246 Raven Road

Chapter 3

Luna woke the next morning and felt a leg brushing hers. Her first thought was that Mireia had snuck into her bed at night. She opened her eyes and rolled around to find a tired Draco lying there.
A smile crossed Luna's face as she remembered the events of yesterday.
Slipping out of bed, Luna looked out the window, the sky was crying.
What a terrible tragedy, when the sky cries, unless you wish to dance in its tears, trampling the moist grass.
Luna was that type of person.
Sneaking into Mireia's room, decorated with homemade quilts of different pinks, rugs that were bought before Draco had gone to Azkaban, and the prettiest fairy lights Luna had ever seen.
They'd painted the walls pink one year, out of strawberry paste.
"Mireia." Luna whispered, shaking her daughter awake.
Mireia groaned and opened her eyes, blue and wide with wonder. "What, mommy?"
"The Sky is crying." Luna replied, and they both knew what that meant.
Luna hurried back to her room and slipped into a knee high yellow skirt and a white blouse.
She threw on a pink raincoat and her flower rain boots.
Mireia sat on her bed, remembering she was now 5, and felt very grown up. Why, her mom might even let her row the boat to the main island!
A tingle ran down her spine, wouldn't that be something.
Mireia didn't  bother to change, instead only slipped on her pink rain boots and her lime green coat.
Luna met her in the hall.
Luna's silvery hued eyes twinkled with unshed laughter of youth and a thin finger went up to her mouth.
Mireia nodded and then they slowly walked to the door.
As was custom, Mireia poked her head out the door suspiciously as if someone would catch her, and then let out a whoop and ran outside, arms outstretched to the pouring heavens.
Luna ran after her, picking her up and dumping her in a rain puddle.
Laughing they ran amuck, splashing and waving their arms.
Suddenly Luna stopped and stared at Mireia, who was spinning round and round with her head tilted back to feel the cold drip of rain.
"Mireia, let's do the rain dance!" Luna said excitedly.
Mireia could almost forget there was a man inside their house, whom was supposedly her father. She could almost forget her mother had forgotten her birthday yesterday, almost.
They got in a line and began to stomp, before waving their hands high. Soon the swayed and stomped, before tilting their heads and feeling the rain.
Clapping their hands they marched in a circle, before doing the most peculiar motions with their hands.
When they came back in the house a few hours later, drenched but happy, they found Draco sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
Luna smiled, the smile  apologetic, and then slipped out of her soaking rain coat and squeezed her hair, as to take the water out.
"It's raining." Luna said, as if that explained everything and anything.
Mireia nodded firmly before running to the bathroom, "I'm showering first!"
Luna laughed and sat down beside Draco who stood and took another coffee mug out and laid it beside his.
"You shouldn't have gotten up." Luna told him softly, nodding at the coffee.
Draco shrugged. "I couldn't just lie about, I've had enough of that."
Luna sighed and sipped the warm coffee, feeling the warmth pass through her.
"Mireia could've caught a cold." Draco said after a few moments of silence that followed.
"Well, she's practically immune, having been doing this all her life."
Draco's steely grey eyes fixed themselves on her and they weren't the soft ones she used to know, they were hard, like unbendable steel.
Luna excused herself and left her half drunk coffee mug sitting at the empty place on the table.
She ran upstairs and locked the room before throwing herself onto the bed.
Why did she think they could just go back to normal? It was obvious Draco had changed, and may never be the same, yet Luna could not ever tell him to leave. A part of her had wished on all the nights she couldn't sleep that when Draco came back they could finally get married and live happily ever after.
"Oh, pooh." Luna said, the slightest bit grumpily.
The rain pitter pattered on the roof and Luna curled up in a ball. Why she still believes in happy endings after the war was completely unknown, to her and everyone else.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, they knew the answer.
Luna sniffed once and then wiped the few that had rolled down away, staring at the old clock on her nightstand.
Harry had told her to never stop believing in Happy Endings, when they were at the battle of Hogwarts, before he left for his inevitable death.
It never happened, but she took his words to heart.
Soon after the battle of Hogwarts she discovered she was pregnant, and her world cane crashing down. The ministry took Draco for 5 months, and her belly grew bigger. Then at the trial they took him to Azkaban, where 3 months later Mireia was born, early.
All through that she'd kept believing in Happy Endings, but now what?
Draco couldn't work, and if Luna did who would stay with Mireia?
Once more, her old friends face swam into her vision, yet Luna pushed it aside. They hadn't spoken in years, not since Mireia's baby shower where Luna had told Ginny it was Draco's child.
When Luna's stomach told her it was time to get up, Luna went downstairs hesitantly, and found Mireia in a pink tutu, with a paper crown and a stick wand she'd painted pink.
She was coloring, and talking to Draco about plenty.
Draco's eyes had softened the slightest bit, but not for Luna.
"Did you know that? I didn't know pigmy puffs could hurt people, they're just so adorable! I tried to convince mama to let me have one but she didn't even say maybe!" Mireia chattered.
Luna stood in the doorway and planted a kiss on Mireia's forehead. "Hello, butterfly."
Mireia smiled up at her lovely mother and patted the seat next to her. "I've been working on my floriography, mama. Can we continue?"
Luna nodded and then walked to the kitchen. "Read to me the ones you've written."
Draco stares at Mireia for a minute before turning to Luna. "Luna, shouldn't she be in school?"
Luna almost laughed. "We have barely enough money to pay for food and this place, so I most definitely do not have enough muggle  money for school. She'll go to Hogwarts, but that's about it. I've always taught her."
Draco burrowed his brow but nodded solemnly.
"I'm on Bluebell, Constancy." Mireia announced.
Luna nodded and urged her to continue.
"Basil, hatred."
Draco was amazed at how their small world worked. "We do floriography in the mornings for about an hour or so, then handwriting, then maths, then reading, then lunch and if it's a beautiful day outside we go flower picking and do more floriography. In the afternoons we do cooking and cleaning, while in the evening we do some simple science." Luna told him.
"Butterfly weed, let me go..." Mireia glanced up uneasily. "Is that right, mama?"
Luna nodded and placed some scrambled eggs and water in front of her.
"Bells of Ireland, Good luck. Bittersweet, truth, Begonia, beware, a Bouquet of Withered Flowers, rejection."
"Is that all your B's?"
Mireia nodded.
"You're a very good reader." Draco acknowledged, he couldn't read that good at 4.
"Very well, on to the C's."
"Cactus, endurance. Camellia, adoration, perfection, good luck, and-." Mireia stopped and frowned, looking exactly like Draco when she did so.
"I don't remember the other one." Mireia said dejectedly.
Luna smiled at her. "Gift to man."
Mireia nodded. "Oh, yes!"
"Camellia pink, longing for you, Camellia red, Flame in my heart, Camellia white, you're adorable..?"
Luna urged her to continue.
"Candy tuft, indifference, Carnation in general, fascination, divine love, Carnation pink, I'll never forget you, Carnation purple, capriciousness, Carnation red, admiration, my heart aches for you, Carnation white sweet and lovely, innocence, good luck, pure love, woman's good luck gift, Carnation solid, yes, Carnation striped, no, sorry, I can't be with you, wish I could be with you." Mireia stopped for a breath.
Draco stared at her. "You memorized that?"
Luna patted him on the shoulder. "She's a quick learner. She's been memorizing things since she could talk."
Draco smiled at Mireia and wished he had been here to see her grow, that would've been something.
With a grunt he stood, and swayed a little , dizziness taking over.
Luna rushed to his side and helped him to the couch.
As he settled into the comfortable embrace of the soft cushions, he tilted his head slightly to see Luna's light, dirty blonde hair. It was in a long braid, and loosely.
It has always seemed she radiated an aura, but it seemed more so to Draco now than ever.
Maybe he had been too rude, he thought grimly, shifting on the sofa.
Luna handed him a blanket, he didn't take it. Luna then spread it over him and marched back into the kitchen, wiping a stray tear from exposing her.
When Mireia was done with her Floriography, they moved on to maths. It was grueling work, and finally Mireia burst into frustrated tears.
She hated maths, preferred to roam in the meadows and dance in the rain.
Luna glared at her, as gently as someone can while glaring. "Mireia. Come sit, and finish you math!"
Mireia had stomped off and sat in the window sill, watching the rain roll down the glass.
Luna stood and walked to where her daughter was, hugging her from behind, encircling her in love.
"Come, we can have hot chocolate and cookies, before continuing."
Mireia shook her head and didn't glance back at her mothers softening face.
"No more maths for today, then. I'll excuse you, today's lesson was hard-." She was interrupted by Draco.
"No." Came the quiet voice.
Luna whirled around, eyes slightly narrowed. "What?"
"You're spoiling her. She must go back to her maths or she'll be a brat later on. I should know."
Luna sighed and turned to Mireia's tear stained cheek and knew what Draco said was right. But the overprotective mother inside her longed to embrace her daughter and not make her do anything she did not wish.
"You're right." Luna said, even more softly than Draco had.
"Mireia, come, you can have some lemonade, and then we'll restart the whole thing, so you can learn it better." Luna offered, although the was being less pleading and more demanding in her voice.
Mireia turned to look at Luna with rage in her eyes. At that moment they looked exactly like Draco's when he was mad, yet he contained it inside.
Mireia truly, at heart, was not her daughter, but Draco's daughter. His eyes, his mouth, his tone of voice, his eyes, even if they were blue.
"Don't look at me like that." Luna begged, outstretching an arm.
Mireia continued glaring.
"Come on now, Mireia, don't be a spoiled child."
"But that's what I am. Didn't you hear him? He thinks I'm spoiled, and he's made you try and not make me spoiled. I'm not spoiled!"
Luna closed her eyes and nodded. "Fine then, I'm going to go upstairs and shower. I'm not fighting with a brat today."
The minute she said the words she knew they were wrong, but she turned and continued up the stairs, pretending to be oblivious to the fact that Mireia was screaming bloody murder.
Life wasn't simple anymore.