AN: One-shot written for VivusEtIterum's What You Can Make of it Challenge at HPFC. Hope you enjoy it!
I chose the character: Theodore Nott (obviously)
Quote #20: "You make me want run 'til I find you."
Prompt: Pine Needles.
I wanna thank my beta: Hyper Caz, she's so wonderful in helping look this over. Check out her Tuna one-shot: Missed Opportunity, it's marvelous!
Potter had lost the war.
It was so fast, so unexpected, so unfair.
Theodore had thought that the Golden Boy was going to defeat the Dark Lord. He had believed this with all his heart. Guess he was wrong.
One minute he was looking at Luna across the Courtyard and then the next moment, all hell broke loose. Potter fell on the ground, battered, broken and – worst of all – dead. Bellatrix Lestrange shot the Morsmordre curse with her wand, cackling in ecstasy for the triumph of her dear Lord. The skull-and-serpent sign covered the sky, darkening it, showing the survivors that their end was here.
Then spells, hexes, curses began to fly all over the place, hitting some students, Professors and Order members.
People were screaming, running, falling, being trampled and beaten. Wands and knives were opening up bodies, killing and maiming. The Courtyard was filled with red. Dark red, like Luna's lips. He had to find Luna; Theodore needed to have her by his side that instant.
And then Theodore lost sight of her blonde hair.
His heart stopped and he began to run – well as much as he could with a lame leg and no apparent direction. His wand was in his hand and his green eyes were filled with worry and fear. He had to find her, before some crazy Death Eater did. They would do the worst – rape her, beat her beyond recognition. They wouldn't kill her. No, they would take her away and make her their slave, so they could have some sadistic fun. Nott knew the type well; he had grown up with a father like that.
The only pleasure Nott Sr. had got was from belittling his wife, making her scream in agony and pain. Of course the occasional hex here and there had been brought against his mum. He tortured her until he killed her. The old bastard had loved torturing his son as well. Nott Sir. was an evil cruel man.
Taking a deep breath Theodore ran even faster. He couldn't let that happen to Luna. She was too innocent, too pure, perfect, and unique. If that ever did happen, she would break and die inside. She wouldn't be the Luna he loved; she would be a ghost of herself, a shadow of the splendid Luna that had made him melt. He knew her too well. Just like she knew him.
Running through the castle, he searched, but she was nowhere in sight. Theodore pushed past people, not caring if they were classmates; he didn't care about them. He only cared for Luna. No one else. He even ignored the shout that Draco gave him. Nott ignored what he said, not taking any notice that Malfoy had a certain bushy haired Gryffindor with him.
Theodore shook his head. He wanted a Raven. Without her, he would become desperate. And he was starting to get desperate right now. Especially when he spotted Marcus Flint raping a girl who looked like a fourth year. She looked too much like Luna and Theodore pushed Flint away, only to discover it wasn't her. His mind was playing tricks on him. Those big blue eyes of hers looked eerily like his Luna's. But they weren't dreamy; they weren't even innocent.
"What's your bloody problem, Nott?" Flint hissed, standing up and walking towards the girl and Theodore. The girl was begging him to save her, but he couldn't – if he did, Flint would tell the Dark Lord and Theodore would be a dead man. And he needed to be alive to find Luna, to make sure she was safe and sound. To make sure that what was happening to this young girl did not happen to Luna.
He closed his eyes, rubbing at them tiredly. Nott whispered, "I thought it was someone else…"
Theo didn't even wait for Flint to answer. He ran from the deserted classroom only to be shoved by shouting wizards and witches who were trying to escape from this horrible hell. His body went hard as he spotted Luna's hair. It was raggedy and white blonde. It was her! Nott didn't care if he was pushing innocents – he needed to go and get Luna.
She headed for the kitchens. When finally he was able to get inside, Luna was nowhere to be found. Elves were apparating with young students, coming back for more and crying their eyes out for their poor little masters. Nott blocked out the shouts and tears of the elves and children. He looked around; she wasn't there. He looked under the kitchen tables, throwing pots and pans, shouting to the elves, demanding to know if they had seen Luna. They would just shake their heads and tell him that Miss Loony Lovegood was not there.
Nott screamed in frustration and he headed towards the dungeons. If it were possible, the dungeons were even colder and darker than usual. He couldn't see, but he could hear. Shouts of pain were heard, hitting the walls and bouncing into everyone's ears. It was too loud, too evil, too painful. Theodore was frantic now. His heart pounded in worry and fear. And recklessness made him shout her name, not caring if others heard him. He was a Death Eater after all. The Dark Side had won, so if someone questioned him he would just say that he needed to have some fun.
He was a great liar, so no one would question him further for his motives. They would just smirk and nod at him in understanding. While he ran through the dark dungeons, he was stopped by an arm. Nott turned and glared, wand at the neck of the bastard that had him. "Take your filthy hands off of me. You don't know who you're messing with," he hissed darkly.
"For Merlin's sake, Theodore! It's me, Pansy," she hissed back.
Nott cast lumos and indeed it was her, the only Slytherin girl he was able to tolerate. She looked scared but had a face that said she'd hex you to hell and back if you messed with her. That same face was covered in dirt and blood.
"What are you doing here? Get out – leave!" Nott whispered harshly.
Parkinson was the only person besides Draco whom he considered a friend. Her green eyes squinted at his own. "I would ask the same thing, Theo. But...well, I already have an idea."
"Have you seen her?" he asked in a desperate, wounded voice.
Gulping, she shook her head. "Haven't seen her, she's not here. So don't worry. If I see Lovegood, I'll contact you," Pansy said, showing him her fake Chocolate Frog. She had spelled four of them to glow when either Theodore, Draco, Blaise or she needed to talk. They were like Hermione Granger's Galleons. But they were different – they glowed green and were also Portkeys that worked more than one time. They took you to the person who was contacting you. Parkinson was a smart witch.
Nodding, he said, "You should leave. This isn't safe for you."
Pansy snorted. "Please, they won't mess with me if they're smart. And anyways I'm looking for someone." She averted her eyes to look around the dungeon passage they were in.
Nott frowned. "Ugh, I still can't believe you like the Weasel."
Parkinson glared. "Well I say you're not far behind me, you like a loony. So I think you're not one to talk," she finished with a grin. "Be safe Nott." With that she left him and both continued their separate searches.
If he thought the dungeons were bad, then the Towers were the worst of all. Up there you could see what was happening but it was much worse. People were jumping off the Towers, landing on the ground. Their disfigured bodies could be seen from above. Shuddering, Theodore kept his eyes opened, searching for Luna. His heart told him she wasn't one of the unfortunate.
He was now at the last Tower. The Ravenclaw Tower. Green eyes looked around the common room, but she wasn't there. The various book cases were thrown on the floor, their books mutilated. Couches and chairs were tossed without a care. The room was messy and smelled of blood and death. He limped to the girls' dorm, knowing full well it was a futile thing to do. He wouldn't be able to enter. But before he could reach the door, it slammed opened. Nott's heart soared, thinking it was Luna. Unfortunately for him it wasn't.
Blaise Zabini kicked the door open. He was covered with blood stains and he had a worried expression on his face. He was carrying a weak girl from their year. More likely he was carrying his wife. "Teddy boy." He nodded in acknowledgement.
Nott's mouth was open as he glared. Zabini was the only person who called him that; even after many years of being told not to, Zabini still called him that horrid nickname. "What are you doing? You can't enter the girls' dorm," Nott said in bemusement.
Blaise huffed, "There's always a spell for something, Teddy boy. Now get out of my way – I'm taking Gabriela out of here."
Theodore pushed him away and he noticed that Gabriela's brother was behind Blaise, looking worried as hell. Theodore went after them. "Have you seen Luna?"
Zabini sighed, taking out a Portkey. "No, and I didn't really look for her, Nott. I was busy with finding Gaby and her brother. Now, I really don't have time. I'll be in Italy. I'll contact you when all this settles down." With that the Italian wizard left Theodore alone in the destroyed Ravenclaw common room.
He was now at the point of breaking down and crying in frustration.
Nott found himself in the Forbidden Forest. Shouts and screams were heard all around him in there. From wizards, witches and magical beings. Running as fast as he could, he went to the clearing that he and Luna were always in, where he used to follow her to see her feed those horrible Therestals. It was the place where they had become friends and then a couple, the place where he had confessed his love to her, the place where they had so often kissed, not caring if others could see.
Theodore found it empty; not even the horrid Thestrals were there. Luna wasn't there and in that moment Theo fell to his knees, pulling at his hair in frustration and frantically looking around the clearing to see if she was hiding behind a tree, a bush or anything really. But no. She wasn't there. What caught his attention though were some pine needles that were carefully arranged in the shape of a diamond on the ground. Inside the diamond shape were Luna's radish earrings and Butterbeer necklace. Crawling, he went forth and held them as if they were the source of life.
His mind couldn't wrap around why her quirky jewelry was there. Luna was never without it. She believed that her unique necklace made the Nargles and Wrackspursts stay away from her. And as for the radish earrings, he had given them to her for a present. She had loved them and thought they held the magical powers of some ancient culture.
Seeing this, Theodore Nott knew that something bad had happened to his Luna. Taking deep breaths he began to think clearly, not wanting to think of horrible scenarios, but it was hard when he didn't know where she was.
"Think, Theodore, think," he snarled at himself.
Where could she be? He had to think; he had to think hard.
A loud, dark, cold laugh interrupted his thoughts. Theodore knew that evil laugh anywhere. Turning around he glared at his father. Abelard Nott.
"Where is she?" Theodore demanded, standing up quickly. His wand was out, already pointed at the old bastard.
Abelard looked even more amused and his laughter was now uncontrollable. "Merlin! Boy – haha – I would never have – haha – thought that you would be this weak," he sneered the last part, disgust in his eyes. His laughter stopped. "Put down your wand, boy. Even though you're of age, I'm still your father."
Theodore's green eyes blazed in anger. "I never considered you my father, so that's a moot point. Now where is she?"
Nott Sr. shrugged in a bored manner. Taking out a cigar he lit it and began to smoke. "I have no idea where your little toy could be. For all I know she could be someone's sex slave or maybe she's dead and rotting," he said in an emotionless voice that made Theodore growl in anger.
He ran to his father, his hands going around the old man's neck. "You bloody bastard! I hate you with all my being, you know that? I wonder what I'll feel if I kill you right now…" he whispered harshly. Nott Sir., was a man of sixty-eight, he no longer had that strength he once had when he was a young Death Eater, Theodore overpowered him.
Abe smiled wickedly. "You…wouldn't…dare…boy…you have…no balls!" The old man still had that nerve to make Theo feel weak.
Nott sneered. "I have more balls than you, old man."
His father shook his head. "If you…do…then you…would…know not…to…kill me…"
Theo glared. "I'm going to kill you. No need to convince me otherwise." His voice was just as cold as his father's and his eyes were gaining an insane glee.
"Then…you would…not…know where…to…find your…little…precious toy," Abelard bit back, his eyes widening with amusement.
Theodore let go of his father in disgust. "Go to hell."
Abelard chuckled. "I won't be the only one to go there, boy." He winked. "Now, stop being stupid and let's get out of here, before this turns even worse then it is. And you'll find your precious toy. You'll need her to celebrate our Dark Lord's success."
Nott took a deep breath and nodded in defeat. His hands held Luna's jewelry and he kneeled to get a pine needle. He closed his eyes and thought of Luna, whispering to his hands, "You make me want to run 'til I find you. And I will find you, Luna. If it's the last thing I do. I'll run to the ends of the earth and hell and back, if it means I'll have you by my side once again."
He and his father apparated away in search of Luna Lovegood.
Theodore did not find Luna that day or the next day or a month later, not even in that year.
Luna Lovegood had disappeared; she was nowhere to be found. It was as if the earth had sucked her out of sight. Or the clouds had opened and made her float away from this dark world. After all she was too perfect, too pure, too unique to be living in a dark place where Lord Voldemort was in control with his followers. A world her lover belonged to.
AN: I'm thinking about making this into a multi-chapter fic, I don't know though. So you dear readers, in your reviews tell me! Continue! It's so great! Or NO! You'll run it! So yeah, please review on your thoughts!