Eyes of a Stranger

Chapter One: Flamingo Incognito

Staring at his reflection in the surface of the mirror, Draco Malfoy smiled, the first genuine glimpse of happiness to break through his expressions in a very long time. The face that looked back at him was almost unrecognizable. While it was still definitely his own pale, regal features, white-blonde hair and cool silver eyes, there was something that had changed about him. It was difficult to pinpoint, some indefinable quality that had shifted, and now the young man who looked back at him was familiar. He had spent too long without recognizing the

"Draco?" A voice spoke softly, dreamily behind him. He turned to find Luna looking up at him, the usual blithe smile on her face as she beheld him. "Daddy says you dropped this, and you might want to wear it instead of making it part of the floor." She held up a silver hoop earring, which had been residing in Draco's left earlobe until a few moments ago, when he had decided to start toying with how he styled his hair. He liked it, swept up into a ponytail with pale strands framing his features. The earring was the perfect compliment to it, and to his newly-acquired glasses.

He was used to Luna's odd way of viewing the world by now, and merely smiled, reaching out to take it from her. "Why are you so kind to me?" he asked quietly, only half-serious, as he slid the earring back into its proper place and admired his reflection again, the flash of the metal like sunlight on water. Combined with the frames of his spectacles, which were a recent Muggle invention involving only half a frame and some odd plastic string, a pale blue that was reminiscent of the ocean, it made him look rather...serene. And most definitely not like himself.

"Because I am," Luna answered him matter-of-factly. "Because I think you're rather a nice person, and you never call me a loon, and Daddy says we ought to reward that sort of thing." For once, she seemed to be thinking logically, Merlin forbid. "And because when you're in the attic the nargles stay away."

There was the old Luna back again, nonsensical and far too trusting in fantasy. Yet she was the only person in the universe willing to offer aid and comfort to an ex-Death Eater who had a record of nasty things and had only gotten off with the Ministry because he hadn't actually killed Albus Dumbledore. She was also the only person he'd ever had agree with and critique his insults when he tried to put her down. She'd told him he needed to work on his technique and learn the art of sarcasm better.

That and...she was, for some unfathomable reason, his only friend. He hadn't even bothered to puzzle that one out, and every time he asked her she gave him a different answer, ranging from the rise of homeless people amongst Muggles to the danger of his catching dragon pox if he was left to his own devices. He rather suspected that the real reason had to do with her uncanny intuitive abilities, and her ability to see through his mask at a moment's glance when no one else had been able to, not since he was five years old and first learned the art of deception.

And now here he was, Draco Malfoy, resident ineffective bad boy of the wizarding community, living in Luna Lovegood's attic and wearing body jewelry. It was mind-boggling considering that not too long ago his main ambition in life had been to avoid getting his head ripped off by the Dark Lord and keep his parents alive long enough for evil to triumph over the known world. But the universe had finally tipped things in his favor, his head had not been ripped off, his parents had survived, and he had suddenly been out of aspirations and goals in life.

"How do I look?" he asked, instead of dwelling on how utterly ridiculous this would have looked to the Draco of even a month ago. He spun around, revealing his Muggle attire in all its glory - a pair of faded jeans and a white collared shirt, with a pair of neat black boots that were, incidentally, steel-toed. No sense in breaking from powerful traditions just because you were living in an eccentric's household and abandoning your life.

"Rather like a very fashionable librarian, I think."

Draco couldn't help himself, and burst out laughing, he supposed he did look that way, what with the glasses and all. He didn't really need them, but vision spells could be very annoying, especially if they wore off during important moments, like the few times he actually wanted them to function. He'd been informed by Luna that this was the wizarding version of something called 'contacts' that Muggles put directly onto their eyeballs, which he personally found to be a very gruesome concept. All he needed to complete his look would be one of those strings you attached to glasses so that you could hang them around your neck, perhaps something blue with moons and stars.

"Daddy is having one of his brooding days again. I keep telling him that he ought to schedule them so that I know when to make more tea, but I think you ought to know...we'll be fending for ourselves today." Luna retained that blithe smile, but Draco felt a twinge of pain come through in the look. Her father was still not recovered from when he had betrayed a certain famous wizard in order to protect her, but Luna seemed determined to ignore his guilt and carry on.

"Are you certain he's not angry that I'm here?"

Luna shook her head. "He says it's good that I've taken an interest in a boy my age for once, although I don't see why. I've always been interested in boys, they do such odd things, you know." She smiled again, and was back to her usual cheerfulness. "Are you dressed like that because you're incognito? I've always liked that word, it reminds me a bit of flamingos."

Draco had to suppress more laughter, clenching his jaw tightly so that he wouldn't. The dotty things that emerged from Luna's mind were just so wonderful, and what was better, they were completely without irony. In some way, in some sense, everything she thought about the universe made sense, and was usually more perceptive than what others came up with. It was just one of the things he liked about her, that and her seeming inability to condemn him. He shouted nasty things in her face and she smiled and patted his arm, he acted like a hopeless prat and she just came back the next day, he finally grew up and left home and she offered him a place to say. The girl just wouldn't give up on her intuition.

"So I'm an incognito flamingo?" He was smiling much more than usual lately, though he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He was, he reflected, still adjusting to the vertigo of being without his walls, and realized for the thousandth time just how comfortable he was in her presence. She had no pretensions or expectations, and had probably dealt with him the entire time knowing he'd eventually see the face she did behind his façade eventually. Luna had a way of making you feel as though you could simply exist and she wouldn't comment.

He wasn't sure about this whole existing thing. All he could say that he felt different, that the moment he had taken the plunge and abandoned all thought of logic and duty, he had been changed, possibly for the better. But, seeing as he had been forging his own path in life for less than a week, he would have to reserve judgement on how liberated he truly was. The universe had had no plan for his salvation, his reinvention, and so he was being forced to pursue it on his own.

A grin worked its way onto his face, mischief and hope etched into it. "Well, madam, barring my sudden turn from pale and gorgeous to bright, obnoxious pink, I think it's time to test this new librarian look." Adjusting the glasses on his nose, he began moving towards the door, pausing only to look back over his shoulder at her. "What will Harry Potter think of me now?"