The Thing About Grace

Chapter 6

The first day passed very slowly, Luna's stomach constantly complained at the lack of sustainence. Her sleep the night before had been plagued with nightmares of lonliness and grim scenes. She grieved over her father though she didn't know whether he was dead or not. Even if he wasn't, she was sure whatever the Death Eaters had done to him or were planning on doing with him would be devastating. She was pained at the very thought and mourned.

Day break entered the room on the other side of the hall first. Luna watched the cell brighten with cool colours. Blues to greens and slowly they transferred to warmer pinks and golden hues. As she watched she tried to figure out what the time might be. When the pale light crept into the hallway a bit, Luna guessed it to be around ten o'clock in the morning.

She stood and gazed out the window, the sea below sparkled in the cold sunlight. She had no idea where she could possibly be. She doubted anyone else did either. Luna lowered herself to a sitting position again, there was nothing she could do. This thought distressed her terribly. Rarely had there been times she had been truly worried about a dire situation.

Even in her fourth year when the ministry had been interfering at the school and Professor Umbridge had taken the members of the DA in for questioning. Everyone was terribly upset except for herself. She knew everything would work out fine. After all, the ministry could only go so far, and besides that, they had Professor Dumbledore on their side.

Now though, Luna wasn't sure that the Headmaster even knew where shewas being kept. She could no longer turn to her father, she was completely alone. This wasn't a silly school problem either, this was the dark lord himself. Though she knew there wasn't a chance for the dark side to win the war, she wondered where her place was in this battle. Luna rubbed her eyes tiredly.

The only thing she could do was wait and hope. Even when she could see no signs of there being any hope for her.

The many hours that had passed in the cell gave Luna plenty of time to wonder why she had been left behind. Surely Voldemort would be eager to get a part of whatever this power was that she apparently contained. She sighed and resolved to wait it out.

He wanted the power, he couldn't get it if she were dead. Could he? There was nothing in the prophecy about her needing to be dead anyway. Luna figured it wouldn't be long before someone came to fetch her. The thought somewhat frightened her as she had no idea what was ahead for her, yet it also was a small source of comfort. She would not be left here to die alone.

The second day Luna's stomach had given up its growls and grumblings midway through the day. Instead it caused Luna to double over in pain at times. Fatigue settled over her and she so wanted to sleep but the pains in her stomach were keeping her up.

The night had brought with it nightmares, ghastly winged creatures without faces had swarmed about her, lifting her with them, plucking at her skin and causing it to burn and swell. She would see her father on the ground below and cry out to him, but he seemed not to hear. Again and again she called for him until the creatures began to mimic her cries, sounding horribly like her and in voices like hers as a child. Not once would her father look her way. She would wake in a cold sweat and cover her ears, the dream seeming too real. After a little while she would fall back into an uneasy sleep and the dream would begin annew.

Luna now rubbed her eyes and tried to keep awake. She needed to be wary of what was going on. She had to wait for someone to come let her out.

The sun was setting, Luna watched from the tiny window, feeling more sorrowful now than ever. As she saw the sun slowly disappear, it was like saying goodbye to a dear friend.

As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, the door in the hallway crashed open. Luna started and turned, her heart beating like the wings of a frightened bird. The door to the cell was wrenched open by a large man with a gruff beard and burly arms.

"Out!" he barked at her.

Luna made her way to the door and he grabbed her when she was within reach. He pushed her through the door and up a narrow flight of stairs. They entered a corridor that was noticibly warmer than the one in the dungeon.

Luna felt a slight relief come over her body, her mind still needed to stay sharp, but her body was in a more comfortable state for the time being.

The man led her through three more passageways and up another stairwell before stopping at a grand looking door. He raised a great fist and pounded on it. Moments later it swung open.

The sight of what stood in the room was enough to make Luna want to run back to the little cell.


A/N: Thanks to all my readers who've been so patient with me though my writers block! Here's the next installment, I hope you've enjoyed it, I'm working on the next, but I'm still trying to chase this block away, hopefully I'll have it ready for posting in a few days. R&R! Thanks!