Luna-ticked in Knockturn Alley

Chapter 6: The Battle For The Moon

Merlin Black flew through the sky aboard his thestral. He could feel his adrenaline and anger coursing through his body. To make sure that no Muggles saw him, Merlin flew above the clouds. After a while, he looked at Dobby's map so that he would not get lost. Merlin swooped down to the ground on his thestral and landed in a dark alley that was marked on Dobby's map.

Merlin got off the thestral and started running through Knockturn Alley. Merlin had never ran so fast in his entire life. He ran past a very ugly witch carrying a tray of finger nails and a shop with shrunken heads in the window. If Merlin hadn't been so angry, he might have been scared to be in such a sinister place. Determined not to let anyone get in his way, Merlin continued running. Finally, he arrived at his destination, the Malfoy house.

The Malfoy house was very large and was covered with bright red paint. However, Merlin could tell that evil wizards lived in it because of the rather ugly looking tree that was in the front yard. The tree looked like a monster to Merlin because it looked like it had eyes and a rather pointed mouth. The wind was blowing its branches which made the tree look like it was trying to grab him.

Merlin draped Harry's invisibility cloak around him so no one would see him sneaking to the house. Determined not to make any noise, Merlin walked around the house to see if anybody was outside. When Merlin got to the back of house, he spotted Draco's mother Narcissa Malfoy. Merlin felt that Narcissa Malfoy was the ugliest woman he had ever seen. It seemed to Merlin that her face was stuck in a permanent pout. Her strands of wavy blond hair made her look like a scarecrow. Merlin looked down and realized that Narcissa Malfoy was working with a Mandrake plant and wearing earmuffs.

Merlin had learned a lot about Mandrake plants from his best friend Neville. Neville had once told him that the cry of a mature Mandrake would kill a person. However, Merlin could tell by the size of its leaves that this Mandrake plant was not mature. Merlin carefully walked back to the front of the house and tore two pieces of cloth from his robe. He used the cloth to plug his ears. After Merlin walked to the back of house, he took off the invisibility cloak so he could concentrate his anger on the Mandrake. With one gesture, Merlin yanked off Narcissa's ear muffs and yanked out the Mandrake plant with another gesture. The Mandrake screamed and Narcissa Malfoy passed out. Merlin replanted the Mandrake and took the cloth from his ears. Merlin then projected a black rope from his wand and tied up Narcissa Malfoy with it. After Merlin had finished, a short stick prodded the back of his head. A tall sinister figure wearing a Death Eater's mask was pointing his wand at Merlin. He was Lucius Malfoy

"It seems a Mudblood has come to visit me," sneered Lucius Malfoy. "I have not killed one for a long time."

"If you've hurt Luna, I'll..." spat Merlin.

"Relax, she's inside waiting for you. You know you are going to die tonight since you have caused so much grief for my son. However, I am a decent man. I will let you say good-bye to your girlfriend first. I might even let you watch her die," Lucius Malfoy laughed.

Merlin's face contorted with rage and his teeth grinded together. Merlin was so lividly angry that he wondered whether or not he could control his anger long enough to rescue Luna. Merlin had recalled a passage from Moby Dick, a book he had read while he was in America, in which Captain Ahab wanted to shoot his heart from his chest at the whale. That was exactly what Merlin wanted to do to Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius Malfoy took Merlin's wand and put it in his pocket. "I like collecting the wands of the Mudbloods I have killed," Lucius Malfoy croaked.

Merlin thought about commenting about the fact that he wasn't dead yet, but decided that provoking Lucius wasn't a good idea since Lucius' wand was pointed at his head. However, Merlin knew that all he had to do to save Luna was to get further away from Lucius Malfoy. He would then teach his enemy the meaning of the words fear and pain.

After taking his wand, Lucius instructed Merlin to put his hands over his head. He then escorted Merlin inside his house. What Merlin saw when he got inside made him so angry that he wanted to scream. Luna was tied to a chair behind a small banquet table and still wearing her night gown. What hurt Merlin the most was that the dreamy smile Luna usually wore was gone from her face. In its place was a look of fear.

Merlin ran to Luna to see if she was all right and knelt beside her.

"You shouldn't have come here! You shouldn't have risked your life for me!" Luna pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"I had to, Luna! I just had to!" Merlin cried out.

"Mudblood, I don't know why you would go to such great lengths for a girl so weird!" sneered Lucius Malfoy as he started to point his wand at Luna.

Merlin stood up to face Lucius Malfoy as he choked out, "I'll tell you why!"

"Avada..." chanted Lucius Malfoy.

"I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Merlin screamed as he pushed his hands toward the table. The table flew into the air and struck Lucius Malfoy across his chest. Lucius Malfoy fell to the floor unconscious with his wand broken into two pieces.

It took a while for Merlin to regain his composure. He took several deep ragged breaths as he looked down at his victim. When Merlin finally regained his composure, he untied Luna and received the biggest hug he had gotten in his life. Merlin then retrieved his wand and tied up Lucius Malfoy. He loaned Luna his Gryffindor robe so she wouldn't get cold due to the fact she was only wearing her night gown. Merlin and Luna then walked to the alley where Merlin had left the thestral.

When Merlin and Luna got to the alley, Luna looked at Merlin with a curious expression on her face.

"Is it true, Merlin?" asked Luna.

"Is what true?" replied Merlin.

"That you love me?" Luna implored.

"Yes, I love you. I am very sorry if I am being too forward with you, but if I don't tell you how I feel now, my heart will explode!" Merlin said with a worried voice.

"You should be sorry!" Luna chided.

Merlin looked at his shoes in disappointment.

"I have been waiting for you to say those words to me ever since you gave me that necklace for my birthday. I love you too!" Luna continued.

"What?! When I gave you that necklace, you ran away crying!" Merlin gasped in shock.

"I didn't know how to deal with my feelings! I did the only thing I knew how to do!" Luna replied. The dreamy look had returned to her face.

What Merlin wanted to say next made him very nervous. "Can I... Would you mind... No! May I please kiss you?" stuttered Merlin.

Instead of answering, Luna closed her eyes. Merlin placed his hands above Luna's hips and kissed her lips softly. Merlin felt as if someone was squeezing the air from his lungs. When he felt as if he could breathe no more, Merlin backed away from Luna. When Merlin looked at Luna, he saw that she was blushing just as much as he was.

Still breathless from Luna's kiss, Merlin whispered, "Lu-Lu-Luna?"

"Yes, Merlin?" Luna asked.

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world," Merlin stated.

As a single tear fell from Luna's left eye to the ground, Merlin realized that his life had been changed forever. There were just two more things Merlin wanted to do. Merlin wanted to apologize to Hermione and get revenge against Draco Malfoy.

Chapter 7: The Snapping Of The Wands

Merlin and Luna were riding the thestral back to Hogwarts. With Luna riding behind Merlin and holding on to him, he felt as if he didn't have a care in the world. Merlin wondered if he could ever be happier than he was at that moment. Luna spoke to Merlin as they were soaring through the sky.

"Merlin, I am very impressed with how much of a gentleman you are," Luna stated.

"Why is that?" asked Merlin

"You loaned your Gryffindor robe to me so I wouldn't get cold and asked permission to kiss me. Not too many boys would do that," Luna complimented.

"Every person deserves to be treated with respect. Besides, I did it because I wanted you to know how special you are to me," replied Merlin.

Luna sighed and did not say anything else for the rest of the trip. When Hogwarts came into view, Merlin looked at his watch. The Care of Magical Creatures class was about to start. Merlin landed the thestral behind Hagrid's cabin and gently helped Luna down. Merlin asked Luna to wait behind the cabin until he called for her. He then walked to the front of the cabin and waited for class to start.

The Gryffindor students were first to come out. Merlin's friends all gasped when they saw him and he winked at them. Merlin then walked to Hermione and apologized to her.

"Hermione, please forgive me for what I did last night! I hope we can still be friends!" pleaded Merlin.

"Of course we can! I know you only did that because you were upset!" Hermione responded.

"Wait a minute! Do you mean that..." Ron blurted out.

Merlin stopped Ron by putting a finger to his mouth as the Slytherin students started to exit the castle. When Merlin saw Draco Malfoy, he remembered what Draco had done. As Merlin walked over to Draco to talk to him, he started to get angry.

"Hello, Draco!" Merlin sneered.

"What do you want, Mudblood!" Draco retorted.

"What do I want? Let's see... I'd say world peace and your head on a stick!" Merlin threatened.

"Mudblood, don't you know it's not wise to mess with us Slytherins," spat Draco.

Pretending that he had no idea what Draco was talking about, Merlin asked, "Why is that?"

"Because if you do, you could lose something that you care about!" Draco sneered with a confident smirk on his face. Crabbe and Goyle laughed.

"Oh, is that right?" Merlin pondered quizzically. "Are you by any chance talking about LU-NA?!"

Merlin called Luna and she exited her hiding place behind Hagrid's cabin. All of the Gryffindor students cheered and clapped madly. When Draco saw Luna, his face went totally pale and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out.

"Draco, don't you know it's very unwise to mess with a man's girlfriend. It's very unsafe. You could get hurt!" Merlin lectured. "Oh, by the way, you really should tell your mother to be more careful around Mandrake plants."

Draco instantly understood what Merlin had meant. Draco shouted, "Why you..."

Draco started to pounce on Merlin. Merlin was ready to bat Draco away with an angry gesture of his hand. Before Draco got the chance to attack Merlin, Professor Dumbledore and an unknown wizard exited the castle.

Merlin found out who that wizard was when Luna screamed and hugged the man. The wizard was Luna's father. Merlin knew that Professor Dumbledore must have notified him about Luna's disappearance. After Luna's father was done hugging his daughter, he embraced Merlin with a crushing hug.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! I was so worried about Luna! I thought I might never see her again!" Luna's father screamed.

"Sir! Sir! You're crushing me! I can't breathe!" Merlin wheezed.

Luna's father let go of Merlin and looked at him as if he were his son.

After the happy reunion, Professor Dumbledore spoke out, "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Crabbe would you three come here please?"

When Merlin looked at Dumbledore's face, he realized for the first time why people said that Dumbledore was the only wizard that Lord Voldemort feared. Dumbledore was as angry as Merlin had ever seen him. An intense look of loathing was peering from behind Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles instead of the cheerful gaze that was usually there. The look even scared Merlin so he looked at his shoes.

After Dumbledore confiscated the wands of Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle, he admonished them, "Kidnapping is a very serious offense at Hogwarts. It is an offense that, as long as I am headmaster of school, will never go unpunished. Since a very reliable source has told me that you three are indeed guilty of committing that crime, I have no choice but to expel you all from Hogwarts."

Professor Dumbledore broke all three wands at once with a gesture that no one would have suspected an old man of Dumbledore's years to be capable of. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle sulked towards the main gate to leave Hogwarts forever. Dumbledore then turned towards Merlin.

"As for you Mr. Black..." continued Dumbledore.

Merlin thought that Dumbledore was about the punish him for sneaking outside the castle after hours. When Merlin looked at Luna's beautiful smile, he decided that he didn't care.

"I see that Miss Lovegood is wearing Mr. Black's Gryffindor robe. Mr. Black has loaned her his robe in her time of dire need. Such gallantry should be rewarded. I therefore award Gryffindor twenty points," Dumbledore said as he looked at Merlin with his familiar cheerful gaze.

The Slytherin students had had enough. First three of their students had been expelled and now Dumbledore was awarding Gryffindor points. Instead of attending the Care of Magical Creatures class, all of the Slytherins sulkingly went back inside the castle.

"Furthermore, Mr. Black has shown more courage than Hogwarts has seen in quite some time. He has also demonstrated the value of love and friendship. Therefore, for the rescue of Miss Lovegood, I award Gryffindor an additional two hundred points," Dumbledore added.

An enormous cheer erupted from the Gryffindor crowd. Merlin was swamped by his fellow Gryffindor students congratulating him and patting his head. Lee Jordan kept talking about the huge party that they were going to have that night. Merlin looked at Harry Potter and realized that Harry's smile was almost as big as his own. Merlin guessed Harry was happy because he wasn't the center of attention for a change.

The End