Porphyrophobia

The Houses Competition (or THC)

House: Gryffindor

Class: Transfiguration

Category: Drabble

Prompt(s) chosen: [Color] Purple; [Character] Luna Lovegood

Word Count: 781

Disclaimers/triggers: Character death

Beta(s): secretfanficlover (Crissie), Butterflies765 (Sab)

"Mum? Why is the color purple important?" six-year-old Luna asked as her mother dressed her in a purple cloak for the Christmastide Ball.

"The color purple is very important, my daughter. It represents royalty, transformation, strength and power. Everything that Purebloods stand for," Pandora replied.

"Again teaching her about Purebloods, Dora?" Xenophilius Lovegood asked from the doorway.

"Daddy!" Luna squealed as she flung her arms around her dad's waist.

Xenophilius just chuckled as he returned the hug.

"So, what is your mother teaching you today, lil' Moon?"

"Purple!" Luna said excitedly. "Did you know that it represents transformation, power and…and…"

Luna frowned.

"Royalty and strength," Pandora completed as she smiled tenderly at her daughter.

"Oh, really! Well, thank you for this lesson, Professor Luna," Xenophilius said jokingly.

"You are welcome, daddy!"

"Luna dear, come over here. I need to fasten your cloak. You need to look your best," Pandora called out.

"Yes, mum!"

"Luna? What are you doing at the door? Come in," said Pandora as she looked up from her potion and at her nine-year-old daughter who was standing at the doorway.

Mistakenly, she slipped two beetle eyes when there was only one to be put.

Luna, having learnt that you needed to follow instructions very carefully to create any potion without harm—especially experimental potions. When she saw the extra beetle eye slip from her mother's hand, she only had time to widen her eyes and shout "Mum, look out!"

Pandora didn't even have time to assess the damage done before the cauldron was blown apart with a loud BANG! and a purple flash. Luna watched in horror as her beautiful mother was blown apart in bits. She, too, was flung across the room and landed in the next room. Unconscious.

This was how Xenophilius Lovegood found his home. The top portion blown apart due to the force of the explosion (though he didn't know that) and, as he entered, his little daughter as pale as a corpse and dead to the world while all he could salvage from Pandora's room was some of her priceless scrolls that she kept under various powerful wards.

Xenophilius somehow contacted St. Mungos and, within minutes, his daughter was placed in the Janus Thickey Ward.

When Luna finally regained consciousness, she felt the bright light burning her eyes so she didn't open them. Instead, she tried to remember everything. One by one, every memory played in the forefront of her mind—the purple flash which caused her mother to die, herself being flung across the room, the throbbing pain in her head.

No, she thought. I was dreaming. Yes, there is no other explanation. I was dreaming. A few minutes later mom will come and wake me up and then—

Before she could complete her train of thought, she heard the voices of two people. One she thought she knew and another she didn't.

"Her head has suffered damage. We were able to fix the physical ones but there was something in the potion that caused severe psychological problems. Also, she might have some sort of phobia. There is nothing we can do," said the unknown voice.

"That-that's alright. At least she is alive. How much time until she wakes up, Healer Holdsworth?"` She knew that voice! It belonged to her daddy!

"She is supposed to be awake by now," the Healer said in the same monotone voice.

"I am awake." Even to her, her sweet, cheerful voice sounded very hoarse.

"Luna! Oh, my little Moon, you are fine!" Xenophilius cried out, reaching his daughter for a hug. However, Luna widened her eyes at his…clothes?! And recoiled.

Xenophilius frowned and said, "What is it, little Moon? You can tell me."

So she said in a shaky voice, "P-p-purple. It is bad. It is gonna kill all of us! Just like it ki-killed Mom!"

The Healer quickly wrote something down into his notebook, before declaring: "It seems that little Miss Lovegood has Porphyrophobia—fear for the color purple. It would be advisable if you kept that color out of her eyes. It might lead to drastic consequences."

"Yes, yes," Xenophilius said absently as he waved her wand to change his purple colored shirt to a dark blue.

"There Luna. You aren't afraid of blue, are you?" Xenophilius asked.

"No."

After weeks of intense treatment and talking with a mind Healer, Luna was proclaimed fit by the Healers. But she knew that she wasn't fit. She still had nightmares. She saw weird things that no one else could see. And, most of all, she couldn't stand the color purple. It wasn't the color of royalty, strength, power and transformation anymore.

It was the color of death and destruction.

A/N- Please read and review.