The Stars That Lie (Druna ☾)

Chapter 16

Luna handed over her first report for the Dark Lord with a pit in her stomach that couldn't be sated.

Draco took it unceremoniously, not so much as looking at her as he picked it up off the counter the next morning at breakfast. They leaned against the counter on opposite sides, their plates of eggs and bacon between them but barely touched.

"Aren't you going to ask what's in it?" she pandered.

Draco tucked the sparse sheets under his breakfast dome for the house elf to collect later. "No. Should I?"

Luna's eyes narrowed. Was it trust that he held for her? Or reckless unconcern that whatever happened next would happen whether or not he checked her work...

She shrugged, then went back to picking at her breakfast, forcing herself to eat the bacon even though the grease turned her stomach. She needed her strength up if she was ever going to escape, let alone have the energy to make an adequate escape plan.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry would have been so much better at this... With a lamenting sigh, Luna wondered what those three were doing. If they were still fighting back. Still making plans. Still getting into trouble and faring so much better than Luna ever had.

When the three of them had briefly been imprisoned with her at the Malfoy estate, they'd barely been there an hour or two before they got out again.

And here Luna was. Still under the Dark Lord's thumb. Still so far from home.

Maybe she lacked purpose. Maybe if her goals were clearer, she could fight back easier. But right now? Right now she just wanted to go home, curl up on the couch, and listen to her father read aloud a fairytale.

The silence stretched on to a point that even Luna could not bear the awkwardness. She counted the ticks of the grandfather clock in the hall and flinched at every scrape and clink of their forks on their plates. Then, finally, she said the first thought that popped into her head. "My report should tide them over for now. The sky's a mess, and so is my head, but I think I teased out a few predictions of consequence. Upheaval is still on the horizon, and there are dark, nebulous clouds in the east. There's one area that seems to be saying a phoenix will rise again, which could be tied to Dumbledore and Hogwarts."

Draco visibly winced at the mention of their old headmaster, his lips puckering as if the bite of toast he had turned bitter.

Luna trailed on, "Anyway... I feel like a traitor mentioning it at all, but it's not like they'll do much about it, right? They already have control of the school."

They lapsed back into silence, even though she desperately wanted him to say something. Anything. Just something to prove to her that she wasn't the only one imagining their connection.

They could be allies if he let her in.

But Draco didn't give her a single inch, and they went their separate ways after breakfast again.

☾━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━☽

A few nights passed, and Luna sorted through the sky as her whims pleased her. Over and over, her eye drew to the Draco constellation, and over and over again she put it aside to scour other corners of the heavens so she didn't go mad looking for signs that were no longer there.

Draco had played his part. It was over, and now they had to live in the aftermath.

A week or so later (the days had blurred together for Luna), she felt particularly on edge early on in the night. Draco hadn't said a single word to her in days, but he hovered. Always there. Always guarding. Always paying attention to her but never reacting.