This is the start of a series my muse likes to call lets inspire you to not write anything else. Oh well, pairing will be Luna/Harry and Ginny/Neville.
There was once a poor man called Remus, who lived in a small cottage away from the nearby village in the woods. In front of the cottage was a garden and on either side of the door stood two rose-trees, one was white as snow and the other was red as blood. Remus had adopted two girls who were like the rose-trees, they were called Luna and Ginny, nicknamed Snow-White and Rose-Red. They were good, happy, busy, cheerful and helpful as any child could be and Remus loved them with all his heart. Even though the children were together always they were quite different, Snow-White was more gentle and quiet than Rose-Red. She loved to sit inside with Remus and read, help with the house-work and walk through the small field by the house to pick wildflowers. Rose-Red loved nothing better than run around the forest and meadows catching butterflies and finding berries when the seasons were right.
The girls never let one go far without the other following soon after, and when Snow said "We will never leave each other," Rose answered "Never as long as we live," and Remus always added "What one has she must share with the other."
They were often seen running about the forest where they gathered herbs, berries and fruits; no wild creature did them any harm, but came close to them. The hares would eat carrots from their hands, unicorns would graze beside them, stags would leap beside them and birds would sing with them when the girls sang. The girls were never hurt in the forest, and if they were out too late they simply found a patch of moss or a pile of leaves, lay down beside each other and sleep till morning. Remus knew this and never worried when they did stay out.
One morning after they had spent the night in the forest and dawn woke them, the saw a woman sitting beside them she had a green dress on, vines wrapped around her waist and flowers adorned her hair. She stood and smiled at them but she never spoke, she waved and walked into the forest gently petting a unicorn as she walked past it.
When the girls looked around they noticed that they had fallen asleep on a cliff with a steep drop only a few feet away, and if they had walked further they would surely have fallen down and gotten hurt. They hurried home and told Remus about it and he said gently "She is the spirit of the forest and she watches over all who respects her trees, animals and plants. She will always protect you my dear daughters."
Luna and Ginny kept the little cottage tidy and clean. In the summer Ginny took care of the house and every morning she placed a bouquet of flowers on Remus' nightstand before he got up, in the bouquet she always made sure to pick at least one red and one white rose from the rose-trees. In the winter Luna would light the fire, hang the kettle for tea and cook breakfast. In the cold winter evenings when snow fell and muted the world around them, Remus would say "Go my snow and bolt the door." and then they sat by the fire and Remus would read to them, herbology, astronomy, runes and stories. The two girls listened as they sat and carted the wool, span, knitted and sowed. Close by them laid a kneazle by Luna and an owl sat upon a perch behind Ginny. Never could one find a more peaceful place in winter. But as sure as all children grow up things change.
It was a cold winter evening, as they were all settling around the fire, someone knocked on the door. Remus said "Ginny hurry, open the door it must be a poor traveller who is seeking shelter From this biting cold."
Ginny hurried and pushed the bolt back, thinking about the poor person stuck in that horrible weather, but it was not a traveller it was a great black bear that looked through the door. Ginny screamed in fright and jumped back, the kneazle hissed, the owl flapped his wings and Luna hurried behind Remus.
The bear growled gently "Don't be afraid of me, I will not hurt you! I am cold and only wish to warm myself by your fire."
"Poor bear," Remus said "lie down by the fire, but be careful not to burn your fur." he smiled as the bear walked gently in and laid down, "Girls come out the bear is good and will not harm you," they closed the door and stood beside Remus looking at the bear, "This is my daughters Luna also called Snow-white and Ginny called Rose-red"
The bear hummed and said "Help me get the snow out of my fur children." Luna hurried over and got the broom she swept the hide clean of snow, while Ginny rubbed a towel on his coat to remove the worst moisture, the bear growled and stretched out on the floor comfortably. The girls didn't wait long before they began to play with their guest. They tugged on his fur rolled him over and laid on him, he accepted it all in good cheer but when they got to rough he said:
"Careful children, careful, Snow-white, Rose-red,
Will you beat your lover dead."
When it was bedtime and the girls went to bed, Remus said to the bear, "You can stay here by the fire, and you will be safe from the cold and bad weather."
The bear thanked him and slept there when morning came the two children let him out and he walked across the snow to the forest. After that night the bear came by every evening at the same time, he laid himself by the fire, and let the children amuse themselves with him as much as they wanted, but always when they got to rough he would say:
"Careful children, careful, Snow-white, Rose-red,
Will you beat your lover dead."
They all got so used to the bear that the bolt was never fastened before their big black friend had arrived. When spring came and everything outside was green, the bear said to Luna one morning "Now I must go, and I will not return before summer is over."
"Where are you going dear bear?" she asked while gently hugging him.
"I must go to guard my treasures from the evil dwarfs. In the winter when the earth is frozen and too hard to dig in they stay in their burrows and cannot work their way through, but now when the sun warms the earth, they come out to pry and steal, and when they have something in their hand or in their caves it never sees daylight again."
Luna was sad to see him go but she still unbolted the door and let him out, he hurried past her but some of his fur caught on the bolt and some of his fur was torn off, to Luna it seemed as if she had seen gold under his fur, but she dismissed it. She waved at the bear and wished him well; he was soon behind the trees.
A short while after Remus called the two girls to him "Will you two go and get some firewood?" they both nodded and walked to the forest. They walked for a while before they saw a big tree lying across the path, and close by there was something jumping up and down beside the tree. As they came nearer they saw that it was an old dwarf with a long white beard. The end of his beard were caught in a crevice in the tree, the little man was jumping backwards and forwards like a dog leached to a post.
He glared at the girls with bright red eyes and spat, "Why do you just stand there? Can't you see I need your help?"
Ginny walked closer "What is the problem little man?" she asked gently
"You stupid goose, I wanted to split the tree so I could get the wood for cooking, and I had gotten a wedge in and it slipped out the tree closed so quickly that I could not get my beautiful beard out, now it is caught and I can't get away, and you laugh you silly fish. How i hate little repulsive girls"
The girls tried very hard but no matter what they tried, the beard was stuck, "I can run home and get help." Ginny offered
"You senseless goose," the dwarf snarled, "why would you get someone, there are already to many big folk here as it is. Can you really not do any better?"
"Patience is a virtue," Luna said gently, "I will help you." she then pulled her scissors out of the pocket in her apron, and cut the end of off the beard.
As soon as the dwarf was free he took the bag which lay by the tree, lifted it onto his back, while grumbling to himself, "Rude people, cutting off a piece of my fine beard. Bad luck on you both!" he walked off without looking at the children.
Sometime after on a beautiful day the girls were on their way to the river to catch some fish for their dinner. But when they came upon the river, they saw a little figure jumping towards the water, as if it was going to leap into the water. They ran towards it and found the dwarf.
"Where are you going?" Ginny asked teasingly "You are not going to swim in the dangerous currents are you?"
"I'm not a fool!" the dwarf cried "Do you not see that the fish is going to pull me in?" the little man had wanted to catch a fish and had been sitting on a rock, when a wind blew and twisted his beard into the fishing line, just as a big fish took the bait and the small man didn't have the strength to pull the fish to shore so it pulled and pulled the dwarf to the water. He had tried to hold onto the rock, reeds and bushes but nothing helped he had been forced to follow the movements of the fish, and now he was in danger of being dragged into the water.
The girls came just in time, they held him tight and tried to pull his beard loose but they could not get him free the beard was stuck. Luna nodded and brought out her scissors and cut off the beard, when the dwarf saw the beard disappear he screamed "You stupid fish, Is that civil to disfigure a man's face like this? Was it not enough for you to clip the end of my beard, you brat? Now you have cut off the best part of it, I can't be seen like that by my people. I wish you to hell!" then he took a sack of pearls and without another word he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.
Then a warm summer morning the two girls were out playing and running with the unicorns, they noticed a great eagle circling above and it swooped down they heard a shrill cry. They hurried forward into a small clearing the eagle landed behind a big rock and the cry was heard again, they saw that it was the dwarf and the eagle had seized him and was about to take off with him.
The children ran over and grabbed the little man; they pulled with all their might and kept it up so long that the eagle let his prey go.
The dwarf recovered quickly and cried "Could you not have been more careful?"
"You could be grateful that we got here in time" Ginny said
"Or be thankful that you are safe on the earth and not in a nest" Luna smiled
"You silly girls you have ruined my coat and the pockets, you clumsy creatures."
He then picked up his sack of precious stones and walked away to his burrow. The girls, who by now knew that the dwarf would never thank them, shrugged and continued with the unicorns running by their side.
As the two crossed a meadow on their way home later that afternoon, they surprised the dwarf, who had emptied his bag and had scattered the precious stones in a clear spot, as he didn't think anyone would be out so late. The sun shone on the stones making them shine and glitter, the colours were so beautiful that the children stood and stared at them.
"Why do you stand gaping there?" the dwarf cried horrified, his face became beet red. "Curse you both to hell and I wish you would die..." the dwarf continued to curse at them in rage.
He was still cursing when a loud growl was heard, and a big black bear came out of the forest towards them. The dwarf sprang up frightened, but he had nowhere to run his burrow was to far away and the bear was already very close.
He cried "Dear Bear spare me I will give you all my treasure, all the beautiful jewels that are lying here! I will not satisfy your hunger such a little man like me; you would not even know you had eaten anything. Take the two girls instead, those wicked girls fat and young they will be tender and tasty. Eat them!"
The bear didn't care for words, he struck the little man with his big paw and the little man did not move again. The girls took each other's hand and ran away, but the bear called out to them
"Snow-white and Rose-red, do not be afraid, wait, I will come with you."
"Why that is our bear!" Ginny exclaimed
"We haven't seen him in so long." Luna smiled
They turned and waited and when he came upon them his bearskin fell off, and in the bears place stood a handsome man, with unruly black hair, emerald green eyes and a teasing smile upon his face, clothed all in gold.
"I am the king's son," he told them and they curtsied "I was bewitched by that wicked dwarf, who had stolen all my treasures. I had to run around the forest as a bear until I was freed by his death. Now he has gotten his well deserved punishment."
He took the girls home and they told Remus the story, the Prince Hadrian courted Luna and married her while Ginny married his brother Neville and between them they divided all the treasure they found in the dwarfs burrow. Remus lived peacefully and happily with his children for many years. He took the two rose-trees with him to the palace, and they stood on either side of the great doors leading inside, and every year they bore the most beautiful roses in the garden, white and red. And when Luna and Ginny had children they called the two girls Rose and Snow and they were as close as sisters.
