Revelations-1-

Ginny found Leo and Blaise at the entrance of the Dining Hall, overlooking the eerie, electric stillness of the breakfasting witches and wizards. Hushed whispers traveled thickly in the air, as though on a wavelength of their own, all eyes riveted on the Slytherin table. A dollish Ravenclaw was sitting beside the Slytherin icon, molding against him, inexplicably close, laughing and nibbling at the edge of her spoon.

'This atmosphere is dense enough to suffocate someone,' Blaise remarked. He scoffed, elbowing Cavarpin and pointing at the Gryffy table. 'Look at their faces. Looks like the news got around.'

Indeed, around the news got.

The Gryffindors present at Harry's meeting had set fire to their common room with the wild news last night, with a sleepless Ginny presiding the discussions (it was all she could do not walk in on Luna and Malfoy in the middle of the night like a thief and demand they quenched her thirst for DETAILS. Had she she known where the newlywed wing was located…)

All the disbelievers who had dismissed the news as some tasteless prank were now staring at the couple, loose-jawed.

Ginny wondered how she was going to get Luna to her table so that they could begin the talking; she had barely slept waiting for this, imagining shameless scenarios, tossing and turning, her occasional shrieks jerking her roommates awake until a couple of pillows were thrown her way. Leo had told her not to fuss about it, but Leo didn't have her appreciation of what went on in the outrageous world of newlywed romance novels, and her head was a full-fledged bibliotheca. She couldn't believe the times she had made mental lists of eligible partners for Luna, out of charity. Never in her life had she imagined pairing her with a Slytherin, let alone THE Slytherin. She clearly didn't know her bestie as much as she'd imagined. Neither did she know Malfoy. The guy could clearly have had any girl he wanted, she'd mulled in the dark of her dorm, even the Greengrass beauty. And…well…she supposed it wasn't just because of his name and fortune. He was clearly easy on the eye, even she could admit to that; but disliking him was the Gryffindor thing to do. He chose her friend, though, her innocent, sweet friend…all his now…oh…was he the domineering type…would he make her uncomfortable…and ask for 'favors' all the time? Ginny had read all about it, but Luna must have been clueless. Would she be able to handle it? Oh no, she was so soft and tempered. Someone as hot-blooded as Malfoy would easily overpower her…she squished her cheeks together with a soundless gasp…while she was at Zabini's enjoying his mother's heavenly cooking and pretending to fight with Leo because she hated how fun he was to be around, Luna had been with Malfoy…married…at his complete mercy…Ginny blushed, looking at Luna from where she sat, positively glowing…she must have discovered the throes of passion at his hands…had they already been there?! Last night, the way he looked at her, the wolfish hunger…!

Ginny's inappropriate line of thoughts was about to culminate into a nosebleed when Leo snapped his fingers in her face. Had he guessed what she was thinking about again?!

Dumbledore cleared his throat as he drew to his lectern.

'Attention, young witches and wizards. I hope your holiday has been enjoyable. Welcome back to the safety and security of Hogwarts. And as we are on the topic of enjoyable matters, I would like to announce, with my warm congratulations, the recent wedding of Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood, now Malfoy.'

The hall glitched.

A few hollered, elongated expressions of surprise (mostly "WHAAAAAAAAAT") were heard.

'No, that won't do.' Dumbledore laughed. 'I suppose you are surprised, but do give your congratulations, weddings are happy occasions, yes?' The headmaster retreated to his seat to slice through a treacle tart with gusto.

'I beg to differ, Headmaster Dumbledore,' went up a voice down the Slytherin table. 'There is nothing to celebrate if the wedded are so ill-matched!'

Draco looked to his left, down a few heads. Greengrass raised her chin up defiantly.

'Ill-matched?!' Ginny yelled, tramping up to the Slytherin table, right in front of Luna and Draco, before Leo and Blaise could catch up. 'I'll have you know that Luna is the best match possible for any wizard in the history of ever!'

'She's a home wrecker!' Daphne spat. 'Hey Draco, did you knock her up or something?'

'Language, Miss Greengrass!' Snape hissed from the professors' platform.

'The only thing that's wrecked to hell and back is your mouth,' Draco snarled, 'judging my marriage is eons above you. If you continue your provocation, I will take it personally.' He nodded negligently toward Neville. 'Ask Longbottom.'

'Hooo!' Blaise clapped, slapping Leo's shoulder. 'He pulled out the inside joke!'

Neville, lost in a maze of disbelief at the news, gulped, sweaty, panicking. Then, in a rage, he rose to his feet and pointed angrily at Draco.

'Listen, Malfoy, Greengrass is right! You have done something to Luna Lovegood! She can't possibly want to marry you! As though anyone in their right mind would!'

'I did want to, Neville,' Luna smiled. 'Very much.'

'He will make you miserable, Luna!'

McGonagall rose to intervene, but Dumbledore gave her a stilling look.

'As if!' Ginny said, snapping her fingers sassily, 'Neville, you're my friend, but you're really daft. Can't you see they look amazing together? Like fire and ice, like…the hot sun and the cool moon!'

Her last statement burst out like an epiphany. Of course, Ginny realized! If she ever wrote a novel investigating their relationship (or perhaps when would be more accurate. Is this fic written by Ginny? Is Lightwright Ginny?!) her title would be just that; Moon and Sun. How about in Italian? Leo—Leonardo Cavarpin, of Italian descent—had taught her how to say a few words. It would be…Luna e Sol.

Definitely.

'Hot sun…? When did you tip in my favor Weasly? I thought I turned people to stone.' Draco commented quietly. Luna laughed, reaching forth from her seat near the edge of the table to grab her friend's hand and give it a grateful squeeze.

'Aha...haha…I thought you didn't hear anything…' Ginny tittered, dismissing her past slips with a wave of the hand.

Hermione stepped inside the dining hall at that moment, her face stuck in a book; her defense mechanism against life and its unwanted surprises. Hermione despised surprises. The first person to ever think of surprising her would feel her wrath! Calm down, Rin—she meant Hermione. Your younger, slightly eccentric friend got married to your sworn nemesis? Nothing an encyclopedia on Wizarding history, volume 8, wouldn't solve…everything was under control. She glanced up and quickly halted before she crashed into Blaise, who had moved to stand up in front of her, studying her carefully.

'Are you all right?'

'I'm fine,' Hermione said mechanically. She pulled down her book, noticing the charged atmosphere.

'This isn't over…' Greengrass said quietly, getting up and brushing Hermione's shoulder as she stormed outside, followed closely by Pansy Parkinson.

'Well, that's that, go back to your plates!' McGonagall said finally.

The students resumed their breakfast distractedly, glancing up from time to time from their plates to make sure they hadn't dreamed up the whole thing.

'Sit down, Ginny, I've saved you some brownies.' Luna said, pulling her around the table corner to the seat at the very edge.

'Me at the Slytherin table?!' Ginny gasped.

'Look at you, miss Worldwide,' Leo joked, taking his seat next to Draco.

'Oh…I suppose I could…' Ginny toyed with her hair, sitting down gingerly by her friend. 'Just for a second…a historical second…'

'Come on,' Blaise said, inviting Hermione, 'Crabbe and Goyle are oversleeping, let's take their seats.'

'Nope,' Hemione refused squarely. 'I'll be at my own table, thank you very much.'

'I'll follow you there then. You can't get rid of me, Rin Rin.'

'You know what, I'm not even hungry.' Hermione said. She threw Luna a quick blank look before turning around and leaving the dining hall.

'Well,' Blaise rubbed his neck, sitting next to Leo, 'I guess Rin Rin is still uneasy about this.'

'Hope it's not a general adversity toward commitment, Zabini, or you might be left heartbroken from this whole affair.' Leo laughed.

'Nah, it's just too sudden for her. Rin is a very rational thinker, she needs to plan everything to a T, any upset takes her a while to get used to. And this is pretty big. To be frank, I'm still wrapping my head around it myself.'

'Yeah, same,' Leo said, 'only Ginny seems to be oddly excited about this.'

'Hey,' Ginny said, helping herself freely from Luna's plate, 'you can't stop me from being my authentic self! I have no idea why I'm excited when I should be upset, but that's how it is awkey?'

'Awright,' Leo mocked, earning a pulled tongue from Ginny. 'Charming.'

'So, er, Luna…could we, like, miss transfiguration? Just this once?' Ginny begged.

'Hmm? Whatever for, Ginny?' Luna asked.

'To talk!' she hissed. 'I said I want details and I'm getting them. That's my only condition if you don't want me to go back to sulking and being mad at you, though I'm too excited to pretend to be mad ugh… I'm an emotional wreck…'

'Look, Ginny,' Luna said, looking at the Gryffindor table. 'I think Harry wants to speak to you.'

'Oh! He's calling me! But…'

'It's all right love, we'll talk later. Go on.'

'Okay…' she said, moving away reluctantly. Leo fixed her back silently.

'She has a thing for Potter, doesn't she,' he smiled, throwing a piece of corn in his mouth. 'So predictable.'

'She might surprise you.' Luna said quietly. Leo's smile disappeared.

She was walking back toward them.

'Er...here.' She slid a piece of paper across the table in front of Draco.

He picked it up, reading quietly. Harry looked at him expectantly from the opposite side of the hall. Draco nodded in agreement.

Tonks said OK. Meet her at Hogsmeade this afternoon, 4 p.m. inside the abandoned building, The Shrieking Shack.

'I'll walk you to class,' Draco said to Luna, scrunching the paper in his fist.


The chatter in McGonagall's class was unrelenting. In the face of gossip, her menacing tones and her best glower fell pitifully short.

'Oh for Goodness sake, yes, your classmate is married, now change that quill back into a rat!'

Not all the rats made it back safely.

Ginny had behaved herself; not one whisper, not one word. She had absolutely loved tracking Luna as Malfoy escorted her to class, and, watching him smile at her before he left gave her a hint that deeper things were happening than any public display of affection could have. Now she would attack; follow Luna to her new room in the hour before lunch, and assail her with all the juicy questions she could think of. She grinned in anticipation. They were multiple and varied.

It was an easy enough, foolproof plan!

Ginny could not believe her luck when, as soon as they stepped out, Luna met Snape in the corridor and excused herself to ask about her pendent.

What about it? Ginny thought peevishly. It was a lovely purple.

'Come in, Miss…Malfoy.' Severus said, welcoming Luna inside his office. 'It is good you have come to see me, I was meaning to have a word with you.'

'In that case I will listen to you first, Professor.' Luna said.

'Well, sit. Tell me, what do you know about Optima?'

'Draco told me what he'd heard from his family and Leus…the man we mentioned the other day.'

'The Egyptian descendent of the Spirit People?'

'Yes, quite. That's him.'

'And did he cooperate?'

'He did,' Luna smiled, 'he is a kind man. I'd very much like to seek your advice to make better potions for his seizures at a later time.'

'I suppose that is good. But do you know the dangers of this potion, Luna?'

'Dangers?'

'Yes. Dangers. Terrible dangers. If not, you must be warned before you even complete your collection of ingredients.'

'No…I am not aware of these dangers, Professor. Isn't it meant to magnify strength of body and magic?'

'It does, and to do so, it exhausts the life of the taker quicker. It can be consumed periodically, in times of war, for instance, but it needs an antidote; a clarifying element strong enough to absorb…Luna, you look pale. Is everything all right?'

Luna felt the room begin to spin. A budding fear ignited in the pit of her stomach.

'…Professor…how does…how does one die from Optima?'

Before Snape could answer, a dark voice answered in her mind.

They die the way your mother died.

Luna clamped her hand over her mouth. Why were her eyes flowing with tears all of a sudden?

Can't you see it, Luna? Why would a healthy woman collapse in front of her cauldron? She must have had all the ingredients, she must have taken it herself, and tried to make a Filter potion to save herself from a slow demise…It took ten years, but it finally killed her. You were there, you saw it.

'No…' Luna shook her head, shaken with uncontrollable tremors.

Yes, Luna. One notebook was for the poison, the other she wanted you to have was for the cure.

'Impossible…' she sobbed, tears streaking down her cheeks. 'Im…'

Oh, having doubts, now? Didn't Rodolphus remind the Malfoys of "Pandora's sacrifice" the night he asked you to marry Draco? He knew…HE KNEW!

'Why?' Luna cried brokenly, her hand trembling over her mouth, the room and everything in it melting in a tearful blur.

'Luna? Luna! What is the matter?!' Snape yelled, hurrying to her side. 'Should I take you to Madame Pomfrey?'

The dark shape of her professor shifted in front of her, she barely felt his cold hand on her forehead. Her heart felt like it was being torn to shreds; she suddenly couldn't breathe. She grasped Snape's robes with a feeble hand. 'Dra…' Her voice died as her eyes fluttered shut, her head dipping back slowly.

'Luna!'

Cursing under his breath, Snape lifted her up and carried her outside of his office, only to find Draco walking down the corridor in their direction.

Seeing Luna unconscious in his godfather's arms unleashed a dread within him that went beyond his capacity to describe. In a breathless heartbeat, he found himself rushing to her, taking her from the potions master.

'What happened?!' Draco growled at Snape. 'Luna…' he said softly, feeling her temperature with his lips, then looking up darkly at his professor, 'what the hell happened to my wife, Snape?!'

'I haven't the foggiest. Hospital wing, now,' Snape said, leading the way, 'and don't apparate, she's too weak. I know a shortcut.'

Draco followed him through the narrow corridor hidden behind an alcove, keeping a close eye on Luna, watching for a movement, his chest clenching excruciatingly when a tear rolled from her lashes.

Upon reaching the hospital wing, Pomfrey immediately showed them to the nearest bed and began her routine auscultation on the unconscious witch.

'Has she been exposed to any strong shock?' She asked knowingly.

Draco looked at Snape expectantly.

'It would seem so, yes, though I cannot say why.'

'You cannot say why?! She was in your office!' Draco flared.

'Calm down, Draco. We shall know when she wakes up. Everything else is regular?' Snape asked the healer.

'Why, yes,' Pomfrey sighed, clenching her apron; an old reflex that followed after every check-up. 'Take her to her room, she must not be disturbed until she wakes up naturally. Give her this potion if she needs it.'

'I will show you the passage nearest here to the newlywed wing,' Snape said, 'better avoid being seen after this morning's dining hall theatrics.'

'Do I look like I care about that right now?' Draco said heatedly. His wife was unconscious in his arms, he couldn't see her pretty eyes. The entire school could burn for all he cared.