Timeloop

[of_badfaith]

It happened so quickly. The blink of an eye, it couldn't have been anything but magic. When he closed his eyes, he was sitting in the sun, the ocean stretched out ahead of him. When he opened them, he was in a dimly lit room, vast and chilled, a warmthless fire flickering in a grey stone hearth to his left. He sat regally in a wingback chair, plush

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[dreamily_luna]

"Nobody's here," Luna says to the dark. Her voice is wobbly and tired. Oh, how she'd thought she could handle this again, with the knowledge that she knew how it ended. The boys would appear, and they would take her and Mr. Ollivander away.

She hadn't remembered how much the shackles hurt her wrists.

Mr. Ollivander sighs and turns over. There's others here too, but the world is spinning too fast to be sure.

[of_badfaith]

Unsurprisingly, he hadn't been knocking. After three taps of his wand, the door swung open, creaking on it's rusty hinges, and Draco blinked into the dark.

"Lumos," he muttered, following the glow at the tip of his wand until he found a head of blond hair, an the small, cowering body it was attached to.

"We're leaving," he told her, releasing the chains on her wrists with another flick of his wand, right as all the commotion started upstairs. They'd be coming down, soon, with Potter and Weasley in tow. "Dammit," he muttered frustratedly, "We have to go. Now."

[dreamily_luna]

Luna startles, and even pulls away a moment, unsure of who it could be and then she smells him, so very different from soil and despair, which is what it smells like in the cellar. "There are others," she starts to say, but as she stands up, it becomes clear that her legs have gone numb.

She collapses like a ragdoll at his feet.

[of_badfaith]

"Forget the others, we have to go now," Draco hissed, hooking a hand under her arm and hauling her to her feet, but there was shouting at the top of the stairs. Weasley, that idiot, shrieking all the way down, "HERMIONE!HERMIONE!" echoing off the stone walls.

There was a growl at the base of the stairs, Greyback looming in the doorframe, his teeth bared. "What's going on here?" he snarled, his wand raised and a curse on his lips, and Draco had time to lift his own wand, point it at the werewolf when the world dissolved into white.

~~~

He rose from his chair immediately, walked through script of the night that he had memorized by now, but this time, after shoving Greyback's minions out into the garden, he waited. He listened for the shouting, listened for it to disappear down the cellar stairs, then waited for Greyback to emerge from the cellar and return to the drawing room.

This time, when he opened the door with a tap of his wand, there were already voices in the dark. Striding into the room, Draco cast a quick Lumos spell and

[dreamily_luna]

It all happens again, which happens to be the reasons that when Draco lights up the room, Harry Potter is trying to dry her tears with a dirty handkerchief. She looks up, and she might feel worse if this didn't keep happening, the world fading and forming again so that not even the future that was supposed to occur did.

She can't remember if Draco has ever seen her cry before.

[of_badfaith]

He was overcome, suddenly, with a crashing wave of jealousy, and before he knew what he was doing, he'd marched across the room, shoving Potter out of the way and raising his wand to unlock her chains.

"Stop crying, we'll be alright," he was saying when Potter lunged at him, knocking his wand away and growling angrily, "Don't touch her. You stay away from her, you rat!"

"Potter, you imbecile!" Draco hissed, while Weasley kept on wailing, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" like there was no one else in the room.

[dreamily_luna]

"Ron, shut up," Luna finally says, but it's more of a sob. "Harry, you don't understand, he's--" What is he, really? What can she say here? She takes in a deep, trembling breath, again trying to climb to her feet, "We just need to get out, all of us do."

[of_badfaith]

But that red-headed idiot had already taken off out the open door, barreling up the stairs at break-neck speed and Draco shoved Potter off him with all his might, scrambling to point his wand in Weasley's direction and shout Stupefy!But it was too late. They'd heard, he could hear their curious voices upstairs, hear their footsteps, and he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the world to spin on it's axis all over again

[dreamily_luna]

Her eyes are still rimmed with pink, but he's been down here more than once, and she thinks maybe he means it. Luna nods, her mouth shutting and reaches so that she can touch his hands. She needs to touch his hands.

The world refocuses for her, and there's Draco's steely eyes to hold. Another nod.

[of_badfaith]

"We can't all leave without Granger, you know that, don't you? It'll start all over again," he tells her, glancing at Potter watching them like the slack-jawed fool that he was and rolling his eyes.

God, he hated himself for doing this. Truly.

"You're taking this," he said through gritted teeth, getting to his feet and reluctantly pushing his wand into Potter's hand. "You and Weasley get upstairs, get your little Mudblood witch and get out of here."

[dreamily_luna]

This more than anything leaves her thunderstruck, shook to her core. The idea seeps into mind, that somehow they're being tested-- that Draco's being tested. It's such a feverish, floating thought that she just thinks it for a moment.

"Then we need to take the rest, too."

She wants him to pass, so badly.

[of_badfaith]

"All right, all right," he agreed dismissively, he and Potter locked in a staring match to end all staring matches. With the wand, Potter was now in complete control, which Draco Malfoy hated with every fiber of his being.

"How can we trust you?" Potter demanded, his face still swollen hideously but gradually returning to that face Draco had known and hated for so long.

"I gave you my wand, Potter. What more could you possibly need?" he asked, on the edge of laughing, but then Potter ended the binding curse and Ron was on his feet and tugging Potter toward the door.

Then there was a pop, a whoosh, and a beady-eyed House Elf peering up at them. Ahead of schedule.

"They'll be coming for the goblin soon. Let's go."

[dreamily_luna]

Luna reaches out and takes Draco's hand, an act just as frightening here as venturing out into the gray light. "You're sure," she says, her eyes even beginning to sparkle as they hadn't done since her time with the madwoman. "Draco--"

But then it's time, and they're leaving.

[of_badfaith]

Overhead, her screams were loud enough to rattle the masonry, the sound of Potter and Weasley's feet echoing on the stairs, but the last thing he heard was his mother's voice drifting down from the drawing room --

Where's Draco?

Then the world tilted, the bottom dropping out of his stomach, and he expected to find himself sitting in that armchair in the drawing room. He expected to never leave that horrible place.

But instead, his feet were planted firmly on the ground. Sinking into dewy grass, the smell of the ocean filling his nose. They were a mismatched band of misfits. The wand maker, Dean Thomas and the goblin sprawled out at their feet, and standing in the middle was Draco Malfoy with Loony Luna Lovegood's hand held in his.

The House Elf shouted suddenly, "Must go save Harry Potter!" and then disappeared with a pop.

[dreamily_luna]

"Oh!" cries out Luna, her knees buckling again, half-asleep, and she clings to his hand more tightly. "This must be-- near Shell Cottage." She breathes in the ocean air, and perhaps the most telling thing is that it smells like the Island. Like home.

She turns to Draco, silvery eyes brilliant with joy and pride in him, and she doesn't care if he laughs at her for it, but at this moment it's Draco filling her eyes and heart.

"I knew you could," she whispers, and then glances around. "There are others here," she suddenly says, her bright face falling. "I shouldn't grab you so."

[of_badfaith]

He moved to catch her on instinct, an arm slipping around her back and pulling her close. Looking down at her, he could feel himself literally shrinking away from that joyful glint in her eye, because it was something he didn't deserve and certainly didn't want, but as for the rest of it?

Draco rolled his eyes and said, "I really couldn't give a toss who's here," because none of them mattered. This place didn't matter. He should have been so happy, so grateful to have his magic back. He should have never wanted to lose it again. But all he could feel in that moment was relief, to finally be out of that cellar and away from his mother and father's cold, frantic eyes.