Ithaca: sonickidds, does not own Harry Potter. Kidd only owns me, and the plot.
hey guys, welcome to chapter two. This chapter gets kind of violent, not for the weak of heart, you have been warned!
At around seven o'clock the next morning, Luna woke. She lay still for a minute or so, still half-asleep, then slowly tried to sit up. There was a slight pull around her waist, preventing her from moving. She was fully conscious immediately and almost began to panic, terrified that she was once more back home where her father could get her.
Realizing it was only her sheets, she shook her head and sighed. She was still on edge from the nightmare she had last night, where she had relived her father abusing her.
There had been another dream too, she remembered. It had felt so real. She'd dreamed that her mother was hugging her, holding her close, making her father just fade away into nothing as if he had never been there. If only she could remember that lullaby she had sung.
Luna got up and stretched. She then went to the bathroom, moving as quietly as she could so as not to wake her sleeping roommates. Once she'd dressed and brushed her teeth, she emerged and was relieved to see that everyone was still fast asleep. She wrote a quick note explaining where she'd gone and walked over to Ithaca's bed, only to find her passed out and hugging her pillow. Luna put the note on
her table and, smiling to herself, exited the dorms.
Deciding to have an early breakfast, Luna took a left to the moving staircase. She loved waking up early. The first reason was that it was peaceful, and gave her time to think. It was rare that she was completely alone, and the quietness that came with it served to calm her mind. The second was that her other house members were still asleep, meaning there was no one to pick on her or bother her. The third and final reason, though, was so she could look at the Nargles.
Ever since her father had first started to abuse her, she had been able to see the Nargles. They kept her
company when no one else was there. They were her first ever friends.
The Ravenclaw walked slowly along the corridors, taking in the walls of Hogwarts. So far everything
was perfect for her – until she reached the bottom of the stairs.
At the foot of the stairs, Cho and two other girls awaited her. Each one gazed up innocently, looking as if they wouldn't hurt a fly.
Cho gave a smile that reminded Luna of her father before he would hurt her, almost like she was enjoying watching the other girl's fear. "Thought you could ditch us, Loony?" she said. "You thought we didn't notice you sneaking out early? Well…think again."
The three girls surrounded Luna. Two of them grabbed her arms.
"Not so tough without the protection of your pathetic little friend, Ickytha, are you?" Cho mocked. The other girls began to laugh, the sound high-pitched and spiteful, as the group dragged Luna further away from view of anyone who might pass by.
Sacrificing all dignity, she began kicking and screaming, but was abruptly silenced when one of the girls kicked her in the stomach. Luna thought she felt a rib crack as she was thrown roughly on to the stone floor.
Since Luna could remember, Cho and her posse had hated her, just because she was different. They liked to prank her, steal her things, and make fun of her in public. But they'd never tried to hurt her. This was what scared her. This was new, and she had no idea what to expect.
One of the girls stuffed a piece of cloth in Luna's mouth, and knotted a bandana around her head. The cloth tasted foul. Luna tried to shout through it, but it was stepped in front of Luna and smiled maliciously.
"Time for some fun, little Looney," she whispered, and she kicked Luna hard in the stomach.
The other girl's winded gasp seemed to spur her on, and she kicked her again, and again, until the blows became a flurry and it was impossible to tell each one apart. Luna tried to scream again, but was thwarted by the gag and her lack of air. When Cho got tired, the girls would switch around. Finally, when everyone had turns, Cho pulled out her wand.
Luna could feel the blood collecting in her mouth and the hot tears streaming down her face. She closed her eyes tight in pain as Cho jabbed her bruised stomach with her wand. "I see you have some pretty deep-looking cuts on your arm," she said casually. "How would you like to have them reopened? I think you would enjoy that very much."
Luna tried to writhe away, but she was held firmly in place by the other girls' tight grips on her arms.
"Diffindo," Cho said, pointing her wand.
Luna hissed as a long cut on her arm, caused by her father, reopened.
"Diffindo!" Cho shouted again. More cuts opened up, bleeding heavily and rapidly.
"Hey, how about we cast a Unforgivable?" Cho said, her face animated, and she lifted her wand without waiting for an answer.
"I don't know," said one of the other girls, before Cho had a chance to say the incantation. She sounded uneasy. "Isn't that…illegal?"
Cho sighed. "Can't you even try to have fun?" she said, turning towards the other girl and lowering her wand again. "It won't kill her."
"Still, though.." said the other girl doubtfully.
"Let's see if she'd like it," Cho suggested. She bent down. "How would you like us to cast an Unforgivable on you, Luna?" Grabbing hold of Luna's head, she forced her to nod yes.
"See?" Cho stood again. Her eyes were cold. "She wants us to do it. She said so herself."
"Fine," Cho's friend conceded at last, tightening her grip on Luna's arm. "But don't hold it for too long, will you?"
"Don't worry – it's easy," Cho answered, and she lifted her wand again. "Crucio!"
Luna felt a current of agony race through her body. It didn't hurt as much as when her father cast it – he was, after all, a far more experienced wizard – but it still hurt a great deal. It was as though her blood
had turned to fire, and was boiling within her veins. Luna tried to cry out, but was unable to. Fresh tears came from the corners of her eyes, running into her hair. She could see the Nargles floating around her, trying to comfort her.
Cho held the curse for a good twenty seconds before Luna's vision began to fade. She knew she was losing far too much blood, and she was afraid. She did not want to die like this. In vain, Luna tried once more to wriggle away, but was rewarded with a kick. The last thing she saw was a blazing red Stunner fired at Cho, and then her vision clouded over and her mind blanked out.
Ithaca woke up and stretched, ready to perform her morning routine. Once she was dressed, she spotted a note on her table, and she lazily picked it up, scanning it. The note told her that Luna was heading towards the Great Hall, and she didn't want her to worry about where she was.
Ithaca decided to join her friend. She grabbed her wand and walked out of the common room. Not really in a hurry, she wandered slowly down the moving staircase. Today was Saturday, so Ithaca had to go up to get downstairs. "Why can't wizards just make a normal staircase?" she mumbled to herself.
It took nearly eight minutes for her to finally get downstairs. She headed around the corner and saw a bag just sitting on the ground as if it had been thrown there. Thinking this was odd, she walked towards it. As she examined the bag, she felt suddenly afraid. This was the messenger bag she had got Luna as a birthday present last year. Luna loved it, and she would never just leave it lying around.
Ithaca heard a very small sound just around the corner – not really a scream, more of a strangled whimper. She drew her wand and ran to see who had made it, although the suspicion was already beginning to take root inside her. She turned the corner and was confronted by the sight of two girls holding down a smaller girl on the ground, as another girl viciously beat and kicked her.
Ithaca pointed her wand and cast a Stunner at the first girl. The other two girls that were pinning the person on the floor down tried to grab their wands, but Ithaca hit them both with jinxes they could even get their hands to their waists.
She recognized one of the Stunned girls as Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw in the year above them. Cho looked furious, her eyes following Ithaca as she moved towards the group. Ithaca looked down towards the crumpled girl on the floor and realized with a rush of horror that it was Luna.
Luna was lying in a spreading pool of red, bleeding profusely out of reopened cuts. Bruises were already beginning to form all over her body and she was clearly unconscious. Her body was shuddering and twitching from blood loss and – Ithaca guessed – aftereffects of the Cruciartus Curse.
Feeling a surge of anger run through her, Ithaca immediately kicked Cho in the stomach a couple of times, as hard as she could, before kneeling quickly next to Luna.
She began shaking Luna, and gently slapping her face. "Come on, wake up," she hissed, praying that her friend would open her eyes. She removed the gag from Luna's mouth so she wouldn't suffocate. Luna's eyes opened a crack.
"Mummy?" Luna looked confused and her eyes began to droop again. "Mummy, I'm tired." Luna gave a small yawn, her face crumpling.
"Don't fall asleep, please. Stay awake for Mummy." Ithaca knew that they were too far away from the hospital wing for her to carry Luna there safely. She had to try to stop the bleeding. Ithaca grabbed her wand and started casting whatever healing spells she knew from memory, trying one after the other in the hope that some would work.
A few of Luna's wounds closed, but the deeper ones stayed open. And Luna was still losing a lot of blood. Ithaca summoned some bandages to try to stem the bleeding. Then, as gently as she could, she picked up Luna. The girl was far lighter than anyone should have been. Ithaca felt another spark of anger at her father before starting to run for her friend's life, praying to any God who would heed her prayer that Luna would be OK until they could get to the hospital wing. The stairs were taking away the precious time she would need to get Luna to safety. After Ithaca entered the hallway, Luna wriggled closer to Ithaca, mumbling random sentences.
"It's cold," she murmured, her eyelids flickering, and with that Ithaca tried to run faster, making turns every so often. Asking help was out of the question. It was too early for anyone else to be up, especially since it was Saturday.
Luna closed her eyes, yawned again, and finally became limp in Ithaca's arms.
Ithaca finally entered the small hospital, yelling for the nurse. Madam Pomfrey entered quickly, and Ithaca could see from her face that she was angry as the noise – until she saw Luna. The nurse immediately ordered Ithaca to place Luna in a bed, as she ran off to get some equipment.
The nurse returned carrying a armful of potions and set them on the table, before Enervating Luna. Luna was too weak to scream; the only sound that left her mouth was a quiet moan of pain. The nurse sat Luna upright gently, then started coaxing her to drink potions one by one. Luna, still slightly out of it, tried to weakly fight off the nurse, but was quickly subdued.
Luna quickly fell asleep once again, because the last potion had been a weak, short-lasting Dreamless Sleep potion. The nurse re-bandaged and healed Luna's wounds as best she could. She pulled out her wand and muttered a spell in order to analyse any remaining damage. She discovered the bruises on Luna's stomach quickly, and recognised the intermittent twitching as effects of the Cruciatus.
Madame Pomfrey went into her storeroom and came back with a medical book of spells. She searched for the desired spell, and skilfully cast it.
"Saluva Valeous Serv," she incanted, eyes fixed on the unconscious patient.
"What does that do?" Ithaca said. She watched in awe as a small light surrounded Luna.
"This spell combats the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. But it is not always a hundred percent effective. So Luna may still have some mental damage." Ithaca nodded, trying to contain her tears. "Who did this to her?" the nurse demanded.
Ithaca felt the rage bubble up in her again at the mere thought of who had done this to her sweet, kind friend. "It was Cho Chang and some of her friends. They held Luna down and they were hurting her with Diffindo and kicking her. I actually left them Stunned. They're probably still there."
"I'll go and look for those girls. Since there is no one else here, I will let you stay with your friend. If anyone comes, tell them where I went, and try to help them if it's something minor like a cut." Ithaca nodded, and the nurse walked out, leaving Ithaca with Luna.
Ithaca pulled up a chair and sat down next to Luna's bed. She softly stroked Luna's fair hair, allowing a couple of tears to fall.
The Sleep Potion soon wore off Luna, who slowly opened her eyes and looked at Ithaca, seemingly afraid.
"What's wrong?" Ithaca asked, studying Luna for any sign of pain or discomfort. The other girl stared at her blankly.
"Who are you?
Me: I wonder what happened to Luna
Luna: i was ...(is silenced with magic)
Luna: !
Me: No spoilers!
Ithaca: this chapter was beta-ed by Alice the Strange.
Me: night all (waves)