AU! EWE.

Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

House: Thunderbird

Class/Task Number: Divination. Meditation: someone fulfilling an old wish, or someone's long unfulfilled wish coming true

Bonus Prompts:

(character) Ron Weasley

(magical creature) demiguise

(colour) white

Word Count: 2070/4500

Demiguise Wishes

Before Luna can die, Ron decides to grant her last wish: to see a Demiguise.

Ron whispered, "I'm sorry I can't do anything to help you…"

Luna gave him a weak smile and beckoned him closer to her bed. Ron's heart thundered in his chest as he gazed at his frail wife. He stepped closer to the hospital bed and crouched down beside her.

"You've been... the best... husband I could have... ever asked for, Ron," Luna whispered, her voice hoarse and pained. "I… couldn't have... asked for a… better partner."

A lump formed in his throat as he tried to hide his tears from Luna. "Baby, is there anything I can do for you?"

Luna gazed at him for a few moments and raised her weak hand towards Ron. Ron immediately entwined his fingers with her, tears forming in his eyes when he felt how cold and clammy it was.

"I always… wished I could… see… a Demiguise," Luna choked out before her frail body shuddered with loud coughs.

Ron immediately jumped to his feet to help her. He pressed a glass of water to her lips and watched the water spill down Luna's chin. Luna coughed for a few more moments before she settled back down on her bed.

Ron licked his dry lips and whispered, "I'll find you a Demiguise, Luna… I promise I will."

Luma gave him a sad smile and asked, "Promise me... you'll… take care of... our kids… when I'm...gone?"

Ron could feel the tingling in his nose and eyes — a sure sign he was about to cry. He choked down the lump in his throat and shook his head. "Luna, no… you're not going anywhere — I won't let you!" He fiercely shook his head, trying to shove away the thoughts of her inevitable death.

"Ron, promise me…"

Ron's face fell at her words, but he slightly inclined his head, and Luna gave him a shaky smile, her thin, lifeless, platinum-white hair framing her face.

No one had ever expected Dabberblimps to be real — or so fatal. Like most of the creatures Luna believed in, Dabberblimps were supposedly imaginary. But the Wizarding World had been proven wrong.

Dabberblimps, who were pitch-black, rat-like fish that lived in the lakes found in cold regions, were the carriers of a dangerous affliction; anyone who touched a Dabberblimp was cursed to die soon.

The magical creatures had looked harmless enough, but their curse had affected Luna when she had gone on one of her expeditions with her father, Xenophilius Lovegood.

Surprisingly, a few other wizarding folks had been afflicted with the fatal curse before Luna's discovery. They hadn't understood what the curse was, but now that Luna was in St Mungo's Hospital, the Healers and Magizoologists had started working tirelessly to uncover the dark secret behind the creatures' curse.

When Luna had started to grow weak each day, sometimes not even being able to lift their youngest child into her arms, Ron had grown worried. He had dragged her to St Mungo's Hospital to get her health checked.

The Healers had immediately hospitalized her when they had seen her health decreasing every second. They had brought in Hermione Potter too, one of the best Healers in the Wizarding World, to look over Luna's charts.

For the first time in her career, Hermione had cried when she had given her best friend the disheartening news: Luna was going to die without the proper treatment.

Ron had shaken Hermione angrily and yelled at her, "No! There's no way I'm going to let her die! Mione, do something! Please! I beg you! Please… save her..." His voice had lowered to a faint whisper by the end, his shoulders drooping.

Hermione had immediately set up a research team to help her with Luna's disease. As they didn't know how long they had before the curse reached Luna's brain, they had started working double-time.

Unfortunately, they hadn't reached a breakthrough in their research yet. Most of them had started to give up hope, but Ron and Hermione battled on, adamant on finding a way to save Luna.

"Where can I find a Demiguise, Hagrid?" Ron asked hopefully.

Hagrid gave him a peculiar look and replied, "Far East… They're very 'ard to catch as they can tell the future. Only wizards and witches trained in their capture can even see them."

Ron groaned and said, "I can't go to the Far East, Hagrid! Can you tell me if you know anyone who has a Demiguise here?"

Hagrid scratched his thick beard thoughtfully and asked, "Why're yeh lookin' for a Demiguise, Ron? Yer an Auror…"

Ron's shoulders drooped when he answered, "It's for… Luna. She's always wanted to see a Demiguise, but…"

Hagrid immediately understood what Ron was trying to do. He sniffled loudly and rubbed his eyes to hide his tears. "There's a man — Rolf Scamander — he's a —"

"Magizoologist, I know. I've met him… He's on Mione's research team," Ron said, nodding his head. "What about him?"

Hagrid said, "Well, 'e must know if there's someone around 'ere who's got a Demiguise. Why don't yeh ask 'im?"

Ron's face lit up at the suggestion and he thanked Hagrid, sprinting out of his hut. He Apparated back to St Mungo's Hospital and hurried over to Hermione's office.

He found Hermione and Draco Malfoy furiously discussing their research papers. Ron hesitantly knocked on the door and called out, "Uh, Mione? Is this a bad time?"

"Weasley, what do you want?" Draco grumbled, shoving his chair back as he stood up to let Ron in. There were wards all over their office which wouldn't let anyone — except the authorized personnel — into the room.

"I want to talk to Rolf… Is he around here somewhere?" Ron asked, peeking over Draco's head to look around the brightly-lit room.

Hermione nodded towards the back of the room and said, "He's back there. What's wrong, Ron?"

Ron shook his head and said, "Just want to ask him a couple of questions, that's all…" He walked over to the large bookshelves to search for Rolf.

Rolf sat on the ground in between two shelves, flipping through a thick tome. Ron cleared his throat and said, "Hey, Rolf? Could I talk to you for a second?"

Rolf turned his head up to look at Ron standing awkwardly nearby. He gave him a small smile and nodded. "Sure, just let me put these books away," he said, motioning to the pile of books by his side.

Rolf levitated the books and sent them back to their rightful places on the shelf. He wiped his hands on his robes and said, "Alright, what's up?"

Ron wrung his hands nervously and said, "It's Luna… She's always wished to see a Demiguise, and… I'm trying to find someone who's got one. Do you know anyone who could help me?"

Rolf instantly nodded and said, "You've come to the right bloke, Ron. My grandfather's got a Demiguise — his name's Dougal."

Ron looked hopeful at the good news. "Can you bring him to Luna? She would love that! I'll even pay you if that's what you need…"

"What? No! I don't want you to pay me for this! Luna's a very sweet woman, and she deserves the world. I would be grateful in helping you fulfil her wish," Rolf replied, placing his hand on Ron's shoulder.

Ron almost started to cry at his words and said, "Thanks, Rolf… It would mean everything to her if she could just see a Demiguise."

Rolf nodded and said, "I understand. I'll get Grampa to bring Dougal here."

"Thank you so much, Rolf." Ron shook Rolf's hand and walked out of the room, waving at Hermione and Draco.

Luna's could feel her body weakening, her heart rate slowly falling with each second that passed.

Xenophilius sat near his daughter's head, running his fingers through her white hair, whispering to her how everything was going to be alright.

Luna's three children sat near her feet, sobbing at their mother's frail condition. Lorcan and Lysander, her twins, buried their faces against her legs, their cheeks wet with tears.

Ginny sobbed against Draco's chest as she watched Luna's three-year-old daughter, Tabitha, clutch onto Luna's hand with all her might.

"Mommy, don't leave," Lorcan whispered under his breath, but his heartbreaking words reverberated through the mostly-silent room.

"You'll… see Thestrals… my loves… They're… so beautiful…" Luna murmured, softly stroking the twins' heads with her frail hand.

"Mommy, no, don't go… stay? Please?" Lysander sobbed, tightening his arms around Luna's leg as if he could stop her.

Hermione choked on her sobs and buried her face in Harry's shoulder when she heard the five-year-old boy's heart-wrenching pleas.

Before Luna could say something, Ron and Rolf sprinted into the room and were followed by an old man with a brown briefcase.

"We're here!" Ron panted as he rushed over to Luna' side. "We brought you something!"

Luna gazed at the old man as he gave her a sad smile and opened his suitcase. Luna's heart skipped a beat when she saw a beautiful sloth-like creature peek out from the suitcase.

"Is… that…" she trailed off when the creature slowly climbed out of the suitcase.

A small smile appeared on Luna's face when she saw the creature's large, black eyes and long, silky silver-white hair. She sighed contentedly and shakily reached her arm out. "May I…"

Newt Scamander murmured, "Dougal, be nice. Don't bite her."

The Demiguise shyly stepped forward and let Luna caress his thick white fur. He made a purring sound that made Luna's face light up with a radiant smile.

Ron watched his dying wife slowly sit up to better reach the Demiguise and thought, 'At least I could do something good for her before she's gone…'

Draco tilted his head to the side and watched Luna's deathly-white skin slowly start to turn petal-pink. "What the —"

He extracted himself from his wife's grasp and grabbed Hermione's arm. He hissed under his breath, "Granger, look!"

Hermione's eyes widened with disbelief as she realized what Draco meant. Her breath hitched in her throat as she quickly calculated the chances of Luna's survival in her mind.

She beckoned Rolf over and the three of them discussed Luna's startling recovery in low tones. The question that plagued the trio was the same: How could a Demiguise negate the effects of the curse?

Rolf suggested, "Maybe it's just a miracle?"

Draco and Hermione shook their heads and said in unison, "No, it's something else."

"It could be Dougal's work," Rolf suggested as they watched Luna continue to pet the white fur with an amazed look in her eyes.

"But… how?" Hermione almost shrieked. Not knowing the answer to a question had always made her feel distressed.

"Let's find out later," Draco said calmly. He, too, was curious about the effects of the Demiguise's fur.

Ron gasped when he saw Luna's hair start to grow fuller right in front of their eyes. "Luna, your hair…" he whispered in awe.

"What happened to my hair?" To everyone's surprise, her voice was stronger than ever before. She gasped and placed her hand on her throat.

Hermione and Draco, as they were her main Healers, hurried towards Luna to check her vitals. They handed her different potions to drink, cast several charms on her body to detect the curse, and then turned to look at everyone gathered in the room.

"Is Mommy goin' ta be okay, Aunt Mione?" Lysander asked hopefully, tears visible in his blue eyes.

Hermione beamed down at Lysander and said, "Your Mommy's going to be perfectly alright, sweetie."

"What? Weally? Is that twue, Unca Dwaco?" Tabitha stammered, clutching onto Luna's hair with her little fists.

Draco smirked and said, "Isn't your Aunt Mione always right, kid?"

Ron burst into loud sobs at the delightful news and threw himself at Luna. "Oh, Merlin! I thought I was going to lose you! I love you — I love you so much! Don't you ever —" he broke off as his body shook with heartbreaking sobs.

"I'm here," Luna repeated to her family as they surrounded her with their love and affection.

Luna gazed down at Dougal who shyly stepped back into Newt's suitcase. She didn't know how he had done it, but she knew the Demiguise had somehow strengthened her will to live for her family and friends.

She looked up at Newt Scamander and mouthed, "Thank you."

Please read and review! Thanks!