Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize from Harry Potter.
Pandora awoke one morning in November and stretched, a soft smile on her face. She planned that day to start work on a spell that could enhance the musical talents of frogs. If she could perfect it, she could have her test subjects put on a special performance for Xenophilius and Luna.
She was heading down to the kitchen to make breakfast when she noticed the house was unusually silent. She frowned; Luna was a morning person, and whenever the little girl woke up on her own she would usually come running downstairs or lie awake and hum to herself. The witch went to Luna's room to find her lying in her bed unmoving.
"Luna? It's time to get up," Pandora said softly, reaching out a hand to shake the four-year-old awake; she gasped in surprise when she felt how warm she was. Luna rolled over with a moan. "Are you okay?" her mother asked with concern.
"I don't feel very good," Luna said, and immediately began to retch; Pandora quickly conjured up a bucket and held it under Luna's head as the little girl threw up.
"Hold tight, okay sweetie? Mummy will be right back." Pandora returned moments later with a small bottle of potion that would help soothe Luna's stomach. Unfortunately, Luna couldn't keep it down. Pandora sighed to herself. So much for working on my experiment today, she thought.
Pandora spent the next several hours tending to Luna, holding her head over the bucket each time she had to throw up, Vanishing the contents of the bucket whenever it got full, and entertaining her by reading her stories.
Late that afternoon Xenophilius came to check on the little girl. "How's my little moonbeam feeling?" he asked.
"Hot," Luna answered. "And my tummy hurts. I can't keep anything down. And I feel weak too." She vomited into the bucket again.
"Well, I hope you get better soon," her father said. Just then Pandora came back with the potion and again tried feeding some of it to Luna. This time she was able to keep most of it down.
"Thank you, Mummy," said Luna. Xeno then handed her a little bell. "Your mother and I will be downstairs for a while," he said. "Stay in bed and try to get some rest. If you need either of us, just ring this bell, okay?"
"Okay," the four-year-old replied before rolling over and drifting off to sleep.
"Are you quite sure that's enough?" Pandora asked sarcastically, eyeing the huge boxes full of bottles of Nargle repellent.
"Yes! Nargle season is going to be particularly bad this year," Xeno answered earnestly. "I want every wizarding family in this area to be prepared."
"But Xeno, why not simply send butterbeer corks?"
"Dora, those may be good for a few Nargles in one area, but they are not nearly powerful enough to ward off massive swarms of the creatures." Xeno then proceeded to tie one box to Bartholomew's leg. "Take this to the Weasleys, please," he instructed, and the owl flew off.
Meanwhile, at the Burrow, Percy was setting the table for dinner when the owl swooped in through the window. The nine-year-old immediately recognized it as well as the box it was carrying; he shouted, "Father! Mr. Lovegood sent us his stupid Nargle repellent again!"
Arthur rushed in; he took one look at the box and shook his head. "I swear, that man gets carried away sometimes." The two of them opened the box to find a total of twelve bottles, then went to flush the contents down the toilet as the owl flew away.
Xenophilius was tying the second box to Bartholomew's leg and was about to send him to the Diggorys when he heard the sound of a bell ringing from upstairs. He made to get up, but Pandora held up her hand. "You continue with that," she told him. "I'll go and see what Luna wants." She rushed to Luna's bedroom.
"Mummy, will you hand me my Fantastic Beasts book?" requested Luna. "I'm bored. And I'd play with Newt but I don't want him to get sick too." Her mother handed her the book; just as she was about to leave, the little girl asked, "Mummy, do Crumple-Horned Snorkacks get sick?"
"I would imagine so, yes."
"Do Blibbering Humdingers get sick?"
"Most likely."
Luna was silent for a moment. She then asked, "Do Kroogbears get sick?"
Pandora sat on the end of Luna's bed and replied, "Let me put it to you this way: Every living creature dies at some point. So logically, every living creature has to get sick sometimes."
"Oh." The little girl looked thoughtful. "What do Snorkacks do when they get sick?"
"Hmmm...that's something you will have to ask your father about."
Another moment of silence; then the four-year-old asked, "Mummy, am I really a handful?"
"Why do you ask?" Pandora asked in surprise.
"Because I heard you talking to Ginny's mummy the other day. You said I was a handful."
"Well," said Pandora, stroking her daughter's hair. "I'm not going to lie; you are a handful sometimes. But I wouldn't have you any other way." She gave Luna a gentle hug. "Oh, I almost forgot; it's time for your anti-sleepwalking potion." The little girl scowled, but she managed to choke down the potion. As Pandora left the room, Luna opened her book and began to read.
The first thing Pandora did the following morning was check on Luna. "How's my little patient doing this morning?" she asked.
"Better, thank you," Luna replied. "I'm still a bit weak but I'm not throwing up anymore. I'm a little hungry too." Pandora went downstairs and returned a few minutes later with scrambled eggs on toast. "Here you are, sweetie," she said.
"Thank you, Mummy," said Luna before she started eating.
By that evening Luna had completely recovered from her bug and she and Newt were chasing each other around the house. Pandora and Xenophilius could not help but smile at the scene.
A/N: Now that's a mother, willing to give up working on a new experiment to care for her sick daughter. Also, imagine Xenophilius' reaction if he knew the Weasleys were throwing away perfectly good Nargle repellent.