Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Of Dungeon Bats and Loony Lovegood ❯ A Bride's Tale ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit tribute to the Harry Potter series, owned by J.K.Rowling. No characters used in this story belong to me.

 

Written for the “I'd never write a story like that" challenge on the HPFC forum. I decided to write a Marriage Law fic about Luna, as they are two genres I'd never write (until this challenge). One, I didn't think I'd pull it off, and two, because I've seen so many bad ones with no lead up...*shrugs*

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Of Dungeon Bats and Looney Lovegood

 

Chapter One: A Bride's Tale

 

It began the first week of May, when warm afternoons were spent in the company of trees, and the sweet perfume of growing grass hung thick in the air.

 

To a child, summer seemed to stretch on forever and a day. One could discover all the world's secrets in the wee hours of morning. Friendships swelled like the tide, bringing exotic promises of adventure and chocolate frog cards to share. Smiles could shame the brightest of sunny days. It was a magic all its own.

 

But she was no longer a child, at least not today, exchanging her student robes for a soft gown of lemon yellow.

 

Laying in the long arching grass of her garden, Luna Lovegood stared at the sky for what seemed an eternity, absently inventing mythical beasts out of the passing clouds. She'd never felt so completely lost. Curiously, she'd never felt so completely alive, either.

 

It was a strange sort of breathless day, where the busy hum of loved ones allowed the woman to sneak out unseen. They wouldn't notice her absence for quite some time, she mused, as anyone hardly did. The festivities weren't scheduled until tonight. Out the back door and down the wobblestone path Luna had somehow ended up here, a place she'd always felt so peaceful.

 

But staring too long at a dandelion puff had thrust her thoughts to a topic she couldn't quite explain.

 

Life, it seemed, was like a stream. Always flowing, always changing. Over the years her stream had somehow turned rapid, only to come to an abrupt halt the day of her wedding. She was guilty of letting this happen, even in all her fanciful wanderings. Somehow she'd let time slip away, shifting from her path like seaweed on the ocean floor.

 

She couldn't blame it on the Ministry and their new Law, though no other reason currently occupied her mind. She couldn't blame it on Neville, dressing somewhere back at her father's rebuilt house, fretting over a button or his vest. Or maybe his tie. Luna fondly hoped he'd worn his blue tie with the white checkers; it brought out his eyes so well.

 

Neville had been rather good to her this last year when no other suitors had petitioned, and she only hoped to repay the favor one day.

 

“Luna?”

 

The man sat down on the park bench next to where she read an upside down copy of the Quibbler. He looked rather serious, which the girl found odd.

 

“Doesn't it worry you at all, not to have anyone lined up? We only have a few more weeks before the Ministry forces marriage upon us! I think I'll be miserable not knowing the girl beforehand.” Neville shook his head at the desperation of it all, “To just know a name and a profile number? How do you start a marriage like that?”

 

Honestly, she hadn't thought about it at all. Luna shrugged and said as much.

 

“You are much braver than I am, you know?” Neville smiled appreciatively, almost warmly. There was something brewing behind those brown eyes, “I think it's amazing you are taking this all in stride. I've spent this last week pacing my room instead of sleeping; staring at my food instead of eating...not knowing the answer was right in front of me the whole time.”

 

He blushed and fought a smile, brushing some blond hair from the girl's face.

 

She smiled back, happy to get such a nice compliment. She was pretty sure he meant to give her a compliment at least. He did look a bit thin to her now that she thought on it, and his eyes weren't as bright as they had been in the past, but the woman didn't say anything. The two had spent the better part of this last year together as the wizarding world slowly recovered from the war. She'd seen Neville through thick and thin, literally and figuratively. To Luna, what the man looked like couldn't matter less - he was her best friend.

 

“Listen, Luna -” Neville stood unexpectedly, turning to look at her. With a slow nervous hand he took her magazine and laid it down on the bench beside her.

 

“- there's...there's something I'd like to ask you. I hope you don't laugh.”

 

He suddenly looked like an old man, finding the grass beneath his shoe very interesting.

 

“I wouldn't laugh, Neville. Not unless you made a joke, and even then I'm not quite sure.”

 

Luna's voice had stirred his confidence and he slowly knelt down and tried his best to smile. Every gesture was hesitant, as if moving too fast would scare her away. Only his eyes seemed to radiate that confidence the man had acquired during this last year. They focused on solely her, an unasked question lingering in their brown depths.

 

“We've gotten to know each other quite well; this year has been wonderful -” he took her hand, which she willingly gave. “- I've enjoyed your company so much, Luna.”

 

“Yes, I'd rather thought it was nice, too,” said Luna serenely, “ Especially our trip to Hogsmeade.

 

When his finger started making small circles in the palm of her hand, she smiled brightly and forgot what she was saying. This was the Neville she remembered. He looked so happy and calm. She smiled brighter, knowing she'd somehow made him forget his worries. His next words both scared and made her day, for reasons she couldn't quite explain.

 

“Luna, would you marry me?”

 

Though such a union was born of convenience, Luna felt her heartstrings tighten at the memory. If the wind had blown just a bit harder, or she had waited just a bit too long to answer, he would have been shattered. Neville gave her the courtesy of looking the part of a love-struck bachelor. It was a very thoughtful performance.

 

She went back to shaping clouds with her fingers.

 

“Do you think Neville will be happy?” The woman inquired of a passing toad, burrowing further into the arm lightly tucked beneath an ear.

 

“We picked out teacups and saucers already, you know. They have the sweetest purple flowers. Neville says purple is the nicest color, though I'm rather fond of yellow.”

 

Luna's mind wandered. It was no good to have teacups and saucers without a service tray. Perhaps the two newlyweds would get one as a gift. Perhaps they'd grow to love one another as more than just friends, drinking tea in the light streaming through their lacy curtains. Perhaps she'd buy lacy curtains.

 

Perhaps Neville would be happy. Perhaps then she'd be happy, too.

 

The toad didn't seem to care either way, hopping out of sight beneath a nearby bush.

 

Just in case something extraordinary might happen she'd made sure to wear her favorite radish earrings today. Faith told her it was just a matter of when and where. Luna ran her finger over one of them for a bit, pondering over how much she'd miss childhood.

 

Absently she followed a butterfly with her eyes, loving the way its yellow wings pushed through the air. How free it was, she thought sadly, flittering between flowers. A butterfly could wander without worry, while she would soon be wed -

 

It was then Luna noticed something rather odd that made her to lose sight of that butterfly and sit bolt upright.

 

She'd seen it dancing amongst the burstberry bushes and whippersnaps in the furthest corner of her garden, watching her just as eagerly as she had it. With a soft plop the creature landed on a nearby leaf, spreading its metallic blue wings out in a low, important bow. The woman smiled.

 

“Are you a fairy, little one?”

 

Luna didn't have the heart to wait for its answer as she stood, brushing her gown free of grass. One last adventure beckoned, one last moment to be a child. The vision of purple flowers on china billowed in her mind for a brief moment, but the woman pushed it aside.

 

“Have you been waiting all this time?”

 

The tiny creature slowly hoped from leaf to leaf as if offering temptation, pausing to let the woman keep up. Past the garden wall of bluebells and forget-me-nots Luna's bare feet roamed, down the hilly meadow, along the small brook and its bank of smooth stones. She mimicked the blue fairy as it disappeared into the woods just beyond her father's house.

 

All of a sudden those radish earrings seemed to tingle with excitement. All of a sudden Luna couldn't remember why she was wearing a gown at all.