Luna hurried back into the Great Hall with Hermoine to retrieve raw meat for the Thestrals in the forest. Luna had led them into the clearing where she had first talked one-on-one with Harry that first time last autumn. She and Harry had assisted the others with finding a thestral and soon they were all airborn.
Flying by thestral was fantastic. Luna made a promise to herself she would have a Thestral of her very own once she was old enough. Harry Potter may have preferred a broomstick but she rather liked leaning over the dark, skeletal neck of the thestral and hearing the whooshing sound made by its wings as it flew higher into the air.
She leaned forward on her thestral, veering it to the left and smiling serenely at Harry before falling back. Neville was clinging precariously to his thestral and Luna called out, "Relax Neville. She won't let you fall!"
"I don't think she has any choice in the matter!" Neville's pale face looked back at her, scared at the possibility of falling off. Luna smiled encouragingly at him and patted her thestral's neck. "Use your thighs to grip her sides better," she called out.
She helped each of them like that on the way to London, reassuring Ginny, Ron and Hermoine who were all terrified. They could feel the thestral beneath them, but they couldn't see it. Ginny and Ron were used to flying because of Quidditch but Hermoine was having the worst time. Luna finally advised her to close her eyes against the world flying below her empty looking, outstretched legs and rely completely on her sense of touch to ride the thestral she couldn't see beneath her.
Eventually they set down in London and behind the Ministry at the visitor's entrance with the red telephone booth. Harry had been there before and they all squeezed into the little booth. It took them directly into the center of the Ministry's atrium.
Harry led them out, running quickly. They all followed after him and Luna's shorter legs tended to cause her to lag behind the others at a slight disadvantage. She smiled at Neville who kept pausing his strides every few seconds so that she could keep up. She still remained behind the rest of them.
They made their way down to the level in the Department of Mysteries where Harry swore Sirius was being attacked. Entering a dark room full of green, glowing orbs, the six Hogwarts students still had to light the tips of their wands to see properly. "Lumos!"
Luna tilted her head up, mouth open slightly at the sight of so many bright, round spheres. There was a whisper of sound next to her and she turned to stare at a large green-lit round ball, a strange fog enshrouded within the orb. It was followed by a loud thud that caused them all to whip their heads towards the door they had just come through. It was closed, seeming to cut off any escape route.
They all followed Harry as he counted out the rows, muttering each number, until he came to the one where Sirius had been attacked. There was no evidence of a struggle. The floor was clean, the ground empty and the spot undisturbed.
"I know he was here!" Harry swore.
"Harry!" Neville was staring up at a glowing ball in one of the shelves, "It's got your name on it."
Luna moved closer to Ginny as Harry retrieved the orb from the shelf. He seemed entranced by the ball, hearing something the others could not as the fog swirled in the glass.
A glimmer within the darkness of the pathways caught Luna's eye. She turned, nudging Ginny as she did so. Both girls turned, Ginny inhaling sharply at what she was seeing. A figure in a black cloak, the silver glimmer of a Death Eater mask hiding the features of the man behind it.
"Harry!"
The figure removed his mask, proving himself to be Lucius Malfoy. While he and Harry spoke of the prophecy orb Harry held in his hand, one more figure appeared out of the dark, moving towards them. Luna lifted her wand, her mind running through the many hexes, charms and spells that they had practiced in the Room of Requirements. She was momentarily distracted when she heard Neville's voice call out, "Bellatrix LeStrange!"
Luna chanced to glance at Neville whose face was clearly distraught at coming face to face with his family's worst enemy. She looked back at the taunting, dark haired witch, half hidden by Malfoy's robes, her mad laughter turning to anger when Harry dared to say Voldemort's name.
Ginny swiveled, catching Luna's attention so she turned as well. They were standing at a crosspath amongst the shelves and more Death Eaters had joined the rows, blocking out all four sides of escape. Luna and Ginny pressed back until they were back, to back, to back, with Ron, Hermoine, Harry and Neville. Luna held her wand hand as steady as she could, already reciting in her head the spells she'd need to escape.
She knew the moment to run was there when Harry yelled, "Now!"
Luna and Ginny sent double hexes towards the two Death Eaters their wands were pointing at. As the Death Eaters vanished into smoke, the six students took off running all in one direction. They had rounded the corner of one shelf when a Death Eater began forming in front of them.
Luna nearly collided with Neville's broad back as they all began to back up as one. Harry, Ron and Hermoine took off down one aisle, Neville and Ginny tearing down another. Luna stared, slightly terrified of the figure of the Death Eater in front of her, certain he was going to attack her. Lucius Malfoy had other prey in mind though as he vanished once more.
She let out a relieved breath, turning to run the opposite direction. She didn't see the smoke that had been forming behind her, the gleam of the Death Eater's mask, but there was no avoiding his fist which lashed out, striking her in the face.
She fell backwards with the force, her wand clattering to the ground and trying to roll away. Quickly she reached for it before it could get away from her grasp. Luna's fingers wrapped around the length of wood and she aimed it at the Death Eater saying, "Levicorpus!"
The spell hit the Death Eater directly in the chest and she put all her focus and energy into sending him flying up towards the ceiling. She stared up into the darkness which had swallowed him, slightly amazed and proud she had used such a difficult spell without error.
She couldn't celebrate her victory too long though because she could hear the others running through the row of prophecy orbs. There was no time to waste and she took off after the others, hoping to find them safe and unharmed by their attackers.
She heard a figure scurrying off to the right, pausing to duck down and check it out. She saw a flash of red, followed by a jet of blue before she abandoned her spot in favor of running as fast as she could.
Rounding a corner she crashed into someone and gasped thinking it was a Death Eater. Strong hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her back and Luna looked up into the scared, but determined face of Neville. "Are you alright Luna?" he asked her, his eyes scanning her for injuries.
"I think so," she told him.
He didn't look convinced as he reached up to touch the area of her lip that had split open when the Death Eater had hit her. "You're injured."
"It doesn't hurt," she told him, fibbing a little. It did hurt if she focused on the injury, but her mind was too busy coming up with an escape route to notice the pain of her wound. He gently ran his thumb over her lip once more, then suddenly jerked it away as if burned, his face looking guilty. "Sorry," he mumbled an apology.
"What for?" Luna tilted her head curiously. Neville was turning a peculiar shade of red again, something she was noticing more frequently this day. Was he getting a fever?
Neville never got the chance to answer her question about his apology though because his eyes lifted over her head to see a shadow begin to form behind her, silver gleaming within the dark mist.
Luna felt Neville push her behind him and she turned just in time to hear him yell a curse, "Petrificus Totalus!" There was a jet of blue light from the tip of his wand and the Death Eater that had formed in front of them fell over, completely petrified from head to toe.
Luna felt her chest suffuse once again with the warmth of pride and accomplishment. She knew Neville struggled the most in the D.A. lessons and the fact he could pull off that curse so quickly to save the both of them was a sign of how much he had improved and developed in his defense skills.
He was standing over the petrified Death Eater, his wand hand trembling slightly, giving away his fear at the close call they nearly experienced. She felt a need to reassure him that they were alright and so she reached out to take his left hand saying, "Well done Neville."
He didn't glance at her, his eyes still on the Death Eater. They needed to leave so Luna gave a slight tug onto his hand to remind him of that fact and he let himself be pulled away by her.
-HP-
Kat's Notes: Thank you to all my reviewers thus far! I'm glad to know you're enjoying these drabbles as much as I am writing them! I am just looney for Luna!
