Disclaimer: I take credit for this plot and my own characters, but everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Note: Finally, the short, boring chapters are over! They were about as annoying to write as I'm sure they were to read, so I've decided to surrender a bit and give you guys the kind of chapter you've waited so diligently for. Thanks for your patience, and I really hope you enjoy chapter fifteen!
PsyGirl-- I wasn't sure how to contact you, so I went to one of my friends who speaks Spanish, and he did his best to help me. I apologize for the both of us if it doesn't translate perfectly.
Chapter Fifteen
The Definition of Love
She felt the air shift uneasily around her, and she whispered softly to it in an effort to calm it and in turn, to still her own nerves. Her shoulders had tensed long ago, and her neck was beginning to ache from the strain. Nervously, she ran her fingers over the smooth handles of her sword and wand. She knew not which one she would need more that night, but she was certain that whoever dared to face her in either such battle was making a deadly mistake. As the wind picked up again, blowing soft tendrils of hair around her face, she suddenly remembered how her duel with Ron had gone. Slipping an elastic off of her wrist and around her hair, she smiled wryly to herself; how long ago it all seemed, when in reality, little over a week had passed. She finished binding her hair and went back to her watch when every single muscle in her body tensed in instinct. Luna knew in that moment that she had been caught off her guard.
In one fluid, perfect motion, Luna spun to her left, narrowly avoiding the hands that had been reaching for her shoulder. The woman before her looked both surprised and enraged to have been found out so quickly. Luna nimbly stepped out of her reach before stopping and giving her a questioning stare. The albino beauty smiled, her full scarlet lips parting to reveal eerily-perfect teeth.
"Excuse me," She said in a thick Spanish accent. "I was wondering if you knew a certain Luna Lovegood. I have a message for her from Ronald Weasley."
Luna brightened at the sound of Ron's name. Perhaps this wasn't the threat she had been anticipating.
"I'm Luna Lovegood. Ronald sent a message with you?"
"Si," Said the woman with a nod. "He said, 'Traicion es un crimen que se paga con la muerte.'"
Luna looked at the newcomer in confusion. "Excuse me?"
The woman smiled again, and Luna noted in horror for the first time that her eyes were blood red.
"Prepare to die, Luna Lovegood."
Luna's brain was still processing the woman's last remark when she was knocked off-balance and sent tumbling to the ground by a blast of a jet of ruby-tinted magic. Finally, her mind no longer caught off of it's guard, Luna pulled out her wand as the raven-haired assassin reached down. She grabbed Luna around her throat and lifted her bodily off the ground. Luna called upon a particularly strong gust of wind that sent the woman spinning into a tree trunk. Instantly, Luna sent a barrage of hexes and spells at her adversary, her wand whipping in complicated patterns as it emitted a torrent of blinding colors. Certain she had defeated her opponent, Luna lowered her wand, gasping for breath. As the various colors of smoke drifted away from the tree, Luna saw, to her horror, the beautiful assassin standing before her, her smile wicked and satisfied. Luna knew she had impeccable aim with her wand, and yet none of her attacks had left even a blemish on the woman. Her red-eyed enemy stepped forward, and in an instant, Luna understood.
Her wings split from her arms again, and Isabella sighed in contentment to have them free from the confines of her flesh once more. She was amused at the terrified look on Luna's face as her canines transformed into fangs and her manicured nails shaped themselves into thick, pointed talons. Fully transformed, she took another step closer to Luna, savoring the sweet smell of the girl's fear. As soon as Isabella had laid eyes on Luna, she had fully understood why Ronald had sent her on this mission with such haste. Luna was beautiful and powerful, and Isabella knew she had won the red-haired warrior's heart. It was Isabella's nature to be jealous and spiteful, and there was something about Ronald that intrigued her. She would be better for him than this simple mortal would ever be, and given a couple of centuries, she was sure Ronald would understand her logic. But first, Luna would have to be eliminated. She had proven to be a worthy opponent, but Isabella knew Luna didn't stand a chance against her in her true form. With a bloodcurdling screech, she sprang at the blonde, already tasting her young and ripe blood on her lips.
Luna watched Isabella draw nearer in a frozen fright. This woman was a vampire, and Ronald had sent her to kill Luna. There was no way, no possible way he could betray her like that. Tears sprang into Luna's eyes. She refused to believe it, refused to accept that he wanted her dead. Screaming in rage, Luna drew her sword and thrust it in front of her. She felt the soft skin of Isabella's belly surrender to her steel blade, but Luna knew it wouldn't be enough. The vampiress shrieked in rage and pulled herself away. Luna opened her eyes and sprang backwards. She would not be the one to die today.
Isabella advanced again. Luna spun out of the way, but not in time; the vampiress's sharp claws raked four painful gashes down her arm. Luna winced and slashed at Isabella's arm, slicing a deep wound across her shoulder. She sensed Isabella feint to her right and moved to counter her, but the mercenary outwitted her; Isabella grabbed Luna by the back of her neck and swung herself behind her and out of the reach of her sword. With surprising strength, she threw Luna to the ground, sending both her sword and wand spinning off in various directions. In an instant, Luna felt Isabella straddling her, pressing all her weight down to keep Luna's struggles at bay. Luna shivered as the immortal's cold hands brushed away the hair on her neck. There was a savage glint in Isabella's eyes as she smiled down at Luna, her fatal teeth in perfect view.
"Do not fret, dear Luna," She whispered maliciously to her prey. "Ronald will be happier with me for all eternity than he would be if he were to spend his mortal life with you. Doesn't that make you happy? To die knowing he will love me more than he could ever possibly love you?"
Tears sprang into Luna's eyes as her mind surrendered to Isabella's taunting. While her heart insisted the siren was lying, Luna's conscience could see where the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Seeing her victory in Luna's anguished eyes, Isabella flexed her jaw and licked her lips, debating whether she should give this pitiful girl a quick and easy or slow and painful death. Deciding that going slower would satisfy her jealousy more, Isabella bent her head for the first bite. Luna gave up her attempts at resistance and closed her eyes, tears streaming from the corners. She pressed her lips together tightly to suppress her sobs of agony and betrayal. She would not fight to continue living a life in a world where she was not wanted. She thought of her life up until that moment; it was littered with disappointments and failures. Her mother, her father, school, the Sages, herself...and now Ron. Ron. Luna's silenced tears came faster when she realized that, even though she had accepted what he had condemned her to, she couldn't help but love him for who she had thought--who she knew--he was.
'No matter what,' She thought as she felt Isabella's breath hot on her neck. 'I will always love him.'
Millions of miles away, somewhere near the outskirts of the cosmos, three women watched with bated breath as the fate of the world for the rest of eternity was about to be decided.
In the dungeon cell he was sharing with Hermione, Draco fell to his knees, screaming and clutching his head. Hermione moved to aide him, but was caught off guard by a pounding, blinding pain in her head. Back at Hogwarts castle, Harry Potter tossed and turned in his sleep, the lightning bolt scar on his forehead throbbing in agony.
A gentle breeze blew by Luna, whispering a secret to it's doomed mistress. Luna's eyes snapped open in hopeful disbelief. Her mind went numb in shock. Her heart beat faster with a newfound faith.
Isabella was aching to sink her teeth through Luna's tender flesh, deep into her pulsing vein. She smiled inwardly at the thought of calling the valiant Ronald Weasely her own for the rest of time. Deciding she had stalled long enough, Isabella unhinged her jaw and drew back, ready to strike with the swiftness, accuracy, and fatality of a viper. Luna closed her eyes again, knowing her sudden burst of hope had been in vain.
A scream shattered the silence of the forest like a stone through glass. Birds erupted from their perches in the pine trees, scattering their winged forms across the storybook sunset. A drop of water dripped onto Luna's nose.
Luna opened her eyes again in confusion. The sight that met her turned her stomach inside out: Half of Isabella's face was bubbling, the flesh melting off of the bones. Her hands flew to her disintegrating skin, her inhuman shrieks tearing the quiet twilight to pieces. Water dripped from her hair and skin onto the trapped girl beneath her. Isabella twisted to snarl at someone behind her and leapt towards them, completely forgetting Luna. The girl scrambled to her feet, grabbing her sword as she did. When she stood, she meant to jump into the fray and defeat the vampiress once and for all, but what she found before her stopped her dead in her tracks.
There was a glint of silver and a struggle of bodies, but with the sunlight behind them as it were, Luna couldn't tell who was who. Something caught the corner of her eye. Luna turned and stooped to pick up the forgotten canteen. Furrowing her brow, she turned it over in her hands. There was the emblem of a cross branded on the front.
Another scream split the coming night, the one more savage than the first. Startled, Luna dropped the canteen and turned back to the battle before her in time see one of the outlines raise it's arm and bring it down on the other's chest. Instantly, the screams were silenced. Luna dared to hope that she understood what had just happened. She stood, frozen to her spot on the ground, as the astonishing scene played out before her.
His blackened silhouette slowly rose up from the ground. Luna watched his outline against the sky, breathless. He was standing motionless over Isabella's bloody blody, a wooden stake dangling forgotten in his right hand. She wanted to go to him, but she was too shocked and terrified to move. Why had he come for her? Why had he chosen her life over spending eternity with the most beautiful woman on the planet?
He was turning to her now; Luna held her breath. As the crimson sun illuminated his face, she gasped, feeling as if she hardly knew the man before her. His flame red hair was soaked with sweat; beads of perspiration shone on his face, mixing with dirt and blood that Luna knew was not his alone. His shirt was torn to shreds, and Luna could see scratches coating his arms and chest, the black and blue bruise dominating his left shoulder...and two mysterious marks on his neck. She felt the urge to run to him, to touch him and prove to herself that he was real and alive, but his sapphire eyes locked on hers and held her in place. Luna knew she looked as bad as she did; covered in dirt, chest heaving, face streaked with tears, arm gushing blood. But as she read his eyes through the veil of twilight, she knew he didn't care if she looked like she had crawled out of a hole, didn't care that the vampiress he had just slain was more beautiful even in death than she could ever hope to be in life. As she stared back at her hero, she knew he understood why she had left...and he was telling her why he had come for her. She couldn't take it anymore. She needed him--now.
The bloody stake in Ron's hand fell to the ground as she ran to him. He caught her up in his arms and held her tight, pressing his lips against hers with an intense, obsessive force that surprised even him. Neither of them cared, though; Luna's arms went around his neck and she rose against him as Ron teased her mouth apart with his. There was no possible way he could ever get as close to her as his body craved. She buried her fingers in his damp curls as he ran his hands down her slender back, pulling her tighter against him. He couldn't feel his wounds anymore; all he knew was Luna.
His body wasn't cooperating with his pounding heart, however. His anger at Isabella, his concern for Luna, finally finding her, seeing her giving up her fight for life, the battle, the killing, and now this overwhelming passion suddenly crashed down on Ron in an overbearing wave of exhaustion. He felt Luna's body relax against his and he pulled away from her. Breathing heavily, he buried his face in her neck, stealing a well-deserved rest while savoring the essence of his love at the same time.
"You need rest," He heard her murmur from above him. How could something as simple as her voice sound so sweet to him? "There's a small town about two miles west of here. I can take us, if you're up for it."
Ron, too tired for a simple "yes", nodded weakly against her shoulder. He wished he could stay against her like that forever. How could he possibly have come so close to losing her? Had he really been so blinded with the desire to bring her back that he had jeopardized her even more?
Luna smirked, led him to a boulder to sit on, and collected their gear. Bloody swords, half-open packs, and the broom Ron had arrived on. She carried them over to him, opened his arms and closed them around his gear, then pulled out her wand.
"We'll get there faster if we Apparate," She whispered as she closed his fingers around his wand. "Do you think you can manage that?"
For her sake, Ron nodded. Luna smiled, told him where they were going, and with a "pop", they were gone.