A/N #1:

Nobody lives happily ever after, that's why I decided to make this sequel. I wanted this story not to be a perfect fairy-tale but I'm having second thoughts about making it a messed-up real-life marriage relationship…I guess will be something in between….

It was weird, but in the good way, when I started receiving emails from people who told me they kinda liked this fic but felt …well…shy?/embarrassed?/out of line? to post their reviews. No-one is going to hunt you down for speaking your mind! I do speak my mind and say whatever I want and I'm still alive and kicking….can't really tell for how much longer…. LOL

Come on people! I'm looking forward to hear from you, about your thoughts and your comments are more than welcomed here, so give it a try, even if you're new to FF, no need to sign up, just owl me a line or two.

To a special someone who decided to remain anonymous (for now) and email me a most heart-breaking poem I say:

THANK YOU…WOW!!

Yes, you were right, the title of this fic was inspired in a song from Depeche Mode and, like in every chapter I write, a song empowers the message within it. That very particular tune will be the one that would trigger the events of the last chapter…Yes, I've chosen that band to start and end this fic with, you've read my mind (and seems that you're picking up every single bit of blended personal-life/fic-writing with a shocking accuracy, how on earth do you do that?!).

Right again, I'm just a (messed-up) lonely girl. I've replied your email (are you surprised?) Thought I was just going to blush and giggle hysterically (well, I did…at first!) but how was I supposed to keep my mouth shut after the bomb you've dropped on me?! In case you haven't received my email and you're reading this (of course you are)… let me know your a/s/l….asap!!….LMAO!

To those brave ones who left their reviews, I say:

THANK YOU, LOVE YOUR ATTITUDE, KEEP POSTING REVIEWS!

To you, shy-quiet-silent ones, who make the stats of this fic increase day by day, I say:

THANK YOU, KEEP READING, CHAPTER 10 IS BELOW!

#Once the truth is revealed, events will snowball beyond your control.#

Divinne

CHAPTER X

CHAPTER X

"Every time we lie awake after every hit we take
Every feeling that I get but I haven't missed you yet.

Every roommate kept awake by every silent scream we make
All the feelings that I get but I still don't miss you yet.

Only when I stop to think about it…I hate everything about you!

Why do I love you?"

(THREE DAYS GRACE – "(I Hate) Everything About You")

Luna was laying in one of the beds of a darkened Ravenclaw's girl's room, fully of breathings, snorts and occasional moans. She awoke with a start, her heart was racing and her face was covered with sweat. The poor girl looked confused, after placing a hand over her chest she could literally feel her heart running a race inside. She had been dreaming, she felt her chest rising and falling dramatically. Her pearl grey eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. She turned, throwing a quick glance at the sleeping classmates: no-one realized what had just happened to her. After blinking few times, fully awake and conscious, she flopped back down onto her pillow. That had been awfully embarrassing: she had just had an orgasm while sleeping, and a lousy one.

She tried to slip out of bed but the covers were an entangled mess. Glancing at the window, she found that there was hardly anything visible through the frosted glass. The floating evening mist seemed to cover completely the window frames. She then slowly rolled out of her bed, kicking the covers to the floor as she made her way to the bathroom, closing shut the door behind her.

After a quick shower, she got back to bed and kept staring at the wall for a long time, trying her best not to close her eyes. She was afraid of getting back to sleep, afraid at what else could happen to her once she was again sound asleep. Luna ran both hands over her head, pushing her damp curls back away from her pale face. She was thinking about Draco and how difficult it was for her to define her feelings for him for she felt contradicting emotions whenever his image crossed her mind and found herself completely unsure of what to make of it all.

Everybody was still asleep and the silence of the room was starting to get so loud that Luna could actually experience her thoughts pounding inside her head following the rhythm of her heartbeats. She then shoved one arm under the pillow and rolled over the bed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last couple of minutes, trying to find the most uneasy position in order to stay awake.

After a long while, Luna realized she'd fallen asleep at some point for her classmates were starting to get ready for breakfast. Not yet changed, she sat on the bed, trying to make sense of what happened to her during the evening. She then slipped into her uniform and shoes and sighed softly as she stared into the mirror. She grabbed a brush and started combing her dirty blond long hair while holding a pair of butterfly shaped hairclips on her mouth, she then used them to restrain those messy curls of her fringe and left the dorm, thinking of Draco.

The blond Slytherin caught sight of her coming from the other end of the corridor, both met half way to the Great Hall. He almost swallowed her up with his lusting amethyst blue eyes. Luna lifted her head up and caught in full his burning stare.

She sucked in a furious, embarrassed breath while turning bright red-hot. "Draco, how could you?!

"Muffliato!" He said,concealing an irresistible burst of silent laughter.

He then pocketed his wand and glanced flirtatiously at Luna, with one of his sharp shoulder blades pressed against the wall.

"Luna, was it as good for you as it was for me? I've waited for you last night…" His voice was soft and breathy.

She opened her mouth and blushed even more. "You were expecting me to come to you after what you've done?!"

"Of course I always wait for the lady to come, I'm a gentleman." His expression was hot and suggestive and determined.

"You're…" She began, but her voice was strangely breathless, hardly audible.

Using that low, melodic voice that never failed to give her shivers, he whispered. "I'm really turned on, and very pissed off with your being so dramatic about everything, but mostly turned on….yeah."

Luna blinked several times as her brain froze, she couldn't formulate any adequate response. She then turned to stare at the students around them, catching some staring back at her, visible wondering what was she doing standing so close to Draco. The looks blended surprise, anger, wonder and…jealousy but the Slytherin seemed completely unaware of his surrounding and continued to fix that horny and intense gaze at her.

The curve of her lips was a wicked temptation to him. "Since we both couldn't sleep, at least we could have used that time awake in a more productive way than just staring blankly at the ceiling, don't you think Luna?"

"Radix malorum est cupiditas (i)" Her eyes sank shut on a long sigh.

"Scio (ii)" Draco then felt a killing headache splitting his head as a humming sound of entangled words with a reverb effect, as if delivering other words, started to fill his skull. What was Luna doing to him?

He shook his head, getting himself free of the connection and grabbed her wrist drawing her to him without the slightest courtesy. Luna was visible startled, she got herself free of the tight grip and straightened her hair with that trembling hand, looking away but her face blushed madly all over again, this time with fear.

"You'd probably managed to control my body but you were far from reaching my heart". She snapped out all of a sudden, her expression was tragic.

He leaned forward and stopped a couple of inches from her face while whispering through his anger. "You're lying. The moment I find out that you don't love me anymore, I'll make sure that very same day your heart stops beating as well."

"Draco, you truly believe you're the one who decides who lives and who dies at will, don't you?" She rubbed her soggy and watery pearl grey eyes as she passed by, leaving him completely speechless.

He tried to shake his head in denial of Luna's words, but he couldn't move. After a couple of minutes of staring at the nothingness he turned the opposite way and found himself a couple of inches from…Blaise's face.

"Blaise, what the hell is wrong with you, besides the obvious?" There was a tint of annoyance and surprise in Draco's voice and on his pale complexion.

"You're still pissed off because I didn't let you sleep last night?" Blaise narrowed his eyes, tapping with his index finger Draco's forehead.

His jaw clenched suddenly and Draco realized he had just stifled a yawn, he felt extremely tired as if his body shut down without his even knowing.

"Among other things…yes! Thanks to you I'll never play chess again in my life. I've simply got fed up of beating you at that stupid game the whole damn night!" The blond replied, waving both hands on the air with restrained frustration.

"You thought that after such bloody concussion I would let you fall asleep so that you fell straight into a coma and never wake up? It's your fault for not wanting to go to the infirmary for a check-up. I'm sorry mate but I've got to make sure you wouldn't relapse and kept your brain functions sharp at the same time. That's why I've asked you to play chess with me!" Blaise spoke sharply with the clear intention to startle the sleepy blond.

"I've already know all that. Who do you think you're talking to?!" There was an edge of real hostility in the blonde's voice.

"I didn't sleep either for that matter and I even let you win in most of the rounds! So I guess I'm the stupid one for caring." He looked up and held a sad smile from curling his lips.

"Merlin, protect me from my friends for I can take care of my enemies." Draco looked away for a moment, then turned back to his friend and fixed his sceptic amethyst blue eyes on him.

"What are you talking about?" Blaise opened wide his eyes, feeling suddenly awkward.

"Stop being so manipulative, will you? I've got enough with Luna's childish behaviour already!" There was more than a hint of accusation in Draco's words and tone.

"Talking about her, bloody hard landing, uhm?" But the jet black haired young man wasn't talking about Draco's fall to the pool. He looked like he knew exactly why Luna confronted the blond moments ago, as if he heard the conversation.

Draco narrowed his eyes and threw a dark look at his friend.

"You're not the only one who knows how to read lips mate." Blaise replied with a mocking smile.

A sudden exhaustion got the better of Draco and he rolled his eyes and managed to give a tired scolding look at Blaise.

"Who would have thought that a mirroring charm would actually work when the other person is not in the room?" Blaise opened his eyes wide, looking really shocked at the blond

"Think Blaise: her blood runs through my veins, she's always present in me as I am in her. This made our bond stronger and yet more tolerable when we're physically apart. That's why she took off: she thinks she can get rid of this connection now that she owns part of me. But there is no cure for this kind of infection, and if she ran away as part of a quarantine process, it's just pointless." Draco suppressed a yawn and blinked heavily, obviously fighting sleep.

"So you two still need each other, no matter what?" Blaise crossed his arms and rested his curious eyes on the blond.

"Look." He brushed nervously his fringe, pulling those silk blond blocks away from his tired eyes, exposing his unmarked forehead to Blaise, with no sign at all of the previous night fatal wound. "Leaving aside the fact that due of the Inferiare Pandemonium's Pact I can heal faster, so would Luna in case she got hurt, our connection overpowers it."

"You're saying that what you two share is more powerful than Dark Magic?" Blaise looked confused.

Draco shook his head and frowned. "No, nothing is more powerful than Dark Magic."

"Then you're implying that your bio-energy connection is part of some kind of Dark Magic?" Blaise opened wide his eyes.

"It's possible..." There was no emotion or reaction showing on the blonde's face.

"Draco, have you ever consider the idea of putting an end to this and be free of her? Has this possibility ever crossed your mind?!" Blaise's face was burning, he was chocking with his frustration.

Draco took a deep breath, trying to gather himself back together. "Yes."

"But why didn't you do something about it?" He shot back.

He looked at Blaise, smirking. "I did."

"Right, you've chose to sink even deeper by keeping her alive!" Blaise concluded and lifted his gaze. There was a visible burning frustration blended with contained annoyance sparkling in those black eyes. "So…last night you two happened to share a moment together?"

"Well, she felt the same way I did when I was centering myself during that relaxation session Slughorn recommended me." Draco confessed to his friend, feeling awkwardly embarrassed.

"Draco, you were flogging the dolphin!" He shot him a nasty look.

"Like I've said before, I was centering myself: trying to feel balanced and focused emotionally…." Draco started explaining.

But Blaise turned away sharply, almost cutting off Draco's explanation.

"Who do you think you're fooling here? Just tell me I'm right, will you?" He asked, reasonably.

Draco wanted to argue the point, but he knew it was useless. After all, his friend was right.

"Oh, all right! I was just letting off a little steam!" Draco frowned in obvious annoyance.

"I know the feeling, but it just makes things worse." Blaise confessed as he tried to look something else besides Draco's gorgeous face as he said to himself. "Everytime I touch myself I can't stop thinking about you."

Blaise was nearly suffocating himself trying to hold in the sudden rush of erasing every single bit of Luna's existence from his friend's life as he pushed Draco towards the Great Hall.

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"Merlin, my eyes!" Draco said the moment he entered, narrowing his eyes with a sick and disgusted frown.

The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall depicted heart shaped clouds in an annoying pink, vivid fuchsia and bright red colour, there were also thousands of gilt golden and silver garlands covering almost every inch of the Hall in the shape of funny cherubs kissing plus a bunch of other cheesy assorted decorations.

"It's Valentine's Day mate, deal with it!" Blaise said throwing a mocking face at what Hogwarts had prepared to honour that special day.

The blond swallowed painfully, feeling his stomach revolting. Blaise's perfect smile vanished all of a sudden when he saw a group of 6th year Hufflepuff girls approaching him holding a bunch of Valentine's letters addressed to him.

"Fucking hell!?" Now it was time for Blaise to get desperate all of the sudden. He tried to lower his voice and threw a shocked face at Draco.

"Suck that up Blaise, you'd probably enjoy it…" Draco shot back with a revenge smirk before heading to the Slytherin's table.

The moment Draco took sit he glanced at the Ravenclaw's table, looking for Luna's whereabouts and found her sitting on the very corner, clutching her arms around her body, rocking to and fro, looking very uneasy. A sense of revenge haunted Draco's chest for he knew that Luna was paying the consequences of her stubbornness, sooner she'd realize that she committed a terrible mistake by coming to Hogwarts.

He rested his elbows on the table and inspected the food displayed around him, everything had the shape of a heart: the pancakes, the cookies, marmalade and honey recipients, even the fruit was cut into small hearts!

With a loud crack Blaise apparated just besides Draco with a very dark mood. His face was just transfixed with anger. Draco was about to say something when he felt a strange frenzy movement above him, he snapped his head up, staring at the enchanted ceiling and saw a growing number of owls circling over him. He leaned back and held his wand high while muttering some words. He then pocketed it and leaned forward, resting his elbows again over the table, looking at that strange spectacle.

"You could have expanded the spell to cover both of us from owl droppings!" Blaise frowned, removing a thick white substance from his shoulder with a quick cleansing spell.

Draco shrugged and poured some fruit juice on his glass before checking up on Luna once more when the owls started to deliver their mail to him, all Valentine's gifts for the blond Slytherin hero. He arched an eyebrow while balancing his wand with two fingers, looking at the growing number of boxes and letters he was amassing. Blaise turned to look at his friend with a sick pale face.

"Don't say a word, the three terrible karmas came back to haunt me." Draco said with clenched teeth.

One pearl white owl landed near Blaise holding a fierce red envelope which content was way too much furious than the colour of the wrapping: it was a Howler from his mother. The black jet haired young man picked it up reluctantly and opened it, unleashing its boiled content. He could felt his face turning hot with embarrassment but then it went all cold from shock. His mother was deeply upset because of his overnight decision to sneak out and return to Hogwarts but mostly for receiving a notification of improper conduct from McGonagall after the incident at the girl's bathroom. To make things even worse for Blaise, her last two lines actually congratulated him for the reason of his detention: snogging a girl.

"She's in denial and this just fuelled up her stupid hopes. She just won't stop pushing the subject over and over again now. I can't take this crap any longer." Blaise hissed, he had to cough to cover his nervousness.

Draco yawned and shrugged in response, rubbing his eyes tiredly while he opened some of the presents he received.

"See you later." Blaise padded Draco's shoulder and got up, walking towards the door looking visible burdened.

"Okay…" Draco paused, holding a sterling medallion shaped as a cross with two dark blue crystal cut stones on each of its right angle bent arms and one on center. "Well, this is an interesting lucky charm!"

"It's a funny crooked cross hanging from a chain to me." Crabbe said as he stuffed himself with a mouthful of pancakes, chewing them disgustingly with his mouth open.

"You fool, this is an ancient symbol: it's a Swastika. Its name is a combination of two magic words, translated they mean well-being and beneficial, do you understand?" Draco lectured with a scowling and fierce look.

The boy nodded, feeling a bit intimidated with Draco's dark gaze and resumed eating, fixing his eyes elsewhere.

"Someone has paid attention on Arithmancy, or knows me extremely well." Draco hissed as he put it in his hand.

The medallion measured about an inch and a half in diameter, featured a detailed geometric aligned engraving pattern and the crystal cut stones reflected the colours of the rainbow in each of the cut patterned facets when reflecting the light over them, it was obviously a fine example of the goblin's handcrafted jewellery.

"What does Arithmancy has to do with your gift Malfoy?" Goyle asked this time looking rather intrigued.

"Look, it has nine stones: nine being the number of pride, any number multiplied by nine and summed up returns to itself." The blond replied, his two hands behind his neck closing the safety clasp of the chain.

"And what does the colour blue stands for?" The brunette seemed pretty interested in the subject.

"It's my second favourite colour after black. But it also happens to be a soothing sedative colour….some plants with blue flowers happen to be used for their depressant qualities, like the Valerian plant which flowers are blue. I could also stand for the dominant colour of the House the one who gave this to me belongs." Draco said, caressing the medallion that rested proudly over his chest, slowly warming in contact with his body heat.

The blond Slytherin looked up and caught sight of the pair of Ravenclaw's kids from 2nd year flashing their innocent smiles at him, happy to see that Draco liked their present and even decided to wear it. This couple of kids happened to be the only ones lucky enough to have their copy of THE QUIBBLER signed by him. Probably it was a way to thank Draco, but they must have spent all their savings buying such an expensive gift.

"Malfoy, you've got an answer for everything, don't you?" Goyle teased with a tint of envy.

"Yes because, unlike you, I happen to read…a lot." He waved a dismissive hand and frowned at the sight of a large number of funny shaped beverage bottles, perfume flasks, cookies, chocolate pastry and assorted candy…this leaving aside a huge pile of envelopes containing the infamous Valentine's cards.

"Specialis Revelio!" He then lowered his wand with a sceptical smirk.

Draco confirmed his suspicions, the gifts were mostly stuffed with Love Potions, from the most innocuous types to the very dangerous ones, he received them all. Their hidden content revealed Restraining Love Spells, Obtaining Love Spells even the Retaining Love Spells!

He played with the wand a bit between his fingers before aiming at the corrupted lot with a fierce piercing look.

"Reducto! Deprimo! Confringo! Expulso! Evanesco!"

The beverage bottles exploded, the candy, chocolate, pastry and cookies got destroyed in thousands of crumbs, and the perfume flasks blasted in the air then the whole mess disappeared from Draco's and the rest of the Slytherins sited next to him from their view.

Crabbe looked up, incredulous at a surviving gift basket of muffins. "Aren't you going to eat those?"

Draco's cold amethyst blue eyes dropped to his half empty juice and sipped it in one swallow. He then set the glass down and tilted his head to the side. "Are you sure you want them Crabbe?"

"Why not?" The fat boy shrugged.

Draco inhaled deeply, muttering something under his breath. "Go ahead, you look like you need to purge your system for excess baggage anyway."

"Malfoy, what are those muffins made of?" Goyle asked quietly.

"Those muffins were probably from some stupid Gryffindor who thought could trick me." He smirked to himself while opening one of the letters he received. "They contain about 90 per cent of Betel Nut, it causes diarrhoea."

Crabbe paused with a muffin half way to his mouth as Goyle bursted out laughing.

Draco's pale complexion became a sick shade of green once he finished reading the letter's content. He shook his head violently and proceeded to open another one, and another, and another, until he finished reading the very last one. To his shock the content of the letters was pretty much the same: all marriage proposals from the wealthiest pure blood families of the female student body attending at Hogwarts. One of the letters certainly affect him more than the rest because he happened to know this girl, he'd spent some time with her during those High Society Events held at Malfoy's Mason some time ago, and she happened to be the first girl he kissed.

"Damnit!" The blond almost chocked the word out.

He lifted his enraged amethyst blue eyes and fixed his stare at Daphne Greengrass, a girl from his same year and House while shaking the letter on the air. She was certainly the most beautiful girl in Slytherin, still Draco never found her that interesting for she had no personality at all.

"Greengrass, come here!" He called out, his temper and self control was slipping by the minute.

"Hi Draco, did you like my Valentine's Card?" Her soft pink cheeks blushed when she caught sight of him staring back at her.

"Your card happened to arrive with a letter from your family. Tell your parents that I'm not interested and that they shouldn't treat you like a bargaining chip." He shot back, getting up from his seat walking towards her. He ripped the paper with his bare hands before handling it in her delicate hands.

She stood there and nodded in silence, pressing the torn letter against her bosom. "Both our families are the wealthiest of the Wizardry World: the agreement seemed fair enough in order to perpetuate our pure blood line and legacy."

He looked at her exchanging an understanding smirk before lowering his gaze to where the pile of letters lied moments ago, his hand clenching the wand that cast a most definitely handy vanishing spell.

"Daphne, just take look at both our disastrous family relationships and tell me if you would like to live a lie and pretend you're happy just to keep appearances?" He couldn't stop thinking about his mother and how miserable she always looked besides Lucius.

"Unlike my mother and father, who literally avoid each other, I happen to like you a lot Draco. I wouldn't have to fake my feelings for you. Am I not pretty enough for you to accept me?" She swallowed her nervousness without removing her gorgeous blue eyes from him.

Draco's blood started to heat his pale face, he just wanted to scream his heart out and tell the whole world that he was already bond with the only girl he ever cared for in his live. He hated the fact of keeping his marriage with Luna in secret, as something it never happened, as a mistake, because his wife was the only thing pure and true he had left.

The blond addressed her with genuine gentleman's respect and replied quietly. "Yes, you're a very pretty girl but still I'd have to pretend that I care for you and that's not acceptable to me, certainly not fair to you, don't you think?"

She hesitated for a moment easing a growing lump inside her throat. "Draco, I would do my best to make you happy."

"I know you would." He then shook his head and added with a dark stare. "And I would certainly do my best to make your life a living hell because I don't feel a thing for you, not now, not ever."

She sobbed, trying to fight the tears from falling down her soft pink cheeks. "Probably we're not old enough to take that step now, but with time you'll see this is not as bad as it sounds. I know I'd rather marry you than spend my life with some stranger my parents pick up as husband."

He fixed his amethyst blue eyes on her and noticed that she was trembling and looked like she was about to cry. He then placed one hand on her shoulder for a brief moment and shook her violently to come back to her senses.

"No, Daphne, no! That's exactly why I'm not interested in you. You'd better start thinking for yourself and stop being your parent's marionette!" He shot back and took a sit while loosing a bit the knot of his tie for he was suffocating all of a sudden.

Draco was not in the mood to eat at all and watched Daphne returning to her sit with a devastated look stamped all over her face, he then stared at his untouched breakfast noticing that he hadn't eat properly since Luna left. He didn't really mind what he had been currently living off since then as he watched the rest of his classmates eating in silence. He stabbed a heart-shaped pancake with a fork and waved the utensil in the air, he was also hungry, but for Luna, not food.

Once again the Slytherin looked up at the Ravenclaw's table, searching for his wife as he caught sight of her just when Noir delivered his Valentine's present: something Draco ordered specially for the occasion. The dirty blond haired girl looked like she just about had enough of everything once she opened the box and scanned its content. She extracted first a small card written in a glossy dark green ink with Draco's impeccable handwriting:

"More and more frequently the edges of me dissolve and I become a wish to assimilate the world, including you, if possible through the skin like a cool plant's tricks with oxygen and live by a harmless green burning. I would not consume you or ever finish, you would still be there surrounding me, complete as the air. Unfortunately I don't have leaves. Instead I have eyes and teeth and other non-green things which rule out osmosis. So be careful, I mean it, I give you fair warning: This kind of hunger draws everything into its own space; nor can we talk it all over, have a calm rational discussion. There is no reason for this, only a starved dog's logic about bones."

Luna held in her trembling hand an embossed gold bangle shaped as a group of entwine thorns, one of the sharp needle edges already cut her fingertip. She then threw a questioning stare at Draco as she felt her heart sink even deeper inside while pressing her bleeding finger against a handkerchief.

Draco's cold amethyst blue eyes looked at her without blinking for what seemed an endless moment. He then threw the fork on the table with the stabbed untouched pancake and got up from the table, leaving the Great Hall without looking back.

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A/N #2:

(i) Radix malorum est cupiditas (Latin): The root of evils is desire.

(ii) Scio (Latin): I know.

The content of Draco's Valentine Card to Luna is actually the complete poem written by Margaret Atwood titled "More and More".