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1.
"Is there someone else here?" someone called into the darkness. "If there is, please say something, but if there isn't, then don't."

It was the oddness of the request, made in such a perfectly calm voice, that intrigued Ollivander. He had become used to the occasional visits from Death Eaters intent on further torture or the irregular delivery of food by completely silent House elves, but this didn't sound like anyone he'd encountered before in the cellar of Malfoy Manor. This voice sounded very young and strangely gentle.

"Yes," he ventured to say, his voice cracking from disuse. "I'm here."

2.
"Oh, good," the voice said, and he heard footsteps coming tentatively closer in the darkness. "They told me I wouldn't be completely alone, but I wasn't sure whether to believe them."

"Believe who?" Ollivander asked.

"The Snatchers," the voice said. "A group of them took me from my father and brought me here. I'm very worried about him."

"Did they harm him?"

"Not physically," she said, "but I know he's very worried about me. I wish I could let him know I'm not hurt. How long have you been here?"

"What month is it?" he asked, realizing he didn't know.

3.
"It's December," the voice said, and it was closer now. "Nearly Christmas."

"Then about seven months," Ollivander replied. He'd known it was winter from the chill of the place, but the rest had been merely a guess.

"That's a very long time," she said sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I might step on you. Where are you?"

"Against the far wall," he said, tottering to his feet. "Don't worry, child, you won't hurt me."

"My name is Luna," she said.

"Lovegood?" he asked immediately. He remembered: white pine, eight and a half inches, unicorn hair, flexible.

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander."

4.
"How did you know it was me?" he asked. His voice had grown weak during his imprisonment.

"Oh, I remember you, just the same as you remembered who I am," Luna said. "You helped me find such a lovely wand. Thank you for that. I'm afraid they took it from me, though."

Ollivander grunted in distaste. They'd stolen his as well, of course. No doubt they'd burned them or snapped them in half, the fools. No appreciation at all for anything but destruction. And yet, as children, they'd excitedly come to him for their own wands. He couldn't have known.

5.
"Is there anyone else down here?" Luna asked.

"No," he said. "A rat or two and a few spiders in the corners, but that's all."

He didn't tell her about the other captives who had been there and left in ways he didn't want to think about. Most of them had been potentially useful in some way that hadn't gone as Voldemort wished, dead ends in his pursuit of the Potter boy and his friends. Luna would be close to his age. Perhaps that was why she was here.

It didn't do to get attached to someone in this place.

6.
"A friend of mine had a pet rat once," Luna said. "I'm afraid it didn't turn out very well, though. He turned out to be an Animagus who'd had his friends murdered, but I don't suppose that's a common problem with rats."

"Peter Pettigrew?" Ollivander asked sharply.

"Yes, that was his name," Luna said.

"We've met," Ollivander said with obvious distaste. "He's a sort of lackey to the Death Eaters, half servant, half slave. If you stay here any length of time, you'll make his acquaintance."

"I think I'd rather not," Luna said, "though I doubt I'll have that option."

7.
By now Luna had carefully picked her way across the uneven stones of the cellar. It was much too dark to see, though during the day sometimes a bit of weak sunlight poked through one of the small windows set high out of reach near the ceiling. Unfortunately, this being Britain, sunlight was hard to come by in the winter months, and the darkest nights of the year were approaching quickly. He didn't think he'd ever appreciated sunlight properly when he was free, but now he wasn't even sure if his weakened eyes would be able to bear it anymore.

8.
"Is it all right if I sit against your wall?" Luna asked from about three feet away. "I'm really rather tired, and I'd rather have something solid at my back."

"A wise strategy," Ollivander said.

"Oh, we covered that sort of thing in Dumbledore's Army," Luna said. "Harry made a point of saying we should always try to know what was coming up behind us."

He knew what Harry she must be referring to. That might be why she was here.

"It's not my wall. Sit anywhere you like, child. Of course you're tired," he said. "So what's Dumbledore's Army?"

9.
"That was what we called our Defense Against the Dark Arts group in fifth year after Professor Umbridge made it impossible for us to learn anything in school," Luna's voice said from somewhere near the floor. "Some of us decided it would be better if we knew how to defend ourselves, all things considered."

"Doesn't look like it helped you too much," Ollivander said.

"Some," Luna said. "I was able to hit one of the Carrows with a *disarming spell and another Death Eater is still spitting slugs, but eight against one is a bit much for anyone to handle."

10.
"Good on you, then," Ollivander said, mildly impressed. "Give them something to chew on, in one case literally."

Luna laughed just a little, but the sound was thin, like the sunlight that visited him sometimes. Even it seemed to want to be somewhere else.

"I suppose things could be worse," Luna said.

"Oh? How?" Ollivander said.

"I could be down here all alone, like you've been for so long," Luna said. "At least there's someone to talk to."

Ollivander considered that. If she stayed, and that was far from certain, she would indeed be an improvement over the endless quiet.