As always, thanks for all the reviews for all my next gen one-shots :) I'm sorry that it's taken me longer to update than usual, but I've had exams to revise for and I spent all of yesterday in bed feeling ill, but I'm all better now! Anyway, here's Lorcan's story, and the next one will be Lysander.
We Told You So
When Lorcan was very small, he developed the habit of looking through all the old photo albums his mother Luna kept in a cupboard in the living room whenever he got bored. The one that particularly interested him was the album full of photos from Luna's first trip to Sweden with her father, back in 1996, in an attempt to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.
" Mum, when can we go to Sweden?" he once asked her.
" Sweden? Why do you want to go there?" she replied.
" I want to find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
When he told her this, Luna would look uncharacteristically serious, and her dreamy smile would vanish.
" I'm sorry Lorcan, but there's no such thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. I used to believe there was, but on that occasion I was wrong. At least, I probably am," she then sighed, and began to smile again. " No one else believes in them, and I've never seen one anyway."
" Okay, okay, sorry I asked," said Lorcan. " But can we still go to Sweden?"
" Maybe when you're older."
That was the end of that topic. Lorcan did get older, he went to Hogwarts, where he was sorted into Ravenclaw, and then, all too soon, he had left Hogwarts. And he still hadn't been to Sweden. Until, one day, he met Kristine. Kristine, the beautiful witch with shoulder length chestnut brown hair, pale white skin and light blue eyes. She was working in the Department of International Magical Co-operation, and he met her while visiting his friend Roxanne. They got to talking, and it was only later that Lorcan discovered that she was Swedish. Well, of course, as soon as he found that out he just had to maintain a friendship with her. And then, finally, almost a year after they had met, Lorcan received a very exciting letter:
Dear Lorcan,
I only just found out yesterday, but I'll be going back to Sweden soon, for my sister's wedding. I know that you have always wanted to go to Sweden, so maybe you would like to come with me? And, if you have time, you can come to the wedding too.
Love,
Kristine
A week after receiving the letter, Lorcan and Kristine took the next Portkey to Sweden. They arrived in the capital city, Stockholm, and while Kristine went to visit her sister, Lorcan checked in at the hotel. Just as he reached the lobby, the hotel doors flung open and a man sprinted in. He cut in front of Lorcan and grabbed onto the lobby desk, panting heavily. He began jabbering away about walking in a park, and seeing something highly unusual. He was English, and the woman behind the desk was looking very confused.
" Excuse me," said Lorcan to the man. " Are you alright?"
" No, I'm – really – not," he panted; he was still out of breath after sprinting into the hotel.
" What happened?" he asked him.
" Well, I was – walking in the park – near here," the man gulped, and his breathing returned to normal. " And, I heard something sort of, well, moaning, in the bushes. So I looked and I saw… a thing."
There was a moment's silence. Then –
" A thing?" Lorcan repeated.
" I don't know what to call it!" said the man hotly. " I've never seen anything like it before… It was quite small, and its body was furry and yellow, but even though it had such a small body, it had a really large horn. But I expect you won't believe me, right?"
Lorcan shook his head. " No, I believe you. Will you show me where you saw it?"
The man nodded, and walked over to the door. Lorcan quickly checked in, and left his suitcase in the lobby. He followed to the man to a nearby park, and the man introduced himself. His name was Alexander Meller, and he was staying at that hotel for the weekend, on a business trip. From all this, Lorcan gathered that he was a Muggle. Finally, they reached the bush. Alexander hung back, eyeing it cautiously, and pointed at it dramatically. Lorcan, his back turned on Alexander, took out his wand, and looked behind the bush. The animal was still there, asleep. He recognised it almost at once. His mother had often shown him pictures that his grandfather had drawn of this creature, even when she had stopped believing in it's existence. Because, deep down, she had never really stopped believing. And as soon as he got home, Lorcan was putting this memory in his father's pensieve and showing it to his mother.
" Is it still there?" Alexander called.
" Yeah," said Lorcan, leaving the sleeping creature and turning to face Alexander. " It's a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."
" A wh - "
But before he could finish his sentence, Lorcan had muttered " Obliviate", and Alexander fell slowly to the floor.
" Sorry about that," said Lorcan. " But thanks for showing me. I'm afraid I'll have to leave now; I must pick out a suit for a wedding."
Oh yeah, I didn't know what a Crumple-Horned Snorkack's supposed to look like, except that it has a horn (obviously), so I based it on how I imagine one.