Desperation

The wizards who had created the Manor had shaped it with magic, imbued it with their own powers. There were layers and layers of spells built into the place, and all of them were meant to recognize only one master. The initiation spell that Draco had to perform would tether him to the Manor, and it called for his blood. Blood magic was generally regarded as Dark magic, but much of the truly old magic used blood. Blood tied the wizard to the spell or enchantment. It imbued the Manor with part of his life force, and in this case, the Manor cast its magical protection on Draco. When he ascended as the head of the family, the Manor's power rushed into him like a tidal wave. He fell to his knees as the place identified the ring he wore and poured into him the ancient Malfoy magic. He sensed the consciousness and antiquity of his home and began to understand how the magic, his magic now, worked.

Draco felt like the tip of a wand during a Lumos spell; he absolutely glowed from the inside. He was drunk with the power of the Manor. He was confident in a way he had never felt before. He was the man of the Manor now. And he was on his own. Professor Snape had hurried away. With a mischievous smirk, Draco arranged for two of his house-elves to meet him at the school after he returned so that they could finish Luna's detention for her. By the time he made his way back through the forest to the castle, Draco was sublimely pleased with himself. He had thought of a way to do something good. He had devised a plan to turn his new burden into something helpful, a blanket of safety. It was an admittedly dark blanket, but one he was sure was strong enough to protect Luna.

The Malfoys were descendants from a long line of cautious wizards who fiercely guarded what was theirs. Draco had only to include Luna in the Malfoys' circle of protection, and his family magic would do the rest. He just had to get Luna inside the protection of the Manor and the Malfoy magic. But he didn't want to force her; he wanted to invite her under his magical protection. As a young wizard, he had been given a talisman that marked him unquestionably as being under the protection of the Malfoys. All he had to do was give something to her, and then Luna, too, would share in the Malfoy magic.

Draco and Luna headed out to the Quidditch pitch. It was deserted; he had missed practice, but he was glad of it. He wouldn't have been able to concentrate on Quidditch at all tonight, not with everything that had happened in the past couple of days. He could barely keep up a casual banter when such important things were on his mind. The pair found themselves wandering the stands hand in hand.

"So, my little Slytherin, what hijinks have you got planned next?"

"Oh, I meant to tell you about that. It was all a misunderstanding. Blaise saw that my robes had the Slytherin emblem; I had forgotten to change it back. It all just ran away from me from there," Luna explained with a giggle.

"You are a calamity," Draco said affectionately.

"Am I? And what are you?"

Draco breathed deeply but did not answer. In the most innocent manner Luna asked, "Do you want to tell me what is bothering you, or shall I act as though I don't notice?"

There was the bluntness that he treasured in her. He smiled almost sadly. "Luna? I . . . My father . . . I...aaargh! Luna, things happened today that are going to cause a lot of changes."

"Yes, our lives being so entwined will make things very different. For both of us, I imagine," she said cautiously. She knew Draco's father was financially supportive of the Slytherin Quidditch team. As a philanthropic supporter of Slytherin House, he had been known to use his influence as a tool for manipulation. Was Draco concerned about his father finding out about the two of them?

So embroiled in his own thoughts was Draco that he rushed to ask the questions that had tortured him. "But it doesn't have to be in a bad way. You don't look unfavorably on us, do you?" Merlin's teeth, she had battled his own father at the Ministry; how could he expect her to accept the Malfoys' protection? But it was the only way.

"I don't judge a group of people based on the actions of an individual." Was he worried that she blamed the entire Slytherin house for the prank that the three girls had pulled? "Do you feel pressured to look after me? I don't want you to feel obligated." She didn't want him nervous as a nursemaid and at her elbow all hours of the day and night, even if his intentions were well meant. But if he were standing at her elbow with his lips on her neck . . . that she might like.

"I don't feel pressured, Luna. And I want you to feel welcome. It's just that I'm aware of our . . . reputation. I know there are wizards, classmates of ours, who judge us harshly. Wizards you have associated with." He was trying to lead her, to get her to let him know how she felt about his being a Malfoy, son of a Death Eater, but he was tongue-tied.

With a formal air Luna stated, "Each person's opinions are his own, not the groups'. You cannot infer such things from either proximity or association."

Draco raised his eyebrows. She had just given him an answer so formal that he had to puzzle through what she said to suss out what she meant.

Smiling at his wrinkled forehead and look of concentration, she took mercy on him and explained. "I cannot speak for anyone but myself. But just because I lived in Ravenclaw and was in Dumbledore's Army with Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, doesn't mean I bare a prejudice against Slytherin House, or even the members of the Inquisitors Squad."

Draco clenched his jaw. He was starting to get confused. And Luna was being evasive. Or was she? She always was sort of cryptic, and he wasn't being very clear. He was going nowhere with this approach. He needed to be blunt and businesslike. "I'm trying to find out how you would feel about being... Look, I have responsibilities now, but taking them on has given me a great deal of authority."

She looked at him quizzically.

"I'm the Head now." The head of a disgraced family tied inexorably to the Dark Lord, he thought despairingly. But at least he had finally said it.

"Oh, I didn't know." Head Boy, was he? He had told Pansy he would get her chores reassigned. It could explain his and the professor's whispering and why they had left her during detention. She could see this weighed heavily on him and hoped some lighthearted teasing would pull him from his somber mood. "Well, I don't plan to cause any trouble for you, Mr. Malfoy." She smiled reassuringly.

After a moment the corner of his mouth twitched. "I don't think you plan any of the trouble you cause."

"Maybe not." Her eyes twinkled in the light of the moon.

"Okay, Birdie." He laughed; the tension he had been feeling started to fade. She had called him Mr. Malfoy, acknowledging that he was head of the Malfoy family. She offered him not only acceptance, but also her cooperation. Maybe she could help him shoulder this burden. He might not have to be alone in this struggle.

"This is for keeping you out of trouble." Draco reached up and tugged at his loosened tie knot and unbuttoned collar. Behind his neck, he began fiddling with something. Drawing his hands up behind his head, he pulled a pendant from inside his shirt. He unclasped it and set it just below her collarbone. Meeting her eyes, he said softly, "This will protect you from 'ghoulies and ghosties, and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night'." A sad smile touched his lips as he recited the children's rhyme.

Luna gathered her hair up and out of the way to allow him access to her neck, wincing a bit as she moved a still-sore shoulder.

Draco clasped the chain behind her, letting the cool silver slide down into her blouse. Bending down to lay a kiss on the side of her neck, he whispered lasciviously, "You'll be safe from everything but me." She remained very still, so he took the opportunity to run his tongue across the tender skin of her neck before he leaned back to look at her again.

She shivered from the touch of his tongue and dropped her hair. The place he had kissed felt cool in the night air and the chain felt oddly heavy.

Luna felt a comforting wave of old magic sweep over her. It must be a charmed pendant. What a sweet generosity he was showing to welcome her into Slytherin. It felt like a powerful charm. He hadn't had time to make a new charm, so maybe it was one he already had, something of his own. The thought delighted her.

Draco looked down at her, so radiant in the moonlight, and ached for her. He would do her more good by protecting her, even if it meant bringing her into his dark and dangerous world, than by abandoning her and hoping she fared well without him. And he would do better knowing she was safe with him. Draco had been given a grave new set of responsibilities, and with them came new dangers but also a heady array of power. His body still thrummed with the magic that he had been a part of earlier that night. Malfoy magic. He was drunk with it and it emboldened him. Surely the magic he had taken in tonight would be strong enough to protect both of them. In that moment Draco had made a decision, a passionate and desperate decision to keep Luna.

With Luna, Draco felt better than in any other dark corridor of his life. As much as he didn't want to drag her through that, she was his light in the darkness. He was exhausted from the tension of stumbling blindly; it felt so good to have something good in his life. When he might have given up on himself, he knew he would keep fighting for her.

She gazed at him for what must have been an hour...or two minutes at least...and after biting her bottom lip a moment in indecision, she leaned up onto her toes and kissed him.

It had been a very emotional evening. And a very frustrating evening for Draco, and he did not have his wits about him to stop her. She kissed him senseless, and it was as if she could tell his weakness because she persisted, turning him back towards the seat behind him and coercing him to sit. Her hair was falling all around them as she showered him with her kisses.

And then she had an idea. A wonderful, terrible idea. She remembered how it had felt when he had kissed her neck with the hot wetness of his mouth, and she decided to go after his neck the same way. She slid her hand behind his head so she could have better access, and she nibbled and licked at his skin, tasting the saltiness of him.

Draco was quite sure he'd go mad. He didn't even realize he was making noise until she sat up and looked down at him like the kneazle that had gotten the cream.

"You're growling again," she said when he blinked up at her.

He must have looked as though he didn't know why she had stopped. "Yeah," he said, a little breathless, "you were doing that too right." He reached up to trail a finger along the side of her jaw. She remained still, looking down at him with the moonlight shining in her eyes. "Well? Don't stop," he whispered.

So she didn't.