"Oh, Hermione," Ginny lamented as she plopped down on the chair beside the older witch. "I just had the craziest week. I mean, I get that we have to win and all, but what I don't understand is why we have to train so hard for our upcoming match against the Chudley Cannons. The Chudleys, Hermione. Their Seeker cannot keep himself on his broom for more than two hours, honestly!"
Hermione hummed with a smile, indulging the redhead by pretending she was actually listen to all of her Quidditch woes. It just made her happy that Ginny was actually here, in her home, like they had never even ignored each other for three years.
"... Hermione," Ginny pointed out in exasperation. "You're not even listening to me."
She sheepishly grinned, prompting the redhead Quidditch player to sigh in disbelief.
"Serves you right for thinking Hermione will even listen to you yammer about Quidditch, Weasley."
Hermione blushed, resolutely refusing to look at Draco, who was casually lounging on one of the chairs in her kitchen. Her mind conjured the memory of her kissing him – well, it was more of a peck, really – but gods, did he really have to start calling her by her first name? Their moment had already been a few days ago, but Draco hadn't brought it up even once. He still acted around her like he normally did, but sometimes, she would catch him looking at her, and she would wonder.
"Why are you even here, Malfoy?" Ginny asked, mildly annoyed, but thankfully there wasn't any animosity in her eyes anymore. "Don't you have some work to do in the ministry?"
Hermione's eyes widened, realizing this also. Today was a Wednesday, after all, and it was her day-off. Draco, on the other hand, was expected to be sitting behind his desk in the DIMC.
Unwittingly, her questioning gaze finally landed on him, and found out he was looking at her already.
"I resigned," he told her, eliciting a gasp from the brunette.
"W-what? Really?"
"Yes," he said, a slow smirk growing on his face. "You were right. My talents are wasted in the DIMC. Oh, and McLaggen's a prick. He made a fit when I resigned, yapping about how ungrateful I was for throwing such a wonderful opportunity away for an ex-Death Eater like me. Bloody hell, he didn't even like me one bit."
A small smile bloomed on her face, imagining a very beardy Henrik McLaggen, turning red with anger. "So... does this mean you'll apply to the DMLE then?" she asked.
To her disappointment, he merely shrugged his shoulders. There was something in his eyes, though, that made her think that Draco was still in the process of deciding.
"Draco!" Rose suddenly exclaimed, running into the kitchen. "Oh, hello Aunt Ginny!" She pattered closer to the older redhead and gave her a big hug. Ginny cooed and pinched her niece's cheeks, eliciting infectious giggles from the little girl.
Once Ginny released her, Rose bounded towards Draco and tried her very best to pull him onto his feet. "Dracooo," she whined when the wizard still wouldn't budge. "SpongeBob is starting! Come on!"
Mild irritation flitted through Draco's face, but he finally relented and allowed the redhead to pull him into the living room.
Hermione was chuckling under her breath once Draco and her daughter were gone. "I don't get why he's always putting up a fight," she said. "Draco secretly likes watching Rose's cartoon, really."
Instead of smiling with her, Ginny gave Hermione a strange look. The chuckles died down from Hermione's lips and frowned in discomfort.
"What?"
"Okay, Hermione, let's cut the crap," the younger witch said, pulling her chair closer to hers. "What is really going on here?"
Her frown deepened, confused. "What do you mean?"
Ginny released a huge sigh and inched her face closer. Hermione blinked at her in surprise and smiled, reminiscing about the days when Ginny would sneak into the higher year dormitories to have some late heart-to-heart talks with her.
"Between you and Malfoy!" she exclaimed matter-of-factly. "Or should I say Draco?"
The memory of his soft lips resurfaced in her mind once more and Hermione deeply blushed. "W-what do you mean?" she repeated, refusing to meet Ginny's eyes in fear of cracking.
But the Weasley was having none of it. "Hermione, we haven't seen each other for ages, but even I can see that something is definitely going on between you two," she pointed out.
Her mouth ran dry, her eyes drilling holes on the kitchen top. "Nothing's going on, Ginny," she mumbled miserably, once again wondering why they hadn't talked about that fateful night. Maybe she was reading in too much of his actions, and maybe she was just stupid for doing so. "Well, maybe there was that one time we kissed" – "WHAT?!" – "But we're just friends."
Ginny grabbed both of her shoulders and turned her around so that she could directly look into her eyes. Hermione felt queasy under her scrutinizing gaze and when a look of understanding shined in her blue eyes, the older witch knew that she was already caught. "Obviously, there's something for you," she said with a brilliant grin.
Hermione weakly smiled in return, not trusting herself to speak when her heart was threatening to burst through her chest.
"Oh, Hermione," Ginny gushed back. "Open your eyes. There's something for Malfoy, too."
She once again remembered that fateful night, when he couldn't stop looking at her lips. But Hermione had crushed that bubbling hope before it could fester just to save herself from any heartbreak that might occur. She couldn't afford to wallow in her feelings, now that she had a daughter to take care of and a vile Death Eater to imprison.
"I don't know, Ginny," she whispered in reply, sadly frowning at the floor.
"Hermione," the younger witch firmly said. Once her eyes settled back into her blue ones, she continued, "I... admit that it makes me uncomfortable. I mean, Merlin, you were married to my brother! But I promise you, I have nothing against you finding a new love."
Hermione turned into a brilliant shade of red. "Love seems like a big overstatement, don't you think?" she inquired, followed by a nervous chuckle. Her traitorous mind whispered, however, that she was dangerously teetering between like and love. 'Shut up, brain,' she mentally thought.
Ginny merely gave her a knowing look. "I think you know that Rose needs a father, too," she continued. "I'm not saying you as a single parent is a bad thing. Hermione, you're brilliant for raising a sweet, kind girl alone. But Rose terribly misses Ron, and I know nobody can replace him, but maybe a new, constant male figure in her life wouldn't be so bad now, would it?"
"There's Harry," she protested, but Ginny merely rolled her eyes.
"Tough luck, love, but I plan on keeping him for myself and our future children," she replied, making her smile at the sincerity behind her words. "Of course I plan to share Harry, but... ugh, you know what I mean. And as much as it pains for me to admit it, Draco freaking Malfoy is actually good to Rose."
Hermione couldn't help but to silently concur with her words. After watching Draco and her daughter interact in the past few months, she hadn't seen her daughter quite happy ever since her father died. Draco was bloody brilliant with Rose and she wanted him to continue being a constant presence in her daughter's life.
"I don't know, Gin..."
"Gods, Hermione, you should see how he looks at you!" Ginny was practically shaking her to understand. "Rose might be a bright star in his eyes, but Merlin Almighty, you are like the warm sun after his bleakest day."
Her cheeks splattered red with her comparison, refusing to believe that someone as wonderful as him could see her like that.
"He is good with you too," Ginny said with a sigh. "I couldn't help but compare him with Ron – I'm sorry, brother, may you rest in peace. But Hermione... you're happier with him. It's kind of lovely and sad at the same time, you know. I still wish Ron was able to give you that."
Her face crumpled in guilt. "I'm sorry," she whispered, not exactly sure what she was apologizing for. But, it felt like the right thing to do.
Ginny was looking at her like she was an idiot. "For being happy with him?" she demanded in exasperation. "Hermione, I love you so much and I want you to be happy. Merlin, how can you apologize for something like that?!"
She chuckled and shyly tucked a strand behind her ear. "Am I really that obvious?" she finally asked with a sheepish grin.
"Truthfully?" Hermione hesitantly nodded her head. "Hell yes."
She released a tremendous sigh and shook her head. "A lot of things are still on my mind, Ginny," she said. "Maybe after Lestrange's case has finally ended..."
"I want you to be happy, Hermione," Ginny reminded.
"I know, I know," she said. "I just... maybe this is the closure I needed to finally start anew."
Ginny frowned, clearly not agreeing with Hermione, but finally muttered a petulant, "Fine." Hermione smiled, heartwarming and still in disbelief that Ginny was actually here when a month ago she didn't want anything to do with her.
"Oh, and Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"Malfoy has the nicest bum I've ever seen. Sorry Harry, my love."
"Ginny! You can't talk about someone like that," she exclaimed, aghast. Her cheeks grew warmer when Ginny pointedly look at her. "Well..."
"Admit it, you buffoon," Ginny laughed, pinching her at her side. Hermione yelped in shock, and laughingly swatted her hand away.
"Merlin, yes, all right!" Hermione finally admitted, unable to fight off her growing smile. "Nicest bum I've ever seen in my whole bloody life."
__________
It was Christmas and Rose thought it would be brilliant to celebrate it in Draco's huge flat together with the people she loved. Hermione at first offered to celebrate it in her own flat, afraid that they would be intruding too much, but he pointed out that Rose planned to invite a lot of people. Her flat wouldn't be able to hold them all.
Somehow, Draco was steadily regretting to offer his flat for the party. It was too rowdy and he honestly just wanted to spend his Christmas with Hermione and Rose. But both the child and his personal house-elf were brimming with happiness at the number of people in his house, so he bit back any complaint.
Eyes roaming around, he could see Rose at the corner playing with Sir Ginger and Tippy. Said house-elf was happily trashing about, perhaps playing as a make-believe monster, while Sir Ginger, aided by her owner, roared and pretended to breathe fire to destroy the monster.
Theo and Luna were seated on a loveseat, already lost in their own world and making googly eyes at each other. Draco was pleasantly surprise that things had actually worked between them, despite his crappy timing a few days ago. When he asked if they were official, Theo merely sheepishly smiled at him and shrugged.
Then, his eyes settled on the trio lounging on the couch, laughing over something Potter had said. His girlfriend's eyes were sparking too brightly, but he immediately got distracted at how Granger's pink lips were parted and inviting.
It had been days ever since that stupid kiss – 'More like a peck.' – and things had been the same between them. Draco had no idea how to act around her the next day, deciding to be his usual self in fear of doing something that would ruin whatever was happening between them. Still, nothing had happened and it brought him up to his wits end.
Seeing that Hermione started the kiss, it bloody well meant that she was at least interested in him. He still regretted not following her that night, bursting through her bedroom door and declaring the small, insignificant fact that he had been in love with her since their Hogwarts years.
Now, it had been driving mad how they were still friends when all he could think about was her bloody lips pressed against his bloody lips. At night, his mind tended to wander more, but he tried to rein in his thoughts, knowing that if he let his imagination run wild, he wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes without breaking.
He watched as Rose approached her mother and asked if she could open presents now. Briefly, Hermione's eyes landed on him, but she immediately looked away. Her cheeks, however, were a lovely shade of red and Draco's stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch.
Hermione then requested everybody to gather around the Christmas tree to start opening gifts. Draco eyed the huge tree which Potter and Weasley brought, now decorated with red and green trinkets and baubles.
"It's terribly too Gryffindor and Slytherin, eh?" Luna had commented, and insisted that the star they put on top would be colored blue, just to represent her beloved house. Draco thought she was being ridiculous. Theo thought she was adorable.
Rose was beside herself with joy while tearing away her gift wrappers. Her poor mother, known to meticulously open her gifts, almost had a heart attack at the way her daughter was opening her gifts. But the child was undoubtedly happy, and Draco was amused how Hermione controlled herself.
He was surprised he got gifts from both Potter and Weaslette, though he did buy them gifts too just for civility's sake. Rose gave him a cute drawing of her, him, and Hermione, all looking like a cute little family that made his heart shoot up into his throat. Theo gave him a new Quidditch kit for his broom. Luna gave him a round object made of yarns, saying that it is good for catching dreams – whatever the hell that means. And finally, Hermione gave him a new lovely set of quills, and a moving picture enclosed on a picture frame of her, him, and Rose.
Peering closely at the picture, he could see it was of them eating ice creams in Florean's. Draco had no recollection of even being pictured during this day, and deduced that it was Florean's himself who captured this moment. He once again thought they looked like a little family, his heart humming wildly inside his ribcage, and he couldn't help the growing smile on his face.
He caught Hermione's eyes, who was carefully watching him for his reaction. But then, when she saw the expression on his face, she mirrored his smile and Draco thought his heart could only take as much.
Everybody moved to Draco's vast garden, wanting to see Rose test her new toy broomstick, courtesy of her Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. It was obviously her most favorite present of everything she received, and was brimming with excitement when she declared to everybody she wanted to test it. While everybody was busy watching Rose play with her new toy broom, Draco silently approached Hermione, meaning to give her gift soon.
"You know, they're toy brooms for a reason," he whispered with a smirk, eyeing Hermione's hands that were tightly gripping the eccentric, yellow scarf Luna had gifted to her.
She gave him a sideway glance, a frown now forming on her face. "It still looks dangerous," she pointed out. "What if... what if she fell and got hurt?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "They're only manufactured to hover for at most three feet," he explained. "That's as tall as Tippy, and you know how terribly small my house-elf is. If she did fall, all she's going to get is a knee scrape or two."
He apparently wasn't being helpful because Hermione considerably paled more and darkly glared at him.
"I was already on a toy broomstick when I was three," he hastily added, thinking she'd breakdown soon. "Relax. Besides, she's being monitored by Potter and Ginny, who is, by the way, a professional Quidditch player. Your daughter is in good hands."
She still looked pale and worried, but thankfully had loosen her grip on Luna's poor gift.
"Anyway, Gr – Hermione," he said. She eyed him in amusement at his almost slip, prompting him to blush. He still had to constantly remind himself to start calling this witch by her first name. "I... well... I have something to show you."
"Now?"
He sighed. "Yes, now," he said, gesturing back into his house.
"Why?" she asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
He rolled his eyes, but answered her nonetheless, "Well, if you haven't noticed, I still have not given you my gift."
Hermione blinked in surprise, then a slow blush spread all over her face. "Oh," she murmured, nervously tucking a curl behind her ear.
"Yes," he hummed, now turning around so that she wouldn't see how nervous he was. "It is... personal and I don't want everybody to see it."
A tensed silence settled between them until they finally arrived back inside the house. Draco instructed her to wait on the couch while we ran up to his room and retrieve her gift.
Hermione was a bundle of nerves when he finally went down. Draco watched in amusement as she constantly fidgeted with her hand, her eyes darting nervously upstairs. When he caught her eyes, she glowered at his smirk, but her cheeks reddened more at being caught.
"Here," he then said, offering her a vial. "Merry Christmas, Hermione."
She eyed the potion with curiosity, then gazed back at him, waiting for an explanation.
Sighing, Draco grasped her forearm to reveal her 'Mudblood' scar. Hermione gasped in surprise, but Draco tightly gripped on it.
He somehow was unable to look into her eyes, memories of that night once again consuming his thoughts. Hermione's screams and his aunt's cackles rang wildly in his ears, and Draco had to thickly swallow, constantly remind himself that the War was over, Hermione was all right, and his fucking aunt is dead.
"Draco?"
Draco blinked, realizing he had just been staring oddly at her scar, before clearing his throat. "Bellatrix used a cursed blade to give you this scar," he murmured, lightly brushing a finger at her scar that never faded.
"I figured," Hermione said, slowly nodding her head. "I tried my best to search for anything that can remove it, but it was all futile."
He smiled at how obviously disgruntled she was, bothered that her books didn't have any answer to her predicament.
"Well," Draco slowly started, "it is a family heirloom so I knew somewhere in the Malfoy library, I may find a solution."
Her eyes widened as realization dawned, now eyeing the potion with shock.
"It took a while," he said, lowering himself down beside her on the couch but still keeping his hold on her arm. "I... well... I actually forgot about it. But after our visit in the Malfoy Manor..." He let his words falter as his eyes sought Hermione's. His eyes widened, surprised that they were already brimming with tears.
Smiling, he let his hand brush away her tears. "Try it," he said, offering her the potion vial once more. "You may be the brightest witch in our year, but I'm still the best in Potions."
"You wish," she said, smiling through her tears. Her shaky hands already grasped the glass vial, reverently removing its lid, and peering at its contents. Draco had made it into an ointment, so that Hermione could topically rub it all over her scar.
He watched as she poured the liquid into her hand before daintily rubbing it throughout her scar.
Her tears increased as it disappeared before her eyes. Draco released a huge sigh of relief, secretly afraid that he had found the wrong potion and had merely gotten her hopes up, just to be crushed by disappointment. But to see her scar, slowly disappearing before his eyes, he had silently thanked the Malfoy library for being vast and informative.
"T-thank you," she said, as it completely disappeared. Her eyes were shining with gratitude and a lot of emotions he could not decipher. He wasn't ready when she suddenly threw her arms around him for a tight hug. "This is the best Christmas gift I've ever received."
He softly smiled and patted her on the back for comfort.
"Hermione, I – oh."
Said brunette immediately pulled away and wiped her tears. Potter was ogling at them strangely, before noticing the tears in her eyes.
"Are you all right?" The-Boy-Who-Lived asked, striding quickly towards her side. He threw an accusatory glare towards Draco, who rolled his eyes in return. "What the hell did you do, Malfoy?"
"Harry," Hermione softly admonished. "Draco didn't do anything."
Her best friend looked at her in confusion. "Then why are you crying?"
She mustered the brightest smile she could and showed her bare forearm to Potter. He looked at her arm in confusion, eyes roaming all over in search for anything that would give him a clue. But then, when he realized what wasn't there, his green eyes enlarged into saucers. "Oh," he muttered, breathless. A huge smile followed his claim, before gathering Hermione into his arms.
More tears streamed down from her eyes, but she was laughing too. Draco felt a little awkward, thinking he was invading their private moment, but Harry immediately pulled away.
"As much as I'd like to savor this moment, I actually came inside because I need your help," Harry said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Well... your daughter doesn't want to come down from her toy broomstick and I was hoping you'd put on your parent mode on and do it for us?"
Despite her tears, Hermione managed to terrifyingly glare. "I'm still cross with you and Ginny for giving her that gift," she admonished.
"Yes, yes, I know," Harry said. "But you'll still love us no matter what happens."
Hermione shook her head but was unable to conceal a smile. "Let me just freshen up," she said, pointing at her puffy face.
When she stood up and sauntered to the restroom, an awkward silence settled between the two wizards. Draco was perfectly happy with that arrangement, but apparently Potter had thought otherwise.
"How long?"
He looked at him curiously, surprised at the seriousness in Potter's eyes. Draco's eyebrows knitted together, not quite understanding what he had meant. "What? Making that ointment? Well, it took me -"
"You know what the bloody hell I mean, Malfoy."
Draco blinked, caught off guard by the tone of his voice. As he searched Potter's eyes, Draco felt his cheeks warming up when he finally understood the context of his question.
"Third year," he whispered, lowering his eyes in embarrassment. "I... well... I did notice her, a lot, before that. But when she punched me, on my nose, that was when I finally understood. I was in constant denial because of obvious reasons, of course. During the war, though... it just became all clear to me."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "That long?" he gasped.
He weakly shrugged, not really knowing what to reply.
A disbelieving chuckle escaped from Harry's mouth. "Damn it, Malfoy. Even earlier than Ron," he pointed out.
Draco scowled. "You and I both know the Weasel is bloody daft."
Harry grinned, completely concurring. "Still?" he asked.
Did his heart still hammer every time she was near? Did his skin still tingle every time their fingers accidentally brush? Did he still dream of her most of the time? Did he still imagine his future with her, in a quaint house, with children to love and maybe a pet or two?
Did he still love her, after all these years?
He was unable to answer because Hermione suddenly came back. But, one look at Potter's eyes knew that he understood.
"What are you two talking about?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Nothing," Draco quickly said, hiding his flaming cheeks away.
Her bottom lip protruded, clearly unsatisfied with his answer.
"Hermione," Harry said, catching her hand to get her attention. "You have a daughter to control."
"Oh, yes, right," Hermione said, chuckling as she crossed the threshold and into the gardens. Harry was about to follow her, but then stopped himself, and looked at him once more.
"Malfoy."
Draco blinked and questioningly looked at Potter, who had a disbelieving smile on his face. He was actually dumbfounded at the expression on his face, but Harry was already shaking his head.
"What the bloody hell are you waiting for, then?"
Harry didn't wait for his answer for he too followed his best friend.
__________
"What are you doing here?"
Luna swivelled around. Theo was looking at her with amusement, but then the blonde witch serenely smiled and looked out of the window once more.
Theo sauntered closer and peered outside, searching for anything that had caught her eye.
The Christmas Party in Draco's flat had extended until in the evening. He could still hear Rose's raucous laughter over a silly cartoon she was watching. Theo smiled, hearing Draco's unmistakable grumbling about the mindless cartoon, and Hermione's lovely chuckles in reply. Harry and Ginny already left for the night, probably to give each other their own Christmas gifts.
He had searched for Luna then, wondering if she wanted to go back home, and finally found her standing in front of one of the vast windows in Draco's home.
"It's a beautiful night," she finally answered, voice barely above a whisper. He glanced down beside her and saw her smiling at the night sky. He followed her gaze and let himself take in the beauty of the night, complete with its twinkling stars and the bright moon. The snow had finally ceased and the clouds were nowhere to be found.
"The night needs his own moon."
Grinning widely, his mind brought him back to that night and how their kiss was interrupted by his bloody best friend. After their conversation in the Muggle café, they had somehow started seeing each other more often. He was still unsure what they really were, thus having no answer when Draco asked them if they were official.
Theo wanted to tread lightly, though, afraid that he'd scare her off once more. He was perfectly contented of how things started to unfold between them. For now, he was just happy that she was still allowing him to see her almost every day.
"I thought about what you said last time," Luna started, breaking the peaceful silence that settled between them.
He knitted his eyebrows, trying to recall the last conversation they had shared. "About how Slytherin is still the best house in all of Hogwarts?" he hopefully added, remembering how they had a mini-debate during Rose's adventures with her new toy broomstick.
Luna softly laughed. Theo grinned; she did have a lovely laugh. "No, silly," she said, fully looking at him. "Though Ravenclaw is still hands down the best house. What I meant, though, was the last time in that Muggle coffee shop."
"Oh," Theo said, now frowning. "What about it?"
"When you said we cannot completely separate ourselves from the Wizarding World, I thought about it extensively." She was once again gazing up at the night sky, but there was a certain melancholy in her demeanor now. "And... you were right, Theo," she said, followed by a long, sad sigh. "For five years, I hid myself in the Muggle world because returning to the Wizarding World after the War was just... painful for me."
Her eyes shone with unshed tears when she looked back at him.
"Luna," Theo said, frowning at how distressed she looked. "We don't have to talk about that now."
"No, no, I think now is the right time," she said, absentmindedly brushing away a wayward tear.
Theo sighed and brushed away another tear. "If you wish it," he murmured, worried.
"I do," she said, nodding her head. "It's just... isn't it wonderful when you finally found someone that understands you completely?"
She reached out and placed a hand against his cheek. Theo stiffened under her touch; it was usually him who initiate any affectionate gestures towards her and not the other way around. "I think my father sent you to me," she continued. "Did I ever tell you that?"
His eyes widened in surprise, prompting her to grin widely in return.
"I take that I haven't," she said, gingerly brushing her thumb across his cheek. Theo shivered, his eyes falling shut. She had no idea how much her small ministrations made him feel inside. "Silly me. People always told me I'm terribly a scatterbrain."
Theo merely smiled and waited for her to continue.
"The night of our blind date," she then continued, "I was a hundred percent sure I wouldn't come at all."
His eyes flew open in utmost shock. "W-What?" he thundered, balking at the thought that he might not have met her at all.
"Yes," she added. "But... I had a dream then." She looked out at the window once more and smiled. "About a beautiful night with twinkling stars and a bright, full moon. When I woke up, I had a feeling I should still go. Imagine my surprise when that night, my dream was exactly like the night sky and I thought it was a sign that something magnificent was about to happen to me." Her smile widened as she reached out for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I don't believe in dreams," Theo whispered in reply.
"Oh, but you should," Luna said, turning to look at him once more. "My father used to tell me that dreams are often most profound when they seem most crazy. They may mean something, Theo."
He sighed and shook his head, a small smile on his face. "You are super odd, Lovegood," he pointed out fondly.
"All the best people are," she replied with her own wonderful smile.
He laughed and tucked a curl behind her ear. "Yes, yes, I know," he said, "but I think we kind of lost track of what we were originally talking about."
"No, we didn't," she replied. "We just have a lot of things to say to each other." Theo grinned and wondered how he was irritated of this girl all of his years in Hogwarts. "But what I was trying to say a while ago was, I think I am not ready to let go of magic yet, Theo."
"Really?" he asked, plain surprise on his face.
She nodded and squeezed his hand once more. "When I thought about leaving everybody I care behind to run away and hide, I felt... sad." She frowned and leant her forehead against the windowpane. "I don't think my father will be very happy that I'm going to give up being a witch, wherever he is right now."
"Will you return to the Wizarding World then?"
"Perhaps," she responded with a mysterious smile. "Perhaps not. We will see. There is no need to rush on things."
Theo smiled and nodded. "You're right," he replied. "We can just, I don't know, go with the flow."
He then realized that he had lost her attention when Luna didn't reply to his words. Frowning, he saw that she was distracted about something at the ceiling, since her eyes were intensely directed above.
"There's a mistletoe, Theo."
His eyes widened and followed her gaze. True to her words, an innocent mistletoe hung over them. He figured it might have been Tippy's doing, knowing how Draco's personal house-elf always seemed to love decorating and sticking to tradition.
"Well, you know what they say about mistletoes," he commented smoothly. Deep inside, his heart was thumping loudly in anticipation. He still hadn't kissed her lips ever since the Nott library fiasco, and a constant ache had settled in his chest since then. Perhaps, today was his chance, but he still didn't want to ask her to do things she wasn't ready to do yet.
"Yes," she softly replied. "Nasty nargles tend to hide themselves in mistletoes. Shame, I forgot to wear my butterbeer cork necklace today to keep them away."
He guffawed, caught off guard, quite forgetting that he was still talking to Luna Lovegood after all. "No, silly," he said, echoing her words with a wide smile. "You have to give a ki-"
But his words were silenced when Luna suddenly tiptoed and gave him a soft peck on his lips. Theo's eyes had widened in shock, and Luna was shyly smiling at him, complete with a lovely blush on her cheeks.
"I know that, too," she replied in a timid whisper.
He took a sharp intake of breath and slowly lifted his hand to place it against her warm cheek. Luna's eyes widened and Theo swallowed, thinking he had never seen someone as beautiful as her in his whole life. Heart in throat, mind a jumbled mess, he slowly leant down. His mouth ran dry when her eyes slowly fluttered close.
"Are you going to run away again?" he asked, his lips a hairsbreadth away from hers.
She smiled, eyes still closed. "No, Theo," she whispered almost breathlessly. "Not anymore."
He grinned and finally closed the gap between the two of them.