Chapter Thirteen – Cruor Toxicium
Neville felt his heart pounding in his throat. Before he could stop himself, he entered the hospital room. "Luna?" he said softly.
Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to move her head in the direction of his voice.
"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" an angry voice said.
Neville looked to his left. The small, dirty blonde haired man was sitting at a table in the corner of the room. Neville could tell at once that it was her father.
"I'm sorry," Neville said quickly. "I'm Neville Longbottom, her..."
The man's face relaxed. "Luna's told me a lot about you," he said gently. "I'm Lawrence Lovegood, her father."
"What's wrong with her?" Neville asked.
"She didn't tell you?" Mister Lovegood asked sharply.
Neville shook his head miserably.
"That's for her to tell you, son. I can't betray her confidences," Mister Lovegood said.
Neville took a good look at Luna in the hospital bed. She was curled up in a ball. There was a tube stuck in her arm, attached to a bag that looked like it could be blood.
Her eyes fluttered open. "Neville?" she asked, so softly, he could barely hear her.
"I'm here, Luna," Neville said, reaching for her hand.
"Don't touch her," her father said quickly.
Neville brought his hand back instantly.
"Happy Christmas," Luna whispered. Happy Christmas? Neville was fuming. Here was his girlfriend, lying in a hospital bed, looking like she was dying, and all she had to say was Happy Christmas?
"Happy Christmas to you," Neville said, keeping his true feelings hidden.
"Can't talk...Will you come back...tomorrow?" Luna asked.
Neville nodded, then realized her eyes were closed again, and said, "Sure, Luna."
"I can go home...at two," Luna said. She stayed silent after that. He watched her until her breathing became steady, and he knew she was asleep.
-------------------------
Neville ran up the stairs two at a time till he reached the Closed Ward. The patient's fit must have ended, because his grandma was no longer sitting in the hallway.
He entered the ward and saw his parents, sitting in chairs. They were holding hands, which made Neville's heart soar. He sat in another chair across from them. He spent the next hour, talking about unimportant things with his grandmother. As much as he wanted to spend time with his parents, he wanted to be alone more. He would see them tomorrow.
Finally, his grandmother announced it was time for them to leave. His mother gave him an empty sugar packet on the way out. Neville accepted it, and felt ashamed that all he wanted to do was brood.
Then they were home. Neville felt his throat constricting. It was too much. There was too much going on. His head was pounding. He needed to escape.
Before he realized what he was doing, he grabbed his grandmother's broom. "I'm going for a quick fly, Gran!" he called out to his grandmother.
"Be careful, dear," his grandmother called back.
Neville ran out of the house to a field that he knew many people didn't go to. His face was red and covered with sweat when he got there, but he didn't care. He tossed the broom on the ground.
"Up!" he cried. This time, he wasn't scared. The broom went to his hand immediately. Neville tried to remember what to do next. He couldn't remember how to properly mount the broom. Finally, he swung his leg over the broom. Carefully, he kicked up his feet, and started hovering a few feet off of the ground.
Immediately, he felt better. Neville leaned forward, and the broom starting moving. Neville leaned forward a little more and then broom moved even faster. Luna was right, flying was freeing.
Thinking of Luna made him unconsciously go higher. Why couldn't she tell him she was sick? He had asked her a few times during the first term what was wrong. Why did she lie to him?
Neville quickly had to swerve out of the way of a tree. He was a little too high for his liking, so he leaned back. Did she think he couldn't handle the truth? Look at what he was dealing with! He was helping Harry learn Legilimency twice a week. His memories were being broken into easily now. Harry even was beginning to try to place false memories in Neville's mind. Harry was going to be trying to break into you-know-who's mind soon!
And to top it off, he kept having these awful dreams about his parents being tortured! Neville was distracted for a moment and fell a few feet off of his broom. He fell into a roll, which saved him from injury. Neville sat in that spot, where he fell, for almost an hour, until he realized his grandmother would have a search party for him unless he got himself back to the house.
-------------------------
The next afternoon, Neville walked into Luna's hospital room, exactly at two o'clock. He had expected her to look tired, or that same awful white color she was yesterday. But Luna was the opposite. She jumped off of her bed when he entered, and her cheeks were flushed.
She stood across from him warily. "Do you hate me?" she asked quietly.
Neville shook his head. He was upset with her, for not telling him the truth, but he could never hate her. He took a good look at her. Luna's hair was in two pigtails. She was wearing a white t-shirt under a navy blue knitted cardigan with a pair of jeans.
"I can't quite leave St. Mungos yet," she started, "Could we go to the tea room?"
"Sure," Neville said and he started walking towards the elevators. They stood in the elevator in silence. Neville felt Luna slip her hand into his. He gave her hand a squeeze, and she smiled so bright that it almost broke Neville's heart.
"Happy belated birthday," he said quietly.
"I got your card yesterday," she said softly. "Thank you very much. It was beautiful."
Neville blushed a bit. He spent forever choosing a card for her birthday. He was glad she liked it.
She expertly poured the tea from an ancient looking kettle. She brought over two steaming cups and handed one to Neville. She sat Indian style on the chair. As she stirred in some milk, staring at her mug, she said, "Ask me whatever you would like to know."
Neville blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Are you dying?"
Luna looked up with those silver eyes. "In ten to fifteen years, yes," she said softly.
"What do you have?" Neville asked.
Luna took a thoughtful sip of her tea. "A blood disease called Cruor Toxicium. Basically, over a period of time, my body rejects my blood. Every three months, I have to be drained of my blood and then given new blood. That's what you saw yesterday."
That sounded awful to Neville. "Every three months?" he asked in horror.
Luna nodded. "I was born with this. When I was a baby, I only needed treatments every six months. Over time, my body rejects new blood faster and faster. Soon it will be a treatment every two months, then every month, every week. There won't be any point to living when it has to happen every day," she said softly.
"There's no cure?" Neville asked.
She shook her head. "No cure," she said simply.
Neville couldn't bring himself to ask the question he most wanted an answer to. They sat for a while, drinking their tea, saying nothing.
Finally, Neville had to ask or he thought he would burst. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Luna wouldn't meet his eyes. "You didn't need to know," she said quietly.
"The hell I didn't!" Neville said so forcefully, he almost scared himself. Luna's eyes went wide looking at him, and right away, Neville felt ashamed of his outburst.
"I'm sorry," Neville said softly, reaching for her hand. "Did I make you reject your blood faster? I kept making you go on walks..."
Luna finally smiled at him. "You know how I've been really tired these past two weeks?" she asked.
Neville nodded.
"I was pushing myself to stay healthy. I should have had a treatment two weeks ago, but I was able to wait until the holidays. I avoid sugar and alcohol. I only eat healthy food. It's all my way of trying to delay the treatment as long as possible. You help me with that," she said quietly.
That certainly explained why Luna would take such a long time trying to decide what to eat every day. Their eyes met, and she gave him another smile.
"One reason I'm so calm all the time? If I get worked up, my body will reject my blood faster. I meditate everyday. That helps a lot," Luna told him.
A horrible thought went through Neville's head. "I get you worked up! Don't I? When we're..." he trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to say kissing.
Luna threw her head back and laughed. Neville felt so much better hearing her laugh. "That's a good getting worked up, silly," she teased him. "I mean getting angry or upset."
"Oh," Neville said quietly, feeling embarrassed.
Suddenly, a Healer walked into the room. "There you are, Luna," she said. "You're free to go."
"Thank you," Luna said softly. She stood up slowly, and Neville followed suite.
"So when's your next treatment?" Neville asked.
"It should be at the end of March. But I'm hoping I could push it back to the Easter weekend, in the middle of April," Luna said, walking towards the door.
Neville looked at her, how beautiful she looked, even though she was sick, and couldn't believe what he was about to do.
"Luna?' he asked. She looked at him expectantly.
"I have some people I'd like you to meet."
-------------------------
Together they walked into the Closed Ward. His parents were lying in bed, staring at each other.
Neville cleared his throat. "Luna, these are my parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom." He looked at his parents. "Mum and Dad? This is Luna Lovegood, my...my girlfriend."
His parents made no notice of either of them, just continued staring at each other.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," Luna said cheerfully. She sat down and started talking to them like they were normal people. She told them about her father, what her favorite classes were and even who her favorite ghost at Hogwarts was. The Fat Friar, since he would talk to her when the Gray Lady wouldn't. Neville didn't even know that!
Neville watched her amazed. Twenty minutes later, Luna looked at a clock and said she had to go home soon. Neville's mother must have understood her, because she stood up and went to her nightstand and brought out two scraps of paper.
She gave one to Neville and one to Luna. Luna's eyes lit up when she got the scrap piece of paper. "Thank you very much," she said happily. She put it in the pocket of her cardigan carefully.
Neville followed Luna out of the Closed Ward. They stepped in the elevator. Luna turned to him and said, "I know you were upset that I didn't tell you about my disease. Why didn't you tell me about your parents?"
Neville gulped. "I hadn't thought about it that way," he said.
Luna stuck out her hand. "Let's agree now. No more secrets between us," she said seriously.
Neville took her hand. "No more secrets," he said softly. "My parents were Aurors..." he started. But Luna cut him off.
"I know what happened, Neville," she said.
Neville's jaw dropped. "You do? How?"
"When I told my father we were dating, he brought me old Quibbler articles that mentioned what happened. The Quibbler ran quite a few articles on your parents," she said.
"Oh," Neville said. He had a feeling that the Quibbler's version wasn't going to be the true version. "Well, let me tell you what I was told when I wanted to know what happened."
-------------------------
A/N – Cruor: Latin for blood and Toxicium: Latin for poison
Neville felt his heart pounding in his throat. Before he could stop himself, he entered the hospital room. "Luna?" he said softly.
Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to move her head in the direction of his voice.
"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" an angry voice said.
Neville looked to his left. The small, dirty blonde haired man was sitting at a table in the corner of the room. Neville could tell at once that it was her father.
"I'm sorry," Neville said quickly. "I'm Neville Longbottom, her..."
The man's face relaxed. "Luna's told me a lot about you," he said gently. "I'm Lawrence Lovegood, her father."
"What's wrong with her?" Neville asked.
"She didn't tell you?" Mister Lovegood asked sharply.
Neville shook his head miserably.
"That's for her to tell you, son. I can't betray her confidences," Mister Lovegood said.
Neville took a good look at Luna in the hospital bed. She was curled up in a ball. There was a tube stuck in her arm, attached to a bag that looked like it could be blood.
Her eyes fluttered open. "Neville?" she asked, so softly, he could barely hear her.
"I'm here, Luna," Neville said, reaching for her hand.
"Don't touch her," her father said quickly.
Neville brought his hand back instantly.
"Happy Christmas," Luna whispered. Happy Christmas? Neville was fuming. Here was his girlfriend, lying in a hospital bed, looking like she was dying, and all she had to say was Happy Christmas?
"Happy Christmas to you," Neville said, keeping his true feelings hidden.
"Can't talk...Will you come back...tomorrow?" Luna asked.
Neville nodded, then realized her eyes were closed again, and said, "Sure, Luna."
"I can go home...at two," Luna said. She stayed silent after that. He watched her until her breathing became steady, and he knew she was asleep.
-------------------------
Neville ran up the stairs two at a time till he reached the Closed Ward. The patient's fit must have ended, because his grandma was no longer sitting in the hallway.
He entered the ward and saw his parents, sitting in chairs. They were holding hands, which made Neville's heart soar. He sat in another chair across from them. He spent the next hour, talking about unimportant things with his grandmother. As much as he wanted to spend time with his parents, he wanted to be alone more. He would see them tomorrow.
Finally, his grandmother announced it was time for them to leave. His mother gave him an empty sugar packet on the way out. Neville accepted it, and felt ashamed that all he wanted to do was brood.
Then they were home. Neville felt his throat constricting. It was too much. There was too much going on. His head was pounding. He needed to escape.
Before he realized what he was doing, he grabbed his grandmother's broom. "I'm going for a quick fly, Gran!" he called out to his grandmother.
"Be careful, dear," his grandmother called back.
Neville ran out of the house to a field that he knew many people didn't go to. His face was red and covered with sweat when he got there, but he didn't care. He tossed the broom on the ground.
"Up!" he cried. This time, he wasn't scared. The broom went to his hand immediately. Neville tried to remember what to do next. He couldn't remember how to properly mount the broom. Finally, he swung his leg over the broom. Carefully, he kicked up his feet, and started hovering a few feet off of the ground.
Immediately, he felt better. Neville leaned forward, and the broom starting moving. Neville leaned forward a little more and then broom moved even faster. Luna was right, flying was freeing.
Thinking of Luna made him unconsciously go higher. Why couldn't she tell him she was sick? He had asked her a few times during the first term what was wrong. Why did she lie to him?
Neville quickly had to swerve out of the way of a tree. He was a little too high for his liking, so he leaned back. Did she think he couldn't handle the truth? Look at what he was dealing with! He was helping Harry learn Legilimency twice a week. His memories were being broken into easily now. Harry even was beginning to try to place false memories in Neville's mind. Harry was going to be trying to break into you-know-who's mind soon!
And to top it off, he kept having these awful dreams about his parents being tortured! Neville was distracted for a moment and fell a few feet off of his broom. He fell into a roll, which saved him from injury. Neville sat in that spot, where he fell, for almost an hour, until he realized his grandmother would have a search party for him unless he got himself back to the house.
-------------------------
The next afternoon, Neville walked into Luna's hospital room, exactly at two o'clock. He had expected her to look tired, or that same awful white color she was yesterday. But Luna was the opposite. She jumped off of her bed when he entered, and her cheeks were flushed.
She stood across from him warily. "Do you hate me?" she asked quietly.
Neville shook his head. He was upset with her, for not telling him the truth, but he could never hate her. He took a good look at her. Luna's hair was in two pigtails. She was wearing a white t-shirt under a navy blue knitted cardigan with a pair of jeans.
"I can't quite leave St. Mungos yet," she started, "Could we go to the tea room?"
"Sure," Neville said and he started walking towards the elevators. They stood in the elevator in silence. Neville felt Luna slip her hand into his. He gave her hand a squeeze, and she smiled so bright that it almost broke Neville's heart.
"Happy belated birthday," he said quietly.
"I got your card yesterday," she said softly. "Thank you very much. It was beautiful."
Neville blushed a bit. He spent forever choosing a card for her birthday. He was glad she liked it.
She expertly poured the tea from an ancient looking kettle. She brought over two steaming cups and handed one to Neville. She sat Indian style on the chair. As she stirred in some milk, staring at her mug, she said, "Ask me whatever you would like to know."
Neville blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Are you dying?"
Luna looked up with those silver eyes. "In ten to fifteen years, yes," she said softly.
"What do you have?" Neville asked.
Luna took a thoughtful sip of her tea. "A blood disease called Cruor Toxicium. Basically, over a period of time, my body rejects my blood. Every three months, I have to be drained of my blood and then given new blood. That's what you saw yesterday."
That sounded awful to Neville. "Every three months?" he asked in horror.
Luna nodded. "I was born with this. When I was a baby, I only needed treatments every six months. Over time, my body rejects new blood faster and faster. Soon it will be a treatment every two months, then every month, every week. There won't be any point to living when it has to happen every day," she said softly.
"There's no cure?" Neville asked.
She shook her head. "No cure," she said simply.
Neville couldn't bring himself to ask the question he most wanted an answer to. They sat for a while, drinking their tea, saying nothing.
Finally, Neville had to ask or he thought he would burst. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Luna wouldn't meet his eyes. "You didn't need to know," she said quietly.
"The hell I didn't!" Neville said so forcefully, he almost scared himself. Luna's eyes went wide looking at him, and right away, Neville felt ashamed of his outburst.
"I'm sorry," Neville said softly, reaching for her hand. "Did I make you reject your blood faster? I kept making you go on walks..."
Luna finally smiled at him. "You know how I've been really tired these past two weeks?" she asked.
Neville nodded.
"I was pushing myself to stay healthy. I should have had a treatment two weeks ago, but I was able to wait until the holidays. I avoid sugar and alcohol. I only eat healthy food. It's all my way of trying to delay the treatment as long as possible. You help me with that," she said quietly.
That certainly explained why Luna would take such a long time trying to decide what to eat every day. Their eyes met, and she gave him another smile.
"One reason I'm so calm all the time? If I get worked up, my body will reject my blood faster. I meditate everyday. That helps a lot," Luna told him.
A horrible thought went through Neville's head. "I get you worked up! Don't I? When we're..." he trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to say kissing.
Luna threw her head back and laughed. Neville felt so much better hearing her laugh. "That's a good getting worked up, silly," she teased him. "I mean getting angry or upset."
"Oh," Neville said quietly, feeling embarrassed.
Suddenly, a Healer walked into the room. "There you are, Luna," she said. "You're free to go."
"Thank you," Luna said softly. She stood up slowly, and Neville followed suite.
"So when's your next treatment?" Neville asked.
"It should be at the end of March. But I'm hoping I could push it back to the Easter weekend, in the middle of April," Luna said, walking towards the door.
Neville looked at her, how beautiful she looked, even though she was sick, and couldn't believe what he was about to do.
"Luna?' he asked. She looked at him expectantly.
"I have some people I'd like you to meet."
-------------------------
Together they walked into the Closed Ward. His parents were lying in bed, staring at each other.
Neville cleared his throat. "Luna, these are my parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom." He looked at his parents. "Mum and Dad? This is Luna Lovegood, my...my girlfriend."
His parents made no notice of either of them, just continued staring at each other.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," Luna said cheerfully. She sat down and started talking to them like they were normal people. She told them about her father, what her favorite classes were and even who her favorite ghost at Hogwarts was. The Fat Friar, since he would talk to her when the Gray Lady wouldn't. Neville didn't even know that!
Neville watched her amazed. Twenty minutes later, Luna looked at a clock and said she had to go home soon. Neville's mother must have understood her, because she stood up and went to her nightstand and brought out two scraps of paper.
She gave one to Neville and one to Luna. Luna's eyes lit up when she got the scrap piece of paper. "Thank you very much," she said happily. She put it in the pocket of her cardigan carefully.
Neville followed Luna out of the Closed Ward. They stepped in the elevator. Luna turned to him and said, "I know you were upset that I didn't tell you about my disease. Why didn't you tell me about your parents?"
Neville gulped. "I hadn't thought about it that way," he said.
Luna stuck out her hand. "Let's agree now. No more secrets between us," she said seriously.
Neville took her hand. "No more secrets," he said softly. "My parents were Aurors..." he started. But Luna cut him off.
"I know what happened, Neville," she said.
Neville's jaw dropped. "You do? How?"
"When I told my father we were dating, he brought me old Quibbler articles that mentioned what happened. The Quibbler ran quite a few articles on your parents," she said.
"Oh," Neville said. He had a feeling that the Quibbler's version wasn't going to be the true version. "Well, let me tell you what I was told when I wanted to know what happened."
-------------------------
A/N – Cruor: Latin for blood and Toxicium: Latin for poison
