Disclaimer: This story takes place when Luna was imprisoned in Malfoy Manor, shortly before the Death Eaters got Harry Potter and took him there.
It took her eyes a while to adjust to the exposed light, however dim it was, when she was dragged to the grand, hollow hall of this occupied building. Being thrown roughly on the floor, she regained her composure and looked around. Having stayed in the dungeon for so long, she blinked continuously to let the light in the room warm her senses. It looked as if the hall was set up for the purpose of dining or gathering, but the chilly air that filled the room did not lighten up her mood. After all, the antic vases on the table and the portraits on the wall could not cover up her anxiety at the moment.
She struggled to get a better look at the people in the room. Two well-built men in black robes stood behind her, standing proudly as they folded their arms in front of their chests. She assumed they were responsible for grabbing her from the dungeon. There was another woman in black dress, smoking a long pipe while letting out a breath of white smoke enjoyably. Her dark, curly long hair covered part of her features, but it wasn't hard to recognize her as she laid her piercing eyes on the helpless girl sitting on the floor.
'Now, now,' the woman in black elegantly put away her pipe and glared amusingly at the younger girl, taking good measure of her long blonde hair, 'how about some tea, young lady?'
To say the other two Death Eaters were surprised by her statement was an understatement, and the girl also raised her eyebrows a bit upon hearing that. But before the men could say anything, the woman took out her wand and aimed at the blonde, firing a spell that sent her up to mid-air before dropping on the other side of the room.
'How does that taste like? As good as how your mommy made it?' She teased, walking towards the defenceless girl as the other two stepped back in a respectful distance, fully aware that she was playing her favourite little trick again. The blonde coughed, moving her free hand to cover her stomach, where she was hit. She had been weak from practically starving for days, and she could not even stand up or mutter anything as the woman approached her, a glint of interest sparkling in her eyes.
'Oh I forgot…your dear mommy had exploded her own body for the sake of trying out new spells…didn't she, dear Luna?' She flicked the named girl's blonde hair away from her face, so now she could take a good look at her. Luna's eyelids were struggling to stay awake, as the blow hit her really hard, but the grey orbs also showed firm determination that Bellatrix snorted. 'Just because I bring up that filthy mother of yours and you give me such a dirty look,' she sneered, sending a Crucio to her limbs that resulted in an echo of scream in the hall. 'Didn't your daddy teach you any manner?' Another curse, another scream. 'Or was he too busy hunting for those non-existent creepy creatures,' yet another one, and the two men turned around a bit to avoid looking the girl in the eye, 'that he never had time for dear Luna and her little friends on the run now?' She blasted a final curse at her limbs and Luna was now lying on the still wall, gasping for air and trying to maintain her conscious state. Her breathing was rapid, and occasionally she yelped out moans of pain that only served to entice Bellatrix more.
'Now, we had a deal, remember?' She used her wand to lift the young Ravenclaw's chin, eyeing her playfully while Luna shivered. 'Tell me where Potter is, and your life will be spared.'
'I…I think…'
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow, anticipating her to go on.
'I think…think that there are some Cr–crumpled-Horned Snorkack in…in your head…'
The two Death Eaters in the dark almost burst in laughters, but the woman was not amused at all. Her eyes turned fiery and, in an instant, shoved Luna onto the wall, causing her to moan in pain again as her body collided with the concrete bricks. 'How dare you make fun of me, you lunatic!' The tall woman screamed in agony and swung her around the room, hitting her with different dark spells each time until she fell on the long dining table nearby, whimpering with tears reaching her eyes. But Luna knew she had to endure the pain, for she was not only buying time she was also fighting for others as she suffered from such immense pain.
'If not for the Dark Lord's order I would have killed you right now!' Bellatrix regained her composure, signalling her colleagues to move. And they obeyed, quickly leaving the hall. The sound of their unsteady footsteps reached the ears of Luna Lovegood like a requiem. She bit her lips as she silently went through another round of torture, not letting her enemy win this mental battle. She knew just when to provoke her and when not to, and she was determined to fulfil this mission here.
Bellatrix was mad. Very mad. She would have done anything to just flash the unforgivable curse to this weirdo kid. She hated her. She hated how she could still keep her dreamy countenance after so many days. She hated how she seemed to be proud of that lunatic Xenophilius Lovegood. That freaking editor of the Quibbler who talked nonsense all the time. She hated how they protected The Boy Who Lived and would not disclose any information of his whereabouts. She hated this sense of failure. She hated her.
She hated her. She hated her. She hated her. She hated her. She hated her.
She didn't even recognize her voice after flashing so many curses at the young girl, now curling up by the corner of the room, coughing blood and whimpering in her low tone. Not that she cared, though. That girl had provoked her with her strange creatures and ignorance to her questions. All she had asked was simple: where was Harry Potter? But she wouldn't answer.
Naming a bunch of fairytale creatures and asking how she had done her hair were not the answers she was looking for.
Garrick Ollivander shivered as he heard yet another terrifying scream of the girl he had come to befriend days ago.
It wasn't supposed to turn out like this…it wasn't supposed to turn out like this…the same phrase kept lingering in his mind as he heard different noises of collision and painful yelling entering his ears. He tried to shut them off, pushing his ears into his skulls, but it was to no avail. Even if he could not hear it, he could still sense it. He crumbled to a corner and sobbed weakly, as Bellatrix yelled again.
He had been captivated for weeks, and the Dark Lord himself had personally interrogated him about Harry Potter's wand. And he gave his honest answer. He thought, although with hindsight speaking highly unlikely, that he might have a chance to escape. But he was too weak now, having suffered different tortures from various Death Eaters who used him simply as a punch bag.
And then she came.
It would be hard to forget Xenophilius' eccentric daughter, whose behaviours and gestures were just as bizarre as her father's , but what had surprised him was that she was the one who had been keeping him sane. She would offer soft, kind words of support as they both endured the cruel interrogations, and she was also the reason why he was still there, intact and alive, while she was beaten almost to death.
Not long after her arrival, Luna had learnt that the Death Eaters would not kill her. Firstly, she was the bait for them to manipulate her father. With her being kept captive, Xenophilius Lovegood would have no choice but to spread beliefs that he personally was against about Harry Potter. This would make the Quibbler, the sole newspaper that still supported Dumbledore and The Boy Who Lived, fall under their palms. Secondly, she was also the bait to lure out Harry Potter, the target the Dark Lord had been looking for. She knew that chances would be higher for Harry to come find her if she was alive than if she was dead.
Hence, Luna realized they could do whatever they wanted to her, but would never dare to cross the line, for the Dark Lord also knew what she knew. When she mumbled this, to no one in particular, he was stunned at first, then understood why she was sorted into Ravenclaw. After all, a little sanity was what had kept him alive so far, and seeing someone who could think logically was rare to him these days. What he didn't realize afterwards was that she would take his place as the unofficial toy of the Death Eaters.
Ollivander continued sobbing uncontrollably. Poor Luna. Instead of letting them both take the beating, she had decided to go alone to alleviate the pain the old man suffered from. It was stupid, really. Utterly stupid. Seeing a young and beautiful girl like her throwing herself into tremendous fire was totally out of control, but she was very determined, or maybe just stubborn, to suffer alone. That was why one day, she started to make funny comments about a Death Eater's robe. Then his nose. Then his wand.
And Ollivander had never been brought to torture again, no matter how much he begged for in exchange of not wanting to see the poor girl's lifeless state every night.
Luna was barely conscious when Bellatrix threw her back into the dungeon, much to the relief of Mr. Ollivander. He wanted to go check on the girl but was quickly sent aside by Bellatrix, who was followed by four other men. The wandmaker struggled, but could not break free from the proud woman's spell, so he watched helplessly as he was glued to the wall, while the woman moved towards the young girl.
Luna was now more aware of her surroundings. She could see from the corner of her eyes that Mr. Ollivander did not suffer much pain, to which she smiled, and that Voldemort's most faithful servant was still holding her wand, looking at her impatiently as if waiting for her to speak. She didn't know what to do though, as the four men behind her didn't look normal at all. They waved their bodies slowly, from one side to another, and the blonde recognized immediately they were under the Imperius Curse. They looked like they were struggling in hopes of fighting off the curse, but of course they failed. A strong witch like Bellatrix Lestrange would not let her prey go that easily.
Shoving Luna to the corner, the Slytherin woman made sure the blonde had no way of escaping, as she stood proudly in front of her while her two servants were by her side, drooling and making muffled sounds that Mr. Ollivander could not decipher.
'I ask you one more time, little girl, and you better answer me accurately if you want to live,' Bellatrix threatened, pointing her wand at Luna's forehead. However Luna did not flinch a muscle. She looked at her straight in the eyes. 'I take that as a "no" then.' She lowered her wand, moved forward, and slapped her cheek. Luna was taken aback by the physical contact, so she tumbled aside a bit, and Mr. Ollivander muttered the courage to yell at her, only to have the dark woman placed a silence charm on his mouth.
'Well, well, well,' Bellatrix took time to point her wand again at Luna, but this time she let her wand wander around her body, making tickling sensation on her skin and flipping her shirt and skirt occasionally. 'I can see why the Potter boy fancies you. It must be hard though, being the girlfriend of the undesirable number one of the world,' her voice had become as dreamy as Luna's, but she continued speaking. 'I bet you two must have spent joyful lots of time fucking in classrooms and dormitories while each of your so-called allies or friends died one by one.' She continued provoking, and in such a weak state Luna could not help but let tears form in her eyes. She did not forget the people who had died because of siding with them against the Dark Lord. Harry had endured the pain, and she knew she could not betray him too by giving up hope. She knew he could do it. She knew he could save the wizardry world. She trusted him enough not to let Bellatrix's nonsensical comments get to her nerves.
'To compliment your loyalty to your puppy love, I've asked these four gentlemen here,' she motioned for the two cursed men to move forward, 'to teach you the real way of becoming a real woman in a quick manner.'
Ollivander gathered the most tremendous amount of strength to scream at her, but wizard alone could not fight against magic. 'They will kindly show you what the Potter boy failed to demonstrate. This can also give the old man there,' she sneered at the wand maker, 'some entertainment to pass the time.' Ollivander's eyes widened in horror as he helplessly watched Bellatrix take a few steps back and let her puppets stagger towards the young Ravenclaw.
To say Luna was not frightened would be an understatement. She knew well that she could endure any other forms of physical torture that the Death Eaters gave her, for the wounds on the flesh could not affect her soul. But what they would now do to her was much more than simple physical humiliation. Fear started to overtake her mind as she tried to back from the gradually advancing men in broken robes, only to find herself leaning on the wall with nowhere to go.
The four men were dragging their bodies towards her, their eyes constantly flipping upwards and backwards. Bellatrix must have put a really strong Imperius Curse on them, as they staggered like zombies hunting for flesh. Ollivander watched desperately as he recognized their faces: they were all his past customers. If he was correct, they were all Muggleborn and were loyal workers in the Ministry of Magic. Now that the Ministry had fallen under the control of the Dark Lord, they must have become their slaves afterwards, or punch bags just like he and Luna were. However reminiscing the past did not help the current situation as they were now only a few feet from the helpless girl whose grey eyes showed nothing but fear, yet she was too weak to escape.
One man stepped forward and extended his arm towards her, making Luna flinch at the contact. She breathed hard and tried to cast away his arm, but dodging one or two could not prevent the rest from coming. Soon she found her back stuck in the corner of the room and hands were on her injured legs now. She screamed softly as she resisted their approach, using her remaining strength to shove off their hands, but soon her head flipped forward and the blonde found herself pinned on the floor, gasping for air as her limbs felt numb.
They grabbed her dim red shirt and in a minute her sleeves were practically gone. Two of the puppets held her arms firm on the ground and the other two advanced on her legs, scratching her broken jeans as she suppressed any moans of displeasure. Soon she found their hands in every part of her body, even thought she was still struggling to get rid of such impolite contacts. A tear started to form on her eyes as she felt so helpless, weak and destroyed. Ollivander was sobbing in the back, blaming himself for not being able to do anything, while Bellatrix was watching her torture, amusement spread all over her wide smile.
When one hand reached for her neck and the other for her right breast, she wiggled in pain and let her tears fell as a third hand started rubbing her thigh. Luna felt so lost. Contrary to Bellatrix's belief, Harry had never touched her that way. All they had shared was secret kisses that nobody had noticed in the corridor or in an empty classroom. The reason he had not touched her was the same as why their relationship was kept private from most others: Harry feared that Voldemort would find out about her and he did not want to put her in danger. She reluctantly agreed, though it seemed totally meaningless now as the Death Eaters already seemed to know of their relationship. Destroying her would be a good way to mentally torture Harry Potter. They were probably sick of harming her in their polite manners, as the Dark Lord had ordered that she must not be killed unless in the presence of The Boy Who Lived himself. Thus when they couldn't destroy the flesh, they turned to the soul. And no matter how strong a woman Luna Lovegood was, this kind if torture was the worst of all that she could not be certain she would not break at any moment.
The hands kept pulling her jeans and shirt in different directions, and her vision started to blur. Being tortured previously by Bellatrix had taken away most of her strength and her wounds were still bleeding in the process. She grew weaker and weaker until she could not struggle anymore, against her will. She could feel the cold hands wandering around her breasts and thighs, challenging her sensation as tears started to flow. She wanted to fight back. She wanted to strike. Yet as strong as her will was, her limbs were basically paralyzed now, and she didn't realize her shirt was torn into pieces, revealing her brassiere underneath and her jeans suffered from similar consequence, the part protecting her lower limbs exposed to the cold air in the room. Soon she couldn't feel anything anymore.
Bellatrix was laughing in the back when she was rudely interrupted by Peter Pettigrew rushing down the stairs to enter the cellar. She groaned and stared at the intruder, only to find the timid rat-man dropping words discontinuously.
'Po–Potter….t–they got Pot–Potter…'
Ollivander froze, and so did Bellatrix as she waved her wand and all her four puppets collapsed onto the ground soundly. 'Potter, you say?' Her pupils contracted and, upon seeing the nod on Voldemort's faithful servant, the dark woman beamed in joy. Dancing around in her own fashion, she tossed the men aside and glared at Luna with a wide grin on her face. 'Now now dear, what happens to your prince?' She mocked, laughing hysterically and shooting killing curses to her puppets, killing them in an instant and vaporized their bodies in dramatic fashion. 'The Boy Who Lived is here now. I'm sure you'll be delighted to see him in such state.' With one last laugh, she stormed off and Pettigrew quietly followed, not paying any attention to either prisoner in the cellar.
Ollivander, now free to move around, quickly crawled to her side and tried to cover her with the coat he was wearing. He looked sympathetically at the young girl as tears went down his cheeks. If only…if only he had not allowed her to provoke them, in the first place! Blaming his own cowardice, he sobbed silently as he retreated to a comfortable distance from Luna without disturbing her.
Luna felt like her head was screaming for multiple reasons. The obvious one was because of the pain and humiliation that she had just suffered from. She didn't know which one was worse: to have them dehumanize her or to have them not knowing what they were really doing. Losing mind was a strange concept to her. She had been called that many times, but actually seeing somebody losing their mind was a different matter.
She felt the Ollivander's coat on her body, and she had wanted to throw that away, far from her sight. The contact made between her bare skin and the warm cloth did not make sense to her, as she knew any physical touch now would remind her of what had just happened a few minutes ago. She was sobbing silent tears too, only that she hated crying and hated her lack of power.
Knowing that Harry was here, seemingly, gave her comfort and turmoil. If Harry Potter was captured, what hope would they have? What would they be able to do against the Dark Lord, with their only hope being kept captive in the Malfoy Manor? More importantly, and personally, how should she face him? Tell him that she had been toyed around for weeks? Tell him that the reason she was here was to lure him out? Tell him that they had touched her in places not even he had touched before?
The still air of the cellar remained thick and tense when she heard footsteps, then voices. Voices that she recognized. Voices that she had not heard in ages. But she couldn't move her head. There she was, lying aimlessly on the ground near a dark corner, with blood flowing out of her wounds and her bones aching, and her skin yelling for warmth and consolation. She heard the same voices again, but she could not decipher who was the owner. The sounds reaching her ears were distorting, and she felt like she was living in between dream and reality. Her blurred vision showed two young men rushing to her side, and her body tensed in reflex. Only a while later did her blink and her grey orbs let her know who they were, and she finally managed to see clearly when she saw the pair green eyes in front of her.
He was here. He really was here. She was not imagining things. He was here. He really was here. She wanted to jump in joy and tell him how much she's missed him. He was here. He really was here. She smiled, for the first time in how long she had forgotten.
Her smile was met with perplexed emotions of the teenager kneeling in front of him. Harry was crying and his body shaking, his firm hand wrapping around her tiny ones, and she could hear nothing but his cry of her name over and over again. All that while, Luna could only see how exhausted and worried he was. Behind him was his best friend, Ronald Weasley, and Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor, who covered his mouth in shock and was standing there like a wood. She wondered how she should feel for both of them to see her like this, barely clothed and barely alive. Perhaps a sense of shame did overwhelm her feelings once, but she was only too happy to see him here now. Slowly, her hand freed from his grasp and she reached for his cheek, stroking it gently and powerlessly, and explored his features that she had not seen in at least half a year. His skin felt rigid, and wet. Tears kept coming out of his eyes, but Luna could not frown at this sad Harry that she did not like.
Something seemed to have distracted them, for they turned their head to the ceiling and had a horrific expression on their faces. She could barely hear Ronald muttering Hermione's name and broke down crying as well. It was weird, she thought. Now that they had finally reunited, they were all crying in the cellar, although she did wonder on why Hermione wasn't with them.
But she did not have time to think about that, as soon she could hear a 'pop' sound and an elf, out of nowhere, apparated and showed himself. She heard Harry whispering something to the little elf that she had not met before, and then Harry bent down again, this time whispering into her ears.
'Luna, love, this is Dobby,' he pointed at the elf, 'and he will now take you to a safe place, along with Mr. Ollivander and Dean.' Luna now knew what he was up to, but she did not want it. She had finally met him again, and separating from him was the last thing she needed when he was the source of her last straw of strength. Harry could tell by the desperate look in her eyes that she was reluctant to do so. 'I still have to rescue Hermione, she's being tortured by Bellatrix upstairs…' he trailed off, as another high-pitched scream reached their eardrums. 'Please, Luna,' she reached for his hand and touched it, lacking the strength to hold it, 'I trust Dobby with my life. He will make sure that you're safe and that you will be treated carefully.'
They exchanged another glance of conflict before Luna finally acquiesced, letting go of his touch and felt Dobby's small hand holding her. Dobby gave her a reassuring smile, but Luna just looked at Harry the whole time as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Her body did not react this time.
In a flash, she could no longer see the dark walls of Malfoy Manor and a breath of fresh air reached her nostrils. Yet she didn't know what she had seen more, for her eyelids were too tired to open themselves and she fell into a deep sleep, oblivious to her surroundings that were rapidly changing. Everything was twisting their shapes and she felt like floating in midair. Every sound around her echoed in her ears slowly as if she had fallen into a time tunnel, and she could no longer decipher who the owners of the voices were. She felt like tumbling on the top of the hill, falling gradually before stopping right before reaching the ground. Her visions were still blurred and her head was struggling to break free from her body. Gravity did not seem to work on her as her limbs stretched towards different direction, trying awkwardly to keep intact to a certain degree of success.
When she did get her senses back, she found herself lying rather comfortably on a soft, flat bed in a room that she did not recognize. The thin curtains a few feet from her prevented most sunlight from entering in full force, so she could get her round eyes adjusted to the illumination of the room and explored. Her attention, however, fell on the curious object next to her. It was human hair, she reasoned, and judging from how messy and black the hair was she could immediately tell who 'it' was.
Slowly Luna extended her arm and, still lying on bed, reached for his face and caressed it gently. Her hand moved slowly from his forehead to his cheek then to his forehead again, touching his scar and he was soundly asleep with only his head resting on his arms on the bed. His glasses lied safely by his head, and she made a small smile at that.
Now, she could manage to guess that she was indeed brought to a safe place, just as he had promised, and that he had also escaped from that dark manor too. She was curious as to what had happened in between, then, and also what had happened to him and the others since they last met in Bill Weasley's wedding. As much as her Ravenclaw mind was starving for curiosity and knowledge, her head said otherwise and the pain she felt pushed her back on the bed when she attempted to get up. Her arms and legs also felt sore, struggling to stay awake. So she just lay there, staring at him while occasionally staring at the ceiling.
And gradually she closed her eyes and let herself be drifted to dreamland too, for even though she was eager to meet everyone and know about how their adventure had been going, right now she was sure that they must be safe in order for Harry Potter to have slept that peacefully next to her. So she decided not to disturb his much-needed rest, and chose to follow suit.
Turning herself to face his face, she put a hand on his and smiled, before allowing her body to relax completely, forgetting all about the hollowness in her heart when she returned to Hogwarts to find him nowhere to be seen, the pain she endured when she was kidnapped and tortured in Malfoy Manor, the breakdown she almost had when the cursed men had their hand on her…she allowed all that to escape from her mind now. Right now, she was only certain that, with him by her side, she could have her peace of mind.
The End
This story was drafted roughly a month ago and was completed upon Thanksgiving, but I did not put it here at that time since I've been editing here and there for quite some while, and also I have been busy dealing with exams and papers at college. Now that all is over, I hopefully will spend more time on writing my ongoing stories that should have been updated ages ago.
Please kindly review and let me know what you think!