War Wounds

War Wounds

The whip cracks once more. Ginny cries out in shock, but Luna is silent as ever, as if she cannot feel the blows, the welts, or the hot trickle of blood on her pale skin. The only marks on Ginny's skin are the raw patches where her ropes rub too tightly, and a few bruises from being manhandled at her kidnapping.

"Scream, you bitch!" spits Bellatrix. Her face is flushed, her colour high, her eyes flashing with mad rage. She twitches the whip in her hand angrily.

Luna is silent. She blinks, turns her head to look at Bellatrix, and appears to gaze right through her. She looks at Ginny and smiles.

"Hello, Ginevra," she says. "I'm sorry for all of this."

"Shut up!" Bellatrix yells, and thrashes at Luna with the bloody whip again.

Luna's left leg begins to bleed from the new cut, but she does not cry out.

"Tell me," Bellatrix growls, "where is Potter?"

"I don't know!" Ginny shouts, as she has shouted every time Bellatrix has asked. "I just don't know! He doesn't tell anyone!"

Bellatrix howls with frustration, flings the whip on the ground, and storms out.

The dungeon is silent but for the drip-drip of blood from Luna's hanging ankles.

Ginny is in tears. She wants to go over and comfort her friend, but she is bound to the wall by her ropes. "How can you stand it?" she asks. "The pain, the humiliation?"

Luna is hanging from her wrists, and her shoulders must have long ago been dislocated. She is completely naked but for the cuts, bruises, and swirling patterns of blood. Her hair has been hacked mostly off, so that it is naught but a pale tangle of fine gold, speckled with blood to match her face, with its missing eye. At this point in the torture Ginny has previously witnessed -- oh, yes, she has witnessed torture, she has given it even -- the subjects are mad with the pain, or the humiliation, or are simply dead.

Bellatrix Lestrange favours the whip and the ropes. She likes to hang her subjects by wrists or ankles, and flog their skin until they are nothing but raw meat on bones, still twitching with life, if not properly alive. The Cruciatus Curse is useful, but it's the blood and the interaction with the subject that Bellatrix has found most enjoyable.

And yet none of this seems to matter to Luna. She and Ginny have been in this dungeon for at least a day now, with only tepid, brackish water to drink and no food. It is Luna they are torturing, but it is Ginny they wish to have talk. They think Ginny knows where Harry is, and Ginny would tell if she knew. But no one knows where Harry is, not even the Order, not even Ron and Hermione. Harry summons assistance when he needs it, but otherwise stays hidden, on the run, looking for Horcruxes on his own.

Luna gazes with her good eye at Ginny. "I will die soon enough," she says. "I don't like Bellatrix Lestrange, though. That's why I don't scream."

"But it hurts, doesn't it?" Ginny asks.

"Oh, yes, it hurts," says Luna. "But there's no point in screaming. What good will it do me? She won't stop simply because I scream. In fact, she stopped because I wouldn't." Luna smiles mischievously, but the effect is marred by the three missing front teeth.

Ginny feels a single sob escape her.

But there is no more time for conversation, because Bellatrix is back, and irritated. She storms through the low doorway into the little room serving as their torture chamber, wand in hand.

"Crucio!" she shouts, the moment her wand has a clear shot at Luna.

And now Luna does scream, and Ginny screams with her, almost hoping for a quick death. In her restraints Luna is writhing and twisting, joints popping and the blood flecking the floor beneath her. There is so much of it.

"I know nothing!" Ginny repeats, her throat raw. "I swear to you, Harry stays hidden from everyone!"

"You lie!" snarls Bellatrix, lifting the curse on Luna, only to recast it immediately. Bellatrix's face contorts with rage. "Harry Potter is in love with you! He must summon you at least sometimes, if only to fuck you... tawdry little whore that you are."

Ginny cannot take her eyes off Luna as she speaks. "Harry stays hidden from everyone," she repeats, though her heart is pounding at the insult. "He reveals his location to no one! Why don't you just leave her alone!"

Bellatrix laughs, but then her laugh dies abruptly as a jet of red light hits her square in the back. Luna's screams die just as abruptly as the curse is lifted.

Ginny's mouth falls open as a familiar black head appears in her vision.

"Hi," says Harry. "You all right?"

Ginny nods, mouth agape with disbelief.

"Luna..." Harry whispers, catching sight of the other girl, naked, unconscious, bloody, disfigured. "They..."

"They tortured her," says Ginny. "To make me talk. Thought it would be better than torturing me. Wanted to know where you were."

Harry severs Ginny's ropes with a wave of his wand, and goes to Luna.

Ginny stands up, rubbing her sore wrists. "What happened the first time we had sex?" she asks Harry.

"We've never had sex," Harry replies absently, and Ginny nods, satisfied that he is the real Harry.

Together they unhook Luna from her restraints and carry her carefully out past the Stunned guards, through the blasted hole in the wall of Malfoy Manor, and to the waiting Order members outside.

* * *

Ginny is worried, more worried than she has ever been. She sits beside Luna's bedside at Grimmauld Place, silent, still, cold, and scared.

When Luna woke up earlier that morning, she did not speak. She drank the potions, sipped the soup, and nibbled the bread, but did not speak or appear to notice anyone as a person.

Ginny hopes she has not lost her best friend.

Now she looks up as Harry comes in, carrying a tray with two plates. Mrs Weasley has been cooking for the Order again. Kitchenwork seems to be her only solace as she grieves for her husband and second son. Her cooking has not suffered, even if sometimes it is a bit salty with tears.

"I brought you something to eat," Harry says. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Ginny shakes her head and conjures a small table for Harry to set the tray on. "Go ahead."

Harry sets down the tray, conjures up his own chair, and settles down with Ginny. The two of them say very little as they eat, and both are situated so that they can watch Luna's bed and wait for her to wake up again.

"It's time for me to move into the open again," Harry eventually says, shredding his bread and mopping up the remainder of his beef stew. "Your capture and torture was completely pointless, for both sides. Neither side learned anything, except that the Order can subdue the Malfoys when needed. Draco's dead, by the way."

Ginny nods. She's not surprised, and says as much. "It's about time. Little shit. Wasn't brave enough to kill Dumbledore himself, but then couldn't actually come over to our side." She shakes her head, disgusted.

Harry nods. "We still don't know anything about Snape, though. He wasn't at the Manor. In fact, the Manor was pretty deserted when we got there. Just Bellatrix and a half-dozen cronies guarding the entrances. I don't think she knew she was so badly protected."

"Did you arrest her?"

"Yes." Harry doesn't look happy. "Murderous bitch."

Sirius, Ginny thinks. "At least we have her," she says, and holds Harry's hand with her own.

"Yes," says Harry, and absently drops the remainder of his bread in the middle of his dirty plate. He pulls Ginny's hand to his lips. "I thought you'd be dead," he says quietly, looking in her eyes.

"So did I," says Ginny. "I was quite certain neither of us would live through that. I think Bellatrix was beginning to realize that we actually didn't know where you were."

"Why not just lie?" Harry asks.

Ginny shrugs. "I don't know. She was going to kill us anyway, whether or not we talked. Bellatrix just enjoys torture."

Both of them look at Luna. Her missing eye is now a glass one like Moody's, and under the blankets she has a number of the new Granger plasters, working to reconstruct missing toes and chunks of skin. In sleep, or in whatever half-land she now occupies, Luna does not look peaceful. She looks blank, as if she has not lived through or ever felt anything. She appears as an empty flask, a clean slate. Ginny shudders.

"So I'm going to go on the offensive now," Harry says, turning back to Ginny. "We can't let this war continue any longer."

"Do I get to know anything?" Ginny asks. "So that the next time I'm captured and tortured--"

Harry stands abruptly, his conjured chair vanishing before it can fall to the floor. "No. You're to stay here with Luna," he says briskly, picks up his plate, and leaves.

Ginny stares after him, then takes a slow bite of bread and chews thoughtfully, watching Luna sleep.

* * *

An hour later, Luna wakes. Ginny is sitting in a chair dozing when it happens, but awakes with a start.

Luna is screaming. Wordlessly and in a single high-pitched wail, she screams until she runs out of breath, and it seems to take much longer than it ought for that to happen. Ginny is at her side in less than a second, and is holding her, but Luna doesn't notice, or at least appears not to. She stops her second round of screaming, inflates her lungs, and is preparing for another go when the door bursts open and several people run into the room: Harry, Remus Lupin, and a half-dressed Nymphadora Tonks, pink hair soaking wet from the shower.

"What's--" Harry's half-articulate question is drowned by Luna's shriek.

"Silencio!" commands Remus hoarsely, and Luna's shrieks vanish, though her mouth remains open, and she does not appear to have noticed.

The silence that falls is deafening. The only sounds audible are the ragged, panting breaths of those who had raced up the stairs and the squeak of floorboards as Ginny steps back to look at Luna.

"Luna!" Ginny shouts. "Luna! Listen to me!"

But Luna, mouth open and screaming silently, does not notice, does not turn to her. Harry strides forward and, before anyone can stop him, gives Luna's face a harsh slap.

Luna's head is whipped sideways; her cheek blossoms pink, and her mouth finally closes. Slowly, she turns her eyes to look at Harry, who staggers back, horrified.

"Finite Incantatem," whispers Remus.

Ginny waits, hopeful, breathless, for words from Luna, for anything, but Luna only tilts backwards and lays again on her pillow, more a mechanical object than a being of flesh.

"Why'd you slap her?" Ginny instantly hisses at Harry. "What was that for, eh?"

"It stopped her screaming," Harry says. He is still staring at Luna, still looking shocked. "I wanted to get her attention -- she was hysterical -- I thought --"

"You slapped her," Ginny repeats angrily. "After what she's just been through, you fucking slapped her. Do you have any idea what damage you might have done?"

Now Harry finally turns to Ginny, shaking his head from side to side. "I --" he begins. "I'm sorry." He hesitates. "Her eyes..."

"What?"

"She -- she was accusing me..." He shakes his head. Luna's eyes are as blank as ever. "Must've imagined it," he mutters. He slumps out of the room.

Ginny looks at Remus and Tonks. "I'll talk to him," Remus says.

Tonks lingers for a moment. "Go on," Ginny says, tired. "Finish drying off. I can take care of Luna."

Tonks reaches out and puts a damp hand on Ginny's shoulder. "If you need anything," she says softly, "just holler."

Ginny nods and smiles up at Tonks. "Thanks. I will."

And then she is alone again.

She pulls up her chair so that she can see Luna's face. Luna's eyes are open, staring straight ahead, through Ginny.

"Luna," she says, looking at her hands, "I don't know if you can hear me, or even if you can hear me, if my words make sense, or if you recognize my voice... but talking to you makes me feel like I'm doing something."

She pauses, wondering what to say next.

"I really miss you right now. I want to talk to you about what happened with Bellatrix, I want to tell you about her approaching trial, about the political situation and everything. I want you to tell me something absurd that would have made Hermione laugh."

She angrily wipes away a tear and blows her nose on an already-damp handkerchief.

"I remember when we first met, in the hospital wing at the end of our first year. I was so tired, so weak from Tom, and so sad that he was gone, but relieved, too, you know? You'd sprained an ankle, or something, and you said to me, you said, 'It's nice to have you back,' just as if you'd always known. It shocked me, it shocked me right down to my soul. Do you remember? I started crying, since yours were the first eyes I was ever able to meet that year. But you didn't judge me, nor did you pity me. It meant so much to me. It still does. No matter what foolish things I do, you've never judged me. You've questioned me, but you still love me, I know. Just as I love you and --" Ginny swallows back the snotty tears. "Oh, Luna, I wish you'd wake up."

Luna blinks, but doesn't speak.

"It was awful in that dungeon," Ginny goes on. "Bellatrix insisting that I knew where Harry was, and torturing you instead of me. You know I would have told her if I did know. I hated watching that... the hooks, and the whip, and the way Bellatrix loves blood so much. I want to drown her in it." Ginny's voice is low and murderous. "She doesn't deserve anything so merciful as the Dementor's Kiss. That's too common. She should drown to death in blood. Poored down her throat, choking her. For once in her life she'll have enough."

Luna blinks again, twice. Ginny hopes it isn't her imagination insisting that Luna's gaze is a little less through her, more to the side.

Ginny continues speaking in a soft voice, talking of the war, of memories together, of their school years, as if she can pour back into Luna her missing personality.

"Do you remember," she is saying, "when Fred and George set off those firecrackers to get rid of Umbridge? They were wonderful. Hermione actually stopped doing her homework for a night, she was so pleased with them. And the day after, remember the one that interrupted Charms, that great big Catherine Wheel, wasn't it? And Flitwick went to call Umbridge to deal with it? It lit her hair on fire, and Flitwick simply watched while it burned, all the while saying that he was sure he wasn't allowed to cast any spell on our new Headmistress." Ginny laughs, remembering happier days.

"I miss school, you know? I miss classwork and Quidditch, and the castle. Meals in the Great Hall. Mum's cooking is good, but the dining room here is so gloomy. I remember, after Voldemort's rebirth third year, how I thought that surely the war would be over before I finished school, that there'd be no way Dumbledore would let him live longer than a few years. But Dumbledore's been dead, what, three years now? And Harry's still searching for Horcruxes. I'm so tired of it, Luna," Ginny says. "I just want to rest, to not worry."

"Me, too."

Ginny blinks and sits up straighter. That had been Luna's voice, but she doesn't recall seeing Luna's mouth move.

"What?" she says.

But there is silence.

* * *

For the next week, Ginny's voice grows hoarse as she tells every story she can think of to the listless creature lying in bed. Luna's wounds heal quickly; her skin grows back, her bones re-knit. But her eyes are still shuttered. She takes food and drink when it is offered, but she stays passive.

Sometimes there is screaming, still, when Luna wakes up; Ginny thinks she is only being hopeful when she imagines that the screams are less in intensity each time. She doesn't hear Luna's voice again, though.

At the end of that week, Ginny takes Luna to Bellatrix's trial. It is swift and efficient. Bellatrix does not deny her crimes. She stands tall and proud, declaring her allegiance to her lord.

"I did as I was ordered," she cries. "I am a faithful follower! Through my actions I glorify our Lord! He will prevail, he will triumph!"

The courtroom mutters; quills scratch; Scrimgeour looks almost bored as he asks for the vote. It is unanimous: guilty.

"The court will re-convene tomorrow at this time," Scrimgeour says tiredly, "to declare sentencing." He stands up heavily, collects his papers, and leaves, surrounded by the rest of the court, sparing not a glance for the procession that is Bellatrix and her escort of Dementors.

Ginny sits with Luna in the stands, holding her friend's hand, as the other spectators file out behind the court. Luna is shaking, and although Ginny is concerned, she is relieved to see a reaction.

"Drown her in blood, eh?" Ginny whispers in Luna's ear.

Luna's eyes close, slowly, and then, as they open, Luna turns in Ginny's direction.

Ginny screams and claps a hand over her own mouth, because Luna's eyes are now alive. But the soul behind them is not the same. It is twisted, it is split. Everything about the pale face is the same, even the color and shape of the eyes -- but the expression in them is one of such murderous hate that Ginny recoils backwards.

"Yes," hisses Luna. Her voice is hard and cold, no longer dreamy. She is still staring at Ginny with utter hatred.

"Luna?" Ginny asks, tentatively, after a second of silence has gone by. She can feel her wand in her pocket and wraps her hand around it for security.

"Yes?" Luna asks.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ginny asks.

Luna blinks, and the murderous hate is gone, replaced by a cold exhaustion. "I'm sorry," she says. "It's been such a long journey."

"Are you -- are you here, then?" Her voice echoes in the empty courtroom.

"Yes," Luna says heavily, "I think. I feel... very strange. My memories are blurry, beyond the torture."

"You remember that, then?"

"Completely. Every stroke of the whip, every word Bellatrix said to you or me, every second of the Cruciatus."

Ginny squeezes Luna's hand. "You don't have to talk about it."

"Yes, I do," says Luna evenly. "I don't want to forget it, because otherwise I'll have nothing else."

"Nothing?"

"I remember you telling me stories, and I remember that I knew the stories, but it's all blurry. I don't know if it will ever come back. I don't think it matters. Life only moves forward."

Ginny lets out a long sigh and stands up slowly. "Shall we go home?" she proposes.

"Yes," says Luna, standing up equally slowly and taking Ginny's arm. "But first we should stop at the Minister's office and propose death by drowning."

Luna's smile scares Ginny, but it's better than nothing.

~fin~