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Draco was surprised at how dead someone could feel, when they were alive. He survived the war, was saved from an imprisonment from Azkaban by Potter, and could return to his life; unfortunately, he wasn't the same.
There wasn't much he could do, not unless he wanted to seem ungrateful, so he ignored his struggles and tried to act as normal as possible. He returned to Hogwarts when it was time, he spoke with his classmates, and he tried his best in class; and still, it was not enough.
Time passed, and before he knew it, All Hallows Eve was upon them. Deciding not to be a part of the Halloween celebrations, Draco went up to the Astronomy Tower. The memories of what happened in the Astronomy Tower all those years ago still haunted him. Like so many times before, he thought back to that dreadful moment that could have been avoided if he hadn't hesitated when Dumbledore offered him help.
The autumn air was cold against his warm skin. In the beginning he enjoyed the fresh air, it woke him up, but after a while he was beginning to freeze.
He wanted to leave, but the full moon was hypnotising and kept him there. One thing he liked about the moon was that it didn't judge him like so many others did.
A feminine voice broke through his thoughts. He didn't need to turn around in order to know who the voice belonged to, but he did anyway.
Luna Lovegood looked exactly the same, but Draco wondered if she was the same on the inside, or if she was as empty as he was. Draco doubted she was the same after what she went through at the mansion.
"Sure is a wonderful night, don't you think?" she asked with a smile. Draco wondered how she was able to smile after all that had happened. "When I was young my father used to tell me a story about all the wonderful creatures that lived on the moon. I used to dream that I would visit the moon at night and speak to those creatures."
"Why are you telling me this?" Draco asked, finding her presence strange.
"I saw you alone, and thought you needed some company."
"Well, I don't, so you can return to the party." It wasn't that he didn't appreciate kindness, but he didn't think he was worth it.
She stood up, but instead of returning to the stairs, she walked to the railings and climbed over until she was standing on the other side.
Seeing her there made his heart beat so fast he feared it would break through his ribcage. All he could think of was that she would jump if he didn't save her. "What are you doing?" he managed to say while standing up and slowly walking towards her.
"Have you ever dreamt that you can fly?" she asked as she opened her arms."I love to fly."
"That's nice, but you do know we can't fly, don't you?"
"I know that," she said smilingly. "It's just that the feeling I get by doing something like this is so amazing, and freeing."
Draco finally reached her, but strangely enough he did not reach for her to pull her back. "Freeing?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied as she lifted her arms.
"Don't you fear that you'll fall?" He could see that she had a lot to stand on, but she was still on the other side, and accidents could still happen.
"No. Do you want to try?" Draco was horrified by her question, but even more by his thoughts. The first thing that passed through his mind was NO, but that quickly changed into maybe, before he wanted to try it.
Grabbing a hold of the railing, he took a step up the railing, but quickly changed his mind. "I can't do this, it's crazy."
"Trust me, it's freeing."
Draco couldn't believe he was actually listening to her, but he was, and soon he found himself on the other side of the railing, next to loony.
"Slowly release the railing and spread your arms." It took him a few seconds before he followed her orders, but once he did he was glad. It really did feel liberating.
He wanted to stay there a long time, but she convinced him they better head back to the party, or at least back in the castle.
"Thank you," he said while they walked down the stairs. "I haven't felt that alive in a long time."
"You're welcome," she replied.
They were almost at the base of the stairs when she suddenly stopped, grabbed his uniform and pulled him into a deep kiss. He was too stunned to say or do anything. Eventually she was done and released him. "You need to relax and live a little," she said before running down the remaining steps.
Draco stared after her, wondering how she was able to let go while he struggled with the idea of releasing himself.
One thing he was sure of was that she was not loony, eccentric maybe, but her methods worked, and he felt much better as he returned from the freeing experience.