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Hey guys! So this is chapter 2. I'm so surprised at the amount of fav's and followers this story has received in just a single day. The amount of reviews ain't to shabby either. So thanks for that, you're all awesome. But on a more serious note, I cannot tell you how flattered I am at the amount of people who fav'ed or followed me as an author in general and not just one of my stories, there really is no higher complement so I thank you.
I have no beta. Want the job? Pm me!
2.
Ever since Jason moved out when she was eight, Luna had the entirety of the second floor of the house to herself. It was nothing to brag about, only two rather large bedrooms, the largest in the house, and a linen closet by the stairs. Unfortunately there was no bathroom, so she had to share the downstairs hall bath with Sookie, but that didn't bother her too much.
The room that had been Jason's was turned into something like a living room after getting a fresh coat of paint, changing it from faded blue to dark purple like her own bedroom. She had her TV in there with a leather couch she bought from Terry Bellefleur after he sold his small house and moved into a trailer. There was a large recliner too that almost matched perfectly, that she got from Sam. A small dorm fridge was set up on a long table against the back wall with a microwave. And a black throw rug covered most of the hardwood floor.
Really, it just looked like an extension of her own room, which was done in the same color scheme, purple and black being her favorite colors.
It was in this room that the fourteen year old Luna lounged, legs thrown over the arm of the recliner, as she watched day time TV, and ate unsalted popcorn, sipping some of Gran's sweet tea. It was late June, several weeks after school let out, and she was so very happy not to have to go back to that prison for nearly three whole months.
Thanks to her.. ability (personally she thought it was a curse, Sookie agreed) she had never really made any friends of her own. Granted, that wasn't the whole reason. Fourteen year olds were just very annoying. And she was pretty sure her mental maturity was frozen from her first life. She still felt seventeen, and theorized that she would start maturing mentally when her body caught up again. But really, who knew? Maybe mental age altogether was a lie, and it was only the body that aged.
Anyway, she had no plans of making friends with the children in her class, though admittedly, it was much better than when she was in elementary school. From grades K-Five, she had almost lost her mind more times than she could count. Being stuck in a class with five year olds was more than she cold handle and she begged her gran to home school her, she was told the same thing Sookie was when she asked, an unwavering NO.
Gran may be sweet as pie, but that didn't mean she bent to their will, and both knew better than to press the issue or they'd get a switch to their backsides. So Luna, like Sookie, was doomed to attending public school with a bunch of uncontrolled, gross, emotionally unstable children. It was awful. She had never wished more fervently that she had just stayed dead. Okay, maybe she was being a bit of a drama queen with that last part.. but only a bit.
So Luna had no real friends her age, though she did have a handful of acquaintances, and spent most of her time with Sook and Tera. Tera Thornton was someone who had been coming to their house since before Luna could even walk, and was a very close friend to both Stackhouse girls. She was kinda a pain, and could be incredibly obnoxious, not to mention she was obsessed with their brother, but she was a great and loyal friend.. most of the time.
Still a bitch though.
Lafayette Reynolds, Tera's cousin, was another person she spent a lot of time with, though not so much lately since he got himself a new man. Still, he was Luna's favorite person in Bon Temps outside of her own small family. He was a big, buff, bad ass looking guy with dark skin.. and as gay as the day is long. And not quietly so, like most people in town wished he was, no he was flamboyant. He wore bright colors, sometimes women's tops, painted his nails, and wore makeup and body glitter.. Luna adored him for his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude. He was just so completely genuine and authentic.
But he was a bitch too, it must run in the family, like crazy runs in hers.
Her contemplation's were cut off when a loud banding sound echoed from downstairs. Gran wasn't home, she had a meeting with her club, the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, that afternoon about an exhibit that was opening in the Shreveport museum that weekend, but Sookie was still there. Given the time, her sister was probably making lunch, so she could just ignore it, but she was curious. So instead she grabbed the remote and clicked the TV off, and stood with the empty popcorn bowl in her hand.
Sook would probably try to scold her for 'ruining her lunch' by eating popcorn, but Luna only rolled her eyes at the thought as she walked down the stairs, sometimes her sister acted more like her mother, it was sweet and grated on her nerves like nothing else. But halfway down the curving flight of stairs the blond teen froze mid step, almost falling forward.
Sookie had answered the door and greeted whoever was on the other side, this was normal behavior, what wasn't normal was the voice that answered her. A voice with a heavy English accent, a voice she would probably never forget.
"Hello, we were wondering if Luna Stackhouse was in?" Hermione's voice rung in her ears.
The glass bowl slipped from her fingers, toppling down the remaining stairs before smashing on the wooden floor at their base. Luna had gone to the library that morning to see if her old friend had answered the letter she sent the day before, she hadn't. The blond was disappointed, but thought maybe Hermione hadn't gotten a chance to check her mail yet, so she hadn't given up hope, not by a long shot.
Apparently Hermione had gotten her mail, and instead of answering back she hopped across the pond. Warmth filled her at the thought, and before she knew it, she was running down the stairs, ignoring the shards of glass at the bottom. Sliding around the corner on socked feet, she saw them. Honestly, she had no idea what she was expecting, whatever it was it wasn't this..
Ron was standing there looking awkward in a casual 'muggle' suit, fidgeting uncomfortably with the hem of his blazer jacket. Poor bastard, it was June.. in Louisiana, he must have been sweltering. But that was more a passing thought, because the physical changes from the teen she remember were staggering. Ron had grown taller, not by much, but he definitely added a few inches. There were lines on his face, and his hair was thinning in the front like Mr. Weasley's had. Unsurprisingly, given how he used to eat, his stomach had also expanded quite a bit.
Hermione's stomach had also expanded, with good reason, seeing as in how she was heavily pregnant. There were also lines on her face, just a few at the corners of her eyes, and her laugh lines had deepened. Her hair was exactly the same though, bushy and frizzing up in the Louisiana humidity. She wore a long thin white dress with black dots, and looked very anxious, not unlike her husband.
It was silly, and completely unrealistic, but she had foolishly been expecting to see the people she remembered, if she ever got to see them at all. Instead she was faced with the mid thirties versions of the people she used to know as well as she knew herself. But her mind had been playing tricks on her. Time didn't freeze just because she died, and fifteen years had passed since then.
The knowledge, as obvious as it was, left her feeling flat footed.
She didn't even look at Sookie, who uncharacteristically hadn't invited their guests in the house.. she should have.
"Hermione?" Her voice came out uncertain, unsure how to proceed, and just as uncomfortable as Ron looked.
"Are you.. Luna?" Her old friends voice was a little breathless, but her eyes were sharp as knives.
"I am, it's good to see you. Er.. do you wanna come in?"
Sookie took a step back as Luna pulled the door further open and gestured to the living room furniture. They did walk into the house, but made no move to sit, instead the both stood before her, their eyes raking over her face. Ron looked unsure, but Hermione's face was impossible to read. She knew what they were looking for. They were searching for any trace of Rose Potter in her features.
They wold be disappointed, disappointed, because there was nothing of Rose in her face, or even her body. But she didn't want to feel it, so she tightened her control as much as she could, her frame ridged under the pressure to keep their emotions out. She had enough problems dealing with her own at the moment, thank-you-very-much.
Rose Potter had been a short and skinny girl, from years of mistreatment and near starvation at the hands of the Dursley's. Her skin was pale, she had short black hair cut into a pixie cut, and shining green eyes stood out on her face behind thick round glasses. Luna looked nothing like she used to as Rose. She was now of average height, just under five and a half feet tall, and while thin also had some dramatic curves she could have only dreamed of in her past life. Her skin was golden, the hair almost reaching her lower back pale blond, and her eyes were sky blue.
The only thing she kind of shared with her old face was the almond shape to her eyes, and even that wasn't exactly the same.
Before anyone could speak the slamming of the door drew all attention. Sookie was standing there, shaking slightly, looking back and forth between Hermione and Ron wildly, her eyes flickering to Luna every now and then. And realization hit the fourteen year old hard. Oh god. Her sister could read their minds, and only god knew what she heard inside her old friends heads, though Luna could make a guess.
"What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?" Each word was stilted, but left no room for evasion, not that it would have done any good.
Luna floundered. At a complete loss, her mouth working soundlessly for a second before snapping shut. She should have paid better attention, or even just looked at the older girl. If she hadn't tightened her barriers so much she might have felt.. But what could she have done? Sookie would have heard them the instant she lowered her own barriers, probably when her friends, who were now in their thirties, asked to speak to her.
Of course, she thought, that's why her sister hadn't invited them in.
"I want an explanation! Now!" Sookie took a shaky step forward.
"I.." Luna swallowed, panic leaking passed her impressive barriers. "I can explain." She really didn't want to. "Just please Sook, give me a minute." Turning back to her friend's, who were silently watching the sisters, she decided to throw caution to the wind, it wasn't like she could keep it from Sookie now anyways. "I know this is probably hard to believe. But it really is me." She almost begged them to believe her.
"Hard to believe?" Hermione sounded incredulous as she put her hands on her hips and frowned. "You contact me, out of the blue, and claim to be our best friend, who I might add, has been dead for fifteen years, and you think 'hard to believe' covers it?"
Her mind raced, thinking of a way she could convince them.
She would have to share secrets she had with each of them, secrets it was unlikely even the other knew, and it was even more impossible for a stranger to know than the facts about their adventures she sent in her letter to Hermione. The blond turned to Ron, who had been silent this whole time, first.
"In first year, when Hermione went home for Christmas break I found a mirror, the Mirror of Erised. I saw my parents for the first time, and when I told you about it I was so excited to show them to you. But when we finally found the room it was housed in, you didn't see what I saw. You saw yourself, as Head Boy, and captain of the quidditch team." Ron's stance relaxed, tears gathering, but not falling, from river blue eyes. "I became obsessed with the mirror, spending hours just staring at the faces of James and Lily Potter, you got worried, asking me to promise you I wouldn't go back. But I couldn't do that, I needed to see them, to have some part of them, nothing else mattered, especially not some stupid stone. And it wasn't until Dumbledore moved it that I finally snapped out of it, I made you swear not to tell Hermione, knowing how disappointed she would be if she knew I spent most of the hols staring at something that wasn't real instead of trying to look up Nicolas Flamel."
Then she turned to Hermione.
"In sixth year, when Ron first started dating Lavender and she kissed him in the common room after we won the first quidditch game of the year against Slytherin, you ran out, and I followed you. I fond you crying at the base of the tower, practicing the Avis charm. And you asked me how it felt when I saw George with Angelina the year before. You said that you knew I had feelings for him, that you were my best friend and saw the way I looked at him. I didn't have an answer so I just hugged you until Ron showed up with Lavender and you sent the birds at his head."
Hermione had tears falling down her cheeks, and Luna took a cautious step closer. Her barriers had failed when she was speaking, and she could feel them. Their confusion, and fear, and happiness, and a thousand other emotions.
"You have to believe me, it really is me. I.. I don't know how, or why this happened, it just did."
She pleaded with them to understand, and apparently they did, because it wasn't a second later that she found herself being crushed in Hermione's arms bushy brown hair obscuring her vision. Hermione wept happily, holding her in the crook of her neck, and Luna felt her tears against the skin of her shoulder. The blond held the now much older woman as tightly as she dared, worried, not for her ribs which were close to snapping, but for the precious bump between them. And she laughed wetly when another pair of long arms encased them both.
She felt high on all the happiness flooding her, her own and theirs.
When they pulled back from their impromptu group hug, Luna and Ron turning away to try and wipe their eyes discreetly and Hermione watching on in such fondness, Luna decided to address the next hurdle in the room. Because it wasn't just a pleasant cocktail of emotions she could feel from the people around her. Sookie was angry, confused, and scared. There was betrayal there, disbelief, and possessiveness.
"Guys, this is my sister, Sookie Stackhouse." She gestured to the immobile older blond who was staring at them all blank faced. "Sook, this is Hermione and Ron." She licked her lips once again feeling completely unsure, and not knowing how or what to explain.
"Am I?" Sookie didn't even look at their guests, a very bad sign, few things in existence could have her forgetting the manners gran beat into their skulls.
"Are you what?" Luna furrowed her brows, a frown pulling at her lips.
"Your sister." She reeled back as if smacked, helpless to stop the wave of hurt that escaped her. "Are you my sister? Or are you some type of supper hero, broom riding, world saving witch? Have you been faking this whole time, just waiting to go back to your real life? Are you Luna Stackhouse at all?"
It hurt, badly, but she could understand. She could feel what her sister was feeling, the emotional rollercoaster the older was on. It would have been stupid, to think the other would take this life changing revelation with a smile and nary a negative word. It wasn't just the fact that she found out her little sister was a dead girl reborn, but also about the magical world in general. Sookie knew nothing about any of this. And Luna knew she couldn't, and shouldn't, hold her harsh words against her.
That did nothing to take away the sting though.
"I am your sister." She walked over to her, taking her hands in her own, grateful Sookie allowed the contact. "You, Jason, and Gran you're the only true family I've ever had. You have no idea how much that means to me. I.. I love you all so, so much. I should have told you, especially you, just so you knew we weren't the only different people around. And I'm sorry. I really am, I have no excuse except I didn't want you to see me differently. Like an outsider or interloper. But I am your sister, you are my sister. I'll explain everything, I'll tell you everything. I promise."
Sky blue eyes stared into sky blue eyes.
"Do you know why..?" Sookie trailed off, her shoulders relaxing slightly.
"No." Luna shook her head, her long blond pony tail swaying from side to side with the movement.
"But you're a witch."
"No.. I'm not, I don't have magic any more." There was a gasp and a 'bloody hell!' from behind her and Luna turned to face her friends again, both looking and feeling utterly shocked at the admission. "It's why it took so long to contact you, and when I finally did it was the muggle way, I have no access to the magical world."
A timer went off in the kitchen, pausing the conversation.
"That's lunch." Sookie turned to Ron and Hermione. "Would you like to join us? I made more than enough."
"That'd be great thanks."
"We wouldn't want to impose."
The married couple answered at the same time, and Hermione threw a glare at her husband. But it was so familiar, so much like she remembered, and Luna couldn't help but laugh aloud. Being with them, seeing them like this, it was good for her. It made a tightness in her chest she hadn't really thought about in years loosen. It was odd, how she had to find something again, to gain closure for losing it in the first place.
"Don't think you're off the hook missy. I'm calling in and talking to Sam about getting the night off, we're gonna have a nice long chat."
"Of course." Luna agreed happily.
"And I'm still the older sister."
With that Sookie swept into the kitchen.
"You talk funny."
"Ron!" Hermione swatted at her insensitive other half.
"Hell woman! I'm just saying, they have weird accents s'all."
"So do you." Luna snorted.
Please take a sec to review. I'm thinking there will be another chapter, maybe two, before we start getting into where canon starts.
Oh and I was asked who I use for inspiration for Eric and Luna. Personally I see them looking something like Emil Anderson and Anastasiya Scheglova which are the two in the cover photo for the story. If yo plan to google them be warned Anastasiya does a lot of topless/nude work. Just so there's no surprises.
Emil is as close to perfection as the gods allow in my opinion.
