Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel, Just As I Can Be So Cruel

Harrods, London

Draco Malfoy was furious.

His week-long search for Luna Lovegood had produced no results. Bribery, extortion, threats, none of it- and he had used them all- but none of it had done anything to find her.

He had been to that poor pathetic excuse for a home in Ottery St. Catchpole. The ruins of the Lovegood home had been situated on top of a high hill, surrounded by wildflowers and tall grasses on all sides. Obviously nobody was living in the rubble, but then again he didn't know the Lovegoods all that well. Poor people tended to stick close to their homes, even ruined hovels, so he had surmised they must be living out of a tent nearby.

After a thorough search of the ruins and the surrounding property, he had determined they hadn't been there in weeks. There had been no signs of camp activity on the land. Frustrated with being thwarted so quickly at the beginning of his search, he had returned home to try other venues.

Bribery at the ministry had obtained a list of the Lovegood relatives. After several apparation trips around Britian he had determined they were not at any relative's home. That had been awkward, trying to explain why he was looking for Luna. He still shuddered at the memory of a great-aunt, a dotty old bat wearing beetle shaped earrings, coke bottle glasses, with liver spots on her hands and a neck that suffered from goiter. "Oh what a nice young man come to court our Luna," she dare to have the nerve to pat his hand affectionately.

When visiting the Lovegood extended family had turned up no sign of Luna, but had in fact induced a multitude of headaches, Draco had resorted to paying some of his lowest cohorts to keep their eyes and ears open for Luna Lovegood. She had to turn up somewhere; Diagon Alley, the Ministry, Hogsmeade, Ottery St. Catchpole, even Hogwarts - he had men posted everywhere.

In addition to his frantic search for the Lovegoods, he had spent the last near two weeks afraid the Ministry was going to come pounding down his door and cart him off to Azkaban. Vaccilitating between guilt for what had happened, anger over how he was betrayed by his aunt who claimed to love him, and his fear of being punished had caused too many sleepless nights. His mother had just commented that very morning upon the dark circles under his eyes.

He had despaired of every finding Luna Lovgood when an owl had arrived from his contact in Diagon Alley. She'd been found.

He had immediately floo'd through the network to Diagon Alley. His contact had met him there, had told him he'd seen the girl that very morning at Gringott's and had followed her into the muggle territory of London. His contact had taken him to a seven story tall building in Knightsbridge. He'd been in there for nearly an hour searching the first two floors of the building. When he finally made it to the third floor, it had only taken him moments to find her there with the redheaded Weasley and that french girl who had lost the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Having his elusive quarry in his sight, he now had proof that Luna Lovegood was no ghost, no mere dream that had ever existed only his head. He watched the girls as they laughed and made jokes, smiled and had fun..things he had been denied for too long.

Anger bloomed in his chest as he watched Luna Lovegood laugh with her friends. It wasn't right! He was so full of fury at what happened mixed with the grief of knowing what his aunt had done, not only to him, but to her as well, and so scared for what the girl might say to cause him to lose his freedom. He had imagined her gaunt face so many times over the past weeks. She would be traumatized, she would look at him with blame in her eyes, and she would sneer as she took away his freedom and put him into Azkaban.

He did not picture that she would be laughing happily, plucking hangers off a rack and handing them to Potter's girl, and then smiling at the french bitch. She acted like she didn't have a care in the world; like she didn't have Draco's life hanging in the balance waiting for an axe to fall. There was no trace of grief in her demeanor for their shared plight.

His anger had brewed until a full force gale threatened to spill over. His grey eyes had narrowed to dangerous slits, his pointed features becoming sharper and meaner with his fury. When the blonde french girl had left them, he had only minutes to wait before Ginny headed into a dressing room leaving Luna by herself.

He cut his way across the racks of clothes until he was standing behind her. His rage was a simmering pot ready to boil over in his voice as he called out to her back, "Having a bit of fun there Lovegood?"

He felt a surge of contentment when his prey froze. She was afraid of him. Good. He'd wipe those smiles off her face permanently. How dare she be so carefree when he was so miserable?

She turned slowly towards him. He felt that surge of satisfaction again seeing that her hands were clenched closed around her bags and shaking slightly. He turned the full force of his glare upon her, gratified when her own gaze turned wary and fearful.

Up close, Draco could see an enormous physical difference in the girl who stood before him, and the guttersnipe who had been curled up in the cellar just a few months ago. The half starved waif with dark circles under her eyes, bruises on her person and the sallow unhealthy skin, was gone. In her place, the Lovegood girl who stood before him had a very healthy english rose complexion, fair skin that was pink and youthful. Her hair was no longer matted, dirty and tangled, but fell in soft curves around her face.

For a moment he was arrested by these abrupt physical changes, his gaze drifting down her form and back up to her face. The part of his brain that wasn't tied up with his pent up fury and blazing anger could appreciate the picture in front of him. Keenly uncomfortable with the direction his thoughts were going, Draco pushed his reaction to seeing her onto a back burner. He concentrated on dragging forth his demons from within and he scowled furiously at her.

"Draco Malfoy," Her voice when she spoke his name was slightly breathy, whispered more than spoken aloud. She was trembling from head to toe, her large eyes reminding him of a deer trapped in headlights, unable to avoid an oncoming collision.

His lips tightened into a thin line, his jaw tightening as she continued to wither beneath his gaze. It went a long way to assuage his pride that she was afraid of him, lessening his anger some. But he couldn't let himself get too careless in her presence. She held the balance of his future in her hands and he was determined to take it back from her.

"You're coming with me Lovegood," He snarled reaching for her. She gasped upon hearing his intentions and the words spurred her into action. She dropped the shopping bag in her hand and reached into the pocket of the baggy coveralls she was wearing for her wand.

He was quicker of hand, having already palmed his wand from within his sleeve. Even as she drew her wand, he whispered, "Expelliarmus!" Luna's wand flew away from her hand, bouncing off the double racks behind her before falling down the other side. They both froze hearing a muffled, "Ouch!" Followed by, "What the hell is this?" from a muggle on the other side.

Fuck. In for a penny, in for a pound, Draco had already screwed this up by being in such a public muggle place. His anger had gotten the better of him, so instead of stealth and concealment for this deed, he may as well leave a map with directions to his home for Luna's friends and family to find her.

Using the momentary distraction of the muggle on the other side, Draco reached forward grabbing Luna's arm and pulling her to him. When she opened her mouth to call for help he whispered, "Silencio!" with his wand stuck in her side under her ribcage.

He was mortified to note that his nose which had previously likened this girl to the stench of a farm animal covered in manure, was filled with the scent of honeysuckle drifting up from her. Clutching her this close to him, he wanted to turn his head and sniff the fragrance that was drifting up from her hair. Resisting the urge, he bent her downward so that they disappeared from view amongst the clothes rack. Closing his eyes, which only made her scent that much stronger in his nostrils, he concentrated hard thinking of the gardens at Malfoy Manor.

There was a loud crack within the women's department of Harrod's that caused all the shoppers to jump. The electronic registers sparked and died, a side effect of the event that had just happened. The muggles were looking at each other asking, "Is it thundering outside?"

Ginny had raced out of the dressing room, still wearing the rack garments she had been trying on. She had recognized the sound of apparating, something that was entirely illegal in such a public place. The fact that someone had done so could not bode well.

Fleur as well had heard it, hurrying over from the shoe department from the other side of the floor. She was limping as she walked, one high heeled shoe on, the other bare foot. "Ginny!" She reached her sister-in-law clutching her arms. "You're alright! Where's Luna?"

They began to search for her. Fleur ran into Ginny just around a double tiered rack past the dressing room. A muggle woman had Luna's wand in her hand, rubbing the back of her head and was saying, "This store has the oddest things falling out of the sky." Fleur and Ginny looked at each other, worry in each of their eyes. If that woman had Luna's wand, where was Luna?

-HP-

Kat's Note: Hahah! I can't say too much without revealing all BlackTea - but regardless you have influenced some decisions on the story. It's all good fun! Look for more to come this weekend! In regards to the father-daughter relationship, I became positive after reading all the character bios and re-reading the stories that Luna is a total Daddy's girl. Look how mad Luna got when Hermoine insulted her father's work and what he would have done just to get his little girl back from the Death Eaters. They're all each other has currently. I've always wanted to see a writer spotlight their relationship. Next up - Malfoy Manor!