Written for the Houses Competition, Year 3 Round 3

House: Hufflepuff

Position: Prefect

Category: Standard

Prompt: [Weather] Misty

Additional Requirement: Love conquers all

Word count: 1492

Betas: Aya, Magi

I was born on a misty summer evening in a dark forest near a large castle named Hogwarts. The first thing I remember was the cool, damp air and the fresh smell of the woods around me, and then my mother's kind face. The first few days of my life were tough, as the air quickly became cold and my mother became weak, but we survived.

I spent my days as a young foal running through the woods with the other foals, playing made up games with each other because there wasn't much else to do around the big yet empty woods. Our mothers would eat the meat every day offered by a large bearded man with the rest of the herd while we played, until we were tired and came to eat. After we were finished nursing, we would lay down with our mothers and fall asleep, exhausted from a day of running around. We would wake up and repeat the whole thing over again.

The days went like this for awhile, the only time the routine would change was when our parents would disappear for a full day, then come back. This happened about twice a year, and as young foals, we didn't question it much.

When I hit three years of age, I had grown three times my birth size. My mother had already moved on and had another foal, while me and my old friends were accepted into the herd as adults. The man that had been supplying us with food started training me with a lead rope in a small pen, and I happily obeyed his every command. He rewarded me with food and a nice scratch behind my ears, which was the itchy spot on my body that I didn't even know I had. He soon had me start pulling a carriage, along with the rest of my herd that was my age. I got used to the strange feeling of pulling something behind me, and one day, I finally found out what my mother did all this time. It turns out, she had been pulling carriages full of students to and from the castle and train station.

I started doing this, and continued to do so for a few years, and I did it without complaint. There wasn't anything to grumble about since we only had to do it twice a year, and got rewarded with meat and sometimes apples. After a while I noticed that nobody paid me or anyone else from my drove any attention, as if we were invisible. There were a few that did notice us, however, but they were very uncommon and almost always looked at us with disgusted expressions and avoided us, as if we were diseased.

Until she came into my life. It was a misty day, and I was hooked up to the carriage, allowing kids to get on. She was a dusty-blond haired girl with wide, silver eyes and a dreamy, happy expression on her face. I thought that she would just walk right into the coach like the rest, but I saw that she noticed me.

Her face didn't change at all upon seeing me. She just smiled wider and walked right up to me. She started stroking me, making the other kids around her stare in shock. She reached up and started scratching me in that spot right behind my ear. I nodded my head in approval of her itching me there and leaned into her hand, making her giggle.

"Do you like that?" She smiled at me. "I bet nobody pays you any attention, you poor thing. They can't see you, the others. You're invisible, only people who've seen death can see you. I know, it's strange, I think everyone should have the privilege to see you beautiful creatures without having to watch someone die," She said calmly, in the sweetest voice I had ever heard. "Oh, I guess you're wondering. My mother, she died when I was nine after testing a spell that backfired. It's just me and my daddy now." She sighed with sadness in her voice. I didn't like hearing this girl sad, so I licked her on the cheek, hoping it would cheer her up. She laughed and stroked my face.

"It's fine, I miss her, but me and Daddy get on fine by ourselves. I'm Luna, by the way. I better get in, I don't want to hold things up," She spoke, giving me a soft kiss on the nose before loading up with the rest of the students. I didn't see her after that, as she got mixed in with the crowd of students.

I thought that it would be a long time until I got to see her again once I returned to the forest. Her kindness touched me so deeply, just her stopping and paying me attention was enough. I already knew that I loved her as much as I loved my mother. I was very surprised and delighted when she came down into the forest about a week later on a misty day, barefooted and with a bag full of apples. She offered me one the second I saw and trotted toward her. I took it gleefully and she scratched my itchy spot as she told me about her first week at school. I listened as she kept feeding me apples and scratching me.

She soon ran out of apples and told me that she had to leave, and she would be back another day to continue talking to me. I watched her walk away through the mist, looking like a perfect little angel. She returned a week later with more apples and more stories to tell. We laid on the forest floor, her head leaning on my neck, and ate apples and watched the wildlife around us.

She soon started coming every week on the same day, at the same time, never late. I waited by the closest part of the forest to the castle for her and would trot to her when I caught a glimpse of her hair. It would be the same thing every time, I would snack on apples and listen to her. Soon she started confiding her secrets to me, and I would listen and understand every word. I loved her with all my heart, her visits were the only thing I ever lived for anymore.

This continued for years, only stopping during the summer and Christmas breaks, where she would go back home for a while and I would wander around, lonely with nothing to look forward to, until my trainer came to hook us up once again. We both grew, and she transformed from a lovely little girl to a beautiful young woman, but as she grew in size, her conversations changed from little things happening at school to about someone called You-Know-Who and about an evil woman named Umbridge and how they were rebelling against her. As time passed, they gradually became more serious, and Luna's tone changed from one of her usual happy-go-lucky one, to one of fear. Whoever these people she was talking about, I wanted to hurt them, to kill them, so they couldn't harm my Luna.

And, sometime after Christmas break, the visits stopped. My Luna was nowhere to be found. I knew something had happened.

I waited patiently for her at the spot that we always met for days, weeks, and eventually months, only getting up to eat. It would only be a matter of time before she returned, I thought to myself after every day of sitting and waiting.

Until one misty night I caught her scent. I soared around and looked in shock at what I saw by the school. Thousands of people trying to attack the school, accompanied by giants and other large creatures. A shield appeared to be blocking them, but they were slowly breaking it. I looked down and saw my Luna, and knew it was time to save her. I didn't care about myself. I loved her too much, she gave me company all these years when others didn't even dare come towards me. She was too good for this world, and I would rather die and her live than her die and I live without her.

So, without hesitation, as soon as they broke the barrier, I attacked. I flew from above and slashed as many men as I could with my fangs, the sight of the blood of Luna's enemies fueling me. The last thing I remember is a giant swinging at something else, me not looking where I was going, and the giant hit me with so much force, I was half-dead on impact. I fell gracefully to the ground and remember my Luna screaming, and then seeing her angelic face full of tears as I took my last breath, knowing that even though the battle wasn't over, Luna would survive.