Chapter 10 �“ Far From Here
An uncomfortable silence settled in the dark room. Luna could barely make out the outlines of the furniture she had come to recognize in Draco’s library. One particular chair was out of place, facing her instead of tucking neatly under the nearby table. She hesitated before taking one step toward it.
“Draco?” Luna called into the darkness, her voice wavering slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“ ‘Sorry’? Luna, you have nothing to apologize for.” Draco sounded so far away. “It’s my fault,” he muttered, “I shouldn’t have been so careless to keep you here so long. I should have insisted to finish the story, to get you out of here as soon as possible.” She heard him sigh tiredly.
“Well, as you used to say, it’s no use crying over �“ what was it? Nargle bites?” Luna knew he was trying to cheer her up, but she couldn’t force a chuckle out of her; she knew it would only come out a strangled cry.
Luna inched toward Draco’s voice, step by step, two hands before her as she navigated the library blindly. “Draco, don’t blame yourself. I…I don’t regret our time together.”
As she spoke, Luna knew it was true. She had lived her life under the mantra ‘Do only the things you’ll never regret,’ as her mother taught her, and nothing, especially not her stay at Occultusum Malfoy, has yet to make her change her motto. She had changed utterly after Ron forced her to leave, left alienated from the only people she could call friends. She had thought she could live with that; besides, she had survived without them before she met them in her fourth year.
But then she made that fateful journey to the hellhole at the base of the mountain �“ and met Draco, the man who’d thought she was perfect the way she was before. It had been so easy for her to slip into her regular self around him, and eventually, she’d come to appreciate the person she used to be: quirky, caring, dreaming Luna Lovegood.
Her lip quivered. It was unfair �“ unfair that she had so much to gain from the months she’d stayed here, the story of a lifetime, insight into her own personality, and friendship, while Draco lost everything, his dignity, his home, his freedom.
He interrupted her thoughts as if knowing what was going through her mind. “Neither do I, Luna.” The despair in Draco’s voice hardened with conviction. “Neither do I.” Draco began whispering urgently, frantic in this race against time.
Luna listened with silent horror as Draco detailed what she must not do when she emerged from the library. She wanted so to scream at him; she’d accepted all of his gifts, but the one thing she could not allow him to do was die for her. Stop! she kept thinking, though she felt her traitorous head bob up and down in understanding. She clawed through her mind, desperate to find an alternative �“ any would’ve been better than this one �“ but she couldn’t.
“…tell them you had tried several times to escape but stopped when I threatened to kill your father,” Draco was saying now.
“No,” Luna said quickly. She might be able to stand by as Draco detailed what happened, but she would not partake in this actively. “I won’t say it.”
“Luna.” Draco sounded so desperate, imploring Luna to agree. “Luna, you know what will happen eventually, even if you refuse to point a blatant finger at me. We will be separated.” Luna could tell Draco was trying to hide his emotions. “And you’d make it so much easier on me if you’d listen.”
“I’ll listen, Draco, but I won’t obey.” Quietly, as if to herself, Luna cried, “I don’t want this to happen.”
Luna thought she felt his cold fingers brush lightly against her hair, but the breeze was fleeting, as if Draco changed his mind. “Luna, you’ll be all right, I promise.” It was a promise both of them knew was broken as it left his lips. “My sanctuary,” he whispered, “is yours should you ever need my company or just a place to unravel. You are always welcome here.” Luna heard a rustling of robes.
“I have something of yours I thought you might want back. Come closer, Luna.”
Shakily, Luna lifted her arm, palm up, to accept whatever it was Draco had. She jumped when she felt two soft hands hold back loose strands of hair. Something cold and solid pressed against her right ear. He could hear the smile in his voice as he tucked her wand behind her ear.
“A witch like you shouldn’t go long without her wand.”
Overwhelmed with her emotions, Luna opened her mouth to blurt out what she had been holding back since the night before when the door opened. Luna blinked as the harsh light intruded on the intense moment she shared with Draco.
“Your time is up,” came the cold voice of Percival Weasley. “Come, Luna.”
Luna bit her lip before reluctantly edging toward the door. Halfway there, she couldn’t help looking back. There he stood, tall with his back straight. Feet standing slightly apart and hands behind him, he looked more like a soldier than the soft caring man she had come to know. So alien and so distant, Luna couldn’t help but shudder. Yet when she glanced into his storm-grey eyes, she saw just a glimpse of the Draco Malfoy no one had taken the time to know. The Draco Malfoy no one will ever come to know. Not like she had.
“Draco,” she heard herself say, “could it have…?” She struggled to find the words, but she suddenly felt so tired and allowed her words to trail off.
And Draco’s eyes softened conspicuously. He understood “Yes. If we were far from here.”
Luna smiled; that was all she needed.
End notes: This chapter was completed July 16, 2007. Any information provided by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were not intentionally incorporated into this chapter. Anything proven false by the seventh book will not be added into the story.
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