Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters related to J.K. Rowling's Novel Series. All is owned by the Queen herself, J.K. Rowling and I am but a mere serf, paying my homage.
A/N: This story begins when Luna is snatched off the train to Hogwarts on her way to school after Summer break. I know she was originally taken after Christmas Break- but I chose this avenue for reasons that will be made clear. This story will deviate from canon information, but not too far. Hope you enjoy the first chapter!
Luna Lovegood, Death Eater - Chapter 1
Luna sat absentmindedly on the steps of the home her and her father shared, staring out past the end of their road. She stood up, bare feet planted firmly in the dirt at the end of the stairs, and strolled her way down to the stream on their property. As she walked, she swished her skirts in her usual whimsical fashion, carefree yet pensive. Something felt off about today—she could feel something in the air. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but there was a sense of foreboding permeating the air. Luna wasn't one to turn to negative emotions, but she couldn't help but feel dread for whatever would be happening, if anything at all. Not that she was sure something would happen—of course, that feeling could be all but wrackspurts milling about in her head, making her brain all fuzzy. Everybody knew that wrackspurts liked to sit in your head and make your brain fuzzy, of course.
The thought of the small creatures sharing her headspace make Luna smile, relieving much of the tension she had been feeling. Luna closed her eyes, thinking about her friends back at Hogwarts—positive thoughts were said to dispel wrackspurts, and right away Luna felt the dark thoughts and fuzziness leave her brain— "Definitely wrackspurts," she chirped, walking over to the dirigible plum trees her father had planted near the stream. There was another tree near the house, but Luna loved sitting near the stream and eating the delicious plums. She filled a covered basket with the plump fruit, where they sat bumping one another as well as the top of the basket in their quest to escape. Once she had filled it, Luna walked to the edge of the stream and plopped down, bare feet hanging in the water as the fish tickled her toes. She took a bite of one of the juicy fruit, closing her eyes to savor the taste. Luna smiled as the sweet flavors exploded across her tongue, and she absentmindedly pondered what she was going to do that day. It was only morning, and there surely should be something exciting for her to do—Father should be working on the next Quibbler, and perhaps that was something she could convince him to let her help with. Luna admired her father greatly, and took pride in his upstanding works as a publisher—the Quibbler had far more diverse and accurate information than the Daily Prophet, especially as of late. All you could read about was the Ministry defaming her friends and the rekindled muggleborn persecution—Luna furrowed her brow and shook her head, not sure why she was thinking of such things. She wanted to have a good day, a fun day—and thinking about dark matters like these were far counterproductive to her goals.
Finishing off the last bite of her plum, Luna tossed the pit into the air and watched it bob its way up into the sky. After a minute or two, it was too small for her to see, having disappeared into the soft blue sky. The warm breeze blew around her, curling the ends of her hair—she smiled into the wind, wondering what it was trying to tell her. Not many wizards knew, but the wind itself was inherently magical, and a good friend to wizards. The wind would never lead you astray—as her mother used to tell her, "The wind is a friend, you can count on it to the end." It was one of her favorite little rhymes, mostly because it came from her dearly departed mother. Luna turned and began her trek back home, preparing what she would say to her father. She knew that if she worded it right, she could convince him to let her help. Her father was so protective over the Quibbler publication, but of course he had a good reason. It was dangerous to be publishing pro-Harry Potter sentiments these days, but her father wouldn't let the fear most felt stop him. Xenophilius Lovegood was a better man than that, and she was so proud of him for it.
As Luna approached the house, the sense of foreboding from earlier crept back upon her, creeping up her spine and around the back of her head, settling in her head as an unwelcome guest. "Must be those darn Wrackspurts again," she laughed, smiling uneasily. This time, though, the feeling wouldn't go away. It made her apprehensive, not being able to banish the dark feelings this time. Tendrils of dark thoughts crept into her mind, but she pushed them away quickly. There was nothing happening, and she knew it. She looked around her, and everything was as it was earlier in the morning—clear, warm skies, a good day. She would be leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow, and all she wanted was one last day with her beloved father and beloved home before she went back to school. Luna loved school, of course—as a Ravenclaw, she was basically required to—but it would be strange without her friends that year.
Luna opened the door and creeped inside, her father's back to her as he scoured the pages of the Quibbler before him. "Hello father," she trilled, beaming at the man in front of her.
"Luna!" Xenophilius said, turning around in his chair. He stood up and wrapped his daughter in a warm hug, savoring one of the last embraces he would get before she would be gone until Christmas again. Though he was proud of her for her outstanding performance at Hogwarts the past 6 years, he still got misty-eyed at the prospect of her leaving for four whole months. "My dear, I have come across the most interesting article about Thunderbird trafficking in America!" He whispered, pulling Luna over to the table. "One of our friends in the states has come across new information about the beautiful beasts and how they're being traded across the world, right under the American Congress' nose," He said solemnly, brow furrowing. Though he was excited, the fact that these beautiful beasts were being mistreated was not something that brought him joy. It wasn't a new problem, as the black market Thunderbird trade had been rampant about 70 years prior, but it had seemingly been quashed for the past 70 years as well. Regulations came down harder, and traffickers were prosecuted mercilessly. It had quickly become too dangerous to be worth it, but in recent years (especially with the new rise of the Dark Lord) the magical animal trafficking industry had resurged. It was an absolute shame.
Luna sat down at the table, poring over the information before her. "I do believe we heard about this in Magical History last year," She quipped, harkening back to her lessons from the previous year at Hogwarts. They had gone over Newt Scamander and the revolution of Wizarding conservation in her classes during her 6th year, and it was a topic that she found endlessly fascinating. "I find it rather sad that these poor animals are being sold again, and taken from where they're supposed to be, where they're happy," she said, frowning at the paper. "Surely there's something we can do to further the cause? This edition is definitely going to bring the problem to people's attention, but I wish there was something more I could do." Luna furrowed her brow, cocking her head to the side.
Xenophilius laughed, kissing the top of his daughter's head. "My dear, you all but read my mind," He said, smiling into her hair. "I will get in contact with our American friends and find out what we can do, sweet child." He stood up, away from the table, sweeping the papers from in front of Luna as he did so. "However! We must purchase school supplies today, seeing as you leave tomorrow…" His smile lost a bit of its enthusiasm, a gesture that was not lost on Luna. "Your last year!" His smile wavered again, as he turned away. The thought of his dear daughter leaving again pained him, especially in such dangerous times. But Hogwarts was the safest place, even without Albus Dumbledore. He knew Luna would be safer there, surrounded by good people.
The Next Morning
Luna placed the last of her items in her expanding trunk, laden down with what they had gotten in Diagon Alley the day before. Her list for her 7th year of classes was even longer than the previous few years' lists, and included some worrisome books—Secrets of the Dark Arts, to name one. The name of Defense Against the Dark Arts had been changed to simply "The Dark Arts," which was a curious name change—it was almost as if they were going to be learning about the dark arts, which was of course a laughable idea. Simply a bad renaming of the class, she thought, smiling at the error. Luna latched her trunk, a trill of excitement shooting up her spine. She truly did love being home, in her beautiful house with her dear father, but she was ever so excited to get back to school. She was going to have to start thinking about what she was going to do after—of course, work for the Quibbler (as if she would want to do anything else), but alongside that, there were so many possibilities to explore. Her thought process was interrupted as she heard Xenophilius downstairs calling her name. "Coming, father!" She called back in a sing-songy voice, hopping down the stairs as she dragged the heavy trunk behind her. "Lucky for us, I am all ready to go!" She smiled up at him, excitement dancing through her fingertips.
"Well then, let's make our way to King's Cross station," Xenophilius whispered, taking Luna's hand. The air twisted around them as he apparated from their kitchen to a bathroom inside the train station. They both emerged quickly, earning a few strange looks from passersby, but they paid them no mind. Muggles had much stranger ways of getting around than appearing and disappearing from bathrooms. As they approached platform 9, Luna and Xenophilius casually looked around at the people around them, making sure none of them would notice as the two quickly slipped through the wall into platform 9 ¾. Blinking their way into the wizarding world, it was hectic—mothers crying as they kissed their exasperated children goodbye, owls hooting and cats screeching, children yelling as they connected with their friends again. Luna's attention was ripped away from the spectacle before her by someone yelling her name. As she turned to look, to find who could be calling her, Neville Longbottom popped up in front of her.
"Luna!" Neville cried, swinging his arm. He wasn't quite sure what to do—should he shake her hand? Hug her? He was never quite sure what he should do around Luna, or any girls for that matter—but especially Luna. He chose to go in for a quick hug, which seemed to have been a good choice. Luna seemed receptive to the hug, indeed—she even hugged him back, which sent electricity crackling through Neville's veins. He quickly pulled away, because he didn't want to be more awkward than he already knew he was going to be. "Good to see you," He choked out, coughing. He had inhaled a bit of spit as he went to talk, a bit too hasty on the inhale.
"It's good to see you too, Neville," Luna smiled up at him. "I hope your summer with your Grandmother wasn't as terrible as it usually is," She said, looking around. "I know how much she scares you," She quipped, picking up her bag as she prepared to board the train. It was nearly 11, and if she missed the train, she wouldn't be attending Hogwarts that year. Neville next to her struggled with his large amount of luggage, and Luna felt a surge of gratefulness to her father for the expanding trunk, which also seemed to make her load lighter. "Would you like help, Neville?" She inquired, observing his difficulty with his bags. She wasn't keen on watching her friends struggle if she knew she would be able to help.
"Err…. No… thanks…" Neville grunted, lugging the heavy bags up the train stairs ahead of Luna. He wasn't about to admit weakness in front of her, if he could help it.
"Alright," She shrugged, letting go of the matter. She picked up her luggage and followed him onto the train, following him into an empty compartment. "The train seems rather empty this year," she observed, noticing the abundance of empty or nearly empty compartments on their way through the train. "I suppose a lot of students are staying home, with the death of Dumbledore and everything that has happened this year," she observed in typical Luna fashion. She often made people uncomfortable, a fact she was aware of (but didn't really care about). She helped Neville get his luggage into the luggage compartment, and placed hers, before she sat down to get comfortable for the long train ride ahead. They had both just sat down when the door opened, and Ginny Weasley came in.
"Hey, I hope you don't mind if I sit with you," Ginny said as she swung her luggage above their heads, not bothering to wait for an answer. They were close friends, so she knew they wouldn't mind. "How was your summer?" Ginny asked, plopping down on the end of the seat by the window, facing Luna and Neville.
"Good," Luna and Neville said in unison. They abruptly cut off as the train jerked forward, throwing them off-balance.
"I just spent loads of time with my brothers, though Ron and Harry and Hermione are off doing something—they're not even coming back to Hogwarts for their last year," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows. Everyone knew how important school was to Hermione, so the revelation would be a shock to some. "Nobody even knows why, or what they're doing—just that they're on some mission," She said, grinning at Neville and Luna. The world rushed by outside the window, ignorant of the train and young wizards and witches that were flying by it.
"I'm sure it must be something important, otherwise they wouldn't skip their last year," Luna observed, smiling slightly. "I doubt we'll be seeing them at all, I'm sure they have more important things to attend to than us." She said in her sweet-yet-abrasive way. She didn't mean it in a negative way, just an observational one—truly, whatever they were doing would be important if it meant that Hermione had chosen to not go to school. Harry and Ron, now they wouldn't be as much of a surprise to hear they had chosen to not attend their last year at Hogwarts, but Hermione Granger definitely wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't have one thing or another to study.
The three looked outside, alarmed, as the train brakes began to squeal as it began to grind to a halt. "What's going on?" Neville asked, voice cracking, the alarm in his tone apparent. The last time their train stopped was when the dementors were looking for Sirius Black, and nobody was keen on that happening a second time.
Muffled screams could be heard from down the hall as somebody knocked open doors to the compartments. The minutes dragged on, until the door to their compartment suddenly burst open—standing before them were three huge Death Eaters, ensconced in black capes and silver masks. The blood of all three teens ran cold as they stared at the killers before them. "Luna Lovegood," one of them rumbled, raising his wand. "You're coming with us." A red bolt of light flew from his wand into Luna, and her world faded to black to the sound of Ginny's screaming.
Luna woke up in a cold, dark room. Her head and arms were sore, it felt like she had been laying there a while, as her joints were stiff. Sitting up in the murky darkness, she quickly came to realize that she was, indeed, not on the train to Hogwarts anymore—she was in someone's dungeon. Her heart began to beat faster, and she felt panic overwhelm her. "Hello?" She called out, hearing movement in the distance. Whatever it was began to shuffle towards her, but she still didn't know who (or what) it was… panic set in, and she let out a scream as the creature loomed above her.
"Miss Lovegood?" Garrick Ollivander whispered. His beady old eyes were watering, and incredulity shone through his gaze. "What on earth are you doing here?" he asked, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I see you have no wand, so this is no rescue mission…" He said, resigned to the fact that he was still stuck in this disgusting dark dungeon.
"Where am I?" Luna whispered, heartbeat slowing. She took a few deep breaths, reminding herself that at least there was someone she knew there—she may not be safe, but she wasn't alone.
"Malfoy Manor… or at least, the dungeon of it," Ollivander whispered back to her. "I suspect you're here because of your father, if you want the truth… The Death Eaters didn't like what he was saying about Harry Potter, oh no they didn't…. not one bit," Ollivander hissed, a frown morphing his face into a scary mask. Luna shuddered at the sight, to which Ollivander paid no mind. "Heard them talking about doing something about it, so I assume that has to be why you're here." He pursed his lips, looking down at Luna. "They're punishing him by taking you," He explained, no care for the girl's feelings.
A sob escaped Luna's lips as she devolved into tears. Luna wasn't ever a person who cried, but at this moment, she wept. She wept for her father, who by now had to know she was gone—for Ginny and Neville, who had to watch her be taken, and for herself—she was the one trapped in the Malfoy's home, and none of them. She was the one who was going to be there for whatever was to happen to her. None of them were going to show up to save her, she already knew.
Nearly the moment she started crying, the door to the dungeon banged open, startling both Ollivander and Luna, who let out a shriek. "The master would like to speak with you," Peter Pettigrew squeaked at Luna. "It's not going to be fun," He laughed, waving his silver hand at them. "Well, get up!" he screeched, waving his wand, which jerked Luna upright. She marched towards the door, up the stairs, and straight into the eyes of the Dark Lord. Luna froze, terrified, as she realized who was in front of her. She stared into the snake-like eyes of Lord Voldemort, completely immobilized.
"Miss Lovegood," He hissed, circling her with his wand outstretched. "It's so wonderful of you to join us," He smiled, laughing. The Death Eaters surrounding them guffawed, alerting Luna to their presence. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco Malfoy, his face contorted into a painful grimace. Other than Luna, he seemed like the only one who didn't want to be there. Voldemort spoke again, tearing Luna's attention away from her classmate. "Your father has been rather unwise, publishing the stories in his….. paper," Voldemort hovered over the word, a laugh evident underneath his voice. "The Quibbler. Such a fine and reputable source of information," he hissed, raising his wand as his followers again laughed. "What he has said cannot go unpunished, which is why you are here," Voldemort whispered, all trace of humor gone from his features. "Crucio!" he cried, stabbing his wand down at Luna, who quickly devolved into a screaming, writhing mess on the floor.
The pain ended as quickly as it came, and Wormtail rushed over to help her stand. "Thank you, Wormtail," Voldemort growled, brandishing his wand at Luna again. She cringed away, at which he laughed. "I am not going to hurt you anymore," he told her. "That is not what we have you here for." He put his wand away, and walked to sit down at the table. Luna trembled, tears streaming silently down her face. She had never known pain so great, and she would never like to again. She was just happy that she wasn't dead….. yet. "Please, come sit with me," Lord Voldemort asked, his voice conversational. "Everyone, come sit at the table," he called out to the Death Eaters. As Luna sat down, she met the eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange sitting across the table from her, and ice again shot through her veins as she thought of Neville's parents. Was she to meet the same fate?
"Miss Luna, it has come to our attention that our dear friends Harry, Hermione, and Ron care a great deal about you," Voldemort began, eliciting quiet laughs from the Death Eaters surrounding the table. "Which, along with your father's transgressions…. Is why you are here," he finished, sweeping his arm to gesture to the surrounding space. Luna furrowed her brow, not exactly following what was happening. One moment, she was being tortured, the next, she was sitting at a table with the most dangerous and deadliest Death Eaters known to the Wizarding World. What is going on? She asked herself, a new wave of terror sweeping through her body. "Luna Lovegood," Lord Voldemort continued, turning his gaze to the trembling witch. "You're going to become a Death Eater," he whispered, as the table erupted in laughter.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review, let me know what you think- I'm appreciative of all feedback.