Disclaimer: I get sick of writing these things, but you know the deal. JKR's stuff because she is awesome!
After the War
Part Two: A Father's Love
Xenophilius Lovegood heaved a great sigh as he appeared in the center of Hogsmeade. His white candy floss hair was grungy and limp around his head, his usual colorful clothes replaced with those of Azkaban. The industrial grey, ripped and torn, made him look ever more miserable than he had been feeling in the past couple of months. He was frowning, his brow knitted in worry as he began to walk, his shoes a bit too large, having belonged to another prisoner before him.
All around him, people were celebrating. Banners had been hung across buildings and in windows, bright colors and happy songs of victory. The Dark Lord was finished at last, thanks to the brave Harry Potter. But Xeno would not, could not join them. His heart was empty, his fear great that surely he had lost everything at last. That there would no longer be anything at all for him to live for. Sure, his home had been destroyed, but that was easily mended. Inanimate objects meant nothing to him, nothing at all… if he had lost her as well. His most precious possession could not be bought or repaired.
It had been eight months since Xeno had seen his beloved daughter. He had put her on the train to school… had been required to against his better judgment… hoping that the pureness of their blood would keep her safe. But they had stolen her away, just before Christmas, because he had been printing issues of his magazine, the Quibbler, with words of favor for the Boy-Who-Lived. They had taken his entire world away from him…
They had tried for so long to have a baby. It had taken years until finally, the good news… Tricia had come home from work early and hugged him so tightly that he could almost still feel her arms around him. Her voice still echoed in his ears… 'I'm pregnant… I'm pregnant… I'm pregnant…' He had nearly fainted in shock. And then when Luna had been born…. The Healers had told them it was a boy… he had been plenty prepared for a son… and a bit disappointed when it was announced that the child was actually a girl.
But he had loved her so, from the moment he had laid eyes on her. But he had also been worried. How could he, as a man, raise a little girl? But he had Tricia's help… and it ended up being much easier than expected. Luna was everything Xeno could have ever wanted in a child of his own. She was perceptive, and incredibly smart while keeping an open mind about everything. She wasn't afraid to get covered in mud, in fact, she preferred it, only second to getting covered in paint. To Xeno, she was the most perfect of little girls.
After his wife had been killed during one of her experiments seven years ago, Xeno had been quite distraught. But it had been Luna who had taken care of him. Luna who had made him eat… had made him keep going. Until one day he had woken up and realized that all was not lost. He still had plenty to live for… a daughter, barely nine years old, to take care of. And his wife would never be completely gone. He could see her in the way his Luna laughed, the way she smiled, her eyes sparkling, and the way she accepted what most wizards would consider the craziest of ideas. His wife lived on in their daughter and he had made it his mission in life to protect her even more ever since.
But he had failed.
The Death Eaters had taken his Luna, and for all he knew, she was most likely as dead as her mother now, her body rotting beneath the earth. Never again would he see those silver-blue eyes so full of life and wonder. Never again would he hold her in his arms or make her tea when she was ill. Never again would they discuss the greatness of Crumpleheaded Snorkacks nor eat chocolate cake at three in the morning because she'd woken up with a craving for it.
But he knew, if he had one very last chance… if there was even the remotest of possibilities that she was still alive. That she had managed to somehow escape from where-ever they had imprisoned her… that she would be at Hogwarts. She would have found out about the battle and gotten there as soon as she could… because that was the Luna he knew. The one willing to die to protect those she loved… because she was her mother's daughter.
The trek up to the castle seemed to take forever, but soon, he had reached the gate. It was wide open, welcoming those wishing to come celebrate and allowing others to leave if they wanted to. There was a steady flow of traffic coming and going from the castle… families trying to reunite with their children… others trying to spread word of those who had been killed or those who had made it through.
"Xeno! Brilliant day, isn't it?' Someone called, but he ignored them. For him, it was not a brilliant day. He needed to find out if his daughter was dead… and there was absolutely nothing brilliant about that. The person who had called probably still had all of his family members.
The giant oak doors to the castle stood open wide in welcome. Shouts of joy and cries of pain echoed together in the celebrations going on here. Most people seemed to be going in and out of the Great Hall, or up the stairs to help with the reconstruction of the school. Xeno took a moment and then turned toward the Great Hall. He would start there… ask around if anyone had maybe seen her…
And then it happened. Five words sounded from the far side of the hall and sent Xeno's head spinning. "Oooh! Look! A blibbering humdinger!" Surely… surely that could not be…. But who else could it be? Who else knew or understood about blibbering humdingers except for…
"Luna…" Xeno whispered, pushing his way through those who were standing and had not yet taken a seat. And there was was… her dirty blonde hair messier than he'd ever seen it… covered in dirt and a great bruise on her cheek… "LUNA!" He broke into a run and those around him parted quickly to let him through.
Her head spun around and Luna was suddenly rising from her seat, eyes wide and bright with absolute delight. She stepped over the bench and her arms stretched out to him before he was even within her grasp… "Daddy!"
And then… she was there. She was whole and alive and warm in his arms. He gripped her tightly, lifting her up from the floor and she wrapped her legs around his middle as she had done when she was small. And though he was weak from Azkaban, he was strong enough to hold her… to spin her around in his joy that she was here. That she was not lost to him forever. His most precious thing in the entire world… his Luna.
Even after he set her back down, Xeno kept one arm around his daughter at all times. He could smile now, and enjoy the celebration. He could eat and laugh and listen to stories of what had happened in the battle and how Voldemort had finally met his end. And he could breathe. Because the one thing that mattered most to him in the entire world, was safely tucked up under his arm and he was never, ever, going to allow anyone to take her away from him again.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've never done a POV from Xeno before, so I figured it'd be interesting. Anyways, lemme know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you and yes, I promise to update my other stories soon for those of you who have just been waiting and waiting and begging me for more.
Love always,
S.Q.O.