MC4A; Hogwarts

Stacked With: Hogwarts; Shipping War; BAON; FPC; TTT
Individual Challenges: Short Jog (N); Lovely Triangle (Y); Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux (Y); Gryffindor MC (N); Ravenclaw MC (N); Slytherin MC (N); Neurodivergent (N); Tiny Terror (N); Quiet Time (N)
Representations: Luna Lovegood; Teddy Lupin; Triad; Autistic Luna
Bonus Challenges: Found Family; Nontraditional; Second Verse (Not a Lamp)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: Terrarium
Prompts: "I'm right here." (auction); Moon (365 words); Collecting something (Insane Prompts); Bingo - 1A (Sunshine)
Word count: 1,184

In a secluded spot away from the hum of the wizarding world that were still so interested in the life of Harry Potter sat a small cottage. It sat in the middle of a forest and was home to a family of five. It had once just been home to Luna, Harry, and Blaise, but then Andromeda had fallen ill and could no longer look after Teddy full time. She still visited him when she could. The remaining member of the household was a thestral who had limped into the clearing surrounding the house with a broken foreleg and shredded wings.

Harry had instantly jumped to the aid of the injured creature and Luna had been busy making the potions Harry needed to care for him. Mortimer's wings prohibited him from flying and he had stayed with them until they healed enough for flight. When that point had been reached, he had flown off but returned in less than an hour and they had happily invited him to stay and join the family.

Luna hummed as she walked around the garden, taking clippings of various plants that she would use for various projects later. Harry was playing with Teddy near the stream and Mortimer was keeping a watchful eye on the two of them. A sharp crack signified the arrival of their third and Blaise grinned when Teddy instantly abandoned the floating bubbles in favour of running at him and leaping into his arms.

Harry pretended to be offended by the action but couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he watched his godson and husband twirl around. Luna slipped up to Blaise's side and slipped a sprig of lavender behind his ear.

"You need it," she told him and he nodded in acceptance.

She could see that he had had a tiring day at the Ministry and the lavender would help alleviate the headache that no doubt throbbed quietly in the back of his head. Teddy cupped his hands together in a pleading fashion and Luna placed his own sprig of lavender in them. He didn't have a great need for it, but lavender could never hurt. Plus, it was getting close to the full moon and Teddy's temper was always more heated during that time period.

Harry came up to them then, with Mortimer following behind. He smiled at Blaise and kissed him in welcome. Teddy made a grossed-out sound and Luna nodded in agreement. Even as much as she loved her husbands, she couldn't quite understand or find pleasure in physical contact that aligned more with romance than platonic. Thankfully, both Blaise and Harry understood and didn't take offence or try and push her beyond her limits.

That night, Luna found herself walking outside with bare feet as she chased moonbeams. She hadn't been able to sleep and had merely planned to get herself a cup of tea and disperse some lavender into the air before she had glanced outside and seen the moonlight shining down outside. She hoped that she would be able to collect enough of them to weave a cloak for Teddy from them. Her father had taught her how to weave moonbeams long ago when she was a child.

He had hoped that it would help soothe her whirring brain and it had. Ever since then, she had loved the routine of weaving together the beams of light. Perhaps she would try and catch some sunbeams as well tomorrow. One never knew when they might need a cloak of sunrays.

The beam she had her eye on suddenly jumped away from her and she gave a small glare to the clouds above that had caused the movement. With tried and true patience, Luna moved forward once again, ready to catch the beam as it wavered in the uncertain night. With a sharp twist of her wrist and a backwards flow movement of her hand, she had it and quickly directed into the small jar she stored the beams in.

From the direction of the house, she heard Teddy call out, "Mum? Where are you?"

He must have wandered from his room into the kitchen when he saw the light on. A quick check to the room she shared with Harry and Blaise would have told him she wasn't there and he had come in search of her.

She turned back to the building. "I'm right here."

She could see him grinning as he launched himself out of the front door and towards her. "Are you catching beams, Ma?" he asked her eagerly, bouncing up and down on his toes.

"Yes. Would you like to learn?"

Teddy nodded vigorously and she grinned. With memories of when her father had taught her running vividly through her mind, Luna happily led Teddy through the motions of catching moonbeams. It was a common thing to teach wizarding children even if families didn't always follow up the knowledge of how to catch the moonbeams with how to weave them.

"The moon is far easier to convince than the sun for the moon is calm," she told Teddy.

"Just like you and you're named after it. Does that mean that catching the beams is easier for you?"

"In a way," Luna answered. "Names have power, little one. The light from the moon recognises me as related in a distant way and doesn't run so far from me. But I still have to work to catch the beams."

Teddy adopted a serious look and listened intently as she guided him through the process of catching the beams. When he caught his first one, he grinned and started jumping up and down. "I got one!" he exclaimed, clasping it firmly even as he bounced. "I got one, I got one, I got one!"

"Well done. Tomorrow I will show you how to start weaving with it, if you would like."

Teddy instantly agreed and Luna started ushering him back inside the house. "It is far past your bedtime and you should be asleep. You'll need your energy tomorrow."

"What will we make?"

"Well now, you do need a new cloak, do you not?"

Teddy's eyes went wide as he realised he was going to be helping make something that would belong to him with the moonbeams he had caught. "For me?" he asked in wonder.

"I think it's about time you had your own moon cloak. Now get to sleep or you won't be able to keep your eyes open tomorrow long enough to do any work."

Luna watched him run eagerly to his bedroom, knowing that he would throw himself onto his bed and lay there desperately trying to force his body to go to sleep with little luck. She put the nearly-full jar of moonbeams away and waved her wand to break the sprigs of lavender on the kitchen counter apart and diffuse them into the air before sending them into both hers and Teddy's room. It wouldn't be as powerful as a sleeping potion but it would enough to calm their racing minds and let them relax into sleep.