Demons
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing save this fanfiction's plot and some OC characters.
N/a: Thank you for your patience. I realised that I missed my schedule of posting monthly updates by, uh... three months? Please forgive me, I've been quite busy!
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The next hour was spent aimlessly wandering around the orphanage, exploring the every nook and cranny of the miserable building. It seemed that for every minute Luna spent in there, detestation of the orphanage grew more profound: creaking floorboards, cracked windows, babies howling in nurseries that were as sanitary as a London alley... This faculty would give any muggle safety inspector a heart attack. But then again, no sane individual would willingly waste their precious donation money on a dingy building for dirty illiterate children, right? Orphanages were charity based and although Mrs. Cole seemed decent enough not to keep any expenses to herself, money would've been a sore topic.
But still…
Couldn't muggles see that how appalling the living conditions for their next generation was? Raised in a wizarding household, Luna was unfamiliar with how non-magical society generally functioned, but she mingled amongst them enough to understand that not all muggles would knowingly be this cruel to children. Did the non-magical community not care for their next generation? Or did they expect that orphans would be doomed in society anyway?
A heavy dejected sigh escaped her lips as Luna returned to the playground. She planted herself onto the swings and slowly rocked back and forth, her distracted gaze skimming around her immediate vicinity as her thoughts wandered to the current state of the muggle world – not that she would admit it, but she needed distraction from thinking about Tom Riddle.
Her musings were interrupted by rough shove from the back by a chunky pair of hands that sent her fragile body sprawling into the dirt. A shadow of a frown passed across her face as she twisted around to see a muscular teenager grinning down at her. Bearing a similar build to Goyle or Crabbe, Luna could tell from a single glance that this mesomorph was someone who was often avoided by potential victims. She stared at the brute with nothing more than a blasé expression. Playground bullying was nothing in comparison to the atrocities of the battlefield.
And for her whole life, Luna had been a victim to bullying. No, this was not a new experience. Still, it saddened her that she would be bullied again so soon after her arrival in this new timeline. Was it part of her fate?
At Luna's lack of reaction, the grin dropped from the boy's face and he lunged forward for a punch.
Combat reflexes kicked in as Luna rolled to her side, the clumsy fist as it flying past her ear that made her very conscious of the wand that was tucked there.
Her fingers twitched, the urge to fire a hex tingling upon her pale lips. What should the goon deserve? A Stinging Hex on his forehead for a third eye? She could pass it off as a bee sting. How about a Bruising Curse? That wouldn't be too suspicious –
Shocked out of her stupor of violence, she scrambled out of the path of another incoming punch. A heart beat later and Luna jumped to her feet, her wand was already in her hand when she yelled out the muggle dud spell, "Abracadabra!" The act was peculiar enough to cause the advancing boy to hesitate in his tracks, and seizing this opportunity, Luna hitched up her muddied dress and dashed away.
As she escaped, thoughts as quick as stampeding heliopaths raced through her mind. Interesting. The thought of magical retaliation to the threat of something as simple as muggle duelling had never crossed her mind before. The recent events of the war must have added something. Or had perhaps broken something inside of her.
Her aim to get away from something and not to a destination, caused her to run spontaneously along an old corridor.
And somehow she crashed right into Tom Riddle, who merely stumbled backwards before righting himself, the suave expression on his face never wavering the process.
"Watch where you're going. You never know what might be lingering around the corners." Came his voice as his icy eyes bored into her own.
"I didn't see you." Luna immediately said, at the same time attempting to come up with an excuse to leave.
His top lip curled into a sneer that seemed almost predatory. "Obviously." The dimly lit corridor had an ominous effect the boy's appearance, cloaking half of his face in shadows and only leaving the other visible.
If Tom expected an answer, he didn't get one. The boy shuffled his weight on his feet and spun around, striding purposefully across the hallway and leaving Luna to decide whether to follow or leave.
She would have gladly taken the opportunity to leave, had she not felt a wrackspurt whizz around the corner and float towards Tom.
Curiosity caused her to follow until Tom suddenly halted in his tracks. He was glaring intently at a heavily freckled teenage girl with Weasley red hair. She was occupied with a younger child and didn't notice their presence until Tom spoke up.
"Hello Mary." He drawled, crossing his arms across his chest as a scowl passed over his features.
Startled, the teenager shooed the child away and shot Tom a vicious glare.
"I know what you did to Romy, you filthy demon. Tell me, do you know what it's like for kids, who wouldn't lift a hand to protect themselves, get mercilessly beaten up?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know. I've never been like that." He said idly.
There was a pause.
Without warning Tom lashed out, seizing hold of the teenager's arm and squeezing it hard enough to cause bruising. Ignoring her exclamation of surprise mingled with anger, the boy drew close enough for his breath to go into Mary's face.
"And next time when you feel the urge to tell insufferable brats to go through my room, remember this." His grip tightened as the teenager tried to wrench her arm away, a nauseating similar way to how Luna had acted before.
Tom's back was turned towards her so Luna was not able to determine his expression but she was guess as she saw how quickly Mary's face had blanched.
"Demon-!"
"-Snoops make me mad. And I have problems controlling my anger." With those final words, Tom's free hand crackled with what could only be magic and he threw a red blot of light at the exposed flesh at Mary's collar bone. The teenager screamed as she pulled away, Tom's grip finally relenting. Continuing to scream at the top of her lungs, she ran back from where she had come, though not before Luna caught sight of the raw red scorch-like brand that had begun to swell on her skin.
"Demon! Demon!" Mary cried as she barrelled away from the magical duo, crashing into any unfortunate children who happened to stand in her path.
As she watched the girl's retreating figure, Luna frowned at turned towards Tom.
"You shouldn't have done that."
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Amongst an aerial sea of clouds saturated in hues of blue and red, golden rays of morning sunlight arced low, illuminating the ocean's rippling waves. A thousand tiny mirrors blinked harmoniously as the waves rose and fell in rhythm. After a night of hushed repose, the beach was preparing for a day full of noisy human intruders and hungry scavenging seagulls.
The orphanage had organised a field trip to the beach for the younger orphans.
A gentle zephyr tussled Luna's dirty blonde hair as she dashed from rock pool to rock pool, on the keen look out for Gulping Plimpies. The poor creatures belonged in the ocean but could sometimes be stranded on the land after a particularly forceful burst of sea spray. Being the nice person she was, Luna would be their saviour, grabbing their spherical bodies and tossing them out to reunite with the ocean. She used to do this a lot with her father when they went to the beach.
"Hey Luna!"
"Hmmm?"
She turned around to see Tom accompanied by a boy she knew vaguely called Dennis Bishop. Both males were waving at her, beckoning her to come to the shore.
She hesitated and then sighed. Thinking that it was about time she stopped avoiding the person she was supposed to convert to non-villainhood, Luna halted her search and skipped back to the boys.
"Dennis, this is Luna. Luna, meet Dennis."
"Hey Loony." The boy said distractedly before exclaiming quickly, "C'mon now, I want to see this!"
"See what?"
"Tom had been exploring and he found a super-cool cave. I think that it could be some pirate's secret base and have ancient lost treasure. Guess what? He's going to show us!"
Luna stared at the black haired boy as if he'd gone mental. Was Dennis daft enough to believe Tom, a boy with questionable morals?
"Luna, come with me."
Without waiting for an answer, Tom spun on his heel and strode away, leaving his acquaintances to decide whether or not to follow. Dennis was more than happy to start their quest and Luna trudged warily after.
They walked along the shore and towards a wave-cut platform, a narrow flat area at the base of a low cliff. It was a strip of rocky land that was sandwiched between a sheer cliff face and the sea.
It mustn't been more than ten minutes did the band grow thinner and thinner until they were forced to bunch into a tight group in order to fit and avoid the wading in the waves.
Only when the strip of land had disappeared completely and they were splashing in water did rationality finally decide to return to Dennis.
"Are you bloody mental?" He muttered, before steadily rising his voice to a shout. "You said there was a cave and you led me to out to who knows where. And you expect me to continue on and believe your stupid story of finding a pirate's lair? You're bloody mental! I'm going back!"
Both Luna and Tom stared at the muggle, the latter looking as suave as one possibly could standing thigh deep in cold sea water.
After a moment of deliberation, Tom enunciated slowly, "You're free to go back. But I wouldn't recommend it, seeing as Luna and I aren't coming with you. Good luck."
Luna wasn't sure if it was the biting cold that caused a shiver to trickle down her spine. Only ten and Tom was adept enough to twist his words so that he would appear to give Dennis a choice to go back, without doing so at all. No kid in their right mind would want to make a solo trek back to the beach, which now seemed to be miles away. The tide was rising and the boy would be constantly buffeted by wind and the growing waves. If Luna did not have the mentality of an adult, she would've been outright terrified by now.
Several heartbeats later and the trio resumed their journey, only with Dennis looking as solemn as ever and trepidation beginning to emerge on his face.
Feeling that she ought to do something, Luna fell a step back to take Dennis' sticky palm and squeeze it reassuringly. The boy didn't protest.
Then, not long afterwards, Tom stopped walking and he turned around, a grin spreading across his face. The reason became clear as he pointed towards a tall cliff in the distance, one that appeared to tower over fifty yards and stood at least a mile away from them. Her heart sank and Luna opened her mouth to question Tom's motives herself, internally berating herself for not doing so before.
However, she was interrupted.
"That's the cave we'll be going to."
"No."
"No?"
"We can't continue. How are we supposed to get there? Even if we could swim, the sea is a dangerous place and the waves are strong enough to pull us. For Merlin's sake, we could drown!" Dennis nodded vigorously as Luna spoke.
"We could drown." Tom mimicked with a condescending smile before reverting to his usual sneer. "But we won't."
With that final statement, Tom walked over and seized Dennis' and Luna's shoulders, the latter flinching away. A jolt of electricity travelled down from where Tom's hand was and Luna felt the familiar sensation of magic running through her. She jerked further from his grip and pulled her wand from her ear, ready to Stupefy Tom and stop whatever underage magic he was trying to create.
Underage magic that could be controlled. She was reminded of how powerful Voldemort was.
But then the sensation stopped and Tom was staring at Luna with a strange look on his face, his eyes darting towards her wand and back. She could see the question in his eyes.
"What are you..." Luna and Tom said at the same time, only with Luna continuing. "...intending to do?"
They stared at each other for several seconds, Luna aware that the tide was rising and fast. It seemed only a moment ago that the water level was at her knees and now it was slowly rising to her waist. The current was growing and threatening to throw them against the rock. More concerned over the muggle boy's safety then her own, Luna looked around for something to turn into a Portkey.
His watch?
She was already tearing the metal gadget off Dennis' wrist when Tom said, "I wanted to test if you were different."
"What?" Luna said, her stiff fingers having trouble with unfastening the muggle's watch as Dennis was resisting her.
"Oi Loony! Whacha think you doing with my watch? First Tom and now you? You're a bunch of freaks!"
"I've noticed that you two have been acting strangely. I thought… I thought that you may have been like me." Tom said, somehow his calm voice was louder than the muggle's shout.
"We're not. And I'll explain later Dennis." Luna said sternly and grasped her wand tighter, even though a firm grip would hinder her efforts in getting the damned watch off the boy.
"You thieving fiend! You're all bloody mental? Get your filthy hands off me!"
For a second she looked for another object to be a potential Portkey but a quick glance returned her to the watch. There were no rocks, no seaweed and Luna had nothing in her pockets.
"Then, tell me why you're holding that stick almost like a wand?" Tom said, motionless and unfazed.
When she didn't answer, Tom continued, now talking to more himself than to Luna.
"That Dennis brat seemed to be different. But now that I can see him acting like a wimp, perhaps not. He's an ordinary kid."
"Oi!"
"And you're not, Tom?" Luna said.
"Of course not! I can do special things... move things without touching them, hurt those who are mean to me, make animals do what I want them to do..."
"It's called magic. And you're not special."
"Do you think I'm lying? No, I didn't expect you to understand. You see... didn't you hear what Mary said? Demon. I'm a demon."
He said it as if it was not a bad thing.
At that point, Dennis shrieked and torn himself away from both Luna and Tom, his spark of fear flaring into a blaze of terror.
"Then I'm a demon too." Luna said offhandedly and let Dennis back away.
"Cole would hear nothing of it but some of the other adults tried calling an exorcist when she wasn't around–" Tom stopped himself, aware that he was giving away too much information. "Hang on, you said that you're a demon. What do you mean–"
"–We have to get out of here."
"Not a chance. Now tell me, what do you mean by the fact that you're a demon?"
Something brushed against Luna's leg. Fish. Tom was controlling the fish. They were nipping at her skin and ramming their bodies against her thighs. Is this some sort of underage Imperius meant to intimidate her?
Their conversation had caused Dennis' face to blanch.
Thinking quickly, Luna tapped her wand against the muggle's watch. "Portus."
No soon did the word left her lips did Dennis disappear in a flash. He would be transported by the Portkey back to the beach, where Ms Cole was bound to notice their absence by now.
Tom and Luna were now alone.
Upon witnessing her first act of magic, Tom regarded Luna with amazement before it was quickly erased from his face to leave a mask of indifference.
"So I'm not the only one."
"No."
"What did you do to the mortal boy? Is he dead?" The second question was spoken in a softer tone, as if Tom was hoping that the answer would be an affirmative.
Luna vehemently shook her head.
"What happened to him? What else can you do? Are you limited only by your wand?"
"Stupefy."
With a great splash, Tom's body fell backwards into the water, shock etched onto his face.
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N/a: Please tell me if I have any mistakes and please review! :)