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WARNING: The latter half of this chapter contains sexually suggestive violence. I did not particularly enjoy writing it, but felt it was necessary for the story to establish a certain character as being more than just a spoiled brat. I will understand if you wish to skip this scene, which begins after the section break.

Chapter Fourteen: To Catch a Grim

Amelia Bones poured herself a glass of brandy, settled back in her favorite chair, and stared into the fire.

It had been a very long day.

Amelia was young for the position she had. She was in fact only forty years old, the youngest head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ever, and the only woman. This made her hold on job tenuous at best. She was appointed by Millicent Bagnold in one of the former Minister's last acts. Bagnold had been her patron, advisor and friend. But Fudge was not the same caliber of leader Bagnold was, and she found herself losing ground both within the Ministry and within the Department itself almost on a daily basis.

Only her family name, her political acumen, and her not inconsiderable magical power allowed her to hang on as long as she had.

Her fire suddenly flared green. "Amelia, are you there?" a disembodied voice called.

"Who is it?" Amelia asked.

"Xenophilius Lovegood."

Amelia cocked a brow, then drained her brandy and drew her wand just to be safe. "You may come through." She undid the security lock on the fire with a jab of her wand, and a moment later the wiry old wizard stepped through. He straightened and looked around the austere living room of Bones Manor.

"Amelia," he said with a nod. "You're looking as lovely as ever."

"You're looking…"

"Old, I know," Xeno said. "I still don't know how I got Selene to marry me despite our age difference."

"What can I do for you, Xeno? Is Luna in trouble again?"

"No more than usual," Xeno smiled. "She found some peers who act as social anchors at school, and I think that is helping a great deal. They both care for her and help keep her balanced. You may have heard of them—Arthur Weasley's daughter Ginny, and Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter?" Amelia asked, genuinely surprised. She knew that the Weasley girl was a friend of Luna, and moreover she knew of the many difficulties Luna had suffered. She had dealt with several of the girl's indiscretions magically when she was younger. The indiscretions had unfortunately been shockingly violent in nature.

"Well, I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you had the time. What do you remember of the Black case?"

Amelia stared hard at the man for a long time, before she leaned over and poured herself another brandy. Though she knew it was terribly rude, she did not offer him any. Instead, she took the glass in a single gulp. "I prefer not to talk about Sirius Black. As soon as he's caught, the Minister has left standing orders that he is to be given the Dementor's Kiss."

"Yes, interesting that. I understand you knew Black very well."

"He was a fourth year when I finished Hogwarts," Amelia said. "We saw each other occasionally afterward, but he was a notorious ladies man. In fact, the man was a dog, and it does not surprise me that he turned traitor. Again, I prefer not to talk about it."

Xeno nodded but continued nevertheless. "Do you remember his trial?"

She started to snort in dismissal, but stopped. She was a senior Auror at the time. "No, actually I don't."

"He never received one," Xeno said. "Instead he was simply sent to Azkaban. I can even understand why. At the scene he was screaming about it being his fault, but nonetheless, while people like Lucius Malfoy received trials, Sirius Black was sent straight to Azkaban. I wonder why that is?"

"Xeno, I really don't want to talk about Sirius."

"Harry Potter is a sport."

Amelia blinked, completely caught off guard by the change in the conversation. "Excuse me?"

"His magical potential is completely off the scale. Given the right environment to grow up in, and with even minimally competent training, he could easily be more powerful than Dumbledore or Voldemort."

"Why don't I know this?" Amelia said.

"Because you are not the Head Unspeakable."

Amelia stared long and hard at the man as all the pieces started to fall into place. "Algie…"

"Algie is my public face for the Ministry," Xeno said.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, aside from her sociopathic tendencies, my daughter has a near preternatural talent at arithmantic projections. She ran a projection this summer; she predicted that not only would Voldemort return, but that he would successfully kill you and overthrow the Ministry because of Cornelius Fudge's likely handling of what is to come."

"Voldemort is dead."

"Just like Sirius Black is guilty."

"Xeno, it's been a long day." By her expression it was obvious Amelia did not like where this was going.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive, Amelia. And he wears the Dark Mark. We have him in our custody and he has confessed to everything. He has named names; he betrayed the Potters. He killed the Muggles, and then staged his own death in order to frame Black. Despite the obvious conclusions, he did this on the direct orders of someone other than Voldemort."

"What do you mean?" She was right to not like where the conversation was going, since it was getting worse and worse.

"Did you know that Harry Potter used to receive beatings from his relatives any time he got a better grade than his muggle cousin in school? That he has been consistently starved for almost the whole of his life? What happens to a magical child suffering a life of malnutrition and abuse, Amelia, when they reach magical maturity?"

"They're power is stunted, of course."

"Exactly."

"But…."

"Albus Dumbledore believes that Harry is a weapon. He believes that Harry must die at the hands of Voldemort in order for Voldemort himself to die. He believes this because Harry carries a fragment of the Dark Lord's soul in his scar."

"Xeno, do you even know what you're…"

"And that is one reason why we know Voldemort is not truly gone," the old wizard continued implacably. "That is why Dumbledore knowingly sent the wrong man to prison for twelve years: to ensure that Black never received custody of Harry. This way Dumbledore was able to ensure Harry was beaten and starved, and would most likely never reach his full potential. You know the Miltventor score is meaningless until magical maturity sets in."

"These are impossible accusations," she said. "Dumbledore is the chief warlock of the Wizengamot, and Fudge hangs on his every word. Even if I were to believe you, this is so far above my head that action would be inconceivable. I'd lose my job, maybe even my life, trying to pursue something like this."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. We have already started training Harry and slipping him nutrient potions in his food. We've placed him in a team with the Weasley girl. Luna serves as their control. They are already showing remarkable progress—as you would expect of a wizard with almost unlimited magical potential, and a witch whose power will vastly surpass even your own upon her maturity."

"Xeno, my Milventnor score was 95th percentile."

"I know. I tested you myself when you were a baby."

Amelia went very still. "What do you want of me?"

"We cannot afford to completely alienate Dumbledore," Xeno said. "He is still a sport himself, and if it came down to a fight he could likely defeat the whole staff of the Department of Mysteries. There is an exponential difference in power between sports and the rest of us. But we can blunt his political power by removing Fudge and blunt Voldemort's power by removing his supporters from the Ministry. Black is our ticket. Barty Crouch Sr. was essential in getting Black thrown in Azkaban without trial, but Fudge was fully aware of it as well, and Pettigrew can testify to the fact that one must voluntarily take the Dark Mark. If you bring Black and Pettigrew in and prove that Black is innocent, there's a very good chance you can discredit Fudge."

"And then Crouch would replace him. Barty is not much better."

"No, he's actually quite unacceptable. He carries too much baggage because of his son. No, we would want someone relatively young and powerful, but with proven experience. A current department head with a law enforcement background, for example." Xeno paused and pointed at her expectantly.

"You're joking! I'm a forty-year-old woman. The Wizengamot will never go for that."

"I'm not without resources."

"And if I don't agree?"

"I'll obliviate you for the safety of young Harry and Ginny. I only tell you now because you have very good Occlumency shields. And, frankly, I've known you long enough to trust you."

"Xeno, what you're suggesting just seems so impossible. You're suggesting a coup…"

"We need to get Harry some place over the holidays where he can truly and openly train. He's approaching his magical maturity in the next few years. Black is his godfather. It was in the Potters' will that Harry be given to Black: a will that Dumbledore specifically sealed. Black may be many things, but he genuinely loves that boy, just as he loved his friends. If in the process of righting that wrong we can get a new Ministry that will actively fight against Voldemort, well, all the better, in my opinion."

Whether worn down by Xeno's relentlessness or his logic, Amelia sighed in defeat. "You'll have to convince Black to come in, and then you'll have to figure out a way for him to get into the Wizengamot chamber. For that matter, you'll have to find a way to keep Fudge from having him kissed right there on the spot."

"Well, before that, we need to catch him."

~~Unspeakable~~

~~Unspeakable~~

The week before Christmas break, Malfoy carried out a plan for revenge against Luna.

The humiliation Draco suffered in the library was worse than any pain as far as he was concerned, and the fact that the Lovegood girl was not punished at all was even more unbearable. Snape did his part to deduct points and give her detentions, but she did not show any sign of caring.

The one time Snape tried Legilimency on her he immediately pulled back with a horrid headache. The disjointed storm of memory produced a near Crucio-like pain accompanied by images of a woman, most likely her mother. That one attempt convinced him to not enter her mind again. It also confirmed for him that Luna Lovegood was pathologically insane. So why was she allowed to stay in school at all? Snape asked some of her year mates what they thought of her—the Ravenclaws did not resent Draco's godfather like the some of the other houses did. They respected his knowledge and skill, and shared to a certain extent, his disdain for stupidity.

The classmates refused to talk about Luna, except for one girl who said, "She'll kill us if she finds out."

"Surely you are exaggerating," Snape said.

"No, I'm not," the girl said. "Luna's scary."

And so when Malfoy mentioned the lack of respect he faced from his housemates over the incident in the library, and showed Snape correspondence from Lucius expressing his concern, Severus gave Malfoy tacit permission to stage a bit of revenge.

"Do not kill her," Snape ordered. "Injury is fine. No less than the little psychopath deserves."

"What if she dies accidentally?"

"That would be unfortunate," Snape said. "Make sure no one can link either of us to whatever you are doing."

Malfoy merely smiled.

On the Tuesday during the week before Christmas Holidays, Luna was surprised to emerge from the Ravenclaw commons for dinner to find Harry Potter waiting for her. She blinked. "Harry? Where is Ginny?"

"She went on ahead," Harry said with an unusually suave smile. "I was hoping to talk to you for a little while."

"Very well; where shall we go?"

"The Astronomy Tower?"

"Okay."

Luna walked calmly alongside Harry toward the tower. When they reached the top, Luna stood and waited patiently. Harry was the first to speak. "So, Luna, do you like me?"

"Of course. You and Ginny are my frame of reference."

"Er, righto, then. So how much do you like me? Would you do something if I asked you?"

"I would do anything you asked of me, as I have told you before."

"So if I asked you to take your clothes off?"

"Do you wish me to do so now?"

Harry struggled to keep his face still. "Yes, Luna, I would like that."

"Very well. Please note that I am still only twelve and have not developed very much to look at." With that, she calmly began pulling off her school robes until she stood completely nude before the stunned figure with Harry Potter's face.

She looked very boyish, with only the beginnings of breasts and a few curls of light blond pubic hair and gentle swells of pre-pubescent breasts. The strange thing was that she stood there in the nude as calmly as she was a moment before in her robes.

"Now, there is something else I want you to do," Harry said. He lifted his wand.

"That is not Harry Potter's wand," Luna said, her voice suddenly going cold.

"I know. Imperio."

This was the most dangerous part of the plan, and the one Draco was least sure of. The Imperius was a difficult spell that required great will power; he could not hold it long even against Crabbe and Goyle. But what worked in his favor was Luna's own broken psyche-she had no innate ability to resist it at all.

Draco dropped back a step in fear as Luna lunged forward, her face an icy mask, until the spell hit, that is. The wand was not Draco's normal wand, but a hold out wand his father bought for him the year before. It was untraceable. At first he was afraid he'd done the spell wrong—it was actually quite difficult. But almost immediately Luna's face went lax and she stood still.

"Luna, I wish you to take this razor" he handed it over, "and carve 'I am Potter's Whore' on your stomach. Then you are to go to the Great Hall. Do so now."

Luna took the razor and began cutting into her stomach. Draco watched with stunned fascination as the blood rolled down her stomach into the thighs and down her legs. He was aroused, but remembered his godfather's warning against implicating himself. As much as he wanted to play more with the girl under his complete control, doing so ran the risk of leaving traces of himself to be tracked. It was one of the many things his father taught him.

She finished her carving while trembling in pain.

"Go now," Draco ommanded in Harry Potter's voice, while wearing Harry Potter's face.

She turned and walked down the stairs. Meanwhile, Draco walked over to the closet that held the Astronomy Class telescopes and pulled out his own Nimbus 2001. He tucked his holdout wand in his robes and flew down the tower. He would make it into the Great Hall well before Luna. His timing was exquisite as the Polyjuice began to fade even as he jumped.

In the Great Hall itself, Harry was eating with Ginny and the twins while discussing their holidays. This time he had elected to return to the Dursleys for the holidays, with the understanding he would be using the dedicated Floo there to train at the Lovegood house. McGonagall seemed surprised, but Harry assured her it was all right.

"Personally I can't wait," Ginny was saying. "What are you getting me for Christmas?"

Harry shrugged. "If I tell you it won't be a surprise."

Ron looked from one to another. "Better not be anything that would upset Mum."

Hermione blew a strand of hair from her face. "Harry, you'd better send that lingerie back, then. You know Mrs. Weasley would faint if she saw it." She winked at Ginny.

Ron turned bright red. "You…"

"She's joking, mate," Harry assured his friend. "Ginny can open her gift in front of your mum and be perfectly safe. Promise."

"Not funny, Hermione," Ron whined.

Ginny snickered. "I thought it was funny."

They turned when they heard laughter. The Ravenclaw table was laughing at something near the main entrance. Harry looked up and felt his stomach grow cold. It was Luna, standing perfectly nude. Her stomach had the words "I am Potter's Whore" written in what looked like blood.

"Oh Merlin, Luna!" Ginny whispered.

The professors had risen and were already approaching the girl. But Harry didn't wait for them. He flew over the table with Ginny a step behind. He already had his robe off while the Ravenclaws and Slytherins continued to laugh.

Harry almost tackled Luna as he covered her in the coat and pulled her out of the great hall. The moment they were in the passageway, Harry pulled her onto his lap. She immediately started shaking as the spell wore off.

Moments later Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived, with Flitwick trying his best to come after. "What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall demanded.

Harry, though, was braving his friend's nudity to see her stomach. "That's not paint," he raged. "Someone cut her!"

"Why, I did," Luna said as she looked up at him. "You asked me to, just a few minutes ago in the Astronomy Tower. You handed me the razor yourself. Then you showed me your wand. But it wasn't your wand and…." She blinked from his face to Ginny's. "I do believe he used the Imperius Curse on me."

"Luna," Ginny said through her tears, "Harry's been with me in the Great Hall for an hour. We were wondering where you were."

"Oh," Luna said. She lifted a blood-soaked hand to push her hair back. The hand shook violently. Harry pulled her arm back down into the folds of his robe and adjusted her hair tenderly. "It would seem that it was someone impersonating Harry again. I'm very sorry to have embarrassed you, Harry. Sadly, I cannot fight curses like the Imperius."

Nearby, McGonagall was pale. "Someone used an unforgivable in this school?"

"I wonder which son of an acquitted Death Eater would know an unforgivable at such a young age," Harry snarled. "This is Malfoy's revenge for her defending herself in the library."

"I'm going to kill him," Ginny said.

"You will do nothing of the sort!" McGonagall said. "You will let the staff handle this. In the meantime, you will get Miss Lovegood to the hospital wing at once."

"I'll accompany you," Flitwick said.

When the four were gone, McGonagall turned to Dumbledore. "I doubt we'll be able to prove a thing, but you know he's right. It is exactly the sort of thing that Malfoy boy would do."

"But again, it is a matter of proof," Dumbledore said. "I had hoped Lucius would be off the board of governors by now, but that has proven difficult. I cannot afford to appear to hold a bias against his son."

McGonagall hissed and stalked away from the headmaster.

In the hospital wing, Pomfrey set up privacy curtains and had the young girl healed in just minutes. She then had Luna don a hospital gown before she allowed her friends and her head of house to see her.

"Feel better, Miss Lovegood?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"Sadly, no," Luna said. "The cuts were a minor thing. Physical pain is merely an illusion the body uses to inform our brains of potential damage. It can be dismissed. I am rather distressed by having caused my friends embarrassment."

"I'm not embarrassed, Luna," Harry said. "I'm angry."

"I am too," Ginny said. "It had to be Malfoy. It's his revenge for the library incident."

"I suppose we should kill him, then," Luna said with a sigh.

"Such jokes are not funny, Miss Lovegood," Flitwick said.

She looked up at him with her owlish eyes. "Professor, have I ever told you had much I admire you?"

"No, you have not, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"Do you know why?"

"No, I do not."

"Because in the last war you killed three Death Eaters when they threatened a Muggleborn you were escorting to Diagon Alley. You did not try to capture them or play with them; you used your formidable duelling skills to remove the threat as soon as possible. You should know that Draco Malfoy is a comparable threat. What he did today was nothing. He will do worse when his father's master returns. You should know this."

"Miss Lovegood…."

"She's right, Professor," Harry said. "Voldemort isn't dead. He tried to return during my first year, and again second year, but we stopped that one before it started. I guess it's really only a matter of time. When it does happen, we can't afford to just go around stunning people."

"You are children," Flitwick said. "You are too young to have to think about such things!"

"And yet the first blow has been struck against us," Luna pointed out.

"Miss Lovegood, I cannot say whether He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is going to return or not. But I will say this: I absolutely forbid any of you from taking any type of revenge against Mr. Malfoy in this school. I say this as your professor, and for you Luna, as your head of house. You will not take any type of revenge against Draco Malfoy. Because if you do, I will have no choice but to expel you."

"I understand, Professor," Luna said. "I shall not seek any form of revenge against Mr. Malfoy while in this school."

Flitwick nodded, "Very good. There is no reason you cannot return to your dorm tonight. But I think for now you should eat here."

"I am truly not hungry," Luna said.

"Very well."

"We'll get her back to her room, Professor," Ginny said.

"Very well. Good night."

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Author's Note: Special thanks to Teufeul1987 for Beta reading and Brit Picking, and also to JR and Miles for additional beta reading. As always the three of them made this a better chapter.