Draco would laugh that cold, emotionless laugh, but continued to stare.
And then there was that day. 'Narcissa is dead', he heard, 'your mother is dead. Will you be okay?' But of course he wouldn't be okay; how could he be? His mother was dead. And he didn't know what to do. So, people supposed, he must be okay, for he continued to walk around the bustling halls of the school with Crabbe and Goyle by his side. Yes, he was quiet, but Draco had always been a quiet boy. Did he want to go home? Home? To that man? No. If anything, this was his home.
It was during Charms, or what would be Charms if he hadn't skipped that day, that he saw her dancing, out in the courtyard. She was spinning around and waltzing with herself, laughing, apparently oblivious to the pouring rain around her. On impulse, Draco strode swiftly through to where she was dancing, but she evidently didn't notice.
'You.' he shouted weakly at her, 'What are you doing?' His fist clenched over nothingness and he rocked softly back and forth on the palms of his feet. Still she didn't stop. 'Why are you dancing?'
'Oh, am I?' Lovegood called lightly in that wistful way of hers, 'I hadn't noticed.' She gave a light, airy laugh as she threw her head back and span herself around in the rain.
'Why are you doing that?' She laughed again and span herself around to him, holding out a dainty hand for him to take. He hesitated. 'You're crazy, insane.'
'I know. I'm Loony Lovegood, remember?' Loony whispered, bowing, willing him to take her hand.
So he did.
He, cautiously, took her outstretched hand and softly brought it to his cold, hard lips and gave it a gentle, courteous kiss. She laughed, again, shaking her golden hair, and took his other hand, and lead Draco into an awkward yet comfortable dance of some-sort around the courtyard whilst he, allowing himself to be guided, continued to eye her with vigilance.
'I'm sorry about your mother.' Her voice came out barely as a whisper. Draco grunted. 'It's difficult. I shan't lie, it is. It was almost eight years ago now when my mother died, and I still miss her. Every day.' They continued to move for a few minutes in an easy silence.
'I just can't imagine a home without her there.'
Each avoiding eye contact, Luna brought herself closer to him. 'It's the small things I miss the most. The smell of her hair; her smile when Dad would bring home some mistletoe at Christmas. I barely remember her.' Draco cringed as he heard her voice break slightly.
'Why do you dance, Luna?' He whispered into her ear.
She laughed again, flinging back her head and blinking tightly to stop the tears. 'There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good. '
And so they danced for hours to a silent song that only each other could hear, laughing, and spinning, carelessly in the relentless rain. Teachers and students passed by, staring through the archways as they quickly made their way to their next class, gawking at Loony Lovegoodand that 'Freak' Malfoy. But he, unaware, would dip her and she would giggle, returning his move with an up-close spin of her own, followed by a funky chicken or two, both spinning and laughing until they fell over each other's toes and landed in a giggling heap on the wet stone floor.
'I love the rain' she cried between laughs 'because no-one can see your tears.'
Hello, it's been a while since I've posted anything on FanFiction (2 years to be precise), so this is just a drabble, cliche Draco/Luna, less than a thousand words, that I came up with few hours during my day of writing and writing non-stop, and coming out with loads of one-shots to start the ball rolling on inspiration for my new multi-chapter Harry Potter aftermath fic. Even though it's unlikely that Draco/Luna will appear in that story, I can't escape the idea that they would just be the cutest thing and deserve to be cheesy...so I hope you enjoyed the story.
Also, note that the quote 'There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.' was not written by me, it's by a poet called Oscar Wilde, and was my inspiration, as it were, I think it's beautiful.
Please review!