The Beater and Badger
Chapter 12: Goodnight Moon
"Rose…Rose…" a voice was whispering in her ear.
"Go way," she mumbled, burrowing herself further into her blankets. "Dark out."
"Rosie, it's Christmas!" Mum said, holding back a laugh as Rose bolted upright.
"Christmas!" She exclaimed, hopping out of bed and scrambling for her bathrobe. "Jimminy, what time is it, Mum?"
"Quarter to eight," Mum said promptly. "Hugo woke up about fifteen minutes ago and your father and I have been up since dawn waiting for our children to wake us until we remember they are a teenager and almost a teenager now."
"Muuum!" She squawked as Mum smiled, kissing her forehead.
"Daddy's getting breakfast cooked and he's got the tea on," Mum offered helpfully.
"Couldn't I try coffee instead?" Rose asked hopefully, as she tied her sash around her. Mum had picked up drinking coffee from a two week trip to the States once and Rose loved the smell of it emitting from her mug.
"I suppose so," Mum said, offering Rose the mug. "Slowly, it's hot."
Eagerly, Rose lifted it to her lips and sipped at it. It tasted odd and a bit soft-tasting. Frowning, Rose slurped at it before she gasped. It was bitter and horribly hot, so her tongue was both burned and bad-tasting.
Mum laughed, correctly reading her grimace as Rose shoved it back. "Perhaps tea will get you awake to open presents," she suggested.
The tea was better, at least drinkable when Rose carefully sipped at it to protect her burned tongue. Dad had started in on cooking Christmas breakfast. It was in the oven while they started on the presents.
Hugo unwrapped a guide to winning Gobstones to complement his previously given Gobstones set while Rose found her Weasley sweater, her second yellow one with red cuffs. Before she was Sorted, Grandma had always knitted hers red like a rose. And all the Weasleys were assigned a color for Grandma to keep track of making throughout the year.
"Maroon sweater number 38," Dad said dryly as he unwrapped his Weasley sweater.
"Is that the last of the presents?" Mum asked conspiratorially as she levitated wrapping paper towards the garbage.
"Is it?" Rose asked hopefully as Hugo said rhetorically beside her, "Yes."
Her parents exchanged glances and Dad got to his feet. "I should check on the food." He said lazily before disappearing into the kitchen. Resigned to the fact that Mum wouldn't crack under pressure and so there was nothing to do but wait until Dad came back, Rose surveyed her gifts.
A pair of Holyhead Harpy robes from Quality Quidditch Supplies emblazoned with Aunt Ginny's name, position and number on the back. A biography of Helga Hufflepuff from Mum; a subscription to Witchy Women from Aunt Audrey, probably because Lucy and Molly subscribed to it; her Weasley sweater and Sugar Quills; an invention from Lysander that he called the Bludger Blower that threw Bludgers at her to hit for practicing.
Her check-off was disturbed by the sound of the crups barking up an excitable storm and they came dashing as Dad herded them in. Cannon and Sabre came wagging their tails, but a third, black spotted one jumped at Rose.
"Gah!" She gasped as she unsuccessfully held the darkest spotted one back from licking her. "Who is this?"
"Happy Christmas kids," Dad said cheerfully. "Meet Snuffles!"
"Snuffles?" She asked blankly before the pup turned to lick at her ear. "You named the crup Snuffles?"
Suddenly, it was like a vacuum turned on and Snuffles was sucking and snuffling in her ear and her brain made the connections. "So, this is Snuffles, and he's ours?" Rose asked slowly. Her parents nodded and Hugo beamed as Sabre begged to be petted by her brother and Cannon barked happily.
The rest of the day was a busy blur as her parents explained how Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had kept the crup at their house and Uncle Harry discovered Snuffles's tendency to snuffle. His joyful demeanor also reminded him of another dog named Padfoot, although Rose didn't see any connection between Padfoot and Snuffles. By three o'clock, they had had their brunch, dragged their presents to their rooms in clumps until appropriate places were found for them, leashed the crups, and dressed and smartened themselves up as they stood outside the doorstep of Number 12 Potter Place, originally known as Grimmauld Place.
Aunt Ginny greeted them at the door, also wearing her Weasley sweater as all the Weasleys did today. The Granger-Weasley bunch was outfitted in maroon, lilac, yellow with a bit of red and bronze as they held Snuffles, Cannon and Sabre back in their excitement. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had invited the crups too.
"Hello! Happy Christmas. How early did the kids wake you up?" Rose heard as she was ushered in the narrow, brightly-lit hallway and the crups eagerly bounded past into the house. Someone took her coat away to lie out on the stairs as she looked upward.
Albus was leaning over the banister above them and waved down at her. Once free of her family, Rose skipped up the stairs to meet him. Like her, Al was wrapped in his Weasley sweater, emerald green with silver to differentiate between his father in the jade and gold sweater as Uncle Harry passed them to reach the commotion below.
"What's the schedule this year?" Rose asked as soon as Uncle Harry was out of earshot.
"Teddy and Granna Anna are already here, the Scamanders arrive at four-thirty, we eat at six, and I think the Scamanders will stay for awhile after." Albus rattled off as they took in the mayhem below, increased by Uncle Harry and Lily skipping down from her room a landing above them.
"Perfect," Rose declared as they hurried on up the stairs to Albus's bedroom. It was high-ceilinged, with an old-fashioned feeling still in place. But it was obviously given some care by Aunt Ginny and Albus with olive green wallpaper with copperish carpeting, a four poster bed and tall bookcases that reached the ceiling. His green walls were plastered with drawings she recognized as Lily's, some pictures of family and friends, herself in most of them besides Al and his desk was scattered with notes. And true to form, there was an immaculate chess set all in place, the ivory and ebony pieces gleaming, as they knew what Rose versus Albus meant, save the one piece missing from the board.
Rose turned to her cousin, who was rolling the black knight through his fingers. "White goes first," she corrected him as they settled down on the carpet.
They were quiet, formulating battle strategies in their heads with a few "F5…Knight to A7," until Albus looked up, his green eyes glinting strangely as he spoke carefully.
"So, what do you think of Professor McLaggen?"
Rose's throat almost closed then. In the last two months of lessons, she had come out on an emotional rollercoaster. He had taught them everything he knew, relying more on personal experience then text, which she liked learning that way. But he seemed so opinionated about everything; not that he was crude, but it made him seem dangerous so that she didn't want to cross him by voicing her own thoughts. Even when his ideas were of how evil things could never change and he used the prime examples of werewolves and death eaters to exemplify his point, mentioning the names Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Ernest Scabior and Draco Malfoy repeatedly as Scorpius sat still beside her, quill twitching as he copied notes. If his fingers hadn't been turning as pink as Elora's cheeks, she would have never guessed Scorpius to be disturbed.
She cleared her throat and looking down so he couldn't see her face. "I think he knows what he's doing, but I don't think he knows why," she finally answered.
"He talks a lot about his work as a bounty hunter," Albus continued, watching her intently. "He mentions names and memories a lot in my class. James told me that you were worried over what he was saying in front of Scorpius."
She looked up then in surprise. "Did he—?"
"James told me about McLaggen's dad, yeah." Albus admitted. "But even knowing that doesn't make my House feel any better. A lot of them have relatives who never recovered after the war even if they weren't Death Eaters and being blamed for their family's mistakes is a slap in the face for them." Rose nodded.
From downstairs, she heard the door open and like they were at home, all three crups went running, barking excitedly all the way. "Sounds like someone's here," Rose commented, abandoning her white rook as Albus started, agreeably putting his black pieces back in the box. A few grumbles could be heard from the pieces as they were forcibly removed from the chessboard, the game abandoned to join the others downstairs, Rose skipping three steps at a time. "I'll get it!" She shouted exuberantly now, racing for the door as the crups were at her heels. Delightedly, she flung the door open, stepping back to let the Scamanders in.
Unlike the Weasleys and Potters in their Christmas sweaters, they were dressed, all of them, in starched white robes over their regular wear; Luna's showed a slight stretching over her belly. Lorcan and Lysander entered, holding aloft a basket full of shaggy and sparkling red scarves, Luna sweeping in after them.
Snuffles sniffed and began to growl, almost menacingly, Cannon beside him barking more incessantly and higher pitched than before. Sabre, the scaredy-cat he was, merely whimpered and retreated as Rose lunged for the other two's collars.
"What's wrong, boys?" She asked worriedly. "Are those scarves bothering them? Because I know bulls are attracted to red and that's why they charge—"
"I doubt it's the scarves," Rolf said as he came through the doorway and Rose had to yank the crups away now, dragging them towards the kitchen downstairs. "The scarves only repel nargles like mistletoe attracts. And bulls only charge because the scarf is waving, they are color-blind like myself" He knelt on one knee, clapping one hand over Cannon's muzzle. "Allow me," he insisted as Rose reluctantly released her grip on his collar.
Cannon leapt forward, trying to lunge, but Rolf held a firm hold, shaking his pale white-blonde shaggy head. "I suspect they are extra-sensitive tonight to my lycanthropy because of the full moon," He surmised calmly. "Most animals I find are. An intelligent creature like a crup realizes the danger I pose to their family. They can't detect the difference between a wild werewolf and one taking precautions, of course." Rolf added.
"I'll take them down to the kitchens then," Rose gasped for the effort of holding Snuffles.
"I can hold this one for you," Rolf offered. "Luna, I suppose—"
Luna smiled radiantly, her humming stopping abruptly. "Oh, certainly. Come, boys, let's protect Ginny and Harry's house from any nargle infestations before we join them for dinner."
As Rose and Rolf lugged the two crups down and she whistled to calm Sabre into following, she realized what he had mentioned so off-handily.
"The full moon is tonight?" She asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.
"Unfortunately," Rolf Scamander admitted. "For me, it's a double-edged sword; it helps so much in my work to have an animal's senses, but it effects me monthly as well…I do think I'm a bit better off than most however, even in today's society. Things used to be a lot worse for werewolves—my parents chose to have me home-schooled so I wouldn't feel the whole brunt of it, but live and let live! Your mother and our ministers have done quite a lot to help and it's almost a blessing to be one at times." Rolf rambled as they shut the kitchen door behind them. "Especially when I know people who will prepare rare steak for dinner," He added as they joined the table.
The dining room had been redecorated by Lily's Christmas garlands and now with Luna's red scarves draped everywhere. It was filled to the limit with Granna Anna and Teddy, Weasleys, Scamanders and the Potters crowding around one long dining table. Rose sidled into her seat next to Albus and Hugo as Rolf took a seat on the end, laying a hand on Luna's belly gently as he sat down next to her.
"So, Lysander, Lorcan, do you like Hogwarts as much as that Brazilian school you went to?" Uncle Harry asked as he poured them all Butterbeer.
"It is much different in South America." Lorcan suggested. "But at Hogwarts, there are more choices. Icarema expects that it will guide you into making the right desicions but here...it's more independent and liberal."
"I wish that one of the children will consider doing an exchange trip thier sixth year. No more excuses about friends and boyfriends and Quidditch." Mum huffed. "Dominique speaks French so well that she wouldn't have need a Babbling Bauble to translate for her."
"Neville's daughter went to Beauxbatons last year." Aunt Ginny said, taking a helping of potatoes. "Angela's the Head Girl this year too. She's a Hufflepuff, Rose?"
"Yes." Rose managed after swallowing.
"How's your second year going, Rose?" Aunt Ginny followed up. "I hear from Albus every so often about how he's enjoying his classes. Any favorite classes you like, Rose?"
"Well, I liked DADA until Professor Thomas left."
Mum and Dad turned strangely grim as Aunt Ginny continued to smile. "Lavender? Dean told me that they had another girl. Whose the substitute?"
Rose tried to shrug it off, remembering what James had told her. "Cormac McLaggen."
If Dad had looked nervous before, then Mum was flabberghasted. "McLaggen? That's what he's doing now?"
"When have you been knowing McLaggen, Hermione?" Dad said, sounding wounded.
Mum flushed terribly. "He used to work at the Ministry and I'd use him as a source for S. P. E. W. and the department..."
"Cormac?" Luna said vaguely, looking up from where she was dribbling gravy in circles. "Oh yes. We talked quite a bit with him, didn't we, Rolf?"
Rolf nodded, clearing his throat. "His son would be about seventeen now? I don't think we've seen them since the wife was pregnant."
"Speaking of that, it's so wonderful to hear you are expecting again!" Mum commented graciously. "When are you due, Luna?"
Smiling dreamily, Luna's mouth widened and said, "June or July…the baby will be a cancer, the crab."
"Things will be a little different this time around then, eh, Rolf?" Dad interjected as he helped himself to the potatoes.
"Different?" Rolf echoed. "I should hope not. Luna had such an easy pregnancy last time that she was out in the field with me up until almost eight months and even until the day of, she was being active. Of course, this time, we are staying in England to compile our studies on the oozlum species, so we won't be running around so much."
Granna Anna nodded gravely. "Every pregnancy is different though. I thought I knew how my pregnancy would go with Nymphadora—until my fingernails turned inexplicable green and my hair bright pink to mismatch. And that's to say nothing of the colors she turned when she was expecting Edward here," she concluded, indicating Teddy Lupin across from her and a few places down from Rose, his hair white and gold to match Luna.
"Will you find out the baby's gender?" Mum asked.
Rose absolutely hated it when people asked that question. What happened if you did find out early on and was disappointed? Or the Healers were wrong? Why can't people just be grateful for what they got? Of course, she might just feel this way because she was told by Grandma that her parents had argued over her gender so much that the entire family had a bet going on until Mum found out, went ballistic and told them all the next day that the Healers confirmed that Rose Nymphadora Weasley was indeed a girl.
"Oh no!" Luna insisted, sounding suddenly troubled. "Children are gifts and if I handed you your Christmas gift nine months early, would you unwrap it to take a peek, even if it meant you still couldn't have it until Christmas? No, we don't go to any Healers."
Whatever thoughtfully impressed look on Mum's face, if slightly doubtful that any human could hold out nine months with a present in hand (Rose couldn't have), now she looked simply appalled. "No Healers? Not even a check-up? How will you give birth if you don't go to St. Mungo's, a mid-wife?"
"The natural way," Luna replied, as if this should have been the obvious answer. "That reminds me, Rolf. We'll need to pick up some crystals, find a toadstool ring and lots of salt for the birth if we want to do this naturally."
A few feet down from Rose, James could be heard grimacing, trying not to let the subject disrupt his stomach.
"Is there something you'd like to say, James?" Aunt Ginny asked her oldest son, an amused gaze directed at him.
"Just pass the butter, please?" He said weakly.
As soon as they had all finished off the Christmas dinner and the hodgepodge of dessert dishes in which not a piece of Granna Anna's peanut butter fudge was left, mostly thanks to James who had eaten six, the sky outside was a cloudy shade of blue, the city of London outside was black with white snow topping it.
"I should be going back then," Rolf said dispassionately. "Luna, will you be staying?"
"For a while longer, yes," Luna responded lightly. "Lorcan and Lysander, baby and I will be home after the moon's come up. Good night, Wolf."
He smiled and kissed her as most of the room looked away to allow some privacy. "Good night, Moon." He replied before saying his good-byes and leaving the door clicked shut behind.
"Why did you call him Wolf and he call you Moon, Aunt Looney?" Lily asked, perceptive as always. Aunt Ginny hissed not to be rude, but Luna answered it anyways,
"It's what we say when he leaves for the full moon night. Like that little Muggle book. Because he doesn't get to see me or a Moon and I don't get to see him or the Wolf."
"What Muggle book?" Lily asked again curiously as they followed James and Hugo past the kitchen door towards the stairs. Rose was behind them and she kicked at the door when she heard one of the crups start baying, effectively shutting them up.
"It starts with In the great green room…"
"And goodnight to the old lady whispering 'hush'," Luna continued serenely, rubbing her belly all the while. "Goodnight stars," She recited to Lily, who patiently listened, having eagerly volunteered herself as Aunt Loony's practice for her new baby whom Lily was absolutely convinced was a girl.
"Aunt Loony's going to have a girl and she'll be like my baby sister, just like I'm Teddy's," she had confided in Albus and Rose and Lysander and Lorcan at dinner.
"Are you quite sure you're feeling all right, Luna?" Granna Anna asked again, her sharp, dark eyes picking up Luna's persistent rubbing. Luna blinked and nodded, beaming proudly at her stomach protruding slightly.
"None of my babies have been this active before," She admitted calmly. "And certainly not this one." Then she stared dreamily out the window, at the full moon rising and casting a silver shadow into the Drawing Room. "I do wish Rolf was here tonight," she said wistfully.
Lorcan patted his mother's hand. "It's ok, Luna. Rolf's been doing this for ages and he took his dose. He'll be fine tonight and he'll come and see us tomorrow morning." He said reassuringly.
"Of course," Aunt Ginny said warmly. "It's all routine for him now, Luna, but in the meantime, it's time for one little girl's bed."
Lily groaned, wriggled and protested but her mother wouldn't hear of it and within a few moments, they were upstairs in her room. Teddy grinned after her, kicking up his feet despite his grandmother's dignified eye roll. Rose knew she should probably be getting ready herself or else she'd never hear the end of it from Lily, sharing the same room and all, but she wasn't tired yet either despite how high the moon was as the light slid over Luna. In the moonlight, she looked like an ethereal goddess in gleaming silver.
Luna, however, was a tired goddess as she gave a yawn. "I know it's silly—" she began and then she gasped, eyes like the full moon outside as she blinked rapidly, her chest heaving before she collapsed, her jeans and white robes becoming slowly soaked with blood.
And I'm back! Although I'm a little over halfway to the final chapter being uploaded, I've actually written myself close to the end, so expect more chapters soon! And for those readers who can't wait, I have a Christmas collection of oneshots being uploaded daily currently too.
This was a rather dramatic ending, don't you think?