"Frozen Serenity"
Chapter Four Scars
Disclaimer: As usual, I own none of the characters, names, places, etc. I'm just playing with JKR's world, and making no profit from it.
His ears were ringing. Those damn teammates of his must be talking about him. It wasn't his fault that he had detention! Filch had been extra ornery ever since Dumbledore came back. At least he had detention with Lovegood. He could take his frustration out on her. Draco began to brainstorm ideas of ways to harass her as he walked to Filch's office. A particularly nasty idea caused him to smirk as he arrived at his destination.
Filch was already standing outside, looking rather eager. Usually that wasn't a good sign, and Draco's smirk faded from his face.
"Good, now we just need the girl and then you can get started." He got a decidedly evil looking grin on his face. Draco began to panic slightly.
"Good evening, Draco," the ethereal Ravenclaw greeted him. Draco jumped, not having heard her walk up. Did she glide along the floor?
"Put everything in alphabetical order. No magic allowed. I've got an alarm set up if you try to use any kind of cleaning or filing spell," Filch explained as he shoved the two students inside his office. "I'll be back in three hours to see if you've finished." He called through the thick door.
Draco had never been in Filch's office before. It reeked of something fishy. There was a desk and two chairs, some filing cabinets and chains hung from the ceiling that looked as though they were brand new. Apparently, Filch hadn't been lying about wanting the old punishments back…
Lovegood had already started taking files out of one of the top cabinets, and had them precariously balanced on the top of her head. He pointed his wand at her, and the files tumbled off her head and papers flew everywhere.
She looked down at them and without even blinking once and began to pick them up again. This time, she only picked up a handful and made several trips to the desk and back. Draco continued to stand there and watch her as his frustration grew.
"Why don't you react like a normal person?"
"I react the way I react. There is no such thing as a normal person, because everyone is different. So how could I possibly react like a normal person when a normal person doesn't exist?" she replied while beginning to sort the files neatly into piles.
He walked up to her and sneered, "Maybe if you say that enough times, you'll actually believe it. Your theories belong in a bin. Much like the Weasleys. That could be why you get along so well with them."
Lovegood slowly raised her head and met his gaze. There was something in her eyes that he couldn't read. He frowned. This girl was so aggravating! Why didn't she get angry or sad? What was her problem? She went back to sorting the files after a minute, ignoring him once again.
"Aren't you even going to ask me to help you with those files?"
"Would you actually help me if I asked you to? Or would you just ignore your upbringing as a gentleman? You can be extremely rude at times."
He made a noise of disbelief. "Me? Rude? When? When have I been rude to anyone?"
"Just now, when I greeted you in the corridor and you didn't greet me back. When you didn't reply when I said 'see you later' this afternoon. When you called me a freak. When you told me I knew nothing of importance and I wasn't important. When you were yelling at Madam Pince…"
"First of all, I don't yell. Second, I was just telling you the truth. You don't know anything of importance, and you're not normal so of course you're a freak."
"A gentleman would teach someone if they actually did know nothing of importance, instead of just informing them." She paused from her task and closed her eyes for a moment. "Will you help me to file these into the correct places, Draco Malfoy?"
She sounded oddly formal. Mind you, she always sounded oddly everything… He supposed that Filch wouldn't let them leave until they had finished putting everything back in order. It would be faster if he did some of the work… He might be able to go to the last part of the Quidditch tryouts if they finished quickly.
"Yes, I will help you, Luna Lovegood," he said half sarcastically.
He pointed his wand at a few jumbled stacks of paper laying on top of a cabinet and was about to perform a Levitation Charm on them, when a hand grabbed his arm. It was ice cold.
"No more magic. Mr. Filch may have only told us about the alarms he had for cleaning and filing. There might be other ones we don't know about."
Once he got over the shock of her frigid hand, he begrudgingly admitted to himself that she was probably right. Bloody Ravenclaws. He stuffed his wand in his pocket and picked up about ten files. He turned to walk over to the desk, and Lovegood placed about fifty more in his arms. He staggered slightly under the weight of them. Once he managed to finally make it to the desk, he dropped them as quickly as possible. His arms and back were aching. The nerve of her! Making him carry that much! He was about to tell her off, when she dumped the same amount of files on the desk, and sat down on one of the chairs with a grin on her face.
"You're supposed to lift with your legs, not your back. We should sort this bit out first, then tackle the next drawer."
"You tackle it. I'm still recovering."
"I could give you a massage if you wanted. That way we could get down to business."
He stared at her incredulously. "Excuse me?"
"On second thought, I have a pain killing potion in my back pack. It's mainly used for bad headaches, but I think it'll do. Too bad it wasn't a Peppy Potion, then you'd be able to work and be enjoyable to be around." Luna replied, while fishing out a plum-coloured bottle out of her bag. She handed it to him.
He just looked at it in his hand. How could he be sure that it wasn't some other potion? Something that would embarrass him, surely. She seemed to want to do that kind of thing. Plus, she was holding a grudge about him being 'rude' to her. He had just firmly made up his mind not to take the stopper out, when she piped up.
"That isn't poison or anything, you know. You can drink it."
He pulled the cork out of the bottleneck, and sniffed it. The potion smelled so strongly of black pepper, that he sneezed.
"It's black pepper flavoured, by the way." Luna said, staring at him again. "Some people don't like it that much. They say it burns their throat."
This made him lose his temper. He threw the bottle at the wall, where it shattered.
"Can't you do anything normally? You can't have a normal conversation, you can't carry papers normally, and you can't even carry a decent flavoured pain relief potion with you! Where the hell did you get that vile thing?"
Luna didn't even blink at his shouting. "I told you what I think about being normal. I like black pepper, so I made that potion taste like it. Now if you don't mind, we have some filing to do…"
"You aren't just going to brush me off that easily this time, Lovegood! I've had enough of your… uniqueness to last me a lifetime! It was time I taught you not to mess with a Malfoy!" He took out his wand again and pointed it straight at her.
She just sat there calmly, with her hands on her lap. This just caused him to become even more furious at her. He needed to get a reaction out of her, anything. Nothing he ever did seemed to get any reaction he wanted, except for her continued loonyness. He stepped closer to her, and tried to look for a weak spot… anything. Her face had a dreamy expression on it as usual. Her cork necklace was gone, which was a minor plus. Those shiny orbs of hers were open in that shocked look they always had, but there were dark circles under her eyes that she hadn't totally managed to hide. Why, if she didn't bother to brush her hair, did she try to get rid of circles under her eyes? So the girl who didn't want to be normal cared about her appearance, and that was hypocritical. He decided to see if she was hiding any other things with Concealing Charms. He raised his wand to her face, and said "Finite incantatem."
Her eyes went even wider than before. A small "Oh no." escaped her lips. One of the hands that had been in her lap flew up to her cheek, in an attempt to hide the scar of a huge gash there, but it was too late. He had already seen it.
"What is that from?"
She remained silent, and turned her back to him. He could hear her muttering the charms to hide her scar. He had felt pity for her last year, when he found out that she had to search for her things, but now that feeling intensified. If she had been a Slytherin, he might have thought of consoling her. But she wasn't. She was just a Ravenclaw, a loony Ravenclaw. He had finally got a reaction out of her. He grinned.
"So, for a girl who doesn't care about being normal, you sure do put on quite a few Concealing Charms. I guess you're just as vain as the next girl."
"I'm Loony Lovegood and no one cares what I look like. Maybe I shouldn't worry about putting the charms on anymore…"
"Oh, and make the rest of us suffer through having to see that hideous thing on your face all the time? I suggest you keep putting them on. We've already got one freak with a scar running around this school. We don't need another one." Draco had the distinct impression he was going too far, but he couldn't help himself, like always. "Now I see why you and Potter get along. You can compare your battle wounds. His from the Dark Lord, and yours from your useless mother!" he sneered at her.
"My mother was not useless." Luna said all of a sudden, her voice shaking slightly.
"Oh really! Then what was she, exactly? I don't call blowing yourself up useful!"
"She didn't blow herself up! It was the spell she was working on… it backfired… but it wasn't supposed to… according to her notes…" Luna turned around and looked him straight in the eye. He had expected her to be crying, but she wasn't. She was looking dottier than he had ever thought humanly possible. "You know, I wanted to believe you were just another Stubby Boardman, but maybe Ronald was right. Maybe you are just a git."
She picked up her bag, and made as if she was going to leave, but he blocked the door.
"You think that I'm going to let you leave without finishing this mess?"
She turned to the desk, pointed her wand at the files, and they flew to their correct place. There was a flurry of papers and folders for a minute, then all the drawers closed and the office was clean again. No alarm bells went off, but that didn't mean there hadn't been a silent alarm. He became extremely aggravated, but she brushed past him and whipped open the door, leaving him standing there alone. He decided to head back to the Slytherin common room. The Quidditch tryouts were still being held, and he didn't want to stick around and be the one to take the blame from Filch for using magic to clean.
The night breeze plucked at her robes and hair, but Luna didn't mind. It helped to calm her. She was on top of the North tower, the tallest one in Hogwarts. She always came up there to think and be alone.
It was one thing to be in the middle of her common room with the latest copy of The Quibbler placed strategically in front of her face so she could lose herself in her thoughts. No one ever came up to talk to her in the common room. Pretty much everyone in her House ignored her all the time. She had become used to it. Being in a crowded room and being alone, was nothing to being actually alone. She preferred it the latter way.
Tonight, the sky was fairly clear, and the moon was almost full. She could clearly see several of the largest craters, including the Sea of Serenity (or Mare Serenitas, as it was known in Latin). She loved to stare at the moon. It made her feel at peace like nothing else could, probably because she felt closer to her mother that way. After all, Diana was the moon goddess.
She held up her hand to her cheek. "I'm afraid I let him see more than this scar today… Mother; please help me, wherever you are! Please give me strength to continue! He's going to make my life miserable, even though I've always tried to help him. Before you died, there was a party and he had put Every Flavour Beans in one of the puddings as a joke. He got all the girls to try, and they all hated it. Draco would have got into such trouble with Lucius, but I made sure to tell his parents that I loved the pudding. I actually did enjoy it though, so I wasn't lying. There had been black pepper and grass-flavoured beans in my slice, which I love. Most people find them disgusting… Every year, I get Dad to make a pudding just like it for when I get home for the holidays. I miss the puddings you used to make, with strawberries and peaches and chocolate… I miss you so much, mum. I love you. Good Night." She whispered.
She started to head back towards the door to the stairs, when she heard someone whisper her name. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the light on the top of the tower, and she saw the outline of a skinny boy standing in front of her.
"Harry?"
"I saw you were headed this way, and I thought I'd help you get back to your common room before Filch catches you out of bed." He explained as he pointed to the Map he had in his hand. It was fascinating, really. A good piece of spellmanship. She could see her dot labelled 'Luna Lovegood' next to the dot labelled 'Harry Potter'. Another dot, labelled 'Argus Filch' was roaming around in the dungeon corridors.
"Well, it seems he's down in the dungeons. We don't have to worry about him." She looked up into Harry's face, and saw something in his eyes. "Would you like to sit and chat for a bit?"
"If you don't mind. The Gryffindor common room isn't exactly the happiest place to be right now, with Hermione and Ron shouting at each other every second. I'm not entirely sure what this row is about, and I don't think I want to know." Harry explained, while sitting down on the floor with his back against the tower wall. He kept his Invisibility Cloak and map in his lap, and continued to watch the tiny-labelled dots for each person in the castle.
Luna sat down beside him.
"I just ran into Dobby, and it seems as though Hermione hasn't given up making clothes for the House Elves and putting them out. Dobby is the only one who cleans our tower now."
"Dobby is rather interesting, but would you like to talk about something else?" she asked him, after deciding that he hadn't come all the way up here to talk about a house elf. It took him a few minutes before he spoke again.
"Well… I was wondering about what you said last year. You said that you would see your mother again. How can you be so sure? I mean, I know you were sure we weren't crazy because we could see Thestrals even before Hagrid taught us about them, but you could have read about them in a book or The Quibbler. Will I ever see my parents and Godfather ever again?"
"I believe that I'll see Mum again sometimes just because it's too hard to believe that anything else will happen. But whenever I see the moon, it's like she's watching over me, bathing me in her bright white light and protecting me from the darkness. I'm sure there's some place that you go to or activity that you do that makes you feel closer you the people you've lost. Maybe you should do it more often. It makes it easier"
Suddenly, Harry's dark and lonely expression changed and he got a mischievous sparkle in his eye. "You're right, come on. Let's go raid the kitchens!" he exclaimed, grabbed her arm and pulled her underneath his Invisibility Cloak before hurrying over to the stairs.
They made it to the kitchens without incident. Harry pulled the Cloak off them, and she was instantly cooler. It had become quite stuffy under the Cloak while they had been walking. She took a few deep breaths of crisp, fresh air and looked around.
Apparently, the House Elves went to sleep after midnight. There was no one in the kitchens except the two of them. Harry began looking in the cupboards for snacks.
"I'm starved. I missed supper today because of Quidditch tryouts."
"I missed it too, as I was in the library finishing up homework."
"Oh yeah, you've got your O.W.L.s this year. How's that coming along? Aha! Some ice cream!" Harry exclaimed as he dove inside one of the cupboards.
"It's fine. The professors have given us a few more assignments. Here's some cookies."
"A few more assignments?" he asked her, holding a small tub of Florean Fortescue's no-melt French vanilla ice cream.
"Well, I just know how to manage my time well, without any magical aids. I guess we should use spoons." Luna replied, as she conjured two spoons with her wand.
"Wow, that's impressive. Vanishing is much easier than conjuring, and we just started vanishing last year." Harry informed her, before digging whole-heartedly into the tub. She joined him, as her stomach had started to growl in protest ages ago.
About half an hour later (and even later after curfew), Harry was saying good night to her at the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower.
"You know, I think I had too much ice cream."
"Have a good sleep and you'll feel better when you wake up. I guess I'll see you later, then. Oh, and by the way you've got a blob of ice cream hanging off the end of your nose." Luna replied, smiling slightly as she stated the password to the suit of armour, which disappeared into the floor, revealing a passageway behind it that she disappeared into, as Harry frowned at his reflection in a shiny shield mounted on the wall nearby.
Two days later, Harry and Luna were in the Library trying to finish up the last of their homework before Monday. Harry was feverishly writing out an essay for Transfiguration, and Luna was doing research for Charms. She was skimming through the indexes of a few books when Ron came stomping in. He threw himself onto the chair next to Harry, and dropped his bag on the ground, then proceeded to bang his head on their table.
"Bloody swot… responsibilities… bunch of rubbish…"
"Sorry Ron, but I've got to get this essay done. Can you stop hitting your head? Ah! I forgot to get the name of that book I used for this reference… McGonnagall's really cracking down on plagiarising this year. Be right back." Harry rambled as he got up from the table and sought out Madam Pince to see if she hadn't re-shelved his book yet.
Luna continued to check her books for any useful information, and Ron stared at her.
"She's meeting Vicky in Hogsmeade next week. I overheard her tell Ginny. Why she wants to see that Bulgarian git is beyond me."
She was slightly startled that he was actually talking to her in a civilised manner. Luna didn't need any input as to who 'she' was. Of course he'd talk about Hermione. He was obsessed with her. A pang of hurt washed over her for a second, but then she recovered.
"Why were you eavesdropping on their conversation?" Luna managed to ask. Apparently, he had some problems with trust.
"I wasn't. I was trying to concentrate on my homework, for once. They were sitting nearby and the common room was quiet. Ugh! Practically everyone goes to Hogsmeade with dates now."
She didn't believe him for one second. Ron paused, and looked at her intensely for a few seconds for continuing, "Luna… are you going to Hogsmeade next week end?"
She looked up from her book about bouncing toadstools. Her heart began to beat faster. "Yes, why?"
"Would you like to go with me?"
Luna's heart fluttered slightly. Then, she realised why he was asking her and her heart sank.
"No, thank you Ronald."
"I thought you liked me."
Luna's chest constricted. "I do, but I'd rather go with you if it was because you genuinely wanted to spend time with me. I don't want to go with you because you want to get back at Hermione, because you know how much I get on her nerves. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find another book…" with that, she left him sitting there with his mouth hanging open.
She went into an aisle where she'd be out of his view and put her head in her hands. A minute later, she heard someone talking to her.
"Now that Voldemort doesn't have the Ministry to hide behind, we should really start up the D.A. again. Those of us who're still at Hogwarts are planning on meeting up for a bit in The Three Broomsticks next weekend. A bunch of us will be going together. You're welcome to join us." Luna looked up and saw Harry standing there, leaning on one of the shelves.
"I'll join you in The Three Broomsticks, but I have some errands to run with the rest of the time. It's best if I go by myself, as I have quite a lot to do. It's my father's birthday next month, and there won't be another Hogsmeade weekend before then. I have to make all the arrangements now. Thank you anyway," she replied, trying her best to look her usual dreamy self.
"I didn't ask you out of pity, you know." He told her as he uncrossed his arms.
She smiled at him. "I know, and I appreciate that." She had seen the pity in his expression the year before, when she told him about having her things taken by other students. There was none of it there now, just a lingering sadness that continually dulled his bright green eyes. "Are we all supposed to meet at a certain time?"
"Well… I think it'll probably be before dinnertime. The Headmaster and the Ministry approve of us now, so if you know of anyone who should joining, don't hesitate to tell them to come."
"Have you asked the professors to mention it to their classes? Maybe that would be a good way of getting the word out. Well… that is if people pay attention. It'd have to be on Tuesday, so that they've recovered from the weekend but haven't become totally occupied with Hogsmeade yet." She replied, not really wanting to admit that no one would go if she suggested it to them.
"That's a good idea, but I think I'll leave harassing the teachers to Hermione." He said, sighing. "I suppose I still have to finish that essay." Harry stood up straight, but still looked rather dejected at the prospect of more homework as he walked back to their table with Luna right behind him. Ron and his bag were nowhere to be seen, so they both continued to work on their assignments in peace.
As it turned out, Mr. Filch hadn't put up any alarms the first day that Draco and Luna had had detention. He had made sure to have them put up the next day, so as to deter them from skiving off early. They had both received another week of detention as a result.
After Luna finished her assignment for Charms in the Library with Harry, she realised that she was going to be late for detention, so she took out her wand, and whispered the spell to create a shortcut through the castle. "Munius!" Since Hogwarts had opened, it had secretly been passed on to every member of her House. Rowena Ravenclaw had designed the school and had wanted to give her House a slight advantage over the other students. The shortcut would only last for as long as she was inside it, though. Although sometimes she wondered that if her Housemates had got to know her before their first day, if she would have been clued in about it at all…
She popped out of the wall behind a tapestry, and pulled it away to reveal the corridor with Mr. Filch's office. Both Draco and the caretaker were already standing there, with the latter looking at his watch with an almost gleeful expression on her face. She could hear him mutter "ten… nine… eight…" as she approached them.
"Good evening," she greeted them, and they both jumped at the sound of her voice. The happy look on Mr. Filch's face disappeared when he saw her. He shoved his watch back into his pocket, and took out a ring of keys whilst grumbling under his breath about something along the lines of someone spoiling his fun by being on time. He opened the door, and waited for them to go inside.
"The chains and shackles need oiling and cleaning. I want all of them done tonight. The oil and rags are on my desk," he explained before closing the door on them. Luna could hear the clicking of the lock in the door. She suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic, and decided to start working to keep her mind off things. She went over to the desk and picked up a rag and started to dip it into the oil. Luna heard the clank of a chain behind her, and she guessed Draco had come to the same decision. When she turned around, she found Draco right behind her, staring in disgust at the pair of shackles he had in his hands.
"Ugh! I think there's essence of fish guts on these. I refuse to clean them, and get my hands dirty," he announced.
"That's nice," she told him as she handed him the rag she had been holding and turned back to the desk to get another.
"I don't see why the House Elves can't do this sort of thing. It's disgusting. Why can't we just write lines or recite chapters from our texts or something like that? This is cruel and unnecessary punishment," Draco complained as he ran the rag along the chain as lightly as possible.
"I'm surprised you're not used to cruel and unusual punishment. After all those things used to torture people you've got at your manor."
He laughed slightly. "What stuff used to torture people besides my father?"
She turned back towards him, and studied him for a bit before answering; "I take it back. I'm not surprised. Your mother cares about you a great deal."
He looked up from the chain he was swatting at with his rag. "What does that have to do with it?"
Luna just smiled at him, not really wanting to reply. When she saw how he was cleaning, she let out a sigh. They were never going to get done at this rate, if he just took swipes at them. Mr. Filch probably wanted them to be sparkling after they finished. She grabbed his hand and forced him to scrub the chain for a few seconds before he jerked his hand away.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Teaching you how to scrub it properly, so we can get out of here faster. You'll never finish polishing it the way you're doing it," Luna explained serenely and reached out for his hand again, "See, it's like this-" she managed to say before he yanked his hand back again.
"You've got oil, grease and dust on your hands. Do not touch me," Draco said rather disdainfully.
Luna decided to let him be for a little while, and turned her attention on getting another chain down from the ceiling without it crashing down on her head. She was so preoccupied with her task that it took a few seconds to register that Draco was talking.
"… Not that I blame you, but why did you turn down the Weasel? I thought you had a thing for him."
"Who I have a thing for is none of your business, Draco Malfoy."
"I was there in the library when it happened," he continued, completely oblivious to her, "I went up to him and asked him how it felt to be turned down not only by a part Veela, but the Mudblood and the school Loon. Weasel didn't like it too much, he tried to hex me but Madam Pince came and chucked him out. You should have seen the look on his face, Lovegood!"
"Ow," Luna whispered. She had been scrubbing a shackle a little too hard and nicked herself on it somehow. Draco was still talking behind her, but this time she was the one ignoring him. There seemed to be an awful amount of blood coming out of the wound for such a little scratch. Her vision blurred slightly, which she supposed, was due to tears of pain welling up in her eyes.
"Please be quiet, Draco."
"Aha! Something else that'll get a reaction out of you! Insulting the filthy Weasel. I knew-"
"Draco, please be quiet. I need to think…" Luna said thickly, just as it got a lot more difficult to do so. Her head had begun to swim, and she lost her balance, toppling onto the floor. She accidentally took Draco down with her, and heard him make noises of protest… or pain. There was something beneath her, but she couldn't figure out if it was Draco or the chains they had been working on. Odd… she didn't remember putting on red robes. In fact, she didn't own any red robes… After a few seconds she realised that it was blood before her vision went black, and she could really panic.
Luna's Notes: Draco was quite rude again in this chapter, wasn't he?
Draco's Notes: Once again, I was not rude! Some people just had a better upbringing than others did, so something that is rude to them may not be to someone of a higher standing. I hope you bleed to death, Lovegood!
Jade's Notes: Now, now. Is that anyway to speak to your 'co-star', Draco? You still have a great many (yet to be determined) chapters to go, plus that little thing called a romance. ;) We're all looking forward to that, especially the snogging scenes. Grins. Thanks again, to my beta Jesabelle, and my muse (for the longest chapter yet).
Munius is taken from the Latin munio (to build a road). Trisana is the name of the weather witch from Tamora Pierce's books, but Eulalia wasn't taken from the Redwall books (it's actually part of someone's name that I know).
Sorry about the delay, as I've had this chapter done for two months, but I've had to deal with some major technical problems before I could get it up. :(