Another big thank you to all of my reviewers; I know I say it a lot but I appreciate them so much.
Well, I've still not managed to get ownership of anything...so JK Rowling still owns everything...for now.
For every minute he had spent staring up at the ceiling; it had felt like an hour to George. As he lay on his bed, he could do nothing other than think of Luna. It had been two hours since the group had gone to bed, and George had not slept for a single minute.
His need to get up and go to Luna was only increased by his desperation to get away from Ron's snoring; which had reached epic proportions in the last fifteen minutes. Deciding that seeing her would be better than nothing; George quietly got out of bed and headed for the door.
''Alohomora'' George whispered the spell, aiming his wand at the lock of Luna's door. Once inside he tiptoed past where Hermione and Ginny slept, and crouched besides Luna's bed.
Concern immediately gripped him when he saw that the area around her eyes had gone red with her tears; which soaked the part of her pillow that lay next to her cheek. George reached out a hand to brush away the damp trails on her face.
With a gasp Luna woke and defensively pulled her wand from under her pillow. ''Luna it's okay, it's me.''
Luna breathed a sigh of relief when she realised who the intruder was. She looked over her shoulder to see that Hermione and Ginny had not been woken.
''George, what are you doing here?'' she whispered.
''Checking on you, and by the look of things; it's a good job I did.''
''I'm fine'' Luna wanted to be difficult with him so that he would let the matter drop, but his concern seemed so deep that she couldn't.
''Luna will you please tell me what's wrong?''
Luna shook her head and looked down at her bed sheets, tears welling in her eyes. ''I can't''
''Okay, come on'' George's face was determined as he held a hand out for Luna to take.
''Where are we going?'' Luna's hand shook as she put it in George's.
''Some place where we can talk.'' As soon as he finished speaking, he apparated them both away.
As George and Luna arrived at the Burrow, both were taken aback as the sunlight outside hit their retinas.
''Sorry, forgot about the time difference, it's the middle of the day here.'' George led Luna to the sofa and sat down beside her.
''George, I didn't want to come home.'' Luna continued to look down, now staring at the patterns in the wooden floor.
''I've only brought us here so that we can talk without Hermione or Ginny waking up and overhearing.''
''and what happens if they wake up anyway and notice I'm gone; they'll tell your mum, who will then go to find you and see that you're not there either.''
''I'll be in trouble; nothing new there, but I've got more important things to worry about.'' George put his fingers under Luna's chin and titled her head upwards so that she was looking directly at him. ''You can tell me anything.''
''It's not you George. It's just...I've never told anyone this before.''
George looked into Luna's eyes; in them was so much fear and sadness that George felt his heart ache for her.
''Do you know about the time when I was taken by the Death Eaters and kept in the Malfoy's house?''
''Yeah, Bill told us about it after you stayed at Shell Cottage, but he only told us you had been a prisoner there, nothing else.'' George replied, concerned about where this conversation may be going. ''Luna, what happened to you in Malfoy Manor?'' George made his voice as soft as possible and held Luna's hand tightly.
Luna finally looked into George's eyes, and she realised that if there was one person she relive this memory with; it was him.
(Flashback)
Luna suppressed her need to cry out in pain as she way thrown into the cellar of Malfoy Manor; her hands and knees were grazed as they skidded along the concrete ground. Luna lifted her head, and through the loose tangled hairs that had fallen from her ponytail, she could see only a long wide corridor.
''Hello'' Luna heard the dry and weak voice of an old man from within the darkness.
''Hello'' Luna spoke back as she got to her feet. Emerging from the darkness, she saw the frail and weak figure of Ollivander, the wand maker.
''Ahh, Luna Lovegood, I thought I recognised your voice.''
''Mr Ollivander...so this is where you've been kept all this time.''
''Yes, indeed my dear'' As Ollivander came closer to the light, she could see how much his imprisonment had aged him; he was old when Luna had met him when buying her wand, but in only six years he had aged around thirty years. ''What on Earth is an innocent young girl such as yourself doing here?''
''My father is the publisher of The Quibbler and he had printed many things that speak out against You-Know-Who. It seems as though they are using me to put a stop to that.'' Luna wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver shot through her spine.
Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming open was heard from above, and footsteps began to get louder and louder. Luna turned to the door of the cellar to see the mad and wild face of Bellatrix Lestrange looking back at her.
''Well, well, well. Little Luna's come to join you Wand Maker.'' Bellatrix opened the door and walked in to join Luna and Ollivander, closing it again behind her. ''Maybe Daddy will keep quiet from now on.''
''She's only a girl, she can't be kept in these conditions.'' Ollivander begged.
''Shut up!'' Bellatrix screamed. She walked forwards until she was stood directly in front of Luna. ''Now missy, I remember you from the Ministry. You were with Potter. So, maybe you know where he is.''
''I haven't seen Harry for months.'' Luna tried to keep her voice from breaking; she didn't want to appear to be afraid.
''Really?'' A tight smile appeared on Bellatrix's face; she looked like a psychopath. ''Crucio''
Luna landed on her back and felt fire run through her limbs, every part of her screamed in pain.
''Stop it! Stop it now!'' Luna could hear Ollivander's shouts through the pain; but he was too weak and too slow to every stop Bellatrix with force, he could only beg.
''I told you to SHUT UP!'' Bellatrix screamed in response.
The fire eased, and Luna felt her muscles relax. Bellatrix gave a sadistic chuckle. ''Now that wasn't much fun was it? So, you tell me where Potter is, and you will be treated like royalty.''
''I swear I don't know where Harry is.'' Luna insisted from her place on the cold cellar floor; her muscles were still refusing to work. A second after her reply left her mouth, another inferno of pain shot through her; this one more painful than the last.
Bellatrix's interrogation of Luna continued many more times, until it became apparent that Luna may just be telling the truth.
''Alright, maybe you don't know. But I know you're a friend of that Weasley family, and Draco is certain that one of their boys is with Potter.'' Bellatrix crouched beside Luna's body; which was sprawled across the ground. ''So, you will write to the Weasley girl you go to school with; telling her you escaped and are safe at home, you will then get her to go to a certain place in the castle, where Severus will be waiting for her. If you don't know where Potter is; maybe Weasley's little sister may.''
''No-I could never do that to Ginny-to any of them-I wouldn't'' Luna's voice was weak and croaky, she barely had the strength to move her mouth.
''Very well then'' Suddenly Luna was pulled to her feet by her hair by Bellatrix; her legs buckling beneath her. ''For every day you do not write and send that letter...'
Bellatrix aimed her wand at Ollivander ''Crucio'', Luna reeled back in horror as she watched the already weak old man crumple to the ground, howling in pain. As he writhed and screamed on the ground Luna wished that it was her feeling that pain again rather than him, unable to watch any longer she squeezed her eyes shut.
She hesitantly opened them again once Ollivander's cries had stopped. Realising Bellatrix had released her grip on her; Luna ran to Ollivander's side. Only then could she see the deep purple rings around his sunken eyes and how his skin hung off his bones; Luna was certain that he would have weighed less than she did.
''Until you get me answers, you will watch that happen to him everyday.'' Bellatrix smiled as she spoke, before turning and leaving Luna and Ollivander alone in the cellar.
(End of Flashback)
Tears streamed down Luna's eyes as she remembered that day. As she had recalled what had happened, George had pulled her into his lap and held his arms around her tightly.
''Shhhh, it's okay Luna'' George ran the fingers of one hand through her long hair and whispered in her ear.
''I kept seeing that in my dreams, that's why I was crying.'' Luna said softly as her newest set of tears began to slow.
''Did she keep on torturing Ollivander?''
''Everyday, until Harry arrived and rescued us. I swore towards the end that he would be killed.''
''So you never did send a letter to Ginny.'' George had to be sure.
Luna looked straight into his eyes ''I never considered it an option. Once Bellatrix left, Mr Ollivander told me that I was to never give in, no matter what may happen to him.''
''Luna, I still don't quite understand why this affected you the way it did when that Death Eater hit me with that curse.''
''I could never bear to watch Mr Ollivander in pain. While my eyes were shut, I could just see a red flash behind by eyelids, nothing more. When I saw him aim that curse at you, I had to close my eyes, and when I did; I felt all that guilt and pain and sadness, but this time it was because you were the one in pain, and that hurt even more.'' Luna felt tears prickle at her eyes once again, and furiously wiped at her eyes with the sleeves of her pyjama top.
''Well now it all makes sense.'' George placed kisses on Luna's hair, her temple and her forehead.
''I find it hard to tell people because, everytime I do; I can't help but feel all of those horrible things again.''
''You don't need to explain yourself to me.'' George brushed the hair away from Luna's face and smiled softly at her.
''You're not going to tell anyone, are you?''
''The only way anyone else will ever know, is if you tell them, not me.'' George reassured her. George noticed the time on the clock that hung on the wall by the sofa, and judging by the time at the Burrow; he figured out that it was around one o'clock in the morning back in Australia.
''Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?'' He asked her.
''I do feel better now, but only because you're here. Will you stay with me when we get back?'' Luna's eyes were wide and pleading; George knew she did genuinely did need him.
''I don't think that would be a safe idea; I'd probably get caught. Maybe if I use a charm on this clock so that an alarm will go when it get's to around six in Australia; we can sleep here, and we will wake up in time to get back to the others without them noticing we were gone, and then I wont get killed by my mum.''
Luna giggled at George's last comment. ''Thank you George''
''No problem'' George aimed his wand at the clock, making it so that bells will chime at the right time for them to be back in Australia at around six. He then waved his wand at the curtains; drawing them together and blocking out the English sunlight. ''Do you mind staying down here on the sofa?''
''No, here's lovely.'' Luna replied.
George laid across the sofa, and Luna looked at him; unsure of how close he would want her to get.
George noticed this and gestured for her to lay down beside him. Luna rested her head on George's shoulder and placed an arm across his chest and snuggled into him, already feeling herself falling into her dreams. ''Goodnight George, I love you.''
A smile that reached George's eyes appeared on his face, and he could do little, other than to watch the beautiful and innocent girl sleep beside him and to reply ''I love you too Luna.''
Next chapter; George and Luna enjoy the rest of their holiday, as Luna's return to Hogwarts draws nearer.
A lot more romance, a lot less drama in the next chapter. R & R
PS: any Tonks/Lupin fans, please check out my one-shot Stay With Me; I'd really appreciate it :D