Luna blew away the onyx dust and revealed the shallow carving on top of the Resurrection Stone. The design was simplistic, but the five strokes were highly effective. The wand, cloak, and stone were all there, the dream of her father's life reduced to three shapes a child might doodle. Luna felt the weight of the Resurrection Stone in her hand. The compact little stone fit easily in her palm, but it felt heavy with raw power, centuries of fairy tales, and the dreams of dozens of Hallows scholars.
It was finally in her grasp, the only means of ever being reunited with her father, not given or found or stolen but made with her own hands. Luna turned the Stone over once, then twice. The temptation to use it was overwhelming. Luna knew that Xenophilius would be so proud of her. Though his first question would be to ask where Cressida was. He would be heartbroken that the rift between mother and daughter had widened so irreparably. He would be disappointed in both of them, and he would be right. The seed of an idea planted itself in Luna's mind.
Cressida was apparently equally eager to reconcile, because she sent Luna's owl back immediately, writing on the back of her daughter's letter without bothering to fetch a fresh sheaf of parchment. The note was brief and abrupt in tone, but all that Luna could have wished for, for it contained an invitation to bring the Resurrection Stone to the Circle, so their family could be reunited once more.
When the appointed day arrived, Luna discovered with a mouthful of ash and a prodigious amount of swearing after bumping her head on the chimney that Bellatrix must have had the Circle's Floo connection with the Rook severed. She fluttered about the house nervously, a twisting sense of foreboding taking root deep in her gut. Should she send an owl? If she went to the Burrow, would one of the Weasleys be there to take her via side-along apparition? Cressida's letter had not included any hints about how she was expecting her underaged daughter to travel across Devon.
Luna almost didn't hear the doorbell over the sound of her fretful pacing. It was Tonks, wearing a slightly shyer version of her natural face and mousy brown hair with long fringe that nearly covered her eyes.
"Cuz!" Luna bounced into her cousin's arms.
"Hello, Luna. Are you ready to go?" Tonks shrugged out of the hug under the pretext of shutting the front door behind Luna.
"If you hold on a moment, I think Ginny wanted to come out and say hello."
"We haven't got time. Do you have the Stone? And the Elder Wand?"
"Oh, uh, yes."
"Alright, then let's go."
Tonks did not give Luna any warning before taking her by the hand and yanking her out of one place and into another.
The countryside surrounding the Circle looked much the same to Luna, apart from the change in season. Tonks strode across the field, not stopping as she stepped over the boundary which Luna knew marked the outer limits of most of the Circle's security enchantments. Luna paused for a moment just before the border. She could hear a faint buzzing sound, barely audible. If Tonks had not trained her to listen for it, she might not have been able to discern it at all.
"Has someone been adding extra shield charms? There's a friction spot here, just like you taught me." Luna called after Tonks, who was already halfway to the chapter house. But her cousin either did not hear her, or chose not to respond.
Luna brought out her wand and prodded it experimentally at the air near the buzzing. They ought to know better. Tonks ought to know better. What was going on? Was this some sort of elaborate trap? Could they have put down wards preventing her from entering? Did they lure her here to put a curse on her? There was only one way to find out. Luna took one step forward, then another. She didn't feel cursed, but she supposed only time would tell.
Something about the Circle felt different, but Luna could not quite put her finger on what it was. The buildings were not much changed at first glance, perhaps slightly more rundown and weather-worn. As she followed Tonks's haphazard path through the silent campus, however, it became clear that the issue was one of size and scale. With their numbers reduced, the Circle had contracted like a sun-starved plant. A few of the outbuildings, which the Circle had gleefully reclaimed for dormitories during the boom of Luna's tenure as raven queen, had been abandoned once again. Tangles of weeds had reasserted themselves in the walking paths, and it looked like Professor McGonagall's plans to replace and reglaze some of the window panes had been stopped partway through. Some windows were covered with thin strips of fabric that looked like cheesecloth, and others were completely bare, leaving the interiors of the buildings vulnerable to the elements.
Tonks stopped outside a large shed and tilted her chin towards the door.
"Your mother's waiting for you."
"Oh, I thought I might see everyone in the chapter house. To catch up, you know. It's been so long." Luna hazarded a small smile.
"Your mother's waiting," Tonks repeated before wandering towards the outer fields, leaving Luna alone with her mother and her thoughts.
A few short months ago, this shed had served as the dormitory for the younger girls, full of mismatched beds and dressers. Now only a massive loom dominated the room, dwarfing Luna's mother, who was turned away from the door. Even from behind, Cressida looked thinner. She must have stopped using dye charms on her hair, because her windswept bun was now mostly white streaked with gray.
"Hello?" Luna said as she hovered in the entryway and rapped her knuckles lightly against the doorframe.
"Oh, hello, love." Cressida turned around to greet her, and Luna was shocked by the twin sights of the baby bouncing in Cressida's lap and her mother's haggard, crease-lined face. It still felt strange knowing that the smiling baby held the mended soul of the Dark Lord, and Cressida looked old enough to be his grandmother.
"You remember Tommy, don't you? It was supposed to be Bella's turn with him, but she's shut up in her office like usual. I don't mind taking an extra turn now and then. He's such a love. Tommy, say hello to Luna," she cooed at the baby as she raised one of his chubby hands to wave at Luna. The lone bracelet on Cressida's arm made an oddly hollow sound against her wrist.
"The last time I was here, she wouldn't let him out of her sight," Luna said as she took one step further into the room.
"Oh, you know Bella. Well, I suppose you don't, not very well. She's not exactly…" Cressida made a soft choking noise and brought her hand to the hollow at the base of her throat, "I'll just say that some people only like things when they're new and shiny, then it's onto the next thing."
The baby began fussing, and Cressida rocked him and hummed a tune until he quieted. She kissed the top of his head.
"I suppose being a mother just doesn't come naturally to some of us. One could probably say that runs in our family." Cressida tried to smile.
"Yes, I think more than one child in our family could definitely say that." Although Luna had promised herself that she would make her father proud and avoid picking a fight with her mother, seeing Cressida coddling the Dark Lord irked her.
Luna's mother only bowed her head. They had always been locked in a constant battle of wills, but it was no fun to win now that Cressida had stopped playing the game.
"When his hair gets a little longer, will you give it the same treatment? Or is it dark enough to please you?" Luna clutched a strand of her new blonde hair, tugging because the taut, dull pain gave her something to hold onto.
"I wouldn't do that again. I...I should never have done it in the first place. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well, you did do it, so."
"I know."
Luna picked a speck of dirt from under one of her fingernails.
"It looks good like that, your hair. You look more like your dad."
Luna said nothing, letting her mother's timid olive branch wither on the vine. Cressida's small smile wilted into an anxious pucker.
"Listen, I know you probably wanted to come shout at me, and I'm sure I deserve it. Please just let me cast muffliato so he won't hear. He's ever so sensitive to loud noises, the poor thing." Cressida set Tommy down in a basket full of blankets and soft toys at her feet.
"I haven't come to shout at you!" Luna cried, "I told myself it would be pointless to fight anymore. And here we are fighting because we can't just be normal, apparently."
"We've never been normal," Cressida sighed, "But we can try not to fight. I know it's harder without Dad, but maybe we can figure it out together."
"I miss him."
"I do, too."
"Well, I've brought the Stone." Luna retrieved it from her mokeskin pouch and held it out for her mother to take. The dusky autumn light glinted on the facets of the black opal.
Something vivid and stormy flashed in Cressida's eyes for just a moment as she reached for it. Then her face returned to its sallow, waxy mask and she pulled her hand away.
"That's wonderful, love. I'm sure your father would have been so proud of you."
"We can show him now! Come on, go find someone to watch the baby. Let's see Dad."
"Will you let me borrow it? I think I'd like to see him in private, at least this first time." Cressida could not meet her daughter's eyes. The lie hung thick and suffocating in the air. Ever since they had learned of Xenophilius's death, Cressida had taken an active interest in Luna's progress with the Stone precisely because they planned to use it to reunite their family.
The truth suddenly unfolded itself like a puzzle purse in Luna's mind. It was a trap after all, but nothing so rudimentary as a curse. They were going to take the Stone from her, and perhaps the Wand, too. Why else had Tonks made sure Luna had both the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone before leaving the Rook? Why else had Bellatrix paid for the black opal in the first place? Perhaps Bellatrix thought being the master of death would protect her, exempt her from paying the high price that came with harnessing the raw magical power of her blood.
Cressida's lip quivered as she watched the knowledge of her betrayal transform her daughter's face. The indomitable Cressida Lovegood, now sunk to being used as bait in a plot against her own daughter.
"Mummy, what have they done to you?" Luna crumpled into her mother's arms.
"I…" Cressida whispered into her daughter's hair. She couldn't say, not even if she wanted to, not even if she knew what was being done to her. She was bound to silence.
Luna took a shuddering breath, "It doesn't matter, I have a pretty good idea. She's controlling you somehow, all of you. She can't be Imperiusing that many people, can she?"
"It's...it's a very exciting time at the Circle," Cressida mumbled. It was not what she had wanted to say. She slapped her palms against her thighs in frustration.
"It doesn't matter how she's doing it. We'll figure out a way to stop it. You have a plan, don't you? Of course you do. But you can't tell me, I know that. When Caroline came, we figured out a way of talking around it, like a code. Can you do that?"
"You know, Tommy's been keeping me company while I weave," Cressida spoke haltingly, as if feeling her way around this circuitous way of speaking, I've nearly finished the...my current project." She meant the Cloak of Invisibility, Luna realized.
"It's just getting so big now, it's too much for me to manage on my own. I know you've never been a great lover of weaving, but perhaps you could make an exception, just this once. I'll let you be the first to try it on, as a thank you for helping."
Luna nodded. The best way to prevent the Hallows from falling into Bellatrix's clutches was to use them against her before she suspected mutiny in her ranks. From the safety of the Cloak, Luna could get a sense of what was truly happening, and try to find a way to break the strange hold Bellatrix had over her friends. They would need to act quickly, if Bellatrix was expecting Cressida to deliver the Hallows soon.
"Let's do it. There's no time to waste."
Mother and daughter assumed their usual positions at the loom. They had done this dozens of times before, but now Luna was taller and fair-haired, Cressida stooped and graying.
Cressida had not been exaggerating; the Cloak was indeed large. It was made of a silky, rippling material that shimmered slightly in the sunlight. Scattered throughout were little curls of a sleek black fiber stitched into the weave. Luna realized they must be more of the thestral tail hairs Cressida had collected at Hogwarts. It seemed so long ago now.
They wove in silence for several minutes until Cressida mustered the courage to speak.
"Why are you helping me, after everything I've done to you?"
"First of all, I'm not just helping you." The raised scars on Lavender's arms flashed through Luna's mind. Mrs. Figg evicted from her home and banished like an exile. Caroline's haunted eyes. Tonks's vacant expression. And yes, her mother's thin arms, bare of the usual melodious jangling bangles.
"Right, yes, of course," Cressida lowered her head, "A little less taut, please."
Luna complied, still ruminating.
"And I guess…" she faltered, paused to adjust something unnecessarily on the loom, then continued, "I guess I feel like I'm responsible for all this. I never should have left the Circle. Ginny was right, the prophecy was bullshit."
"The prophecy wasn't bullshit."
"We shouldn't have let it stop us from doing what we wanted to do. I shouldn't have used it as an excuse to walk away. Damn the prophecy and damn those nuns, the Circle is what we make it now, today."
Cressida pursed her lips.
"If you think about it, it was there all along, right in the prophecy. 'She will be powerful enough to make them see the light. She will rise and make them see the way.' But the Circle was never supposed to be about making people do anything. 'The moon shall rule,' it said. But a planet can't rule, people do. And people can be dethroned."
Cressida could not speak. She did not even dare to nod. Luna could not imagine what it must be like to have the words stolen from your mouth. Like learning to live in a muzzle.
"Besides, someone has to try to do something. If not me, who?" The truth of Aberforth's words settled deep in her belly.
"Can we stop for a moment?" The whirring of the loom slowed to silence as Cressida cleared her throat and attempted to stem the flow of her tears.
"I...I know I made a lot of mistakes raising you, but I must have done something right. You're not even 15 years old yet and already more mature than many adults I know. The others are lucky that you're able to put your feelings about me aside to help us. Otherwise I don't know what we'd do."
"It's not some accident, you realize that, don't you? You never let me be a child. That's why I'm mature. You taught me that my feelings don't matter. That's why I'm able to put them aside."
"I know. I knew I put pressure on you, of course I knew. You never let me forget it."
"Then why did you do it? Why couldn't you just...accept me for who I was?" Luna's voice cracked. The pain and loneliness of her life suddenly engulfed her. She had spent so long living inside it that she could not sense its enormity, but now the weight of it pressed hard and heavy on her chest.
Luna wept. She heard the scraping of the wooden stool as her mother stood and hovered nearby.
"Would hugging you make it better, or worse?"
"Hold me, please," Luna croaked.
Cressida did, through all the waves of hurt and anger and grief and resentment and bewilderment that buffeted within Luna. Eventually, the tears subsided, and Cressida knelt beside her, holding both of her daughter's hands in her own.
"Was it a rhetorical question, or would you like me to tell you why I did it?"
"I really do want to know, but we should keep going. We don't have much time." Luna shooed her mother back towards her seat at the loom. The pattern unfurled itself haltingly beneath their shaking hands. Cressida thought for a few moments before speaking.
"I knew you were unhappy, but I thought it was a necessary evil. My mother always tried to force me to use my powers to increase her social standing, or my father's wealth, or the reputation of the family, or the chances of one of us girls making a match with some eligible suitor or other. When I had the prophecy, I felt vindicated. I thought it meant that I was right and my parents were wrong. I wanted you to live in your own power, not just be a pawn in the Black family schemes. If you were the raven queen, you'd be important in your own right, your own person on your own terms."
"But you never let me be my own person!" exclaimed Luna, more perplexed than hostile.
"I suppose I felt it was my job to make you worthy of your power. You were young, too young to understand. I thought I was supposed to mould you. Even if it meant..." she took great heaving breaths through her sobs, "Even if it meant not letting you have a childhood and wrecking our relationship. But it was unforgivable, and all for nothing, anyway. I'm your mother, and it was my job to protect you. And now I've brought you here, where…" Her throat made a wheezing sound. She could not name her deception outright, but her anguish shone through the tears and snot caking her face.
Luna nodded once as she processed what her mother had said. It was an inadequate explanation, because there could not be an adequate one. Her entire life, she had been waiting for the moment when she and her mother would finally understand one another. Now Luna realized that she could never understand her mother, and perhaps her mother could never understand her. It struck her first as a soft ache, then as a rush of relief. Perhaps things could be easier, if they were no longer pushing with all their might on opposite sides of the insurmountable wall between them.
"You chose to do all that to me, and it was wrong, and I'm still upset about it. But I know you didn't choose this," she finally said, gesturing at Tommy in his basket and Cressida's withered form and the chaos that reigned outside the shed.
"No, but it wouldn't have happened if not for me."
"There's no changing that now," Luna shrugged, "But you're right. Maybe we can find another way, together. We just have to take down your evil sister first."
Cressida snorted and nearly dropped the shuttle, but Luna adjusted her grip to accommodate the sudden movement.
"Mum, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"How did you free Briar?"
"How do you know about Briar?"
"I...I met her, actually. With Aberforth. It's a long story. Anyway, she said to tell you hello, and she mentioned that you helped free her."
"Oh, dear Briar! It's quite a story. My mother used to have this massive china cabinet with everything lit up and displayed just so, it was horrid. And it was Briar's job to polish the silverware. Well, her name wasn't Briar back then, of course, it was Binky. And Bella used to like to spit on the forks, so Binky would get in trouble and have to do it all over again. To put her in her place, she said. Anyway…"
The two fell into an easy, fluid rhythm as they worked together. Neither of them needed to ask as they adjusted the loom, passed skeins of yarn, and tied neat knots. Finally, they had mastered the perfect balance of tension and yield between them. They spoke of Briar, and the plans to free the house elves using the terms of the old contract, and even Luna's budding relationship with Ginny. The Invisibility Cloak unfurled as rapidly as their conversation while Tommy snoozed in his basket.
Within an hour, they had finished the last of the Deathly Hallows. The enormity of the moment was somewhat dimmed by the urgency of the situation with Bellatrix and the still-pulsing catharsis Luna had found in her relationship with her mother. It was too soon for healing, but she felt cleansed. There would be time for her thoughts to settle later; now she needed to focus. All their lives might depend on it.
Luna clutched the Invisibility Cloak tightly around her shoulders as she followed her mother through the grounds. They had tested the last Hallow thoroughly, indoors and outside, in various degrees of light and shadow, in a breeze, and Cressida had even cast a few detection spells. The Cloak withstood it all, but Luna still felt exposed. She held her breath as they entered the damp coolness of the chapter house.
The room looked much the same, apart from the chilly draughts gusting through the gaps in the windows. The old round table was still there, though it now looked gargantuan with so few people seated around it. There was Bellatrix, Draco, Cressida, Tonks, Lavender, Eudora, Caroline, the Patils, Andrea Goldstein, Cho Chang, and one or two younger girls. The population of the Circle had halved in the span of a few short months, and Mrs. Figg's insistence that they were recruiting new girls must have been one of her puppeteer's lies.
Those who remained looked like they had been in the wars, quite literally. Every visible inch of Bellatrix's skin was covered in scars and scabs. Worst of all, she was missing an entire hand and now wore an eyepatch. Luna fiddled with the mottled scar on her left hand. She recalled the intoxicating rush of power that cutting off a single finger had granted her in the Chamber of Secrets. What on Earth could Bellatrix have done with her hand and eye?
The raven queen's hunger for blood had wrapped its tendrils around the others in the Circle as well. Most of them had scars on their faces and necks, and several were missing clumps of hair, teeth, and fingers. Luna shivered to imagine what their bodies looked like under their robes.
Cressida carried the baby to Bellatrix and plopped him into her sister's lap. Tommy gurgled and began playing with a strand of Bellatrix's curly dark hair, but she swatted his hand away and gestured for Draco to take the child. Her one remaining heavily-lidded eye was barely open, a mere slit. She looked dazed, like she hardly knew where she was.
"Aunt, everyone's here. Shall we get started?"
"Mm," the raven queen mumbled. She wobbled to her feet, braced herself against the table, then nearly toppled to the floor. Draco caught her and eased her back into her chair.
"Here now." Draco pulled a bottle from his pocket. A fortifying draught, Luna guessed from the bright blue color. Bellatrix was too weak to drink it herself, so he had to nudge her mouth open, uncork the flask, and pour the contents down her throat.
They all waited in tense silence for the potion to take effect. When it did, an artificial blush enlivened Bellatrix's cheeks and she sat up straighter in her chair.
"Well? Have you brought me that Bones bitch's blood yet?" she snapped, as if it had been Draco delaying the meeting.
"Not yet, Aunt, but…"
"McGonagall's, at least? Marchbanks?"
"I've got a small sample from the Minister's wife." He offered her a small vial.
"This is from the Minister's wife?" Bellatrix snatched it from her nephew and peered at the lonely streak of blood clinging to one side of the glass.
"Yes."
"The Minister for Magic?"
"Yes. It wasn't easy to get, but I managed to get an invitation to Madam Burke's, and…"
"Useless!" Bellatrix shrieked, throwing the sample to the floor. The glass shattered with a piercing crack. A few of the girls yelped. A small haze of lilac smoke swirled through the air before dispersing.
"Useless, all of you!" she repeated, summoning the strength to stand. Draco offered his hand, but she waved it away.
"Why would I want a sample from the wife of the bloody Minister for Magic, after we went to great effort to cripple the entire Ministry?"
Luna inhaled sharply. So the Circle had cursed the Ministry, after all.
"And now you are squandering the circumstances that I created for us! You have allowed Bones's so-called Shadow Ministry to grow from an inconvenience to a threat."
"I'd hardly call them a threat. Merely a few batty old crones grasping at the last vestiges of their power," Draco huffed a well-practiced snort, but Luna saw his eyes dart, almost imperceptibly, to the pockets of Bellatrix's robes.
"They should not have any power!" the raven queen screeched. Tommy, who lay forgotten on the table between Bellatrix and Draco, began to howl. Luna thought of what her mother had said about growing up in the Black family, where everything was a contest and power was something to be hoarded at all costs, where daughters were nothing but bargaining chips in their families' games.
"Here, let me take the baby…" Cressida murmured, but Bellatrix slapped her sister's hand away. Cressida bobbed a half-curtsey and took a few steps back.
"I have allowed your incompetence to go unpunished long enough. I am merciful by nature, you see." Bellatrix grinned, revealing several swollen, gummy gaps in her mouth where she had ripped out her own teeth.
"But you have left me with no choice. A second Ministry cannot be allowed to rise."
"Is it not the entire point that they are not the Ministry?" Eudora ventured, lifting her gaze to Bellatrix's, "Surely if they were too similar, they would be subject to the curse. They're much smaller, and they've abandoned the London premises altogether. I hear they've set up a few local outposts to hear more directly from…"
"It does not matter how different they are; they must be stopped. Nor is it your decision, Eudora Brown. I said they must be eliminated, and that ought to have been enough for all of you. But now, thanks to your disgraceful insubordination, I am forced to take more extreme measures to contain their spread. We will need to perform another ritual. I will need more blood. A few of your hands will do, I think."
There was an anxious rippling among the Circle; several instinctively clutched their hands. There were so few of them now, and they looked so small. Anger prickled on Luna's skin like a rash. She tightened her grip on her wand.
"I am sure that can be arranged," Draco cut in. He adopted a conciliatory tone, like he was talking to a tantruming toddler.
"Oh, no, I will collect them myself. And yours will be first, dear Draco."
"Really, Aunt…" Draco choked.
"Silence. Now, let us hear my sister's report." Bellatrix was exhausted by her outburst, and slowly lowered herself back into her chair. Draco did not try to help her this time.
Beneath the Cloak, Luna had to suppress the urge to swear. She had gleaned little from observing the meeting, apart from the obvious dysfunction rampant in Bellatrix's Circle. The new raven queen had not let slip any hints about how she was controlling her unwilling minions. And now she had mere minutes before Bellatrix started asking uncomfortable questions about Luna's whereabouts. Her eyes darted around the room, but did not see anything unusual. Bellatrix was not even holding her wand. The flesh of her victims was littered with scars, but there was nothing that resembled a Dark Mark or other sigil.
Bellatrix gestured for Cressida to speak.
"Well, she seemed happy to see me, I think. We...we worked on some of the weaving together…" Cressida stalled, careful not to let her speech wander too far into mistruth, or her gaze wander in search of her invisible daughter.
Bellatrix closed her eye and snapped her fingers.
Draco took over the interrogation, "What about the Wand and the Stone? Did she give them to you?"
"Not the Wand, no. The Stone she wanted to use together, so we could see Xenophilius together. I think she grew suspicious when I didn't want to, but I tried to…"
"No matter. Did she give it to you, or not?" he demanded. Cressida could not risk lying, so she nodded. Luna shuffled about the room as quickly as she could without creating a noticeable breeze in the air. There was nothing, no hope. It was over.
"What are you waiting for? Give it here."
"I think she expects it back. If she realizes we've stolen it, she will…"
"Ha!" Bellatrix barked. It was the first time she had spoken or opened her eye in several minutes. Everyone in the room froze, even Luna under the Cloak.
"You think she would stand a chance against me? Let her come. Let her see what the true raven queen can do."
"Bella, no, please. Here, you can have it." Cressida's hand shook as she held out the Stone. But then Lavender spoke.
"You're…I mean…" Lavender cleared her throat then, emboldened, continued, "That's…not…right." She battled to wrap her lips around each word. Eudora shushed her daughter and dug her nails into Lavender's shoulders, but the damage was already done.
"You think so, do you?" Bellatrix tilted her head and snapped her fingers at Draco. He understood instinctively what she wanted him to do. Out of his pocket came his wand and yet another vial, this one full to the brim with black-red blood. A few drops of blood, an incantation, a wave of the wand, and a puff of purple smoke. That was all it took for Lavender to stand to attention, bleary-eyed and slack-jawed.
"Lavender, bring me the Resurrection Stone." Bellatrix commanded.
Tears streamed down Lavender's face, but her feet shuffled inexorably towards Cressida.
"I'm sorry," Lavender wailed as she prised the Stone from Cressida's grasp.
Luna put her fist in her mouth to stop herself from crying out. It had been in front of her face all along, her friends' tapestry of new scars, their magical essence stolen and used against them. Blood magic was supposed to be their deliverance, liberating them with their own well of innate magic. But Bellatrix had found a way to turn the old ways to this new evil, and it was Luna's fault. She had not protected them, only thrust them further in the path of darkness and danger. She had not protected Lavender, who was now suffering the same fate as her father, captive to another's will.
"Thank you, sweet Lavender," Bellatrix cooed when Lavender tipped the Stone into her palm, "We'll see what chance Luna stands against the raven queen and the master of death, now won't we?"
Rage pierced Luna, a sharp throbbing in her head and chest that set her entire body quaking. If this was what being the raven queen meant, then she did not want it, for herself or anyone else. If this is what it took to restore the Circle to power, then let it rot, forgotten once more. She would not stand by and witness injustice and suffering and her aunt's unchecked bloodthirsty quest for power for one more moment. Bellatrix had shed her last drop of blood, if Luna had any say in the matter.
Something had to be done, and if not her, then who? If not now, then when?
Luna's hand only trembled slightly as she raised it and lunged at the raven queen.
"Avada kedavra!"
AN: Thanks for reading! The scene between Luna and Cressida this chapter is really the emotional climax of the entire fic, so I was nervous to write it. I think it turned out okay, though. We now officially have a final chapter count - 49! I have most of chapter 47 drafted now, and detailed outlines of 48 and 49. We're almost there! Would appreciate any comments, and happy holidays!