Forgive me for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

Disclaimer – I own nothing, except the plot!

A/N – HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you guys have a lovely new year party last night.


Chapter 31

"NO!" Draco fell on his knees, his palms groping the surface of the wooden floor in panic. His eyes moved around looking for his wife. His heartbeat pounded so fast, sweat began to drip from his forehead, and his eyes began to sting. "No," he whispered when he found no sign of his wife. She has gone. Potter took her.

Then a great anger took over his body. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His body trembled lightly because of the anger he resisted with all his might. "Scarhead," he hissed hatefully. He has been kind to him, he has helped him, helped him to escape and solve the madness that happened. But Potter misuses his kindness. He shouldn't have to be kind to him in the first place. He also doesn't have to think about Luna's reaction if he handed Potter over, he can deal with her later. But it was too late. He has made his bed, and he has to lie in it.

Lucius noticed Draco's panic that turned into an incredible rage. "Draco," he called, but Draco ignored him completely.

"Draco," this time Narcissa tried, she approached Draco and put her hand on his shoulder. "Please, stand up," she said softly.

Draco looked up and looked at his mother just before he obeyed. "I have to get her back," he said quietly but confidently.

"Don't be absurd," Bellatrix suddenly sneered. "You'll never find her, Draco," she mocked.

"I will!" Draco spat angrily. "I'll find her and I will curse Potter to the moon and back."

"How sweet ... Well, you should have done that from the beginning when he was found, you fool," Bellatrix argued in annoyance, her eyes darkening as dark as the night sky. "But you lied to everyone and said he wasn't Potter."

"I didn't know he was Potter," he lied smoothly. "Can you even recognize him with a face like that?" Draco demanded angrily. "Can you?" He challenged when Bellatrix didn't answer.

"It seems we missed a party," Rabastan suddenly said as he entered the hall and looked around, he whistled in amazement as he saw the whole hall was destroyed. "Interesting."

"What happened?" Rodolphus asked Lucius.

"Potter was here," Lucius replied simply as he massaged the bridge of his nose and took a seat on the leather armchair.

"And he's gone?" Rodolphus demanded, but no one answered, the chaos in the hall was enough to answer his question.

"The mud-blood fools us," Bellatrix muttered. "She made the face of Potter unrecognizable. Oh, my head started hurting."

"And?" Rabastan asked.

"And he's gone, dumbass!" Draco roared. "He brought Luna with him."

"What?"

"You heard me," Draco said angrily.

"Aye, Sir. Calm down," Rabastan scoffed, held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm going to look for Luna," Draco murmured to take a step to walk out of the Manor and search for his wife. She must be out there. He knew it.

"You will not find Luna, Draco," Lucius said. "It takes months to find Potter; it will not be easy to find her."

"I'll still look for her, she needs me," Draco said stubbornly, refusing to spend a day without his wife. "I'll find her," he muttered to himself rather than to his father.

"Come on, be realistic, she's with Potter, she's safe, she doesn't need you. You're nothing to her, just give her up," Bellatrix sneered before she left the hall.

After Bellatrix left the hall, it was silent, there was no movement, and everything seemed awkward. Draco thinks that Bellatrix is right, Luna doesn't need him, she is with Potter, her prayer has been granted. He saw and heard her praying over and over again so Potter and come and save her. Why is he bothering to look for her when she doesn't want to be found? She would have been happier with Potter than with him.

He tried his best to swallow a lump in his throat. He felt his chest tighten at the thought. He frowned, hated to feel this way. Then he spun on his heels and left the hall to return to his room. He will not look for Luna. Ever!

"Well, what should we do now?" Rabastan said as he saw Draco leave.

"The Dark Lord will be furious," Lucius muttered. "I wanted to summon him right after Potter here, but Bellatrix stopped me. Stupid woman."


Luna growled as her small body hit the warm sandy land. She lay for a few seconds to breathe. When she was convinced that her breathing was normal, she rose and opened her eyes. She hissed as her eyes made contact with the scorching sun. She opens and closes her eyes repeatedly to adjust her eyesight, she has grown accustomed to the ever-dark Malfoy Manor and when she meets the sun, she is quite surprised she doesn't even get enough sun at Hogwarts. When she opened her eyes she was welcomed by the shore. Harry brought me here, she thought as she looked around.

Then she heard Harry's voice, pleading. She turns towards him and sees him holding Dobby in his arms, Dobby doesn't move. Without a second thought, she ran and approached Harry. "Harry," she called softly.

Harry looked up, her eyes filled with sadness. "Dobby has gone," Harry said difficultly.

Luna knelt beside Harry and stared at Dobby's helpless body. His eyes still open and staring at Harry, she slowly closed his eyes with two fingers. "There. He looks like he's asleep now," Luna said softly. Quietly, she prayed that Dobby could really sleep peacefully and hopefully in the next life, Dobby's life would be better.

She looked around once more and found that Ron, Hermione, and Dean watched from afar and didn't move. They look shaken, sad, and tired.

Dobby had been buried by Bill in the backyard of Shell Cottage. Hermione and Luna left some flowers at Dobby's grave. After that, they returned to Shell Cottage to grieve for what had happened.

They sat in the dining room silently until Ron started the conversation.

"I don't understand what you're doing Harry," Ron said dryly, looking at Luna with a cold and sharp gaze.

She looked down uncomfortably, she understood what he meant.

"What are you talking about Ron?" Harry asked as he put down his glass of lemonade.

"You know what the bloody well is what I'm talking about," Ron snapped. Everyone was surprised by Ron's sudden anger. "You just kidnapped Draco Malfoy's wife, a Death Eater's wife!"

Luna grimaced slightly.

"Ronald!" Hermione snapped.

"What's Hermione? That's true, right? She married Malfoy and betrayed us. I don't understand why Harry took her? We're screwed!" Ron yelled angrily.

Luna doesn't dare say anything, let alone defend herself. But she knows Harry knows her better than Ron who always judges her without bothering to know her.

"So far I've never seen her betrayal to Harry," Bill commented casually. "You're overreacting. Do you even know what happened when you left?"

"Bugger off!" Ron barked. He stood up and approached Luna. "I'll show you her betrayal to us!" Ron grabbed Luna's upper arm and picked it up before rolling the sleeve of her dress roughly.

Luna's eyes grew enraged. Ron thinks she has the Dark Mark? He thought that she carried that blasted mark? It's unbelievable. She always knew that Ron had a short temper, he was easily suspicious of anyone, and always jumping to calculations, she had witnessed his shortcomings. And why is she surprised now?

Luna pulled her hand violently and frowned at Ron angrily. "Did you just think I had the Dark Mark?" Luna raised her tone and made the whole room startled. "Well, Ron, sorry to have let you down, but I don't have his Mark!" With no intention of explaining anything to Ron or anything else, Luna got up and ran out.

"Great job, Ron," Bill muttered.

"For God's sake, Ron! How can you think Luna has the Dark Mark? Where did the thought come from?" Hermione exclaimed in disbelief at Ron.

"You hurt her," Fleur murmured coldly, totally disliked how Ron treated Luna.

Ron was silent, still amazed. He didn't intend to harm Luna. He was too angry at her after hearing her marry Malfoy. He thinks Luna turns her back on them and chooses to take sides with the Malfoy's, but he should know better. He has known Luna for quite a long time. Now he can only regret what he just did.

Luna sat on the sand watching the waves sweep across the sand. The wind blew her hair and the sea water wet her feet. It's good that she can see the ocean again, she has forgotten when she last time to go to the shore just to sit and watch the waves dance like this. Idly, she took a shell and played with it. She's hurt with what Ron's doing, she's offended too.

She wanted to understand that it was his nature, but part of her refused to understand. At least Ron didn't have to embarrass her by calling her a traitor. Granted, he doesn't say directly that she is a traitor, but still, it hurts. If only he put himself in her position, would he even get through it? She didn't blame Ron, of course, she knew this would happen. Doesn't the same thing happen at Hogwarts too? She sighed heavily, remembering how all the students looked at her with the look of disgust and fear.

"Luna," the familiar voice caught on her ear. It was Harry's voice.

Luna turned and smiled. "Hello, Harry."

"Do you mind if I join?" Harry asked.

"No, of course not," she replied.

Harry smiled at her and sat down beside her. He put his elbows on his knees while watching the waves. They were silent for a moment, and Luna didn't mind the silence between them.

"I'm sorry," Harry said suddenly, breaking the silence. Luna turned to him, staring at him in confusion. Realizing that Luna is confused, he continues. "About what Ron said, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

She smiled weakly and watched the sand under her toes. "Yes, I understand," she said weakly. "I don't blame him, but ..." She paused and sighed, still feeling slightly hurt.

"When he finds out that you are married to Malfoy, he was angry like a madman, he reacts the worst among the three of us. But I suspect he's not angry at you, but at Malfoy," Harry explained.

She nodded. "I don't want to be in this position, you know, but I have no choice," she muttered.

"He must be using you to make me and others feel betrayed, but believe me, Luna, it doesn't work. It might work for some people, but not with me, I trust you," he said as he turned his head and offered a small smile.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said. "He forced me to learn about the Darkest Magic; even Hogwarts never taught those spells."

"He wants you to be on the battlefield," he pointed out

She nodded and said softly, "against you."

"So you're good at Dark Magic right now?" Harry asked playfully.

"I'll never use that," she replied.

"You may need it someday," he murmured, moving closer to her.

"It could be,"

"What about Malfoy?" He abruptly changed the subject.

She swallowed hard. The image of Draco's feared face as Harry grabs her ankle and pulls her into side along apparition still lingering clearly in her mind. She wondered how his reaction? And what about Bellatrix?

"Did he treat you well?" Harry asked as Luna fell silent and just stared at the sand that began to bury her toes.

"Yes, he treats me well. He's really nice, patient, and funny, he's just misunderstand. I didn't have a chance to get to know him until I was ... kidnapped," she said

"That doesn't sound like him," Harry said. Harry somehow agrees with Luna. Draco Malfoy is not as bad as he always thinks. Didn't he just refuse to recognize him in front of Bellatrix and Lucius, his own family? He knows it's not just because Luna's effects on him, but he knows he wants to do something right this time. "You like him?"

"I …" She paused. No, I don't like him, I love him, she thought. But telling her true feelings about Draco is not a wise act; Harry might think she's mad to love someone like Draco. Harry may agree that Draco is not as bad as people think, but still no one can love Draco other than his mother and himself.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask anything personal," Harry said as he realized Luna had no intention of answering.

"It's okay," Luna said with a smile, glad that he drops the subject. "Are you going to go again, Harry?"

"Yes. Tomorrow before sunrise I'll go with Hermione and Ron," Harry replied.

"So soon?"

"The sooner the better,"

"I understand. Maybe I'll go back to Hogwarts; some DA members are still at Hogwarts."

"No. You will not go there Luna. Hogwarts is no longer safe," Harry said solemnly.

"I don't want to just wait, Harry, I want to help," she replied.

"You'll help me if you stay here," he said, insisting.

"I can't, Harry. I would still go even if you forbid, I want to help," she said, frowning, she is attempting to convince him.

Harry sighed. "You have gone through so many things because of me," he muttered weakly.

"It's nothing, you know. You are my friend," she said as she took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "I want to help you, Harry."

Harry looked up and looked into Luna's blue eyes. "We'll talk to Bill about this. I'm sure Bill knows how you can get into Hogwarts without being noticed by anyone."

"Thank you, Harry," Luna said happily, hugging him lightly.

Harry's face flushed, he wasn't used to physical contact with women. "Come back inside. It's getting dark." He stood up and held out his hand to her, she grabbed it and both returned to Shell Cottage.

The next day, Harry, Hermione and Ron had disappeared as they gathered for breakfast. While Luna and Dean return to Hogwarts a week after Luna has her new wand made by Mr. Ollivander. They sneaked back Hogwarts with the help of Professor McGonagall.


A/N II – ONE CHAPTER LEFT!