Smoke and Mirrors
1999 . . .
Luna Lovegood lay prostrate on a great black rock by the lake at Hogwarts. Her feet dangled off the edge, and she moved them about in the air while gently speaking to the giant squid. She kicked off her shoes and pressed her cheek against the smooth warm stone.
The autumn air was brisk, but a rare bit of sunlight peeked through the normally overcast sky in order to warm the dark stone and add luster to her golden-blonde hair that was fanned out all around her.
Luna hadn't had many friends before the final battle, but she'd had even less of them after returning to school for her seventh year. Most of Dumbledore's Army, including Harry, Neville, and Hermione, had taken their N.E.W.T.S. and moved to London. Ginny was jealous of her for making Head Girl as were most of the other prefect girls. Luna missed the camaraderie that the D.A. had provided. She also missed her closest friends, but she was accustomed to being different. She knew that most people either thought her eccentric or just plain crazy. Other people's opinions of her didn't much bother her because she enjoyed her time alone. She often spent time with her father, and she adored her unlikely lover.
Lucius Malfoy regarded his young lover as she reveled in the warmth of the midday sun. He walked slowly towards their meeting place while taking in the radiance of her fair skin and the joy in her eyes as she spoke playfully with a creature that couldn't carry on a conversation with her. He laughed aloud at the charming one-sided conversation, which alerted Luna to his presence.
She smiled at the handsomely dressed wizard and rose into a sitting position, making room for him to sit beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned back onto his firm chest. They simply enjoyed the sound of the breeze rolling over the lake as they held each other closer than they had the day before.
Lucius caressed her arms with his bare hands. He had stopped wearing his leather gloves at Luna's request. She had told him that it was important for their palms to come into direct contact when they held hands. She never would tell him why, but the reason really didn't matter to him. He would do anything for the peculiar little nymph in his arms.
He closed his silver-grey eyes and pictured that momentous day when he had first been bewitched by her odd beauty and clever charm.
It was All Hallows Eve and Lucius sat alone in the corridor outside of the Great Hall. The first annual masquerade ball was just getting started, and as a school governor, he had been invited. He had decided to make an appearance only because he had recently been reinstated to his former position at the school, and he had been accepted back at the Ministry. He had also hoped that showing his face would win him public favor, but since Hogwarts had been a stronghold for the Light, everyone had ignored him as soon as he had walked into the room.
He stood up and put on his gloves as he made the decision to go home, but a soft voice halted his movements. Luna emerged from a shadowy doorway and approached the aristocratic wizard with a sure step and a dreamy, yet steady, gaze. She was wearing a red velvet cloak with a hood and carried a picnic basket.
She lifted her silver mask as she spoke. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy. Would you like some candy?" She opened her basket to reveal a stash of chocolate frogs. "I wanted Muggle candy, but I couldn't get to a store on time. You see, Muggles give candy on Halloween."
Usually, Lucius would have gotten ill at the thought of Muggle candy, but Luna's melodious voice soothed him, and he favored her with a rare smile.
"What is your costume, Miss Lovegood?"
"I'm Little Red Riding Hood. She's a character out of a Muggle fairytale. Have you heard of her?" After a moment of silence, Luna added, "No, I don't suppose you would have."
Lucius sat back down and regarded the young witch curiously as she sat beside him. "Why aren't you inside with your friends?"
She wore a knowing smile when she said, "I'm like you, Mr. Malfoy. I don't have many friends."
Lucius' expression turned dark and Luna could sense his self-loathing. "You may not have many friends, Miss Lovegood, but you are nothing like me."
"That's not true. I'm not perfect either. You did terrible things, but I don't believe that you are a terrible man. I understand that you did it all to save your family. What you did wasn't right, but it's difficult to know how one will react when having to make decisions under duress. The important thing is that you are now paying your debt."
"Miss Lovegood . . ."
"Please, call me Luna."
He stared at her for a moment before slowly answering, "Then you may call me Lucius."
"Luna . . ."
"Yes, Lucius?"
"You're adorable . . . and so very gorgeous."
He regarded at her with extreme admiration, and she looked into his eyes and boldly stated, "Would you like to kiss me, Lucius?"
Lucius actually stammered at the young woman's question before eventually answering her. "Do you want me to kiss you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She smiled. "I'm sure that you already know how handsome you are, but I find you fascinating in other ways, as well." She seemed to look into his very soul as she continued, "I see your deep love for your son and the agonizing pain that you feel for the loss of your friends and relatives hiding underneath a strong facade. I see your contrition hidden behind that haughty smirk of yours. You pretend to be in control, but I can see danger and instability in you. It's beautiful."
"Lucius, I have to go to Herbology now." The sound of his angel's voice roused him from his thoughts.
**
As usual, Luna arrived to the greenhouse earlier than the rest of the students. She hummed to herself as she skipped down the rows of potted magical plants, gingerly making her way to the table where Professor Sprout held class. She stopped short at the sight of a Heliopath looming high above the table. She stared in amazement at the rare magical creature before realizing the danger that she was in. Slowly backing away from the beast, she went to warn her professor.
While fleeing the greenhouse area, she spotted a group of Slytherin students approaching. At noticing the urgency in her step, the group became curious and looked at Luna in amusement.
"What's wrong this time, Looney Lovegood?" One of them asked her the question while the others snickered at her expense.
In response, Luna merely said, "There is a Heliopath in greenhouse two and it's very dangerous. You all should stay away from there until I've gotten a professor to get rid of it."
The students stared blank-faced at her for a long moment before breaking into hysterical fits of laughter mixed with whispered insults.
A seventh year girl, who was clearly the leader of the group, stepped forward and jokingly asked, "What in Merlin's name is a Heliopath?"
"Well, it's a fire spirit that burns everything that gets into its path. They're incredibly beautiful creatures, but they are also very dangerous."
Before Luna could even finish her explanation, they were all laughing at her again.
"She's a raving nutter," one boy said.
"We should teach Looney Lovegood a lesson in reality," said another.
Several students suddenly advanced upon Luna and started dragging her towards the greenhouse. She begged them to stop, but the fear that they saw in her normally aloof appearance, kindled their cruelty and determination. She held on to the doorjamb for as long as she could before a young Muggle-born boy actually beat her fingers loose with his broom.
They quickly shoved her in and closed the door, locking Luna inside of the greenhouse by shoving planks through the door's handles. The crowd's amusement continued to escalate as Luna banged on the door and pleaded with her fellow students to be freed. Her voice was nervous and scared, and the younger children started to mock her while the older students cheered them.
Luna's urgent pleading suddenly turned into an agonizing scream that silenced the entire assembly before fading into a muffled moan. The students stared at the doors in utter terror as black smoke began to seep from underneath. Several of the children began retching as a vile smell permeated in the air around them. Some ran in fear while others crawled away in tears or in shock. None of them had the stomach to unlock the doors.
2009 . . .
Another All Hallows Eve Ball was getting started in the Great Hall as students walked in dressed in formal robes and intricate costumes. Lucius Malfoy was in attendance as he had been every year since his reinstatement to the board. He generally kept to the shadows during social events because although he had long ago been readmitted to polite society, he had not been interested in celebrations after losing Luna.
Her memory plagued his thoughts on this particular night because it had been ten years since their first meeting. Several times since his arrival at the castle, he thought that he had seen her reflection in the windows and mirrors about the castle. He knew that he was in for a long night when he thought that he had caught the scent of her lingering by a bay window at the end of the entry hall.
Lucius drained his flask and waited for an opportunity to leave.
**
In Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, a mischievous crew of students was having a party of their own, having smuggled in several bottles of Firewhiskey to drink with their stolen food from the kitchen.
From a dark corner filled with giggling girls, a voice said, "What are you supposed to be, Q?"
The Slytherin prefect and Quidditch star known simply as "Q" by the student body turned to the nearest mirror and donned his blond wig chanting, "I'm Looney Lovegood! Looney Lovegood . . . Looney Lovegood!"
The giggling girls snorted and rolled with laughter, trying to impress the popular boy by being over appreciative of his funny costume. Several of the boys pointed and clapped their hands, and the sounds of the group's alcohol induced frivolity bounced around the walls of stone while Myrtle floated above her stall. She frowned and clasped her hands over her ears for several minutes before sensing a change in the room. She slowly floated down into the stall and peeked through a crack in the door at the macabre scene before her.
Luna Lovegood's blackened and rotting image stared out at the boy chanting her name.
It took the other students far too long to realize that Q had stopped laughing. In fact, he had stopped moving all together and was staring at the mirror in apparent shock. By the time the laughter finally calmed, no one had a chance to ask the young man what was wrong with him before he burst into flames.
The students ran. They flooded into the Great Hall with their bizarre story on their tongues. It was then that a few of them admitted to seeing a charred and angry image of Luna Lovegood in the mirror just before the fire had erupted.
**
With the body removed, the scene investigated, and everyone gone, Lucius appeared in front of the bathroom mirror with hope in his weary eyes. Placing his hand on the glass, he said her name once before bowing his head with a faint sigh.
"She's waiting for you."
Lucius' head snapped back to the mirror. He saw Myrtle floating behind him and his face fell once again. "Good evening, Myrtle," he said as he dismissed her words.
Myrtle frowned and screeched in an obstinate voice, "No one ever listens to me! The students were right. She really is here, but I don't think that you want to see her."
"Of course I want to see her, you silly Mudblood!"
Lucius wiped his brow with his hand and apologized for his outburst, but Myrtle had already decided to give him the answers that he wanted.
She said, "The boy who died said her name three times before Luna showed herself in the mirror. You've already called to her once, Lucius."
Myrtle gave Lucius a wicked smile as he turned back to his own reflection with a new conviction in his countenance.
"Luna . . ."
"Luna . . ."
There she stood. On the other side of the mirror was his young love in all of her living beauty, and she was holding her palm up to the glass.
Myrtle knew that she looked different to Lucius than she had looked earlier in the night. She held her peace even though she sensed impending death.
Remembering that Luna didn't like his gloves, he removed them and placed his palm against hers. The smile with which he was rewarded was worth his life.
**
The next morning, Lucius' body was found in front to the mirror, but it was not burned like Q's body had been. The only injury that the healers could find was on his right hand where there were third-degree burns covering the entire surface of his palm. They wondered at how a man could sustain such a painful injury while keeping his serene smile in place.