The typical disclaimer, the chess board and pieces belong to JKR but this game is mine.
The Battlefield
Chapter 1: Luna's First Mission
"Auror Lovegood, you are to take five team members and deliver a prisoner to the secondary base, deep in the Forn Forest," Senior Auror Scardon commanded, a slightly malicious glint glowing in his eye. He had little time for cream puffs, and he thought that this blonde bit looked like a cream puff. In fact, no-one had thought that Luna Lovegood would have made it through training, let alone become a team leader auror. Yet Luna had surpassed all expectations, she had a thirst for vengeance that few could understand, it was what had driven her through training and what would drive her through the war. Just before she had been drafted into the Ministry Military, she had found her father dead, cursed almost beyond recognition, and all because she had fought against the Death Eaters by Harry Potter's side. It was her fault that her father had died, and now she was going to seek bloody vengeance on any Death Eater that crossed her path, even if that vengeance would cost her her life, she had nothing left to live for now. That's what had given her the edge over her fellow cadets; she didn't want to survive beyond the war. The dreamy-eyed school girl that she had been had died the day she found her father, anyone that had known her before would struggle to recognise her now.
Senior Auror Scardon raised one eyebrow in surprise when Luna merely nodded slightly and replied, almost keenly, "Yes sir!" He thought that she would have quaked at the merest mention of Forn Forest, well known for its dense vegetation and dangerous inhabitants. But Luna would never give anyone that satisfaction, let alone this auror so full of his own self importance she was surprised that he could fit his fat head through his office door these days. "Dismissed" was all he could say, Luna inwardly grinned, turned smartly on her heel and quickly left the room with her small victory over the pompous old wind bag.
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"You're what! You can't go into Forn Forest, what the hell are they thinking sending you on your first mission in there. It's a suicide mission!" Neville Longbottom, her friend who had been with her from school, was genuinely worried that they had chosen Luna for this particular mission. Not many survived Forn Forest, so why were they sending a newly qualified Auror instead of someone with more experience?
"You know as well as I do that I cannot disobey orders Neville. And whilst I appreciate your concern, you could try to sound a little more confidant in my abilities and that I was chosen because they think that I can do it" Luna tried not to sound hurt by Neville's insinuation that he thought of her as too soft to accomplish the task before her. "And yes, before you say it, I have considered the possibility that the reason they are sending such an inexperienced auror is that they do not want the prisoner to survive the journey, but that just gives me the boost I need to prove them wrong, and I will," she said with a dangerous smile playing on her lips.
Neville worried when he saw her like this, he missed the Luna of old, the girl that dreamt of impossibilities, and she used to say that what others call impossible is just stuff that they haven't seen yet. Now reality was all the Luna concerned herself with, she had become hardened by what fate had dealt her and Neville just worried that the price of proving everyone wrong was going to be too high.