I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 73 – Wax and Wane
Takes place a few years after chapter 71
He hated the way she looked at that moment, eyes open but empty, her expression lost. He was used to seeing her stare off into space, typically her face dreamy and curious, a hint of a smile just barely hidden. There was no dreaminess here, no pleasant mental meandering. She was there, but only just. "Luna," he whispered softly.
After hearing her name a few more times, Luna blinked and her silver-grey eyes focused slowly. "Harry?" she replied, her voice tiny and shaking.
"Yeah, it's me," he said softly.
Luna looked out the window. The sun had not yet risen, the sky still dark with fingers of crimson rising from the horizon. "Oh, it's early."
"I let myself in, hope that was okay."
"You are always welcome here," she whispered. "No matter the time or reason."
"Good." He frowned. "Did you sleep?"
"I…don't know. I didn't go to bed if that is what you mean." Her eyes returned to his face and she stared resolutely at him and at nothing else.
"Okay," he said. "Well, I'm here to help you, if you want me to."
"You are?"
He smiled sadly at her. "Of course."
"What about work? Katie and the girls?"
"The team's covered for the next few weeks. Katie's fine and so are the girls. They're worried about you too."
"Oh. That's very nice of them." She blinked and tears built in her eyes. "I…I think I need your help."
"You have it," he promised. He took her hands in his and he tried not to worry about how cold they were, how hard she gripped his. "Would you like anyone else to come with us for this part?"
"I…not for this," she said after a while. "Perhaps for other things, but not for this. I thought I could do this on my own, by myself, but I don't think I can."
"You don't have to do it on your own," he said firmly. "You're not alone, Luna."
"Thank you," she whispered. She felt him wipe the tears away and she stood on unsteady legs. Her hands shook slightly but went still when she picked up the urn that was sitting on the table in front of her. "I…I'm ready."
She closed her eyes and felt Harry apparate them away from Potter Village. The roar of the sea filled her ears and the wet air smelled strongly of salt and spray. The wind pulled on her long blonde hair. She relaxed when Harry offered an arm and they walked along the cliff top and stood at the edge, waiting for the sun to rise fully.
It was a cruelly beautiful day. The sea air biting and cold. The sun shone bright, not a cloud in the sky. The cries of gulls were loud: hungry and mournful to her ears. She took a breath, then another, then another.
"He…he said the best part of traveling was seeing the sun rise over the sea," she said at last. "Something he read once, about the age of Muggle exploration. Said it must have been grand to travel the oceans on a ship."
"Did he ever try to sail?" Harry asked.
"Once, he got dreadfully seasick." Luna did not quite smile when Harry stifled a snort, but her lips felt less pained. "It's okay to laugh, he thought it was funny after he recovered."
"At least he knew," Harry said softly.
"Yes, Daddy always said that you have to experience things yourself for you to truly know what it is like. Reading about it only gets you so far." She looked down at the urn in her hands.
"You don't have to do this," he said gently.
"I do, it was his last wish," she whispered.
"I don't think he would want you to be hurt by it."
"I hurt, but not for the same reasons I think." She took off the lid and gently held the urn up. The wind blew and blew and the ashes rose from the vessel. The wind took them away, scattering them and sending them into the air, over land, over water. She held the urn up until no more emerged and she slowly lowered her arms.
"Good-bye Daddy," she said in a painfully small voice. "Now you get to travel the world forever."
Harry said nothing, waiting for her to finish. After sometime she turned and stood before him, arms still wrapped around the urn, her head down. She melted into his embrace and she buried her face into his chest.
"Take me back, please," she said, voice muffled by his shirt and her grief.
He held her and apparated them back and the cliff was empty once more.
-0-
Luna had gotten the letter from the Ministry.
She knew her father had gone out on an expedition but a terrible accident occurred during the trip. Xenophilius, by all accounts, had saved others at his own expense. He had died before treatment could be rendered and he was brought back to the Ministry. Percy, upon overhearing someone discuss the incident, figured out who the victim was and had tried to soften the blow as best as he could.
Luna had fallen into a daze. She and Xenophilius had a caring relationship but as the years went by, they had not remained close. She had developed a promising art career and occasionally wrote and edited for the Quibbler while Xenophilius fully indulged his wanderlust and his writing. They met when they could and exchanged messages more often than not.
She never thought this would happen this soon.
For a long dangerous moment, she felt a very familiar sense of dread return. It was a distressing feeling, thick and cloying. She felt herself drifting and drowning into waters that she knew but at the time had no way of communicating or relieving herself from.
Luckily, her circumstances now were a far cry different from then.
Harry and the others rescued her. They were there for her in every conceivable way. She grasped onto them, Harry especially, and knew that if she fell like she did before, recovery would have been even more difficult than it was now without them.
Ted happily became the lawyer for the estate, helping her with the gargantuan task of settling affairs. The Quibbler was sold to a friend of Xenophilius' that wanted to maintain it, something Luna was unsure of doing herself. The land her childhood home was sold for a large amount of money, money she reluctantly took and saved and invested at Ted's recommendation. Xenophilius' debts, very few in number and value, were handled and all she had left to do was to clean the Lovegood house.
His house. Not hers. Legally speaking it was hers but she could not bear to live there anymore, especially now.
She stepped out of her bedroom and stopped, eyes widening. "Oh, hello everyone."
"Hi Luna," Katie said. She embraced the shorter woman and Luna returned the embrace eagerly. "Sleep okay?"
"I…don't know," Luna confessed. "What are all of you doing here?"
"Waiting on you sleepyhead," Tonks said with a half-smile, her hair dark brown and curly.
"We are coming to help you clean and organize," Daphne said.
"Really?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, we want to help," Hermione said gently.
"Angelina is watching all the bunnies and babies today," Alicia said.
"We slept over to make sure we'd be here on time," Mirabelle said and Lyla nodded.
"Thank you," Luna whispered.
"We're with you," Harry said.
-0-
She thought it would take longer than it did.
With so many willing hands, it had taken very little time to clean out the Lovegood house. Magic of course made cleaning easy, packing relatively simple. Though the house was not small, it did not take long at all for them to organize everything. Many things were set aside to be donated. Some things were to be given to the person who bought the Quibbler. A few things were for her to take away.
It had not taken long at all to clean up a house that held the lives of three people, despite two of them cut short, one much shorter than the other.
As they were cleaning Xenophilius' room, Hermione had stopped and gazed thoughtfully at a wall. "Something's here," she said after a while.
"What do you mean?" Mirabelle asked.
"The wall looks a little different here, or am I making things up?" Hermione replied.
"No, you are not." Daphne looked at the spot. "The paint here is different. Less faded."
"It's behind a dresser," Lyla said.
"True, but I think Hermione's right, it seems different." Harry moved the dresser.
"Look, runes," Daphne said. She and Hermione knelt and shined a light at them. "Concealment and preservation."
"Do you think it was hiding something?" Katie asked.
"Must be," Hermione said, brushing dust from her jeans. "Wonder why it was noticeable now though. With runes like that and other charms I imagine, we shouldn't have."
"Probably because the caster…isn't here anymore," Tonks said softly. "I've seen it out there for work. The caster hasn't renewed the spells and the runes faded if they needed to be renewed too."
They looked at Luna. "What would you like us to do?" Tonks asked gently.
Luna blinked. "I…I have no idea what could be there. I don't remember another door or anything in here from before." For a second she wanted to leave it closed, thinking nothing good could come from it. "I suppose we should open it."
Harry reached out then flinched back, shaking his hand as if stung. "Still some protection," he said ruefully.
"You might have to be the one," Daphne said to Luna. "It may be tied to you."
Luna nodded and hesitantly reached out. When she touched the wall, it shimmered under her touch and the wooden wall became a metal door. Something clicked inside of it and it opened, revealing books and boxes within it. A faint earthy green scent drifted out, something achingly nostalgic and melancholy.
"I don't know what any of that is," Luna said, blinking.
"We should take it with us then," Hermione suggested. "So you can go through it at your leisure." At Luna's nod, they packed it away and took it with them.
Luna's last look back at the house was the sun setting behind it. It was completely empty. She touched the front door one more time before turning and leaving with her friends.
-0-
"Come on."
Luna was staring at the boxes in her sitting room. They had returned and dropped things off and she stood there staring at them for long moments. Finally, she heard what Harry said and turned to look at him. "What's that?"
"Come on. Pack some things. You're staying with me and Katie and the girls for a bit."
Her heart ached. "Oh. I…I don't want to impose…"
"You're not," Katie said softly but firmly. "Harry told me how he found you a few times before this. We just want you close. We want you with us." Her smile was small but sincere. "The girls want you there too."
Naked relief showed on Luna's face. "Okay, if they insist," she said. She packed a bag and when they left her home, she walked between them. She breathed shallowly until she felt Harry's arm around her shoulder, felt Katie take her hand. Her breathing became deeper and smoother. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Of course," Katie said softly.
-0-
"How is she?" Hermione asked.
Harry rubbed his neck. "She's…she's okay, sort of. I know it's only been a few days but she's there and she isn't, if you know what I mean. If she's alone, she'll just sit there. Not even read or anything. When someone's with her, she makes an attempt to interact and she'll smile or something, but she's worryingly quiet when she's alone."
"I'm glad she's with you here then," Hermione said.
"Me too. I was worried whenever I went to her house before and just found her sitting there." He rubbed his eyes. "Truth be told, I'm worried about her. She's not drawing or painting or doing anything art related."
"Oh no, really?"
"I found her the other day in her studio. She apparently went there to do something but she again was just sitting there and everything she tried to pick to use was on the ground. Her hands shook whenever she tried to draw and she was in a state."
"Poor thing," Hermione sighed. "I know she and her father had a very different sort of relationship but she's taken it really hard. Has she been eating and resting properly?"
"Not as much as she used to but yeah." Harry smiled a little. "Dally and Rilly make a game of getting her to eat things they give her and she eats when they do that. Rilly likes to nap with her too and she does sleep well enough when they nap together."
"Thank goodness for the girls," Hermione smiled. She turned thoughtful. "Say, what did you do that time when she was really upset and having a hard time of things? Was it when we were leaving Hogwarts?"
Harry frowned slightly before brightening. "Oh, hey, yeah I can do that now too. Great idea. Thanks Hermione."
"I hope it helps."
"I'm sure it will."
-0-
Luna looked up. She caught a whiff of that earthy green scent and she turned to find the source. "Harry?"
Harry sat beside her and set what he was holding on the nightstand. "Hey Luna," he said.
She looked at the vase of flowers that he put down. "Are those daisies?"
"Yup, English Daisies to be precise." He plucked one of the flowers out from the vase and gave it to her. The pure-white petals surrounded the yellow face and they smelt strongly of green things with a hint of an earthy undertone.
"It's very pretty," Luna murmured.
"So, I hope you'll forgive me, but I opened one of the boxes that we packed from that hidden space. I poked around a bit and took out this." He handed her a book.
Her fingers trembled as she traced the words written on the outside of the journal. "Pandora Lovegood," she read, voice shaking.
"Turns out, the majority of the things in there were hers. I also found this pressed into the cover of the journal," he showed a handful of dried faded white petals, "and took them to Nev. He helped me figure out they were daisies."
He sat against the headboard. "Hermione gave me the idea actually. Remember when you and I talked to the professors about your mother and we sent those letters? I thought I could…help you now like this too if you wish. So again, hope you can forgive me for being a prat and poking about in your things but you looked as lost as we were when we opened the secret place, so I wanted to try and help."
"I…I never found anything of hers," Luna whispered. "I looked for a while but Daddy never said anything and he would look upset when I asked so I…stopped asking." She started opening the book but her hands stopped listening to her. "Would you…" she started to ask.
"Want me to read it out loud?" he supplied. "Are you sure you want me to? It might be very personal."
"You're my big brother. Mother wouldn't mind I don't think," she whispered. She snuggled into his side when he took the book from her, resting her head on his shoulder as he opened the book.
"Gosh, she had some nice handwriting." He cleared his throat. "'We're almost done with the house. I can't wait until it's finished. Xeno can live out of a tent happily but I like having a bit more stable space. Things are compressed inside a tent, even when expanded, and it really does interfere with some experiments.'" He frowned. "I think that's an arithmancy equation."
Luna looked down, wiping her eyes as they kept watering. "It is, a rather complicated one."
"Mother must have been as clever as her daughter," he said.
She snorted wetly. "Other way around typically," she whispered.
He flipped a few pages and stopped. "'I'm pregnant! I can't believe it, I'm actually pregnant!'" He felt Luna stiffen against him and he hugged her close, one hand running through her hair as he continued to read. "'Not that I never thought I couldn't have children, but I never anticipated having one so soon. Goodness, it's quite the lovely surprise! I wonder how this happened. I'm usually very good with the potion and the charms. I suppose I forgot that day with the charms experiment I was conducting. Oh, and Xeno did show up in that ridiculous headdress and looked unfairly fetching. He…'"
Luna looked up at him and noticed his face. "Harry?"
Harry closed the book firmly and set it aside. "That…that should be something you read at your caution later," he said, face bright red. "Apparently your mother is very descriptive in her writing and uh…you might have gotten your love for sketching from her."
Something in Luna's mind clicked and she felt the urge to laugh hysterically and retch dramatically. "Oh, oh my. Yes, that might be for the best," she giggled.
"I haven't heard that in a while," Harry smiled and held her.
"I haven't had much to laugh about," Luna admitted.
"No, you haven't, but I'm glad you still have it in you," he said honestly.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be. You've nothing to be sorry about," he whispered back.
"Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"Of course. I'm your big brother," he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.
"I love you," she whispered. She smiled when she felt him reply, his lips moving over her forehead.
-0-
"Auntie Luna?"
Luna smiled at Iris. It was still hard for her to smile on her own, but it was never hard to smile to the children. "Yes Iris?"
"Will you draw and color with me?"
"Uhm, Rilly, I'll draw and color with you," Dahlia said hurriedly, seeing Luna's face.
"But I want Auntie Luna to draw with me!"
"She's not feeling too well right now. Don't be rude."
Luna held a hand up, to reassure Dahlia as well as to quell Iris' rising ire. "That's okay, it's okay." She took a deep breath. "I'm okay," she said. "I'll be happy to draw and color with you Iris."
"Are you sure?" Dahlia whispered.
"I'm sure, thank you Dally," Luna said. She laid down on the ground with Iris and slowly started drawing on the offered paper with a black coloring pencil. When she looked down at Iris, her smile grew with how the little girl laid on her free arm, eyes rapt and focused completely on Luna's work. "I thought you were going to draw with me," Luna teased ever so slightly.
"I like coloring your drawings," Iris said and started to color on the parts Luna was done with. "You draw the best."
"That's very sweet of you to say," Luna said, heart warm. Her motions became more self-assured and soon she had drawn more and more. When she finished, she lay back, watching fondly as Iris colored, choosing her colors carefully.
"Done!" Iris handed the colored drawing to Luna.
"Very lovely," Luna praised. "You are much better at staying between the lines than I was at your age."
Iris wriggled with pleasure. However she did not take the drawing back when Luna offered it. "I colored it for you."
"For me?"
Iris nodded. "I wanted to do something pretty for you like you do for me!"
"Oh, you are very sweet," Luna said. She sat up and pulled Iris onto her lap and kissed her cheek. "Thank you. Would you like to draw and color more?"
Iris nodded.
"Can Dahlia draw and color with us?"
Iris sighed. "I guess."
Luna smiled broadly. "Thank you Rilly."
Time passed pleasantly as Luna drew and colored with the two little girls.
-0-
Luna looked up at the knock on the door. "Come in," she called out. "Oh, hello Mrs. Tonks."
Andromeda smiled as she stepped into the studio. "Hello Luna. Are you busy?"
Luna shook her head. This was the second day that she had returned to the studio. She spent a little more than an hour the day prior, cleaning things and setting things up again. She had a canvas set up before her and she had paint on palettes waiting. There was a little paint on the canvas too, but too little and too indistinct to be of any form yet. "No, not at all. I'm…slowly getting back into painting."
"That is good. Small steps are as important as big ones and sometimes, the harder ones to make."
Luna nodded in agreement. "Did Harry ask you to check on me?"
"I asked him first actually," Andromeda said and sat on a spare stool. "He then asked if I would be willing to speak with you some and I am more than willing."
"That is very kind of you," Luna said, cheeks pink. "May I ask why?"
"Your circumstances, while different, are not completely dissimilar from mine, once upon a time," the older woman said frankly. "At your age, I was in a very similar spot."
Luna blinked in surprise. "Really?"
Andromeda hummed. "Oh yes. Granted, I was with Ted by then but I had no family to rely upon save for his, and his were barely equipped to deal with him much less me. I was quite alone with just him to rely upon. I was cast out of the Blacks by that point and no one would speak to me save for Sirius and he had his own troubles."
Luna looked down. "I have Harry and the others here," she said softly.
"You do, but it is still a little different from blood kin," Andromeda said softly. "Not to diminish those that care at all, but it is still, different."
"Yours cut you off, that was awful," Luna said, her voice turning hard. "They were still alive."
"Yes, and in some ways, that is the cruller cut. And in other ways, it is less final."
Luna stayed looking at the ground.
"Is there anything you wish to speak about?" Andromeda asked gently.
"I…I am afraid it will make me seem…rather terrible," Luna confessed.
"I will not judge and I will keep your secrets," Andromeda said firmly.
"I know you won't and will, won't judge and will keep secrets," Luna said. "Harry loves you dearly and he always says you are wonderful to talk to." She smiled at Andromeda's pleased look. "I…I'm sad he's gone of course, but I…don't know how sad I should be."
"One should never feel the need to quantify their grief. We all grieve differently," Andromeda said.
"My brain knows that, but my heart doesn't. I was more upset when I lost Mummy." Luna took a deep breath. "When Mummy died, I know he did his best, but he wasn't there when I needed him," she said wanly.
Andromeda dragged her stool over to sit beside Luna. She offered a hand and Luna took it gratefully.
"Has Harry ever told you?" Luna asked. She sighed once more when Andromeda shook her head. "I saw her die," she said plainly and Andromeda's hand convulsed on hers. "She was doing an experiment and it went…poorly. Daddy found us later. He explained to me afterwards that it was not my fault and that it was an accident."
"I'm so sorry, dear. That is something no child should have to deal with," Andromeda murmured sorrowfully.
"I loved her so much," Luna said. Tears ran down her face. "I missed her…I miss her so much. Why…why do I not miss Daddy as much? Do…do I love him less?"
"Do not think that. You love your father and from what little I saw of you two together, and the stories you have shared, you both shared a loving bond," Andromeda said confidently. "It is a different one than the one you had with your mother and that is perfectly normal."
"I know, rather, my brain knows." Luna sniffled. "I found a letter, with the things we found in the secret spot, with my mother's things. It was from Daddy. He wrote that he was sorry for putting all her things away, that he couldn't bear to look at it at all. He put it away and hid it for me to find later, for when he could deal with the emotions and the pain."
She clenched her free hand. "He could not throw them away; he could not do that to me. Instead he hid them. A part of him died that day when Mummy did and he…well, like I said, he did his best."
Andromeda said nothing, patting Luna's hand gently.
"I think that is why he liked traveling and exploring so much," Luna said. "So he could be elsewhere and not around the memories of her. He was always different when we traveled about."
"Everyone reacts to grief and loss differently," Andromeda said. "When I was first cast out, I had a bit of a temper. Perhaps more than a bit if you ask Ted though the poor man will never admit it. Anger was my initial response to everything. I eventually was able to let go of my anger and process things in a healthier way, a more comforting way. It takes time admittedly, but it will happen."
"May I confess something else that is terrible?"
"You have yet to do so and I eagerly await to see if you will."
Luna giggled a little. "When I think about comfort, as in something comforting, I don't think about Daddy. I'm not sure if I ever did."
"You think about Harry," Andromeda said.
She nodded. "I…I was so lost that day, my first year at Hogwarts. I was so sad, and alone. I was hiding and crying, begging for someone to save me. He found me that day, him and Katie. He was ever so kind. I kept waiting for him to stop being kind, to ignore me, to leave me like everyone else. He never did."
Luna started crying again. "Even at his lowest, when he was plagued by the Dementors, he noticed me. Noticed how I didn't have any shoes or socks and was walking the castle stones barefoot. He helped me while he was in pain."
"He's a good person with an amazing heart," Andromeda said proudly. "And he saw you and your anguish and approached you because he knew what it was like to suffer. You both have suffered more than others and that is why he cares for you so."
"He's never stopped caring for me, caring about me," Luna said. "I feel like a burden sometimes."
"You should not. He loves you dearly."
"I love him dearly too," Luna whispered.
"And you help him immensely. You help him see the beauty in the world. You help him relax in ways the others do not. Your perspective is unique and one that he values."
"Oh." Luna blushed. "I'm glad."
"As is he, and I, and all your friends," Andromeda said sincerely. "Do not regret your grief, Luna. Your thoughts and feelings are wholly yours and worthy to be thought and felt. They are complicated, but just about everything is."
Luna released a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said softly. She looked up at Andromeda. "You are very easy to talk to. Small wonder that Harry loves talking to you."
"I am glad to hear it and if you ever need someone to talk to as well, simply reach out to me. I find you delightful and wonderful to spend time with. It is no burden and a genuine pleasure," Andromeda said.
"Thank you," Luna whispered. "May…may I have a hug?"
"Anytime," Andromeda said, drawing Luna into her arms.
-0-
"That's beautiful," Harry said.
Luna smiled softly at him. "Thank you. I am…pleased with it."
Harry gazed at the painting. Pandora and Xenophilius looked happy in it. They sat side by side, looking out, as if they were there posing for a formal painting. It was easy to see that Luna was their daughter. She had Pandora's fine features and eyes. She had Xenophilius' gaze and smile. He looked down between them, at the empty space. "You're not going to add yourself there?"
She shook her head. "I thought about it, but they look so happy with just the two of them like this," she said. "Perhaps it is best if they got to spend their time together like that, without me."
"I don't think it'd be best," Harry disagreed gently. "You're their daughter."
"I know. But they had a bond that broke terribly when she died." She leaned into Harry's touch. "I'm okay. Really. One day I'll have the three of us together, but it doesn't feel right for this piece."
"You're the expert," Harry said as he rubbed her back. "Iris and Dahlia draw better than I do."
"Your art is in the kitchen and on the pitch and with people," Luna said plainly. "Just like my art is with canvas and paint."
"Yours is with people too," Harry said.
"Some people at least," Luna said. She waved her wand and the surface of the painting shimmered. Carefully she wrapped it in a protective cover and set it aside against the wall. The studio was bright and ordered, completely clean. She had slowly gone back to sleep in her home once more, getting back into her life.
The first night she slept alone in her home again, she did so with plushies that Dahlia and Iris lent her. After a week of being away, she returned them and took the girls to a place in Hogsmeade to get matching ones for the three of them, a place that Angelina recommended. Luna did a charm that linked the three, much like sibling stones or the bunnies that Harry made, and Luna slept soundly knowing that the girls thought of her and wished her warm thought and feeling, something she returned in kind as often as she could.
"Ready to come for dinner?" Harry asked.
She took off her apron and hung it up. "Yes please." She looped an arm through his and they set a slow pace back to Harry's home. "What's for dinner?"
"Frittata and salad." He smiled at her clapping with delight. "And buttered noodles."
"Iris still hasn't gotten tired of that, has she," Luna giggled.
"Not in the slightest. At least it's not terribly unhealthy." Harry chuckled. "Ron said there was a period of time where he ate nothing but chips for every meal."
"He has the metabolism of an orthockie," Luna said. "There's never been any reports of an overweight one."
"Thank goodness for him then, especially with Hannah's cooking," Harry smiled.
"Harry Potter, are you being threatened by someone else's cooking?!" Luna gasped, eyes sparkling.
"What? No! Not at all!"
"Ooh, maybe you two can have a cook-off," she murmured. "That would be fun. Ron cannot be the judge though."
"Because he wouldn't be impartial?"
"I'd feel terrible if Hannah made him sleep on the couch for picking you over her." For the first time in a long time, Luna laughed out loud, joining Harry's guffawing. It was always difficult for her not to laugh with Harry.
-0-
A year later
"You look wonderful," Luna said, crossing over to Katie.
Katie snorted but smiled and hugged her. "I look ragged but thank you. All his fault," she said, giving Harry a mock-glare.
"Are you sure you didn't initiate this one as well?" Luna asked, tilting her head. "It would upset the pattern."
"I know you didn't tell her so I'm not going to question how or why she'd say that," Katie said, laughing while Harry flushed.
"Just Luna being Luna," Harry smiled.
Luna smiled prettily. "Not that I am complaining, but may I ask why I am first this time?" Her eyes were drawn to the bassinet and she sighed lovingly at the small bundle that lay within. Her fingers twitched a little and she looked longingly at the baby, and Katie and Harry smiled at her expression.
"Go on, pick him up," Katie encouraged. She smiled when Luna carefully picked up the baby boy, shifting on the bed so that Luna could sit beside her. "You're first this time because we wanted to tell you two things before everyone else gets to meet him."
"Oh?" She briefly looked away from the baby and towards the happy parents. "Please do."
"Luna, meet Lucas Harris Potter," Harry said proudly. "Lucas, meet your godmother and your namesake."
Luna smiled at the name but when she registered what else Harry said, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. "G-g-godmother?! Me?! N-N-Namesake?!" she squeaked.
"It can't be a surprise," Katie laughed. "You did ask to be considered to be godmother for the next one when I was about to have Iris."
"I didn't know if you two were planning on having any more children, I was just saying I'd like to be considered," Luna said wanly, still shocked.
"Well, according to the mums, we're having five," Harry sighed.
"Open to negotiation, allegedly," Katie grumbled. "But when we knew we were having this one, we easily decided that you'd be his godmother."
"Thank you," Luna whispered. "But…why name him after me?"
"Did we ever tell you how Hadley and Hailey got their names?" Katie asked. "Well, Alicia and Angelina, separately I might add, decided to name their girls after Harry so that he would always be a part of their families. That he would never be alone."
"You and I both don't have any immediate family anymore," Harry said softly and sadly. "I was so touched when I found out, and I asked Katie if we could do the same for you. You'll never be alone. Not ever."
"I said yes of course. You've been an amazing friend since school and you've been an incredible auntie to Dahlia and Iris," Katie said. "I know you will be an equally incredible godmother."
Luna held Lucas to her chest, her head turned away as tears streamed down her face. "I swear, I will love him and them forever and will always take care of them and never fail either of you or them." She sobbed happily as they hugged her.
"Never a doubt," Harry said.
"Not a one," Katie agreed.
Luna wiped the tears from her face and smiled down at the baby boy. "Hello Lucas. Oh, you are so sweet and handsome. I'm honored to be your godmother. I'm lucky to have you in my life." She cooed when Lucas blinked sleepily at her. "Alicia will be very happy. She always says a blonde Harry would work and I can confidently say it does."
"He still gets his good looks from his Mummy, thankfully," Harry laughed.
"Don't sell yourself cheaply," Luna said, sniffling a little still. "You are attractive, and I say that in a platonic little sister way."
"He knows he's dishy," Katie snorted. "Don't let the act fool you."
"Ah, that is why we like licking him then," Luna said blandly, smiling down at Lucas.
"I love you, Luna," Katie laughed while Harry blushed, "Never change."
After all the other well-wishers came in and visited, cooing and gushing over Lucas, Luna held him once more. She swayed him gently, delighting in his gurgling. She stood at the window and the pale moonlight bathed them in gentle light, a smile on both their lips.
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Arnie1701 - It would be very fun to watch I imagine.
alix33 - She did like flying about the Christmas decorations.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Nope, no chance in him and Andromeda dueling or magic dodgeballing at all. And any who tries to set them against the other is doom to failure.
