Entry tags:

100quills, fanfiction, fic: far away as moonshine

FIC: Far Away as Moonshine 8/28
Title: Far Away as Moonshine, Part I: Malfoy Manor
Author: zephre
Rating: PG (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Choices
Word Count: 1,234
Summary: For Draco Malfoy, the war was one endless nightmare. Until Luna Lovegood gave him a reason to hope. Can he find his courage, make his luck, and become more than a pawn to those in power?
Warnings: (for whole fic, highlight to view) *mature themes, imprisonment, mention of rape, abuse, battlefield violence, various canon and other character deaths, sexual situations*
Notes: The title is from the song, "Street of Dreams" by Oysterband.
Chapter Index:
Part I:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part II:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Epilogue

Chapter 8: In which there is a most surprising tea.

Draco ignored the others in his compartment as the train wound through the dreary countryside. Pansy and Blaise had their heads together over the Daily Prophet as Crabbe and Goyle pestered Millicent to show them a new hex. Draco stared at the patterns the rain made on the window, chin in hand, wondering what waited for him at home.  His mother's letters had been frustratingly vague.

It was extremely unlikely, given the Dark Lord's continued absence, that anything could have happened. Even so, he knew he had been distracted this term. Snape had caught him more than once loitering in quiet corridors before breakfast. Draco was uncomfortable thinking that the Headmaster might understand more than his words let on. He could not stand for that implacable stare to hold even a touch of pity.

It had been strange, this term, seeing the looks on Longbottom's and Weasley's faces as they realized that Luna was not coming back. They had no idea what had become of her, and feared the worst. Even more than the reports of Muggle-borns being run down in the countryside, Luna's kidnapping seemed to grind the remains of Dumbledore's Army into depression. 

Draco understood how they felt.

The hallways were entirely too empty.

Now that he was on his way home, Draco could not get his last, whispered conversation with Luna out of his head. He traced the path of a single raindrop down the window and allowed himself to look forward to hearing her voice again.



I am sorry about your arm," Luna whispered into the darkness. 

So she couldn't sleep either. Draco rolled over to find her staring up at the canopy of his bed, winding a long curl of her hair onto her finger. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "Will you be all right?"

"Yes," she said simply, with no hesitation.

"That's it? Just 'yes' after all that?"

She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. "I'm still afraid. But I'm alive. I won't go looking for trouble."

"Somehow that never stops trouble from looking for you. Lucky for me, I run fast and fly faster."

She laughed.  Then after a moment she became very quiet again, and reached across to his half of the bed. He said nothing as she laced their fingers together. She liked to have a reminder that she wasn't alone in the dark, and Draco enjoyed feeling like he could protect her from something. 

He was almost asleep when he heard her voice again. "You can choose to stop running. I hope you do."

  

His mother met him on the platform.

She said nothing as they walked through the station to the nearest Apparition point. Draco took some comfort in the lack of their family signals for trouble, but he wished they could be free enough to speak their minds in public. Was this the future hurtling toward them all? Unable to voice their true thoughts or desires for fear of some Higher Power?

Draco took a deep breath to settle his nerves and concentrated on getting through the Muggles and getting home.


The last thing he expected when they entered his rooms was the sight of his father having a quiet tea with Luna. There was something eerie in the scene, the two of them staring at each other over their dainty china cups, and Draco wondered what he and his mother had interrupted.

Narcissa left Draco's things near the door and joined Luna on the chaise.  Draco approached warily, not quite trusting the appearance of calm. 

"Father."

Lucius inclined his head briefly in acknowledgement.  "Draco. I hear good things from your teachers this term." It was the same brand of greeting as all his previous years at Hogwarts, and Draco felt the dissonance in his bones. Of his teachers this term, half of them were monstrous, and the others were held to obedience with the students as hostages to their behavior.  Of course his reports were good. He could have tortured and cursed his way through half the student body and never attended a class, and he would still get good reports for this term. He shrugged and took the chair at Lucius's left.

Narcissa filled the silence with innocuous conversation.  Draco watched Luna nurse her tea, and wondered what his father could possibly have found to say to her.

Finally, Lucius stood to leave.  "You've made your choice, then?" he asked, looking at Luna. 

"Yes, sir," she said, raising her eyes from her cup to look him in the face.

Lucius nodded sharply, his frown thoughtful. "I expected as much. The offer will be open, should you change your mind."

Narcissa rose, taking her husband's hand. "Draco should unpack before dinner." 

Lucius glanced at his wife in confusion for a moment, then smiled. Draco had not seen his father smile in a long time. "Yes, of course."

Draco wondered what Luna was thinking. Not many people had the distinction of both facing Lucius in battle and enjoying a private, peaceful tea with him. Now his father was smiling and clearly not punishing her for refusing whatever he had offered. 

Narcissa tugged Lucius out the door, a gesture too intimate for public consumption.  That was when Draco realized that sometime over the course of the last few weeks, Luna had become a member of the household, at least in the minds of his parents. He had never corrected his mother's assumption that he had saved Luna from the cellar out of love. Now to all appearances they had accepted Luna as his choice, and given her their approval. Draco wondered if Luna had become a new variable in Narcissa's web of influence, or if his mother was trying to prevent the girl from even entering the equation. 

The door closed. Draco looked across the table at his prisoner. Luna poured him a cup of tea. 

She remembered how he took his tea.

"What did my father want?" Draco suppressed the desire to add extra sugars or milk to his tea just to be contrary. What was she doing, remembering how he took his tea?

Luna stirred milk into her second cup, and took her time about it. At last she said, "My parole."

"Your what?"

"He wanted me to give him my parole, in exchange for freedom of the house and grounds."

Draco knew how much she wanted to be outside. The roof garden was barely enough, although it was more than she'd had in her cell. He knew she was grateful, and probably hated being grateful, too. 

"And you said no."

Luna nodded. 

"Why, for Merlin's sake?"

"I can't make the promises he wants, Draco," Luna sounded exasperated with him. "Do you think I've forgotten who has the true power here? Your father can make no guarantees, but he wanted my word not to try to escape again, to respect the wards of your estate."

Of course, Luna would not have forgotten the reasons for her imprisonment.

"And you won't ever stop trying to escape." That depressed Draco even as it made him feel an absurd sort of pride in her.  She may be loony, but she was his loony.

"You know I won't." She sipped her tea as if they were having a boring discussion of the weather.

"As long as we're clear on that." Draco shrugged and drank his own tea.

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