A/N: I GOT A MESSAGE ASKING ME TO EXPLAIN WHY FRED AND GEORGE ARE STILL GOING TO SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH THEY GRADUATED LAST YEAR. WELL I ACCIDENTLY DELETED THIS PART FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER BUT THEY LEFT BEFORE IMPORTANT EXAMS SO THEY HAD TO RETAKE THEIR SEVENTH YEAR. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH I CAN'T LEAVE THEM OUT. ESPECIALLY FRED! (FANGIRLING)
Chapter 11
Luna stared at the marble headstone, tracing the letters engraved into it with the tip of her finger. She placed the flowers she had purchased from the market over her name, which sat at the very bottom. Then she walked over, placing the rest of the flowers on her mother's headstone.
After a while of staring at the rock, staring at her lost father, she walked back to the house. Inside she had been cleaning up and fixing things up. Luna kept her father's things around, so as to not forget about him.
She had fixed the couch, repaired the tables, put the railing back together, and sealed up the rug. A glass vase that was shattered was put back together, but the design was not as intricate as it had been before. She had done this all with her wand, so it was a little messy, but it looked like home to her. Besides, whom was she supposed to impress? She didn't care who judged her anymore. When people had gone through the emotional distress of losing both of your parents and handled it better than she herself had, they could judge her.
She crashed on the couch, throwing her head into her hands. She was supposed to be Luna, the carefree, free-spirited girl. But sometimes you need to be serious, and not have to talk about Nargles and Wrackspurts every second of the day.
The previous day Rita Skeeter had stopped by to interview her about her father. Luna had simply ushered her out of the house, not even saying a word. Although, the photographer had snapped a couple photographs of her.
She hadn't spoken a word in days or even eaten. She hadn't slept, either. The strange thing is, despite how heavy her eyelids seemed to be, her brain hadn't wanted to sleep. Most nights she stared at the blank wall in her bedroom, lights off, not even crying. Just thinking.
Today she had to take a cab back to the train station. Hogwarts was her home. Of course she would go back. But when she was there she would have to take all the pitying stares and hushed conversations they think she can't hear. And everybody would be so sugary sweet to her. Luna would rather not be a charity case. Why did this happen? Why couldn't she just have gone back to when everybody treated her like a normal person, and not like a sad little orphan?
She didn't want people to feel sorry for her. She didn't want people to treat her differently just because she had experienced something like that.
Luna Lovegood, the orphan.
Rufus Scrimgeour had stopped by to pay his dues and figure out the cause of his death. The Minister had said that it would have had to be the Killing Curse; there were no marks on his body, no wounds, no sign of injury. But there was no tracing a spell like that one. They would mark her father's death as a mystery. She was glad. She didn't want to know what happened. All she wanted was for him to rest in piece.
She had been so selfish and childish at Hogwarts; she never even cared enough to send her father an owl to say that she loved him. Luna had been so wrapped up in Draco that she had forgotten about the person who had been there with her since the beginning: her very own father.
It hurt too much to give in to the pain. She felt if she pushed it to the back of her mind then it wouldn't hurt as much. But it did. It truly did and she knew once she got back to Hogwarts she wouldn't be alone.
Luna found it odd that it had only been a week since she found her father's dead body on the floor of the kitchen. It had been years, hadn't it? She would've lost that bet. Because every second dragged by so slowly. She felt as though now, she had matured. She had learned to handle something like this. And now she could take on the things she would have never thought she could do.
She had never owled Draco about his gift. She hadn't even opened it. Guiltily she pulled the tiny present out of her coat pocket and opened up the jewelry box.
It was a beautiful diamond necklace, with a shining gem in the center and two sapphires on either side of it. The chain was white gold. Her necklace just reached her bosom. As she held the real diamond between her thumb and index finger, it popped open to reveal a picture of her and Draco, her being held in his arms in the Great Hall while they ate lunch. The picture was taken by Colin Creevey. Luna was unaware of the fact that Draco had paid him to capture a picture of them randomly.
She hooked it around her neck and automatically felt a hundred times better. Grabbing her trunk, she took a deep breath and walked outside, trampling through the grass. The snow had melted off, exposing the jade green grass underneath. She crunched forward, until she was in the graveyard once more.
"Goodbye, dad. Goodbye, mum," she said, looking down sadly at the two graves that sat so close to each other. "I was hoping you would get to meet your grandchildren someday. But that's okay. Because you'll be watching over us. And I'm happy that you two could be together once again. I just didn't know it would be so soon. You would love your grandchildren, I just know it. I would too. You guys raised me so well. And I know some times things were really hard, and you used your last coins to make me happy. Thank you for always being there for me."
She knelt down, patting the dirt above her father's coffin softly. It had not grown the grass back since his burial. "I love you, dad."
She patted the grass above her mother's grave. "I love you, mum."
With tears in her electric blue eyes, she stood up, walking down the gravel path to the main road where she could catch a taxi. The rocks crackled under her boots with each step. When she got on the train she would read all the letters Draco had sent her. She felt guilty she had not done it before. But she had been so busy with the funeral and the cleaning of the house.
Luna looked up into the sky, with the bright blue, and the buttercup yellow, bright white, all the colors mixing together. How long would it take it to walk to the main road? It felt as if it had been years. Luna felt the cold breeze on her neck. She tightened the thick white scarf she had wrapped around it.
Finally she looked up from the road and realized she was on the main one, where cars were going as quickly as they could, all in a rush to get to their destination. Luna signaled a taxi and climbed in. Luckily it was a different one than before.
"Where to?"
"King's Cross Station."
He roughly stepped on the gas pedal, launching them forward, but since it was early morning Luna had a harder time falling asleep. It was very bright out; Luna slid on her sunglasses and laid her head back on the cloth seat.
She examined the seat she sat in, spotted with stains and crumbs. She liked to think that each stain represented a passenger of the cab, and without one you'd be forgotten easily.
Luna grabbed her canteen of pumpkin juice and took a small sip before letting a tiny drop fall onto the interior of the cab. She examined it proudly next to the other stains, smiling for the first time in a week. Now she knew that Luna Lovegood would never be forgotten.
"Where ya from?" the cab driver growled. He was much more rough than the first one. The driver had a five o'clock shadow on his chin and large eyebrows that knitted together when he was growling. The way he pursed his lips reminded Luna of a bulldog.
She told him the address quietly, picking a thread from her jeans.
"That's far from the Station. At least forty minutes," he said roughly, fishing through his pocket and grabbing a pack of cigarettes out. He opened it out, grabbing one and tossing Luna a lighter.
"Light me."
She immediately wanted to jump out of the car. Luna hated the smell of smoke. It was the exact scent that filled the room the day her mum died. And now every time that odor hit her lungs she saw that image in her mind, branding her like a whip laced with poison.
She sighed, watching the tiny glow that flew from the lighter burst into being and slid it forward, lighting the tip of his cigarette.
"Thanks," he muttered gruffly, opening the window and holding the cigarette outside while it wasn't touching his lips.
And it hit her again. That same exact memory. It didn't hurt as much as it did when it had just happened, but now it was connected with her father's death. It brought that memory to her, and all she wanted was to scream out loud.
Luna hadn't slept since the day in the cab, and her eyelids grew so heavy. It felt like heaven to close them. Maybe if she did she would fall asleep and not have to smell the smoke from the driver, not have to see her mom point the wand at the door, murmuring a spell she had invented herself to heal cracks in wood. But then it hit the door, bouncing back to her. The yellow burst of light hit her square in the chest, knocking her down onto her back. Luna had rushed over to help her up, thinking she had only fallen down, so it was okay. But then a scream escaped her lips as her last heartbeat faintly sounded, and her breathing stopped. She was dead in her daughter's arms.
The car glided smoothly, feeling like a rocking chair to Luna. She remembered vaguely of her mother holding Luna on her lap in the old rocking chair as it glided back and forth. And she would read a story to her, like the story of the Three Brothers. That was always Luna's favorite one.
She forcefully closed her eyes to stop these haunting memories from searing through her brain, but to no avail, as each one hit her it became more painful.
It was four years after Luna's mother had passed. Her and her father sat gathered around the Christmas tree. Things were running pretty tight that year, and her father had used the last of his money to pay for Luna's gift.
She tore through the wrapping paper, not looking up once to see her father's face, hoping to God that Luna was happy with the gift he had picked for her.
Opening the box, she pulled out the burgundy sweater. She examined it for a second.
"I like it, dad. Thank you."
She watched his face fall. He looked disappointed as she put down the sweater.
"You're welcome, sweetie," he said sadly, standing up to make tea.
Luna clenched her temples in the taxicab, feeling the awful memories burn through her brain, a fire that could not be put out until every happy memory was destroyed.
Three years after Luna's mum had died, she had been in her room packing to get on the train to Hogwarts for her first year. She had walked downstairs to grab her robes from the laundry quietly.
Her father was sitting on the couch, clutching a picture of his late wife to his chest, sobbing to himself, rocking his body back and forth as the weeps shook him.
Instead of clearing her throat to let her father aware of her presence, she snuck back upstairs, telling herself to get her robes later.
Each memory hurt so badly, she wanted to cry. But as the last one took over her, she screamed out loud, and not just a shriek, but a high-pitched bloodcurdling scream as she clutched her temples.
The driver slammed on his brakes in the middle of the highway at the sound of her scream, turning his back to the windshield to stare at her in the backseat.
"What is it, girl?" he asked.
Just as she let out another terrifying scream, the bright yellow taxi behind them slammed on their brakes, but not in time, and they slammed into the back of Luna and the driver, pushing them forward into oncoming traffic. The glass shattered in the back window, and the crunch of metal pulled her from her horrifying memories. She tasted blood as her body flew forward into the back of the driver's seat, twisting her leg around painfully, ripping her jeans apart. Her heart beat quickly in her chest, and once she hit the back of his seat, she flew backward, cutting her head on the glass that was shattered from the back window.
Her breathing quickened as she pushed the door open as fast as she could. Jumping out of the car, she fell down, staring down at her bloodied leg.
It had gashes running down it, ripping through her jeans. The bone of her knee jutted out, and she knew immediately she had broken it.
Crawling forward, Luna used all her might to pull open the driver's door, grabbing the gruff-looking driver and ripping him out of the car.
The crippling pain finally registered in her head, and she fell to her knees, bloodstained and cut up. She gasped, finding it hard to breathe through the huge ball of blood in her throat. She felt her teeth with her tongue. She was missing a few back ones.
The driver came to, and ran to pull the driver of the back car out. She opened her eyes at his touch and hugged him, pulling him into a kiss. Luna stared in shock at this twist of events, but then her eyes went to the identical rings on their left ring finger.
Oh God. They were married. She had caused a car accident between a husband and wife. They probably had kids, too. She could've killed them. it was all her fault.
She got up as Muggles from other cars flocked to her to see if she was okay.
"Oh my God, are you okay, miss? Miss?" one woman asked after jumping from her electric blue smart car.
"I'm fine. I'm fine!" she shook them off of her. "I need to catch my train. I'm okay!"
A man in scrubs screeched his car to a stop and jumped out, feeling Luna's leg. "Ma'am, this is definitely broken. We need to get this fixed."
"No! I'll fix it later," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I need to catch my train."
"I can drive you to the train station," one woman suggested, pointing to her white minivan.
"Please, I just need to get there," Luna begged.
The woman pulled her trunk from the taxicab that seemed like it was about to catch fire and put it in the passenger seat of her van.
She looked like a middle-aged woman, possibly in her thirties. She was a bit plump, with short brown hair and motherly clothes on. Luna knew that no Muggle would be a threat to her.
Luna climbed into the seat and the woman did also. She took off from the scene of the car accident.
"Do you feel okay? Can I get your name?" the woman asked kindly.
"Yes, and Luna."
"Well, Luna. That looked like a very close call. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Yes, I should. Shouldn't I?" she asked bitterly. Lucky, ha. She was sure the woman would feel lucky if her father died and she just caused a car accident because she wasn't strong enough to keep her bad memories to herself.
"You should definitely see the doctor about that leg."
"Uh, yeah. I will."
About ten minutes later they arrived at King's Cross Station. The woman stopped the car and unlocked the door for Luna.
"Thank you, ma'am. So much. I really appreciate it," Luna said, grabbing her trunk and closing the door.
"Be safe, Luna!" the woman called, and she waved to her as the woman drove away.
She made it to the brick wall and ran in when no Muggles were looking. There, the big red train awaited her. She climbed on, realizing that her father was no longer there to say goodbye. A tear welled in her eye at this thought.
Ron, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Fred, and George were waiting for her in the compartment. Harry buried her in a hug, pulling her so close to him.
"Luna! I'm so sorry about your father. Wait, what happened to you? Are you okay?"
"Oh, thank you, Harry. How did you hear about that? And my taxi crashed. I'm fine."
"Luna! A taxi crash? Oh my God, what happened?" Hermione asked, rushing up to Luna to give her a hug.
"No, it was nothing. The car behind us rear-ended us. No big deal."
"But your leg! Look at it. It's obviously broken. You need to see Madam Pomfrey," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"It's okay. I mean, she barely tapped us. I promise it's nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," Luna said, sitting down in the compartment and elevating her leg so none of them could see. The last thing she wanted was to be a drama-queen.
"How are you, Luna?" Neville asked kindly.
"Oh, great, Neville."
"You don't have to pretend with us. I mean, just let it out. Please, Luna. You'll feel much better once you've done so," Hermione told her gently.
"You guys don't want to hear about my problems," Luna whispered softly.
"We do. Come on, your father just died. You must be feeling something," Ginny told her, receiving a smack on the arm from Ron.
"What was that for?" she asked, rubbing her arm.
"Her dad just died. It's not a brilliant idea to remind her," he said, hushed.
"You didn't have to smack me."
Ron rolled his eyes at his sister.
"I bet you'll feel better once you see your pretty little Malfoy," Harry told her disgustedly. No matter how close Luna was to him, he still hadn't gotten over his childhood hate for him, and Harry suspected they would never be friends.
"I wish you two could get along better."
"I don't think that's ever gonna happen, Luna. He might be all sugary and sweet to you, but he's still a right foul git to the rest of us," Ron cut in.
"Let's not upset Luna any farther, guys. You have no idea what she's going through," Hermione declared, throwing her hand down on the table in the compartment.
"You're right, Mione," Harry said, patting Luna on the back. "We're all here for you if you need us. I know what it's like to lose family; I lost Sirius. And my parents, but I had only known them for a total of two months."
"Thanks, Harry."
And the train went into motion. Luna clutched the necklace wrapped around her neck, reminding her of Draco. She knew once she was in his arms again, she would feel so much safer. Better. Loved.
Since her father's death, she had felt so alone. Now Luna felt, surrounded by her close friends, like there were people in the world that cared if she was okay. That cared if Luna was feeling anguished about her father's death. But she had cried out all her tears. She had mourned her father. Now it was time to move on and live her life. It felt like she didn't care about her dad, since he had given everything he possibly could and worked hard for Luna for fifteen whole years, and now she was moving on after a week. Her father wouldn't want her to spend her life mourning him, would he? He would want Luna to live and be happy again.
But the constant thought that plagued her, no matter how hard she tried to push it to the back of her mind, it was still there, all the time. A selfish thought, really.
What if Voldemort had killed her father? Perhaps as a warning, for her to take a step away from Draco. It would make sense. But how would he find out about her and Draco? The suspicions about Professor Snape were just that: suspicions. Dumbledore trusted him, and Luna looked up to Dumbledore as almost a second father, so therefore Luna trusted Snape too. Even though sometimes the man was a little hard to get along with.
What if it were Draco whom had let it slip to his parents? It wouldn't make sense, not even a bit. Why would Draco pretend to like her, just to get her killed?
She couldn't think of anybody else who would tell.
"Luna?" Ron snapped her out of her deep thought.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ron. What were you saying?"
"I just, I saw the article in the Daily Prophet. I was wondering if you wanted to see it. It's downright outrageous, I have half a mind to go down there and strangle Rita Skeeter for ever publishing something like this."
Luna grabbed the paper from his hand, scattering the page for looks of her last name. She spotted it and began reading.
Tragic Death of Slightly Mental Wizard
By Rita Skeeter
It has been proven that Xenophilius Lovegood has fallen dead on Saturday, December 25, of a Killing Curse, but there are no suspects. Mr. Lovegood was a known member of the wizarding community, and known to be a bit strange. Lovegood was the writer and publisher of the Quibbler magazine, and his daughter, Luna Lovegood, was the seller of this magazine.
Luna Lovegood was the first person to spot Xenophilius dead, leading some Ministry workers to believe she might have done the Killing Curse on her father. I, Rita Skeeter, believe this accusation fully. When I stopped by the house of the Lovegoods, the daughter, Luna, ushered me from the home before I could ask her a simple question, leading some to believe that the daughter is the murderer and afraid to be questioned.
Luna threw down the paper on the table, ripping it in shreds before even finishing the article.
"How could she write something so demented? That's absolutely horrific."
"I know, Luna. But we all know it's not true and that's what matters," Hermione told her gently, waving her wand. The pieces disappeared from the table, going off into who knows where.
"I don't want people to think," she paused, swallowing a lump in her throat. "That I am not open to talking about it. I would love to talk about it, but only with someone who cares enough to listen."
"We will listen," George said, placing his arm down and leaning his head on it, grinning widely.
"Yeah, talk to us," Fred responded.
Luna saw a wide smile from Hermione to Fred, and a little something in their eyes. They looked each other in the eye, and the little glance lasted a tiny bit longer than it should have. Both of them had gone to the Burrow over Christmas Break, maybe something had happened between them while they were there.
With a sigh, Luna jumped into the tale.
There he was, his arms wide open, waiting for her to jump into them. She did, she had been waiting a long time to do this. He was warm and inviting, and she loved the scent of him.
"Draco, I'm so sorry I didn't owl you back! I was so busy planning the funeral, I didn't have enough time to send you a letter."
"No, no, I understand. I'm so sorry about your father, Luna. I'm so sorry," he whispered into her shoulder.
"I'm fine now. Really. Though my leg really hurts. I think I'm gonna go to the hospital wing."
At that moment, Crabbe walked by, spotting Draco. He patted Draco's arm.
"Two ladies, eh?" he asked, winking at him.
There was a long pause where Luna turned to Draco. "What does he mean?"
"She doesn't know 'bout Pansy? Well, I wouldn't tell either, keep it to myself that I get to shag
two of 'em in one week, huh?" he laughed, hysterically, walking away.
"You slept with Pansy?" she asked quietly, dropping his hand. "I thought that you, of all people
would stay loyal. Was I stupid to think that a guy would respect me enough to stay alone for one week and not sleep with another girl?"
"Luna, you don't understand! I missed you so much that I got a little drunk at the Christmas Feast, and the next thing I knew I was waking up next to Pansy."
"At some point in your head, you thought it would be a good idea to cheat on me with Pansy. At some point, you thought I wouldn't mind? How long has this been going on? What am I, your stupid little sideshow? Only there so you don't have to sleep alone? I thought, that when I met you, you would be loyal, and that you would never hurt me. Is it wrong to believe that I can be happy for once? Is it wrong to think that maybe, for one second in my life, something good goes right? Am I that stupid, Draco?"
"I am so, so, sorry, Luna. I never should have-"
"You know what, it doesn't matter what you say now. Nothing that comes out of your mouth is going to change what you did while I was gone. Nothing's going to change the fact that you have disrespected me. You can't take back what you did. Hermione was right, you are a right foul git, and you will never stop being an asshole."
She dropped his hand, watching it swing to his side. A tear slid down her cheek as she limped away, staring down at her broken leg.
Suddenly a crippling pain seared through her knee and she dropped down on the floor, screaming in pain. Draco ran to her and attempted to pick her up, but she shook him off quickly, not wanting to see how hard she was crying.
"I don't need you to help me. I don't need you. I don't love you. I wasn't enough for you. I hope she was worth it," she said, turning to him.
Scrambling up to the best of her abilities, she limped away, feeling the hole punched through her chest. She didn't know where she was going. She hoped the hospital wing.
"I'm sorry, Luna."
If she had turned around to answer him, she would have seen the single tear slide down his cheek as he watched her walk away from him.
He turned around, angry and heartbroken, his fists clenched at his sides.
Staring at the wall, he smashed his fist into it as hard as he could, feeling his knuckles snap.
"Dammit!" he yelled loudly, sliding his fingers through his silky hair.
He trotted off to his dorm room, angry at himself, angry at Pansy, angry at everything.
She limped through the hallway, crying and feeling the sting of losing him. At some point she fell against the wall, holding her head in her hands and shrieking. Breathing loudly, she knew she had to pick herself up. At that moment, Hermione wondered by, on her way to the library.
"Luna! What are you doing here? You scared me."
"Hospital wing," Luna whispered.
"Do you need help? I can help you there, if you like. What's wrong?"
"I really don't want to talk about it right now."
"Alright. Well come on," Hermione murmured, picking Luna up from the corridor and wrapping an arm around her waist, dragging her from the corridor. Blood dripped from the gashes that adorned her legs, perhaps from the shattered glass of the window. That's how her heart felt: shattered.
Because Luna was too trusting. She didn't realize that there are some people out there whose intentions are perhaps not as pure as her own. Some people who would play with Luna's feelings and then watch them shatter on the concrete. Some people who made all the wrong choices in life, and lost the ones who they loved because they were impatient and bored with her. Luna felt like some people didn't realize how bad it is when someone you love loves someone else. You thought it was meant to be, and that your love was perfect, but then find out you weren't good enough for them. That you were a fool, and you cared too much.
Hermione set Luna down on a cot, as Madam Pomfrey walked by.
"Another broken leg? I'll go get the supplies," Poppy said, rushing away.
"Now tell me what's wrong."
"Draco. Pansy. He cheated on me. He doesn't love me anymore and I was a fool to love him. God, I'm so stupid! How could I be such an idiot, Hermione? He never loved me," Luna said through rivers of tears that danced down her cheeks.
"You are not stupid, Luna. You are brilliant, and beautiful. And some guys can't appreciate this. I'm so sorry about Draco. But you will find someone better, I promise. Who loves you more than anything. Someday, Luna. He was an idiot for not loving you."
"How come everything in my life is turning out wrong? I thought I was supposed to have a happy ending," she cried.
"Everybody has a happy ending. Even Cinderella had to scrub some floors before she met her prince."
Luna had not heard that story, but the meaning rang clear.
