A/N - Insomnia = next chapter.
The next morning Mimsy brought a huge vase full of flowers to the nursery.
"These are for Missy Luna." She placed them on the desk and waddled out of the room.
"How beautiful." Luna's eyes lit up, inventorying the extravagant assortment of magical and muggle flowers.
"Who are they from?" Draco stomped over and angrily snatched the card.
Hope to see you when I'm there next month.
Greg
Draco threw the card down and reached for the flowers.
"No!" Luna cried.
"No!" Caelum repeated.
"Very good!" she praised the baby.
"No no no no no no!" Caelum chanted, clapping his hands.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You stay out of this." He told his son and turned back to Luna. "You are NOT having another man send you flowers!"
"Maybe you should tell Greg that." Luna tilted her head at Draco. "They're very pretty flowers. This is the first time anyone has ever sent me flowers."
He huffed. "You want flowers? Fine, I'll send you flowers! I'll buy you a whole fucking florist shop!"
"No no no no no no no." Caelum sang.
"It doesn't count if you ask for them." She shook her head.
"Then I won't buy you flowers!" he thundered. "What do you want, then?"
"You." She said softly.
He stopped and looked at her.
"I never asked for flowers." She continued. "Or jewelry or anything else. I just want you and Caelum."
"I still don't want Greg Goyle sending you flowers." His voice had almost returned to normal.
"Take them downstairs if you don't want them in here." She offered. "But don't throw them away. They're beautiful flowers."
He turned and reached for the vase. "I'm going to send you flowers."
"Okay." She smiled.
One of the flowers bit Draco. "Fuck!" he shouted. "He probably charmed them to do that."
"Fuh!" Caelum repeated. "Fuh fuh fuh fuh."
"No." Luna turned to him. "That is a naughty word and you should not say that."
"Fuh!" he repeated.
"No." Luna told him again.
Caelum tilted his head and pointed at his father. "Duh!"
Luna looked over at Draco and back at Caelum. "Daddy is a bad boy. You do not say that word."
Draco smirked. "Daddy's going to take these downstairs now."
The Dark Lord called his inner council for a luncheon meeting.
"It seems that Potter and his little friends are still running like scared rabbits. How disappointing. that the Chosen One, the so called Savior of the Wizarding World, is nothing but a frightened child. He has remained hidden and on the run through all these months of our raids, and our control of the Ministry and Hogwarts." Voldemort began to circle the table. "I grow weary of the foolishness. I cannot destroy what I cannot find. Therefore, we must bring Potter and his misfit companions out of hiding so I can finish him off. The question is, how to go about it." He finished his circuit and returned to stand at the head of the table. "He seems to have no attachment to his muggle relatives, so finding and threatening them would be of no use. His magical relatives are, of course, all dead." he laughed, and Bellatrix along with him. "The Weasleys have gone into hiding. There is but one place left where his friends, his sympathies, and his loyalties lie. Hogwarts."
Draco's head jerked up, as did Snape's.
"We shall plan our attack on Hogwarts." the Dark Lord placed his hands on the table, leaning forward.
"My lord," Draco began. "What of your plans to recruit followers among the students?"
"The attack will not be aimed at the students. At least, not the majority of them. We will capture his supporters at the school such as McGonagall and Hagrid. Possibly some of his little friends in Dumbledore's Army. I'm sure you remember who they were, Draco." at his pointed look, Draco nodded, cold dread seeping through him. The Dark Lord continued. "The Order members outside the school will be lured into the trap, trying to rescue their friends, as our illustrious Headmaster," he straightened, gesturing grandly at Snape. "will have changed the protective enchantments on the school. Potter will either return and stage an ill-fated rescue attempt, or allow us to destroy the Order, and with it, those who would harbor and assist him." Voldemort looked around the table, sneering. "And perhaps our show of strength at the school will inspire loyalty among the students. Or at least, show them the consequences of opposing us."
Bellatrix, Greyback, and Rowle laughed. Draco nodded, trying not to look sick.
"My lord," Snape drawled. "It shall take time to change the enchantments at Hogwarts. They were placed by the greatest cursebreakers of all time and have stood, some of them, for hundreds of years. Even inventorying all of the wards could take more than a week."
Voldemort nodded. "I am well aware, Severus. We shall tentatively set the date for the tenth of May, which gives us about seven weeks. I shall expect a report on the status of recounting the enchantments on the school in ten days' time."
"Yes, my lord." Snape nodded.
"Draco, in the meantime," Voldemort looked to the man at his right. "I shall expect you to compile a list of the members of Dumbledore's Army."
"Yes sir." Draco forced from his dry throat.
"Bella dear, you may do what you do best. Plan how to torture those who oppose us." he flashed her an indulgent look, and she lit up with delight.
Voldemort issued a few more banal instructions, and dismissed the meeting. Draco escaped the room as quickly as possible, leaving behind an almost untouched plate of food.
He locked himself in the nearest bathroom, splashing water on his face, gripping the sides of the sink convulsively. Faces of the Dumbledore's Army members began to pop into his head, unbidden. Longbottom, who could barely manage to wipe his own arse. Finnegan of the exploding cauldrons. The matching dark eyes of the Patil twins. Lavender Brown, the great lust of Blaise Zabini's life. Weaselette, with the fire in her eyes matching her fiery hair. That Creevey kid, who perpetually seemed to have had too much sugar. Boot, his polar opposite, so quiet and serious all the time. None of them deserved to die. They were just teenagers.
And the Dark Lord was asking him to sell them out.
He didn't want any more blood on his hands.
Not even the Scarhead's blood.
He forced his breathing to slow and his heart rate to stabilize with the practice of someone who has done so way too many times in his young life and left the bathroom.
Luna waited for him at the foot of the stairs.
"Where's Caelum?" he frowned. "What are you doing down here?"
"He's taking his nap." she stepped forward to link her hand through his and lead him down the corridor. "The elf is with him. I thought we could have a little time, just the two of us."
He looked down at her face. The dreaminess in her eyes had been replaced with a controlled intensity.
"You did, did you?" he asked.
"Mmm-hmm." she agreed, leading him into the solarium and closing the door behind them.
"What did you have in mind?" he arched an eyebrow at her.
"Something like this." she pressed against him, threading her fingers through his hair and pulling him into a deep kiss.
He drew back and leered at her. "You didn't get enough last night?"
She gave him a lust filled smile. "You know I never get enough of you."
Her lips pressed against his neck, working their way toward his collar as her hands came up to the buttons of his shirt. He leaned in, his breath fluttering her hair as he whispered in her ear.
"Finite incantatum."
"Fuck you." she growled, smacking him on the chest with the heel of her hand as the glamour fell away.
"You were trying, Bella." he smirked.
He stepped back, away from her. Her hand went for her wand. He was faster.
He apparated into his bedroom, knowing she wasn't a Malfoy, she couldn't apparate in the house, and she couldn't get into his quarters if she followed him up there.
It was a hell of a thing to have to hide in your room in your own house.
Luna came through the connecting door, her hand wrapped around the vial at her neck. She tilted her head at him. "Everything all right?"
"Yeah." he sighed. "I just had to make a quick getaway from Bellatrix."
She walked over to him, looking up sadly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.
"I'm glad you're safe." she whispered.
His arms encircled her, and he rested his head on top of hers. He stayed that way for a long time, just absorbing the feeling of being safe.