Chapter 43
“Anticipated spears wound less.”
Sir Thomas More
Draco hadn't come to bed that night. Hermione waited naked in his bed in case she fell asleep before he came back. Now, she felt more frustrated than she wasn't. She was in the main library, looking through different books. They managed to translate part of the artifact, but the key didn't work for all of it, so they weren't even sure if they had gotten the right key or if each side of the damn thing had a different key. Which seemed to be the case.
Hermione was sitting on one of the chaise lounge chairs in a pair of trousers and a black blouse, her hair pulled back from her face with her wand in the ponytail, and she was trying not to fidget. She was more than a little irritable and as much as she said she'd get herself off, it wasn't the same as him doing it and she hated that. Lauren had been avoiding her in the study due to her own irritability. She had tea delivered to her and was sipping at it as she tried to keep her cool. Translate, focus, and realize that he would make it up to her. Probably.
With Blaise gone, Luna had ventured out of his quarters. The dress she wore exposed a back full of fading bruises. It was odd, walking through the manor with her wand and no escort. It had taken a few tries to find the library she’d promised herself to visit. Blaise hadn’t exactly had time to give her a proper tour.
With the newfound time and courage, she plucked a few books she thought might help with her friend’s research and tried to find a spot. She’d heard of the muggle in the library but hadn’t seen her until now. The woman seemed to keep to herself and avoid whatever was behind her. Luna padded in further until she noticed the other witch.
“Find anything?” She asked, her books settling nearby on a table as she settled in an armchair.
Looking up from her book, she sighed and gave a shake of her head, trying not to fidget. "Not at the moment. Each side of that bloody artifact uses a different translation key than the last. Lauren is working on one side and I'm working on another," she grumbled, snapping a book closed and leaning back in the chaise with a mild look of frustration.
"It's lovely to see you, though," she murmured after a moment, letting out another sigh. She needed not to be irritable before someone asked what was wrong. She couldn't very well answer sexual frustration.
Luna had seen Hermione through a number of emotions in her life, but this was different. There was frustration, certainly, but even this level seemed excessive.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” she smiled. “And it’s nice to see you too. I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one to wake alone,” she offered a softened expression. It was odd being the one waiting. She’d been out there while he’d been here. Was this his normal? Would it become hers to just sit and wait?
"I'm hoping to and it's just a matter of time before we do. The other research has been a nice reprieve from....this," she gestured at the books collected around her and took a sip of her tea. At being asked that, she glanced up at Luna and couldn't help the blush that colored her cheeks. Damn it.
A sigh left her lips, and she nodded. "You were not...I went to bed alone. We were interrupted," she said as diplomatically as possible.
“Same interruption then,” she sighed. “It took an hour before Theo apologetically came to untie me,” she grumbled. She was still plotting how she’d be a brat to Blaise for it. Make him work for it. Perhaps it was a different kind of book she needed.
“I can try and give your artifact a look,” she offered her friend. “Show me what you’ve found,” she noticed the notes. Perhaps fresh eyes would help.
"Same bloody interruption." She sighed and shook her head. "...At least I didn't have to be untied," she offered sympathetically before she drew her wand and summoned the artifact in question. It normally sat on one of the desks while she and Lauren worked, but she wanted to show Luna the notes and artifact.
The stone heads of the serpents faced in opposite directions, and there was a script written on the top of both heads, underneath both of them, and some notations in the scales. "This monstrosity," she grumbled and just shook her head.
She was more frustrated about the interruption than the translation. Flipping through her notes she gestured to the top of the left serpent. "This one we have mostly translated. It's talking about some sort of ritual but only goes on to explain when the ritual takes place and not the what or how. So the rest needs to be translated, or we have practically nothing."
If she thought about it she’d only get angry again. Wasn’t the first time. At least Theodore had gotten better at doing so despite his best attempts to not look at her. The first time, he’d kept his eyes closed the whole time. Now he knew to look at the part of her tied up.
Instead, she looked at the artifact. “Is this the real one?” She asked, tracing a symbol. After all the trouble, she would have thought He would want it. Then again, his thoughts would never make sense to her. Settling the snakes down, she looked at the notes.
The sort of data she would have been given to bring back, given seconds to memorize. Her body tensed and relaxed. She wasn’t going back.
“That might be on the walls,” she said thoughtfully. “I’d hardly put all the information in one place if I were storing something that important.”
A sigh left her lips as she gave a nod. "For now. I made the rather blunt point that we worked with all of the original artifacts up till now and it is likely they'll tie into each other. So we want to make sure if they do fit together somehow we can figure it out. Gets Him results faster." When all she had been tempted to do was smash it. But she didn't want to see Draco hurt again.
Family is a hostage to fortune. Isn't that what he said? Along with the fact that the Dark Lord thought she could bring Draco to his knees? Other than literally doing so in the foyer, she still wasn't so sure.
Taking her wand out of her hair so she could comb a hand through her locks, she sighed. "The walls were mostly covered in riddles regarding the traps."
All the originals. Luna had a lot to catch up on. She wasn’t sure how many there were total, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be privy to it. Not after the last few years.
“Do they all look like this one? And no, don’t show me,” she asked, biting her lip, looking over the notes, and pulling one of the books closer. This was simpler. Perhaps she could translate a few glyphs. Plus, it might help calm her friend if they made a breakthrough, right?
"They don't. One looks similar but is not the same," she explained as she scooted closer and opened another book. How was Luna not more irritable? Her friend likely hadn't been avoiding her partner. That might contribute to it. At least she thought so.
A sigh left her lips, and she rubbed at her temples as she looked back at the book. "This is not how I wanted to spend my day," she grumbled under her breath without realizing. With how intense Draco had been, she was hoping she would have had a very long evening into the morning. That first week of their honeymoon has spoiled her.
“And how did you plan to spend your day?” She asked, brow perking. The curiosity shifted into a bit more of a smile as she took in her friend and began drawing a conclusion. “Oh,” she sounded in seeming understanding and yet she had to question it. “Yeah?” She asked continuing the silent conversation she was imagining in her mind. It wasn’t like she didn’t know the pair had had sex, and yet it had never been a fully discussed topic. Not like this.
That smile made her fidget, and she blushed a little bit more as she glanced at her. "... Probably exactly what you're thinking..." she sighed and ruffled out her hair. It hadn't been so long that she should be frustrated, but how often would she have her husband on his knees before her like that? She tried not to focus on it too much, or she'd frustrate herself all over again. "Possibly."
Luna knew that blush. She'd worn that blush far longer than she dared admit. Sometimes, she wondered if Blaise missed it appearing on her cheeks. She'd lost that capability some time ago. "Oh, you've got it bad," she grinned, unabashed in the slightest in her lighthearted accusation. "When Blaise leaves me high and dry, I'm extra bratty," she shrugged. "It was worse when I couldn't leave his room. I usually destroy something." She admitted with a bit of a smile.
That accusation had her blushing a deeper shade of red as she glanced up at her friend. "Got it bad? Me? No! Absolutely not," she tried to argue before she let out a slow sigh. Did she? She knew she liked how he touched her. How protective he could be. Enjoyed the fact he was just as smart as she was, just as ruthless. "Maybe...." she murmured. "You destroyed things in Blaise's room?" She couldn't help but ask with a raised brow. What in the world did her friend get up to when she was left to her own devices?
"Boredom, pettiness, and knowing how firm that hand would be," she held back a groan and sighed. Luna bit her lip. Perhaps Hermione was just liking the urgency and not everything else they'd read in books. "He would get so mad," she smiled at the memories. "Might go back and hide his pants," she added wickedly. One less layer to have to contend with. She could just vanish them, but that seemed over the top.
Hermione had to try not to snort at that and gave a shake of her head. She wouldn't want to go back to the rule about no kissing, but perhaps more of what they had discussed. It had her blushing a bit more as she glanced at her friend. "Glutton for punishment there, Luna?" She teased just a little, not sure if she would want punishment, but the way she reacted to all of those marks came to mind. "How did you work out the.." she trailed off to consider the phrasing. "...complicated nature of physical desire and...the emotional entanglement?"
Luna settled the books down and moved to sit closer to her friend. "I am," she said honestly, but it was the second question that had her nudge Hermione so she could lay back beside her on that plump long chair. "Honestly? It could have been simple. I could have seen how he'd tied me up with no reason to let me go and yet did just that. I could have chosen to accept that he gave me what I needed at great cost to himself. I could have noticed a million different things early on. From the way he worded things to how he dealt with me, and still, I fought. I fought him for so many reasons," she rolled back and stared at the ceiling. "I feared myself. My bloodlust, my need for revenge, but more than that, the things that worked for me in bed."
Hermione shifted to make room for her friend and sighed. This was more complicated than she would have wanted it to be. Because the more time she spent around Draco, the more she felt like there could be something more than just sexual chemistry. Perhaps it was Stockholm syndrome. But she had been the one to put the fidelity vows in their vows, so what did that even say? She hadn't exactly thought about torturing him with those after all. "I see...." she murmured, still flushing deeply. Was that another indicator? The fact he hadn't killed her and hadn't trapped her when they had been at the club? She didn't know.
“Is it sounding familiar?” She asked, risking a glance over. “He doesn’t seem to have hurt you,” she said gently. “Unless…” Would the ferret hurt her friend psychologically? She wouldn’t put it past any of them and yet she knew her presence had been in part his doing. Blaise was his friend. They’d suffered her for his sake. “I will curse him for you if he has,” she added. “Can’t say I’d be here without him, though,” she sighed. She hated owing anyone anything. Hopefully, the data she’d collected for him was enough.
"...In some ways," she admitted quietly. He could have cut her up with that knife that night. Could have killed her. Could have captured her. He claimed he knew she would fight him, so he couldn't, but was that it? She didn't know. Blinking a few times as she glanced at Luna, she shook her head. "No. No, he hasn't hurt me. Made me mad? Sure. But hasn't hurt me." And promised to try and make things merciful with people he couldn't spare. What did he really feel for her? What did she feel for him? She couldn't help but fidget.
Relief relaxed Luna’s features. After so many years in the field, it was nice to regain ownership of her reactions. They were still somewhat on the discreet side. Some habits would be hard to break. She considered things a moment. “What do you want?” She asked. “It’s easy to get confused in the messiness of everything, but take all the mess, set it aside, and figure out what makes you happy. Then see what you can and can’t look past,” she offered. It wasn’t ideal.
How relieved her friend was comforted her a little bit. While Luna couldn't actually help her, the support was appreciated. There were too many questions and too many things to try and process. She took her friend's hand and squeezed it gently as she thought. "I don't even know what I want anymore. There are moments I think I know, but it's hard to say, " she confided as she stayed close to the blonde. At least one of them had figured things out. Part of her still felt shame for enjoying Draco at all.
Luna didn’t push. She couldn’t push. If things worked out, they did. The only two who could figure that out were those involved. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” she squeezed that hand back. “And if you ever find some good raunchy books in here, feel free to pass them along.” It had been a way to keep in touch without keeping in touch. Plus it could make some discussions easier. “I bet the other Mrs Malfoy has a whole shelf of books like The Devilish Duke or Wands and Punishment,” she cackled.
"You have more faith in me than I do in that department. Ask me to translate ancient texts or figure out a spell? Easy. I can still recite Hogwarts: A History in my sleep. This? It's a level of complicated I wouldn't have expected. I'm glad you figured yours out, though. Blaise seems...nice." Even if he was apparently playing Prince of Pain with one of her best mates. She ran her fingers through her hair and nearly snorted at that. "I don't doubt it. I'm starting to believe all of pureblood society are a bunch of degenerates behind closed doors," she only half joked. The way that Draco looked at her even had her more convinced of that. Throw in the ropes that she knew Blaise and Luna played with? All of that backhanded politeness made all the sense in the world.
“I think it’s varying degrees. I mean, rest my father’s soul, but he was a lover, not a fighter. I can’t imagine his friends or anyone in my family being anything but vanilla.” Indulge in a potion? Sure. Have an orgy? Probably. But what she and Blaise got up to? Never. Not with the love letters she’d read between her parents. The ones her father thought he had hidden so well. “And you are book smart sure, but you’re instincts have gotten you this far, haven’t they?” She asked. “You were never head first like the boys were; if I can’t trust the voice of reason, then I’m really fucked…” And every so often, especially when alone and left to the wiles of uncertainty, she did.
"If your father was anything but a doting husband to your mother, I will eat a hat," she chuckled. There was no way that the man wasn't just utterly devoted to her mother. The way he had talked about his late wife and his daughter was astounding. So sweet. It reminded her of how her parents talked about each other. That pang of grief hit her again, and she smiled a little as she glanced at Luna. "...my instincts and logic are at odds at the moment, I'm afraid." Her head told her not to trust him. That somehow, this had to be a bigger trap. Her instincts? Those told her to trust him, to follow his lead. Maybe following her gut like a proper Gryffindor was necessary.
There were a number of purebloods Luna was certain were boring. Probably a snorefest truthfully. It was why her tastes had made her feel so...wrong. Was it something about their year? Perhaps it was war that had done it. "Are they?" she asked, and paused. "Or do you want them to be?" she pushed and knew she couldn't just leave it at that.
That question had Hermione raise a brow at Luna. Was her friend simply trying to make the situation she had helped cause be better? Because she wasn't sure how to take that, if she was honest. "Of course they're at odds. How could they not be?" But even saying it, she knew logically there was reason to doubt that. He couldn't lie to her. He has been vulnerable with her as she looked after him while injured, he took care of her when that damn curse had branded her. He hadn't hurt Crookshanks.
Luna shifted and turned to face her friend. "Do you trust me?" she asked, searching those chocolate hues. "After everything I have done, and everything I have put you through, and everything we've done and lived through. Do you trust me?"
Looking at Luna, she tried not to fidget. Did she trust Luna? After everything they'd been through and what she had done...she'd never hurt Harry. And there had been once or twice when Luna knew where he was. Not often, but once or twice. "More than I don't. Part of me is still mad at you, Luna...but I have to think you wouldn't have said anything about me if you thought I'd be hurt."
"Heart and head seldom get along," she mused, but her smile didn't meet her eyes. She knew Hermione had every right to be angry with her. To not trust her at all. Luna had been good at what she did, and even her best friend hadn't been the wiser. Some days, it had made her angry, made her want more pain than Blaise was willing to give her as if it would atone her sins.
"A lot of people died because of me," Luna said simply. "And I'd like to think that I'm done, but Diggory is still alive." The words were bit into. What he had done, what he had ordered. She'd do it all over again if it meant seeing his head on a pike.
A sigh left her lips at that and she rubbed a hand down her face. "A lot of people died because of me too. I helped organize the assault against the new regime with the Muggle military. All of those deaths weigh on my shoulders. The Muggleborns I couldn't get out and protect...Ron," she murmured, the name barely whispered as she tried not to shudder. And she'd watched. Watched and done nothing because she could maybe get to attack Draco. And now she found herself under Draco more often and frequently than she ever would have thought. She needed to turn her brain off again...and there was one good way to do it.
The muggleborns. Luna had known, but there had been no way to state so without giving up Blaise. She swallowed down, the guilt not as easily pushed away. "We didn't know better," she gave the lie she easily told herself. Some days, she almost believed it. "We stopped fighting for the right reasons a long time ago." This time it was her time to barely whisper.
Looking down at her hands a moment, she let out a slow breath. "...I think all of us did," she whispered more to herself than to Luna. She'd torutred and reveled in it, been vicious, barely cared about the collateral damage until after the fact. It was...a lot.
"Diggory is going to die, and if I have my way? Die slow," she drawled with a colder edge to her voice, malicious. Diggory had to go. And as much as she hated to admit it? Shacklebolt likely did, too if he had any idea about half of the things that Diggory did.
"Make sure he gets my regards," Luna responded cooly.
"I will happily stab him for you. Or hex him. Pick your poison, and I'll do it....Draco promised I could help with Diggory," she said simply. That was another sign, wasn't it? It had felt like him trying to simply placate her so she didn't go hex happy on his own men...but would he care if she did if she had some reasoning for it?
Luna had imagined Diggory's death. How she would kill him. But she hadn't just wanted to kill, she had wanted to hurt. She'd taken out the ones that had killed her fiancé, her creatures. The ones that had roped her in, and she'd been so good he had never suspected her. "I've done what I needed to hurt him, just tell him I knew...I knew this whole time," she shook. "I want him to know just how compromised I was before he dies," she couldn't stop the smile.
Hermione gave a nod of her head with a faint smile. "I will absolutely tell him and make sure he's aware. I'll also make sure he knows the truth about me." The truth that she hadn't turned until he drove her away. And she knew how so many of them functioned that she was going to help dismantle it all. Just had to be careful. Well, careful enough. She had a feeling her husband would support anything she wanted to do when it came to destroying that side of this dispute.
Settling her head on her friend's shoulder, she sighed. They'd truly changed, and many might argue it hadn't been for the better. Some days she still regretted the wyvern that had had to die. More than some of the lives she'd had to extinguish. "Sounds like you might not be that much at odds with yourself after all," she reminded gently. Perhaps she had joined the side that had been wrong to begin with, but they were somehow the lesser evil of late. Most of their crimes seemed aimed at the insurgency.
Resting her head against her friend's, she sighed softly and took a moment to try and relax. "...Maybe. Just certain things I still don't think I should be doing," she murmured. Like letting herself feel anything soft for Draco Malfoy of all people. And yet she trusted him not to hurt her even without the vows in place, considering the first time they slept together in the manor.
Luna had plenty of that sentiment. "I know that feeling," she cuddled against her friend. It was nice to just be close to someone. She missed Blaise. "We should go torment someone or something," she muttered. "It's too quiet."
A bit of a snort left her at that and she shook her head. "It's an almost peaceful kind of quiet, though. Not the type of quiet that was Seamus plotting something in the back room of a safe house," she countered with a bit more of a smile. At least she could talk to someone about some of the safe house experiences.
"Seamus is a menace," she grumbled. Another one that wouldn't be saved. She wanted to feel pain, but she felt nothing. He reveled in what he did. It wasn't personal. It was a mercy to put him out of everyone's misery. "Still can't be good that it's so quiet. Means most of them are gone, which means something big," she sighed. Why else would they leave in the middle of the night? She hoped it meant Diggory.
"Seamus has always been a menace. They took the man's morals away and encouraged him to blow things up," she grumbled with a shake of her head. If he could have had those morals shoved back down his throat, then he could have been saved, but Seamus had been so close to Diggory for so long, she didn't know if there was anything of their school friend left. And he was so easily swayed. Just like Dean. He probably thought it was the right thing to do. "If it's Diggory and I'm not involved, I'm going to be rather upset....Who got left behind?"
Luna shrugged. There was no denying what Diggory did. He twisted people to his will in ways she would have expected from the Malfoys of the world. “I’d assume Nott since he freed me, but I’d imagine a lot happened between late last night and this morning…” she nibbled her lip. “We can go see; I mean, it’s your house,” she edged her friend. If she went alone it would be questionable at best, but alongside the lady of the house? That was worth it.
Picking back up the cup of tea she had abandoned, she finished it before moving to stand up and offered Luna her hand. "Then let's see where Theo is and just how many guests we still have in my house," she drawled with a bit of a grin before she schooled her expression again. Couldn't be too gleeful. Not when she still had an image to uphold.
Luna’s aloofness had long been seen as insanity. Part of her couldn’t blame them. She wished she could tell them she was just as sane as they were, but she didn’t think it was quite accurate. The cuts were too deep for her to be in her right mind. She unfolded her thin, long limbs from the chaise longue, smoothing her dress out and keeping her wand in reach. “Sounds like a great idea,” she grinned.
Chuckling to herself, she led the way out of the library and, with a flick of her wand, sent the artifact back to the woman deeper in the stacks. At least that way, she'd be able to find it if she was making a breakthrough. There was hardly any noise as they walked into the hall. Even her own footsteps felt louder than when she was normally walking around. "Now....if I was Theo....where would I be..."
Luna pondered. She hadn’t really spent too much time with Theo. She knew Blaise smelled like cloves when they hung out. “Smoking? Maybe off finding someone to fuck,” she shrugged. Isn’t that what they did on their days off, go to those clubs. Just the thought had her annoyed. His pants. All of them would be hidden when he got back. If only to remind him his ass was hers. “What do these guys do when they’re not being ominously evil?”
Hermione snorted slightly but then paused, taking a path upstairs to one of the little balconies. "Perhaps smoking. He does tend to smoke...makes me wonder if Draco smokes..." If Theo was out looking for a hookup, then there was very little chance of them finding him or anyone else who would give them answers. "No idea. Other than the clubs... that Draco can't go to anymore," she murmured with a ghost of a smirk.
“We do lots of ominous things,” Theo said from behind them. “Train, research, the occasional bathroom break,” he assured them.
Luna nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice, turning to face the blond she had known since school. And yet, he was a stranger to her. Her man’s best friend, and what did she really know beyond the fact that he had never touched her? “You need a bell,” she pointed a finger at him.
“Or perhaps you need to pay better attention,” he quipped back. “And technically, he can still go, but knowing Draco, he’ll send me and Blaise instead.”
Luna looked at Theodore like she was assessing his weaknesses. “Guess I’ll have to join then,” she leveled his gaze. “Can’t let you boys have all the fun…”
Spinning around, her eyes widened, and she looked a little startled at him being so quiet. "Being so quiet that it's tempting to hex you," she drawled as her heart beat jumped up.
Arching a brow at Theo, she shrugged her shoulders. "He could, but I'm pretty sure the women of that club would be more disappointed. No amount of counting could get them in his bed now." And she felt rather pleased about that.
But drinking at the club and being perched in her partner's lap? Perhaps. At least that would make things incredibly clear. "So...what is everyone up to that they disappeared last night? Everything is far too quiet."
Theodore chuckled. No, no woman would get in the boss's bed. “This came for you,” he held out a small sealed parchment. Before she could read the note, a small item fell into her palm.
Dearest,
I might be held back a while longer. Know that I plan to keep every promise I made you.
D.M.
“A pretty nasty fight broke out in Kensington,” he said.
Opening the piece of parchment, she read over the note, catching the small bracelet as she unfolded it. A small badger charm was on the bracelet, and she quickly closed her hand around it. Hannah. Nervous, sweet, caring, Hannah. She helped heal for the insurgency, but mainly because she didn't know what else to do, and Neville looked out for her. Why would Hannah be near a battle that broke out in Kensington?
She turned the bracelet over and over in her hand, thinking about that. "In Kensington..." she mused. Why did that...Then it clicked. The bracelet. It had been given to Hannah by Seamus. She only wore it when she had to be around Seamus because of how jealous and possessive he'd been getting. If she was near that battle, it was because they expected causalities that would need to be treated then. Which meant...Bloody hell.
"How many Death Eaters are out at Kensington for how many insurgence?" She asked as she started to tie her hair back from her face, looking a lot more serious now as she tucked the note and the bracelet in the pocket of her pants.
Luna was deathly quiet, doing what she did best. From where she stood, she noted the letter and the bracelet. Kensington.
“Draco’s been joined by a few more. Likely three to one by now,” he eyed her as she tied her hair. Somehow he doubted she was preparing for research. “Oh no,” he sounded. “No, absolutely not,” he warned.
Luna smiled and stepped towards Theo. “Oh Theo,” she smiled, fluttering her lashes. “It’s cute that you think you have a choice.”
Meeting Theo's eyes, Hermione smiled, but it wasn't a happy expression. It was the same grin that had earned her the moniker of Morrigan when she fought. "Either you take me there, Theo, or I apparate to Kensington and spend time jumping between places. I'm sure Draco would just love that you let his wife go risk her safety," she drawled.
"She's right. You don't have a choice. And why do you think they're letting the fight go on that long if it's three to one? It's not because they think they'll get one over on you by drawing out the fight. It's because they have someone that could likely level the damn block."
Luna reached for her wand. She had no trouble starting the fight right here right now. Blaise was out there, and the only person allowed to torture him was her. "We won't ask twice," she warned.
Theo wanted to mutter that they were insane, but Draco had asked that he keep the wife happy. This seemed to make her happy. Right? He was going to hurt either way. "Shit," the curse was barely a breath. He seemed to consider it a moment, but he knew there was really only one way forward. Even if he didn't like it. At least Draco would potentially go easy on him. "Hope you know what you're doing," he grumbled, stretching out a hand for the brunette.
"Oh, I'm coming to," Luna stepped forward.
"You come with us; they're likely to expect you to do more again, Luna," she warned as she offered the blonde her hand and took Theo's hand easily enough. Her want was tucked away but at the ready. She'd be damned if she let Seamus Finnigan of all people do something she hadn't been able to do. Let alone take that bit of happiness away from Luna or herself.
Meeting Theo's eyes, she offered a faint smile. "Can always say I hexed you, Theo," she drawled with a faint smile, trying to at least offer him some sort of out that might keep him from hurting too badly.
Luna moved to reach for her friend's hand and paused. She was right. If she went now, she'd be away from Blaise again. "He better make it home," she looked between the two of them. "Plus, someone has to make sure the muggle doesn't kill herself," she sighed. She felt bad just calling the woman a muggle, but she hadn't exactly met her.
Theo felt the slightest bit relieved. "And you'll claim no such thing," he muttered, taking Hermione's hand. He didn't wait for the blonde to change her mind, apparating to Kensington where he knew his friend was. Just close enough to not distract.
She gave a quick nod to Luna as she was pulled with Theo to Kensington. As soon as they landed there, she let go of his hand and drew her wand, hearing people screaming and dodging out of the way not too far away.
Taking in a deep breath, her expression cooled completely as she strode forward. As one of the insurgents she had helped train came out of an alley, she instantly stunned the witch and knocked her over without a moment's hesitation. She had to find Seamus and Draco. Because she knew whatever explosive that damn fool was going to blow up would be near her husband. And it made something in her rage.