Chapter 9: August 25, 2013 – Luna
Chapter Summary: **The 'Real Family' Part of the 2013 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts FaD** series. Separation takes its toll on twin sisters.
Timeline: pre-series for BtVS; I don't know, like book 4 or 5 for HP? Whenever Luna would be 15-16 years old.
Warning: maybe a little heartwrenching.
Challenge: for the livejournal 2013 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
A/N: If you have any suggestions for family members, please let me know.
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Mental Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Joyce looked through the observation window at her little girl with tears in her eyes. "Is this an escalation of her earlier fantasies about a magical world with people using wands and invisible animals only she could see?" she asked the doctors. "Would she be okay if we hadn't indulged her in those stories?"
Despite the fact they were in the process of going through a divorce, Hank put a comforting arm around his wife. "It might be genetic, Joyce," he reminded her. "We don't know anything about her birth family. The adoption agency couldn't locate anybody willing to admit to dropping her off at the group home. All they could do was assure us that she was physically healthy."
They told the doctors about the stories Buffy told them from the time she could talk. Tales about wizards and witches, evil dark lords and the boy-hero who defeated on as a baby, creatures like hippogriffs and nargles. Each tale more fantastical than the one before.
One doctor in particular was astonished at the detailed descriptions Buffy told, then later wrote down, for her stories. Astonished, and very alarmed. This could turn into a violation of the Statue of Secrecy. Fortunately, in a town near Hollywood, it could be passed off as another idea for a supernatural show or movie.
More interesting to this muggleborn witch-turned muggle mind healer were the central characters of Buffy's good vs. evil stories. Instead of the local heroes and villains that American children would know, she was talking about the players from the last war in Britain.
The latest addition of fighting vampires was a lot easier for the witch to explain, although it saddened her that the girl had a death sentence over her head. It was clear the girl was a newly-Called Slayer, and apparently one that wasn't trained/protected by the Watchers Council. Slayers didn't normally live long to begin with, but those without a Watcher died almost immediately after being Called because they didn't understand the new world they were thrust into as the protector of humanity against demons.
She would have to get in touch with one of her colleagues in Britain to help the poor girl. At least to find out how she knew about the Wizarding World; she knew nothing could be done about the Slayer part – apart from finding her a decent Watcher who wouldn't just kill her to get a dependable girl (ie. Council-trained) to replace her.
Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Scotland
"Is Luna going to be alright, Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked the school nurse after he and his friends found Luna by the edge of the Forbidden Forest with signs of being in a fight.
Turning to her most-frequent patient – apart from the hypochondriacs like Draco Malfoy – Poppy sighed and replied, "I'm not certain, Mr. Potter. Do any of you know why she would be fighting demonic vampires in the Forest?"
"Demonic vampires?" Hermione asked, surprised that they hadn't been told about different kinds of vampires in DADA when they covered dangerous 'creatures'.
"How did you know she was fighting vampires?" Harry asked at the same time.
Poppy pointed to Luna's clothing and said, "I recognize the vampiric ash on her. Plus she had a stake tucked up the sleeve of her robe."
"What do you mean demonic vampires?" Hermione tried again.
Ginny cut her off, saying, "Not the time, Hermione! We need to find out what happened to Luna. You can research vampires later."
"Could she be a Slayer?" Neville wondered aloud, surprising everyone, both by his knowledge and that he would speak up without being asked to.
"How do you know about Slayers, Mr. Longbottom?" Headmaster Dumbledore inquired, having just come into the infirmary with Professors McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick behind him.
Neville paled when he saw the attention his question garnered. "When my family was afraid I might be a squib, they contacted the Council about getting me trained as a Watcher, sir," he stuttered.
"Interesting," Dumbledore murmured. "Mr. Longbottom may be onto something with his Slayer theory. I'll have to contact the Council about the possibility. I believe the last one was in the state of California somewhere. Perhaps her death caused Miss Lovegood to be Called."
Hermione was near frantic with questions about the topics being discussed that she didn't understand. She would definitely be getting some answers later, and since Neville sounded like he knew some of them, she'd start with him.
"Are her injuries serious?" Professor Flitwick asked the nurse.
"If she is a Slayer, then she should make a full recovery by morning," Poppy replied. "If not, then I may need to take her to St. Mungos."
Just then Luna started muttering something in her sleep. Ginny leaned over to listen and repeated the words for everyone else's benefit, "Merrick. No! Lothos! Mommy and Daddy! Buffy. Watch the Veil!" she cried out, sounding eerily similar to Luna.
Headmaster's office
Several hours later…
It was a testament to how discombobulated Dumbledore was that he didn't offer a treat to his guests when they joined him in his office once he returned from the Watchers Council. His four heads of houses were there, as well as Madam Pomfrey and Luna's father, Xenophilius Lovegood.
"The Council can't explain it. The other Slayer, Buffy Summers, is still alive, and they have no indication that Miss Lovegood is a Slayer, despite the fact she fought demonic vampires and is still alive. Miss Summers recently defeated a Master vampire by the name of Lothos, but made the mistake of telling the truth about vampires to her parents afterwards. She is in a muggle hospital for mind healing.
"Even more unusual, they just received a call from one of the mind healers treating her, saying that Miss Summers has been talking about the Wizarding World for years, even though she comes from a strictly muggle family and shows little signs of being magical apart from being the Slayer. The healer is confused because she talks about people and places in our part of the Wizarding World, not her own. She has stories about Voldemort and Harry, Hogwarts and nargles," Dumbledore recounted.
Xenophilius physically reacted to that. He doubled over like somebody had punched him in the stomach. Poppy was at his side in seconds, asking, "Are you alright?"
He ignored her to ask Dumbledore his own question, "Do you have a picture of Buffy Summers?"
"No, but I could request one," Dumbledore replied. True to his word, he quickly scratched out a note and handed it to Fawkes to deliver to the Council.
"It may just be wishful thinking on my part," Xenophilius began, "but something very few people know about Luna is that she had a twin sister who was stolen literally at birth. Selene had just delivered Luna and was about to deliver our second daughter when a flash of lights surrounded her stomach and our baby disappeared."
"Selene never gave up hope of finding Luna's sister and reuniting them. The spell that killed her was supposed to help her locate our missing daughter. We were sure that she was still alive because occasionally Luna would start talking about things that we knew with absolute certainty she couldn't know about…things we theorized were happening to her sister somewhere else in the world," he explained to the shocked group.
Fawkes arrived with an envelope, which Dumbledore quickly opened and peered at the contents. He gasped at the photo, instantly recognizing the girl that it showed. He handed the picture to Xenophilius, who started sobbing at the sight. "My baby is alive!" he kept crying over and over again.
The picture that he held onto with a death grip showed a young girl who was the spitting image of his beloved Selene at the same age.
"Perhaps we should bring Mr. Lovegood to the infirmary so he can be with Luna when she wakes up," Professor McGonagall kindly suggested.
Two days later…
A fully-healed Luna couldn't be dissuaded from joining her father and the Headmaster in going to the United States to speak with the people who adopted her twin sister, Buffy. She needed to see with her eyes as well as her mind and heart that Buffy and her life were real. To be honest, she was beginning to fear that she was as loony as people claimed her to be all the time.
Once she assured herself that Buffy was real, she'd find a way to help Buffy slay vampires. Luna didn't care what the statistics said about a Slayer's life expectancy; she planned to grow old with her twin, and nothing would stand in her way!
A/N: That last 'declaration' from Luna felt like the perfect place to end this ficlet.