Malfoy had a collar around her neck which was charmed to burst into flames if she disobeyed him. He was leading her down a winding hallway filled with doors of all shapes and sizes. She had been glancing in the open doors as they passed by but Malfoy had forbidden it as an annoying action. She could see the end of the hallway and could hear laughter emanating from the open space. She cringed, knowing that she was about to meet her fellow captives and their owners. Part of her hoped to recognize a friendly face and another part hated the first part for wishing such a fate on one of her acquaintances.

The opening ahead was a great archway of pale gold with the same moving ivy found in the room she had been given. Through the arch she could glimpse an inviting but empty armchair up against the back wall which was painted magically and looked like a swirling vortex of gold flakes over sea foam. She had to admire the craftsmanship and magic put into it. The raucous laughter emanating out of the room sounded mostly of the youthful male variety. There was, however the intermittent and eerily tinkling sound of feminine laughter. It was a sound she knew very well but was shocked to hear given the circumstances. Luna.

Hermione was confused. Luna was a pureblood and survivor of the light. What would she be doing in this place? It made sense for them to capture her but not to use her as muggle sport. It would be more typical of what she knew for them to take her, privately torture her and kill her as a traitor. It could be possible, she mused, that Luna had traded her beliefs for her life and was now a part of the enemies' ranks. In this dismal world that may have been her only escape from death. Hermione felt a brief flare of anger fire up in her. How dare Luna sound happy when the others were either dead or missing. Her Ron, who had been a good friend to Luna was barely cold in the ground and here she was, apparently feeling like now was the time for a good joke. Having reached the archway, Hermione could now easily look in and spot the blonde, still smiling at a boy she did not know, looking quite pleased even as a heavy collar was placed around her neck. Though she knew Luna was in the same circumstances as herself, Hermione could not help but feel some envy and anger that the war had not broken Luna like it had broken her. It seemed as if nothing could penetrate the outer layers of that strange girls mind. Hermione wondered what Luna was thinking. Was she stupid or crazy, perhaps a mixture of both? Was she playing the enemy that they may think her reformed and one of them? Why was she, a pureblood, in the mudblood games? It made no sense.

Luna looked up and smiled dreamily as she lifted a bejeweled arm and waved at Hermione. She was looking a bit worse for wear, with a blackened eye and numerous bruises and scratches on her exposed skin. Her dress was low-cut, exposing her small and almost childishly missing breasts. It was short, slightly above the knee and had thinly strapped sleeves. As Luna stood to walk towards her it shimmered and moved delicately. For all appearances it seemed as if they had poured a soft purple and green water over her battered form. Between that and the jewels it made for an unnerving picture. She looked like a mutilated child dressed in expensive finery, the ghostly skeleton of a queen's daughter. Her walk was as energetic and joyful as ever and she seemed for all the world to be unaware of her changed circumstance. When she reached Hermione she grasped the other girls hands in hers, lightly melding their palms together.

"Hermione, it's so good to see you. I had thought for sure the grimlyhoops had taken you to meet their king. They took many of the others."

Hermione smiled tightly and shook off the urge to squeeze the bridge of her nose. She and Luna had never exactly seen eye to eye and she mostly put up with her because Ron had liked her. She felt a lump rising in her throat at the thought and before her eyes could further water she pulled Luna to her in a warm embrace, burying her face in the other girl's hair to shield herself from any prying eyes. After all, this was a girl who had fought side by side with her and who her dearest friends had thought of fondly.

Letting go of her, Luna stepped back with a knowing look which quickly morphed into a look of bemusement as she said, "I see Draco has cleaned and healed you. That's good. I thought he might."

Thinking it odd that Luna had considered this given that she didn't even know Hermione was here, Hermione replied simply, "But you! You still look like you have been fighting battles. Didn't they give you anything for the pain?"

Luna glanced sadly at the boy she had been talking to earlier. "I don't think it occurred to him. Maybe after seeing you, he will think of it."

Hermione gazed sadly at the girl in front of her. No matter what their problems in the past, Hermione did not enjoy seeing misery and this girl was obviously bearing it bravely. "I'm so sorry," she said. Continuing on, she added," But what are you even doing here? I have read about the Hunger Games, and they are supposed to be strictly a muggle baiting program."

Luna nodded, "They were going to take Lisa Turpin but I made an unbreakable vow to take her place. They could have killed me but there are things that even the deatheaters must respect."

Hermione had the immediate impulse to be completely disgusted by Lisa's cowardice, but Luna, seeing her face quickly added, "Don't hate Lisa. I manipulated her into agreeing. I told her that I had a plan to take down Voldemort but that I needed to be in the games to do so."

"Do you? Have a plan, I mean?" Hermione asked eagerly.

Luna looked at her strangely for a moment, "No."

Hermione was not sure how to respond so she did not say anything. She had a strange sensation on her tongue and welcoming the distraction, grabbed at her mouth lightly. Looking down, she saw in between her fingers a stray piece of blonde hair which must have stuck to her when she hugged the other girl.

Tapping his foot impatiently behind them was Malfoy who had begun pulling at her collar. "As much as your conversation amuses me, Granger, I would really like to proceed fully into the room now. In case you haven't noticed there is a party going on and I am not at the center of it."

Rolling her eyes and ignoring the growing sensation of fire making its way across her tongue where the hair had been, Hermione moved out of Malfoy's way and said sarcastically, "anything else your supreme annoyingness?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. Do not speak unless I tell you to. Also, remove that sour look from your face. It makes me ill to look at. You may only smile when I am aware of you. Oh, and call me master from now on."

"Yes, oh master of douche-baggery." She replied.

"Good. You are getting better. After some training I suspect you will understand the meaning of slave. Leave off the end part next time. It is just master. You may continue speaking with the crazy flea." With that, Malfoy flounced off before she had time to respond.

Hermione looked around and tried to drink up the details of her surroundings. She saw a few familiar faces. Some were surprising and others it would have been more surprising not to see in a place like this. There was Blaise Zabini, looking darkly handsome and bored as ever, miles Bletchley, who looked spotty as ever and Anthony Goldstein of Ravenclaw, who she had always respected and liked. It hurt a little to see Anthony here and to know that he had chosen not only to follow Voldemort, which at this point could not be helped by the survivors, but that he had chosen to take an active part in these games. She realized then that she could expect to find many previously neutral people serving Voldemort and that she may even find some traitors to the light in this den of snakes.

The atmosphere was altogether cheery, and the young men looked very much to have been putting their parent's money to the good use of buying liquors and mind-altering potions. The only sober ones in the room were her, Luna, and Malfoy. The last of whom was busy making up for this fact by shooting a third shot of firewhiskey down his throat. There were soft leather armchairs and couches of pale cream scattered about the room along with some tables set up for cards. That's where she had spotted Anthony, playing a game of wizarding poker with a curly-haired boy she had not met before. She had almost missed seeing Theodore Knott, a tall but thin and weedy looking Slytherin from her year. She was surprised to find him frowning absently at herself and Luna, though she supposed he might just disapprove of having a muggleborn around. Of course, Knott always looked somewhat serious and absent-minded in school. He never had been much of a socializer. Perhaps he just didn't like the frivolity of parties and thought his time better spent elsewhere. That she could relate to. For the most part, however, she had always found him to be a bit of a mystery box. Though he was on good terms with his housemates, he never seemed to participate in their antics and teasing of the other houses. He always appeared to look through people, as if he were seeing something far off in the distance that he couldn't quite make out. Hermione shrugged her shoulders. Maybe he was just a depressive.

Hermione looked up and found that she had inadvertently moved very close to the other girl's body. Their noses were practically touching and Luna was looking at her oddly. She started to apologize and tried to move away, but instead found herself further closing the gap between them. She couldn't stop looking in Luna's eyes. They were so beautiful and ethereal and seemed to see into worlds unimagined by herself. She wanted Luna to take her to those worlds, to teach her right from wrong and show her all of the amazing creatures she talked about. She tore her eyes away and looked at Luna's long blonde hair which seemed to be made of little sunbeams, both dazzling and appropriately forming a halo around her goddesses face. Hermione longed to reach out and touch the shorter girl's slight yet graceful form. She longed to feel every part of Luna's body against her own.

"Oh. Shite." Hermione whispered as she realized what was happening. The amortentia must have been activated by Luna's hair. She had read about the phenomenon back in her fifth year when they were studying the potion. If an inactive potion is ingested, then the drinker would fall for anyone who had the misfortune to get near their mouth. Even the slightest bit of DNA could activate the potion.

Luna was still looking at her strangely and Hermione glanced around for possible help. Her scan of the room revealed that Knott had also noticed her strange behavior and was gazing at her intensely. She felt a blush slowly creeping up her neck and splashing across her cheeks. She wasn't sure that she would be able to control herself around Luna and one look back at the girl told her that she definitely would not be able to contain herself. She needed to escape, but did she really want to? She tried stepping backwards but found her body betrayed her by bridging the small gap between them instead. Luna smelled so good, just like Ron had smelled and she was overpowered by the intoxicating effect of it. Freshly cut grass, old books, Ron's sweat mixed with his cologne. She longed to lick her clean of it. She was sure she would burst if she didn't do something soon. She could feel moisture pooling between her thighs, threatening to bring her to the most embarrassing public display she had ever participated in. She couldn't hold onto her thoughts and instead shifted them all to focus on the girl in front of her.

"Oh, Luna!" She thought. "Oh, my moon, Oh my stars, Oh my twinkling night sky!" If only she knew. Maybe she was a lesbian too and wanted her just as much. She longed to be touched by those soft and small hands. She could imagine them caressing her body and moving lower and lower until finally they reached their destination in a burst of flame and loving violence. Hermione shuddered and took another step forward, unable to stop. Reaching up, she gently touched the side of Luna's face, gazing at her hand in awe for only a second before she whispered, "I love you," and pulled Luna's face forcefully to meet her own. Their tongues locked for only a second before she felt rough hands pulling her back and holding her arms down. People were booing whoever had committed the crime of ending such a spectacle and Hermione found herself agreeing with these good people who understood her love and wished for her to continue expressing it.

"What are you doing Theo? You might find mudblood sex appalling, and honorably so, but the rest of us wouldn't mind the entertainment." She heard Blaise say laughingly through her Luna shaped haze. She started clawing at Knott's arms. How dare he try to separate her from her love! He must be jealous and want her goddess for himself. Well, she thought, that was not going to happen! She lifted her foot and stomped down on Knott's as hard as she could. When he only tightened his arms around her painfully, she began wriggling and clawing with all her might. Luna looked so confused without her! Luna needed her so she could be comforted. That thought further inspired the violence boiling in Hermione's bosom and she threw every reserve of strength she had into escaping Knott's absurd grip. He did not relent.

"A love potion, Draco? That's a weird move even for you." Knott stated, clearly expecting some sort of explanation from his comrade.

"I didn't give that crazy bint anything," Malfoy began indignantly. "She must have licked the wall or something. "You, mudblood," he continued, now addressing the ever more angry Hermione. "Did you lick my wall?" He said this quite imperiously as if she was a naughty child and this was just an incident with the cookie jar.

Hermione thought he must have lost his mind. How could he speak of licking walls when she clearly just wanted to be close to her Luna and lick her. "Give me my Luna." She demanded angrily, emphatically repeating the statement until she was shouting it at Malfoy.

There was laughter billowing around the room and Hermione could not believe the cruelty. She had thought they were on her side but they too were the destroyers of love, just like Knott, who was now bleeding from her various scratches and bites. Well, she thought, he shouldn't have interrupted. All of them would have to bleed if they continued mocking the purity of her love.

Malfoy ran a hand through his blonde hair and sighed. "Mippy!" he called. And instantly a little green house elf with bulging eyes, wearing nothing but a tea cozy snapped into existence. "Take this filthy mudblood and give her the antidote to amortentia. I don't want her causing any more scenes. When you are done, clean any wounds she has inflicted on herself and dress them. Afterwards return her to me for punishment. Go!"

And with that the little elf grabbed Hermione and disapparated.