Daytime Stargazing

They entered the deserted Astronomy Tower, and Luna thought maybe Draco needed to work on some Astronomy homework. Students from mixed grades were grouped in Legilimency, but Draco was a year ahead of her. She wondered if he remembered that, because she would be of no help to him with his Astronomy work. Besides, it was daytime; there were no stars to see up here. But there was a lovely view. Draco dropped his bag and pulled out two thick textbooks, setting them side by side. Taking off his robes, he laid them over the books, and then with a swish of his wand he turned the lot into a squishy sort of beanbag couch and unceremoniously flung himself into it.

Draco was trying determinedly to act casual and even teasing to put Luna at ease. He felt a little uncomfortable for having used guilt to force her to come along with him, but the ends justified the means, or so it's said. As to what ends he was working towards, he remained uncertain. Draco just knew he had enjoyed the peaceful respite of Luna's company and he wanted more. He craved more of her attention to himself; more privacy to be himself with her and to enjoy her easygoing nature and odd but endearing humor. He looked up towards her and noticed that she stood unmoving in the doorway.

"What's the matter? Have you never skipped a class before?" She shook her head. He laughed. "It's okay, and you're not doing anything too terrible."

"No more terrible than being late for class, then?" she asked with a wry grin. His smile faded at that. He patted the seat beside him. "I don't know why Professor Snape was in such a foul temper today, but he was in a nasty mood before you got there. Don't worry so much. A little detention is no big deal to me. I've been through worse." He smiled wryly but it didn't reach his eyes.

"But you didn't do anything wrong to deserve it," she persisted, her sense of fairness offended.

"No," Draco answered thoughtfully, "but I don't mind spending my Friday night with you. Even if Snape will be there." She blushed at his statement. He was going out of his way to be kind and take her mind off what had happened. He was being a good friend, and that was all.

"Thanks," she said. "I hope he doesn't tie your grade to mine for the class. I really don't have my notes from last week. They got destroyed today."

"Destroyed?"

"Yeah, well, I tripped, and when everything fell out of my bag the notes got trampled before I could pick them up. It was just an accident. I really could use a spell for my shoelaces so they can't be hexed to tangle themselves up like that. Look!" She produced the ruined parchment. "They're useless," she concluded solemnly.

"Luna, you mean you were trying to pick up all your stuff and that's why you were late? You made us all believe you were lost in one of your daydreams, and that bag of yours has always been a disaster."

"My reputation does serve a purpose. Looney Lovegood can barely keep track of where she is, much less keep track of her schoolwork, right?" It was Luna's turn to offer a wry smile. "I didn't want to draw any attention to why I was late. I don't worry about letting everyone think what they want about me. I got carried away, though. I shouldn't have made fun of him that way. That's what made him punish you, too."

"Just knowing you got away with telling Snape to hold on so you could dig out your quill is unbelievable. Watching his face...that was the most reaction I've ever seen him show towards any student. I almost couldn't keep from laughing."

"Well, at least there was some good in it, then. I'm glad you got a laugh, especially since you'll be paying so dearly for it."

"Luna. Stop looking at the bad that came from it and enjoy our stolen afternoon. Here, let's get you a copy of the notes and we'll have you sorted out in no time." Draco dug out his notes from their last class and set about the spell that would copy them to a blank parchment for Luna. As he worked he considered this girl who had faced down Professor Snape. And she had done it just to keep her circumstances private. He could be sure she wasn't going to betray his confidence willingly. She had a lot more substance and character than he'd ever thought. True, she was dreamy and gentle, and probably at least part of the daffy side of her reputation had merit as well. There was more to her, though, and it was just by chance that he'd had the opportunity to see it.

If they hadn't had the forced intimacy of the Legilimency class they wouldn't know the depths of each other's characters. They wouldn't have had any reason to trust in each other. But Draco was starting to feel that Luna could be trusted, and he was surprised by how much he wanted that. She was bluntly honest with him. He was the one who had been sneaking around, spying on her. He found that he looked forward to catching glimpses of her, and he wished he didn't have to hide when he did it. He wanted to talk to her in the halls. He wanted her to walk beside him to class. He wanted to see her face up close instead of from across the corridor. Luna's face, he mused, was delicate and framed by masses of gently curling hair. He wanted her to look up at him with her dreamy blue eyes. He wanted to smell the sweet smell of her that he had first noticed when they'd sat so close to each other on the lake shore. He was attracted to her, he realized. And she was here, alone with him, now. There would be no better time to find out if she had a similar attraction towards him.

She had set about re-ordering her travesty of a book bag. Once it was put to rights again, she let out sigh for a job well done and took the seat he had offered next to him on the little couch. "How did you know the tower would be deserted just now?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I knew because I'm older and wiser than you. My many years here at Hogwarts, a school rich in its history, have taught me a great deal," he said in a mock-pompous lecturing voice. "Not all of it has been about wizardry, you know. There's also Quidditch." At this she frowned, reminded of the practice that he'd be missing. "And I have refined the art of how not to be found. I suppose you are rather talented at that as well. I know some secrets of the castle; of course, they're mostly only good for Slytherins. I've also learned some techniques for how to slyly maneuver pretty girls into deserted spots so I can have them all to myself."

"I see," she said, mostly because she couldn't for the life of her think of anything else to say. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, truly you are most accomplished. I must congratulate you; you have now, on two separate occasions, maneuvered me into deserted spots with you," she said in a teasing voice. Then the thought occurred to her that he might not have been referring to her. Softly she tried to continue in her teasing tone, but it came out a little strained. "Are you using me for practice, then?"

Draco had been smiling to go along with their lighthearted banter, but now he took on a serious expression and leaned towards her so that he was looking directly into her eyes. "Luna Lovegood, I have been purposely trying to get you to myself in order that I might be the sole recipient of your attention." In contrast to his intensity, he leaned back and smiled lightly. "Plus I thought you might like the view from up here." She nodded her head distractedly.

"It's you I want to be with just now, Luna. But if you don't return the sentiment, then of course you can go. I absolve you of the debt you think you owe me. No harm done."

Luna shook her head with mock solemnity to indicate that she didn't want to leave. "No, I'd like to stay here with you even knowing your nefarious purpose."

Draco's smile turned up even more at one corner and melted into a smirk she had seen before, but never from so close up. Her eyes were trapped there, studying his lips and wondering how they would feel if he kissed her. She bet they'd be warm; she remembered how warm he had been when they'd been out by the lake and he had tucked her under his arm to save her from the cold.

"Are you okay, birdie?" he asked softly. She met his eyes again, looking a little unfocused, and he could see her chest was moving in shallow little breaths. He was really enjoying the effect he had on her. Of course it was always flattering to see the effect his charm had on women, but it was different this time. He wasn't doing it for sport; he had been quite nervous when he leaned in to talk to her. He didn't know what to expect from Luna, but he was very pleased by her reaction. She nodded that she was all right, and that was the answer he had needed to make sure he wasn't misreading her or forcing unwelcome advances on her. She was an innocent and might not know what to expect when he leaned in to kiss her, so he moved slowly.

She didn't back away, although when he was very near her and still moving slowly so as not to spook her, she did flutter her eyes closed. That was her invitation to him; she knew he wanted to kiss her and she was going to let him. He started to tip his head to the side to angle his face towards her when she tipped her face up and closed the distance between them. He was surprised, and pleased, and totally absorbed in the feeling of her lips on his.

Draco Malfoy was going to kiss her. She could tell. At least she thought she could tell. What else would he be doing coming closer and closer to her like he was? Did she want him to kiss her? Oh, yes, she thought, she wanted him to. She appreciated his gentleness, truly, and wanted to show him that she returned the interest in feeling his mouth on hers. When she tipped her face up to meet his she was rewarded by warm lips; she knew they'd be warm. What she didn't know was what to do next. Well, Draco had told her he'd brought her here on purpose. He had probably gotten a few girls alone before; surely he knew what to do. She would just do what he did, she decided reasonably.

He started to nibble slowly on her lower lip, sensuously, so she did the same, giving the same caressing attention to him. He captured her lower lip between his and she felt the heat of his tongue as he grazed it across her lip. She faltered for a quick moment, not having expected such a thing. They continued their slow little dance until she took a turn at capturing his lip gently between hers. She had been genuinely surprised when he first touched her with his tongue. She didn't know what came next. She tried to gently do the same thing he had done to her by brushing her tongue across his lip, but he surprised her again by meeting her hesitant tongue with his. Their kisses turned into tentative explorations as she tried to mimic the wonderful things Draco was doing. He laced his hand into the hair behind her ear, his graceful fingers ghosting along her scalp to rest easily at the nape of her neck. As if this was a signal to Luna that it was okay to touch him, she reached her hands blindly towards him, placing them on his chest.

When Draco felt her hands he slowed for a moment, thinking she might be preparing to push him away, but she pursued him, trying to recapture his lips when he paused. To accompany her pursuit of reclaiming his attentions, she dragged her hands up his chest and threaded them around his neck. His hand slid from her neck down to rest at the small of her back. She was amazing, and she was eating him alive. She returned every trick he tried to use on her. But her demeanor was more than he had been prepared for. He supposed he had been expecting reluctant kisses, but he was getting such intimacy and surrender. He couldn't think, couldn't sort out what he was doing. She was kissing him in a way he had never been kissed before. And Draco Malfoy had most assuredly been kissed before. What made Luna so special was the emotion she was sharing with him in her movements and the way she bared herself for him, becoming vulnerable and letting him lead her, letting him inside her mouth to taste her and returning his attention by teasing him with her delicate tongue. She was blindly trusting in him and he didn't want to screw that up.

Draco had to get some air; he had to think. He tried to back off but she was possessing his mouth now, just as he had hers moments ago, and she was leaning into him. And then she reversed strategies, backing up as he just had, but not releasing his lips. She was drawing him with his mouth mated to hers, pulling him towards her with a gentle pressure of her arms as they rested behind his neck. She was going to be the death of him.

He groaned in the back of his throat and she reacted timidly, withdrawing from him completely. He didn't open his eyes for a moment, and when he did he saw her looking worriedly at him. He tried to smile to comfort her, but he was overwrought. "Bloody hell!" he whispered. After a few deep, ragged breaths he continued, "Give over, Luna. Tell me that wasn't your first kiss, was it?"

Her eyes were slightly alarmed. She had raised her fingers to her lips that were now a bit swollen and pink from their kiss. "Yes. It was." She tipped her head to the side a bit. "I don't understand, Draco. Wasn't I supposed to do that? Or is there another way that I was supposed to?"

"God's teeth, Luna, if there is another way I don't want to know about it, because that was . . . ." He paused, at a loss for words. "Bloody hell!" he repeated. She still looked puzzled and he cursed himself for a fool. She was an innocent, he reminded himself, and needed reassurance. She'd never know what he meant if he just kept hurling foul language at her.

"That was the best kiss I have ever had, and I daresay it was in the running for the best kiss ever kissed in the whole of Britain."

She broke into a glorious grin. "I was worried I was doing something wrong when you growled at me. I'm glad I wasn't, because that was ever so good."

Draco laughed a tight laugh. "That growling meant you were doing everything just right. Too right, in fact, because it was me telling myself that I needed to stop."

"Oh!" Her mouth went round to match her eyes that had now returned to being troubled.

Draco wracked his brain for a way to explain himself to her without making her uncomfortable for being inexperienced. "Thing is, I don't want to get carried away. I, uh, may have a reputation, but I don't take this lightly and I don't want to rush anything. And it was feeling so good that my body was about to tell my mind to jog on and stop being sensible. I didn't want to lose control," he concluded, hoping he had made the remotest amount of sense to her.

But "Oh," was all she said. He was pretty sure she didn't know what he meant, but if he had anything to say about it she would understand someday. He loved kissing Luna, loved holding her. She made him feel so good and he wanted to make her feel the same way. Slowly. Respectfully. He wanted to snog her brains out!