I know, I know…all of you who've read my other offerings are wondering why this is a Draco and Luna story. Well, I'm going to tell you. Last year, I wanted to write for EvilAlice's Deflowering Draco Fest on LJ. Unfortunately, I ended up starting this and realizing it was much too long for me to subject to the readers of a fest like that one – just too many chapters. But I really liked where this was going and I didn't want to re-write it using another female character in the Harry Potter universe. I am only now posting it as I took a long break from it to finish Crimson. I realize it is not my usual subject matter but I hope you enjoy it all the same. It is Hogwarts era romance between Luna and Draco but as you will soon see, it is far different from what I had intended when I began writing it for last year's fest.

Enjoy!

LCailan

Betrayed

"Shattered legs may heal in time, but some betrayals fester and poison the soul." – George Martin

March

It felt like a swift, hard kick to the gut.

Draco wasn't sure if he could even take a breath. Though he knew he lived a rather charmed life with few disappointments and less than pleasant moments, this - this...he wasn't used to. Not this odd, pain-sick feeling that snaked through him, slithering icily along his insides, making him want to scream both with indignation and with a bit of heartsickness.

Pansy gazed at him, her blue-violet eyes turbulent with regret, shame and anger.

"Draco-"

Her voice was feeble; it was unusual because Pansy Parkinson was a girl possessed of strength. It was one of the reasons Draco had fancied her. But in the face of the clarity of pain she had caused him, she was unable to be forceful.

He tried to take a breath; he was wheezing as he took a step back, those horrid words echoing in his mind like a terrible record.

It-it was with Blaise, Draco. I...it just happened. It didn't have to anything to do with you and me.

She could have said she had eloped with Argus Filch and Draco wouldn't have been more shocked.

She had cheated on him - and not only that but with-

Once more that sickly feeling churned in his belly but Draco refused to retch. He wouldn't let Pansy see how much she meant to him or how much her betrayal had rocked his world.

Whore.

She was a whore behind closed doors just like every other pureblooded witch her age! They had rules to follow and reputations to upkeep but when they were alone with a bloke they fancied -

She should have fancied me! I'm a MALFOY. I'm her boyfriend!

He wanted to sob.

I WAS her boyfriend.

Oh, she was a whore and perhaps worse than that. But she was what Draco's father wanted for him - what any father from an old, pureblood family line wanted for their son. And she wasn't like some of the other girls from old wizarding families.

Pansy was as equally beautiful, funny and intelligent as she was manipulative, presumptuous and haughty. Draco had liked all those qualities as much as he hated them but he had especially adored the moments they had shared. Their moments alone over the last six months had shown Draco that Pansy had a different side - she could be warm, gentle and loving. He knew that her feelings for him ran deep; he had always been aware of her silent devotion.

A whole lot of hippogriff shit that devotion got me. What happened to that girl who followed me around when we were First Years? What happened to the girl who adored me? Did she ever exist? Was I that much of a blinded fool?

Pansy was still gazing up at him from long, dark lashes, her lips pressed together in an appropriate pout. That was the thing about Pansy - she knew how to act. She knew how to be the proper girlfriend, what to laugh at and how to talk. She knew when to apologize and when to pander. When to be sweet and when to be sultry.

And Draco had fallen for all of it. What teenaged boy wouldn't have?

"Draco, I'm sorry."

He said nothing, staring stonily at her, his face a mask of nothingness. He was like ice.

She reached to touch him and he flung her off in one, jerking motion. Her fingers were soft and cool but Draco mentally vowed this moment would be the last time he would allow Pansy to touch him.

Now, he'd never know if she was truly sorry or if her regret - just like much of their relationship - was just keeping up appearances. Pansy was good at the game and so was Draco. He hadn't cared at the beginning of the school year, when they had been King and Queen of Slytherin House, when his life as the most popular boy at Hogwarts with Pansy Parkinson on his arm had been perfect! She could have played whatever game she wanted then and he wouldn't have given a piss.

But now - now...

You whore!

His mind screamed those things he would never be able to speak out loud.

You bleeding tart! I hate you. I LOATHE THE SODDING SIGHT OF YOU!

But he didn't - he couldn't - because it was difficult to reset one's heart, wasn't it? And he had fancied her as much as any boy who had fallen in love for the first time could. And she was just like him - a mirror image. And she had betrayed-

"Draco, it wasn't you! I swear to Merlin, it wasn't you! Blaise, he-"

Draco motioned for her to stop and Pansy fell silent, her breathless plea dying in the stale, morning air.

"Leave me alone."

"Draco, I-"

"Are you deaf? Haven't you done enough damage?"

I hate you! I hate you!

But none of that inner rage marred the outwardly cool expression in his gray eyes. Pansy helplessly reached out towards him once more but Draco stepped back, looking disgusted.

"Go. You wanted him; now you can have him."

"I don't want him!"

There was a heated moment of silence between the two, filled with pain and disappointment. Then Draco stalked past her without another glance.

"Fine, I'll go."

Then he left the Slytherin Common Room, Pansy's painful protests ringing in his ears.

The numbness of being so suddenly blindsided lasted all but a day.

But soon after, two worries weighed on Draco heavily. The first was that he was a Malfoy and certainly the whole school would soon know what had happened. Being that he was the King of Slytherin (despite being betrayed by Blaise Zabini) and Pansy was the most popular girl in his House, he believed that the news of their breakup would be school-wide news.

Much to his relief (and slight surprise) life went on as usual. There were no whispers and stares as he went from class to class and he was almost immediately able to hold his head high in spite of his broken heart. And he learned so long as he held his head high no one suspected that he had been hurt and Draco could pretend all was right in his world. If there was one thing he was good at it was keeping up appearances, after all. Malfoys did not show feelings or dwell on emotion.

Draco's second concern was his father's involvement in his private life. He knew the elder Malfoy had taken great stock in pairing his son with the only daughter in the Parkinson family. Strangely enough, there was no talk of Pansy in his mother's weekly owl. Nor in the one that followed a week later. There were no Howlers and during the first weekend that he was home, neither his mother nor his father mentioned anything Parkinson related.

Simply put, no one cared. It was surprising and relieving and at the same time rather like an odd dream he couldn't wake from.

Very quickly Draco learned that Pansy hadn't lied to him. He hadn't believed her when she had told him she didn't want Blaise. But for weeks afterwards, Pansy disappeared, hiding Merlin knows where, while Blaise moved on to his next conquest – a 7th year in Ravenclaw House.

Pansy Parkinson was left all alone and Draco almost felt sorry for her in spite of the stinging memory of her betrayal. But that betrayal had not flowered into any other relationship for Pansy. Still, in the end, Draco decided that his romance with her had only been important to him. She had not given a toss, Blaise had moved on, his parents had other things on their minds and life went on as usual. And so Draco made a vow.

I'll simply forget it ever happened. I'll go on with my life, my day, and my relationships like nothing's changed.

Such a decision was balm to Draco's wounded heart. At least if he didn't think about it he could pretend that it hadn't happened. He could nurse his broken heart in secret, where only he would know the truth. He would hold his head up high and continue to be the most popular boy in school and he would treat his "friends" like he always had – with a distant contempt.

Nothing has to change.

Except that everything would change and no one would know until it happened.

Old hurts were slow to die and forgiveness was not always easy. Unspoken words needled the mind and left no room for closure. Hidden resentments bred jealousy which bred hatred. And soon, a new eye would offer a new perspective and a window to a life Draco never thought he would want to have.

But change was inevitable.