Happy Reading!

Gina

Everything ached. It burned and throbbed and stung. Even breathing hurt. Even her hair hurt, and Hermione didn't know how that was possible. Fleur had been gentle, bandaging her up and urging her to drink a variety of potions. With more help than she'd wanted to admit she'd needed, Hermione had sponge-bathed herself and changed into clean clothes that she recognized as items she'd left at Percy's last summer. They were too big, a testament to her weight-loss over the last months of being on the run, but they were comfortable and familiar, and that was all she really wanted. She wanted to hug Percy and thank him for being so thoughtful. Her clothes smelled like his apartment, like dusty sunshine and citrus scented window-cleaner, and she would occasionally bring her sleeve to her nose and sniff. The smell took her back to last summer, which felt like a lifetime ago. She wished he was here with her, even just to hold her hand, but she knew how impossible that was, and she hated herself for wishing it. Her thoughts were moving so fast that she wanted to scream.

Everything had all happened so fast. She'd hardly had time to think after Harry had broken the Taboo, and they'd been captured. She had had the foresight to lie, giving Penny's name instead of her own, which she hoped wouldn't put the real Penny in danger. It had been for naught, since they'd all been taken to Malfoy Manor anyways. The sword had been found in her bag, and Harry and Ron had been separated from her…

She fought back tears and a wave of nausea as she struggled to throw the viscerally vivid memories of the black-haired Bellatrix from her mind. Her stale breath, the scratchy lace of her dress, her…

Too late, Hermione rolled over and vomited over the side of the bed, choking and coughing. Her throat burned and her sides ached. She breathed deeply after she was done retching, eyes watery and nose running.

"Hermione," Luna appeared in her line of vision with a tissue, helping her to wipe her nose and mouth, "Here," Hermione accepted a glass of water pressed into her hand and took a few tentative sips. Luna flicked Hermione's wand at the floor, vanishing the puddle of sick. When she set it back down on the bedside table, Hermione noticed that Luna's hands were shaking.

"Are you alright, Luna?"

"Not yet," The girl's thin, blondish hair glowed feebly in the moonlight coming in from the window, but it was tangled and dirty. Her eyes glowed too; Hermione saw them swimming with tears, "The demons from the dungeons decided to stay with me, and they really like the dark,"

Hermione was too wired and in too much pain to sleep. She sat up, wincing at the all over aching. Hermione suspected that Luna was feeling equally bad, if not worse. Hermione reached over and turned on the lamp, washing the room in golden light. She took a real look at Luna then, for the first time since they had arrived at Shell Cottage. Luna was in a clean nightshirt and socks, but Hermione could tell that she hadn't taken the time to do anything else. Her skin, hair, and nails were in a frightful state.

"Can I brush your hair, Luna?" Hermione offered.

"If you like," Hermione motioned for Luna to pull up a chair, and the girl sat against the side of the bed. She transfigured a wide-toothed comb out of a pencil and began, slowly, to work out the knots.

Luna's hair was a mess. Tangled, matted chunks, especially under her neck, and her original blonde color was greyish and even brown in spots. It obviously hadn't been washed in several days, maybe even weeks, and there was some sort of attempt at a ponytail that had simply become a large snarl. Hermione did a cursory glance at the girl's scalp and was relieved to see no signs of lice or nits. After several moments of struggling to brush through the lank, dry hair, Hermione reached into her beaded bag and pulled out her own bottle of hair conditioner. Luna got up for a towel, and Hermione dampened Luna's hair with a few well-placed aguamenti charms and began to work the slippery conditioner through the knots to loosen them one-by-one. It was difficult, and Hermione could tell at times that she was pulling too hard, but Luna didn't say a word until Hermione was all done. Luna's hair, now damp and smooth, lay flat against her back.

"There, Luna. Isn't that better?" Hermione asked, returning the items to her bag and the comb to its original state.

"I suppose so. No one's ever brushed my hair but me, before," Luna's mother had died when she was nine, so this made sense to Hermione, but her heart broke a little for the thin, pale girl sitting before her.

"Can I do anything else for you, Luna?"

"Can we leave the light on, tonight?" She requested.

"Of course," Hermione was in the bed, and Luna was on a pallet on the floor beside her, because of the lack of room in the house. The bed was wide enough for two, barely, "You can come up here and sleep on this side, if you'd like. The floor can't be very comfortable," Hermione was asking as much for Luna's sake as for her own sake.

"Thank you, Hermione, that's very kind of you. I don't think I'll be sleeping for a while though. Would you mind if I drew a bath?"

"Go ahead,"

"I...I don't want to be alone," Luna's voice wavered.

"Once you get in, I'll come in and sit with you," Hermione promised instantly. Her brain, which had been preoccupied with her own tortures from the day, was slowly starting to put Luna's story together.

"Thank you,"

Luna left the bathroom door half-open as she filled the tub with steaming water and soap bubbles. Hermione caught a glimpse of the girl's back as she removed her shirt.

Luna was thin, rail thin, with her spine protruding. There was bruising on her back, and some scarring that looked like it had once been deep. She had a strawberry birthmark on her left shoulder blade, though it was disguised by scrapes and scratches. Hermione averted her eyes as Luna fully undressed and climbed into the tub, burying her body in foam and lather up to her neck. Hermione picked up her beaded bag and her wand from the nightstand table and eased up out of bed. She transfigured a spare towel into a cushion and padded the closed toilet lid with it before sitting down. Luna's eyes were closed, her head leaned back against the tub's edge. Hermione would have been content to sit in silence, but when Luna started to speak, Hermione knew she had to listen.

"I saw Ron, hiding near my house. I'm sure he told you. I kept the snatchers from finding him, but they caught me. Once they verified that I was who I am, they took me to the Manor. Narcissa and Lucius were there, and Bella, Rod, Peter...others too. They wanted information from me, they tried really hard to get it...but I wouldn't let them have it. They kept threatening me that they'd hurt my dad," Hermione could only imagine what they had done to try and extract knowledge from Luna. Based on what she'd received this afternoon, it must have been unbearable.

"After a while, I suppose they just sort of gave up on getting me to talk. So they would just leave me down there...in the dungeon. For days, sometimes. There were a few windows, but at night, it was so dark," Luna scooted up a bit in the tub and then dipped her head into the water, saturating her scalp. A musty smell filled the room, but Hermione didn't comment. Luna took the bottle of shampoo from the ledge and began to massage her scalp slowly, working the soap into a lather, forming a crown of bubbles on her head, "It was Draco's job to bring my food down, when he was on Winter holiday,"

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes, for a bit. He'd give me a bit of news from the outside, when he came down. Or he'd smuggle a bit of candle and some matches down for me," With the lamp from the room on, Luna's eyes look a bit like she was straining to see. Hermione could only imagine the damage that had been done to Luna's eyes after months of near darkness, "Sometimes he would just come down the stairs and sit with me. It was nice not to be quite so alone," Hermione tried to reconcile this image of Draco Malfoy with the one in her head, the one who shouted terrible things at her and had made fun of her teeth, her parents, her...everything. And somehow, after everything she had experienced today, especially after seeing Draco's horrified expression when Bellatrix had cast the first Crucio, Hermione could almost see it.

"Dean and Griphook came...I don't know when they brought them in. Dean was good company. Mr. Ollivander came to us five days ago, and he was lovely to chat to," Luna dipped her head under the water to rinse off the soap, before grabbing the bottle of shampoo again and going in for a second round.

Luna shampooed three times before she seemed satisfied that her hair was clean, and then she went in with conditioner again to remove the tangles. A washcloth sat on the ledge, and Luna soaped it up before scrubbing her arms and shoulders vigorously, turning them pink, then plunged the cloth beneath the water to wash her stomach, legs, and feet. Hermione avoided looking directly at Luna to afford the girl a bit of privacy, and instead turned her attention to trying to write a letter back to Percy. Her thoughts wouldn't slow down enough for her to write them out.

"Once I get out, will you braid my hair down the back, Hermione?" Luna asked, softly. She glanced at the fluffy bath towel on the rack, a silent signal that she was finished.

"Of course, Luna," Hermione gingerly got up and returned to bed, waiting patiently until Luna reappeared in her nightshirt and long, droopy socks. Her hair, even damp, was several shades lighter now with the dirt and grime removed. Hermione combed it through and easily and quickly braided it all the way down her back, tying it with a bit of string. Luna gathered her pillow and one of the blankets from the pallet on the floor before joining Hermione in the bed. They had just settled in, Hermione with Percy's book, and Luna with a very, very old issue of the Quibbler that Bill had lying around the house, when a soft knock on the door startled them both.

"Hello, girls," Fleur's head poked in, "I have brought some toast and soup and tea, if you would like. You missed supper,"

"Sure, Fleur, that sounds nice," Hermione answered. Luna nodded. Fleur carefully levitated the tray between them and stabilized it with a spell murmured in French. As Hermione and Luna ate, Fleur sat in the chair beside the bed with them, sipping her own cup of tea. The three women said nothing until the soup and toast were gone and their tea was lukewarm dregs.

"The boys are downstairs, and wanted to know how you are doing," Fleur said, finally, "I told them that they needed to leave you alone for tonight, but that they could come and see you tomorrow, if you are feeling up to it,"

"Thank you," Luna said.

"You can tell them that we're...well...not okay. But that we're doing alright and that we'll be feeling more up for company in the morning," Hermione decided that this answer was as close to the truth as she could manage. Luna nodded in agreement.

"I will tell them that," Fleur agreed. She seemed to be uncertain about something, but opened her mouth to speak again, "I do not want to ask an indelicate question...but I need to know," Fleur paused.

"What is it?" Hermione pressed. Fleur took a breath.

"Were either of you...have you been violated by a man, today," Fleur looked at Hermione, "Or recently," She looked at Luna. There was a beat of silence in the room, and Hermione realized that this wasn't the first time that Fleur had needed to ask this question of a guest in her home. Bill and Fleur still were very involved with the Muggleborn Relocation Brigade, though Percy hadn't been as detailed in his descriptions of what exactly Bill and Fleur did for the effort. Hermione spoke first.

"No, Fleur. It was only Bellatrix, and she didn't," Hermione almost choked on the words and couldn't finish her sentence. Fleur nodded, a bit of relief in her eyes. Both of them looked at Luna, whose eyes were swimming with tears.

"It was back in January. He...I don't know who it was. He thought it would...get me to talk. But he...the man...he didn't…" She took a breath, "Mrs. Malfoy stopped him before he could get my clothes off, and told the man that she'd castrate him if he ever dared try that again in her house, that it was disgraceful and disgusting that he'd dare defile her home in such a way," Hermione was impressed that Narcissa Malfoy, of all people, would save Luna from such a crime. Hermione had only caught a glimpse of Mrs. Malfoy at the manor. The woman had looked pale, thin, with clenched fists and darting eyes.

"I am so sorry that happened to you, Luna. I was only asking so that if either of you needed a contraceptive potion, that we could get it for you from the apothecary tomorrow,"

"I understand, and I don't need that potion," Luna said.

"Nor do I," Hermione echoed.

"I'm relieved to hear that," Fleur's beauty wasn't lessened by the furrow in her brow, somehow she appeared even more delicate and statuesque, especially with the golden light from the lamp, "If there is anything either of you need, Bill's room and mine is across the hall, and we will leave our door open tonight," She collected their dishes, but left two small potion bottles on the bedside table, "If you are having trouble falling asleep, here is a dreamless sleep potion for each of you. I will see you in the morning," The girls bid her a soft good-night, and Fleur left the room, leaving the door just a little bit ajar. Luna sat up a little taller and reached for her issue of the Quibbler. Hermione returned to Percy's book, still struggling for words.

Percy

I'm alive, as are Ron and Harry. Luna is with us, as are a few others. I suppose I don't have the words to tell you all of what's happened to us today, so I'm glad Bill filled in a few of the blanks. He and Fleur have been so gracious to all of us.

My entire body hurts, and I'm hoping a night's sleep with alleviate it. Thank you so much for sending me some of my clothing with Bill, it meant more than I can tell you. I wish I could see you.

I love you too.

Hermione

Exhausted by both the events of the day and with the emotional toll of composing the letter, Hermione rolled over. She was a bit bothered by the light of the lamp, but honored Luna's request nonetheless. She felt Luna lay down as well, with her back to Hermione's. Though they weren't close enough to touch, the familiarity of a person at her back quickly lulled Hermione into a fitful sleep.