The Stars That Lie (Druna ☾)

Chapter 18

This chapter has smut!! I will use asterisks {***} to denote where the smut starts and ends if you would like to skip. Thanks for all the support and love on this story, you all are the best <3

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It was time.

Luna had allowed herself to grow complacent for too long. Lulled by Draco's calm, steady presence, his thoughtful gifts, and the comforts of a mansion in the woods with no one around to bother them, she had forgotten what she really needed.

She needed to escape.

Her little paradise in the woods would not last forever. She had to be proactive when it counted. She had to put in the hard work now, and maybe one day she would not have to fear everything being ripped away from her again.

The night after he gave her the telescope, she pretended to go to bed as she always did in the sunroom, dumping all her notes and charts at the foot of the daybed in a heap to be sorted through later over dinner at the kitchen counter with Draco. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Her routine was the same.

Except as soon as she heard his door shut on the second floor, she rose up and tiptoed out of her room into the kitchen.

In a cupboard, behind stacks of pristine, white dinner plates, she had stashed a stockpile of any foods that would not go bad immediately. Apples, cheese, packs of crackers, and whatever else she could slip from the delivered meals the house elves brought had gone into the stockpile.

Creeping around the kitchen in her bare feet, she stole a bag from the closet, then a skillet from the cupboard. In the pantry, she mulled over whether or not she should steal a kettle too so she could make herself some tea on the road, but then she would need to steal honey too, and sugar, and she wasn't sure she wanted to carry it all.

With a heavy heart, she put the tea back in the pantry.

Once packed up, Luna puffed out her cheeks as she lifted the bag to sling over her shoulders. It wasn't too heavy that she would fall over while carrying it, but it wasn't light either. The straps dug into her shoulders uncomfortably, and the weight settled on her spine immediately. If she made it more than a mile, she was going to be feeling it...

But the discomfort would be good for her. She needed the reminder that she was not free until she was home. Some blisters and back pain would be worth it.

Holding her shoes in one hand with the door at her back, she looked down the hallway of the house she'd grown so used to. Half of her wanted to leave immediately, but another half tugged at her hard, begging her to stay in the false safety with Draco.

I should leave him a note at least...

Yes. A note was necessary.

With no time to really spare but a desire to stay just one more minute, Luna tiptoed back to the kitchen to dig out a blank recipe card from a drawer and a pencil.

The words came to her slowly, so she kept the note brief:

Draco,

The moment presented itself. I had to escape. But I will keep my promise, I swear. As soon as I can, as soon as it's safe for you too, I'll come back for you.

Truly yours,

Luna

Her stomach turned and twisted as she laid the note down on the edge of the corner. It felt wrong. It felt horrid. He'd be waking up to an empty house, and there was every chance the Dark Lord would take it out on Draco.