Luna and her Woona

by Teyeson Bee

Slughorn's Party

Woona’s euphoria from her first Quidditch game lasted all the next day. She even continued to wear her lion cub hat, only taking it off when she was told off by McGonagall for disrupting her class. Luna hadn’t had a chance yet to tell Woona of her brief period of flight, but quickly realized that if she tried, the alicorn wouldn’t even pay attention, she was so happy. The thrill of the match had sparked inside Woona a new mania, so much so that Woona didn’t even practice her magic at all for the next three days. Luna had even checked out Quidditch Through the Ages from the library for Woona, and the little filly couldn’t take her eyes off of it throughout all of Luna’s classes. Whenever Luna would look down at the little one, eyes glued to the pages of the Quidditch book, all she could do was chuckle. Whether this was just a phase for Woona or something stronger, only time would tell.

By the fourth day, however, Luna had decided that she had postponed the news long enough. She sat her daughter down during afternoon break, and told her about what she unknowingly did. Needless to say, Woona’s reaction was exactly what Luna had predicted. When she was told that she had briefly flown without even realizing it, Woona was over the moon with excitement! Immediately, she wanted to try it again. Not wanting to wait another minute, she stood up on the bed, started flapping her wings furiously, and, with a determined look in her eyes, jumped forward. The results, however, were drastically different, as Woona hovered for a brief second, and then dropped like a bag of dungbombs. Woona hit the floor with a loud THUD, landing on her face. There was a short silence, and then, to Luna’s horror, Woona started to cry.

Luna quickly rushed over, picked up the sobbing child, and examined her face. Through the onslaught of fresh tears, Luna saw that there was no bleeding or bruises, and sighed softly of relief. She then hugged Woona comfortingly as the alicorn rode out her sobs. After a few more minutes, the crying died down into sniffles, and Luna broke the hug to look at her daughter.

“W-w-why can’t I do it?” Woona asked, wiping her muzzle clean. “I-I-If I did it before, w-why not again?”

“You will, Woona.” Luna reassured her as she wiped the tears away. “You just need to practice a bit, that’s all. You do that, and you’ll be flying for sure.”

“Promise?” Woona whimpered with her lower lip trembling. Luna smiled and kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“Promise.”

This seemed to cheer Woona up again, and after a quick nap (during which Luna was able to catch up on some O.W.L. work), Woona was back to her usual, happy self. The next class Luna had was Charms, so after packing up her bag, she made her way out of the Common Room and down the stairs with Woona close behind. As they walked, Woona continued to flap her wings and kept trying the jump with every other step, but to no avail. This time, though, she didn’t start crying, but pulled a quick pout that made Luna giggle.

“It’ll happen when you least expect it to, sweetie,” Luna said. “Just keep practicing.”

“Wait until I tell Daddy about this!” Woona responded excitedly. “He’ll be so proud!”

“He certainly will,” Luna replied as they passed the girl’s bathroom, “and I bet Professor Flitwick would be interested in know-”

Luna was suddenly cut off by a sound coming from the girls’ toilets the two were walking past. It sounded like someone was crying from inside. Luna and Woona stopped and stood just outside the entrance, looking in at the mysterious noise. After glancing at each other curiously, they walked in.

“Hello?” Luna called out. “Moaning Myrtle? Is that you?”

Moaning Myrtle was the gloomy ghost that usually haunted the girls’ toilets on the 2nd floor, but occasionally visited other bathrooms as well. When Luna looked further in, however, she saw that it wasn’t Myrtle, but Hermione. She was standing in front of a mirror, sobbing silently into her hand. When she turned and saw Luna and Woona, Hermione quickly wiped her eyes and straightened up as best as she could.

“H-hello, Luna,” she greeted in her best attempt at a casual voice. “Hello, Woona.”

“Is everything alright, Hermione?” Luna asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Hermione replied, new tears already starting to form. “It’s just...Ron did something in Transfiguration...so cruel…” and more tears streamed down her face. Woona stepped forward slightly.

“Do you want a hug, Aunt Hermione?” she asked softly.

“Yes please,” Hermione responded almost immediately.

Woona rushed forward as Hermione bent down and outstretched her arms to let Woona into an embrace. Hermione held her for what seemed like a minute as she cried some more. After they broke the hug, Luna walked forward and offered her hand. Hermione smiled weakly and took it.

“That’s it,” Luna said sweetly as she helped Hermione up. “You’ll be ok. Let’s get you to your next class.” She then cradled Hermione’s hand in her own and led her out of the bathroom. As soon as they exited, Luna’s attention was drawn to another friend walking down the hall. Harry was hurrying towards them, his hands filled with books.

“Hi, Uncle Harry!” Woona exclaimed, waving happily.

“Hello, Harry,” Luna copied. “Did you know one of your eyebrows is yellow?”

It was true. Harry’s right eyebrow, while normally black, was a bright yellow that brought attention to that part of his head. Harry smiled slightly at Luna, and then turned to Hermione.

“You left these in Transfiguration, Hermione,” he said, handing the books to her. Hermione wiped her still glistening eyes and took them.

“Thanks, Harry,” she sniffled loudly. “I’ll see you later.” And with that, she hurried away down the hall, leaving only Harry, Luna, and Woona still looking after her.

“We found her crying in the bathroom,” Luna said suddenly, turning to Harry. “I thought it was Moaning Myrtle. She said something about Ron Weasley doing something to her.”

“Yeah, they had a fight,” Harry said solemnly. Another moment of silence passed over them as the three continued to stand there. Some may have called the situation awkward, but any time with friends, even times of silence, were cherished by Luna. Finally, after another minute, Harry spoke.

“How’s your year been so far?”

“Oh it’s good,” Luna responded dreamily. “Woona has been improving so much in her magic, and just recently, she has shown the capability of flying.”

“That’s nice,” Harry said, though he sounded like he was only half-listening.

“Yeah,” Woona chimed in, “and Aunt Ginny beat up some meanies for calling Mama ‘Loony,’ right, Mama?”

“Yes she did,” Luna nodded. “I really like Ginny. She’s so nice to me and Woona, and-”

“Would you like to come to Slughorn’s Christmas party with me?”

Luna blinked. The question was so out of the blue, that she was actually taken aback by it. She looked at Harry, who was looking at her with an expression that showed no signs of foul play or false intentions.

“What?” she asked in a stunned tone.

“Well, I have no one to go with,” Harry responded casually, “and I thought maybe you would like to go with me,” he then quickly added, “as friends, I mean. If you don’t want to though-”

“Oh no!” Luna interrupted, her confusion having turned into absolute joy. “I would love to go to the party with you as friends! No one has ever asked me to a party as friends before!”

This was also true. Luna had long accepted that excluding Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville, all the students at Hogwarts thought of her as weird, crazy, and, yes, even loony. She never did let that bother her, as she was happy just the way she was, but there was still a small desire within Luna; a desire to be invited to gatherings with friends. When Harry asked her, that desire was granted, and a wave of happiness and gratitude spread through Luna like hot butterbeer.

“So,” she said pointing at Harry’s mismatched eyebrow, “is that why you dyed your eyebrow? For the party? Should I do mine too?”

Harry chuckled. “No, that was from Transfiguration.”

“Oh, Uncle Harry!” Woona squeaked excitedly, jumping up and down. “Could I come too? Please, please, please, oh can I come to the party too? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“Don’t you worry, Woona,” Harry said as he patted Woona’s head. “I’m sure Slughorn would love to have you there too.”

Woona squealed and jumped again even higher than before, her wings flapping furiously. She hovered for a brief second, and then she fell back to the ground. This time, however, she smiled widely at Harry, who’s eyes widened slightly.

“I see what you mean about her showing signs of flight,” Harry commented. Luna and Woona both just smiled and nodded.

---

All around the castle grounds, the feeling of Christmas was spreading like wildfire. Hagrid had secured ten towering Christmas trees for the Great Hall with Flitwick, McGonagall, and the prefects covering them with golden baubles, tinsel, and shimmering stars. Wreaths were being strung all along the corridors, and, best of all, the school was showered with a blanket of fresh snow. Luna was especially excited for the holidays, for she would be taking Woona home to meet her father, Xenophilius. When she had written to her father about finding Woona back in October, Xenophilius replied back with elation and showed much interest in meeting the filly. Woona was excited too. She had never seen anything outside the school grounds for her, and Luna knew that she would love the Lovegood house.

But while other students were focused on the holidays, there was only one thing currently on both Luna and Woona’s mind; the party. Harry’s invitation had sparked an anticipated delight inside Luna that she hadn’t felt since the day she became Woona’s mother. For the rest of the week, all Luna could do was think about how much fun she and Woona were going to have. Since Luna had never been to a Christmas party before, she didn’t know if there was a specific dress code, but she assumed it had to be formal. The first thing she did was write home asking her father for a Christmas party dress, and Xenophilius responded splendidly. Two days later, he sent the family owl with a package containing a beautiful silver dress with a wreath tiara with holly in it. With the package came a note saying the dress used to belong to Luna’s late mother. Luna was more than happy to wear it. As for Woona, who was just as excited, Luna fixed up a matching silver dress with small bells draped around it, and two holes cut out for her wings. Luna also did up the filly’s mane into a short, elegant ponytail held together with a band of holly. Needless to say, by the night of the party, Luna and Woona looked like a pair of princesses.

Harry had told Luna to meet him in the 6th floor corridor outside Slughorn’s office, where the party was being held. Luna and Woona were the first to arrive. While waiting on the corner, Woona looked down the hallway towards the faint sounds of talking and laughter of the party as she fluttered her wings with anticipation.

“Uncle Harry should be here any moment,” Luna said to her daughter, smiling softly. “Any moment.”

A sudden thought crept into Luna’s mind. A pessimistic thought that wasn’t welcome in Luna’s subconscious. Was there the slight possibility that Harry had changed his mind? Or even worse; he had never intended on coming at all! No, Luna thought sternly. Harry was her friend! He wouldn’t do something like that! Not after what they’ve been through.

“Hey,” said a voice from behind. “You look…nice.”

A sigh of relief escaped Luna’s lips as she turned to see Harry in his dress robes, the same he wore two years ago to the Yule Ball in fact. Luna’s smile widened.

“Thank you,” she said serenely. Woona sped forward and hugged Harry’s legs.

“Hello to you too, Woona,” Harry chuckled, almost stumbling off balance. Luna giggled as Woona let go and glanced back to the party.

“Shall we, then?” Luna asked. Harry nodded, and the three ventured down the corridor towards the office. As they approached, the sounds became louder, and Luna could hear the hearty guffawing of what could only be the big-bellied Professor Slughorn. Not wasting any time, Harry led the way as they entered.

No sooner had Harry, Luna, and Woona taken a step inside when a loud, “Harry, old boy!” echoed ahead. Sure enough, Slughorn was making his way through the crowd straight to Harry. When he reached them, he wrung Harry’s hand in a tight handshake. The bright red cheeks on Slughorn’s mustached face was an obvious clue that he was already a little tipsy.

“Good you could make it, m’boy!” he greeted in a rather slurred voice. He then turned to see Luna and beamed. “And a marvelous hello to your date!”

Before Luna could respond, Woona tugged on the leg of Slughorn’s trousers and said merrily, “Hello, Professor Slughorn!”

Briefly confused, Slughorn looked down and smiled at the happy alicorn before him. “Hello there, little one! Good of you to join us!” He then bent down slightly and whispered loudly, “Do you like butterbeer?”

At once, Woona’s face lit up, and her wings flapped even harder at the mere mention of the savory beverage. “Oh yes, sir!”

“Well,” Slughorn said, pointing to a far table near the back of the room. “Over on that table are some small glasses filled with butterbeer, perfect for little alicorns! Help yourself to as many as you’d like!”

Woona’s head whipped towards the back table, and then up to Loona, her wings still going a mile a minute. “Oh can I, Mama? Please, please, please!”

“Go ahead, Woona,” Luna nodded before adding, “Just don’t leave the room, ok?”

Woona jumped, hovered, and fell to the floor again before dashing off to the back table. Students and various adults looked down in surprise as Woona weaved between legs and ducked under robes to get to her butterbeer. A random, “Hello, Woona!” reached her ears, but Woona only had one thing on her mind at that moment, and that was the sweet, refreshing taste of butterbeer.

Woona screeched to a stop in front of the back table and looked up toward the unseen contents on the surface as her smile faltered a little. Immediately, she could see a problem; the table was much too high up for her reach. That didn’t stop her from trying though. Getting up on her hind legs, Woona stretched her front hoof up as far as she could. Straining, she could just barely touch the flat top of the table, but it still wasn’t enough to get a glass. Sitting down and pouting slightly, Woona looked around at the crowd, trying to find her mother. She’d just have to ask her to get her a glass. She soon spotted Luna with Harry, talking with Slughorn and another man Woona didn’t know. Woona hesitated. Her Mama taught her that it was impolite to interrupt someone when they’re talking. Maybe there was someone else at the party Woona knew. Scanning the room, no familiar faces were popping out. How could so many fit into such a small-looking office? Woona turned back to the table and looked up again. The mouthwatering butterbeer was just a few feet out of reach. Woona felt her wings start to flutter again with desire.

Suddenly, an idea came to the little alicorn. She glanced back at her wings, and then at the table. It was only a few feet after all. If she could do it before at the Quidditch game, she could do it again. She had to try! A determined look in her eye, Woona fixed her gaze towards the table’s unseen surface. It was now or never! Woona stiffened her legs, arched her back, and took a deep breath. Starting off slowly, she started to flap her wings. As Woona continued to look upward, her wings picked up in pace. Faster and faster they flapped, and all the alicorn could think of was how good the butterbeer would taste. She imagined herself reaching the top, levitating a glass to her lips, and feeling the fuzziness inside as it slid down her throat. Slowly, very slowly, Woona could feel herself getting lighter. Looking down, she saw that her hooves were starting to lift off the office floor!

Excitement filled Woona as she continued to climb upward, her wings flapping so fast they were causing little bursts of wind. Woona looked back at the table. Her eyes were becoming level with the surface, and she could see them! Little cups spread out over a silk tablecloth, each one filled to the brim with the golden nectar she was longing to taste. As Woona’s excitement built, the higher she hovered. Now she was looking down at the surface of the table, mere inches from the nearest glass.

Taking another breath, Woona concentrated on the cup, and said confidently, “Wingardium Leviosa!”

A blue aura surrounded the glass, and it too began to rise. Woona’s eyes widened as she reached out to clasp it between her hooves. Her mouth was watering, her wings were starting to get tired, but she didn’t care. She was so close! Her mouth was so close to the drink that she could feel the bubbles fizzing from it. She tilted the cup upward and prepared to savor the butterbeer when…

BUMP!

A sudden bump from something solid passed by, and Woona was falling. She hit the floor with a THUD, just like in the dormitory. The difference though was the crack of broken glass that echoed it. Everyone near the table grew quiet as they looked down at the fumbled alicorn in front of a shattered cup and a small pool of spilt butterbeer.

“Who the-” said a voice near Woona. A snide, brash voice that didn’t sound the least bit sorry for what had happened. “Who let this beast in the party?”

Woona, whose eyes were still closed, could feel the aching in her legs and stomach, which hit the floor first, as well as a stinging feeling on her hoof. Opening her eyes, the first thing Woona saw was the broken glass and butterbeer, now wasting on the rug. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked up to see a burly figure standing over her, looking disgusted.

“Mclaggen!” came a new, more familiar voice. It was Hermione, and she had cut through the crowd, and was looking angrily at the figure. “Don’t you dare call Woona a beast! She’s a guest here, just like you! And I saw what happened! You bumped her and made her spill her drink!”

Mclaggen scoffed. “It’s not my fault, Granger. The thing shouldn’t have been in my way.”

The fury that Hermione was aiming at Mclaggen was deaf to Woona, for she had looked back down at her spilt drink; the drink she had worked so hard to get. Another sharp sting hit Woona’s hoof, and looking down at it, Woona saw why. A small shard of glass had made a small cut on her hoof, and Woona could see a drop of blood forming. Tears started to flood the filly’s eyes as she looked back at the wasted butterbeer. All of that effort was wasted, and it was this Mclaggen’s fault! She glanced back up at Mclaggen, who was still looking snide and unapologetic.

That’s when it happened.

It was as if a wildfire had awoken inside of Woona’s mind. The sorrow she had been feeling was instantly replaced with something else. Something that Woona had never felt before; rage! The fire was set in Woona’s eyes as she got up, glaring at Mclaggen. Her body’s pain seemed to disappear, or maybe it was the adrenaline. Then, all around Woona, the lights in the room started to flicker. Hermione and Mclaggen stopped arguing and looked down at the alicorn. Hermione gasped, and Mclaggen snapped, “Bloody hell!” Woona was changing. Her coat, while normally dark blue, was turning jet black. Her tear-stained eyes were sharpening, and her pupils were becoming dilated, like a cat. But most notable of all was her mane. It had gone from a flowing blue, to something that didn’t look solid, as if the stars themselves made up her mane.

“Woona?” Hermione said hesitantly, “Are you-”

Then, before anyone could act, Mclaggen was engulfed in a blue aura, and was lifted off the ground, rotating all around.

“What is this?” he shouted, and he looked scared now. “Let me down!”

“Repent, heathen!” came a voice from Woona, but it wasn’t hers. It was a little deeper and sounded almost sinister. “Repent for yon sin, or thou shalt be enveloped by the night!”

If Mclaggen floating hadn’t caught the attention of the room, Woona’s booming voice certainly did. People gasped and gaped at the little alicorn spinning the Gryffindor 7th year around in the air like a top.

“Thou shalt pay a hundred times over for what thou hast done!” Woona boomed as she hovered Mclaggen upside down over a table of sweets.

“WOONA! STOP!”

Luna had broken through the crowd, followed by Harry, Slughorn, and Professor Snape, who quickly unsheathed his wand. Luna ran past Mclaggen and fell to her knees in front of Woona and took the filly’s head in her hands, her eyes wide and worried. Woona’s gaze turned quickly to stare at Luna, who also had small tears starting to glisten.

“Woona,” Luna said softer, her hands not letting go of her daughter. “Please, calm down. Please. For your Mama.”

Immediately, Woona’s expression softened at the sound of her momma’s voice. She blinked, and the dilated pupils were gone, replaced with her normal eyes. Slowly, the alicorn’s coat faded back to blue, and her mane shrank back. As this happened, the lights stopped flickering, and the magical hold on Mclaggen broke, sending him to the floor with a crash. No one was paying attention to his sudden outcries of pain, but were focused on the pony, and the young witch that calmed her. Snape sighed softly and stuffed his wand back into his sleeve. Hermione was clutching onto Harry, who stared open-mouthed at the scene. Woona opened her eyes again, and looked into her mother’s loving gaze.

At once, realization caught up to Woona, as well as the pain, as she bowed her head and started to cry.

Luna didn’t waste any time, but picked up her bawling daughter and cradled her in her arms. Waves upon waves of tears streamed down Woona’s face as Luna started to rock her. No one spoke, not even Slughorn, who had definitely sobered up.

“I’m sorry, Mama!” Woona cried into Luna’s shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry! I’m so, so, so sorry!”

“Shhhhh, my dear,” Luna whispered comfortingly. “You’ll be ok. Everyone’s ok.”

“I’m not!” shouted Mclaggen, but once again, no one paid attention.

“Come on, Woona,” Luna said, finally getting up. “Let’s go to Madam Pomfrey. She’ll heal that cut in a heartbeat.” Then, with no more words, she walked past the crowd, who had all cut a path for her to walk down, and hurried out the door.

Woona continued to cry as Luna turned the corridor and went down the stairs into the empty hallways. She soon passed Filch, leading a struggling Malfoy, but they paid her no mind, and neither did she with them. All that was going through Luna’s mind was what had just happened. It wasn’t something that could be easily forgotten. She had never seen Woona look like that before. Was this something all alicorns could do? And the power that she was displaying? Woona was levitating a fully-grown, broad 7th year as easily as a piece of paper. And what was with that voice? More questions flooded Luna’s mind, but she didn’t have an answer for any of them. There was only so much about alicorns that Luna knew. Perhaps after putting Woona to bed, she could ask Dumbledore about it. One thing was definitely for sure; Luna didn’t want to see her daughter go through that again. And as Woona continued to cry into her mother’s arms, Luna knew Woona felt the same way. There was no other word for this experience, except one.

Nightmare.

Comments

[Clopian26]

https://youtu.be/QuoKNZjr8_U

[wildarms]

Yay your back im so happy

[carlos1802]

Nice story, waiting for the next chapter

[Darth Arcaneus]

Da night shaw wast foheva!!!

[furryman]

Then she found a talking cat named Luna.

[Witch_King_of_Angmar]

The story returns!!!

[Shadow CN Night]

So, could we have a chance to get a new chapter? This story is so cute!

[Teyeson Bee]

11188114
Working on it

[Kentavritsa]

11188130
Looking back, it looks as if it is about time for the next instalment ..

[uis]

Nightware Woon