Apologies for the wait. Please note- I updated the previous chapter so the events correlate more. I needed to make some changes, so reread parts of the last chapter. I don't own any part of Harry Potter. Rated M, graphic language and descriptions included. Trigger warning. Please review.

May 2000

Dobby transported the entire group of prisoners to a dark forest. "Where are we, Dobby?" Rosario asked.

"Outskirts of France, sir," Dobby responded. "If you would all close your eyes and touch Dobby's hand."

They obliged, and the elf muttered several things under his breath.

"You see, if any of you are captured and interrogated, the Legilimens will be able to see where the Order resides," Dobby said. "This way, you won't accidentally give anything up if you don't know where the headquarters are."

Luna held her father's hand tightly as their surroundings melted away and were replaced with a dimly-lit room. A cluster of people stared back at them. Hermione, Dean, Professor McGonagall, Percy Weasley, Lee Jordan, Professor Flitwick, Madam Pomfrey, and Angelina Johnson were-

"Are you all that's left?" Luna choked.

Hermione stepped forward, eyes fierce. Luna saw the girl that had been tormented at school by the men that were now their enemy, she saw the girl who was the 'brightest witch of their age', she saw the girl with top marks of their age year. She understood why Hermione was the leader, and allowed herself to but a bit of faith in the Order. Just a bit. "We are the hope for the future. Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix headquarters."

The first thing Luna did was see Madam Pomfrey. It took herself a while to pry her fingers out of Xenophilius's, but she moved down the dark hallway to see the skilled mediwitch, who promptly hugged her, then examined and evaluated her. Luna received fresh clothes, pants and a shirt. "Were you aware that Mr. Zabini had been spelling you the entire time you had been with him?" she asked, eyebrows creased with worry. "This will take days for me to break. He's layered thousands of spells on you."

Luna shook her head. "I had no idea, Madam Pomfrey, but I swear I-"

"It's quite all right, Luna," she said, patting her hand. "I just wish- I didn't know that Blaise would choose this path for himself. At school, I thought he was one of the better ones, but-" Madam Pomfrey tsked. "Never mind. Let me see what spells he's cursed you with."

Luna lay down on the small cot that was in the small infirmary, staring at the dull ceiling with a few spiderweb plaster cracks. The Order had an impressive selection of herbs and potions, given their circumstances. Madam Pomfrey sighed and started writing on a scrap piece of parchment. "You were cursed with an array of Dark curses, some of which I haven't even heard of, dear," the gentle Healer said, with regret etched in every line of her face. "They're all interdependent on each other. This is the largest piece of unknown magic I've ever seen."

When the healer reached the brand, Luna felt the gentle woman's hand go still. "He did this to you?" Madam Pomfrey choked, the panic clear in her voice. "This- this could mean-"

Luna passed by the small common room they had first met the Order in, trying not to dwell on Madam Pomfrey's diagnosis. The small sofa next to the fireplace held her sleeping father, who was holding his granddaughter as they both slept. Xenophilius seemed younger when he was asleep, the lines in his face not as harsh.

She was on her way to see Dean Thomas. She knocked on his door, and he answered, the dark shadows under his eyes looked as prominent as ever. The members of the Order all looked older than their ages, and Dean looked years past his young age. "Dean," Luna said, "are you busy right now?"

"I have to be at a strategy meeting in ten minutes, but I can talk quickly," the Gryffindor said. They sat in the close corridors on his bed.

"How did you escape- him, after I was moved?" she asked.

"I stayed in there for a few more months," Dean said, bouncing his knee. "And then I was moved to Malfoy Manor with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Dobby showed up as we were getting tortured and we managed to escape. When we met at the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry told a group about his plan to destroy You-Know-Who's Horcruxes. He must have failed, or been hit by the spell. I managed to escape with Seamus, but then he got captured on a raid with Hermione at Zabini's house. Do you know if he made it out?"

Luna shifted uncomfortably, tears welling in her eyes as she forced out the words. "Seamus is de-"

Dean was already nodding, throat tightening as he cut her words off. "Dead." He took a shaky breath, tears falling, letting out a sob. "I knew it- I was foolish to hope- I-" His voice broke.

"I'm sorry," Luna said, but the words were insignificant. "I don't know what to say."

Dean wiped his eyes and nose, and stood up. "Don't apologize. Seamus was a hero. I suspected, but I didn't mean to fall apart like that. I'm- can- can you tell Hermione that I'll be a few minutes late?"

"Of course," Luna said, and as she turned to close the door, she saw Dean put his head in his shaking hands.

She turned down the shadowy halls, the floorboards creaking eerily, as so many Muggle horror films did. She knocked on the door, and Angelina opened it. "Come in, Luna."

Luna sat down nervously, and smoothed her sweating palms on her pants. Upon entering the meeting room, she cleared her throat uncomfortably and sat down. Hermione and Professor McGonagall were standing at the front. "Where's Dean?" Percy asked.

"He said he was going to be a bit late."

Hermione took the opportunity to raise her quill and parchment. "Let's take this time to hear Luna's account of events. Luna, if you might take this Veritaserum so we get an unbiased report..."

Luna drank the clear potion and cleared her throat once more. When she started talking, her voice was quiet. "I was taken on September 1st, 1997 on the train to Hogwarts by Blaise Zabini, Antonin Dolohov, and Fenrir Greyback. I was taken to a townhouse near the countryside, but I don't know the whereabouts. Antonin ordered Blaise to rape me-" Here her voice broke, but she swallowed and kept talking. "As part of his initiation into the Dark forces. That's when Katharina was conceived. I was named as his pet, and I was chained alone in their dungeon. They gave me potions so I wouldn't require food.

"He brought me to revelries and meetings, and Dean was there too. I was there for months and was moved to his bedroom as more prisoners arrived. And he didn't treat me horribly and mourned when his family died. I thought he was one of the better ones. And I hallucinated things, but I can't remember them. I woke up one day with gouges on my arms, and dried blood beneath my nails. I was going insane. And then some point after the Battle of Hogwarts, he changed.

"We moved to his home, and I had my baby. He was there when I delivered her, and her middle name is Blaise's sister's name. I saw the auction where many of the Order's members were sold, and-" Luna choked back a sob. "Ron was killed. And I don't know if you already knew that. But he died defending me, and I'm sorry I couldn't do more, but-"

The room was still and quiet, but her ears were roaring, her eyes burning. "It's okay," Lee said finally. "It's not your fault, Luna, don't think for a second that it is."

Luna wiped her face. "Cormac McLaggen joined them, to save himself from that fate, I suppose."

"Coward," Angelina muttered under her breath.

"And we went back to his house, and I was allowed to walk around freely and paint and wear clothes, and then I discovered that he was keeping prisoners, half-bloods and purebloods that resisted the Dark Lord's regime. And I befriended them, and I looked forward to waking up. Because even though I had a better life than most, even though I had a life, I hated Blaise's oppression," Luna choked. "Hermione and Seamus arrived, and I was so confused and I couldn't think for myself, so I sat down against the hallway's walls and closed my eyes. I lost track of what happened. I suppose Hermione escaped and Seamus was captured.

"But then, Blaise changed. He chose Seamus to be tortured at Hogwarts, and Draco Malfoy held me back, and I saw him die. Blaise banned me from seeing his captives, my friends. Later, I found out that he threatened to hurt me or Katharina to get what he wanted from the prisoners, in their interrogations and such. I think he tortured them for information. And after that, I didn't talk to him- I couldn't talk to him. I spent my time in my room with Katharina. But sometimes he would come in and take her and spend time with her. And I remember one time- one time, I was holding her, and he came to take her and I refused, and he hit me. What scared me was that he took Katharina and smiled at her, like he hadn't done anything wrong.

"And he met with the Lord and discussed giving Katharina to them to train her. He never smiled with joy or love, and I thought I could change that. I couldn't. And I killed him when he branded me." Luna finished, the silence awkward after her story ended. "Can you tell me what you think of him?"

"I think he sounds like a sadist," Professor Flitwick said in his small voice. "He could have easily used Veritaserum instead of torture for his interrogations. Did you have any connection to the outside world? Do you know what's going on, Miss Lovegood?"

She shook her head. "But I want to help. I want to train and fight too. We have to save Ginny, too. But Theodore Nott- and Pansy too, oh, I think Pansy is stuck with her husband. I think Theodore is what Blaise once was. He took me outside once...and he told me what he was. "

Professor McGonagall shared a look and a nod with Hermione and Luna held her breath. "I'll interview your friends and see if they want to help. Otherwise, you are a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

He raised his hand again to strike her again, but stopped short when he heard their daughter's small voice on the other side of the door. "Mummy?" Katharina said. "May I come in?"

Luna stepped quickly over to the door, unlocking and opening the door. "What's the matter, Rin?" she asked, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

"I had a bad dream," Katharina said. The mother and daughter's matching pairs of eyes met each other. "Can I sleep with you and Daddy?"

Luna bit her lip. "You can sleep with me, my angel. Are you all right?"

Katharina nodded, and entered the room with her little legs. The moon barely showed in the window, and the single candle provided minimal light.

Throughout the exchange, Blaise had been standing near Luna's bed. When Luna closed the door, he slapped her still, with a muttered, "Don't refuse me again."

Luna sucked in a breath, tears springing to her eyes once more. Katharina watched her father hit her mother, and asked, "Why did you hit Mummy?"

Blaise walked over to her and picked her up. "It's all right, my darling. Mummy was acting above her position." He turned to look at Luna, who was in turn looking at them. "She's perfect, isn't she? So beautiful." He smirked at Luna, who was holding the sleeping little girl, and blew out the candle. He left the room without another word.

Outside of the room, a house-elf gave a small sigh of relief. He had heard his master slap Miss Luna and he had gone to fetch the little one. He bowed his head again, and prayed for the two girls who lived their lives under the roof of a monster.

Luna took time adjusting to the Order of the Phoenix. On one such occurrence, Icarus, whom she usually enjoyed spending time with, held Katharina in the way Blaise had, which made Luna's world spin. She couldn't look at her sweet-faced friend without seeing her former captor, staring emotionless at her child. She took Katharina back from Icarus as politely as she could and left the room.

The Order had a small collection of wands, and she picked one out for herself. It had been so long since Luna had held a wand, used her magic. She was afraid she had forgotten, but as soon as she held one, she felt nothing but reactivation- power rushing back to her. She laughed with relief and conjured some small twittering birds, regretting that she missed two years of her schooling.

But as she looked back down at her wand, all she could see was Blaise, livid, and then the green light, and then screaming-

"Luna!" Hermione shook her shoulder. "You- are you well?"

Luna shook her head and swallowed the bile in her throat, taking her friend's hand. She could see the stress and strain of the war taking its toll on Hermione. "I told Katharina stories about you," she said, changing the subject. "And Ron and Harry, although Ron didn't treat me very nicely. I wish I could have done more to save them."

Hermione gave a small smile. "Don't we all."

Luna paused, debating what she should say next. "Hermione," she began. "I am still confused about Blaise."

"It's natural to feel a hole in your life since he was the biggest part of it, Luna," Hermione began.

"No," Luna interrupted. "In the beginning of it all, almost four years ago before my sixth year started, he took me. And I thought, although he was on the wrong side, he wasn't bad. He wasn't doing the worst to me. And I can't tell you when that shift happened. But he was more loyal to his lord, and he became darker. He was cruel, and he wasn't cruel before. He cried over Naomi, but then..."

"I think that was just his training. It was bound to happen." Hermione chewed her lip. "Get some rest, Luna. You aren't expected to train for missions right away. Just focus on healing. We're all so glad you're here."

When Luna managed to fall into a steady schedule, she was relieved. Keeping busy meant she could focus on the task and not think of Blaise. It was almost easy to forget what the world was like beyond the Order. She didn't know if they were underground or aboveground, in a forest or in a city. She scanned old newspapers to catch up on what she had missed during the isolated years in Zabini Mansion. Some gave her nightmares.

The Dark Lord had power over Wizarding Britain and was seizing power all throughout Europe. Some leaders surrendered, others were killed, but Voldemort's intentions were clear: more power. More magic, more knowledge, more people. Luna couldn't tell if his direct goal was immortality, or world power, or extermination of all Muggleborns, but he was, without a doubt, a large threat.

She also knew that it would take major miracles to defeat him.

Blaise and Draco Malfoy were among the leaders or generals, and worked closely with the Dark Lord, showing that the younger generation of wizards were to serve the Dark Lord. Children were taught magic at home. Muggles and Muggleborns were being slaughtered. Occlumency charms and amulets were in high demand, as everyone retreated within themselves. Everyone wanted to be safe.

Luna would wake up in her small room with Katharina, and they would eat breakfast, study a bit of the newspapers. Luna would practice her magic, but it wasn't how she felt at school. She strained more. Her magic felt feeble, flickering, faint, struggling to come back to her. Desperately, she hoped that it was just because she hadn't had a wand in a while, but she knew it was something else.

She told Katharina stories of the creatures she had once loved, the Crumple-Horned Snorkack the first one her daughter learned. "They live in Sweden, have a beautiful horn. Grandpa had one of their horns...but Harry Potter accidentally destroyed it. Harry was always nice to me. I think he wouldn't have known what to do with you, though. He and Ron always thought I was odd...Ron would have been surprised that I had a child. I guess I didn't seem like the motherly type. Now, Katharina, you would have loved the niffler..."

She knew how she had acted back at Hogwarts. 'Airy-fairy,' 'daft,' 'obtuse,' 'whimsical,' were some of the words that described her, some nicer than others. She knew how easy it could be to slip back into the mindset. Sometimes she did. Sometimes she lost sight of where she was, who she was, and blacked out for hours, conscious or not.

Luna stumbled down the shadowy hallway amid whispers and hisses. From whom, she didn't know. The paintings? People? She kept the two figures ahead of her in her view at all times. No matter how fast she ran, they were always ahead of her.

One was tall, imposing, the other much smaller, wispy curls flying as they walked, hand in hand away from her.

They halted, in the middle of the hallway that never seemed to end, and Luna almost ran into them. "Blaise?" she whispered.

Blaise turned around, his silver Death Eater mask on. His shirtsleeves were rolled up, exposing his Dark Mark. The engraved whorls of the mask glowing in the darkness.

Katharina turned around too. Luna screamed.

She was wearing a small silver mask. A small Dark Mark was on her arm.

Luna dropped to her knees, screaming still, shaking the little girl, trying to pry the mask off. It stayed firm.

And then a mask appeared on her face, the silver blindingly cold and burning hot at the same time.

Luna jerked awake, hyperventilating. There were gouges on her face from her fingernails, and she could feel the blood trickling its way down her face and into her clothes.

"Professor McGonagall?" Luna asked. "Do you have any Dreamless Sleep potion on hand?"

"Yes- Miss Lovegood, of course, I will give some to you tonight. But I was going to come ask you, you're sure you killed Mr Zabini the night you escaped?" Her former teacher's lips were pinched.

"I used the Killing Curse," Luna whispered. "Is he powerful enough to evade it?"

"I do not think so, but there have been no reports of his death in any of the wizarding newspapers. Even from sides as biased as the Death Eater-run ones. You'd think they'd mourn one of their strongest."

Luna felt the blood leaving her face.

Shouts filled the small hallway. "Professor!" Dean called. "We've got a prisoner."

Without a moment's hesitation, Luna and McGonagall ran to the commotion, and they both stopped short at the sight. Luna felt every cell in her body repulse. Her vision tunneled, a noise between a gasp and a shriek tumbling out of her mouth. Blaise Zabini sat shackled to a chair, nose dripping blood into his mouth. He tilted his head up and met his eyes to Luna, looking menacing as he smiled wider, teeth stained red. "Hello, Luna," he purred.