There was no tea and small talk this time. There was hardly any talk at all, unless Bellatrix's wild keening counted as speech. She wailed and hollered and dug her nails into the doorframe when Narcissa tried to usher her through the door. Eventually Narcissa lost patience and slapped her sister across the face, which quieted Bellatrix long enough for Draco to wrestle her wand from her pocket.
It was a savage, inelegant display, thoroughly unlike how the Malfoys and the Blacks usually comported themselves, at least in public. Luna watched in stunned silence as Narcissa levitated Bellatrix kicking and thrashing up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms, slamming the door shut behind them. That at least muffled the screaming somewhat, though it was still some time until the shrieks quieted into sobs and eventually moans.
Draco collapsed panting onto the sofa and dropped his aunt's wand on the coffee table. He took one shoe off, then the other, kicking them into the corner without ceremony.
"Er, what was that?" Luna asked. One of her cousin's shoes landed quite near where she was standing and she nudged it further away in distaste.
"We didn't have anywhere else to bring her," Draco shrugged, his voice muffled. He cradled his head in his hands as if nursing a headache, or perhaps anticipating the onset of one.
"She's not...you don't think she can stay here, do you?"
"I thought you knew? Do you have any biscuits, by the way?"
"How was I supposed to know? You kept saying you were on the verge of a breakthrough and it was a delicate thing - I thought you were going to steal the...you know, the thing ." One could never be too careful, even in the supposed privacy of one's own home.
"Steal it? You're such a droll little thing!" Draco chortled, "No, no, Mother's been working her for months. The baby was just the final straw. Auntie Bella kept saying the Dark Lord would never hurt his own child, but I think deep down she knew that wasn't true, or she wouldn't have been hiding it from him for months. He only found out today, and he was furious. Auntie Bella was scared enough that she agreed to leave, and we knew we had to move quickly. Mother said she'd change her mind again, and she was right." Draco lifted his chin in the direction of the ceiling, where muffled sobs and thumps could still be heard. His knowing smirk signaled that he knew his mother was usually right about these things.
"Wait, what? She's carrying the Dark Lord's child?" Luna gasped.
"Yes, obviously. Who else's would it be?" Draco's voice was practically syrupy with condescension, so Luna did not dare bring up the fact that Bellatrix was in fact married to someone other than the Dark Lord. Draco would only mock her for being childish.
"Well, it's news to me. I suppose I have a lot to learn."
"That's one way of putting it, Lovegood. Now how about those biscuits?"
Luna and Draco polished off the entire box of biscuits while they waited. Sometimes they talked about the horcruxes or Occlumency, but mostly they sat in silence. The shadows crept along the wall of the front room as the clock struck a new hour, then another. And still Bellatrix wept. Draco began pestering Luna about dinner, and still their aunt wailed upstairs, apparently trying to convince Narcissa to allow her to return to the Dark Lord. Luna was supposed to be practicing Hogarth's construct, but she kept losing her focus, alternating between snapping at her cousin and gnawing on her fingernails.
Finally Narcissa emerged, equally unconcerned that she had brought her Death Eater sister who was pregnant with the Dark Lord's child into Luna's home unannounced. If Luna wanted another horcrux, then she would need to provide Bellatrix shelter, and that was all Narcissa had to say about it. It was non-negotiable.
If Luna couldn't negotiate Bellatrix's presence, she would insist on setting the terms. Her first demand was that Bellatrix not be allowed to stay at the Rook. The mere idea of hosting a convicted murderer in her father's house made her skin crawl with shame. Narcissa only raised her eyebrows and shrugged. It didn't particularly matter to her where her sister stayed, so long as she was safe. Though she reminded Luna that if she felt so strongly about it, she'd have to tell the others at the Circle soon. Today. Now. Narcissa had no objections, if Luna was sure she wanted to do that...
Luna wasn't at all sure, but she felt she had no choice.
Cressida flinched when Luna told her the news. Then she burst into tears.
"I should have known! I should have forbidden you from seeing that woman. What was I thinking? I wasn't thinking, of course, I can barely think straight ever since your father… They haven't enchanted you, have they? Poisoned you?" she began poking and prodding her daughter, peering into Luna's eyes in the hope that if she squinted hard enough, she might find the source of the betrayal.
"Mum, stop! No one poisoned me. Narcissa just turned up with her. I had no idea, I swear."
"Does my sister think we're some kind of halfway house for reformed Death Eaters?" Cressida scoffed. She dabbed tears away from the corners of her eyes, but her voice was so hard and sharp it could cut diamonds.
"She's not reformed, I won't pretend she is. She's pregnant with the Dark Lord's child."
"Good goddess. Of course she is. Bella was always a fool. I knew it would get her killed one day, but this is truly first class, even for her. Did you know, when we were little girls..."
"But most importantly," Luna interrupted her mother before she could descend irrevocably into one of her spirals of negativity, "she has a horcrux. Narcissa thinks she can be convinced to give it to us. It's a delicate thing, though. We'll catch more flies with honey than we will with vinegar. I think if we let her live at the Circle, showed her that she and the baby can be safe away from the Dark Lord, it would go a long way. " She could hear herself parroting Narcissa's words just like Draco always did, and hated herself for it.
"I just can't believe...after how I was raised, and how your father and I tried to raise you…" The edge of anger and resentment in Cressida's voice lingered when she turned to face her daughter. An accusation. Luna bristled.
"After how you raised me? You raised me to do whatever it took to make the prophecy come true! To lie, to steal, to manipulate. How dare you..."
"I think that's quite enough."
"No, I'm not done. How dare you act all shocked and self-righteous when I do exactly what you taught me to do? By any means necessary, that's what you told me! Do you remember when you told me that what I want doesn't matter? That I always have to come second, because I'm not what's important?"
"That was completely different! And you've twisted my words! That's not what I said."
"You said we all have to do things we don't want to do sometimes, but it's our job to make sure the prophecy comes to pass. So why does it matter what you want?" Luna hissed. The venom she heard in her own voice frightened her. If she stayed a moment longer, she worried she was going to slap her mother. So she ran out of the room, out of the building, out beyond the Circle perimeter. It did not matter where she was running, as long as she ran far away, far enough to leave everything behind.
Luna ran through the fields until her muscles ached and her lungs burned, and then she kept on running. She wanted to scream herself hoarse, or sleep for a hundred years, or break every dish in the Circle's kitchen, or throttle one of Mrs. Brown's dueling dummies until it shattered into a million pieces. But to do any of that she would need to stop running. And if she stopped running, her thoughts might catch up with her.
Eventually she collapsed in a meadow. It was pitch black apart from the light from the stars and a sliver of the moon. Luna had left her wand and blood knife behind at the Circle. She had no idea where she was; she guessed miles and miles away. The spring air still had an icy bite to it, and she shivered. She could try to find her way back, she supposed. Narcissa would be waiting for word from Luna before bringing Bellatrix to the Circle. But it was so cold, and Luna was so tired. Perhaps she should rest for a few minutes before trying to find her way home. She settled in the wide, semi-secluded hollow of a large tree and hugged herself for warmth. Her eyes fluttered shut.
A twig snapped somewhere nearby. Luna jolted awake, her eyes scanning the meadow for any sign of intruders. If the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were looking for Bellatrix, they would not make their presence known unless they wished to, in which case Luna was already as good as dead. Her heart thudded in her breast, so loud and fast that she swore she could see it pulsing faintly through the pale, goose-pimpled flesh of her chest.
Luna spent several minutes paralyzed by powerlessness and paranoia, waiting for her imminent death. When it was not forthcoming, her breathing gradually slowed and she forced herself to take stock of the situation more objectively. She might not have a wand, but she always carried the raw material of her magic with her, coursing through her veins. Luna dug into the soft flesh of her forearm with her canines until she drew blood, sprinkling drops in a rough circle around herself. It smoked slightly as it mixed with the earth and stained the roots of the tree.
It was not Mrs. Brown's beautiful, elegant runes or Tonks's elaborate scheme of overlapping shield charms, but it was something. If nothing else, it gave her peace of mind. Luna fell asleep clutching her sore, stinging arm.
A conspiracy of ravens descended from the sky. They surrounded her, touching down on the ground and ruffling their sleek, shiny wings in a restless, whispering sort of silence. One of them, smaller than the others, flew up to Luna and landed on the bare skin of her arm. The flesh there was pristine and creamy white, not criss-crossed with scars or the fresh wounds of her tooth marks.
The raven opened her mouth - for Luna could tell, somehow, that it was a female - and let out a gurgling croak. She coughed again, an unnatural wheezing sound, and something narrow and shiny slipped silently and smoothly from her beak. Luna caught it instinctively before it could fall to the ground and held it up to inspect it. It was a vial of dark liquid, identical to the one that held the mingled blood of all the women of the Circle, the one they brought out for first bleeding ceremonies.
Luna was about to unstopper it to examine its contents more closely, but the glass grew hot in her hands. The other ravens began squawking madly, some running in circles restlessly as if trying to take flight. But Luna's raven squawked and beat her wings at them. That seemed to silence them, though Luna couldn't understand why. They had all flown apparently without effort or hindrance mere minutes before.
The glass was becoming too hot to hold now, the blood within a deep pomegranate color and shining like a jewel. Luna dropped it to the ground moments before it exploded, spraying blood and shards of glass like shrapnel. The ravens dissolved into black mist while Luna screamed and screamed.
Luna awoke with a start, her mouth still open in a silent scream. For a moment she did not remember where she was or why her fingers were caked in soil and dried blood. A cursory glance around the meadow reassured her that although there was birdsong, there were neither ravens nor Death Eaters in sight. As her breathing slowed she was able to take in her surroundings properly, and she remembered running away and the meadow and the crude attempt at a basic blood ward. She must have fallen asleep in the hollow of the tree.
There also didn't seem to be any glass, so her memory about the raven coughing up a vial of blood must have been a dream, a prophecy. But what might it mean? Joanie was supposed to have her first bleeding ceremony that day, she supposed. Was it an ill omen for poor Joanie, who was so anxious for the rites to go well? Perhaps, but it could just as easily portend something else entirely - some small event that was utterly insignificant, or else something that would never come to pass at all. Luna reflected, not for the first time, that prophecies were often more trouble than they were worth.
Luna's musings were interrupted by her stomach rumbling. It felt like she had been sleeping for days, but the sun was still quite far east in the sky. It must be mid-morning at the latest. Her bones creaked in protest as she untangled her limbs and stretched. Luna dug a hole in the ground and buried the blood-stained earth, careful to conceal the freshly churned dirt with leaves and a few twigs. One could never be too careful, especially where one's blood was concerned.
Keeping an eye on the sun, Luna set off in the direction she guessed she had come from the previous night. In the bright light of day it was easier to find her way again; she only had to wander for a few minutes before finding her way to familiar landmarks. A dusting of early bluebells were making themselves known in paths and fields along the way, and Luna stopped to admire their temerity, insisting on blooming in the tapering tail of winter when the world did not quite seem ready for them. She plucked one and tucked it behind her ear, turning her face to take in the meager light offered by the pale spring sun. It was a beautiful morning and Luna felt surprisingly cheerful and well-rested considering she had slept outdoors on the bare ground. Her anger about the argument with her mother had evaporated like the morning dew, as it so often did with time and space.
She wasn't yet within sight of the Circle when Luna heard the others calling for her. Most of them had been out most of the night looking for her, frantic with worry. Ginny nearly slapped Luna across the face when she saw her come humming down the lane with a bluebell tucked in her hair. But somehow Ginny managed to restrain herself, contenting herself with gripping Luna by the shoulders and frogmarching her back to the chapter house, haranguing her all the way.
"How could you be so stupid? Going out beyond the perimeter at night without any protection? When there were Death Eaters or God knows what afoot! And inviting Death Eaters here, to our Circle, before buggering off. They could have attacked us! They could have gone after you! Merlin, Luna, we all know you're a bit soft in the head but this is something else."
Luna bowed her head and endured the lecture in shame-faced silence.
Cressida instantly dissolved into tears when she laid eyes on her daughter, muddy but otherwise unharmed. But the mother and daughter's reunion was marred by Luna's incredulity at the sight of Narcissa, Draco, and Bellatrix sitting beside her mother with teacups and saucers rather than raised wands and shouted curses.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Cressida wept. "You were right. Can you forgive me? Please don't run away again, I promise I'll try to be better."
"Shh, it's okay, Mum," Luna said, patting her mother's back as Cressida buried her face in Luna's matted, leaf-infested hair. She was too shocked by the sudden appearance of Narcissa, Draco, and Bellatrix to say much else.
"But you're right! I'm a hypocrite!" Cressida wailed.
"We can talk about it later," Luna waved away her mother's apologies and turned to face Narcissa and Draco, who were sipping their tea as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Narcissa had a protective hand rested near her sister's elbow with artful nonchalance, the only sign that Luna had not imagined the last twenty-four hours.
"Hello, Luna," Narcissa said with a nod and a tight smile, "I'm glad you seem to have returned from your misadventure unharmed."
"Apart from the smell," Draco snorted, only pretending to conceal the jab under his breath. Luna made a face at him and turned to have her first proper look at Bellatrix. Her other aunt finally seemed to have quieted. She sat in a chair with her head bowed low, apparently fascinated by her fingernails or the grain of the wooden table.
It was still uncomfortable for Luna to look directly at her; the resemblance to Aunt Andie was eerie, except for a dark glint in her eyes and the Dark Lord's child in her belly. For all the stories Luna had heard about her infamous aunt, she was surprised by how fragile she seemed, like a child. Repulsed though Luna was, she could not shake the image of a small dark-haired girl rejected by her parents, competing with her sisters for their attention, desperate to please them.
Apparently a miracle had been wrought in the night. Narcissa must have taken things into her own hands after Luna failed to return to the Rook and brought Bellatrix to the Circle directly. The inevitably explosive argument of their arrival had been forestalled, however, in the immediate crisis of Luna's disappearance. But now that the raven queen was returned safe and sound, there would be questions. Even as she stood hugging her mother's trembling form, Luna saw questioning glances from Ginny, Lavender, Mrs. Brown, Tonks, Professor McGonagall, and the others. Did she really expect them to tolerate the presence of Death Eaters at the Circle of Peloresow, much less offer them shelter?
But any attempt to explain or excuse was doomed to fail. She could see that for many of them, the previous night's wobbly truce hardly stood up to the harsh light of day. No, if she tried to reason with them, she would be admitting defeat from the off. None of it stood to reason, not at all. She would need to appeal to something deeper than reason, deeper than her own doubt and revulsion. Apparently they all thought she was barmy, soft in the head, Ginny had said. Well, fine. She'd show them how soft in the head she could be. She'd cloak her plan in mystical drivel until they were too bewildered to argue, swept away in the current of her certainty.
"I'm so pleased to see everything is as it should be," she said, nodding to the Death Eater contingent. Draco opened his mouth to protest, but glares from Luna and Narcissa made him turn his groan into an unconvincing fake cough.
"Yes, cooperation is at the heart of the Circle of Peloresow," Luna continued, trying to make her voice high and airy and utterly without artifice or strain, "And cooperation with Narcissa, Draco, and Bellatrix will be important in the coming weeks. The future of the Circle is at stake, indeed the future of magic in Britain."
"But Luna," Caroline whined, her voice pinched and nasal with anxiety, "What do you mean? What's going to happen? Tell us !" None of the others chided her for her whinging, not even Ginny, because they too wanted to know.
"I've Seen something of what's coming. It won't be a battle, but it will be a...confrontation with the Dark Lord. Draco, Narcissa, and Bellatrix can help us. The Dark Lord has entrusted them with very important things that we can use to...take away some of his power, I suppose. It will happen at Hogwarts at the end of June. And if we want to have a chance in hell of pulling it off, we need them. Whether we like it or not."
"You've Seen this? You've had a prophecy?" Lavender prodded, always hungry for prophecies.
"Not one prophecy that paints a complete picture, just lots of little glimpses. I'm still not quite sure what exactly might happen. But yes," Luna said. It wasn't a lie, not really. Not totally.
The others glanced at one another, clearly wondering if they wanted to endanger the Circle and the mission to defeat Voldemort by voicing their doubts. Before they could decide, Luna spoke again.
"But look at the time! Joanie, you should be getting ready! We can talk about this later." That set the others to checking their watches and bustling like bees to prepare for the first bleeding ceremony. Soon enough the crowd had dispersed, until the only people left in the room were Narcissa, Draco, Bellatrix, and Luna.
"Masterfully done," Narcissa said with a small smile of approval, and Luna's chest swelled with pride. She thought so, too.
There was much to be done in just a few short hours: the milk to be fetched fresh from a local farm and the bread to be baked, the field to be decorated in garlands and fragrant herbs and flowers, the cauldron and blood to be prepared, Joanie to be dressed and have her hair plaited and generally fussed over. Ginny volunteered to weave the garland and before she could protest, Luna insisted on helping. Ginny only pursed her lips and stormed off in the direction of the field.
Luna went to fetch her sunhat and jogged to catch up to Ginny, who was striding ahead, her arms stuffed with vines and flowers.
"Alright?" Luna asked, reaching to grab one of the plants that was nearly dragging on the ground.
"I've got it, thanks," Ginny said, yanking the leaves out of Luna's grasp.
"Suit yourself," Luna shrugged, falling back a few paces. She knew from experience that trying to talk to an ornery, intractable Ginny often only made things worse. Better to keep your distance until Ginny decided she was ready to talk. But Ginny surprised her by slowing her pace to match Luna's.
"You could have told me, you know. You should have told me. If we're supposed to be...I mean, I thought..." Ginny trailed off, flushing and biting her lip.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just thought I was your best friend, if nothing else."
"You are my best friend! I wish I could have told you. I'm sorry." Luna kicked a pebble with her shoe.
"It's not like I would have told anyone! Is that it, you think you can't trust me?"
"No, of course not! Look, it's just..."
"Then what?" Ginny interrupted her. There was a sharpness to her voice, but beneath the fierceness there was a tremor.
"It's dangerous, okay? Knowing what I know. Narcissa told me that even thinking about it puts me in danger, much less speaking it out loud. Everyone who knows can get killed. I was trying to protect you. I'm not kidding, Gin. This stuff is pretty grim. The less people who know, the better for everyone."
"I guess that sounds awfully lonely. Keeping that secret. And scary," Ginny said with an airy sniff. She was still looking with great determination at the bundle of plants in her arms, at her feet, anywhere but at Luna.
"Well, I get on," Luna said with a shrug, fearing a trap. She didn't want Ginny to think she was fishing for pity.
"But what if I want to know? What if I want to be put in danger?"
"Ginny, it's not some thrilling thing like your Quid stunts. Being in this sort of danger isn't fun!"
"I didn't say it was. But maybe the more people who know, the safer we'd be, so we can protect each other. What does Narcissa know about all that, anyway? From what you say she only cares about her and Draco. The rest of us could rot for all she cares."
"I dunno, Gin. I couldn't forgive myself if something were to happen…"
"The Dark Lord is going to do what he's going to do, regardless of what you or me or anyone else does. My mum always says if you have a burden, share it," Ginny said, sitting down and passing half the garlands to Luna.
" Many hands make little work, " they said in unison, giggling. They had probably heard Mrs. Weasley recite that truism at least thrice a day for over a decade.
"Here, let's weave these two together. Once we see how long it is we can decide how to space the herbs and all the flowers," Luna suggested, laying out her half of the greenery.
"No more secrets?" Ginny asked, bumping her shoulder against Luna's.
"No more secrets." Luna agreed. She smiled and rested her head against Ginny's shoulder.
The sun was setting later and later every day, and it was nearly nine o'clock by the time the sky was dark enough for them to set out for the ritual. Narcissa had left to bring Draco back to Hogwarts with some invented excuse about an illness in the family, and did not return in time for the ceremony. They had all agreed that Bellatrix could not be left alone, and they didn't dream of asking Dexter and Jeremy to babysit her. So she trailed behind the party at a suitable distance, content to be ignored so long as she could ignore them in turn.
Bellatrix didn't have to be told that she was not welcome in either the outer circle or the inner circle of the ritual. She watched the proceedings from several feet away, as the Circle blessed Joanie and escorted her from the outer circle of girls to the inner circle of women. The younger girls giggled and tittered until they were shushed by their elders. Bellatrix squinted to try to make out the ingredients that were being added to the cauldron, but all she could discern was the small whimper as each woman used a knife to extract her blood. It was too dark for anyone to notice the glint in Bellatrix's eyes when she saw Joanie's gasp as the knife sank into her skin, and the shiny scarlet ribbon of blood that ran down her arm and into the cauldron.
This was the first time a Muggleborn had gone through the first bleeding rites, and Joanie fretted that the spell would refuse her blood or that her blood would spoil the potion somehow. But as her blood trickled into the cauldron, it flashed a bright violet just as it had for every other girl. Joanie's blood belonged just as much as anyone else's. There was a great sigh of relief, as if they all had been holding their collective breath.
And then they hoisted the sobbing girl into the air and enveloped her in a loving embrace. They all wept, perhaps even more than usual. In the days leading up to the ceremony, they all assured Joanie that her fears were unfounded, but the truth was that no one could predict what rules or constraints or demands the blood magic might have. It was still a great sprawling thing, a terra incognita that they had only just begun to explore, much less master.
When they had recovered enough to remember Bellatrix, they found that she too was sobbing, sitting barefooted in the grass with her skirts tucked up to her knees.
"Remarkable," she murmured. It was the first time she had spoken since arriving at the Circle.
"You liked it, then?" Luna said, trying to hide the annoyance from her voice as she stooped to help her pregnant aunt to her feet.
"Sacred blood. Spilling it, blending it, imbibing it, channeling it, directing it, creating it," she clutched her belly.
"Well, we're not vampires!" Luna quipped to cover her discomfort. Is this how the others felt when she was being mystical and cryptic?
"Blood has power. Of course it does. But it also has a will... I do, too. Even when they take away my wand. Even when…"
"Yes, it's useful for wandless magic. Not an exact substitute, of course. There are things that wands can't do that blood can, and vice versa." Luna frowned; she sounded like Professor McGonagall giving a lecture.
"Will you show me?" Bellatrix gripped Luna's wrist and looked at her with such intensity that Luna let out a nervous laugh.
"Er, sure, I suppose. I can show you a few things, if you like."
Bellatrix gave Luna Helga Hufflepuff's cup the next morning.
AN: Thanks so much for reading, I hope you liked the new chapter! I already have a mostly-finished draft of the next chapter, so expect another update in two weeks. I'm working on chapter 39 (the chapter after next) now - it's a big one that I've been planning for a very long time and I think it's going well so far, though a bit nerve-wracking. I'd really appreciate any kudos, comments, etc. to keep me motivated as I finish the home stretch of this fic! I'd estimate that there are about 10 chapters left, give or take. Feels wild after I've been planning it for so long!
I've heard from a couple people who were interested in a Discord server to discuss the fic, but not many. If you're a silent reader and would be interested in this, feel free to leave a comment or contact me on Tumblr - my URL is the same as my author name on here.
Thanks for reading :)