Companions
The knock at Harry and Ginny's door was unexpected and they looked up to meet each others eyes questioningly. "You expecting anyone?" Ginny asked. "No." Harry said as they both got up to go to the door. Ginny looked through the hole and opened the door, "Luna, what a surprise. How is the new bundle of joy?" Luna smiled at the question, "The baby thestral is thriving, we named him Dusk. Do you miss your pigmy puff?" Ginny smiled, "Arnold was a good companion but they do not live long, I knew that when I got him. Please come in" the routine finished all three relaxed and Harry noticed the case Luna had with her as she walked into the house. "The house looks nice, you put a lot of work into it. How have you been sleeping?" Harry smiled, that was Luna; honest, straight forward and kind, and there was no point trying to get around answering her questions. "Ok, some nights are fine, some nights are terrible". Ginny responded "How about you?" "Much better now, I have a new friend and she sleeps with me every night, sleep is much better with her." Harry raised his eyebrows "Rolf lets you sleep with another woman in your bed?" Luna laughed "no silly, she is a Kneazle. Newt gave her to me." "That is very interesting." Harry said a little unsure where this was going. "He has one as well, to help him sleep. He does not talk about it much but he has seen things that haunt him also. Rolf mentioned how hard it was to sleep with me since I move a lot, and the screaming sometimes. So Newt talked to me about the nightmares and he gave me Sol. I have slept so much better ever since" "That's great Luna." Ginny said, she really was happy to know things were getting better for her friend. Luna opened the case and pulled out a cat and handed it to Ginny "I brought you one, technically you are supposed to get a license from the ministry for them, you can do that later if you think she helps." Ginny looked at the kneazle it was a very handsome cat looking creature with spots. "We named her Eirene, you can change it if you want. Oh, she likes you." The kneazle was smelling Ginny all over, resting her paws on Ginny's chest to sniff her face and hair. Ginny looked to Harry "Should we try it out, see if she helps?" Ginny knew last night had been a rough one for Harry. "We can try. It won't hurt right?" He looked at Luna as he said it. "No, Kneazles are very good creatures she will not hurt you. She will protect you."
Harry and Ginny crawled into bed, Eirene hopped onto the bed and laid on Harry's chest. The weight was comforting and he hoped they would both finally have peace. They fell asleep and Ginny started to dream. It was a nice dream, she and Harry were running around Hogwarts finding places to hide and kiss they were laughing and she ran into a room, it was a bathroom, Harry had not followed her, she saw the sink and heard the hissing. Her heart started racing and then she felt warmth and a safe pressure and her heart slowed, she turned and left the room, she knew it was not a good room, she found Harry outside and they held hands and left again to find a corner they could be together in.
"How did you sleep?" Harry asked. "It was good. I think for a moment it was going to be bad but it wasn't." Ginny said just as Eirene jumped on her chest and the familiar warmth and pressure covered her. "We are keeping Eirene." Ginny was decided in her statement "Ok, we are the proud owners of a kneazle." Harry replied, he knew it had been the best week of sleep they had in a year. "Do you know what they named her?" Ginny asked as she petted Eirene. "We have been calling her Eirene all week I think I know her name." Harry replied. "That's not what I meant, I mean why that name. I looked it up since it is a little strange. She was the Greek personification of peace. I think it is a perfect name, don't you?" Ginny looked at Harry as she continued petting the cat like creature. "Perfect." Harry agreed "Do you think we should tell Ron and Hermione about kneazles?" Ginny thought about it for a bit "Maybe, but maybe Luna already did. We should ask her; want to invite her to dinner tonight?" "I'll send an owl now." Harry got up and went down to send the invite.
The knock came and this time Ginny and Harry were expecting it. Ginny checked the hole and opened the door. "Hi guys, you know I forgot the name of the new baby again, what was it?" Ginny asked. "Dusk, Harry do you remember what I said the first time you saw a thestral?" Luna smiled as she looked to Harry. Harry laughed "You're not going mad, I can see them too, you're just as sane as I am. Come on in, nice to see you again Rolf." "Come to the dining room, we have dinner set out." Ginny led them into the room. "How long will you two be in England?" Harry asked as they all sat down. "Oh, not long we are going to Africa next week, there are supposed to be some really amazing fantastic beasts there. Rolf wants to put out a sequel to Newt's book, it's a little old. We are really looking forward to it." Luna said happily, she said almost everything happily. "How is Eirene?" Rolf asked between bites of food. "She is great, she likes to explore the house and hunt outside and life is better with her here." Ginny said appreciatively "Luna we were thinking about telling Ron and Hermione about how having a kneazle in our life has helped, but did not want to if you already talked to them." Rolf laughed a little "We didn't need too Crookshanks is a kneazle, he has been taking care of them ever since they got him back. He is very protective, prefers Hermione though." This time Ginny laughed, "Might have been because Ron hated him the first year Hermione got him. Accused him of eating his rat, it's a pity he didn't." She looked at Harry to make sure he was fine with the conversation and was surprised to see him petting Eirene who had jumped on his lap. This was going to be good, they were going to be fine Ginny thought, kneazle license requests might increase soon at the ministry.