Disclaimer: I don't own canon Harry Potter. I merely write Harry Potter fanfiction for enjoyment.

A Muggle Ghost

Luna Lovegood trod softly on the dewy leaves beneath her feet. Her long dirty-blonde hair was pulled back into a large ponytail and she stopped as a snap echoed around the tall, mossy trees surrounding her.

"What do you think, Luna?" a voice hissed into her ear.

Luna slid her silvery-blue eyes towards her husband, Rolf, but didn't reply.

Luna locked her jaw tightly and took a deep breath through her nose. Chances are it wasn't her mum. Don't get your hopes up.

Luna took another deep breath and tried to rationalize. Ghosts couldn't make noises.

But Mum could. Mum could do anything.

"Okay, I think the coast is clear," Rolf breathed as he slouched into a relaxed stand and turned to Luna, who mimicked his actions.

"Do you think we'll get it?" Rolf asked excitedly. Luna could see his eyes darting around in the moonlight as if the sound had given him newfound hope – just like it had for Luna.

"We'll see," Luna whispered softly as she squinted around the forest slowly. To Rolf, her misty eyes probably looked as if she was daydreaming about finally getting the Wrackspurt, but Luna's eyes were actually scrutinizing every inch of the woods around her, looking for one thing in particular: her mum's ghost.

Yes, it made no sense. Yes, her mum had never been in this Muggle area. That didn't mean anything though. Her mum was always with her. Maybe this Deathday would be the day. Maybe this day she would finally see her mother.

"All right." Rolf gifted Luna with a wide smile. "Let's get moving."

Luna was pulled away from her hopes and she nodded to her husband. Luna moved to the nearest tree and began looking for signs of any magical creature.

Luna moved her slim fingers over the tree, touching the wet moss carefully. She slowly stood as she studied the bark, gathering that the tree was a European ash. As Luna's nimble fingers faltered, she pulled out her wand and muttered a quick spell. Her wand lit, Luna gazed at the small gashes that had been left in the tree about six feet up, seemingly fresh.

"Rolf!" Luna exclaimed hoarsely, practically unable to contain her excitement; her mother had to be here. There was no way her mum wouldn't come to see Luna on her Deathday.

Luna felt a soft smile slip onto her face as Rolf touched the small of her back, whispering, "What'd you find?"

"Look at the cuts in the bark. They don't look like they'd come from any animal that we've ever seen before. See the orange there?" Luna looked at her husband, her face illuminated by the moon, and she sighed.

Rolf nodded, his lips pursed together. "Luna, I don't think that's anything too important…"

Luna ran her hands over the bark once more. She could practically feel her mother there now. It had to be her. What else could it be?

"Rolf, can we just check it out?" Luna asked softly.

"Of course. I could be wrong and it could really be a Wrackspurt." Rolf gazed knowingly at Luna, and she smiled in return. He understood and she hadn't needed to say anything.

"We'll have to check it out in the morning, though, I think," Rolf muttered, turning his eyes towards the moon.

Luna's eyes grew a bit larger in surprise, but she took a deep intake of air and then nodded. It would be too dark to see anything, so even if her mum was here, it would be fruitless.

Rolf stood up and held out his hand for his wife. Luna took it, and when she was upright, began searching in her old school bag. Pulling out a lime green band, she stretched it out to its full length and gave one end to Rolf.

"You go around one end, and I'll go around the other," Rolf muttered.

Taking a last step towards Rolf, she took Rolf's end and tied it to her own, and Rolf stepped back to give her room. A crackle sounded through the woods around them and Luna turned her head around to her husband.

Rolf looked down towards his feet and leaned down, rubbing his hands through the grass and leaves. "Nothing," Rolf muttered curiously.

"We'll find it tomorrow," Luna assured.

Rolf held out his arm, which Luna slipped into, and said, "Let's go back to camp."

Luna breathed out a contented sigh and placed her hand around Rolf's waist.

"You tired?" Rolf asked quietly.

"Not really," Luna breathed mysteriously, keeping her gaze forward instead of looking up at her husband.

Rolf merely squeezed her shoulders slightly and then let go; they had arrived.

Luna swiftly moved towards the table in the middle of the encampment, and lit the three candles with the tip of her wand while Rolf went to the tent that was a few feet away.

"Ah!"

"Rolf?" Luna asked calmly.

"Er – there's a kid – I think," Rolf muttered as he crawled out of the tent.

"A kid – in the tent?"

Rolf nodded wearily and leaned against the table.

Luna only smiled in amusement and opened the flap of the tent where a small blob of white was sleeping at the kitchen table with Rolf's large bag of Beetle Chips.

Luna walked in fearlessly and merely rubbed the back of the white mass.

"Oh!" A girl's voice rose from the white mass and she startled, her small blue eyes peeping through two holes.

Luna pulled out a chair and sat down next to the girl. "You're lost."

The small girl nodded and curled up into the back of the chair, the white sheet now covering her small legs.

Luna studied her in a very relaxed way. She just leaned back into the comfortable chair and put her chin in the palm of her hand, gazing at the scared girl.

The girl squirmed and looked down at the ground. "Sorry for eating your food, but I ate all my candy."

The girl pointed to the floor where a large amount of candy wrappers were lying around an orange pumpkin-looking case.

Orange.

Luna stood up and slowly walked over to the pile of candy wrappers and stepped on it. A loud crackling sound echoed round the tent and Luna sighed, turning back to the small girl.

Might as well go home tomorrow.

"What's your name?"

The girl squirmed again and pulled the white sheet off her head.

"Ella," she breathed heavily.

"Is that what you're dressed up as for Halloween?" Luna asked softly, barely nodding to the sheet that Ella had been wearing.

Ella nodded and looked at Luna awkwardly.

"A ghost?" Luna breathed.

Ella nodded again. "I – I got lost in the woods. My friends dared me to come in and see the ghost that supposedly haunts the woods, but I got scared a-and I got lost."

"Wasn't your mum with you?" Luna asked.

Maybe she doesn't have one.

"My mum said I was old enough to go out on my own now – or at least with my friends. I live in the small village right outside the woods."

Luna nodded. "Rolf and I will take you back tonight. Better get moving."

Ella hopped off the seat slowly and then she pulled back on her sheet and swiveled it around so she could see. Once she had her pumpkin basket in her hand, she followed Luna out the door.

"Rolf?" Luna whispered.

"Yes?" Rolf quavered, looking around with bulging eyes.

"We need to take Ella back home. Do you know the way towards the village?" Luna asked.

"O-oh, yes." Rolf gulped. "Let me just get some – Ah!"

Luna giggled as she watched her fearful husband stand back up after tripping over a tree root. He was so desperately afraid of children.

"Here, we'll use this lamp. Rolf – lead the way." Luna held out the lamp towards him, and Rolf took it with a shaking hand.

As Luna walked through the woods, following her husband and holding Ella's hand, Luna couldn't help but remember the first time that her own mum had let her go out on her own on Halloween. Luna had been nine and she hadn't gone out to get candy, like Muggle children did. Wizarding families usually stayed home and just threw a small party. But Luna had gone out, with her mum's approval, to go frog-hunting – a new sport that her mum had taught her only a week before. Luna hadn't wanted to go at first. She was afraid of being without her mum on a dark night, but her mum said that she would be out soon, and would help her catch frogs.

Luna had left with that happy thought in mind, and she managed to catch the largest frog in the pond.

When she had rushed back to her mum to show her though, she saw an experiment go wrong.

Her mum had left her.

Luna squeezed Ella's hand softly and smiled down at her.

Ella's mum was still alive. She had to be.

"Which hou-house do you live in?" Rolf asked Ella.

Ella's face brightened as she realized she was back in town. "Just down this street!" Ella exclaimed, rushing down the sidewalk and pulling Luna along with her.

Luna stumbled as they came to a stop in front of a tall, tumbling house and Ella opened the creaking door.

"Mum!" Ella called into the house.

Luna's heart pounded in her ears, and she stood stock-still on the doorstep of the house. Luna was so scared she could barely shake.

"Mum!" Ella called again, rushing up the stairs that were in front of her.

Luna turned around as she heard Rolf's voice carry over the yard, and she allowed herself to lean against the house in relief. Rolf was talking to a couple – a distraught couple; a couple who had lost their kid.

Luna forced herself to stand up and she called Ella's name into the house. "Your parents are here!"

A thumping ensued as Ella pounded her feet down the stairs and whipped out of the house, down the garden, and into her parents' arms.

Her mum was alive.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief and walked down the garden, slipping under Rolf's shaking arm.

She was still with her - nothing could tear them apart.

A/N: This was written for the Halloween Challenge at the Reviews Lounge. It is actually chapter twenty-six of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" which is a compilation of all responses to the challenge under the Reviews Lounge profile. The link to the profile and all else associated with the Reviews Lounge is on my profile. Go check it out!

Next, I would like to thank Bad Mum for betaing this before it was posted. She pointed out some things that I should fix and gave me great feedback. Thanks, Katy!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this - I'd love to hear your thoughts!