In Noctem (open)

[Guest]

The pale moonlight was casting shadows on the floor of the empty corridor and Luna could almost see them taking form, changing around her, chasing each other and she smiled slightly. Others might find such sights creepy, but she enjoyed seeing that even darkness could hold life and motion. As she made her way through the silent castle, Luna let her fingertips glide over the cold stone, simply feeling the solidness of the wall of a castle that had almost been destroyed just a short while ago. For a moment she stopped because she thought she had heard footsteps behind her, but when she turned around, she was all alone.

With a shrug, Luna continued on her way while her thoughts went back to the past few weeks. The tension that had threatened to suffocate everyone in the castle had finally erupted in a gruesome battle and now here she was, back at Hogwarts for another year. How different would Hogwarts be under Voldemort’s lead? How would the Order react? Would Harry still manage to lead them towards the light?

Stepping out into the light of the full moon made her face appear unnaturally pale, almost transluctant and her large silvery grey eyes reflected the yellow orb as she looked upwards. Once more she had the impression of footsteps coming up behind her, but this time she did not bother to turn. Whoever it was would show themselves when they wanted to.

[Thanatos Mulciber]

Thanatos glared at the letter his mother had sent him after having read it repeatedly. She still did not know anything more about the Dark Lord's plans for those that fought in the battle. It seemed as if he had just moved on, took charge over the world while Potter and the other good guys were locked away at Hogwarts and to be honest, Thanatos wasn't sure anymore what to think of it all. When the war had started, he had been elated to join his fellow death eaters, fighting the order and their allies with all his cunning and strength and taking down many of them, but he had expected at least some sort of sign of appreciation from their Lord. That he would simply ignore them all, as if they weren't of the slightest importance to him at all, galled Thanatos like nothing else.

He was the proud member of an old pureblood family and did not like to be ignored. Not at all. He had meant to prove himself to the Dark Lord so that maybe he could rise in his ranges. He deserved to be recognized for his work. How dare he just ignore me! Thanatos angrily tore the letter into pieces and threw them into the fire before leaving the common room, stalking through the halls, muttering to himself.

Does he think, he's any better than me? Than any of us purebloods? He growled and slammed his hand against the wall, making a portrait jump out of their slumber. He would be nothing without us! Without our support and money! He would be nothing! Thanatos clenched his fist and sighed. He had been raised to believe in the Dark Lord, to never question his goals and decisions and when he was younger, he had blindly followed those orders, but now? He wasn't just someone's bloody pawn! No... I'm not a pawn. But his mother had warned him off putting himself against their Lord.

Thanatos was still muttering to himself when his ears picked up on soft steps in front of him and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he moved closer, coming up behind the blond girl. "Now if that isn't Loony Lovegood..." he started with a sinister smirk. He was quite in the mood to vent his frustrations on someone tonight. "What are you doing out here all by yourself, nutcase?" he asked nastily, blocking the entrance which was her only way of escape.

[Guest]

"Ah, I did not just imagine it." Luna thought, turning towards the voice with a soft smile on her lips, as always ready to be friendly to whoever crossed her path. The insults the other student was throwing at her were simply passing by her, not unnoticed, but they did not manage to affect her much either. For years, students from all four houses had been calling her Loony and other unflattering nicknames, but Luna thought of them as either ignorant or trying to avoid their own problems.

The Slytherin who was now standing in front of her seemed to fit the second group and Luna immediately picked up on his aggressive aura that had filled the air as soon as he had stepped outside. His eyes were quite menacing, but she did not feel intimidated in the least. She had seen and fought against real Death Eaters, the real bad guys and this young man was not yet that far gone, so she faced him with a calm heart.

"Good evening, Thanatos." Luna greeted kindly, her eyes as always having troubles staying focused on the other's. Instead they were travelling over his face, then towards the open hallway behind him, then upwards to the sky and then back to the boy. "The moonlight becomes more and more beautiful the darker the world gets, don't you think?" she answered his question in her dreamy voice, tilting her head towards the black sky above them.

[Thanatos Mulciber]

Seeing that his taunting insults seemed to have not the slightest impact on the Ravenclaw only fuelled his anger and Thanatos stepped closer to her, using his greater height to intimidate the girl. Why is she smiling at me?! he wondered, confusion mixing with the anger. She didn't even appear to be slightly anxious to be alone with him at night, instead she started to talk about the moon. "What?" he couldn't help but ask, getting annoyed at his own confused voice. That girl was the greatest nutcase ever and that meant something, coming from a person that knew many deranged Death Eaters.

"I can turn your world very dark in an instant, girl. Though then you won't be able to stare at the moon anymore. Actually, you wouldn't be able to do much of anything anymore because you would be dead." he hissed, a knife sliding out of his sleeve and into his hand. A wicked smile appeared on his face as he stepped even closer, all the while playing with the dagger in his hand.

It would be so easy. Just one quick movement and the blade would sink into her soft flesh, piercing her heart and taking her life. Easy. But something stilled his hand. Thanatos had killed before. On the battle field. and he had tortured, even here at Hogwarts. But it had always been either mudbloods or filthy little annoying shits like that diAngelo girl. Lovegood was different. She was a pureblood. Could he simply kill her for being a blood traitor and for helping these mudblood lovers fight against their Lord? Actually ... yes, he could. Raising the dagger, Thanatos pulled the girl roughly against him and placed the blade to her throat. "Look at the moon one more time, you won't see it again, Loony." he hissed into her ear.

[Guest]

Her forehead furrowed and she crooked her head to the side at his threat. Why were some people always out to get into a fight? Why could they not just relax and be kind to everyone for a change? Luna sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted again. Sometimes, she just wished that she could have Hogwarts all to herself with no one to bother her. When Thanatos grabbed her quite roughly and held a dagger to her throat, Luna could help the little shriek that escaped her mouth.

Unmoving, she waited for the other student’s next move, not even daring to breath, as she held herself absolutely still in his deathly embrace, afraid of the knife sliding into her skin, ending her life once and for all. “Thanatos, don’t do that. You are not a murderer. And I am not your enemy.” She whispered after a few seconds, hoping that there was still some good in the other student. Legally, he was free to do whatever he wanted with her. With Voldemort in charge of the country, all of his death eaters could murder whomever they wanted without fearing repercussions for their actions.

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