QLFC Season 4 Round 9
Team: Kenmare Kestrels
Position: Beater 1
Prompt: The Fox and the Hound
Optional Prompts:
6. (occasion) an engagement
7. (word) clandestine
15. 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' - Mewtwo
/Non-Magical AU/
(Present-Engagement Party)
Luna looked across the ballroom at Astoria Greengrass and sighed before taking another sip of her champagne. The engagement invitation had come as a bit of a shock when she received it via the post several weeks prior. The party itself was as lavish as Luna thought it would be, after all, what would one expect when the Zabinis were involved?
Luna looked at the groom-to-be with a frown. Blaise had changed a bit since school. He had matured and become even more handsome, but she wasn't sure if he deserved Astoria.
Luna shook her head and looked back at her one-time friend.
(Twelve Years Prior-Boarding School)
Astoria and Luna had grown up together. They had been practically inseparable until they turned eleven and were enrolled in their private school. The school had a system in place to sort students within each year group, and Luna and Astoria had been put into different groups. Without Astoria to help ground her, Luna's strange tendencies, that had started when her mother was killed in a lab accident at the college she taught at, became more pronounced. Luna would often stare vacantly at nothing while others whispered horrible things about her father. Luna's classmates took her inaction as permission to attack her emotionally and physically.
She had tried to fight back initially with words. When her classmates taunted her about her lack of a mother and 'crazy' father, she responded, "The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are. I know who I am. Do you?"
She got a black eye and bruised collarbone for her attempt.
(Present-EP)
Astoria glanced across the ballroom to see how her old friend was doing. She had gone back and forth about whether or not she should send the invitation and even called Blaise and Draco over to discuss the invitations. Before she could come to a decision, Draco had already sent it off.
"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I haven't seen her in over six years. I want to be sure she's alright after all this time," Draco had said with a shrug.
(Ten Years Prior-BS)
Astoria didn't realize for the first two years of her school career hat Luna wasn't getting the nice experience that she was. They would meet on weekends to help each other with their assignments. It wasn't until Luna showed up one day with bruises on her legs that couldn't be accounted for that she realized that things weren't as they seemed with her childhood friend.
Astoria had kept her own classmates from messing with Luna by telling them that she was a member of the upper class. She told a few of the class above her about the accident that took Luna's mother, and the unexplained bruises on her legs that couldn't be waived off as being from her physical education class. The ones she told took to watching her from the shadows to prevent the worst of the bullying. Draco spearheaded the protection detail. He even pulled some of the students in his year from other classes to join his crusade.
Luna never noticed the intervention on her part. She just knew that eventually the snubbing, physical attacks, and stealing of her things stopped and her time in school was easier for it.
(Present-EP)
Luna sighed and set her empty glass on a passing tray. She walked over to the open bar and sat on one of the high bar stools. She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the bar and waited to be noticed by the bartender.
"Ah, hello, Miss. What can I get for you?" The bartender smiled and slung his towel over his shoulder.
"How about a Tahitian Sunrise?" Luna said softly, as she folded the napkin he placed in front of her when he came up.
"Sure thing, Miss. Just a moment." The bartender turned away to make her drink.
"I'm glad you could make it," a low voice said to her right.
"Make that a Scotch. Double" Luna tilted her head back with a groan. "I wasn't sure that would be the case. Last time I saw you," Luna turned her head and stared down Astoria, "I had been beaten within an inch of my life, and a team of hunters, excuse me, my classmates, were attempting to finish the job."
(Six Years Ago-BS)
Luna panted as she tried to keep her arm still. The students had left her alone for four years. Why were they attacking her now? Had they really been that resentful of her through her educational career?
Luna cried out as another stone caught her on her thigh. She ran as fast as she could away from her attackers and into the woods surrounding the boarding school. She whimpered in relief when she finally made it deep enough that her pursuers gave up.
She stumbled further into the forest, sure in the belief that the natural inhabitants would leave her be until she could get to help. She curled up in the roots of a large sycamore and cried herself to sleep.
She woke up to the sounds of people crashing through the undergrowth around her tree. "I FOUND THE FREAK!" A large boy yanked her arm brutally, finishing the job of dislocating it.
Luna shrieked in agony and tried to fight her way out of his grasp. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"LUNA! LUNA LOVEGOOD! WHERE ARE YOU?" Astoria's voice sounded out from the edge of the forest. Several teachers were calling for her as well. The rabid students snarled when they realized their time to get rid of her was drawing to a close.
"ASTORIA!" Luna shrieked, before the goon holding her backhanded her and split her lip.
(Present-EP)
Astoria shook her head. "I was there. I had to get the teachers so they could help with controlling those monsters we went to school with. They waited until Draco and his friends graduated to launch an attack. They knew that the majority of your protection detail was gone and they would have an easier time of getting to you."
Luna snorted, "Draco was in charge of protecting me? Why?"
"Because in our third year, I realized that you were being bullied. I hadn't seen the evidence before or I would have alerted him to the situation prior to that point. He'd been in love with you practically since the first time he saw you as a Firstie. He didn't think he stood a chance of being with you so he stuck with me and tried to get you to notice him. It obviously didn't work. He turned down everyone even remotely interested in him because he only saw you."
"I never knew."
"I think it may have been why the attack on you during our final year was so vicious. The girls wanted him and the boys wanted to be him. None of them could understand his infatuation with you."
(Six Years Ago-BS)
Astoria barreled into the person holding Luna, knocking the three of them to the ground. She stood up quickly and slammed the heel of her mary janes on his forearm, causing a sickening snap to be heard when she fractured both the ulna and radius. The man passed out from the shock. "Over here, Professors!" Astoria yelled as she knelt down and cradled Luna to her chest.
"Rather a strange place for a clandestine meeting, Tori," Luna whimpered.
"Ssssh, this isn't the time for your silliness, Luna. Just try to stay calm, okay, Lulu? The Professors are coming. We'll get them all for this."
Luna snorted, 'If you say so, Tori." Luna blinked a few times, then fainted.
(Present-EP)
Luna finally turned to face Astoria head-on. I wear a brace in order to walk without a cane. My Femur was fractured in three places in that assault and the only one of the perpetrators that were brought up on charges was the one whose arm you broke. I know. I'm the assistant DEA now. I looked into my case files to see what happened after my one court appearance. You testified, but none of the Professors did. They basically condoned their actions against me. This was a mistake. I shouldn't be here. Good luck with your wedding. Don't contact me again." Luna hopped down from her barstool and her leg buckled beneath her. Before she hit the ground a strong arm caught her about the waist.
"Easy there. Are you alright, Miss...Luna?"
Luna looked up into the gray eyes of her once protector and shook her head. "Please, just let me go."
Draco stood in shock as his arm fell to his side. "Luna, your shoulder…"
"Isn't the worst of the injuries I've received. If you were here while I spoke to Astoria then you also know my leg is basically ruined."
"Luna, I didn't-"
"I know you didn't, Mr. Malfoy. It's the only reason you weren't called in for questioning in my case. I'm leaving now." Luna turned away from the pair and glared out over the watching crowd. "Did you enjoy the show, you hypocrites? Every single one of you knew what I went through as a child, and none of you even attempted to stop it. If I were to go back to that school today, how many students would I find being subjected to the same bullying treatment I was subjected to just because someone I had only met a few times in passing cared for me in some small form? How many? Do you even know what misery you wrought on me?"
She turned a baleful eye on a few of her attackers from her last days of school. "I could show you." Luna sneered and took a steak knife from one of the tables near her. She pulled the fabric of her dress away from her leg and rent a tear straight from her hip to the edge of the dress. She tossed the knife back on the table and pulled the dress to one side exposing her right leg. The entire congregation saw the brace that attached at her hip and ended below her knee. In the openings between the bars, the scar tissue was almost grotesque. Angry red and white welts ran down her leg. Some of the scars never healed properly. "Cho, how do you feel knowing you could have crippled a girl younger than you by over two years? Padma? Laura? How about Michael, Terry, John? How did it feel to break a girl's leg, boys? One that stood no chance against a group of older faster people...not that you deserve to even be called that." Luna dropped the tattered end of her dress and the crowd visibly shifted so that Blaise could walk through to his fiancee.
"Who else, Luna?" Blaise asked calmly.
"What?" Luna cocked her head at the Italian.
"Who else was involved in the attack? There is no statute of limitations on physical assault, and I will gladly arrest them all. Theo is actually here as security and can assist with transporting them to the station."
Luna stumbled back a step and was grateful when Draco caught her again. "I'll really get justice for my attack?" Luna whispered before turning in Draco's arms and burying her face in his chest.
Blaise stepped between the couple and the crowd. "If you were involved or know anything about the June 14, 1996, attack on Luna Lovegood, it would be in your best interest to remove yourselves to the drawing room. My parents have already called for the police to arrive to take the lot of you to the station. Do not make the mistake of thinking you will get away with this for one more day."
Astoria stepped forward and stared down the crowd. "I know there were more of you than the six mentioned by name and the seventh that was incarcerated. Move." Luna turned her face at Astoria's commanding tone.
As if a spell was broken, twenty-three people left the room. The remaining guests stared at the door in shock.
Luna turned her face away again to compose herself. She pulled away from Draco and nodded curtly. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for all that you did when I was a student, and here today."
Luna took a step back, turned and left the party, head held high.
Astoria watched Luna leave and shook her head sadly. "Do you think she'll allow me to contact her again, Blaise?"
"You'll never know unless you try. Xeno is here somewhere. We can ask him for his daughter's contact information. I can think of another friend of ours that may like the chance to get to know her," Blaise added, nodding towards the still form of his best friend. "Now let's see about getting the justice Luna deserves."