Chapter 6

Draco was accustomed to getting what he wanted. He possessed the wealth, influence, and looks to buy, threaten, and charm his way into anything. There wasn't a man he couldn't intimidate into seeing things through his scope. His methods of persuasion were faultless. But there was always trouble with perfection, because a flaw would always come creeping through a crack that wasn't supposed to exist.

There was bound to be someone that he couldn't force, and Luna was that.

He couldn't stand the way she never raised her voice, the melody of her voice playing a soft tune. He couldn't understand how she wouldn't fight back, or even look at him with through hatred. He didn't want to resort to the sort of measures that would break her forever.

So the silence was murderous, maddening. She just sat like a lifeless doll through his rants, or stood staring into the emptiness. By the next day, no furniture in the room remained unturned, no object unthrown. The terrified look in her eye, and the airy stubbornness was driving him insane.

Draco's shouting did not go unnoticed by the rest of the mansion, and after he stormed out Narcissa entered the room with cautious steps. Her son's temper was one that could only compete that with his father, a trait that seemed to be passed down in Malfoy men. She found their room in disarray, with Luna crouched behind the dresser. She sighed as she made her way toward the younger woman. She knelt down to the convulsing girl, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Luna?"

She didn't respond, her face turned toward the wall. Draco had belligerently unsheathed some of the nastiest remarks, all of his comments the deadliest of weapons. He knew her inside and out, and that was how he knew what words would cut the sharpest.

The concern that was held in Narcissa voice suddenly evaporated, new disapproval striking forward. "You're lucky he hasn't struck you for being disagreeable," she took a handkerchief out and began to dab the tears off Luna's cheeks. "With your behavior and any other man, I'm afraid we couldn't say the same,"

"He's lucky I don't have my wand," she whispered as she thoughtlessly felt behind her left ear, but stopped when she realized it wouldn't be there.

It was true, Draco hadn't gone out of his way to beat her, but he didn't have the greatest awareness of his own strength. She absently twisted her wrist, the ache painfully present from the black bruise encircling it. Luna's perceptive blue eyes flew to the older woman, it was clear that she'd experienced some form of physical abuse from her own husband in the past. Had it been most other situations, Luna would have asked whether or not Lucius had been one inclined to hit his wife, but decided against it.

"You should apologize to him," Narcissa coaxed. "It's better to do so sooner rather than later,"

The blonder of the two pushed the cloth away from her eyes, roughly brushing the salt liquid off her face. Narcissa was a logical woman, she didn't sprout meaningless chatter. What other choice did Luna actually possess? She had to listen to Draco and follow his instructions,Even if she had managed to distance escape, countless Death Eaters flooded every edge of the earth. She'd be returned dropped back onto his lap, he wouldn't even have to do so much as lift a finger.

The fear on Narcissa's face was enough to keep Luna quiet. Draco never outright went to inflict her physical harm, but that didn't mean he couldn't.

To ease the anxiety on the older woman's face, the blue eyed girl nodded, "Okay,"

Relief spread over Narcissa's face, but a dose of regret as well. Such good natured girl, about to be thrown to a pack of hungry wolves. It would be difficult one day to see her ripped apart.

"Draco's probably seething, but he'll calm down soon enough," the taller woman rose to her feet, helping the other female to do the same. Luna grabbed her head as she felt the blood rush through her body, she'd been hiding behind the furniture for a while now. They didn't fight, they never did. He'd never lost his temper at her before, not like to that extent at least. She wasn't used to that side of him.

But Narcissa had this calming affect with her, she seemed to be in control of everything. Luna trusted her, perhaps a bit naively, but who else did she have? She guided her towards the one of the doors on the right of the room, the closet.

"After a row with Lucius, I always find it good to look through my closet," she made it sound as if they quarreled quite often. "It gives me something to think about, take a step back for a moment," What a pathetic life to lead.

The extension was quite large, and Narcissa had filled it with all different articles of clothing. Luna walked down the length of the structure, her fingers running down the sides of expensive cloth that hung on the walls.

Narcissa picked one dress of navy blue, a color that uncannily mimicked Luna's solemnity. It was a simple, modest dress. Narcissa brought it over and held it again to Luna's body, trying to picture what she would look like in it. After a moment of deliberation, she decided it was fitting for whatever she had in mind.

"I know it's fashionable for you young women to be rather slim these days, but I'd like to say that this family is well-on conservative. No sensible man want's a skeleton. A bit more meat on your bones couldn't hurt a bit," Luna looked through her peripheral vision at Narcissa's hypocritically nonexistent waist.

Luna was exhausted, so she held her tongue and bobbed her head again.

"So do try and have an appetite tonight, it'll do you some good to get a touch color back in your cheeks,"

Luna's palms reached to touch the sides of her face, suddenly self conscious of her appearance. Was she too bony, and really that pasty? She hadn't been minding her health that well, ergo the lack of food she ingested and smaller figure. But she didn't think it was to that extent of scrutiny.

-p-

Draco sat in his study downstairs, tapping his fingers against his desk in an impatient manner. It was cold in the office, not possessing many items to keep it full. Books magically scaled the walls, papers that documented just about everything in wizarding history. For three years, he had hoped for the day Luna would return to him. Now that she was in his arms, she didn't want to be there. She was being impossibly difficult, and he was at a loss of what to do.

He supposed her terror for him didn't improve from his angry cursing and fits up in the room. He didn't know how to make her see sense, his sense. He could duel and dominate against the most skilled wizards of the room, yet he couldn't control a tiny girl.

A knock came on the door.

A house elf entered warily, his back hunched and head down, apparently too afraid to look its master in the eye. "Master Draco," its voice was thick and scratchy, sandpaper, "The Mistress is here,"

He shooed the pitiful creature away, giving permission for his guest to enter.

"Well, it's been a while hasn't it Drake?"

A strikingly featured woman stepped through the entrance, her long physique and beautiful face the first traits a man noticed about her. Her shiny, dark enough to be black hair was pulled into a dignified twist. Pearl earrings, flawlessly tanned skin, she looked far more mature than a girl of her age.

"Astoria Greengrass," he stated uninterested. He reclined further back into his large chair, "What brings you to Malfoy Manor?"

She walked forward, moving her hips to a coquettish sway. Despite the snug fit of her skirt, she managed to hop onto the edge of his desk, legs crossed, body facing the handsome man before her. She looked down at her painted nails, surveying each for a chip. "Well you see, my boyfriend's been missing his appointments with me. Word's gotten around our tight circle, and it seems he's been cheating on me,"

He gave an amused smirk, she always was somewhat intriguing, he'd give her that. "I'm engaged," he drawled slowly.

"Fine," she shrugged with equal entertainment, "My lover's been cheating on me with his wife. And Drake, you know how much infidelity irks me," She scooted closer, her arms going to support her weight as she leaned in closer.

"Draco?" a mousy, unsure voice called.

Both heads snapped toward the door, finding said wife standing with wide eyes. Astoria instinctively jumped off the desk, landing unceremoniously on her feet. She recovered her composure soon after, standing up straight, a fake white smile pointed at the petite blonde beauty.

Draco didn't move from his seat, he stared at his fiance with dead grey eyes. He wasn't one to forget his earlier frustrations. "What is it?" he snapped harshly.

"I'm sorry, I was just-I," she took in the scene she had just walked in on, an unidentifiable weight dropped on her chest. She'd gotten lost in the immense building, having made several wrong turns, she invested in asking a house elf to find him. "I'll come back later," she managed to get out. She attempted to scurry away, and push back what she had just witnessed to the deepest depths of her mind.

"Stay," his staid tone made it unlikely to do otherwise.

She froze in her tracks, hesitantly turning around on her heel. While doing so, she accidentally found herself surveying the stranger that was there. Envy slithered over her, whoever she was, she had a healthier, voluptuous figure. Her waist was probably thinner than Luna's, but the rest of her was far more shapely. She was tall too, leggier. In other words, she was the picture of aesthetic perfection. The familiar feeling of insecurity haunted her again.

"Hello, I'm Astoria Greengrass," the stranger gave a misleadingly sweet grin, "You must be Luna Lovegood, we were in the same year at Hogwarts."

Hogwarts. That time that she carelessly frolicked through the castle's many halls felt more than lifetimes ago.

"And she was just leaving," Draco finished for her, shooting her a glare to flank his message.

"Of course," she agreed. "Pleasure to meet you, Luna. I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of me in the future," the brunette added.

"Yes," Luna whispered, her eyes now on the floor. Her heart that usually beat rapidly in strange situations, was pumping excruciatingly slow. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched and waited for Astoria to exit the large room.

She listened as he pushed his seat back, and walked around to the front of the large oak desk. Intricate designs had been carved all along the table's surface, she began to concentrate on each line, every curve, when he broke her reverie. "What do you want?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but he did it for her.

"Forgive me, what am I saying? I know exactly what it is that you want," light blue met silver, "You want to ask permission to run back to the dirt veined swines you call friends,"

Again, words like knives. She closed her eyes, her burning forehead threatening another head splitting migraine.

"What was that Luna? Want Potter to come and save you? Want your precious mudblood to give you a hug and take you away from me?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat, remembering what Narcissa had said. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, she didn't want to think of how they would look at her now if they knew what she was doing. But she couldn't bear to argue with Draco anymore, it was a battle she wouldn't win. "I've come to say sorry," it came out like rehearsed record. It might not have been the truth, but she would let him see what he wanted.

The surprise on his face couldn't have been more poorly disguised. Guilt came over him, but all visibility of it was shoved behind his mask before she could spot it. His tone, however did soften, "Is that so?"

She made a courageous step forward, inhaling deeply, "I'm sorry for my behavior," another well fabricated repetition.

As he considered her repentance, she decided to speak a bit more honestly. She shook her head, "I don't want to fight with you, I'm tired of fighting,"

Before she could utter another word, he had already approached her. His hands cupped her face, turning her gaze up to meet his intensity. "I understand its difficult for you, but I'm glad you've seen the error in your actions," he bent down and pressed his lips against hers, "I forgive you,"

A semblance of happiness and victory gushed forward, but a dam of doubt blocked its way. She turned her cheek when he tried to kiss her again. "Who was that, 'Astoria Greengrass'?"

"You don't remember her?" It was probably to be expected, neither girls had traveled in the same social networks.

"No, I don't," a nearly undetectable annoyance mixed into her whimsical voice.

"She's an acquaintance, an old family friend," he responded casually. He picked up on her irritation and dropped his hands from her cheeks, another smirk on his lips. He inched closer down into her neck, just so he could say lowly in her ear, "Why, are you jealous?" Must he insist on speaking condescendingly down to her every chance he got?

She tried to ignore his hot breath that hit her nape, "No," Merlin, she wished she wasn't such a horrendous liar.

In her mind, acquaintances weren't caught in compromising positions like before. Then again, she didn't have the most conventional outlook on the world.

But what had Astoria she meant, when she said they'd be seeing plenty more of each other in the future?

End Chapter 6

A/N: I know Astoria's a year under Luna, but let's just pretend she's in the same. As far as what trusting, innocent, Luna saw in Draco's study, was just two people sitting unusually close together. Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can. Again, if and when I update depend on the feedback I get.

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