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Rising Tempo
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Minds that have to
whisper
See in them a sister
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Luna fancied that plenty of her peers enjoyed their long nights of revelry. They enjoyed drinking and dancing and being hurled about in Voldemort's gathering. Luna felt more as if she were watching from the corners, swept along until the composition stopped, Ginny slipped away, and Theodore pulled her back into the night, while the Death Eaters reveled on.
The next morning was cool outside of her windows, a fog settling thick and white through the trees and over the green grass, where the snow from the night before had swiftly melted. Luna found herself awake quiet early, opening her eyes and wondering what was different about this morning. The sound of birds whistling to each other answered her question. She smiled softly into her pillow. Even after such a troubling evening, simple things could touch her heart.
Disentangling herself from Theodore's arms, Luna rose from their bed, pulling one of her long robes over her shoulders and leaving the room. Padding down the old, splintery stairs of the stone cottage, she made her way to the front door, slipping on a pair of shoes and walking out onto the frosty grass.
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Bill didn't quite know what he was doing back in Devonshire. He knew he was going to scope out the area, get a feel for the wards and decide what to do from there. However, cover was sparse. The patches of forest surrounding the village were thin, and every cottage and house had windows all around. Perhaps he had been a little rash in his actions. But when Michael had come home late the previous night, talking about the buzz the ministry over the girl Voldemort had on display at his gatherings, Bill had been moved to act. Thus, he'd left at dawn with, surprisingly, Alicia close at his heels.
They were currently standing in a small copse of trees near a small stream, watching one of the large stone cottages closely. Outside a carriage was parked, bearing the Nott family seal, and Bill fancied that if he could somehow get a message to Luna, he might have more of an idea of what to do next. The only question was how to do so without any of her in-laws finding out…
Luck was him though, it seemed. Hearing a door open, Bill looked up towards the cottage from his spot among the trees, covered in his black cloak. Luna rounded a corner of the house, the fog breaking around her as she swept across the grass in her white house robe. She stopped some yards away from where he stood, at the edge of the thawing stream, folding her arms against her chest and tipping her chin down, to watch the water and ice flow past her feet.
"Luna?" Bill said softly, cautiously taking a small step out from under the trees. Luna's head shot up, her eyes wide as she heard his familiar voice. She hurried into the shadows under the trees beside him, glancing back at the house anxiously,
"What are you doing here!" She hissed, pulling the hood of her white robe up over her head and looking up at him incredulously, "By Elgi, you will get yourself killed!"
"Luna, I know she is here," Bill said simply, looking back down at her. Over his shoulder, Luna saw the shorter figure of Alicia standing behind him, further into the shadows. Luna sighed, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. Merlin, what would Theodore do if he saw her? She glanced back at the house, and back at Ginny's brother,
"What do you want from me?" She asked in a whisper, looking down at her feet. Bill looked at her for a moment, before reaching into his pocket and pulling something out, pressing it into her hands. Luna opened her palms, finding a pair of old knitting needles, with flowers painted on them. She sucked in a long breath, looking up at him again, her eyes watery. Bill returned her gaze almost desperately,
"I need to know everything," He replied, "I need to know what that hall looks like, if she's safe, or hurt, or…"
Luna nodded, slowly. And she told him everything she knew.
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That night, they once again entered the Great Hall, and once again the gathering players were a spectacle to behold. However, as they walked over the ground toward the Hall, Luna couldn't help but wonder if the walls shivered just slightly, as figures in black cloaks and white masks lingered in the shadows. Not that such individuals were out of the ordinary of course, but Luna suspected they had not been invited...
The evening was much like the one before it, only now with the crown jewels of Brittan on display, and the players were dressed as Magical Creatures in masks, and there were more of them. Fleur and Viktor Krum had arrived that morning, the two old acquaintances having both hurried to look the other up when Voldemort's laws went into effect the previous year. Of all the people Luna imagined herself never having a pleasant conversation with, Fleur was certainly high on the list, but there they were. The half-Veela was dressed as…well, a full-Veela, and Luna wore long shimmering scarves as a dress and in her hair flowing down to her feet, as a masked mermaid.
Somewhere in the crowd, Orla was wandering about as a Kneazle, with a cat-like mask and long fur cape. However, whenever Luna glanced over at Theodore and Rabastan across the smooth floor and swinging green lanterns, her young friend was nowhere to be seen. Orla had been distant all day in fact, hardly saying a word to either her friend or her husband. In fact, Bast seemed to be the one Orla was avoiding the most. The Death Eater said nothing in their present company, but Luna did not miss the rather unsettled glances he was giving his wife when she was in view, or the hard stares he directed at Bellatrix when she walked by, smiling like a cat.
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"He's letting her walk about!" Fleur whispered at one point, nodding to the head of the room. Voldemort was deep in conversation with Rodolphus and Antonin, and Ginny had been allowed to wander the crowd nearby, dressed up as a Raven. Her dress was black and there were black feathers in her hair and on her mask, behind which she was trying to catch Luna's eye.
"I will be back," Luna told Fleur, and slipped away towards the head of the room. Ginny moved toward her, but subtly, so as not to bring her Master's attention. But The Dark Lord was confidant in his control over this prize.
"Whisper," Ginny hissed softly in Luna's ear when the tall girl embraced her best friend briefly, scarves and feathers brushing.
"I'm used to it," Luna whispered back, seeming to any outsider to be impassive behind her mask, and Ginny looked much the same behind hers. But the two friends knew each other well. And they knew much had changed in those eyes, since the last time they'd been able to talk freely.
"Are you all right?" Was Ginny's first question, keeping her body language cool and composed. Luna in turn played with one of the scarves in her hair boredly, while a few others glanced their way.
"I am very well," Luna said in a normal tone, as such a conversation was, on the surface, harmless enough, "I'm expecting…twins,"
"Really?" Ginny gave her friend a ghost of a smile, which made Luna's heart hurt a bit.
"Really," Luna swallowed, "Ginny I…I miss you so much,"
"I…have to go," Ginny whispered, feeling eyes fixed on the back of her skull. Glancing over her friend's shoulder, Luna spotted The Dark Lord watching them as well. She nodded, reaching out and giving her friend an embrace,
"All will be right again soon," She whispered in Ginny's ear hastily, before stepping away. Ginny gave her a long look, that was both hopeful and disbelieving at the same time, before she went back to stand at Voldemort's side. Luna had always said things like that in the old days, when the papers were filled with names they knew, and when Ginny's father had died at the train station. All will be right again…and somehow, as she always did, Ginny believed her.
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Author's Notes: Right then, this chapter was driving me up the wall. I have this delicate plan of events in my head, and they just didn't want to all fit in one chapter, lol. Thus, this chapter is short, and moving toward the next one, which is far more plotful and eventful, yes. Anywhoo, I am coming out of a bit of a slump in my personal life, which is why chapters are slow. But now that this bugger is out of the way, I can finally get to the finale, which is pretty much writing itself!
Thanks so much for all the support and reviews folks, it makes writing this far more enjoyable, knowing that other people are enjoying it.