A/N: Written for the International Wizarding School Championship.
School: Beauxbatons
Year: 4
Theme: Magicals Bugs and Illnesses
Main Prompt: 5. Dragon Pox [Illness]
Side Prompts: 10. Ginny Weasley/Luna Lovegood [Platonic Pairing], 11. "This was not a good idea. In fact, it was possibly their/his/her worst idea yet." [First Line]
Word Count: 1231
"This is not a good idea. In fact, it is possibly your worst idea yet, Lorcan," Luna said. She was a wand's length away from pulling her long, blonde hair out. She was so scatterbrained and tired that she couldn't remember the last time she'd sat down.
Well, that was technically a lie—she'd been sitting three days ago at eight thirty-two a.m., enjoying an early-morning cup of Earl Grey with lavender honey, when she'd heard a gagging sound from her upstairs bathroom. She'd put her tea down, marked her page in her book of Inca mythology (recently sent to her by her husband, Rolf, as he was in Peru for six weeks), and run up the staircase. She'd discovered her six-year-old son, Lorcan, throwing up into the toilet, his skin tinged the same shade of greenish-purple as the big vein in Umbridge's head had been. She had instantly recognized the symptoms of dragon pox and got her son a cup of water. Then she had gone to check on his twin, Lysander. Sure enough, on her way into his room, he had come running out, heading straight for the bathroom, skin matching Lorcan's. She'd heard a puking sound shortly after.
She'd travelled through the Floo with her sons to St Mungo's, and they had quickly met with a Healer who'd given her sons a potion. It had seemed to work, as their skin had quickly lost the unappealing shade of green and they had stopped throwing up, but on the flip side, it had brought their energy back nearly instantly. Tenfold.
Which was why Luna was so close to bursting into tears: Lorcan had managed to get stuck in the rafters of their ceiling, for Merlin's sake, and Lysander refused to sit for more than a minute—he was currently running in a circle around the room, screaming some nursery rhyme Luna would have to curse "Gamma Mawwy" for teaching them.
"Lorcan, sweetie, please come down for Mummy. You're still sick. You need to rest," Luna pleaded, echoing herself from two hours ago, when he had somehow gotten up there.
"No way, Mummy! I feel great!" Lorcan giggled, dancing around on the wide beams.
Quickly Luna cast a Cushioning Charm below him, just in case he fell, and sighed, deciding to deal with the other issue—the one that was making her head throb.
"Lysander, please stop shouting. You're giving Mummy a headache."
"No!"
For a brief second, Luna wondered if she could legally get away with casting the Imperius Curse on her sons—the side effects of this medication were torture for her! Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from the fireplace—her best friend since childhood.
"Hi, Luna! I heard that the twins were sick, so I brought over some chicken noodle—dear Merlin, you look awful. What happened?" Ginny Weasley-Potter asked, stopping dead in her tracks.
Luna took two steps to her left to check her appearance in the mirror and nearly shrieked—her eyes were red and bloodshot, her skin was pale, and her hair looked like the twins had decided to "braid" it—which they had. The more she looked at herself, the more her left eye started to twitch.
"It's these—these two," Luna said, pointing at the blond menaces behind her. "I haven't sat or slept in three days because of the potion the Healer prescribed for their dragon pox. Great timing, too, as Rolf is still in Peru and I-I'm left to deal with two little reincarnations of Loki. I don't understand why they're like this—they were wonderful little babies, and their terrible twos did not exist. So why now, Ginny? Why?" Luna asked, voice betraying the sheer desperation for the beautiful sleep her sanity so desired.
"Uh… I'm not sure? Why don't you let me handle these two? You could go and lie down for a bit." Ginny said, setting down the pot of soup and putting an arm around Luna.
"Oh, no I… couldn't possibly… do that to you" Luna said through a yawn.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked, eyebrow raising. She looked remarkably like Molly at that moment, making Luna wonder if Harry was ever scared of her.
"N-no," Luna said, walking up the stairwell.
"Luna? Lu-u-u-una," Ginny said softly, shaking her friend awake. Luna had slept for the last seven hours while Ginny had looked after the twins. Ginny, too, was exhausted, and Lorcan had taken another hour and a half to get down solely on the promise of a chocolate frog, and then Lysander had screamed some more until he got one, too. Ginny looked exhausted; her long red hair was tucked up into a bun with her wand securing it up to protect it from the two little demons she'd been babysitting, and there were massive bags under her eyes.
"No, the Nargles are over there," Luna muttered, obviously still in a dream-world.
Ginny just smiled and shook her a little more. "C'mon, Luna, it's time to wake up."
Luna's eyes popped open, and she groaned softly. "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty in the evening. The twins are asleep, and I think that they're on the mend. About three hours ago they just kinda 'crashed' from the medication and are exhausted. I Floo-called Mum, and she said that this kind of thing is pretty common with dragon pox potions, so they should be all healed in the next day or two, and their skin should be back to normal in the next week."
"Merlin, Ginny, you're a lifesaver. Thank you so much. There is no way I could ever repay you. Ever."
Ginny only laughed, then sat lightly on the edge of the bed. "I have to get back home to Harry and the kids, but I'll come back tomorrow to check on you, okay?"
"Yes, thank you so much, Ginny!"
A quick Apparition later and Ginny was right outside her and Harry's house. Quickly she ran through the wards, dodging the few raindrops that flew her way.
"Harry! Kids! I'm home!" she called out, shutting the door behind her.
"Hey, Gin! So, it seems Albus and James have dragon pox," Harry said, coming out of the living room, " so I went to St Mungo's and got this potion for them, and it seems to have made them go… mad? Like bouncing off the walls?"
Thinking quickly, Ginny took a step back and said, "Yeah, about that, Luna's twins are also sick, and since Rolf is gone, I told her that I could help take care of them. I hope you don't mind."
"Yeah, that sounds good. How long will you be gone for?"
"Oh, maybe three days, I think," Ginny said, exhausted from dealing with Luna's energetic children and not wanting to deal with her own.
"Yeah, sure!" Harry said.
A few minutes later, Ginny was back outside on her way to Luna's, chortling at the thought of Harry coping with the boys while she enjoyed some well-earned peace.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please review! I'd love to hear from you!