Chapter Seven – Lady of the Night

Luna was dreaming. She was abstractly aware of this fact, as one is aware of one's surroundings when deeply involved in a beloved task, but for that moment it didn't matter. She was dreaming, and it was more real than life, the colors richer, the sounds clearer. She was gliding along in the complete absence of thought. A beautiful, quiet obliviousness that eased her mind in a way it hadn't been in weeks.

She was walking through a forest, the birds chirping lazily overhead. Streams of sunlight slithered through the canopy and created pools of light on the ground, illuminating the pine cones and leaves that were scattered haphazardly at her feet. Luna was drawn forward by a cool wind that touched her face and fluttered her long hair like a fan around her. Sun patches illuminated her smile and she felt warm and very safe. There was nothing she had to do but walk and sigh and dream.

She drew nearer to a clearing and stepped hesitantly into the full sunlight. Ahead of her was a pond, the surface gently rippling in the breeze. Luna sank to her knees near the water's edge and dug her fingers into the soft grass and earth at her sides. Slowly, Luna leaned forward and looked down at her reflection dancing on the water of the little pool. One side of her hair fell forward but the other was tucked back neatly behind her ear. Her eyes opened and closed in a slow blink as she examined herself, and then carefully, almost cautiously, she reached out a hand and lightly touched the reflection of the tip of her nose, which sent the image dancing in waves that distorted the picture.

When the water cleared, there was another face next to hers, peering down into the water and smiling. Luna wasn't surprised. She never was when her mother appeared in her dreams. It could be as often as a week or as little as seven months, but the time in between her visions seemed like nothing at all when faced with her again. Luna smiled and lifted her head.

The person beside her was not a woman in the prime of her life, but a girl around Luna's own age. Her mother, laughing softly, her eyes dancing and sparkling with life. It was only in her dreams that Luna gave her mother what she could never have again.

"My darling girl," her mother whispered and reached out a hand to touch her cheek gently. Her hair was golden and wavy and her eyes, instead of the introspective, veiled gray that Luna owned, were a clear violet, open and warm. Luna felt filled with life and leaned against her mother's hand like a little girl.

"I've missed you," she said.

"I'm here." The girl withdrew her hand and smiled. Warm. Angelic.

"I needed you," Luna continued. "I did a bad thing…" But she trailed off, her dream memory fogged and unsure. In confusion, Luna turned again to the pond and saw a face reflected there, a face with eyes full of pain, but the image was fleeting and gone before she knew what to make of it.

"You're strong, my baby. Never forget that. Even if I can't be here with you, you are never alone." Snow fell lightly from the sky, but the water did not stir. Luna looked up and saw the sun shining as brightly as before in a cloudless sky, but there was the snow falling, falling… Her mother's golden hair and eyelashes were coated in snowflakes, but still she was smiling and laughing soundlessly, her face full of love.

"My Luna, my Selene, my love," her mother whispered, her voice sounding hollow and as if it came from a distance. Shocked, Luna looked at her and saw the girl fading. Desperately, she reached out a hand but it went through the ghostly figure.

"Mum!" she cried, worried.

"Whatever else he may take, your soul is your own," her mother said and her eyes were sad. "Never forget who you are."

"Mother!"

She was gone.

Luna shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Snow covered the ground and the forest behind her was cold, barren. The leaves were gone. The birds didn't sing. Something flashed in the water and she saw the face again, and this time she knew him. Harry.

"No more," he said, his eyes green and cold, and before Luna could reach out to him, crackling ice moved across the pond and froze the image. Luna clawed at the surface, but her hands were cut by the ice and quickly cramped with the cold. She had to withdraw, pressing her hands to her frozen cheeks, watching his eyes glare accusingly at her.

No. Luna couldn't stay. She stood and started to run… somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was away. The shadow pursued her, gaining substance and fury with each step. Luna ran through the dead forest and branches caught her hair. Thorns cut her skin. Roots leapt up to trip her and she twisted her ankle. So much pain… She fell, unable to go on.

The shadow was upon her.

It was.

She was.

With a strangled cry, Luna awoke.

0 0 0

She opened her eyes and listened to the stillness around her, so in contrast with her rapidly beating heart and quick breath. She knew it had been a dream and nothing, but couldn't calm down, especially when she looked around and saw that she was not safe in her bed in the Ravenclaw dorm, but somewhere entirely different.

Where am I?

Trembling, Luna sat up. Her head hurt as her mind probed back and she tried to remember what had happened before she dreamed. All she could remember was blackness. But no, that wasn't right. She closed her eyes and concentrated. There was the fight with Harry. Yes. But that had been long ago. Since then she had been going through the days, existing but not living. Trying to forget.

Until that morning. She had gotten dressed as usual but didn't go down to breakfast. For some reason she couldn't face it. And as she sat there on her bed, absently twirling a lock of her hair around her wand, she felt herself being watched. Not the casual glance of a stranger, but watched in a way that was longing and intimate. Without looking up, Luna could feel herself blushing. The gaze was heated.

But there was no one there. Confused, she looked around and saw the bear sitting in the corner as it always did, its face frozen in a smile and its arms spread wide. But this time, the glass eyes were real and looking at her. They gleamed with reflected light and, as she watched, blinked.

Everything after that was fuzzy. Luna could remember standing and going over to it in the corner, her arm outstretched. Everything was still, surreal. The eyes looked at her, beckoning her forward and when she lightly touched its arm she felt a jerking around her middle and then a curious sensation of freefall before the darkness came. And she slept. And she dreamed.

But now she was awake and frightened. Luna wrapped her arms around herself against the chill, despite the fire that roared in the fireplace across the room. Every few minutes, a log from a pile next to it would float into the air and pitch itself into the flames, making them crackle and leap higher than before. Above the fireplace was a painting, a hideous deformation of a body floating in an underwater shipwreck, its mouth open in a silent and dead scream. She remembered Harry's face in her dream trapped under the ice and shivered.

She was laying on a bed, an ancient canopy with cracked green velvet curtains that were tied back with golden-colored rope. The wood was dark with age and twisted into a spiral as it led to the ceiling. The walls were covered with a dark wallpaper, a gray so intense it was almost black. A couple of chairs and an antique sofa covered with the same velvet fabric as the bed hangings sat across the room, still and shadowed. A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling, shining with reflected light of the fire. The room was fairly small, but nothing about it could be called cozy.

Luna focused her attention inward on her body, trying to feel each part of herself with her mind, searching for any bruises and hurts. But despite an overwhelming sleepiness, Luna could feel no pain. She hadn't been touched. That was a slight comfort.

A silver-handled door was shut across the room and Luna swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand, but the instant her feet touched the ground and she pulled herself up, an overwhelming dizziness overcame her and she collapsed to the floor. She pressed her hands firmly against the rust-colored carpet and tried to calm her breathing. She felt weak, lifeless. Struggling against the resistance of her muscles, Luna forced herself to her feet and leaned back against the wall, little beads of sweat forming at her temples. Her legs shook with the effort, but she was able to stand.

Luna closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing. The smell of smoked wood was making her sick. Determined, she started inching along the wall, slowly but steadily, pausing for breath and rest every couple feet. She had to reach the door. She didn't know what would happen when she reached it or what it would open up to, but she couldn't keep lying on the bed, weak and waiting for whatever lay ahead.

With every cell of her body, she knew she was in danger. She had to get away. Now.

She reached the little sitting area and cautiously stepped away from the wall. Immediately, her vision swam before her and she felt herself falling. Luna took a desperate step forward and steadied herself against the back of the sofa until she could see again. Exhausted breaths shook her chest as she gathered herself.

A creak shook the silence and the ancient door swung open. Luna lifted her head wearily and saw a figure illuminated against the light from the hall.

"Oh no, no, no," a voice cried out and a hand bearing a wand lifted. "That won't do. You must rest." The arm made a swirling pattern that ended in a flick and Luna's feet lifted from the ground as she floated back to the bed. She gritted her teeth in frustration when she landed and her hands balled into fists that pressed angrily into the soft sheets. "You're still weak," the voice continued, soothingly, and Luna lifted her head, curious despite her wariness.

The figure in the doorway was tall and the voice male, but a light tenor rather than a deep baritone. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, both nervous and anxious. So many weeks spent wondering and waiting, and now he was here… For the moment she forgot that she had been cruelly kidnapped and the lonely girl who had first opened his letters and read the admiring words came to the surface again. But she had changed so much since then, and although the feeling in her middle was anxious, her eyes were cold.

The man stepped forward into the firelight. Luna's breath caught as she saw his face. It was no one she knew, and yet at the same time oddly familiar. "We meet again," he said, and his dark eyes fixed on her face as if he couldn't look away. "You don't know how long I've dreamt of this moment. Sitting in that cell those long cold months, it was your face that kept me alive."

Luna stared at him in disbelief. Here was a man, young in face and voice, but still old enough to make her gulp. She guessed him to be in his late thirties, possibly early forties. What could he possibly want with her and why? He was smiling, making him appear young and eager as a boy, although the lines on his forehead revealed his age. His hair and eyes were both dark as night, and his face neither attractive nor unattractive. She doubted she would have looked twice at him if she passed him on the street, but now he was all she could see.

"Who are you?" she whispered, cold creeping along her spine.

The smile drooped and he sighed. "Don't you know?" he asked heavily. "I told you in my letters." The voice was almost pleading.

"Riddles," Luna said. "How could I know?"

"I had to. I had to. If anyone saw… if they found out… so I hid. But I knew you would know."

"But I didn't. I have no idea who you are."

He looked hurt and so very young. "But I've known you and loved you. Ever since last June in the Department of Mysteries. You blew up Pluto in my face, so brave and beautiful as you protected your wounded friend, that skinny little red head. I saw you and I loved you."

Luna remembered then, oh so vividly. He had been wearing a cape, his face concealed under a dark hood. They had been in the room with the mysterious floating planets, and she saw him lift his wand towards Ginny who was struggling along as she limped with her broken ankle, her face white and twisted with pain. Ron had been useless, giggling at Uranus, so she raised her own wand and exploded the nearest planet. It hit him in the face and he screamed. But when he looked at her, he fell silent. She had thought that he was stunned, but now realized that he had stared at her for a completely different reason. He hadn't come after her when she grabbed Ron's hand and pulled Ginny to her feet and fled with them.

That long ago… so he was a Death Eater. A supporter of the most evil wizard in history. He had tried to hurt her friends. Her blood boiled with anger and she glared at him.

She remembered Ron laughing in the library at what seemed so long ago, when he suggested she and her admirer had shared some romantic moment over Pluto. He had been joking at the time… but also completely right.

"The poem," she said softly. "I remember. So you're one of them. A Death Eater."

He looked pleased. "My name is Avery," he said, inclining his head gently. Luna stared at him in disbelief. That's why he looked familiar, because his face had been on the cover of the Daily Prophet almost every week since he and the other Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban that September. Firelight gleamed against a silver pin holding his cloak closed at his neck: a snake. She felt sick.

"I don't understand," she said, shaking her head. "You told me you weren't a Slytherin, but you must have been."

His eyes darkened as he looked at her. "I told you correctly," he said coldly. "I am not a Slytherin… but I was. I was shocked and hurt that you thought my passion a simple school boy's attraction. It's so much deeper than that, so much more serious. Now you understand."

Luna felt very tired. "I do." She tried to stand again and a roaring darkness filled her head so she was forced to sit back on the bed. "What did you do to me?" she asked dizzily.

Avery placed a hand to his heart and looked stricken. "I? I? I would never hurt you, my dear. I simply gave you something to help you sleep. You looked so little and lost when I brought you here, that I thought you could use the rest." He walked over to the desk by the bedside table, opened the top drawer and pulled out a strange object. Luna knew enough about Muggle culture to see that it was a hypodermic needle.

"I traded one of those doctors in the village my silver candlesticks for this. Silly little man. My colleagues may disagree, but I find Muggles smarter than most of our world will admit. This, for example… All it took was a little poke and you were safe. I couldn't bring myself to cast a spell on you, you see."

"So you drugged me?" Luna asked dully. His logic was making her weary.

Again, he looked pained. "Not to hurt you," he insisted. "I never would. I thought it would be better for us to reunite gradually. To lesson the shock."

Luna looked around the room. In that he had failed.

Avery misinterpreted her look. "Don't worry," he assured her. "My family home has been Unplottable for generations. My ancestors were cautious men. Those fools in the Ministry will never find me here." He smiled at her fondly and then nodded towards the fireplace. Luna's eyes were drawn again to the painting of the drowned man.

"How do you like it?"

"It's horrible."

"So was he." There was pride in his voice. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather, Silvanius Avery. He died in a shipwreck during a storm at sea. It was an experiment, you see. He thought of joining the wizards in America to see if they could establish rule in the new land. They thought of building plantations of Muggle slaves of every race and gaining the power they had been denied in Europe. My family has always sought the higher ranks of the world. But he never made it there."

"Silvanius," Luna repeated, testing the strange word. "What's your name?"

Avery shook his head and his eyes gleamed. "Did you never hear that whomever knows your name has power over you? And you already own as much of my soul that I can spare, my beauty."

Luna didn't like when he spoke like that. It made her feel ashamed, even though she had done nothing wrong. She wished he'd stop looking at her that way, as if he was holding himself back with a thin string from rushing forward and touching her. His eyes never moved from her face, from her body. She tried her best not to look back at him or encourage him in any way.

She thought of Harry smiling at her in the way he did before she made him angry. Harry with his friendly eyes that never demanded anything that she wasn't willing to give. And he cared about her; he really had. Luna knew this, but had been so scared when he told her how he felt. She wished she had listened and not given into the panic inside, for it was easier to love someone imaginary on paper than a real flesh and blood person. She hadn't wanted to hurt him or be hurt herself, and at the time it was the easiest thing in the world to run.

But thinking about him now, Luna felt like crying. For in her foolishness, she had really and truly lost him, because even if she saw him again he would surely never forgive her. Or care.

While she was thinking this, Avery moved closer and she looked up in shock when she saw that he was only feet away from her. "So beautiful," he murmured. "That pale skin and wide, clear eyes. Your moonlit hair. You're just like the moon goddess you're named for. A true lady of the night – we're meant for each other, you and I."

Her insides felt panicked and the only clear thought in her mind was that he must not touch her. "How is that?" she whispered. But Avery wasn't listening. He lifted a hand toward her and she immediately shrank back from his touch, skin crawling. Avery didn't appear to mind, and smiled as he let his hand fall back to his side.

"I knew your mother at Hogwarts," he said softly, "and I thought her beautiful. She never saw me. But now I have her daughter, and you and I will be together in every way." He stepped closer.

Luna's heart fluttered in panic. "Avery… don't," she pleaded.

He stopped and slightly cocked his head to the side. "Why do you look at me with such fear?" he asked. "Don't you know that I would never harm you?" Luna didn't answer, for she knew nothing about him and didn't care to. All she wanted was to get away. "I know," he said suddenly and blossomed into a big smile. "You must be hungry. You can't have eaten all day." He waved his hand and a tray full of food appeared in his hands.

"I made it myself," he explained. "Our old house elf died years ago and I find it easier to manage without servants anyway, for you never quite know who to trust in these times. Eat." He pushed the tray towards her, but Luna shook her head. She would touch nothing from him.

"No?" He looked disappointed and set the tray on the table beside her bed. "It's here if you change your mind. A word from your sweet mouth and I'll heat it up." Luna's nose twitched as she smelled the delicious fragrance of roast beef and mashed potatoes, and her stomach growled desperately, but still she didn't move. She refused.

Avery grew impatient as she stared at her hands, unmoving. "Oh, eat up!" he urged. "We'll be having a guest later, and you need your strength. We must be polite, you know."

Luna's curiosity was piqued. "A guest?"

Avery's smile grew until it stretched in a thin line across his face. "A very special guest," he said, pleased. "I would do anything to get back in the good graces of my lord."

Luna froze, her mouth gaping open. She stared at his mad face for a long moment before she was able to speak. "You-Know-Who… is coming here?" she gasped, but Avery laughed.

"No, no. I would never subject you to that. I hardly think he would approve, being so cold against emotions as he is. So I'll keep you here safe, my secret, my love. Don't you worry about that." But Luna hardly thought being kept as his prisoner qualified as "safe."

He continued. "I've written a letter to young Harry Potter and invited him to a party of mine," he said casually. Luna hadn't thought it possible to feel worse than she did, but at that she froze in horror and stared at him. She couldn't speak.

"I love you above all in the world," he explained, "but I've also known since that night when I saw him with you outside, thinking he was protecting you," here his face grew ugly and his eyes darkened, "from me that he sees in you what I do. I always thought he was too interfering for his own good. You and I will never be free from him until he's disposed. Anyway, it'll please the Dark Lord when I capture him and he will reward me for my loyalty. He'll come," he assured Luna, looking excited.

"Well, he won't," Luna said and her voice was trembling. "I yelled at him and told him to go away. He doesn't care about me." The memory now was painful, like a knife stuck in her heart. But Avery laughed.

"He'll come. My circle has long known the boy's weakness for heroics. Like you or not, although I have little doubt that anyone on this earth would fail to love you, he will be here. So don't fret my dear," he added lazily. "He'll come."

Luna said nothing, and thought about how the only thing she would fret about was that Harry would come and put himself in danger for her. When she deserved nothing from him… not his love or life… The idea that it was all her fault made her stomach do little flips and turns.

"You claim to love me," she said slowly, risking a glance at him. "You say I'm all that matters to you, but you're using me as… as bait to get what you want."

Avery looked horrified and sank to his knees before the bed. Before she could say anything, he took one of her hands in his own and raised it to his lips. "I… love… you," he insisted between kisses as his lips moved higher and higher up her arm and he pushed back the sleeve of her jacket as he went. It bunched up to her elbow and he kissed the tender skin underneath. His lips were warm but Luna couldn't help shivering as he touched her.

Avery realized she was hesitant and sat back on his heels. "In time you will love me as I love you," he said, his eyes very near hers. Luna looked back. She thought for a minute that he was going to try to kiss her, but he stepped away and she was able to lower her eyes with relief.

He walked to a wardrobe across the room and opened it, revealing an old-fashioned white dress. Luna couldn't help looking in admiration. The bodice was covered with tiny pearls that shone in the light and the skirt glittered with silver lace over the sheer fabric. The sleeves were off the shoulder and tightly hugged the upper arms. It was truly beautiful.

"All my possessions are yours," Avery said, smiling. "My heart, my body…" seeing Luna wince, he laughed and continued. "My mother's clothes. All of it. Wear this for me."

It was truly beautiful, but Luna didn't like his tone, so possessive and assuming. Looking directly at him, she said firmly, "No."

Avery sighed. "Pity," he said, and before she knew what was happening, he lifted his wand and with a soft muttered spell, vanished her clothes. Luna wrapped her arms around herself and dove behind the velvet drapes. Her eyes peered at him over the top of them, hating him. But Avery was unconcerned.

"Your choice," he said lightly. "I have to make preparations for our guest. You are free to wander as you wish, but be warned that if you try to leave, these walls will turn into a labyrinth around you and none but I will be able to find you. Until later, my dear, and my heart always with you." With one last superior, mocking look, he turned and left.

Luna waited for a few minutes after he had gone before darting out from behind the curtain and rushing to the wardrobe. He had left her bra and underwear, but it was still an insult that he'd dared violate her so. She supposed it could have been worse, but that didn't stop her anger and embarrassment. Her heart ached as she struggled into the dress and remembered the sweet words he'd written to her earlier. How could she have been such a fool to believe in them? Maybe he truly did care about her, but she could never love him, not after this and the way he'd kidnapped her. And now Harry was in danger and it was all her fault.

Please, Harry, please don't come, she pleaded silently as she fumbled with the ties on the back of the dress. I'm not worth it. Stay away. Don't let yourself be hurt on my account.

Luna hadn't cried in years, not since her mother died, but now she leaned against the wardrobe and sobbed.


Hi, everyone. I've been pretty busy this last week, but because of a deep love of kittens and the thought that I probably shouldn't prolong this anyway, I finally sat down and got 'r' don' (um... sorry, bad Larry the Cable Guy joke).

Gold star to Zully and bleep for guessing Avery! (claps and snaps everyone) Not sure why I chose him, except that I used to write about a character named Averill whom I loved. Thus, Avery got to be the obsessive creep in this story. So... did I do good? I'm curious about what you think. BTW, the last poem in CH5:

My love for you grows, an ever-reaching tidal. No
Name nor sound will slake my thirst for you. There
Is only one cure. I need your soul, your eyes calling for me, and
Every story ever written will pale in the passion that we share. (Avery)

I'm impressed about how in depth some people have gone in their analyzations, but it's really no more deep than that...

'Til next time (once I figure out what happens next... eep).