Title: With Difference
Author: Simply Kelp
Rating: pg-13
Pairing: none
Summary: Luna is captured, and questioned by Voldemort. People were normally mad after he finished with them, not before. One-shot.
Note: I decided to lengthen it. I have at least one more idea for this, but am notoriously bad about writing longer stories. I have an awful fear of commitment (at least when it comes to writing), but I'll try to do more.
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It had been exactly one week since Voldemort had questioned the little creature living- or more correctly, dying- in the Malfoy dungeon. He had not told anyone how much his visit had bothered him. He wasn't frightened, but the thought of the little person lying in the stinking puddles of rotting flesh, looking so…
She had barely even responded, and certainly had not made an effort to plead for her life. HE was used to getting what he wanted, and after several days of solitary confinement, most people were willing to give him just that. He was nervous as to what the thing would say to him if he visited it again, so instead, he sent Bellatrix. He knew how persuasive she could be.
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Luna fancied that an eternity had past from the time that Voldemort left until now. She had grown too weak to move, it was as if her brain were trapped, fully functioning- or mostly functioning- in her lifeless body. Her lips were dry, and cracked. Occasionally, if she tried to speak, they would bleed. Although not entirely fond of the copper taste, she would lick her lips to get some sustenance. She hadn't eaten since being imprisoned.
The door to her prison creaked open. She tried to lift her head to see who was coming- Voldemort?- but it would not obey. The steps sounded different, and she knew it was not her previous visitor. She had once fancied herself a master of reading steps. She would hide in the library, and listen to people walk by, while trying to guess who they were. It was something to distract her from the loneliness.
These steps sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place them. They were loud, and self-assured; whoever owned them was definitely not worried about anything. "Well," a high, cold voice said. It was female, and sounded like a perfect counterpart to Voldemort's voice. "I haven't seen you since the incident at the Ministry," it said.
Ministry? Luna thought. What was a Ministry? Her brain seemed to be having troubles sorting out the words. The woman came closer to where Luna could see her looming frame above. The woman looked very familiar- but maybe it was her resemblance to a skeleton that she recognised. She had big, black eyes, a sunken face, and long dark hair. Luna was sure that, if she were in a better state, she would know the woman's name. It bothered her.
"The Dark Lord," the woman continued, "Sent me to sort you out. It seems his anger at me because of you, and your bratty friends has passed." Luna was not entirely sure what the woman was talking about, but she had the flash of an idead. A hall of little, glass orbs, and the woman's shrieking face.
"Where is Harry Potter?" the woman yelled. Harry! Did she know a Harry? Was he the reason the woman was so angry?
Luna tried to speak, but only her lips moved; no sound came out. Maybe the woman could read lips, Luna would try harder to speak. Who is Harry? she mouthed. The woman didn't' seem to notice. She was instead smiling, almost evilly, watching Luna like a hawk about to devour it's prey.
The woman pulled a long stick- a wand?- out of her sleeve, and pointed it at Luna. "Where is Harry Potter?" she asked again. When Luna did not answer, an evil glint appeared in her eye. "You force me to do something I really don't want to do," Luna could tell she was mocking. "Crucio!"
Luna felt as though her whole body was tingling. It was sort of an improvement from previously. Before she coul not feel her body at all. The tingling turned into a burning, but Luna was too weak to react. Instead she stared up at the woman, her protuberant eyes misted over.
The woman screamed, and lowered her wand. She looked unnerved. Part of Luna wondered what had bothered the woman so much. She looked confused, and uncertain, like she had discovered all she knew was false. The woman raised her want again. "Crucio!" she shrieked, sounding even more angry than before.
Luna's mind told her to do something. She didn't have a wand, so she couldn't defend herself. Or could she? Maybe if she thought hard enough. Protego, the last shreds of conciousness screamed. It didn't work, the curse still hit her. With the image of the woman's angry face still reverberating in her head, Luna passed out.