Entry tags:

100quills, fanfiction, fic: far away as moonshine

FIC: Far Away as Moonshine, 23/28
Title: Far Away as Moonshine, Part III: Seven Years Later
Author: zephre
Rating: PG (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Foreign
Word Count: 2,047
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*
Concrit Wanted? Sure! Please alert me to typos or errors of continuity.

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 5: In which Luna returns to London.


late August, 2005
London


Luna stepped out of the International Floo station into the bustle of early morning in Diagon Alley, flicking her wand into place behind her ear as soon as she cleared the lines. Otto crawled up from his pocket in her open traveling robes to curl around her other ear as she adjusted the strap of the knapsack on her shoulder. She took deep breaths as she walked, cataloging the scents around her as she had done in so many new, foreign places. Yet this was familiar, the same distinctive mix of frying foods, pungent herbs, and owl that had always greeted her when she came to the Alley.

She ran her finger down Otto's back and smiled, feeling suddenly more confident of her steps. This was, no matter how long she had been gone, home, an unmistakable haven of British Wizardry. She did not hurry, but neither did she linger anywhere. There was one visit she must make that was long overdue.

Ollivander's had not yet opened for the eager First Years and their families; the hour was still early. Luna walked straight up to the door and knocked, ignoring the looks of passers-by who could plainly see the shop was closed. The lock opened with a click, and the door swung open to allow her entrance, then closed again behind her. She would not have been surprised to learn that a recognition spell had been on that door for the last seven years, waiting for the day she came back.

"Luna Lovegood," said Mr. Ollivander, emerging from a back room and striding down the aisle between shelves with a much stronger step than when she had last seen him. "Back from the wilds, are you?" He came all the way out from behind his counter and took Luna's hands in his, squeezing them lightly.

Luna felt one of the many weights she carried lift as he greeted her with such warmth. "I am. Someone finally hammered some sense into me." When he released her hands, she reach back into her knapsack and pulled out an envelope. "I've more photographs for you."

Mr. Ollivander's face creased as he smiled. "The elusive Snorcack at last?" he asked, riffling through the color prints.

Luna grinned, then laughed. "Not yet. But see - there, that one. I had to put in a Galleon for scale."

"Terrasen foils. I thought they were extinct."

"In Britain, but not in Madagascar. I saw them bloom this past spring."

Mr. Ollivander admired the photograph of the rare and prized flower for a moment, then he tucked it back into the envelope and left the envelope on the counter. "Come to the back, have a cup of tea, and tell me about your travels."

"Oh, but your customers-" began Luna.

Mr. Ollivander waved his hand at the door, where words wrote themselves onto the glass: Closed until 10:00. "They will wait," he said, and led her back through the forest of wand boxes to his cozy back parlor.



Luna left Mr. Ollivander's feeling much easier in mind. He had recognized the magic in her tattoos at once, but been only thoughtful. No condemnation would she find from that quarter, at least.

It was half ten by the time she made it through the crowds to the Leaky Cauldron, intending on Flooing home to the Tower before starting her list of calls. Her momentum through the room was arrested halfway, however, by a sudden shriek of "Luna!" from a table in the corner farthest from the bar. Almost before Luna could turn fully around, her wand already in her hand, she staggered under the fierce embrace of Ginny Longbottom.

Luna clutched at Ginny, mostly to keep them both from tumbling into a nearby table, and didn't realize until he folded the two of them into his arms that Neville had come up behind his wife.

"When did you get here?" Ginny asked, squeezing Luna as close as she could manage with seven months worth of pregnant belly in the way. "Why didn't you Floo us?"

Luna finally managed to untangle herself, and Neville detached Ginny and gestured back toward their table.

She had hoped for some more time to pull herself together, and perhaps to plan who to approach first, but it was too late. As Luna followed, promising explanations as she walked, she saw that the corner table was occupied by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Susan, and - was that really Pansy?

"Oh," Luna said, standing while Neville fetched another chair. "Hello, everyone." She tucked her wand back behind her ear and let her knapsack fall to her feet.

Once they were settled, and Hannah had come by with a round of coffee and tea, Ginny asked her questions again. "How long have you been back? Are you staying? When did you cut your hair?"

The inquiry about her hair broke Luna's tension and she laughed. Harry smiled across the table at her, and Neville reached over to tug playfully at one of her curls. It bounced back like a spring. "I cut my hair two weeks ago in Mongolia. As for staying - well. I don't know yet. But I'll be back."

"Mongolia?" Hermione asked. "Your last letter came from Prague."

"Mm." Luna stalled by stirring sugar into her tea. "I've been in Mongolia since June."

"What's in Mongolia?" Pansy asked, eyes bright with curiosity. Of all the people at the table, Pansy was the only person with whom Luna had not corresponded at some point.

Luna sipped at her tea and shrugged at the other woman. "Rocks. Red sand. Nomads."

Ginny leaned forward, uninterested in the nomads for the moment. "When did you get back to England?" she asked again.

Luna glanced at her wristwatch. "Ah - half seven, or thereabouts. I came in to the Diagon Alley International Floo Station."

Ron gave a comical, exaggerated wince. "Good thing you took your time to get here, then. I wasn't even awake yet."

"Hermione gives him until eight before she dumps cold water on his head," Harry said in a stage whisper. From the grins around the table, this was an old joke.

"You weren't up yet, either," Ron shot back with a smirk.

"Just this morning?" Ginny asked. "Have you been shopping since?"

Luna shook her head. She was starting to feel crackles of energy down her back. "I went to Ollivander's."

And just like that the atmosphere at the table changed, from eager curiosity to nervous tension. Luna could see the changes in their faces as they remembered why she would have gone to see the old wandmaker. The rune over her sternum throbbed, and Luna pressed her hand to it as she willed the sorrow away.

Only Harry looked just the same, and his lips curled up into a half smile when Luna looked up, as if he recognized her dilemma.

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence, which Harry broke as he stood up. "I think Luna could use some air. Come on." He came around the table and held out his hand. "Leave your things, we'll be back shortly."

When it looked like Ginny or Neville might get up as well, Hermione quickly intervened and gestured them back into their seats.

Luna shook her head, but not to refuse Harry's offer. She was quickly realizing how very deeply she had underestimated her reaction to being among her old friends. She gathered her robes, but Harry took them from her and draped them back over her chair. "We'll go into Muggle London," he murmured in her ear as he led her to the door.

Once outside, Harry tucked her hand under his arm and led her leisurely down the pavement. He said nothing for the first few blocks, and Luna soon felt her equilibrium restored.

"Thank you," she said as she gave his arm a squeeze.

"You looked a bit shell-shocked there," Harry replied, covering her hands with his. He turned them into a tiny churchyard with paths through well-kept gardens.

Startled for a moment at the Muggle slang now that she was back among wizards, Luna sighed. "A bit. I hadn't exactly planned to be the central attraction for a Battle of Hogwarts reunion my first morning back."

Harry looked thoughtful. "They have those, you know. Up at the school, every May."

Luna shivered. "Being back there for my seventh year was bad enough."

They found a tiny stone bench in a nook in the churchyard wall, and sat. Harry held on to her hand, and she leaned against his shoulder. The conversation died for a few minutes.

"You look so much better than last time," he said at last.

Last time had been in Moscow that winter, after Rolf left her. She had never been able to hide from Harry anywhere in the world, and got used to having him show up at random wherever she was for a few days of sightseeing and wandering Muggle haunts in whatever city was closest. Last time she had been a walking disaster, her magic already beginning to fail her.   

"Whatever they have in Mongolia must work," he continued. "Did they give you the tattoos?"

She looked down at herself; her shirt and denims covered the relevant points. He must have sensed the magic. Of course Harry would notice. "Yes. They channel the pain away." She leaned back far enough to see his face. His eyes would give him away if he disapproved.

"Good." He was smiling, and had no doubt at all in his eyes. "Don't worry. No one will care." Luna wondered when Harry had become so good at reading her. "They'll be too happy to have you back. You are going to stay now?"

"I suppose a godmother should do more than send letters every few weeks," Luna conceded. "But I don't know yet, Harry." She looked away, into the garden. "It will depend on what he says when I see him." Even with the ink magic ciphoning away the bulk of her irrational fears, her voice still trembled with rational ones.  She had no idea what to expect when she went to Wiltshire. For all she knew, Draco had already left the country, and her letter had arrived at an empty house.

Harry put his arm around her and tugged her close. "Don't panic. It'll be fine."

"If this is what I'm like when it's just friendly faces," Luna whispered into his shoulder, "how much worse will it be to go back there? I'm afraid."

"You'll be fine. You are one of the strongest people I know." When Luna did not respond other than to hold him more tightly, Harry combed his fingers through her hair and tried a different tack. "Is Malfoy really so frightening compared to a swarm of flesh-eating beetles boiling out of bat guano in Peru? I seem to recall you stood your ground then. Malfoy's probably just as messed up. I'll bet he's pulling his hair out over your visit, and he doesn't have much to be pulling these days."

Luna smacked Harry in the chest and laughed. "You're too awful."

"I speak only the truth," Harry said with mock solemnity. "We should have shaved his whole head when he lost that Quidditch bet, saved his vanity."

Luna caught the phrasing. "You shaved part of his head? Harry!"

Harry was giggling almost too hard to answer. "Hey, he made the bet. It would've been my head if we'd lost. Not like anybody saw it, really, anyway."

Well, that was true, and Luna kept grinning, although it was a reminder of the house arrest that must have so frustrated the Malfoys. "You boys."

"Ginny was there, too!" Harry immediately objected.

"Even worse."

A Muggle couple stumbled onto Harry and Luna's niche just then, and Luna realized how much time had passed.

"We should go back," Harry said, just as Luna opened her mouth.

She stood up and pulled him to his feet.

"Think you can weather the old crowd now?" he asked as they threaded their way through busy lunch hour pedestrians.

Luna squeezed his hand. "I'll manage better now."

He smiled and held open the door when they reached the Leaky Cauldron. "Welcome home."


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