The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

57. Someone To Blame

**TW, this chapter will contain anti LGBTQ views, and hate speech, that the writer does not endorse or support, but is unfortunately necessary for the advancement of the plot**

Harry, Carly and Neville were all invited to dinner on the train, in a private teacher compartment with Horace Slughorn, the new Potions teacher, later that day.
They weren't the only students there, as Slughorn had invited a bunch of students all with famous backgrounds or parents.
Blaise Zabini, Marcus Belby, and Cormac McLaggen were there, as was Ginny, who had been invited by Slughorn when he saw her hex Zacharius Smith outside his carriage.

Carly had a feeling their new teacher liked to collect students that he thought would go far in life. To make himself feel better about being nothing more than a teacher.
And since Voldemort had instructed her to stay away from all teachers except Snape, Carly had no intention of spending anymore time around Slughorn than absolutely necessary.
She did not want to become a part of his Slug Club, especially as she knew she had only been invited because she was Harry's sister, and the daughter of the famous James Potter.

The next morning, Carly came down to breakfast, and was greeted by an owl shortly after, carrying her Daily Prophet.
When she saw the headline she gasped loudly, and spilt her pumpkin juice everywhere.
She looked up to try and catch Luna's eye, but Luna wasn't sat at the Ravenclaw table, and Carly had a pretty good idea of why.
Carly glanced back down at her paper, and began to read the front page article, even though she knew it was going to infuriate her.

'Minister for Magic; Rufus Scrimgeour, has made a statement regarding the new wave of people who are now calling themselves death eaters.
"It has come to my attention that many, so called homosexuals, have been aligning themselves with the dark wizard known as You-Know-Who. He has offered them their rights in return for their support. Homosexuality has been illegal for quite some time now, as it is unnatural and dangerous. If these people are now following the beliefs of You-Know-Who, then they are not just people with unhinged ideas, but they are violent criminals. If you suspect someone you know of having homosexual inclinations, please contact the Ministry of Magic immediately, so that they can deal with this situation. Only by working together can we eradict this stain on our world".

Scrimgeour has dedicated an entire new department at the Ministry, to track down these so called homosexuals, and bring them to justice. If you have concerns that someone in your life may be a homosexual, then please contact this department, for your own safety. A simple act of kissing or holding hands with someone of the same sex, can be the start of a slippery slope. If this person is still young, there is a chance they may not have succumbed to the dark ideology pushed by You-Know-Who yet. But they must be taken away from the public eye, to protect the safety of those in the wizarding world. Healers are currently working on a way to cure such people of their afflictions, so there is still hope for some of them, that they may be turned back into normal functioning humans again.

We would also like to add that Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge are still missing. If you have any knowledge of their whereabouts, please contact the Ministry of Magic immediately.
Full story on page 5'.

Carly had read enough.
She scrunched the paper angrily in her fists, before shoving it into her pocket and storming out of the great hall.
"Hey, Carly, can we talk?" Asked Harry, as he tried to intercept her.
Carly saw the paper in his hand, and she knew what he wanted to talk about, for they had both just read the same article.
But she did not want to talk about it with Harry.
She needed to find Luna, and fast.
"I haven't got time to talk right now" announced Carly, as she pushed past Harry.
"But it's important" insisted Harry.
"Later" hissed Carly, before running off towards the Room of Requirement, where she assumed that Luna had taken refuge in.

When Carly entered the room, she found Luna sitting on the floor, with her knees up to her chest, and red rings around her eyes.
Carly also spied pieces of charred parchment all around the room, which she assumed was because Luna had burned her Daily Prophet article in anger.
"Are you O.K?" Carly as softly, as she carefully approached Luna.
"What do you think" mumbled Luna.
"Well, I think that right now you are just as angry and upset as I am. And you have every right to be" replied Carly, as she sat down beside Luna.

"I wake up this morning, looking forward to a new term of learning, and the first thing I see is this. It's just horrible!" Announced Luna, pointing to the Prophet sticking out of Carly's robes.
"You can burn my copy too if you like. But I don't think it will make you feel any better" admitted Carly, as she took out her Prophet and threw it on the floor.
"Why? Why are they saying such nasty things about us? Why do they hate us, just for being in love?" Asked Luna, as silent tears fell down her face.

"Well, the Ministry is afraid. And when people are afraid, they lash out. A lot of people are siding with the dark lord now, and it's got the Ministry scared. They need someone to blame for the rise in people joining the dark lord, and that's us. Instead of changing the law that keeps us apart, and getting all the gays on their side, they've done the opposite. They want to make the general public so scared of us, that they willingly turn us over to Azkaban. That way, there are less people who could potentially join the dark lord. The more of us they kill or lock away, the less enemies they think they will have" said Carly.

"But it's not right. People like us aren't dangerous or unnatural. We just want to live our lives, with the people we love. And not every single gay person supports the dark lord. Because Sirius and Remus didn't, and neither did your father. Just because you and I chose to join the dark lord, it doesn't mean that all gay people are evil and bad. That's like saying that all pure-bloods are murderers, just because the dark lords army is mostly made up of pure-bloods. The Ministry can't just villainise a whole group of people like that" replied Luna.

"Well, unfortunately they already have. And there is nothing we can do about it" sighed Carly.
"We need the dark lord to take over now, before things get any worse" insisted Luna.
"There is nothing we can do to influence the dark lord, and make him take over before he is ready. One failed Ministry coup could put us all back a long way, and we can't risk that. So, we will just have to hold our tongues and keep out of trouble until then" instructed Carly.

"I don't think I can. I mean, how can I pretend that everything is normal, when I feel like screaming in anger from the top of the Astronomy tower, and killing everyone at the Ministry?" Questioned Luna.
"We are good at lying and hiding our true emotions, because it's something we've always done. And it is what the dark lord expects us to do, because we don't want to blow our cover... Since things are getting worse, we will need to keep our distance from each other this term, and not hang out as much in public. We can't risk anyone getting suspicious of us and reporting us to the Ministry. Not after this article" answered Carly.

"But I can't stay away from you, you're all I have, and I love you" reminded Luna.
"I feel the same way, and I don't want to keep away from you. But this is the only way I can keep you safe. And it will only be in public. In private, we can still do as we please. But if holding hands with someone, is enough to get you sent to Azkaban, then we are going to have to be very careful from now on" warned Carly.

"I guess you're right. If we want to stay out of Azkaban, we have no choice. We are going to have to abstain from all physical contact in public" Luna said sadly.
Carly placed her arm around Luna's shoulders, and held her close, "This won't last forever. One day soon, we will be free to live how we want to".
"And that day can't come fast enough" mumbled Luna.

***************
As I said earlier, I personally do not agree with the views held by the Daily Prophet in this chapter I have just written.
And I will not stand for any homophobia, or hate on the LGBTQ+ community, in the comments.
This is purely a work of fiction, in a make believe world.