Title: In the Afterlife
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Barty/Luna/Regulus
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 725
Summary: Soulmate! Luna never got to meet her soulmates in life.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Daily Prompt Inspiration Thread - (pairing) Barty/Luna/Regulus
Big Damn Prompt Competition: 30. Dialogue: There's something I've always wanted to ask you.
Ultimate Patronus Quest Challenge: Class B - Mammal - 15. Lux: Write about a Ravenclaw
Luna had always had two names on her thigh. That indicated she had two soulmates. One name was red, indicating that person was dead. The other name was black. That person was alive, but towards the end of her third year, that name too went red.
Her soulmates had died, and she had never even met them. It left her with an empty ache in her heart.
One day, after Ginny married her soulmate, Dean Thomas, she came to Luna. "There's something I've always wanted to ask you," she started without any preamble.
Luna waited patiently with arched eyebrows.
"Well, you never speak about your soulmate. You never ever mentioned you soulmate's name, and I've never seen you with any one in a romantic way. Why? Have you not met him or her yet?"
Luna stared at her lap. It was true that she had never told anyone who her soulmates were. It wasn't that odd that she had two soulmates. She certainly wasn't the first person to be the perfect match with two people. It was just that one was dead before she was born and the other was dead before she met him. And she had known who that second one was. There weren't many Barty's in the wizarding world, and the only Barty that she knew of that died in that year was Barty Crouch Jr. How did one tell anyone that one of her soulmates was a Death Eater? And she had a strong suspicion who her first soulmate was. Regulus. That too wasn't that common of a name either and after looking through history books, it seemed almost obvious.
Her soulmates were two Death Eaters, and she wasn't ashamed of it. She was simply sad that she never got to meet them or be with them.
And she thought that was it. She thought she would grow old and alone, and that would be it.
Except, Luna didn't get the opportunity to grow old. While walking through Diagon Alley, she was cursed from behind. It was a quick, painless death, and when she opened her eyes, she was in a place she just knew was the afterlife.
She blinked at the sight of two figures standing before her as she took in her surroundings.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked from one man to the other. And she knew instinctively who they were. "Regulus? Barty?"
Both men smiled, and they were the most beautiful smiles she had ever seen.
"We've been waiting for you," Regulus murmured as he took a step closer to her.
"We thought you might never get here," Barty added, as he too came closer to her.
Luna prided herself when it came to her knowledge of the unbelievable and fantastical things in the world, but this whole experience was stumping her. "How are you here? Where are we?"
Barty smiled. "This is a special place."
Regulus nodded as he added, "It's specifically made for soulmates that never got to meet each other in real life."
"Were you two together?" she asked quietly.
They nodded.
Barty took her hand. "We loved each other, but there was always a missing piece in our relationship."
Regulus took her other hand. "The third person meant for our bond. You're name was purple when we were in school, she we knew you hadn't been born yet. We didn't know how long we'd have to wait for you to be born, but then I died before your name ever changed color."
"And I was in Azkaban when I finally saw your name became black. And then I too died before I truly got to meet you."
"Did you know who I was when you were posing as Mad-Eye Moody?"
Barty nodded. "Yes, but you were two young for me to approach you. No matter how many terrible things I did in my life, I would never approach someone who wasn't the age of consent."
"But then you died, too," she whispered sadly.
Barty and Regulus took each other's hands, while they kept a hold of hers.
"We can be together now, though," she exclaimed hopefully, her heart swelling with emotion.
"For eternity," they agreed simultaneously.
They pulled her into their embrace, and they covered both sides of her in a hug. She had never felt safer in her life.