Dear Draco and Neville,

How is Seoul? I hope you two haven’t suffered from Portkey-lag. I miss you two a lot. Neville, don’t forget to give Professor Lee all the Quibbler magazines. Also, be sure to look for that very rare squirrel, the one I am calling the Slytherin Squirrel (because of its green fur and its shy nature!), hidden somewhere on the Yonsei University campus. Good luck with that and your Korean herbology studies!

Are there a lot of Nargles, Wrackspurts, and Bibbering Humdingers there? I’ve heard that cucumber kimchi attracts them the most, so I am certain you’ve run into plenty there. Do keep track and see if my theory is correct.

Oh, and Draco, how’s your job? You’re sponsoring the Korean artists, aren’t you? Don’t forget your promise! Send me music samples of the artists you sponsor. I would love to hear their music. Muggles’ music is so much more interesting than wizarding music.

Write back when you can. Don’t mind Hermes biting you, Draco. He does that because he likes you.

Love,
Luna

“Bloody owl!” Draco glared at Hermes, rubbed his sore fingers, and watched how that blasted thing flew over to Neville. Hermes landed on Neville’s shoulder and let out a soft hoot before he nuzzled against Neville’s cheek.

Neville smiled apologetically. “What did Luna write?”

“The usual.” He handed Neville the letter. “She’s reminding you about the magazines and the squirrel, which she has decided to name the ‘Slytherin Squirrel’, and she wants us to test her cucumber kimchi theory, and she’s asking for free samples of the artists I am working with.”

“Mmm.” Neville read as he petted Hermes. “You better write her now. Remember what happened the last time you took your time responding to her?”

Draco groaned. “Don’t remind me. I swear, women are dangerous, and Luna is probably the most dangerous one of them all, even more dangerous than Granger. At least with Granger, she just punches me. But Luna . . . ” He shook his head and took out a parchment and began to write.

“While you do that, I’ll go find some treats for Hermes.”

“Yeah? Just make sure he doesn’t leave any of his nasty ‘surprises’.” Draco ignored Hermes indignant hoots as he wrote a response back to one of his dearest (and weirdest) friends.

“I’m thinking you pissed Hermes off last time, so he refused to deliver the letter . . . ”

“Oh, yeah, it’s always my fault!” Draco scowled at Luna’s newest messenger. “But really, did she have to send a vulture?!”

Neville chuckled nervously before he put his arm around Draco’s shoulders. “At least this one seems well-trained. It’s not poking our eyes out . . . yet. Still, better read what she said and write back as soon as possible.”

With Neville’s arm still on him, Draco leaned comfortably against him, and he began to read the letter out loud, keeping one eye on that vulture.

Dear Draco and Neville,

Hermes has a girlfriend, so he’s too busy with her to deliver this letter. I’ve sent Vladimir this time. His kind is so misunderstood. Just know that Vladimir is gentle. Try petting him on the top of his head. He loves it. One last thing about him — he has a tendency to sing when he’s hungry, so be sure to feed him. He especially loves raw meat.

So, Neville, still no signs of that Slytherin Squirrel? I’m not surprised. It really is shy, so just keep trying. I heard if you entice it with candy floss, your chances of seeing it increases. Oh, and thank you for sending me those articles about Korean herbology. They make excellent reading when I am in the bubble bath.

And Draco, I am really loving the music of Dong Bang Shin Ki, but what is the meaning of their name? Is it some sort of a secret code? Do they change into Nargles if someone figures out their name? Also, thanks for the DVD of their concert. Harry had to push some random buttons on the controller to break something so the DVD would play.

Going back to the concert, these young men are fascinating. The way they dance and sing, it is all wonderful. I think my favourite is Changmin, or Max as he prefers to be called in English. I’ve been learning bits of Korean from watching them. I love Korean. It sounds so different from English . . .

Draco skimmed the rest of the letter, which was incredibly long. “She goes back and forth between talking about the artists, Korean, and about her recent adventure of Wrackspurts hunting with Potter in the Forbidden Forest.”

“Sounds like she’s smitten by that Dong group. What does their name stand for anyway?”

“I . . . ” Draco paused. “I’m not sure. I never asked.”

“Are you going to find out?”

“Maybe–”

Vladimir let out a loud screeching noise, an unpleasant sound that made Draco’s insides twist painfully.

Draco and Neville looked at each other. In a whisper, Neville asked, “Is that his so-called singing?”

“Probably.”

“Well, I guess you–”

“You can feed him, and I’ll write to Luna.” Besides, Draco thought, the sooner he wrote, the faster he could send Vladimir away.

“Fine, but next time you deal with Hermes or Vladimir.”

“Why? You deal with animals better than I. So quit complaining.” He smirked. “I’ll make it up to you later . . . ” He winked as his voice went down to a whisper.

Draco’s smirk grew louder as Neville inhaled sharply before he went to tend Vladimir. As Vladimir’s “singing” increased in volume, Draco quickly started on his reply.

“No letter from Luna?”

Draco shook his head, surprised that it’d been weeks since he’d last heard from her. “No, but given that I haven’t received any frantic owls from Potter, I’m guessing she’s just busy.”

“Shame. I kind of miss Vladimir and Hermes.” Neville carefully trimmed his bonsai tree, a gift Draco had given him a few years back.

“I don’t.”

“Right. Ever since our third year . . . ”

“Don’t remind me!”

Neville chuckled. “I’ll write her a letter.” He glanced at the clock. “You better get going. Don’t keep Rain waiting.”

“Bi.”

“What?”

“That’s the Korean word for ‘rain’.”

“Right, Bi.”

Draco checked over his suit one last time. He looked impeccable, like always. “All right. I’ll be off. Don’t be late tonight.”

“I won’t. Seoul Tower at eight. I’ll get the bus up there. One of my professors told me the cable car was not worth the money, saying something about how they cram about fifty people into that thing.”

“How vile.” Draco pecked Neville’s cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Draco looked out the window as his driver, Mr Kim, inched the car through the heavy Seoul traffic. He’d been at the Leeum Samsung Art Museum at the edge of Itaewon, and now he had to go to Yonsei University to meet Neville for dinner. He could have chosen to Apparate, but he opted for the car ride so he could watch the scenery and the people.

He just wished they weren’t stuck in traffic. According to Mr Kim, that intersection at Hamilton Hotel was the cause of the traffic in Itaewon, and Mr Kim assured him that once they passed that intersection, things would move a lot faster.

Outside, his eyes landed on a woman with long pale blonde hair. Her hair reminded him of Luna, and he fondly remembered how they became friends.

It was during his “eighth year” at Hogwarts. His father was imprisoned in Azkaban. Thanks to Harry Potter, Draco and his mother didn’t get sent to Azkaban, but the Malfoy name was still disgraced after the war. He hadn’t wanted to go back to Hogwarts for his eighth year, but his mother had insisted on him finishing his education, so he begrudgingly went to Hogwarts.

Seeing Luna at Hogwarts reminded him of how she was kept captive in his dungeons, and that guilt made him stay away from her. However, in her strange, peculiar way, she sought him out. At first, he hated her strange conversations about Nargles and Wrackspurts, plus the way she always talked about the Quibbler and always made sure she had a copy for him. Soon, though, Draco came to appreciate Luna’s unique way of looking at the world. He still didn’t exactly like her, but that all changed one day when he went to see his mother at Hogsmeade. Everyone around them had given them nasty looks and indiscreetly talked about them, but not Luna. She just came up to them both and started talking about how emeralds really made his mother’s complexion look youthful.

Afterwards, when the two of them walked back to Hogwarts, Draco knew then that she was a friend. She was odd, but she was a friend, and he knew deep inside that she would not be easy to get rid of even if he’d tried his hardest to shun her.

Exactly two days after his big revelation, she had begun dragging him into the greenhouse Neville worked in. It was awkward, he remembered. Draco didn’t know how to act around Neville, and to his horror, he even discovered he was attracted to him. Still, through the mysterious power of Luna, the two became friends. And it wasn’t long before she began to leave them alone and even told them to hurry up and snog one another before she had to resort to locking them up in a tiny room with Nargles.

Throughout all this, Draco couldn’t help but wonder if Luna really was a Ravenclaw. She seemed sneakier than most hardcore Slytherins.

“We’re almost there.” Mr Kim’s voice interrupted his daydreaming. Draco looked up with a start at the familiar Sinchon Rotary.

Draco nodded. Neville had mentioned to him this morning that Luna hadn’t written back yet. He knew that nothing had happened to her because there hadn’t been any anxious owl messages or Floo-calls from Harry, but he found it odd that she went this long without writing them a letter. In fact, he found himself missing her quirky letters.

In a couple of weeks, he and Neville would finally have some time off from their jobs. He decided then to ask Neville about going back to England for a few days and surprising their friends and families on an impromptu visit. He knew Neville would love the idea, so he created a mental list of gifts, including kimchi, he could bring back home.

DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEEEEEEEEEE!

“Fucking hell!” Draco hated that “Fur Elise” doorbell. He especially hated it at three in the morning! He sat up while Neville stirred next to him but didn’t wake. Grumbling and cursing, Draco stomped out of the bedroom and went to look on the screen of his doorbell phone. He didn’t see a face, but he saw a stuffed bear.

Frowning and wondering if a drunk was out there, he grabbed the phone and snapped, “Who are you and why the fuck are you here so late?”

“I’m not late,” said a familiar, dreamy voice. “I’m early.”

“Oh, great. I must be dreaming. A Korean ajusshi that sounds like Luna,” Draco mumbled.

“I’m not an old Korean man. I can be one if you want, but it’d have to be temporary. I don’t think Harry will appreciate me switching genders on him.”

“Wait–” Draco reached the door in two seconds. He pulled it open, nearly jerking his arm out of the socket from the force, and stared at Luna and her three large rolling suitcases, her creative and colourful outfit, and her stuffed bear she had named “Bear”.

She beamed at Draco and said, “Good morning!” Then she flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “That was a long Portkey ride. I was surprised there was such a long queue at Hong Kong, but then again, I think King Kong must have been visiting, so that caused the extra waiting around. Anyway, surprise! Happy birthday.”

“Luna, my birthday was two months ago!”

“Oh, then happy early birthday!” She somehow managed to wheel in all three suitcases at the same time — how, Draco wasn’t sure — and she sat on the couch and fingered her kimchi pot earrings. “Is Nev sleeping?”

“Yeah. You know he sleeps like a rock.”

“Yes, I remember now. Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t been writing. Things have been so busy with trying to plan this surprise visit. I even told Harry to keep it a secret.”

“Well,” Draco said dryly. “You did a great job on that, and you beat me and Neville at our own plans. We were going to go back to England next week and surprise everyone, too.”

“Daddy did say great minds think alike. I only wished Harry could have come with me, but Kingsley really needed him right now, so he wasn’t able to get the time off. At least I promised to bring back a huge container of fresh kimchi.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I can’t wait to explore this wonderful place for my one-week stay, but I think sleep is finally coming to me. Don’t mind me if I start sleep-walking, all right?”

Draco couldn’t help it. He began to snigger. “Right, right. Let me take you to the guest room.” As he helped Luna settle in her room, he set aside his gift list and focused on a new sightseeing list for Luna.

The next few days passed by in a blur, thanks to them Apparating and Portkeying everywhere. Neville, excited by Luna’s surprise visit, showed her all over Yonsei University and Sinchon, and they even walked around Yonsei University campus with Professr Lee to see if they could get a glimpse of that elusive squirrel. The Slytherin Squirrel remained hidden, but that didn’t deter Luna at all as she ate some of her candy floss and said, “It has to be just right for it to appear. We just have to be patient.”

Otherwise, she loved everything about Seoul and South Korea.

When they took her to Myeong-dong and Namdaemun Market, she marvelled at the marketplaces and the merchandise, amazed that these two places were more condensed and labyrinth-like than Diagon Alley.

They took her to Insa-dong on a Sunday, where the whole street was blocked from traffic, and many arts and crafts vendors filled up the streets. Luna adored that place, and there she said she had got new ideas for her future jewelleries.

She became enthralled with Korean architecture when they visited Gyeongbok Palace. Harry had given her a digital camera, and Luna had taken so many photographs that they had to go to the sprawling Yongsan Electronics Market later to stock up on more SD cards.

Luna, not really into the clubbing scene, still decided to check out the night life at Hongdae and Sinchon, and they even walked around Itaewon, bar-hopping on the side streets and in the so-called Hooker Hill area.

They rode the Han River cruise boat, and they went to the wealthier neighbourhoods in Gangnam district. From there they went to Coex Mall, and they visited a Buddhist temple, Bongeunsa, across from it.

They even managed to make a getaway to Gyeongju, the old capital of the Silla dynasty, and there Luna snapped more photographs of the old king’s burial mounds.

Finally, they stopped by Jeju Island, where Luna insisted that she wanted to see Love Land, the sex-themed theme park that is popular amongst honeymooners. Both Draco and Neville found themselves blushing, but Luna remained unfazed as she clicked away on her camera. “I can’t wait to show Harry these pictures,” she exclaimed at one point.

Unfortunately, all good things came to an end eventually, and Luna’s week was slowly, but surely coming to an end. On her last night in Seoul, Draco decided to surprise Luna.

“You have three tickets to a Dong Bang Shin Ki concert? And I get to meet them after the concert backstage?”

Draco chuckled. “Yes, you’re a VIP for today.”

Luna smiled widely, and she practically pounced on Draco as she hugged him. “Thank you so much! I can’t believe I get to hear them live and meet them! I better get ready!”

When she dashed off, Neville leaned over and whispered, “I hope you have earplugs ready for us.”

“Hrm?”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t think my ears will appreciate millions of fangirls screaming for DBSK.”

“Oh, right.” Draco reached into his pockets and pulled out two pairs of earplugs. “I learned my lesson the last time I had to attend one of these things.”

Neville pulled Draco into a warm embrace. Draco felt warm lips grazing his forehead, and that gave him an idea. He arched upward, leaned in close until his breath ghosted over Neville’s ears, and said, “Want to try out some of those positions we saw at Love Land tonight?”

Draco sniggered at Neville’s sputtering and red face. He laughed even harder when Luna came out and asked, “Why so red, Nev?”

“He’s just a bit steamed up. Don’t worry about him.” Draco walked up to Luna, who was dressed in a simple black strapless dress. She had on tights that were striped in blue and bronze, and she wore a dangling kimbap earring. He held up an arm and said, “Let’s go, love.”

“Good morning!” Luna cheerfully greeted.

Draco and Neville stumbled towards the dining room. Neither were morning people, but they woke up early so they could pack and go back to England with Luna.

Draco stared at the plate in the middle of their table. It looked like carrot cakes, but they were cut into brownies. Both Draco and Neville sniffed the fragrance that permeated their whole place, and Draco knew then that whatever was on that plate was not carrot cake.

Neville cleared his throat and said, “Luna, is that . . . ”

“Oh, that? It’s my newest baking experiment. I couldn’t sleep last night, and I didn’t want to interrupt you two, so I made this — kimchi brownie!”

Instead of blushing, Draco and Neville both glanced at each other, and they both mirrored the other’s pale, blanched expression.

Click on the image for the larger version. Fanart by Heldrad.

“I baked this to thank you guys for the wonderful visit. The whole week has been fantastic, and last night was especially the best. All of the DBSK boys were adorable and fun. I especially loved talking to Changmin, and I am further convinced that he’s been reincarnated from a Nargle, which makes him extra special.”

Draco nodded and forced a smile on his face. “That’s great, Luna, and I am glad you had a wonderful visit, but, ah, I am not very hungry right now so I’ll try the brownies later, all right? Besides, Neville and I have to pack.”

Luna clapped her hands once. “Right! I need to pack, too! I’ll bring these brownies for our trip back to England. I’ve a feeling we might be receiving another visit from King Kong in Hong Kong, so these will come in handy. Plus, I can give some to Harry. He’ll love these.” She hummed and went to her room to pack.

Neville and Draco went to their room to pack, too. Behind the closed door, Draco muttered, “Don’t worry. I have some extra anti-acid potions for us.”

“Might as well save some for Harry, too. I’ve a feeling he’ll be eating most of those brownies,” Neville mentioned. “Oh, and are you sure Jaejoong will be able to take care of my plants?”

“He will. You know he aced herbology at his school.” Draco sniggered. “Otherwise, I can bring back Luna’s brownies and give them to him.”

“So cruel,” Neville teased as he carefully placed his grandmother’s gift, a beautiful celadon vase, in his trunk. “Still, I’m glad we’re going home for a week. It will be good to see everybody.”

“Yes.” Draco then added, “At least no one’s doorbell will play that blasted tune.”

“Someone really loves Beethoven, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, shut it, love. Let’s finish packing so we can take some of that potion. I’ve a very bad feeling we will be stuck in Hong Kong for a while. This is peak season for international Portkey travels.”

“Right. Do you really think King Kong hangs around in Hong Kong?”

Draco rolled his eyes and continued his packing.

“Draco! Vladimir is here. Remember, you have to take care of him this time.”

“I know, I know,” Draco groused. Despite his grumbling, he discovered that he and Vladimir got along way better than he and Hermes ever did. He served Vladimir some raw meat while Neville read out loud Luna’s letter.

Dear Draco and Neville,

Harry suggested that I send you some more kimchi brownies, so here’s another batch! I hope you guys enjoy these.

I really miss the two of you, and I am really thankful for all that you did for me when I visited last month.

The new school year at Hogwarts has started, and things have been incredibly busy. I’ve introduced Dong Bang Shin Ki to my Muggle Studies students, and all the girls love them. I’ve convinced Minerva to let Muggle electrical devices work just in my classroom. I’ve shown them all my DBSK DVDs, and I let them listen to their music any time they want.

Right now I am in the process of convincing Minerva to allow me to bring ten female students to South Korea during winter break for a few days. I’ve even told her that you’d be happy to house us while we are there. If you need assistance with room expansion charms, Harry will come along and lend a hand. He’ll be able to help me chaperone this winter. Ginny, too. She wants to come along and see the Korean brooms and purchase a few for her Flying class.

So what do you think? Will you be able to let us stay? Let me know as soon as possible!

Love,
Luna

P.S. — Hermes is now a father! When I come this winter, I’ll bring you one of his babies!

Draco and Neville stared at each other. Neither spoke for a while until Neville said, “Do you still have those earplugs?”

“Yeah. I guess we’ll need them if we host ten mad fangirls for a few days. Something tells me that Silencio will not block their squealing.”

Neville’s face turned green. “This will certainly be interesting.”

“Mmm . . . ” Draco scratched Vladimir’s head and asked, “Think I should introduce Luna to Super Junior?”

“If you do, you’re on your own hosting them this winter,” Neville deadpanned.

“But both Potter and Weasley are coming. You wouldn’t dare leave me defenceless against them and ten teenage girls, would you?”

“Well,” Neville conceded. “Fine, but introduce her to Super Junior after they leave!”

“Deal.”

Reason #1: Luna is very bright and friendly.

Harry looked around the table filled with his new colleagues, eyeing all the familiar and new faces that wore various expressions. Some looked cranky (like Filch), others looked dazed (like Trelawney), some were attentive (like Neville), and the remaining looked sharp (like McGonagall).

Then there was one face that stuck out. It looked dreamy, almost like Trelawney’s dazed expression, but he could see intelligence, could see its sharpness as well as its attentiveness, and, thankfully, no signs of crankiness — only friendliness.

He gave Luna a small smile, and she smiled back, her silvery grey eyes looking soft. Her long, dirty-blonde hair was piled up on her head, and Harry could see blue pencils stuck there, holding her hair up in some sort of a messy bun. She wore earrings, which were actually paperclips with beads, and her necklace was made up of several colourful shoelaces.

Mentally, Harry sniggered and shook his head. It’d been years since he’d last seen her, but he could see she hadn’t changed much. Since his own life over the last couple of decades had been filled with a lot of travelling, he found comfort in seeing Luna the same as before.

After the war, Harry had chosen to take up jobs in other countries. He found that he couldn’t stay in England right after the war. He’d felt too much pain. Everywhere and everything, he was reminded of friends and loved ones the war had taken from him. He also didn’t want to face all the media attention and all the expectations from British wizarding society. He didn’t want to be an Auror, nor did he want to be a famous Quidditch player. What he wanted was to see the world he’d saved and figure out who he was and what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

It took him a while, but he finally knew what he wanted to do. Travelling around the world and living and working in different countries, he found himself missing England, so he was happy to return and take the job of being a flying instructor and a Quidditch coach at Hogwarts. He was glad he could return to the first place he’d called home. And even though he hadn’t wanted to be a famous Quidditch player, he still loved flying, still loved that rush he got on the broom, loved the exhilarating wind breezing past him when he went extremely fast. This was a dream job for him.

Dream job or not, he couldn’t help but feel swamped from the information overload this staff meeting gave him. Thankfully, Luna came up to him after the meeting, and he was distracted from the annual schedule and all the pre-planning information that had all congregated in his brain.

“Hello, Harry! When Minerva had told us we’d get you as a new flying instructor and coach, I thought it was the most wonderful news. You’ll be great!”

“Thanks,” Harry said, trying not to blush from the praise. “I didn’t know you were working here, as a . . . Muggle Studies professor.” He was surprised by her teaching choice. Of the subjects offered at Hogwarts, he would have thought she’d fit more with Care of Magical Creatures.

“I love Muggle Studies. After the war, I had many opportunities to familiarise myself with the Muggles’ customs and society. I find their lives to be quite fascinating. Just as interesting as Nargles and Wrackspurts! When term isn’t in session, I still search for new creatures with my father or with my dear friend, Rolf Scamander. He’s related to Newt Scamander, you know.”

“Sorry, but who?”

“Newt Scamander,” she explained dreamily. “He’s the one who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Rolf is his grandson.”

“Oh. Right.” He remembered that book, but he found himself remembering the comments he and his friends had written in the book more than anything else.

She reached up to touch one of her shoelace necklaces and beamed at him. “Well, I’m excited to see we’re going to be colleagues now. Whenever you need help, feel free to ask.”

“Thanks.” He smiled back. Her smile was quite infectious. Was it like that before when they were in school? He couldn’t remember.

“Well, I have to run some errands. I have to do them now. Otherwise, I’ll upset the Nargles. See you around, Harry.”

She walked away, undoing her hair, and he saw the locks ripple out and drape her back. He found himself wondering how they’d feel if he ran his hands through them, hoping that they’d feel soft and silky. However, he didn’t dwell on it too long since Neville had joined him.

As he chattered away with Neville, Luna stayed in his mind. He could tell this job was going to be an interesting experience.

Reason #2: Luna can explain everything in a logical manner.

The term started without any problems, and Harry found himself growing accustomed to the routine of things, which was generally quite monotonous. On most days, he’d grudgingly wake up at the crack of dawn; drink about twenty cups of coffee, making him spend quite some time in the loo; eat breakfast in the noisy Great Hall, leaving the place with a pounding headache; spend all morning teaching the first years to not fall off their brooms because he’d never want an angry parent on his tail for hurting their “precious darlings”; eat lunch in that same cacophonous room with screaming teenagers, giving him another headache for the day; coach the Quidditch teams in the afternoon, going about the practices in the safest manner possible to avoid Madam Pomfrey’s wrath; and finally have some free time in the evening where he could eat his meal away from the Great Hall in a much quieter and civilised environment.

Each day was just a simple procedure of lather, rinse, and repeat. Sure, there were times when his students brought some amusement in his boring routine. After all, he was around teenagers who were always thinking about sex. To them, everything around them could be turned into something sexual.

But it was Luna who always made his day brighter and entertaining.

He was especially amused and befuddled by some of their conversations. He was rather fond of Luna’s interesting take on Muggle subjects, in particular. For instance, he would never forget their conversation on a computer keyboard, the “Harveys”, and the Muggles’ tastes in music, which all surprisingly turned out logical in a very Luna-ish way.

That conversation took place on a nice September day. Luna, claiming to be stir-crazy, had asked Harry to go out for a walk around the lake. With nothing else planned, Harry agreed, and as they both walked outside, they started to talk about their classes.

“How are your flying lessons?” Luna asked, fiddling with her new earrings. They were made from those heart-shaped sweets with messages on them.

By now, Harry had got used to seeing her hair piled up on her head with pencils in them, but he stared at the earrings. Somehow, food jewelleries on Luna worked — just like her unusual hairstyle — yet how she styled herself would look tacky and ridiculous on anybody else. He cleared his throat and said, “It’s interesting. I have this one first-year getting the brush part of the broom tangled in his robes. I’m not sure how he keeps managing that, but it happens every lesson. How’s yours? What are you focusing on in Muggle Studies?”

“I’ve introduced my older classes to computers.” Her eyes twinkled excitedly. “They’ve always fascinated me.”

“Why?”

“I’ve always liked their keyboard. The buttons on them are such a great concept! It’s obvious the keyboard’s made like that because Muggles like pushing buttons.”

He blinked. “They do?”

“And those loud Harveys they ride around on the streets? I’ve come to the conclusion Muggles like extremely noisy things.”

The non sequitur made his mind hurt as he tried to figure out just what she meant by “Harveys”. It took him few seconds to realise what she meant. “You mean Harleys?”

With wide eyes, she nodded. “I call them ‘Harveys’ . . . it just seems more fitting since it reminds me of that one Muggle cocktail, ‘Harvey Wallbanger’.”

“Well . . . ” He scratched his head and wondered just what that cocktail had to do with anything as he continued, “They can be loud, but not all Muggles like loud–”

“They do!” She interrupted as her hands waved around enthusiastically, with one almost slapping Harry in the face. “Their music is loud — not that it’s unpleasant, but what’s the point if I can’t understand their lyrics because of the loud bomp, bomp bomp? — and their video games have a lot of explosions . . . it makes sense!” She stilled, her face turning dreamy and thoughtful. “Now, I wonder if Fred and George are really Muggles in disguise. Their prank items are very loud and quite explosive.”

“I . . . ” He could actually see the logic in all of this, but he’d be arsed if he could explain why! “I’ve never thought of it like that.”

“See!” She beamed and her hands went back to play with the earrings. “Now you have.”

“Yes,” he chuckled. “You’ve definitely opened up my eyes.”

“That’s terrific.” She smiled again and this time linked her arm through his. “Let’s go back inside now. I’m quite hungry for some of those Belgian chocolates of yours.”

Still laughing, Harry led the way back to the castle, glad that he had Luna to always bring something unexpected to his daily life.

Reason #3: Luna is very generous.

“I’ve got a surprise for you.”

With Luna, Harry found everything about her to be surprising in a good way. Predictable was nowhere in Luna’s mentality or vocabulary, so Harry found himself intrigued and curious as to what kind of surprises she’d show him.

Luna could be very spontaneous, a trait that Harry would have never associated with a Ravenclaw, but it was her spontaneity that endeared her to him.

Remembering the wacky YouTube video she’d shown him — it was a bloke strumming away on his guitar and ranting about some really ancient bloke called Pachelbel, which had fascinated Luna since she asserted it was a prime example of what happened to someone who got possessed unknowingly by Wrackspurts — Harry couldn’t help but smile. “What is it?”

Luna immediately reached out to grab his hand. She did that often now, and Harry realised he liked the way their hands fit each other. His were larger and more tanned, while hers were paler and daintier than his, a contrast he really liked whenever he studied their hands together discreetly. She gave him a serene smile and said, “Come! I’ve found the Nargles’ secret hiding spot deep in the Forbidden Forest. They’ve given me permission to allow one other human to see it, and I’ve chosen you!”

“I . . . am . . . surprised?” He hadn’t meant to make it sound like a question, but it came out that way regardless. He really was astonished. Sure, he’d been hearing of her beliefs in these creatures that nobody else believed in, and he’d always indulged her while he listened to her passionate claims, but never in his wildest dreams had he expected one of her outlandish claims to be true.

She beamed. “This is something I have to share. I can’t just keep it to myself.” She tugged his arm, and he discovered just how fast Luna could be when she was this excited.

As they sped through the forest — which made Harry wonder if she had somehow merged herself with the newest broom out on the market, Ragestruck 2000 — he had to ask, “Did you find a patch of mistletoe or something? Didn’t you say Nargles like to infest those?”

“That’s only in December,” she explained, stepping up her pace. She remained unfazed while he grew short of breath. “It’s only mid-October right now, so they are in their normal forms.”

“Normal form?” He didn’t remember this fact at all.

“You’ll see,” she hummed mysteriously.

Finally, after a long run to what felt like London, they stopped in a clearing. There were trees all around them, moonlight streaking through their leaves. Luna looked around with bright eyes; Harry bent over with his hands on his knees, gasping for blessed air to enter into his deprived lungs.

“Harry,” she said softly, bringing a finger up to her lips. She made a gesture towards some bushes that had silver, bell-shaped flowers.

He didn’t at first, but when he squinted his eyes, he saw it: a small creature, about the size of a Crup, that looked like something of a cross between a rabbit and a skunk as it had long rabbit ears and a skunk’s body. It was white, with a twitchy black nose and a pair of innocent, sweet dark-coloured eyes. On its back, instead of the skunk’s prominent white stripes, there were seven stripes in the colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The colours extended to the tip of its long, fluffy tail.

It waddled close to where they were standing, and Harry held his breath, watching the gentle looking creature. Luna kneeled on the ground and slowly held out her hand towards the creature. In a soothing voice, she said, “I’m back and I’ve brought Harry, one of my dearest friends. He’s perfectly harmless, despite his loud breathing earlier. He’s just a bit tired from the running we did.”

The Nargle came closer and nudged Luna’s hand, and it started to purr happily when she began to scratch its head. “You like that, don’t you, Thumpflow?”

“Thumpflow?” Harry asked in a hushed voice, sitting on the ground himself, careful not to make his movement too erratic and scare it away.

“A portmanteau of ‘Thumper’ and ‘Flower’. I named this Nargle after those two characters from Bambi.” While she explained, Thumpflow stopped nuzzling into Luna’s hand, and it came over to Harry. It scrutinised him, and Harry met its penetrating gaze. He didn’t feel uncomfortable, though. He could feel a sense of calm spreading over him, and without thinking, he moved a hand out towards Thumpflow, and it bypassed his hand and crawled into his lap.

“Oh!” Luna’s voice hitched. “He likes you! I’m so glad.”

“I . . . I’m honoured.” Harry said as his hand hovered above Thumpflow’s head.

“You can pet him. He’ll like it.”

As if on cue, Thumpflow reached upwards to bump its head into Harry’s palm. Harry touched and scratched its head lightly, feeling the richness and softness of its fur. It began to purr again, and Harry smiled.

“The others are coming now,” Luna said happily. She looked at the other Nargles, all of them looking very similar to Thumpflow. They made a circle around them. Light evening breezes rustled the bushes with the bell-shaped flowers, which began to sing a twinkling melody, causing the Nargles to purr in a harmonic response.

Harry closed his eyes, glad to be swept away by this magical and peaceful place. With one hand still on Thumpflow, he put his other arm around Luna. If time ever froze right now, Harry would not mind at all. Not one bit.

But they had to leave soon. Time didn’t stop then and there. Harry wished they didn’t have to leave the enchanting place, yet he was truly glad that Luna had chosen him to share this wonderful experience.

It was that life-altering incident that made him appreciate and understand just how special Luna really was.

Reason #4: Luna cares about the arts.

With her clothes no longer donning an orange-coloured scheme to honour Halloween, Luna came up to Harry with a new idea that fascinated and dismayed him. He knew Luna was into the arts, but he’d no idea just how much she was willing to explore into that territory.

“I’ve talked to Minerva, and she agreed to let us start up a new club activity here.”

Harry blinked at this sudden news. “What club activity?”

“Drama club. Let’s start up a drama club!”

He could only stare at her. Just when he thought she couldn’t surprise him anymore, she came up with something to make him feel stupid for ever doubting her remarkable abilities to stun him. “I’ve no experience in that field,” he said haltingly.

“I don’t, either!” She gave him a wide smile. “We can both learn how to put on a play with the students. I think this will be very educational for everyone involved.”

“Well,” he said, still trying to wrap his head around this newest scheme of hers. “What play do you have in mind?”

“Something romantic. Something Shakespearish.”

“Shakespeare? Why him?” He felt uneasy at that suggestion. He knew of Shakespeare’s works, knew the summaries of the more popular plays, but he would never call himself a fan of Shakespeare. He’d once tried to read one of Shakespeare’s plays, and he’d failed miserably since he could barely understand that strange variation of English. Actually, he wasn’t even certain it was English.

“Why not?” she asked. “I want to focus on Shakespeare since he’s the most famous playwright in all of history. Besides, I think it’d be fun to introduce the Elizabethan English to everyone here.”

He wasn’t quite convinced, but he still said, “I see. Well, if you want something romantic, then that’s easy. Just do Romeo and Juliet.”

“No.” Apparently, she knew enough about Shakespeare’s plays. With a very earnest expression, she explained, “That’s not romantic! Romeo’s love for Juliet was clearly misguided as he allowed his hormones to lead him away from Rosaline, the one he should have just stayed with! His fickleness is not very romantic at all. And honestly, it’s such a depressing play.”

“Depressing, huh?” He quickly suggested, “How about A Midsummer’s Night Dream? That’s a comedy, right?”

“That’s not romantic either. A love potion does not make romance,” she clarified.

He had to agree with her assessment of these so-called romantic plays, but he was beginning to run out of suggestions. “Then what do you propose?”

“Oh, I think I’ve had way too many encounters with the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack. They’re affecting my memory at the moment. I can’t quite remember the title of that one play. Something about an animal?”

“Ah-ha! The Taming of the Shrew?”

“No, that wasn’t quite it . . . oh! It was Much Ado About Nothing!”

“How in Merlin’s name does that play fit your animal comment?” he couldn’t help exclaiming.

“You know that one quote? The one that says ‘I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me’? I’ve always adored that line. Beatrice is a fascinating character, I think.”

Harry started to snigger. “If that’s what you want to do, fine by me.”

Luna gave a bright smile. “And I know exactly who to cast as Beatrice and Benedick, the wonderful bickering couple.”

Curious, he asked, “Who?”

“Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy! I’ve talked to them separately. They seem to be quite interested in joining the drama club, too, so it’ll all work out perfectly.”

“Well . . . ” Harry tried to picture his god-daughter with Scorpius. “At least they’ll both fit the bickering part.”

“Exactly.” Luna summoned a parchment and yanked out one of the pencils in her hair. “Now, let’s plan this.”

Hours later, when Harry was stumbling in his rooms to get into his much missed bed, he decided that Luna and the arts were either an interesting combo or a scary one. All he knew for now was that he was going to have an even more interesting year with play rehearsals and play preparation.

Oddly enough, he would consider the play a success if the leading actor and leading actress didn’t hex one another to hell first.

The last thing on his mind before he slept was an image of an excited Luna. She had hair escaping from her bun. The way it framed her happy face with her sparkling eyes, she looked pretty and youthful. There were times tonight where he’d wanted to brush those strands away from her face and then kiss her. There were moments where he’d wanted to kiss her gently and slowly, to tell her through his actions that he was falling for her in ways he’d never felt about anyone else before. Then there were instances where he’d wanted to grab and pull her soft body against his and plant a mind-blowing kiss on her lips because he desperately wanted to feel her, taste her, and use his actions once more to show just how much he desired her.

But he didn’t do anything.

What he decided to do was to take it slow and easy.

Reason #5: Luna is kind and considerate to every living thing.

Unfortunately, Luna was not making it easy for him to stick to his decision of taking things slow and easy. Whenever Luna touched his shoulders, brushed past against him, and gave him a smile that just made his insides melt, he wanted to touch her in ways that were not platonic. He wondered about how she’d look naked, with her hair undone, imagined how it would feel to run his fingers through the beautiful locks and touching her pale skin, speculating on whether her skin would flush or not.

His active imagination went further to bring images of her sprawled out naked on blue, satin sheets, her breasts looking pert and perky, while giving him a luscious smile, her lips looking so full and snoggable. Then she’d open up her arms invitingly, and he’d be on top of her, kissing, touching, and moving with her to reach a pleasurable climax.

Every night, he’d dream of making love to Luna, and every morning, he’d greet a sticky mess in his pants.

Every day, he’d think about Luna. He knew that she was different from most women out there and that she was someone special. Most his previous relationships hadn’t worked out well. It was partly his fault because he never tried to get to know his ex-girlfriends and only focused on the physical aspects of their relationships. Not that it was a bad thing, but he now realised that those were shallow relationships, and he didn’t want that with Luna.

With Luna, he wanted something deep and meaningful.

Hence, he wanted to take things slowly and easily.

But Luna was really testing his control. Especially with what had happened tonight.

Not that it was bad, no, and he also saw just how considerate it was.

She came up to him, after dinner, suggesting they go out for a breath of fresh air.

“Sure,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go to Hogsmeade. I need to stock up on some chocolates. But let’s not walk on the grass to get there.”

Harry blinked in confusion. The path to Hogsmeade was covered with a lot of grass. “Why not?”

“Walking on them is not good for them. I mean, I know everyone walks on them, but I like to give them rest as often as I can,” she explained calmly.

“Okay . . . well, we can’t exactly Apparate there. And we don’t have a Portkey . . . Floo?”

She shook her head. “No, no. No Flooing.”

“Then how?”

Casually, Luna grabbed his hand, and she smiled as she laced their fingers together. “Fly. Let’s fly with you in the front. That way I can sit behind you and wrap my arms around you while you take us over there.”

Harry really had no comeback for that, and he couldn’t find anything wrong with her reasoning, so it wasn’t long before they were up in the air, and her front was pressed into his back. With her breasts pressed against him, her arms around him, and her warm breath grazing his neck, he endured a very unpleasant broom ride — riding a broom with a very stiff groin really was uncomfortable — and he tried futilely to distract himself from Luna’s closeness.

And he had to suffer through it again when they returned to Hogwarts.

Still, he couldn’t fault her for wanting to give grass some consideration. Never mind that he had to undergo discomfort for the grass’ sake; he didn’t mind making Luna happy.

Reason #6: Luna is very unique and beautiful.

The next couple of weeks zoomed by, and before Harry knew it, it was the first week of December. Between his teaching duties and the drama club rehearsals, he didn’t have time to plan and take the next step in his relationship with Luna. Then again, they spent almost every day together and were comfortable with each other, so he was content with just working with her and having her near him.

He really couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Therefore, he wasn’t expecting her next wild proposal.

“I want to take my classes on a field trip. I want to expose them to more Muggle life and culture.”

Harry nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. Hands-on experience is always better than just learning straight from the book. Hermione was telling me of a good museum–”

“Bowling,” Luna interrupted with an eager smile. “Someone introduced me to bowling, and after doing some research, I want to try it out myself! It looks really fun, and I think it’ll be something the students would like!”

“Bowling?” he repeated. “You want to go bowling?”

“Yes. We have no play rehearsal, it’s Saturday night, so why not?”

“But I’ve never bowled in my life!”

Luna clapped her hands once and said, “Then let’s try it together.”

“You do realise bowling alleys are quite loud?”

“I’ve been told that — which makes my theory about Muggles liking loud noises even more plausible.” She shrugged her slender shoulders. “I think loud noises in this case are quite fitting. It heightens one’s excitement, I think! Anyway, I’ll meet you at the entrance in an hour.”

An hour and a half later, Harry found himself in a bowling alley. The noise level pierced his poor, throbbing head, so he decided to concentrate on Luna instead.

That proved to be a bad idea. Luna, in her well-fitting jeans and beige-coloured jumper (which was just as well-fitting as the jeans), looked stunning. He realised that Luna usually wore loose-fitting robes at Hogwarts, so to see her in something tighter than usual . . . he mentally shook his head as he looked at her hair, distracting himself from his own jeans getting too tight.

He almost did a double-take at seeing the familiar pencils in her hair. Sure, that hairstyle was practically her trademark now, but he thought she’d take them out for this . . . date. Was it a date? He wasn’t entirely sure, but he deemed this outing to be a date of some sort.

Despite his initial shock over the pencils, he found himself grinning as he asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while now, but what’s with the pencils in your hair?”

“Hm?” Luna blinked as she picked out a hot pink ball for herself. “Oh, I’ve seen Muggle girls do this a lot. I think it’s a very practical solution, keeping the hair out of my face and ensuring I always have something to write with. I know we mostly use quills, but they aren’t as strong as a pencil.”

Harry smiled as he picked out a blue ball for himself. He should have known Luna would have a very reasonable answer. Still, he had to ask, “What about chopsticks?”

“I tried them, but they turned out to be less useful than a pencil. I’ve tried to teach myself to eat with some chopsticks, but I could never master it. Besides, a pencil’s a lot safer than a fork!”

“That makes sense.”

“Still, thank you for reminding me. I completely forgot they were still in my hair!” She took them out and shook her long, gorgeous blonde hair. Mesmerised, he watched them tumble down her back, and he automatically reached out to touch the cascading waves.

“Your hair’s lovely,” he muttered huskily.

“Thank you,” she answered seriously. “Let’s start bowling, all right? I’m guessing I have to throw the ball and hit those white things down, yes?”

Nonplussed by her changing the subject, Harry sniggered. “Yeah. You have two chances to do it for each turn. I think if you knock all of them down on your first throw, it’s called a strike.”

“Ah, I remember now. Let’s make a deal. If you make a strike first, you get a kiss from me. If I make a strike first, I get a kiss from you.”

Harry just stared at her for a good minute before saying, “No offence, Luna, but what kind of a deal is that?”

“The best kind,” she clarified, giving him an intense look. “I want to kiss you. And according to our visit to Thumpflow last week, you want to, too. Besides, I like hugging you, you like holding my hand, and we’re on a date, so I think having this sort of a deal makes it more exciting.”

“Thumpflow is a terrible secret keeper!” Harry exclaimed, a slow smile coming onto his face. “Let’s try it.”

“Wonderful!” Luna picked up her ball and positioned herself at the edge. “Wish me luck!”

Frame after frame, gutter ball after gutter ball, and split after split, they both threw their respective balls down the lane. Harry came to the conclusion that bowling was not an easy thing to do, but it was nevertheless fun and stimulating. Amidst the loud noises, he and Luna laughed and talked and cheered each other through the two games they played.

Finally, though, towards the end of the last game, Luna finally made a strike.

And Harry was there to give her the promised kiss, and he realised that of all the first kisses he’d had with his previous girlfriends, kissing Luna was on a whole different level. As soon as his lips touched hers, his brain nearly exploded, and his senses were overloaded with everything that screamed Luna. He could smell her vanilla-scented perfume, he could taste her favourite Earl Grey tea with lemon, and he could touch her silky hair and her soft jumper-covered back. Her breasts were pressed against his own chest, and he longed to touch them and see how they fit and felt in his hands.

He didn’t know how long they kissed, but when they finally did separate, he wished they hadn’t.

He wanted to continue to lavish her with kisses. He wished he could just push her onto the hard alley floor right at this moment, rip their clothes off, and continue to snog until they were breathless and writhing against each other with lust.

But now wasn’t the time; he reminded himself to take things slowly. Besides, he realised something unusual. He loved how Luna was taking the initiative in their relationship. He liked her confidence and her peculiar ways of going at things, so when Luna was ready to take things further, he’d do it her way, and it would be something he’d not regret at all.

Reason #7: Luna is very creative — especially with sex.

When he’d guessed Luna would initiate the next step in their relationship, Harry wasn’t surprised by his deduction.

They were snogging in Luna’s sitting room because her quarters were much nicer than his — probably because she had more tenure than him. Their kisses were hot and needy, tongue meeting tongue, their hands exploring all over their bodies — in fact, Harry’s glasses fogged up until he tossed them aside. He finally got to touch Luna’s breasts; he cupped them in his hands, and they fit perfectly as he thumbed her hardening nipples.

When Luna moved, against his growing hard-on, Harry moaned into her sweet mouth as desire raced through his body. He ran a hand through her loose hair, making her gasp softly in pleasure, and he started to unbutton her robes, wanting to see her pale skin all flushed with unmitigated longing and needs.

“Wait,” Luna rasped out, breaking their kiss. Her large eyes looked at him imploringly. “Bedroom. Not here.”

He wanted to complain. He wanted to tell her that he couldn’t make it to the bedroom even if it were right in front of him, but he only nodded, telling himself to be patient!

She smiled as she got off of him, and she slipped her hand into his. “You’ll like what I’ve planned.”

“What will I like–?” Inside Luna’s private chambers, he stared at what greeted him from the centre. “A hammock?!”

Indeed, instead of a bed of any sort, he saw a pink and green hammock, each end tied to a palm tree, and underneath the hammock, he saw many, many pillows of different colours. In fact, the pillows were arranged by colour, and he could see them resembling a rainbow spectrum. Finally, on the ceiling, he saw that it was spelled to represent the night sky, all dark with the moon and stars shining down in the middle.

Harry turned to look at Luna and repeated, “A hammock?”

“Yes, a hammock,” she said, her hands reaching out to slowly unbutton his robes.

“Why?” he asked, already knowing what she would say next.

“I want us to try having sex on it.”

“But . . . !” Luna began to kiss his neck, and that muddled any coherent thoughts in his head. Still, he managed to say, “It’s too shaky! Too unstable. We’ll probably flip around in it and fall out of it!”

Luna lightly nipped at his neck before she stepped back and brought them closer to the hammock. “You worry too much. Besides, if we fall out of it, that’s what the pillows are for!” She pushed Harry’s robes off until he was clad only in his boxers. “I’ve always wanted to try this. I like to try things at least once, but this is not something I can experiment by myself, so now that I have you . . . ”

He had to admit that Luna was very creative. And adventurous. And her mentality of trying anything at least once . . . all of these turned him on even more, and he knew then that he shouldn’t have expected anything normal with her. “Why not? Now that you mention it, I do like the idea of our first time together being memorable.”

She smiled as she lay back into the hammock, her robes half off, and beckoned him to join her. He took a few seconds to admire how she looked with her red cheeks, swollen lips, and partially covered breasts, which tempted him even further; he joined her without any more lingering thoughts.

He found her eager lips once more, and he snogged her deeply, slipping his tongue inside her mouth and loving the way it felt. He broke the kiss first and he trailed his lips down to her neck, but he didn’t spend much time there. Instead, he dipped lower until he came across her breasts, and he moved the robes to expose them. Without any hesitation, he kissed and sucked on her nipples while his other hand reached down to touch and circle her clit.

While he was doing that, Luna slipped a hand between them and began to stroke him through his boxers. Somehow, she knew the right amount of pressure to apply to her strokes. It wasn’t long before he longed for her to touch him without his boxers in the way. As if she could read minds, she finally touched him with full skin-on-skin contact, and his mind went absolutely blank before instinct took over. But before that happened, he looked straight into her eyes; they were clear and filled with lust and love.

Later, Harry remembered the heat and the tightness that surrounded him when he entered her. He remembered kissing her once more as he began to move, realising in the back of his mind that the hammock and sex actually fit well with each other, what with his movement matching the hammock’s flexibility.

It wasn’t long before both reached their climax, and it was at that moment, ironically, that Harry’s prediction of them flipping out of the hammock was fulfilled. Luckily, thanks to Luna’s foresight, they landed on the colourful pillows and contently snuggled into each other’s embrace.

Harry kissed her softly and said, “That hammock was actually not a bad idea.”

Luna gave him a loving smile. “I’m glad we tried it out. I do have other ideas I’d like to try in the future.”

He laughed and pulled her closer to him. Giving her one last kiss on her nose, he said, “And I’ll go along with whatever ideas you have. With you around, nothing’s boring or ordinary.”

Draco’s twenty-fifth birthday was just around the corner.

He had a great job (he was the Arithmancy professor at Hogwarts), a good house (aside from the manor and his rooms at Hogwarts, he had a lovely Victorian-style mansion in Dorset), and a wonderful girlfriend (who was also his colleague as the Care of Magical Creatures professor) who was the one and only Luna Lovegood.

Every day, his life was always hopping with unpredictable students in his classes. He was constantly amused by the interesting answers his students gave him on their Arithmancy problems, and he alternated between amused and frustrated at how the younger generations seemed incapable of following instructions on their exams. One time, he specifically wrote out a true and false exam, where the students would only have to circle A or B. Unfortunately, he had a student circle “C” for the entire exam, and Draco didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh. Instead, he focused his attention on the good part of teaching, and so aside from a few morons in his classes, he generally enjoyed his job.

Then there were his homes. Luckily, there was nothing for him to really complain or discuss about. His house elves took care of the manor and the mansion, and the Hogwarts’ house elves took care of his rooms at Hogwarts. As long as his residences were nice and clean, nothing else mattered.

Well, one more thing mattered, and that was Luna. After the war, with the Malfoy name ruined, Draco had been in a slump. He couldn’t seem to get himself out of bed in the morning. But that all changed when a chance meeting had brought him to Luna.

He’d been in the Three Broomsticks, hiding in a corner as he tried to ignore all the hostile looks from the other wizarding folks. He’d just come from a job interview, a job he knew he had no chance of getting within the first minute of his interview, and he was rather furious, frustrated, and flummoxed as what to do next. Draco glared at the shot of firewhiskey sitting on the table in front of him. He’d been so busy concentrating on the shot glass that he didn’t even notice he had company until someone’s cheery voice said, “Is there something invisible on the shot glass? A secret message that will tell us the answer to the mystery of life? Or better yet, why Nargles are so shy?”

Startled by his unwelcomed companion, Draco gaped unattractively at a rather beaming Luna Lovegood. Her silvery-grey eyes met his steely ones, and Draco had to close his own to keep the sparkles from blinding him. Looking away from those eyes, he looked at her dirty blonde hair, plaited neatly into a fat braid, and her interesting ensemble of clothes. He remembered Pansy showing him a doll donned in some Native American costume, complete with a feathered headband. Luna reminded him of that doll as he looked at the beige-coloured robes that had colourful beads and feathers. Luna didn’t have the feathered headband, but it didn’t take much imagination for Draco to mentally draw one on her head.

He then scowled as he mentally kicked himself. “Go away, Loony Lovegood. What I stare at or think about is none of your business.” He was glad his mother wasn’t with him because he would have just received an earful from her for being incredibly rude. But he didn’t care if he was rude. He wanted to be alone, and he didn’t want someone like Luna to bother him.

She didn’t go away. Instead, Luna sat down and began prattling on about a multitude of topics. Draco narrowed his eyes; she was either deaf or playing dumb. He’d decided on both as his head had begun to spin from the randomness of her one-sided conversation, and he was having a difficult time keeping up with her.

Thankfully, she finally said, “It was really enlightening to have this discussion about magical creatures, Draco. Perhaps, next time we’ll discuss about the complexities of Arithmancy? I really loved that class, too, but the Hogwarts curriculum is lacking a bit in that department, so I feel like I was quite cheated from learning the intricacies of the subject.”

Draco nodded mutely, wondering how she knew that Arithmancy was his favourite subject. Before he could ask, she stood up and barged on, “I’ve got to run now. I’ll see you here again, next week? Same time? Farewell until then!” She walked off, the feathers on her costume fluttering and the beads clanking.

Gobsmacked, Draco stayed at the Three Broomsticks for another two hours until he was able to force himself to leave.

Since then, Draco came to the conclusion that Luna was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, somehow, despite his initial plan to ignore her assumption of them meeting again in a week, Draco found himself at the Three Broomsticks exactly a week later. Luna, as promised, showed up, and since then, he’d not been able to get rid of her.

Luna’s bright personality and her interesting perspectives on something simple like sweets to something complex like why the universe exist all gave Draco the encouragement to do something more with his life instead of wallowing in self-pity and alcohol. Not at first, though. In the beginning, he’d tried to snipe his way away from Luna by insulting her to make her hate him. It hadn’t worked. She’d seemed impervious to any of his snarky comments; in fact, she’d even twisted his comments and used it to discuss her favourite topic ever: the existence of Nargles.

One time, he’d said to her, “Are you colour-blind? Why are your robes pink and green — neon pink and green?”

Her response was, “Nargles like these colours. I wear them in hopes to attract them to me, and I think it works! I think one almost came to me, but because I was in Diagon Alley, the crowds and the noises scared the poor thing away.”

She was eccentric, but she’d wormed her way into his heart. Six months after their first meeting, Luna gave him a mind-blowing kiss that caused him to see fireworks and other sparkly objects that Luna loved. A year later, they moved in with each other, and both started on their mastery programmes. She did a thesis in the extinction level of magical creatures, and he a thesis on the differences between Eastern and Western Arithmancy. Two years later, they finished and got hired to work at Hogwarts. Now, five years after their first meeting, Draco was blissfully happy with his career and with his love life.

His birthday fell on a Sunday this year. Because it was the weekend, instead of waking up in his rooms at Hogwarts, he woke up in his bedroom in his mansion at Dorset. Blearily, he rubbed his eyes, and he looked at the empty spot next to him. He found it odd. Normally, Luna would never wake up before him, but today, she did, and it was a bit unnerving. He touched the rumpled area, and he felt that it was still slightly warm. Just as he threw the blanket off of him, intending to run to the loo to do his business, the door swung open, and Luna walked in carrying a big box.

“Happy Birthday, Draco!” she announced in her clear, sing-song voice. Still in her nightgown with her dressing gown over it, Luna carefully walked towards the bed, her arms wrapped protectively over the box. It was a pretty box. It was wrapped neatly in silver wrapping, and there was a huge pink bow at the top. Draco had to wonder why the bow had to be pink. Of all the colours, why pink?

Luna set the garish box in his lap, and she eagerly climbed into the bed next to him, giving him a passionate kiss. The kiss was so good that Draco almost forgot about the present in his lap. But Luna broke it and backed off. She grinned at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth and said, “Before you open this, I want you to guess what’s in here.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “Can you give me a hint?”

“Nope. No hints. That will take the fun out of this game.”

Looking carefully at the box, Draco’s magical instincts told him that the box was spelled to keep something alive in here. Alive. He blanched and hoped Luna didn’t get him a ferret. “A . . . cat?”

“Nope.”

“A . . . snake?”

“Not even close.”

“Please, not a ferret.”

Luna giggled. “Of course not. I would never get you that — although those are cute.”

Draco exhaled loudly. “They may be cute, but I don’t want them near me.” Pressing an ear against the box, Draco strained to hear some sort of a noise that would give him a clue. It was silent. “A rabbit?”

A soft smirk came on her face. “Not a rabbit.”

Just then he heard a whimpering sound from the box. Draco looked at Luna. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a child in here,” he half-joked. An indignant “ruff-ruff” sound came from the box. “A dog?”

Luna’s face emitted joy. “Yes, but which one?”

Groaning, Draco whined, “Lunaaaaa. Don’t make me guess all those breeds of dog!”

“But, darling,” Luna said with an innocent look. “There aren’t that many wizarding breeds of dog.”

“Oh, well, that makes it better. I thought you’d have got me a Muggle dog.”

“No, of course not. You know I wouldn’t want a Muggle dog with us. It’d scare away the Nargles since Muggle dogs have different aura compared to a wizarding dog. Now, guess!”

“A crup?” Draco asked. “Is that the breed?”

“Yes! You did it! Now, open it.”

A crup? Draco had to admit, he was a bit surprised. True, Luna was a big animal lover, but he’d never been much into animals before. When he was younger, he’d always wanted a pet, but he wasn’t allowed to have one because of the mess they would make and all the responsibility it took to raise an animal. Sure, his father raised two crups, but it was his father’s, not his. The crups were off-limit, and Draco always thought that was unfair. Now, that he was older, the idea of having a pet never really hit him, especially since his experience with the “bouncing ferret” left him quite traumatised.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully undid the pink bow and unwrapped the silver paper. The top flap automatically popped opened, and an adorable puppy poked its head out and licked Draco’s cheek. “Oi!” Draco exclaimed in surprise, making Luna’s pearly laughter ring out in the room.

The puppy barked happily, and Draco carefully took it out of the box. He held it away from his face, and he studied the crup.

“Isn’t it cute?” Luna asked, reaching out to scratched its head. “It’s a girl.”

A girl? Draco set the puppy down on his bed, and he watched it stretch and wriggle her body. The puppy had a nice colouring. It was chocolate brown with white paws. Draco held out a hand towards her, and she sniffed at it. When it looked like she was satisfied by his smell, she bumped her head into his hand, and Draco automatically began to pet her.

“She’s controllable in Muggle-inhabited area — Hermione and Harry helped me with that — and I got the licence for her from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creature. The only thing she needs now is a name. Well, a name from you.”

“Pardon?”

“See,” Luna explained happily, “I named her ‘Padraig’.”

“Padraig? Isn’t that a guy’s–”

“Yes, but that was before I was told it was a girl. So like I said, she has a name from me, but she needs a name from you unless you want to call her Padraig.”

“And confuse everyone around her?” Draco drawled out with a frown. “No. She’s not going to be Padraig. I was thinking ‘Eydie’. It means ‘rich gift’, and she is a rich gift in a sense that . . . well . . . it’s . . . ” Draco blushed as he tried to find the words to explain his sudden moments of sentimentalism. “It’s from you. And because it’s you . . . that makes this little crup even more special.”

Luna answered him by hugging and kissing him. “Eydie it is, love.”

Draco kissed her back, and amidst the box, the wrapping, the bow, and Eydie, Luna straddled him and deepened the kiss. As Eydie barked and demanded for their attention, Draco tuned out the barking for a few minutes as he wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

With his fantastic job, his marvellous homes, his tremendously fabulous girlfriend, and now a brilliant new puppy in his life, Draco couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.