The Death Eater's Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Nine - On the Lam (corresponds with POTP Chapter 19)

It was late when Luci came back to the house, and she'd missed dinner. She'd wandered around the street for hours once the rain had stopped. Her life had become an absolute disaster. It had been this way for awhile, and she'd yet to do anything about it, and it just kept getting worse. She really needed to follow through on her promise to take Draco somewhere else. It would be best for both of them. He wouldn't keep getting his nose broken and she wouldn't keep getting her heart broken.

And to make things worse, Charlie was waiting for her in her room, sitting at her desk.

"Percy was here," he said straight away.

She allowed a tiny smile of satisfaction, but she didn't say anything.

"I wanted to thank you. You must have contacted him...?"

Luci took off her wet shoes, noticing that they no longer looked new at all, and proceeded to ignore him.

"He asked for you, but we couldn't find you. I think he may have wanted to propose."

She couldn't help it, and a giggle escaped her lips.

"See, I knew you could hear me," teased Charlie. "And poor Fleur can't figure out that thing you gave her."

When Luci still didn't respond, he went on, "Thank you for my Christmas present too. Both of them, if you count Percy. I feel bad that I didn't get you anything and then I..."

He sighed and got to his feet, concluding softly, "I'm really sorry about... doubting your feelings... for Harry."

She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and finally faced him.

"I don't wanna talk about this. I accept your apology, and that's all I needed."

"I wanna talk about it," he persisted. "If it's not infatuation... what are you feeling? When did this happen? How did this happen? Have you told him? Does he feel something? What about Ginny?"

She exclaimed and threw her hands up. "You're bombarding me, Charlie!"

"Sorry. It's just... kind of a big deal."

"No, it isn't!" she argued. "It's my problem! It doesn't affect anyone else!"

Taking a long breath, she went on, more calmly, "He doesn't know, and I don't intend to tell him or to get in the way of his relationship with Ginny. So you don't have to worry. Their little fairytale is safe."

Charlie frowned, but she finished, "Just because it's absolutely obvious to you doesn't mean that anyone else has noticed. He certainly hasn't. And I don't know why you did anyway."

"The way you spoke to him this morning. Like you knew him well. Even... even defending him against your own brother."

"I didn't-" she protested.

But he interrupted, "You did. And I was just curious as to why. I wasn't sure that there were... emotions... until I asked you about it, and you screamed about him having babies with Ginny. Which is disgusting, by the way."

"Tell me about it," she grumbled. "So I snitched on myself, you're saying?"

He grinned. "'Fraid so."

Luci nodded in defeat.

"Do you..." Charlie cleared his throat. "Is it... love?"

Meeting his gaze, blushing, she owned up, "Unfortunately," and then added hastily, "But I do know him well, you know. We spent a lot of time together... before. I'm not, like, pining away for the unattainable celebrity, despite what you think."

Sighing, he apologized, "I didn't mean it that way."

"Sure, you did, and it's okay. You don't know what's been going on."

"So tell me."

And she did. She told him everything.

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She was a genius!

Since the pitch had been pretty much unoccupied, except for Draco going up to fly every once in awhile by himself, Luci had decided that perhaps Charlie would like to play.

At the moment, he was flying about, turning somersaults in the air and laughing.

"I don't know if I like this idea," grumbled Draco, next to her.

"He's someone to play with, and he doesn't hate your guts," Luci pointed out. "I see no disadvantages."

"With just the two of us, it's like playing catch," her brother complained.

"Beats the heck out of solitaire," she encouraged, handing him a broom and shooing him away.

He took to the air, and she saw Charlie stop to talk to him, probably to discuss their roles in the game.

Luci sat down on the empty bench and took out a piece of parchment. She was going to write thank you letters to all of her friends for the Christmas gifts.

But her plan was foiled when Hermione wandered in and plopped down next to her.

"Thought I heard people in here," the brunette commented, almost cheerfully.

Luci nodded at her, but didn't really have anything to say.

"I've been going over Divination," she went on. "I thought perhaps we could practice. It's not of any use, of course, but I should like to be able to complete that section of my N.E.W.T.s, you know, to accumulate as many points as possible."

There was still no response from Luci, who was scribbling a paragraph to Josh.

Hermione sighed. "I just thought you might be better at it than I am. But I can see you're not interested."

She got up to leave, but Luci, after a roll of her eyes, called, "Wait."

The brunette turned back.

Luci took a sharp breath and allowed, "I'll help you. You've... been really generous to me."

Taking a seat again, Hermione replied, "I like you and everything, but the generosity is for Ginny and Harry's sakes."

"Right," nodded Luci curtly.

"Though I suppose all of that is out of my hands now," she went on, taking out a thick, purple book that read, Divination: You Can Fake It! on the cover.

"What do you mean?" Luci asked, probing.

Hermione shrugged. "Ginny seems to have given up on him."

"Given up on him? What on earth for? I thought they were dating again?"

Luci was showing far too much interest, and she felt the heat crawling up her neck.

"I just meant... um. That seems... strange. That she'd... give up. Premature, you know?"

Hermione gave her a sober expression. "I don't think that we should discuss it. But, no, they are not dating again, much to my chagrin."

"Oh," said Luci simply, trying not to jump up and down for joy.

But what did it matter if he wasn't dating Ginny? He would be dating her again eventually. And even if he didn't, Luci would never have a chance with him. She didn't really want one anyway, because she knew that he deserved better.

After a moment, with a disapproving frown, Hermione asked, "You two spent a lot of time together while we were gone, didn't you?"

"Who? Me and Harry?" Luci questioned, an eyebrow raised.

She nodded, and her short curls bounced.

Luci bit her lip. "What makes you think that?"

"You know each other much better than you let on."

It was true. Nothing got past Hermione.

Unable to find a suitable response, Luci lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

Next to her, Hermione began thumbing through the Divination book, appearing to be showing some mercy.

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On New Year's Day, an urgent meeting of the Order was called before lunch. Luci and Charlie were the last two into the kitchen, hastily taking seats at the table. Molly glared disapprovingly at them.

The room was full, and to Luci's surprise, Minerva was even standing toward the back.

Arthur was at the head of the table, holding a newspaper.

He cleared his throat and began, "This was the first thing that I saw when I arrived at the Ministry this morning."

He held up the document, and Luci saw the bold headline: "DEATH EATERS ESCAPE AZKABAN FOR SECOND TIME!!!"

She swallowed hard, a fist of dread forming in her stomach.

"Luci," Arthur addressed her, and she looked up at him, almost knowing what he was about to say. "I think, perhaps, you should fetch Draco."

Her heart began to pound. That meant that it truly was what she'd feared. Their father had escaped from Azkaban. All sorts of horrors began to tumble over themselves in her mind.

Luci could only nod at Arthur and dash from the room.

Upstairs, her brother answered the door, and upon seeing her face, questioned, "What is it?"

She could barely speak from the nausea, but she managed, "News. Come down to the kitchen."

"What kind of news?" he frowned.

But she was walking away now, back down the stairs, and he followed, prodding, "Luci? What news?"

When they reached the Order, Draco addressed them instead. "What news?"

Everyone was gathered around the table, reading the article, but Remus held up the front page, so that Draco could see the caption.

"I'm afraid that your father was among them," explained Kingsley.

Luci watched her brother's face as it contorted from its confusion, into shock, and then glee.

He was beaming, and it caused her to begin to shake. Everything was about to change.

Draco was fleeing from the room almost as quickly as they'd come, and Luci could do nothing but pursue.

"You can't tell your mother yet," she pleaded with him, as they traveled back up the landings.

"Why not? She deserves to know. This is the best news we've had all year!"

"She'll do something rash!" Luci tried to explain.

"So what?" he threw over his shoulder, but then he turned to her. "Hey, this is great for you. You won't have to babysit us anymore. The Death Eaters are free, and my father will take care of everything."

She could only stare at him, her eyes prickling. He was excited to get rid of her, and back to his corrupt family. It was great news for him, maybe, but it was the worst news imaginable for her.

And then, it was the last thing that they needed, but she looked up to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming toward them.

Harry immediately started in on Draco, asking, "Why do you look so happy?"

"My father's escaped from Azkaban," her brother answered, looking more arrogant than she'd ever seen him.

She was barely holding it together.

A small, surprised sound came out of Hermione, Ron was gaping, and Harry's eyes had widened in alarm.

Draco was sneering. "That's right, Potter; you should be scared!"

"No one's scared of your dad, Malfoy," spit Harry coldly. "He's just a big bully."

Pulling himself up to his full height, much taller than everyone else, Draco declared proudly, "My father is a greater wizard than you'll ever be!"

Harry released a mocking noise. "Oh, yeah? Is that why he ran around claiming he'd been under the Imperius Curse when I defeated his old mate, Voldemort, the first time? Sounds like a coward to me."

Her brother made a menacing jolt toward Harry, and Luci immediately snagged the back of his shirt, biting, "Enough!"

With a smirk, Harry directed at Draco, "Lucky for you, she's always here to make sure you never have to actually defend yourself."

Luci couldn't take their fighting right now, so she demanded, "Stop it, Harry."

The boy she loved looked straight into her eyes, and his face twisted into a fierce glare.

"Fine. Protect him. But eventually, he'll have to face me on his own, and then we'll see who's a great wizard."

And then Harry stalked off moodily, his friends following behind him.

"Tosser," barked Draco, heading in the other direction, toward his room.

Luci let him go. She merely stood there, trying to steady herself, before losing it and racing to the bathroom, where she vomited in violent heaves.