Luna heard the Death Eater juniors retreat and leave the House, casting the Dark Mark over it. As soon as she heard the pops of Apparating, she got up determinedly, wiping her face on her sheets. With a Finite, she dispelled the Dark Mark. Trying not to look at her fathers body, she went back inside and Floo'ed the Weasley Twins.

"Luna?" Within seconds they were at her side.

"They killed Dad," she informed them, "I dispelled the Mark but we must get his body away and in bed before anyone notices. It must look like death from natural causes. Else Voldemort will cause panic with this murder. I won't give him the satisfaction."

Gone was the airy, spaced-out girl. The Twins nodded and set to work. Luna got out her books.

"It's a good thing the Killing Curse leaves no trace," she said, as the boys levitated her fathers body back into his bed, "did they – did they hurt him?"

"No," George said, inspecting the body, "apart from rope-burns. A cream should still help – he's not…not…"

"Cold yet?" Luna finished, "good. Would you do that, please? When everything is ready you must leave. Dad will have died of heart failure during the night. I'll make my own bed and come with you. I wasn't here."

"Luna…" Fred looked at her, "how come you are alive?"

She smiled a grim smile. "One of them apparently had a trace of humanity left."

"Then why do you need to say you weren't home? Oh…"

"Yes," Luna confirmed, "he told his colleagues I wasn't here. If I say I was – well. We'll let Snape know. It would be a waste of a potential information source."

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The day after the funeral Luna left for Hogwarts.

"Luna!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed to meet her.

"Hello," Luna replied, "how are you doing? Any luck?"

"We're close," Harry replied, "We heard about your father, Luna…"

Hermione's eyes were full of tears. "Oh Luna, I'm so sorry," she threw her arms around the other girl, "we were so worried about you."

"I'm alright," Luna assured her, "I miss Daddy a lot, but it will get better eventually. Did you know it was Theo Nott who led the Death Eaters that attacked him?"

The three looked confused. "But – the papers…."

"We made it look like a natural death so Voldemort couldn't take credit," Luna said matter-of-factly, as if she did such things daily, "Death Eaters killed him."

"Oh Luna…" Hermione hugged her again. "So, what are you doing here, during the holidays?"

"Research," Luna replied, "I asked Professor McGonagall if, considering the circumstances, I could come to school early and she agreed.

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She was being watched.

Having ventured a bit into the Forbidden Forest, Luna seemed distracted, almost careless. Until the black figure was near her. Then she whipped around, her wand out, a curse on her lips.

"Please – no," she recognized the voice immediately.

"Gregory?"

"Please, Lun – Lovegood…I don't mean to hurt you."

She cocked her head to one side. "My father…"

"I'm sorry," he pleaded, "I'm sorry. I – I saw you and you were beautiful. I didn't see why you had to die. I thought the Dark Lord would kill me if he found out, but you said you weren't there. You lied for me."

"Because you spared me," the witch replied, sitting down.

The young Death Eater sat down besides her, pulling off his mask.

"I'm not smart," he confessed, "Theo says it's all necessary, for the greater good. I'm not sure. I believed he was right, he always is. Theo is clever. Not like me."

"You don't have to be like anyone else, Gregory," to Goyle, Luna's voice sounded like music.

"Killing is wrong," he suddenly said.

"Murdering is wrong," Luna confirmed.

"What should I do, Luna?" the young man asked, his eyes pleading with her.

Luna smiled. "I know you are guarding a small estate," she said, "I need access to it. You can only get out if Volde…" seeing him starting to flinch, she remedied "the Dark Lord is gone. You don't have to do anything, Gregory. Only look the other way."

"I'm on guard duty there every other night," Goyle offered.

"Does anyone ever go inside?" Luna asked.

"Never. Only the Dark Lord is allowed."

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Luna stared at the house – nothing like the grand castle she had imagined as Slytherin's ancestral home. She checked to see if she was invisible. The spell still worked. Her eyes on the dark figure at the door, she stepped straight through the wards.

Goyle heard something. The signal! Luna!

He coughed, and moved a little away from the door, apparently to check out some suspicious movement in the grass. It turned out to be a frog.

Luna slipped past, and quickly entered. Not even locked. Not that it would have mattered if it had been. The twins had taught her well.

Making her way slowly through the corridors, Luna kpt her eye out for anything out of the ordinary. But nothing. No secret passageways behind paintings. Nothing. The Library was full of books, but the rest of the things there were obviously recent and must've been brought there by Voldemort, if Gregory's word was anything to go by.

She was about to give up, when her eye fell on a pillow that seemed out of place.

"Where do you hide a leaf? In a forest," she muttered, opening the pillow and spilling feathers all over the place.

"And where do you hide a feather? In a pillow." She pulled out a long silver feather.

Immediately her senses were assaulted with the strength of the thing. Power. Potential. Promises. Pure, raw ambition. It didn't affect her, but she knew that without the protections her mind provided, she would be tempted to keep it. This thing was so Slytherin that she knew Harry could not have destroyed it. The lure of it was too strong. It drew on everything around it and fed extra power to the holder. No wonder Voldemort wanted it to remain a secret even from his followers.

Luna tucked the feather away safely and left the house again. Unseen, invisible, she quickly pecked the waiting Goyle on his cheek.

"Thank you, Gregory," she whispered. . Once outside the wards, she Apparated. There was destruction to be brought.

Luna sat down in a remote place. She felt Slytherins feather. It toyed with her mind. She toiled with it. It desperately tried to get her under control – but her elusive mind would not let it get a good grasp.

She picked it up and held it between her palms. "You will be destroyed," she declared, before channelling all her considerable power into a massive overload.

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She woke up when the sun was high in the sky. The feather lay withered by her side, harmless.

"Good."

She shook her head. In the distance she could see smoke. She concentrated, summoned up all her strength and Apparated to the edge of the Hogwarts Wards – and into utter chaos.

The wards had fallen. They had finished the final battle without her!

Bodies were scattered over the grounds, some in dark robes and masks, some in Auror uniform, some in schoolrobes. She came across the remains of Bellatrix and remembered how the witch had smiled when she killed Sirius. In the distance, she saw Harry raise Gryffindor's sword over Voldemort's broken body. Remnants of his army fled, and so began the legend of the Man Who Conquered.

A soft gasp caught her attention.

"Lu-na…"

A broken white mask, tainted with blood. She removed it from the face.

"Gregory."

"Did it – work – Luna? What you wanted to do?"

"Yes, Gregory."

"I liked you, Luna. A lot."

She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "I liked you too, Gregory."

"Really?" despite the pain, a smile crossed his face and for a moment, he seemed an innocent child again.

Leaning forward, she gently kissed his broken lips.

"Love – Luna…Luna…." He sighed, and didn't take another breath.

"Goodbye, Gregory."

The soft whisper was lost in the cheering that broke the eery silence of the battlefield.

The end.

A/N: I'm sorry. I'm mostly asleep right now. I'll probably be very unhappy with this in the morning, but it feels right now.