An introductory note:
Fear not, gentle reader! You will not have to bear with these lengthy introductions with any frequency. Rather, it is my goal to allow this story to tell itself, with minimal interference from yours truly. That said, there are a few things I thought I'd like to clarify up-front, as they may cause a touch of confusion.
First, the genesis of this idea was a mash-up of post-illness daydreaming, Harry Potter, and Greek Mythology.
Secondly, regarding some more obscure mythology you might encounter (and some that I just made up): The Greek moon goddess Selene and the immortal dreamer Endymion, through their love (and despite the Dreamer's perpetual sleep) gave birth to fifty daughters. But, as occasionally happens in myth, these daughters sort of vanish into obscurity; nevertheless, in my mind's eye, they began to take on a form of their own.
So, just as the River God Nereus' fifty daughters became the Nereids (sea nymph companions to the Sea God, Poseidon), the fifty daughters of Endymion have, in this mythos joined the Sleep God, Hypnos, as "sleep nymphs"… Somnaiads (sahm-nee-ads).
Oh, and the word "kore" means both "young girl" and the sorts of ancient Greek statues of young girls that bore little half-smiles.
And that is the introductory note! I hope you'll find some joy as you join with me, fair reader, in exploring this slightly unusual joining of genre. (And Ihope, for both our sakes, that I do my imagination justice in realising this: my first piece of fan fiction.)
Fan Fiction boilerplate: I hold no rights to the Harry Potter franchise, its characters, or derivations thereof. Dame Rowling has been exceptionally generous to allow us this usage, and I would not dare to presume upon such a kind allowance.
That said, all non-HP characterisations and ideas are my own and I do, in fact, reserve the right to their use. Enjoy!
Chapter I - Moonstruck
"And so you see, dear heart… when you try hardest to see the Snorkack, that is when it makes itself Most Difficult to find. It's only when you Free yourself to the twisty, turny, peanut-buttery – Xeno! – erm, right… twisty, turny, sweet, and fragile sensibilities of the Snorkack that it will trust you enough to show itself to you."
"Okay, puppy dad!" little Luna smiled dreamily, gazing up at her parents in sleepy adoration.
Just as they had for the last eight years of her life, Xenophilius Hippolyta and Selene Calliope Lovegood had tucked their cherubic, towheaded daughter into bed with a story of their own creation. Xeno's wild creatures marched in silly counterpoint to Selene's moralistic parables, and when the two joined forces, it allowed them to teach their sweet little girl about the world in a way entirely of their own devising.
Of course, from time to time, Selene had to nudge Xeno back to the point ("Peanut-buttery?! Honestly!"), but his little jokes always made their daughter smile, and it warmed their hearts to see her so. These nightly routines helped to ensure that theirs was a home filled with warmth, and with light, and above all, with love.
It was, to pun the name, quite good.
Sighing wistfully, Selene slowly withdrew her shimmering, nebulous fingers from her daughter's brow, and bit back an ethereal sob.
In the five years since her passing – nearly a year to the day after the memory she had slid into her daughter's dreamscape – she had seen young Luna grieve, struggle, and hurt more than any child deserved. "A girl needs her mother's love," she thought to herself, as she had every moon before, year after year, standing at her daughter's bedside, "my poor, sweet Luna… you are SO loved."
With a smile of gentle regret, Selene lightly rose to her feet and padded to the window, gazing out at the Hogwarts grounds from her position within Ravenclaw tower. A dim light was beginning to show along the far reaches of the Forbidden Forest, and the full moon was drawing near its terminal point in the sky.
Gathering her ghostly white robes about her, Selene slowly nodded, turning her gaze back to young Luna's sleeping form, with a hint of resolve shining in her pale eyes. "It is time," she thought. Casting her thanks to the divine gifts of her heritage, Selene Calliope Lovegood née Endymion rose her hands upwards, in supplication to the fading moonlight, and drew upon the love she felt for her daughter.
There, between her upraised palms, a glow began pouring from her, mixing with the moonbeams, slowly spinning itself into a luminescent globe. The strain of the act etched itself in the gentle lines of her face, but her pose remained steady, her façade one of determined calm. A wind seemed to buffet her, and her alone, as her hands began to shake, but she did not waver.
At last, just as the strain seemed to verge on overwhelming her fragile form, the full moon's light vanished, seeming to release her. With a joyful, keening cry, the ghostly Somnaiad drew her hands towards her heart, and thrust her chest towards the bed. The motion had the effect of sending the glow of her feelings rushing towards her sleeping kore with a crystalline chiming noise,before Selene collapsed in exhaustion.
But, as Selene lay panting on the ground, her eyes remained fixed upon the spot where the shimmering, pinkish glow had struck, watching intently, as it slowly expanded, sliding along the veins, arteries, and mage-lines of her daughter's body. It seemed to infuse her skin with the lightest of blushes, pumping love through every inch of her body, illuminating her as she dozed. And at last, when the sleeping form was fully encompassed, the radiance pulsed once, and faded.
Satisfied that her love would keep Luna whole and unharmed for another moon, the determined expression on Selene's face gentled once more into a slight smile; and with serene, motherly adoration writ across her brow, her form slowly eased its way out of discernibility, fading into the shrinking darkness of the pre-dawn light.