The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

76. The Calm Before The Storm

When Luna and Carly's OWL results arrived, neither of them felt particularly happy, despite them passing all of their subjects.
With everything going on in the world, they thought that obsessing over grades was rather trivial.
Barely a day passed without hearing the shouts of pain and suffering, coming out of the cellar.
And sometimes these screams came from other areas in the house.
At least twice, Luna and Carly had walked in on Voldemort forcing Draco to torture somebody.
The first time they had been asked to leave immediately, but the second time, they had been encouraged to join in.

Voldemort's attempt on Harry's life as he left the Dursleys, had ended in failure, despite the aerial battle that took place that night.
The Order had turned a bunch of its members into Harry lookalikes, to make it almost impossible to work out which one was the real Harry.
And by the time they figured it out, it was too late, for Harry had already been whisked away to safety.
After this failure, the girls made sure to keep out of Voldemort's way, for he was in a terrible mood for several days following the mission.

One evening at the end of July, Luna walked into Carly's room and found her sitting at her desk and absentmindly doodling on a piece of parchment.
"Hey, are you O.K?" Questioned Luna.
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine" mumbled Carly.
"A penny for your thoughts" replied Luna, as she sat down on Carly's bed.
"It's Harry's birthday today. He's 17 now".

"Oh... How do you feel about it?" Asked Luna.
"I don't know... There was once a time when I imagined us celebrating all of our birthdays together. And I expected to be there when he used magic outside of Hogwarts for the first time" admitted Carly, as she spun around to face Luna.
"You mean, when he legally used magic for the first time" corrected Luna.
"Yes, legally, since he's already done it several times in the past. If he were anybody else, he would have been expelled for breaking the law by now. But since he's the famous Chosen One, he's allowed to break as many rules as he likes"
"He has certainly been given a lot of free passes over the years".

"He may have lost his parents, and had to grow up with the Dursleys, but apart from that, my brother has had a very easy life in the wizarding world, compared to us. If people whisper about him when he walks down a corridor, it is bound to be about something positive. But the same can't be said for us" sighed Carly.
"Don't forget, that when we go back to Hogwarts in September, things will be different. If people say bad things about us from now on, we will he able to hex them, without being punished. That is if they are even brave enough to say anything at all" grinned Luna.
"Even if the dark lord has taken over by then, we won't just be allowed to curse people in the corridors. The teachers will still punish us for stuff like that. It's only our sexuality that they won't be allowed to punish us for" replied Carly.

"The teachers will know that we are death eaters, because some of them saw us that night in the Astronomy tower. So, they won't want to mess with us, as they won't want to evoke the wrath of the dark lord. Besides, you know that he plans to make Snape the new Headmaster, and he wants to make some death eaters teachers. So, I have a feeling that things will be very different when we return to school" said Luna.
"It feels like things are moving too fast" admitted Carly.
"Well, for so many years, nothing changed at all. So, it's good that things are finally moving in the right direction" replied Luna.

"I suppose you're right... Have you heard from the dark lord yet, about the Ministry mission?" Questioned Carly.
"Yes, I bumped into him as he came up from the cellar. He told me that he doesn't want us there" answered Luna sadly.
"But why not? We would be an asset to the mission" insisted Carly.
"I agree with you. But he wants us to stay here. Although he admits that he needs the numbers, he cannot afford for anything to go wrong on this mission. He will only get one attempt on the Minister's life, and if he fails it will put us back a long way. Apparently we are a liability that he can't risk".

"But we've proven ourselves time and time again. What more does he want from us?" Groaned Carly.
"We are still young and inexperienced. He only wants people he has fought alongside with in the past, going on this mission with him" revealed Luna.
"That's stupid" grumbled Carly.
"I agree. But we aren't the only ones not going. All of the Malfoy's will be staying here. Draco is inexperienced like us, Lucius's wand was taken from him by the dark lord and destroyed in the aerial battle, and Narcissa isn't an official death eater. So none of them will be going".

"But we are so much more talented and devoted to the cause than they are, so we shouldn't have to stay behind. We are not little children" insisted Carly.
"I agree with you. But we can't risk voicing our opinions to the dark lord. He has made up his mind, and trying to change it will only cause trouble for the both of us" replied Luna.
"So, the future of the wizarding world will be decided tomorrow, and we won't be able to be a part of it. Our fates are now out of our hands" sighed Carly.

"We just have to hope that the dark lord will be successful. Because I dare to think about what will happen if he isn't" shuddered Luna.
"I'm sure the mission will be a success. All of the Order, and a bunch of other people will be at Bill and Fleur's wedding tomorrow, which is probably taking place at the Burrow. So, no one will be defending the Ministry. Which means that the dark lord will have no trouble taking over" reassured Carly.
"Daddy will be at the wedding tomorrow. He wrote me an owl saying so. Despite the Weasleys knowing what I am, they invited my dad to the wedding, since we are neighbours with them" Luna said quietly.

"Nym will be there as well, and I'm pretty sure that Harry will be too. But don't worry. Even if the death eaters do infiltrate the Ministry, and manage to take down the protective enchantments around the Burrow, they aren't going to kill everyone at the wedding. Especially not your dad, since he's a pure-blood, and everyone knows he's your father. So, he'll be fine" promised Carly.
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow" mumbled Luna.
"Yes, I suppose we will" agreed Carly.