Not As It Seems : 7spells [PG: Luna Lovegood/Ron Weasley]
Title: Not As It Seems
Character(s): Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Harry Potter, mentions of Dumbledore
Prompt: Anachronism
Rating: PG; HBP Spoilers
Word Count: 1631
Summary: After the end of the war, three Death Eaters still allude the Order...
Author's Notes: Jesus, this thing got out of hand... But that’s what happens when you’re putting off an essay that you REALLY don’t want to write. Long, and extremely unbeta-ed, so there’s probably quite a few typos. If anything jumps out at you, just hollar.
Progress: 7/7 : Completed Chart
Ron and Luna were as quiet as they could be. They were in the halls of Malfoy Manor, the silence baring down on them. It had been rumored that the house hadn’t been entered since Narcissa Malfoy’s disappearance the year before, but there were several members of the Order that figured while nobody new had entered that were several people that had yet to leave.
The Manor was decorated in a way that just begged to be renewed. It was clear to Ron that whatever sort of fashion sense the Malfoy family had hadn’t been updated since the mid-1800s. The cobwebs were a becoming addition to the decor. They certainly made it seem like the correct amount of time had past.
Luna was the first one to find the dungeon. A dungeon. Ron knew he shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. The Malfoys had a dungeon. It had probably been used at one point to house Muggleborns until they could be properly disposed of. Ron shuddered heavily, trying to push the mental image of Hermione, the Creeveys, Justin, Dean, and every other Muggleborn he could anchored to the wall by the chains that now hung, dirty with disuse like everything else in the house, out of his mind.
That was when they heard it, the voices echoing down the hallway. He instinctively tensed. Voices in the dungeons of a long thought abandoned Manor House of a prominent Death Eater family tended to mean that danger lay ahead. And since it was just Luna and him, he thought it was best to make sure their back up knew that they had found something.
Ron nudged Luna’s shoulder, nodding towards her wand. Blue eyes met silver-grey, and Luna inclined her head. The words ‘Expecto Patronum’ issued from her lips and a Diricawl burst from her wand, turning and cocking its head at Luna before nodding and disappearing in a burst of silvery feathers.
“Did you hear something?”
Ron tensed even more. Oh, bloody hell. They couldn’t be spotted until Luna’s patronus had contacted the rest of the Order. Even if it was just Draco Malfoy’s voice that he’d heard, the little ferret clearly had someone to speak to. Luna didn’t seem as worried as Ron was, and just continued to inch down the hall towards the voice. His arm shot out, gripping her shoulder tightly and holding her in place. She’d get them both killed if she keep up like this.
“Probably just the rats...”
Snape. Ron’s jaw clenched, his teeth scrapping against each other, his hands tightening consciously, provoking a yelp from Luna when his nails dug into her shoulder.
“I KNOW you had have heard that!” Draco exclaimed. There was a clear sound of something clattering to the floor. The blonde headed dolt had probably knocked over whatever he’d been sitting on or near. “That was a HUMAN sound, sir.”
“Then we must have company...” Severus growled. “Both of you, stay here.”
Ron raised his wand, stepping in next to and then in front of Luna. There was nowhere to hide in the cramped hall they were proceeding down, and jumping into any number of the small cells that dotted it would most likely end up with them cornered and killed in a matter of moments. Ron was standing tall as his former Professor, the black hearted bastard, the traitor rounded the corner.
“Mister Weasley, Miss Lovegood, so good of you to join us,” Severus drawled, his wand outstretched and meeting Ron’s head on.
“Evening, Professor. You’re looking well,” Luna piped from behind the towering redhead. It was an odd statement, even for Luna. Snape, who had a reputation of being hard on the eyes, looked even more horrid after nearly two and a half years on the run. And the utter chirpy delight in her voice at seeing him was enough to turn Ron’s stomach. “Though, one would think you’d have picked a different atmosphere than the one you had to endure for nigh on twenty years.”
“It’s actually quite enjoyable without all the students, Miss Lovegood. I’m assuming you’ve both come to deliver me and my compatriots into Ministry hands.”
“We swore that all Death Eaters would be apprehended or kill within the end of this year,” Ron growled, the grip on his wand tightening. “Which one will it be, sir?”
“Miss Lovegood, you’re the sensible one here. Do make him think logically,” Severus said, smirking at the red flush that traveled across Ron’s face.
“There’s no point in that, Ron. The rest of the Order has been informed, after all,” Luna said, grinning and cocking her head to the side as she peered up at her former Professor. “I’m sure they’ll all be overjoyed to see you, sir.”
Snape’s face darkened several shades as he turned with a flare and stormed back into the small room that the three people present had been occupying, “We have to go. We have to go, NOW. The brats in the hall have called the Order in.”
“But...where are we going to go, Severus?” Narcissa’s voice finally spoke up. “There’s nowhere left...”
“They’ve seized the rest of our properties, and the only thing keeping people away from here was the rumors that it was empty,” Draco said, his voice different than it used to be, more tired. “I’m sick of hiding. Let them have me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“My ASS, Malfoy!” Ron exclaimed, unable to keep quiet anymore. He charged into the room, wand extended. He didn’t care if none of them had advanced on him, like Luna clearly did. There were three Death Eaters sitting in this room, and he wasn’t just going to let them get away. “You’re the reason the school was attacked. You’re a Death Eater. And that’s enough!”
Draco was on his feet in a matter of moments. He didn’t care about the wand shoved practically in his chest as he ripped back his left sleeve, shoving his bare forearm under Ron’s nose, “People make mistakes, Weasel. Some are just more irrevocable than others, no matter how much one regrets them.”
“I didn’t know ferrets knew anything about regret, Malfoy,” Ron growled, prodding Draco in the chest with his wand. “And unless they’re about being caught, I’m not inclined to believe them.”
“It’s not our place to judge anyway,” Luna said as the sound of voices echoed down the corridor. “It seems to me that you’ll all be getting your fair shakes soon.”
“Fair?” Severus snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he tucked his wand away. “I’ll be lucky to get out of this dungeon alive, especially if Potter is part of the incoming cavalcade.”
“Fair is in the eye of the beholder, Professor,” Luna said softly. “Besides, there are some of us who know that there is more to things than there are things for people to behold.”
Luna seemed to be the only one not shocked when Dumbledore’s portrait insisted on acting as defending council for both Malfoys and Snape as well.
She was the only one not shocked when said portrait had assured the Wizengamot that Severus had only been acting upon his orders, and in fact, had been doing him a very kind favor indeed as the substance he had ingested not more than ten minutes before being hit with the ultimate unforgivable had been eating him from the inside out, and that he would have been dead within the hour either way, so what did it truly matter how it happened?
She had been the only one not shocked when the portrait had declared Narcissa’s participation in the whole scheme as being under his direct orders, as well, as merely a way to get Severus to have a reason to agree one hundred and ten percent to the plan that he had devised. Even Severus Snape, the unflappable cold-hearted bastard, had been shocked at that.
“But..but...Bellatrix followed her!” Severus exclaimed, insighting a commotion from the Wizengamot and several loud thumps of the High Wizard’s gavel. “How could she care out a...”
“Bellatrix was there to ensure you would agree,” Narcissa croaked in response. “I specifically told her NOT to follow me so she would. She was higher in the inner circles than I. More likely to make you skiddish about refusing.”
“But accepting went against a direct order from the Dark Lord!” Everyone in the courtroom, sparing his contemporaries, had never Severus Snape so emotionally unguarded.
“As I told you that night, Severus. The Dark Lord did not expect Draco to succeed. He merely wanted him dead as compensation for Lucius’s failure. You know as well as I why he was captured,” Narcissa sneered.
“Protecting the prophecy, and in turn, the brats.”
“Being captured was unforgivable. But being captured because you ended up sparking an idea in his rival because you saved the brat from sure injury and eventually death...” Narcissa couldn’t help but quirk a smile. “You know how well that is taken, Severus. I’m sure. You saved the brat more than enough in your day, after all.”
“You know...” A voice piped up from the stands. All eyes turned. Harry Potter was speaking. “Most people don’t appreciate being called a brat. And I’m no exception.”
In fact, Luna was the only one who wasn’t shocked when all three of them - Draco included, even though his defense had been nothing more than peer pressure and ignorance - were acquitted. As they exited the courtroom, Ron grabbed Luna’s arm, pulling her aside as the streams of people passed.
“You knew?”
Luna smiled, shaking her head slowly, “No. But never assume that everything is as it seems, Ronald. Most of the time, what you think is going on turns out to be quite the opposite.”