RunAway

Moon: Welcome back everyone! This chapter's going to be shorter than the others due to crippling writers block! Seriously, this chapter was murder to write. Anyway, enjoy, and I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 9: Intermission

Claire couldn't remember exactly when they got back to their dorm, but it must have been really late, because she didn't wake up the next day until it was lunch time. Luckily for her, it was a Saturday, so she didn't get into trouble. Groggily, she slid out of bed and got dressed. Her head ached a bit due to the lack of sleep, but she could more or less ignore it.

All in all, they hadn't gotten very much done over the past week. Sirius had told her to be patient. Voldemort would have taken pains to make sure the anchors of his immortality would be hidden carefully. He and Remus had asked Kreacher to give them the Locket, and thankfully that had gone pretty much without incident, but they hadn't had a chance to investigate the Gaunt shack yet.

Draco had been very preoccupied over the Nott trial. He intended to testify, but the lack of activity from Lucius was worrying him. Usually Lucius would be making generous donations in the right places, but he was being strangely silent. This, Draco said, was not a good thing. It meant he had done something that made him more confident. Claire wondered what it could be.

Hermione suggested they spend extra time in the library, but Claire was pretty sure she'd loose her mind if she spent every day pouring over the dead ends they had dug up so far. For the moment, she decided to focus on her school work and on the other students.

Specifically, she wanted to spend more time with Ginny.

The redhead was as tired as Claire felt and was feeling the pressure of cabin fever; Claire didn't have to access their mind link to know that Ginny desperately missed the quiet and the calm of their seaside mansion and the time they had spent flying and running around the lawn. She made a beeline for her angel, who was sitting in the library and scowling in frustration at one of the books about Voldemort that Hermione had gotten them.

"Let's go outside." Claire suggested. Ginny glanced up at her and smiled. "Shall we? Professor Pomona said it was just fine for us to go out into the yard."

Ginny's relief was palpable. "Yes, that would be nice."

They walked through the school, ducking past Peeves who was making life miserable for Filch again. Claire had encountered the poltergist a few times and had always had to run in another direction; the spirit loved messing with students and Fred and George hanging out with him was doing no one any favors.

Speaking of whom, Claire felt honestly sorry for Snape, because he was stuck in an hour long detention with the Weasley Twins. That must be a nightmare, she thought sympathetically, she knew the twins had no respect for Snape and loved pranking the strictly organized teacher. There's no way any teacher would be able to slog through that detention without a bottle of pain medication on hand.

The usual rush of bewildered frustration went through her when she thought of her potion's teacher; he couldn't seem to make up his mind about her. Either she was a troublemaker or an angel who'd been trapped in human form quite by accident, depending on his mood. Susan agreed that it must have something to do with her parents, since Claire's first appearance hadn't given any real indication of what kind of student she was and yet Snape had seemed to have already made up his mind about her. Claire wondered what his reasons for acting this way were; it would make Potions much less stressful a class if she understood him.

Ginny gently poked her in the side, "You have your 'lost in thought' expression on, Claire. Don't you want to talk to me?"

Claire laughed, "You're right Ginny. I was just thinking. I'll stop that now; I do want to talk to you." They sat down on the grass outside. There was a breeze going through their hair. Ginny took a deep breath and sighed, thinking of the sea again.

"I wish we didn't have to do this alone," She sighed. Claire didn't have to ask to know she was talking about Voldemort.

"People are terrified of him," She pointed out with a sigh, "He and his followers killed a lot of people back in their day."

"And he was killed by a baby." Ginny deadpanned.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound very impressive, does it?" Claire giggled. More seriously she added, "I guess some people would do anything to avoid having to cross him."

"And yet a couple of kids are willing to?" Ginny challenged. "What's wrong with the adults in Britain?"

"I don't know." Claire admitted. "Being in Norway for so long made me forget what this place was really like. I had to live with my aunt and uncle who made it clear they didn't want anything to do with me; Dumbledore must have had someone watching me in case Voldemort's followers came after me, if the note he left Petunia was anything to go by. And they didn't do anything to make my life any better. It hurt so much...I thought the loneliness was going to crush me."

Ginny scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Claire's middle. "I know what that's like," She whispered. "There isn't a day that goes by when what mum was going to do to me doesn't haunt me. I don't know what happened to her; she was so kind and she loved us so much, and one day, she was just...smothering and domineering. Being married right after my OWLs, it terrified me. I didn't want to marry that young and I was afraid whoever she picked would hate me...just keep me for children, leave me shut up in house where all I could do was take care of my children and have more. She knew that and she still set it up. The betrayal...it hurts me every day."

"You don't have to think about her," Claire whispered, gently brushing away the tears that were threatening to come from Ginny's eyes.

"But she's my mother," Ginny whispered. "Of course I think about her...just like you think about your mother."

Claire angled herself to embrace Ginny fully; she hadn't realized it was still hurting her that much. Ginny rarely talked about her family before coming to Hogwarts aside from the occasional letter to her brothers. She hadn't realized...she should have known. "I'm sorry Ginny." She whispered. "She loved you once...she'll remember it before the end."

Ginny smiled weakly. "How is it you always know how to make me feel a little bit better?" She asked softly.

That question was rhetorical. Claire and Ginny knew first-hand from the talking of the schoolmates they had at Norway that they shared an uncommon bond. The teachers called it puppy love. "taking her off the market early, are you Claire?" Mrs. Summer had teased Claire once. She had been their math teacher, and one of the three openly gay teachers in the school they had attended.

Teasing aside, Claire had inevitably taken some stock in this comment. She kissed Ginny on her forehead.

"I'm still wondering how the few Death Eaters still out there got away from Azkaban by claiming that they had been under the Imperious curse, while Sirius, supposedly Voldemort's right hand man, wasn't even interrogated." Claire complained. "Wouldn't it have made the most sense to interrogate him if he was Voldemort's right hand or whatever? And Voldemort may be powerful, but he couldn't maintain daily control of twelve-twenty Imperious curses and still do all the stuff he was doing."

"Well, most Death Eaters are rich purebloods because they're descended from old lines. They probably lined some pockets as well as claiming Imperious." Ginny theorized.

"And the Ministry practices Summary Execution!" Claire exclaimed. "There's no other description for what the Dementor's Kiss does, although it's a whole lot less merciful than just beheading the culprit or making them face a firing squad! And the structure of the ministry itself is highly fallible."

Ginny nodded. "I can't wait to go back to Norway." She sighed. "This place is insane. And we'll inevitably meet resistance if we try to leave, because you're Britain's super-special chosen one and they want to use you to take care of all their problems..." She trailed off and stared up at one of the towers. For a second, Dumbledore had been visible in the window, but he left a moment later.

"Something else is bothering you?" Claire asked when she didn't finish her sentence.

Ginny nodded reluctantly. "It...it's that prophecy we heard in Dumbledore's office."

"Remember what Cho said?" Claire said. "It's most likely already fulfilled."

"I know." Ginny said softly. "It's just...if there's the slightest chance in hell it means what Dumbledore thinks it means...what will happen to you?" She looked pleadingly at Claire. "I don't want to loose you, Claire...I don't think I could bear that."

Claire stood up. Ginny did the same, and Claire put her hands on her shoulders, saying seriously, "You're not going to loose me Ginny. I'm not going anywhere, and I don't care what any prophecy says. I'm going to be at your side for as long as we shall live, and even longer than that. We will never be parted. We'll live our lives together and I don't plan on letting some ego-maniacal self-proclaimed Dark Lord change that."

"Claire..." Ginny whispered, staring back into Claire's green eyes. When Claire gazed back steady and seriously, Ginny smiled again, this time sincerely, and hugged Claire tighter. Feeling bold, she stood up on her toes and pecked Claire on the lips.

Claire smiled lightly and kissed back.

%&%&&%&%&%%&%&%&&%

Draco hadn't realized how long he'd been hanging over the files of Theodore Nott and his parents when he felt hands on his shoulders. Luna gently rubbed his shoulders and said, "Draco, the wackersprouts will come after you if you don't take a break soon."

Draco nodded, sighing. "You're right, Luna..." He stood up and walked over to his bed, which he collapsed on. "Ugh, I didn't notice time going by. How long have I been up?"

"Since the middle of last night. Blaise told me." Luna responded. She sat down next to Draco, gazing at the ceiling, seeing something that he couldn't.

Draco glanced over at his Luna. He had spent the years he had lived with her working to understand her worldview. He was pleased with his progress, becoming more open-minded and looking for angels in the cracks of the sky was an easy way to relax.

Luna was beautiful, though she was still a little girl, and her strangeness only made her more fascinating for him. She was a puzzle; his puzzle. He enjoyed puzzles. And despite her strangeness she always seemed to perfectly understand him.

She was like Claire; pain and loneliness were there, but deeply buried. She didn't show it; it just didn't seem to bother her most of the time. There were only a few times...like the time she had told him that she didn't know how to dance. Draco hated seeing her like that; she was always so strong and she hadn't deserved the bullying she had gotten over the years. She had gotten better, with the time she had spent with him and the other runaways, but he could sense the scars that still lingers below the skin. He hoped that being back in Britain for a year wouldn't tear down all the healing she had done.

I'll protect her. Draco thought privately. She'll never suffer again. She'll be safe from Voldemort, no matter what I have to do to ensure it, I will.

Luna tilted her head slightly and smiled at him. Draco treasured her smile, and the way it lit up her blue eyes. Yes. He'd do anything for that.

End Chapter

A lot shorter than my other chapters, yes. But it's an intermission. The hunt for Horcruxes (and an Azkaban breakout) are around the corner.I hate Voldemort, and more than all the pain and death he causes, it makes it hard to write a story where he dies differently. He's a roadblock in most cases.