Chapter Text
It was just supposed to be a fling. A dalliance, not even worthy of being called anything except that. A reflection of another person in the water of the second floor girl’s bathroom, a splash only vaguely heard over anonymous sobs. Myrtle would never tell, and Luna, silent as the dead in a stall ten feet away, wouldn’t quite know what to tell you either. If you asked, she might describe it as inappropriate to describe, not a moment for her to infringe on but one which has stayed with her all-throughout the war. It explained why her things hadn’t disappeared from her dormitory much during that fifth year, certainly. It changed the way she looked at him, if she ever did have a reason to.
It was during a silent moment, when she thought maybe, amidst all the splashing and sobbing, he’d seen himself out - Myrtle herself still humming and cooing, as she was known to do with those she favored. She opened the stall, quiet as she could, and stepped into an immediate misfire - the sudden knowledge that it truly was Draco Malfoy sobbing on that flooded floor, and she might see even worse punishment than vanished belongings with this information so undeniable in front of her.
The only answer in her mind, of course, was to continue as if this were quite normal. Never one to scare easily, she was.
“Hello, Draco Malfoy. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind shifting over a bit? So I can reach the tap. I’m afraid the other ones are quite defunct.” Easy enough, to try and avoid adding salt to the wound, benign in hovering over him with such a sense of peace.
“Lovegood,” he muttered, furious and all the same disarmed as he slouched away, drifting just far enough to allow her to stand. “You’ll find hell awaiting if I catch even a whisper of this.”
“Oh no, you’re not to worry. I’ve found a good cry now and then can be quite helpful.”
“Helpful,” he chided, sweat coating his pallid brow. “There’s no helping this.”
“If you insist. Would you like to dry off?”
“Excuse me?”
“A drying charm. I could cast one.”
He looked down at himself and finally, a sense of life came to him - an angry flush in his cheeks and cast as he realized his wrinkled white dress shirt really is no match for the water sloshing around his elbows. “Get lost, you blood traitor rat. I’ll see you punished for this,” he hissed, red in his eyes from blood vessels blown.
“If you say so,” she hummed, as just as soon as she appeared, she was gone, hands dripping wet.
The strain of carrying such a burden would blind even an ordinary boy, it was hardly worth voicing any further vitriol over.
He still avoided her, best as he could without being inconspicuous, in the hallways and during the great shuffle into the hall for meals.
It certainly explained why, as they all in a rush gathered in the courtyard with the ruins of Hogwarts steaming around them, their eyes found each other, just for a moment as his parents called to him.
“I meant it when I said it couldn’t be helped.” he whispered, brushing past her like a ghost as the Dark Lord outstretched his arms.
Which is how, in a sense, Draco and Luna find themselves betrothed.