A/N: I know! I'm terrible the worst FF writer ever! I grovel at your feet for taking such a long time to update. I have excuses but I won't bore you with them.
I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review I really appreciate it. & sorry to all of those reviews I haven't had the chance to reply to.
Fighting Potter's Ghost
Loud laughter greeted Draco and Luna as they descended the stair case into the foyer. The sounds drifted from the partially opened door to the dinning room where Lucius sat at the head of the table, a goblet of wine in his hands and a smile on his face as he listened to Rodolphus telling a joke.
For a moment Luna was nonplussed. She hadn't actually heard any member of her family telling a joke before. She had been witness to the LeStrange brother's banter and teasing and their little snide, sarcastic comments, but never had she heard a genuine joke come from either of them.
"You can't take credit for it, Dolohov told it to you," Rabasta reminded his brother with a grin. "Bloody good joke too."
"He couldn't have made it up himself, he's not that quick," Rodolphus said with a sly smile. "I thought you might enjoy it though, Lucius."
"It's a joke all pureblood's can appreciate," Lucius responded taking a sip of his wine.
Luna's forehead ruffled in disapproval, she didn't have to hear the joke to know that it was at the expense of muggles or non-pureblood's; but she kept her own counsel and allowed Draco to lead her to her seat. The manners his mother had instilled in him since birth came racing to the surface and Draco automatically held Luna's seat for her before sitting next to her offering his mother a smile.
"You didn't come to see me, Draco," Narcissca said, hardly allowing her son's behind to touch the chair.
"Huh?"
Narcissa frowned slightly at the response. "You didn't come to see me, when you returned home. It appears everyone else was aware that you were back except me."
"Well, you knew I'd be here at some point," Draco said crossly, a light pink tinge creeping into his cheeks. He felt like a child being reprimanded. "I didn't think I needed to herald my arrival like some sort of returning warrior."
Narcissa clucked her tongue against her cheek. "There is no need for rudeness, Draco."
"Get's more like his father every day," Rabasta said, shooting a sly look at Lucius.
Lucius cut his grey eyes in Rabasta's direction but did not rise to the bait. "Lovely to see you again, Luna. I trust you enjoyed your holiday before returning to school?"
"Oh yes," Luna beamed at the memory of sun, sand and gorgeous blue sea, although Draco had not allowed her to swim in the sea, he had been worried she would faint again and drown. That had rather put a dampener on the idea of going out into the sea and she had contented herself to sitting at the water's edge and letting the waves wash up over her legs instead. "The villa is lovely and in such a perfect spot."
"Narcissa and I holidayed there before Draco was born and Narcissa loved the place so much we had a villa built. It has since grown into a hotel for purebloods which is quite convenient; the staff look after the place when we are not there." He frowned suddenly, "At least they are supposed to look after it."
"It was well looked after," Luna assured him. "Oh no thank you," she waved away the goblet of wine Rabasta offered her. "I'll just have some water."
"Oh don't be a bore," Rabasta said, "A little goblet won't hurt you."
"She doesn't like it," Draco almost snapped. The very idea of anything remotely bad for his son passing Luna's lips caused his already fraying nerves to stretch ever tighter. He didn't know at this point of course whether it was a son he was going to have, but Draco with the natural Malfoy price and arrogance would not allow himself to think that his first born would be anything other than a Malfoy heir. It was inconceivable.
"Pity you couldn't be adverse to the taste, Narcissa," Lucius said mildly.
Narcissa stilled; her goblet of wine half way to her lips. Her pale face flushed and her eyes turned to hard shards of flint as her fingers tightened their grip on the bowl of the goblet.
Anxious to smooth the troubled water around the table, Luna smiled pleasantly at Narcissa and said, "You've done a good job decorating the house."
Narcissa observed the girl over the rim of her goblet. Luna looked happy, those big silvery blue eyes shimmered with an inner fire that could not be touched and spoke of a love so full and complete that it almost consumed. Narcissa remembered such a look in eyes just like the ones looking at her now. She remembered a face so similar to that of the girl oppose her shinning with a secret that was not really a secret and lips curled into a smug self-satisfied smile and her memory did nothing but draw a white hot rage through her body to settle in a hard ball behind her breast bone like acute indigestion; but not so easily combated.
"So very glad you like it I'm sure." Narcissa's tone made it plain that her words were simply words and she had no regard for Luna's honest opinion.
Luna flinched, her shoulders unconsciously sagging at the clear rejection and disregard held for her by the older woman sitting opposite her. Luna had spent long hours going over her life with a fine tooth comb, paying particular attention to all interactions with the Malfoy family, and she could find nothing that she had done which was so terrible it would cause the obvious dislike that Narcissa held for her. Yes, Luna knew she had been involved in the arrest of Lucius Malfoy, but he had forgiven her so easily and even at times hinted that her willingness to stand up and fight should be commended.
Luna couldn't help remembering the horrible things Narcissa had said about her mother. Luna had come easily to the conclusion that her mother and Narcissa had not gotten along and she understood that Narcissa may have had some lingering feelings of jealousy and insecurity towards the woman who had been involved with Lucius first. She understood that two women as different as Narcissa and Esperanza were not going to have any common ground to build upon, and Luna could even understand that a lady like Narcissa Malfoy, always used to a life of luxury and with her family and later her husband's wealth to fall back upon could look down her nose at someone like Esperanza. Luna did not think less of Narcissa for it, how could she when Draco behaved the exact same way and she loved him so completely. Luna did not believe in double standards.
"Tell us about Hogwarts, Draco. How are things there?" Bellatrix spoke up as she slowly cut into her bread roll. Bellatrix had important things on her mind what with the Dark Lord arriving soon, she did not wish for inconsequential family dramas to bog down the family when they should be rallying around readying themselves to aid in the service of the Dark Lord.
Draco, who had been busy glowering at his mother, blinked and turned his attention to Bellatrix. "Oh, fine. There are some Potter supporters obviously, but we expected that. All they do is make nuisances of themselves. It appears the only thing they can do to help Potter is to band together to become pains in Snape's ass."
"It is true that they dyed Finch's cat?" Rabasta asked, his black eyes gleaming with mirth. Finch had been nothing but a pain in his ass during his time at Hogwarts.
Draco grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw her."
"You mean to say that he still has that mangy old cat?" Rodolphus asked, disbelief crossing over his face.
"Still has her," Draco confirmed, sipping at a spoonful of soup.
"Well bloody hell, who'd have thought that old bag of bones would still be alive."
Rabasta grinned, "Are you talking about the cat or the caretaker, brother?"
Rodolphus laughed. "Either. Both." He took a swig of his fire-whisky and examined his nephew for a moment. He had heard, as most people had, of Draco's run in with Theodore Nott and he had to admit that knowing the boy as he did, looking at him now, Rodolphus would never have believed it to be true if it had been someone other that Carrow who had told him about it.
The boy, in Rodolphus' opinion, was weak and soft. A rich mummy's boy who had never had to lift a finger for anything in his life and had everything he ever desired handed to him on a silver platter; including his wife. Now she was different. Luna Malfoy was something alright, Rodolphus could see it in her eyes. She might be airy and dreamy, she might look at Draco as though he were the Second Coming, but there was fire inside her that spoke of a backbone of steel. Luna was like her mother before her; strong with a fierce power simmering in her veins. A power, Rodolphus knew she and everyone else she came into contact with was unaware of.
Draco did not know what he had in his possession, of that Rodolphus was sure. Draco would accept willingly all that his wife gave him and give nothing in return, it was not in the boy at the moment to understand the complex nature of a marriage, a partnership between two people. He may love the girl, Rodolphus did not know about that and had no interest in such matters; power was what concerned him and his little niece had that in abundance, both as a witch and as a woman. Rodolphus however knew without being told that his idiotic nancy-boy of a nephew did not really see what he had in his grasp. Rodolphus wondered for a moment if Draco would ever see what was in front of him, like a true Malfoy, Draco hardly ever looked beyond himself.
"So, nephew," Rodlphus cut into the deliciously tender roast beef on his plate. "I hear you used particularly dark magic in dealing with Theodore Nott. What exactly did you do to render his hand unusable?"
Draco silently cursed his uncle to hell and back. He felt Luna freeze beside him, the carrot she had speared with her fork hovering in mid air as she turned disbelieving eyes to his face.
"I did what I had to do," he snapped defensively, more for Luna's sake than his uncle's.
"I never said you didn't. I'm sure the boy had it coming. I just wondered what spell you used and more interestingly, what he had done to deserve it."
"That is private family business," Lucius said swiftly. "Please could you pass the potatoes, Cissy."
"I am family, Lucius, am I not?" Rodolphus said mildly.
Lucius helped himself to potatoes from the china bowl hovering before him and nodded his thanks to his wife as she set the bowl back in the middle of the table. "I didn't express myself clearly, Rodolphus. It is private Malfoy family business."
Luna barely heard the exchange, she placed her fork back on her plate and folded her shaking hands in her lap, her fingers gripping tightly to each other to try and keep herself steady. What in the name of all things magic had Draco done to render Theo's hand unusable? She hadn't looked too closely at what had gone on between Theo and Draco believing that Draco had simply….. simply what? Luna honestly couldn't say what she had believed to have taken place between them. She just hadn't thought about it, preferring to leave unpleasant things in a dark and dusty corner of her memory to be forgotten bout. After all, she had happier times ahead with the baby coming and she preferred to focus on that.
She suddenly felt extremely weary, and that was all. Everything else was numb. Draco, her Draco had done something that she couldn't even begin to comprehend. He had in effect tortured another human being, another wizard, a fellow school friend. Luna didn't know what to think or how to feel about it. She wanted to go somewhere quiet and think things through, but on the other hand she didn't really want to examine this new turn of events too closely; she had no idea what side of the fence she was going to come down on and that terrified her more than she could have imagined.
Yells and shouts from the foyer brought Luna out of her thoughts and she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her mind enough to catch up with the new situation. It became evident to her that she hadn't actually missed anything when Bellatrix said, "Oh what is going on now? I'll go and see to it." She stood up, a slender graceful figure in a figure hugging black dress and swept from the room.
Bellatrix strode into the foyer her face a thunderous scowl. "What the hell is going on out here?"
Wormtail looked over his shoulder at her and gestured towards the imposing figure of Greyback and the smaller, neater figure of Scabior. "Snatchers," he said simply.
"Why are they bringing the foul mudbloods here?" Bellatrix demanded.
"This one," Scabior jabbed at a girl with frizzy brown hair with a dirty finger nail. "She's friends with Potter, and this one here," he tapped a red headed boy who was bound with the others.
Bellarix moved forward, her keen eyes sweeping over the faces of Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. "Yes," she whispered, her eyes gleaming. "Yes they are. Where is Potter?"
She was greeted with a stony mutinous silence, but Bellatrix was not deterred. She stared closely at the pudgy face of a boy sandwiched between them, there was nothing spectacular about him, nothing stood out except for a mark on his forehead that was so squished by rolls of fat she was unsure as to whether it was anything other than a birth mark. Seizing Hermione by the hair Bellatrix used a little silver knife tucked into the top of her boot to cut the rope that bound her to the others and dragged her into the library. "Dungons for the others." She slammed the door behind her.
The rest of the diners had gone back to their food, and making small talk about the upcoming Christmas festivities. Luna could take no pleasure in any of the conversation she was too busy trying to reign her thoughts in and try to make some sort of sense of them all.
She jumped at the sudden sound of a painful scream; it filled the air, echoed in her ears and cut into the thin veil of inner calm she had left. Luna clenched her small hands on the end of the table until her knuckles turned white.
Making his way up from the cellar Wormtail sighed softly at all the noise. The girl was screaming a blue streak in the library and the boys were yelling like banshees down in the basement. He longed for the days of James, Sirius and Remus; life had been simpler then, before any talk of Death Eaters and war had come about.
He had just come abreast of the library door when it was flung open and Bellatrix stood in the doorway. She stood up to her full height and stared down at Wormtail, "Bring them to me."
Wormtail stilled the urge to punch her straight in the face. She had only just sent them all away!
Bellartix paused before turning back to the whimpering form of the girl on the floor. "Send for Draco."
Draco was interrupted from mindlessly chewing on his food when Wormtail shuffled into the dinning room. "Bellatrix wants you, Draco."
Draco scowled. "What now?"
"Potter."
The name brought a strained silence over the room. Luna's breath caught in the back of her throat and she prayed feverishly that Harry was not at Malfoy Manor. He couldn't be, it would be too dangerous for him, his life was on the line; and she, along with countless others were counting on him to lead them to victory over the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters.
Draco rose slowly from his seat, horrified when Luna also stood up. She was going to come with him! It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her no, that she wasn't to come along when he noticed that everyone else were on their feet too. He couldn't very well stop Luna now.
Headed by Draco, Rabasta, Narcissa, Rodolphus, Lucius and Luna followed Wormtail across the foyer and into the library where Greyback and Scabior were standing silent guard on either side of the door. Bellatrix was circling a group of youngsters muttering to herself and occasionally peering into the face of one of them, moving so close to him that their noses almost touched.
"Ah, Draco," Bellatrix turned to him with an indulgent smile. "Darling, come and see. Come and look. Tell Auntie Bellatrix if this is little Potter. Come, darling, come," she gestured with her fingers and a small shiver ran down Draco's spine. Somehow Bellatrix was scarier when she was being nice than when she was shouting and throwing spells around like a lunatic.
With the feeling of walking through water, Draco advanced on the little group sitting at Bellatrix feet. He immediately recognised Weasley and Granger, and he was slightly surprised to see Dean Thomas another Gryffidor bound to them as well and a strange looking little goblin.
Before he even looked at the boy his aunt was pointing at, Draco knew it would be Potter. It couldn't be anyone else. He stood before Potter, still as a marble statue and stared down into a face so swollen the boys glasses could hardly stay on.
Draco's heart plummeted to his toes. Harry sodding Potter stared back at him, a look of defiance and challenge in his emerald green eyes. Normally Draco would enjoy taking up any challenge that Potter offered him, but now all he wanted to do was escape. Potter was Luna's friend. He had been the only one to give her the time of day, make an effort with her and Draco knew it. For her to stand by and watch Potter be delivered into the Dark Lord's hands at her own husbands word would devastate her and it would destroy them. His actions would cripple their relationship and if he lived to be a hundred Draco knew he would never be able to make it up to her.
Faced with the choice of telling the truth or lying, Draco let his Slytherin mind flex as he tried to find a way out of the situation he was in.
He didn't have to look up to know that Luna had come to stand next to him. For one he could smell her, the faint hint of jasmine that came from her perfume tickled his senses. Secondly he could feel her, and thirdly it was the look in Potter's eyes when he shifted his gaze to focus a little to Draco's right. Draco remembered back to when he had mentally listed all of Potter's qualities and had admitted to himself that he and Potter were nothing alike at all, all the qualities that Luna admired in Potter were notably absent from him.
But he could show Luna now, he could show her that when it came right down to it, he could be a little like Potter; because Draco knew what Potter would do if the situation were reversed as well as he knew his own name. Almost like a comet spearing through his brain, realisation came to Draco. He would not loose Luna to Potter. He would not allow the ghost of Harry flaming Potter, the Chosen Tosser to come between him and Luna. Potter would not win this fight.
"I don't know," Draco said, his voice startlingly cold. "I don't think that it's him."
"Look closer, Draco," Bellatrix rested her hands on Draco's shoulders. Her hands were white and slender, the fingers long and thin and they reminded Draco of a spider. He suppressed a shudder.
"No. It's not him."
Luna released the quiet breath she hadn't even been aware she was holding and a small secret smile played at the corners of her lips. She had always believed that Draco was good deep down, that he had a conscious and would, when it came right down to it, do what was right. Naturally she wouldn't tell Draco that, it would make him mad.
"Are you sure? Are you quite sure?" Bellatrix was hounding Draco. "If we can deliver Potter to the Dark Lord…."
"I said it's not him," Draco interrupted.
Rodolphus sank down in a nearby chair, flinging his legs over the arm and surveyed the room with emotionless eyes. "If he says it's not Potter, leave the boy alone, Bella."
"Let Luna have a look, Bella. She is friends with Potter, she should know." Narcissa's voice sounded so very loud to Luna's ears.
Bellatrix turned suddenly to Luna, her cold hand wrapping around Luna's upper arm and hauling her closer to the swollen form of Harry Potter. "Take a good look my sweetheart, a good look," Bellatrix cooed softly, drawing her fingers through Luna's long hair.
Rodolphus swung himself to his feet and moved to the opposite wall where he would have a good look at Luna. Her shoulders were drawn back and her back was straight, her chin tilted slightly at a defiant angle. Rodolphus watched carefully as Luna turned her usually dreamy gaze onto the boy in question. She stared at him long and hard, giving the impression of studying the face intently; but Rodolphus knew that Luna had no need to look for more than a brief glance. He'd bet his life that the boy was Harry Potter. Just why his nephew had suddenly gone and grown a pair of balls Rodolphus could only guess at, and he would guess it had something to do with the young girl who was currently lying to his wife in such sweet, soft tones that Bellatrix would never believe the girl spoke anything other than the truth.
"Draco's right, Bellatrix, it's not Harry."
"Be sure now, sweetheart," Bellatrix wheedled.
"I am sure," Luna said softly. "I'd know Harry anywhere, no-one has eyes like Harry. This is not Harry Potter."
"Then he must be in hiding," Rabasta spoke up. "The snivelling coward has run, he's left his mudblood friends to face the wrath of the Dark Lord without him. Yellow. That's all Potter is! Gryffindor my ass!"
The sudden crack and spear of white light that illuminated the room took them all by surprise and everyone stared around at everyone else. Finally, Bellatrix looked up and gaped like a fish out of water as she spotted a house elf perched on the chandelier.
"What?" Rabasta's puzzled voice broke the silence.
"Dobby come to help." The elf said, dropping nimbly down to the floor beside Harry and the others. "Come to free the friends of Harry Potter."
"Like hell," Rabasta came to his senses quickly and brandished his wand just as Bellatrix sent a spell hurtling towards Dobby who used his own brand of magic to deflect the spell and send Bellatrix sprawling across the floor.
Pandemonium broke out in the library. The Malfoy's and the Lestranges headed by Bellatrix's inhuman shriek's sent spell's flying through the air as they attempted to stop the house elf in helping the captives.
Hermione who was now freed from the ropes snatched up Bellatrix wand and sent a stunning spell in Rabasta's direction. Dobby had managed to free Harry, Ron and Dean and Luna was shoved out of the way by Rodolphus of Lucius spell that had gone wide. She fell sideward in an inelegant heap on the floor, knocking her head painfully against the shining wooden floor boards.
Draco cursed loudly and struggled irritably against his mother's hold. She had managed to get a firm grip on his arms when the fight had broke out and was pulling him backwards to kneel behind a chair out of harms way. He yanked himself free with a rather forceful move which brought Narcissa onto her hands and knees. Draco's wand went flying out of his hand and scuttled across the floor. Diving after it, Draco was furious when Potter's hand clamped around it at the same time. Draco pulled and Potter pulled and Draco cursed again. "Let go you moron!"
Harry needed the wand more than Draco did and with one final yank and a left hook that Draco didn't see coming, Harry had possession of the wand.
"Hurry, Harry!" Hermione's voice broke through the turbulence that was now the Malfoy's library and Harry pushed himself across the floor in what he thought was a pretty good imitation of James Bond or Tom Cruise or someone equally as cool as he slid across the smooth floor on this stomach.
Dean, Ron and Hermione were all linked to each other with hands and arms and legs and Dean was hanging on to Dobby for dear life. Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and held tightly and just as Harry experienced the familiar squeezed –through-a-tube feeling, he heard Bellatrix screaming bloody murder and hurling something in their direction. Harry didn't have time to think about it or worry about Bellatrix, he reached out and took a firm hold of Luna's ankle.
"NO!" Harry heard Draco's scream and had enough sense to wonder what the hell he was doing, but not enough time to think his decision through as the library, the destruction and Draco's horrified face were gone.
