Notes: Just a very quick oneshot on how I think Luna might fit into the Scamander family.

Summary: Three unexpected things came with Newt Scamander's new granddaughter: a profound love, an appreciation for the intangible, and a lifelong friendship with Harry Potter. None of which he was entirely convinced existed, at first.

Newt Scamander and the Luna Eclipse

A Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts Oneshot by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

With a taste rather like rotten onions still fresh on his tongue, Newt Scamander leaned back in his chair and trained his gaze on the blonde woman carefully placing a plate of biscuits on the table before him.

"Luna, my dear, the gurdyroot infusion is especially exquisite this morning."

She caught his eye and smiled. "I'm glad you like it, grandfather."

Newt nodded and downed the rest of the drink in one gulp. The flavor burned his mouth, tongue, and throat, but he swallowed without protest, and almost without a hint of tears in his eyes.

When his grandson Rolf had first brought home the charming but admittedly unusual Luna Lovegood, Newt had been optimistic but guarded. Rolf was a deep thinker, and always considered all options before he acted. And he had never brought home a lady friend before, perhaps because he intended for the first to also be the only.

Luna, then, had caught them all completely off guard. Newt himself was not without his own eccentricities, and even he was unprepared for the fantastic chaos that was Luna's mind. Even so, it was immediately clear why Rolf had fallen in love with her.

Having lost both his parents in a tragic accident as a child, Rolf was raised by Newt and his wife Porpentina. Newt showed him the wonders of the animal world, while Porpentina gave him high regard for human life. Rolf grew into a giant of a man, with a gentle spirit and a booming voice he rarely made use of. He was constantly misunderstood and overlooked by his less intelligent peers, as "one of those Scamanders" or "Newt's boy", both of which were high praise to Rolf, but the jeering tone in which they were delivered was always unmistakable and deeply hurtful.

Girls who wished to date him, and were able to actually appreciate Rolf for who he was, as a rule, simply did not occur.

And then Luna floated into their lives, almost as if by accident, with her questionable cooking skills, her ever-present elf companion Roonil Wazlib trailing beside her, and her insistence on calling every Erumpment she saw "Snorkie". And even stranger, without fail, every Erumpment's immediate and total devotion to her. Not since Newt himself had he ever seen a magical creature take to a witch or wizard so completely.

Luna had a way with humans, too, or at least with Newt and his family. She adored Rolf, fondly claiming that hugging him was like hugging her own personal Hairy MacBoon... one that wasn't out to rip her into pieces, anyway. She delighted in Porpentina's tales of American Auror work, rather like a child requesting bedtime stories would. And despite having no formal training or recognized talent in Legilimency, Luna was the only person who seemed to always know what Queenie was thinking without having to ask. Indeed, many times they would glance at each other, immediately burst into raucous laughter, and then stop abruptly, wearing identical secretive smiles that no one else could even begin to guess the meaning behind.

And this weird, wonderful woman who had brought a real, permanent smile to Rolf's face, who had brightened the lives of such a reclusive, close-knit family... Newt could not help but love her in return. His work fascinated her. Within seconds of meeting him, she presented him with several editions of nearly all of his books, and politely demanded that he sign each one. Then she immediately dismissed his fears of being a crazed fan by donating half of those to a charity auction, and used the proceeds to create a scholarship for Hogwarts students that came from single parent or parentless homes.

It was at this event that Newt met Harry Potter for the first time. Harry donated full sets of used Quidditch gear, by far the most sought after auction items. Luna had mentioned being friends with Harry, but only in passing, and never to the degree that others would have seen as boasting. She gave the overwhelming impression that Harry might vaguely remember her from Hogwarts. So when Harry came over, gave Luna a bear hug and noisily kissed her cheek, Rolf's immediate fear was that Harry was an ex-boyfriend that Luna had been purposely vague about. Luna patiently explained that they'd only gone to one party together. Harry quickly added it had only been as friends, but Luna insisted that it had been as "very good friends who had a very good time", raising her eyebrows suggestively on each word and popping her eyes at extremely inappropriate moments, terribly embarrassing Harry in the process and nearly giving Rolf a panic attack.

Consequently, each time that Rolf and Harry shook hands after that, Rolf's smile was slightly stiff, and there was quite a bit of wincing on Harry's part.

That incident aside, Newt found Harry to be an engaging and deeply insightful man. And he was respectful, above all else, though Newt could never decide if it was his relation to Luna, or his work that Harry admired more. And he found it didn't really matter either way. After all, Newt certainly valued Harry as both a wizard capable of incredible things, as well as a dear friend of Luna's.

Whether they met in the halls of Hogwarts or the comforts of Newt's home, Harry was never shy about picking Newt's brain, and Newt did not restrain his opinions in the slightest. They both understood that there were others Harry could approach for watered-down expertise, and that asking Newt Scamander's opinion was asking for both the best knowledge, and the unfiltered truth. And while it was true that Rolf was the leading, non-retired Scamander animal expert, he also was not quite as anti-Ministry as Newt had become as of late, and often those were the best sources for Ministry types like Harry to consult with.

But it was not their conversations on rare magical beasts, or how best to apprehend black market animal smugglers that Newt remembered best. No, far more often, they spoke of a far more entertaining subject. Harry would describe the intricacies of the Rotfang Conspiracy, and Newt would share the certainty that Luna was testing the family's love for her by gradually worsening her cooking. Harry would detail the might of Cornelius Fudge's Heliopath army, and Newt would reveal that he now suspected all Erumpments to be Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in disguise.

Because to Harry, true friendship tasted like liquefied bogeys, but to Newt, true love was distinctly flavored like rotten onions. And while they could never agree which tasted more horrible, in the end, somehow, refusing to drink simply never occurred to them.

The End.

Endnotes:

So as much as I enjoyed Fantastic Beasts, I can't shake the feeling that it was intended more for hardcore Potheads, rather than the average fan. As in you have to be able to appreciate a wizarding world without Harry Potter or Dumbledore or Hogwarts being mentioned every five minutes. It's an acquired taste. Or more accurately, if Luna Lovegood were a film, she'd be that one. Which is rather fitting, considering.

I know Luna supposedly dialed back a bit on certain beliefs as she got older, but this is Luna we're talking about.

Artistic license taken with a great deal. Why, I have little doubt that Rolf will turn out to be a hairless, loudmouthed shrimp. But I can dream.

If I can ever get it done, there's a story that goes into more detail about Roonil the elf. Who is free, of course, and accompanies Luna purely out of choice.