Forgive me for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
Disclaimer – I own nothing, except the plot!
A/N – I'm really proud of this chapter and I have a lot of fun writing this. Maybe this is my favorite chapter. I really wish you guys liked this chapter.
Chapter 25
"This is not the time, my darling."
Luna heard her mother's voice echoing in her head as she closed her eyes and began to give up.
"You can do this; I'll be here to help you. Relax and concentrate, my girl."
Luna obeys her mother and concentrates and tries to relax. It startled her when she feels that her lungs stopped rebelling for oxygen, it worked like she wasn't in the water. Her body felt much more relaxed, as if she were floating.
"Open your eyes and say the spell with determination in your heart."
She opened her eyes, her eyes fixed on the point where the lock lay and away from her touch.
"Accio key!" She murmured in her heart.
Blaise sees it; he sees concern on Draco's face. Although he kept shouting at Bellatrix angrily, he could see fear in his eyes, fear of what would happen to his wife. He sees how much Draco cares about Luna, it shocks him, Draco Malfoy doesn't care about anyone other than himself. And he argues that the marriage that should bring benefits only to the Dark Lord is reversed. Probably, Draco will change his belief for Luna and not vice versa. Luna had a big impact on Draco's life, she would save him from the dark world, and she might just save Lucius and Narcissa as well.
He glanced at Theodore who, apparently, seemed to think the same way, he could read his eyes. Draco is their friend, and they certainly don't want to make Draco's life become miserable. They should help him, so they do it.
With a light nod, Blaise and Theodore let go of their grip on Draco's arms.
As soon as Draco escapes from both, he grabs his wand and directs it to Bellatrix. He hexed her and made her unconscious.
Draco's attention shifted swiftly toward the pool. He didn't have time to torture Bellatrix as he wanted to. Luna is much more important than anyone right now.
He watched Luna manage to escape and swim to the surface, but apparently she has difficulty swimming. He jumps into the pool and swims toward her. He wraps one arm around her, helping her to keep floating.
"I got you, I got you," he whispered to Luna. He may have been crying now, thanks to the water that made his tears invisible.
Luna stopped struggling as Draco was holding her in his arm. She can breathe now, but she feels her whole body is weak, as if the whole bone in her body is no longer working. She can't think of anything but breathe and fill her lungs with fresh air.
Narcissa helped Luna out of the pool. Luna's face had turned pale, and her breathing was fast, she coughed several times. "Bring her back to your room," Narcissa told Draco after he came out of the pool soaking wet.
Draco doesn't need to be told twice; he picks up Luna and brings her back to their room, but glances at Blaise and Theodore as he passes them.
By the time they reached their room, Draco took a thick towel and dried Luna's body. Her body trembled, whether out of fear or cold, it might be both. Her face was pale and her eyes didn't shine as usual. It frightened him.
He grabs the zipper on her dress and unzips it. When she is completely naked, he wraps her body in a towel and helps her to sit down. He snapped his fingers to call the house elf. He ordered two cups of hot tea to Trixie. When Trixie disappears, he releases all his clothes and takes care of himself. He sat down beside her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Luna," he whispered in her ear and closed his eyes, trying to fight the tears that would fall.
She didn't answer, just breathe and sob. He really feels useless as a husband; he fails as a husband and a man. He shouldn't have left her, he should stay with her. He should have known this was going to happen, Bellatrix wouldn't leave them alone and would keep trying to keep them in danger.
He landed his forehead on the side of her face and kissed her temple. He was relieved when her skin began to feel warm against his lips.
"I went to the library to find a book about flowers. I'm planning to paint a flower and give it to your mother, but I need an example to paint her favorite flower in detail."
Suddenly she said in a soft, low tone, and that didn't sound like Luna at all. But he's still listening.
"Suddenly she came and said many things. One of them is about how I let the Dark Lord down with my slow progress, and ... " She paused for a moment just to swallow," ... and she threatened me if I kept refusing to cooperate, she would kill my father and bring his body to me and wrap it up with pink ribbon."
Draco closed his eyes and hugged her more tightly, offering a comfort.
"She knows where my father is, she knows where he lives."
Then, this time she stopped again, this time longer. Draco waits for her to continue her story. One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
"She told me you told her where my father was hiding." She turned her face to him, and a tear dripped from her eyelids. Her eyes are full of pain. "You told her where my father was hiding."
Draco feels someone has just punched him right in his stomach. He never said anything about Xenophilius Lovegood, not even a word. "Luna, I ..." But she cut him off coldly.
"I trust you," she said simply. "How can you do this to me?"
"Luna, I never said anything about your father, not even to my mother," Draco says, trying to convince her that he never did what Bellatrix charged him.
"Of course you will not admit it," she said, slowly releasing his arms from her body. "You are a Slytherin after all, and Slytherin thinks only of themselves. How foolish can I trust a Slytherin, a sneaky snake. "
He swallowed hard by her sharp words that sharper than a knife. He never heard Luna like this, she was hurt and betrayed. He grabs both her hands, but she pulls away from him.
"I already know your plan, all of them," she said. "You're nice to me so I fall in love with you and I do whatever you want, including against Harry for the Dark Lord."
"No plan, Luna, I never planned that. I'm nice to you because I care about you, you are my wife," Draco said in despair, he could hear sadness in his voice. He doesn't know why Luna can think that bad about him.
"Tell me, Draco, would you still marry me if the Dark Lord didn't ask you to do so? Would you be nice to me if I wasn't your wife?" Her tone of voice rose slightly.
He paused. Would he marry Luna if the Dark Lord hadn't asked him to? Would he? Or would he be nice to her if she wasn't his wife? Draco even asked himself. But he knows, the answer is no. He probably wouldn't glance at her twice if she wasn't his wife.
"I'll take your silence as no," she said. "I always thought that there was good in you, I always thought you were misunderstood, just like me, but I was wrong. You cruel and evil, and I feel sorry for you that you don't understand how powerful goodness is. "
Never in his life was Draco lost his words. He was stunned, her words piercing his chest deeper than a knife, and more painful than any spell. "That's not true, Luna, it's all wrong," Draco said desperately. He didn't know what else to say to make her believe him. He lost his tongue, Merlin, help him. Everything is not right; he is not cruel and evil.
"I hope it's not true, but is it, Draco, that's who you are," Luna said softly. She got up and tightened the towel around her. "I've been grown to care about you so much, and maybe I'm in my way to fall in love with you, but ..." She shrugged lightly and looked at him. "...my hatred grew twice faster."
"You didn't mean that," he said. Draco can't help himself anymore; he lets a drop of tears fall. He doesn't care about his reputation anymore. He about to lose his wife, he wiped his tears with the back of his hand quickly. He has to fix this. "Sit back, Luna, I'll explain everything," he said as he took her hand. But she jerked her hand away for his.
"You want to explain what else? Everything is clear," Luna said."After it's over and Harry wins, I'll divorce you."
With that, she left him to the bathroom. He heard the sound of the bathroom door closing quietly, but it sounded very loud in his ears. He buries his face in his hands, he starts to get frustrated. Everything she says is not true, he may not be a good person, but he is not cruel and evil.
He heard a loud 'pop' a sign Trixie has returned. "Just put it on the table," he said softly and weakly. Trixie puts the cup on the table and leaves as fast as possible.
He leaned against the couch and stared at the ceiling. He sighed, and thought.
It may feel good if someone really loves him beside his father and mother. And if anyone would love him, he wanted Luna to be that person. Although he refuses to admit, he falls in love with Luna. He fell in love with her not because of her beauty, but her kindness toward the others, and the way she saw that there was good in everyone. But right now, he's about to lose her.
After it's over and Harry wins, I'll divorce you...
Now, he doesn't know if Potter wins is a good thing or a bad thing. His fingers touched his wedding ring; it felt cold against his skin. He never thought that marriage would bring out the soft side within him, but strangely he liked it.
Draco lay on his back, his hands tucked behind his head; he stared blankly at the ceiling. Luna had fallen asleep long hours ago by his side with her back turned to him, and she hadn't turned to him, not even in her sleep. He hates this feeling, really, he feels helpless and hurt and sad, he never feels such feelings are mixed up, and he feels he will vomit.
Luna refused to speak to him. When she comes out of the bathroom, he tries to talk to her, but she pushes him away and says that she doesn't want to talk for a while, she feels tired, and he understands. She must be very tired after what happened and may feel traumatized too, so he leaves her alone, he doesn't want to make her feel depressed more than already was, though he doesn't know what he is doing to make her depressed.
He glances at her, wondering if she's still wearing her wedding ring. He tried not to glance at her left hand where it rested on her pillow, close to her face. He's afraid if he's disappointed, but he can't help himself, so he pushes himself up a bit and peeks. Relief showering him as he saw the rays of diamonds from her ring, she still wore it.
Then, he closed his eyes trying to sleep. Quietly, he counted the stars. Luna says counting stars before bedtime is an effective way to make sleepiness come fast; she often does that and has become a habit. Initially, he thinks only people with not right mind who count the stars before going to sleep; now he's questioning his sanity.
One hundred and ten stars, one hundred and eleven stars, one hundred and twelve stars, one hundred and thirteen stars, one hundred and fourteen stars...
Then he fell asleep.
Not long after that, he woke up because his Mark was burning against his skin. He hissed trying to hold back the pain. He sees his forearm and it becomes darker, like a starless night sky. Then he heard the light knock on his door. He got out of bed and opened the door, his father standing there with his Death Eater attire.
"The Dark Lord is calling," Lucius said.
"Is he down there?" Draco asked.
"No, he wants to meet elsewhere," Lucius replied. "You will run your first raid."
"What?" He wasn't told anything about the raids.
"Go and change into your attire, I'll wait downstairs," Lucius said, not bothering to explain further. "Wait, how is Luna? I have heard what happened. "
Draco sighed. "She's fine, but she seems a little traumatized," he replied weakly.
"I have given your Aunt a few words with my wand. From now on don't worry; she will not be near Luna anymore," Lucius said dryly. Lucius almost lost his sanity when he heard what happened when he came home from the Ministry. And he gave Bellatrix some lessons about what she would get if dealing with Malfoys. He certainly wouldn't be stay still if his family members were almost killed with Bellatrix's obsession in torturing people.
Draco nodded. "Thank you, Father,"
"Go and change." With that Lucius left.
And Draco did what his father ordered. He changed into his Death Eater attire. He was wearing his mask and the hood of his cloak before coming out of the walk-in-closet. But he stopped when he saw Luna still sound asleep. He took off his mask and walked towards her. He crouched beside her and watched her for a moment. He will leave and not know when he will return, he is afraid he will not return. So he watches her face and memorizes every details of her face. He tucked the strands of hair behind her ear and kissed her lips gently.
"I'm sorry, Luna," he whispered against her lips. He pulled away a little; he could feel her breath brushing his face. "I ... I think ... I think I'm in love with you," he whispered. He swallowed nervously and kissed her forehead before finally leaving. He refuses to look back.
