Blaise came home to his mother's manor again, fired from the second job this week. He didn't know why, he just got stressed, then angry and he would snap and take a swing at someone, or break something. His mother gave him a disapproving look.
"Perhaps you should see a healer about it darling?"
Llaria Zabini was a tall thin 47 year old witch. Her hair wasn't grey but the darkest shade of brown and her features were delicate, like a porcelain doll. Her skin was slightly lighter than Blaise's. Their manor wasn't an ancient family home; just a big modern house secluded in the hills of Switzerland. The only way to reach it was by magical means.
Blaise shook his head, while he was at Hogwarts he had coped; He could now.
"I have a freelance writing trial job as a columnist and assistant editor at the Quibbler on Thursday." Blaise smiled at his worried mother. "I'll be fine, really it's just about finding the right job."
He rubbed his bloodied knuckles, he was told to never punch with a closed fist, but it was really so funny sometimes. The customer at Madame Puddifoot's certainly hadn't expected it. Stupid cafe.
Llaria watched her son rub his hand and head towards his wing then she headded back into her tearoom where Narcissa Malfoy was nursing a cup of tea.
"He's lost another job?" she asked sadly, Llaria nodded.
"He had trouble in school too, always snapping and hitting someone or something, I just I don't know how to help him."
"He's kept it from Draco for a long time, they're 20 years old." Narcissa pointed out, "he's still telling Draco he hates all these jobs."
Llaria looked dissapointed. "Bet Draco doesn't believe that, after all this time. He hates admitting he needs help." she said.
What one needs to understand about dear old Xeno Loovegood is that he's a good man who has been through lots of bad things, and after they took his Luna, well no one would find her and take her again.
He knocked on her room, saying good morning brightly, there was no reply but he paid that no mind. He had brought her some water to drink.
It was two days until his new writer showed up and this place was filthy so Xeno began to clean up a little.
Blaise was nervous, Thursday had come around far too quickly and he was standing outside the oddest patchwork house he had ever seen. It looked like it had undergone a shoddy repair job after an explosion, it used to be a silo or something but a wooden corner stuck from a humongous hole in the side.
"Good morning!" Blaise wrinkled his knose at his new boss, the man was unshaven and unkempt. His eyes were unfocused and dull and he smelt of urine and stale paper. The house was not much better, there were many broken trinkets lying around, some still whirring, weeds were growing from overturned pot plants and spoiled food littered the floor along with papers and rubbish and even a dead rat.
"Mr. Loovegood," Blaise said uncertainly, "is everything alright?"
"Oh, just dandy!" Xenophilius cried, "come, I'll make tea!"
He turned the tap but no water came out, he didn't pay mind of it, and set the empty kettle to boil.
"I wonder," Xeno then said, even though Blaise was the only person in the room he felt like he was not being addressed. "how long can a person live without food?"
"three weeks, about, I heard," Blaise replied, staring at the crazy old man. Xeno clapped his hands, "dear, I must feed Luna!"
Blaise stood shocked, he remembered Luna Lovegood from school, she was a Rabenclaw, very pretty and just his kind of odd, there was something about her that always made him too scared to talk with her. He always wanted too, despite the nasty remarks often made by the other Ravenclaws she was such an interesting young girl.
Blaise cast a notice-me-not charm on himself and followed the frail old man up the stairs.
"Here you are, my lovely Luna," he put a sandwich - that looked like it was made from ingredients weeks old and pieces of plastic and wood- into a bowl and stuck a tube into the sandwich. The tube was clear and plastic and led to a box, barely big enough to fit a person.
"You're safe here," Xeno said, patting the box, "They'll never take you away!" Blaise disarmed Xeno and the man stumbled and fell, Blaise carefully opened the box and found Luna Lovegood, pale as death, unconscious and upside down, jammed into the too small wooden box. He carefully lifted her out and went to take her down stairs when he heard a shout.
"No!" Xenophilius had launched himself towards Blaise who whipped around and sent a stunner at the man. Time slowed, Xeno flew through the air towards a large horn. Blaise recognized it as an Erumpent Horn and apparated immedeately. He set Luna down just outside the house and covered her with his body as the house exploded (again) and then he took her straight to St. Mungo's.
The Healers checked her over and took her into the Artefact Accidents ward.
"Er I need to speak to an Aurour," Blaise told the welcome witch who was chewing gum and looked unimpressed with him, she sighed and pulled a pice of red paper towards her, she quickly wrote on it and folded it into a paper plane.
She tapped it with her wand and said "Katie Bell, Head Aurour." and then she threw it, the plane zoomed away.
"How will it get to the ministry?" Blaise asked, the girl looked at him like he was nuts.
"Uh, Magic?"
"Oh, right." he went to sit down and wait.
It wasn't too long before an Aurour walked up to him.
"You should have told a healer about the explosion straight away," the speaker was short, male and had messy black hair, green eyes and glasses. Blaise paused.
"Potter?" he asked shocked, Potter nodded.
"Xeno was found dead, Mr. Zabini." Potter said, "Don't panic, unless you pushed him into the exploding horn thing you can't be blamed." Potter sat next to him and pulled out a notepad. "So tell me what happened."
Blaise took a breath and started with how he got his job, finishing with finding Luna in the box and just trying to get her out of there. Harry looked a little green by the end.
"Xeno," he frowned, then rubbed his eyes. "Is Luna ok?"
Blaise shrugged. "No ones told me anything, I don't mean to sound selfish, but will I get in trouble?" Blaise asked.
Harry shook his head, "I'll need to verify your story but if your telling the truth, You won't go to Azkaban." Blaise sighed in relief.
It was another half hour before a healer came to see them, Harry had waited and the talked a little, Harry even mentioned he might know a friend who has a job Blaise could do.
The healer was female, she had red, wispy hair and looked about 55. She smiled at them.
"She's very weak and quite upset but she's awake and would like to see you," the healer told them, they both jumped up and followed her past the welcome desk and elevators and down the hall into a room. There were two empty beds, a woman sleeping in one and Luna propped up on some pillows tiredly smiling.
"Hello Auror Potter, how are the boys?" Luna said smiling at Harry.
"Small," Harry said first, "and painful, and smelly and loud." She laughed and turned to Blaise.
"Thank you, it's awfully embarrassing needing to be saved like that." Luna looked at her feet, she became a little more sensible since school but Harry had never seen her this dull...
Blaise touched her hand gently. She smiled at him.
"Luna, I need your account of what happened," Harry said pulling out the notebook with Blaise's statement.
"Well dad was so, overprotective, after I went home," Luna started, "and he was different too, he was always sick but now it was so much worse and different," she rubbed her hands together, "I burnt myself on the kettle, this one time, he wouldn't leave me alone he was always fussing, and he threw the kettle out the window, he stopped cooking and cleaning and wouldn't let me do it because I would be hurt, he took my wand and stopped me from going to work." she smiled sadly.
"It was ridiculous so I fought back and tried to leave. The only thing I remember after that was being inside the box, I don't know how long I was in there and he spoke to me and gave me water but no food, I was weak and tired and felt like I would die in there."
Blaise looked angry, Harry looked furious. Luna looked at Harry directly, "what will happen to dad?"
Harry sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "He died, Luna, he was killed by the Erumpent Horn in the living room."
Luna didn't cry. She looked sad but didn't cry or scream.
"It's good in a way, he lost his mind, he wasn't himself. I just don't know what to do anymore."
"Get better," Harry said softly, "focus on that for now, you can come stay with me."
"Thank you," Luna said, "Thank you Blaise, for helping me." she squeezed Blaise's hand and the nurse came in and asked them to leave.
They said their goodbyes and Harry assured Blaise he would ask about a job for him, then left in the floo back to the Auror office.
Blaise didn't leave right away. And when he got home he went straight to his room and sat and thought.
Blaise went back to the hospital the next day, Luna looked so much better but she was sleeping. He sat with her for an hour and the nurse took his flowers and put them in a vase next to her bed. "How long until she can go home?" Blaise asked.
"Mr. Potter is picking her up tomorrow," the nurse told him, "she's going to need to rest for a long time though."
Blaise nodded and left then looking back at the beautiful sleeping girl.
He heard from Harry only a day later, a letter with a keychain and instructions to portkey to his house, it arrived with a black and ochre spotted owl.
He tapped the keychain with his wand and said nimbus and was deposited in what he assumed was Harry Potter's basement kitchen. Harry came down immediately.
"good you came straight away, the guy just opened a bar in Diagon alley, his name is Sasha Markovic, he's our age, Russian came here after he graduated Durmstrang. Hell be here in a couple of hours, Luna wanted to see you." Harry smiled at him in a way Blaise didn't think he could after the war, and led him up two flights of stairs to a room that was well lit, clean and meticulously neat.
"Luna, he's here."
Blaise walked through the door surprised when Harry left straight away, Luna was in bed, looking a little tired but happy.
"Don't look so scared," Luna said, "I won't bite."
Blaise chuckled awkwardly. "I never had the guts to talk to you in school, your very pretty, are you ok, how do you feel?"
Luna smiled brightly at him.
"I'm sorry, about everything that happened, Harry's doing all he can to keep you out of it he's acting so strange I'm worried." Luna smiled at him, looking embarrassed.
"It's alright," Blaise smiled at her, "I'm glad I found you." he touched her face and she smiled so sweetly at him, then she grabbed his hair, pulled him to her and snogged him.
Blaise was shocked at first. But she was such a good kisser so he slid his hands behind her neck and around her waist and pulled her close. She was impossibly thing and felt like glass under his fingers, so he was so gentle.
"She's supposed to be resting." Blaise and Luna jumped away like two naughty teenagers, Harry was standing at the door smiling holding a magenta haired child.
"Is that a two year old?" Blaise asked even as he said it the child's hair turned green. Harry smiled and nodded. "My godson Teddy, Blaise Sasha's here."
Blaise kissed Luna on the cheek and followed Harry down the dull thin passage to a sitting room across the hall.
Sasha Markovic smiled at him when he entered and shook his hand, he was tall and quite broad shouldered, wearing traditional wizards robes.
Harry nodded to them and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Harry rubbed his knee as he walked back to Luna's room, when he walked in she smiled so brightly. He wouldn't tell her about Ginny just yet, she was coping poorly with what happened to her as it was.
"Haven't seen you this happy since you got here." Harry sat next to her on her bed and she gazed dreamily up at the canopy.
"He's so handsome, and nice, and a great snogger!" she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I just met him, so this is crazy, but I just have this feeling we'll get married."
Harry's smile faltered. "Just don't get hurt," he rolled his eyes at the look she gave him. "I'm sorry Luna, when I didn't hear from you for two weeks I should have come looking."
She touched his cheek. "I'm not blaming you at all, I knew papa was unwell for such a long time, he honestly thought he was keeping me safe. I don't resent him for it, I'm not happy he's dead either but I'm not..."
"Miserable?" Harry offered and Luna nodded. "I think I understand the feeling, I'm so glad you're ok. And you can stay as long as you like its wonderful having someone - adult in the house." Teddy was tugging quietly at a bracelet Ginny had brought him for his 19th birthday.
Not an hour later Blaise met Harry in the kitchen on his way out. "I got the job," Blaise smiled, "it's not going to pay enough for me to leave my mothers house but it's something, thank you."
"I don't want to be too presumptuous," Harry said, "but you can come to see her whenever you want, stay over whenever." Blaise looked a little shocked but Harry just smiled. "Big, empty house," he explained.
"You might need to babysit every now and then, and if it goes well with you and Luna, you can move in. Should you both decide on that, I'll let Luna know the same." Blaise smiled at Harry and thanked him sincerely.
"Hurt her I'll go chosen one on your ass." was Harry's final warning as Blaise flooed away.
January 13th 2001 (Seven Months Later)
The ceremony was small and sweet, Luna looked amazing in her pure white dress and Blaise was quite dashing in the black tux. The alter was covered in flowers, white and pale pink ones, it was done at Llaria Zabinis Manor, indoors, with a black grand piano and wall of glass over looking her gorgeous garden (complete with garden waterfall) there were a handful of people there, Llaria Zabini, Narcissa Malfoy who spoke to Harry and was so lovely, Harry himself, Teddy, Neville Longbottom and Sasha, Blaise's boss (still).
the reception was just diner, and the newlyweds went off to a holiday in Canada for a week (expenses paid by Narcissa Malfoy as a wedding gift).
They were still living in Grimmauld place with Harry, he was glad of the company and common sense, it was so painful dealing with Ron all the time now. They were already talking about having children, almost everyone telling them at 20 they were far too young but so it was with his generation, after the war we all believe there's no time.
But Harry knew as soon as his issues with Ron settled everything will go back to normal.
They would all be happy.
I hoped you enjoyed that, it's a short story based off my 20,000 word novella 9 Years and it's sequel Like Father, Like Son (complete at 80,000 words)
This can stand alone, Luna and Blaise are featured in the long stories but it focuses on Harry/Draco and Teddy.
In the sequel Harry gets turned into a woman.
Sasha Markovic is an original character from This Is War (86,000 words, also complete)
And my spelling in this has recently been fixed. Sorry it took so long.
Thanks for reading!