Anon prompted on tumblr: Lunarry having their first child
Mr. and Mrs. Potter of Lilyhart Park (somewhere undisclosed in the British countryside, or was it the French countryside, nah I believe Lilyhart Park is still in England…oh where was I… yes the story) Mr. and Mrs. Potter of Lilyhart Park, where quite proud to say that they were not and would never be anything near normal, thank you very much, in fact, they were the first people you would expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because honestly, Harry and Luna Potter could not help themselves when it came to anything odd or out of sorts.
Mr. Potter was an Auror that on daily basis either chased dark wizards into Azkaban or sniffed out a dark wizard meant to BE in Azkaban and Mrs. Potter was a magical explorer with a perchance for discovering mythical beings thought extinct, but even without these peculiar jobs Harry and Luna Potter would have found a way to find the weird, simply because Harry was probably the biggest magnet for mysterious that ever lived and Luna ever chaser of whatever mystery life could offer often followed whenever she got wind of anything odd around her husband.
It was a running joke around the Aurors employed by the ministry, that these days, half of the assignments that entered the bureau where there thanks to Harry and the other half came in thanks to the mythical beings discovered by his wife.
No you could say that Mr. and Mrs. Potter of Lilyhart Park would never be normal, but then again, as Harry would remark to his friends "a normal life would be very dull when you think about it". On the outside Lilyhart Park might look like a perfectly average manor surrounded by acres of land and a pretty garden, but when one got closer, you could see that "average" got up and left from the house as soon as it could, like stepping into a dream, Lilyhart Park was something out of this world even for wizards, with fluttering creatures coming in and out of the house, moody serving items, furniture charmed to rearrange itself every half an hour and musical dishes when supper rolled around.
It was a funny sight to come home to every night after work, But maybe this was what Harry Potter liked best, in his house, nothing was as it should be, chief of them his eccentric wife Luna, who much like the Alice in Wonderland, woke up each day with as much as six impossible things she would like to try before the day was over.
Which was why it was so refreshing to visit the Potters every once in a while, with Harry and Luna, one never had to pretend, or lie or try to be subtle, not when the kettle pouring your tea suddenly got into a fight with the sugar cups and the house elves made helpless gestures while Mr. Potter tried not to laugh, despite the perpetual eccentricity of Lilyhart Park, any guest that came for tea always left with a smile in their face, Harry and Luna Potter lived in a beautiful and magical house that reminded them all that despite the war and the terrible things that happened around them, they lived in a world of enchantments and magic.
Now back to our tale:
Luna Potter nee Lovegood never thought she would see the day in which her husband voluntarily went to feed the dribble snappers on his own, not because dribble snappers where particularly bothersome or ugly, but because the new species of domesticated nargles she kept in the stables had the ability to stop anyone's thought process with their auras, which to Harry seemed rather inconvenient most of the time, she supposed that to the untrained eye her pets where rather ugly too, but only to those that didn't see the beauty of their uncommon appearance, nevertheless ever since she had decided on domesticating them to serve as pets, Harry had declared rather jokingly that as far as mascots went he liked his thoughts un-tampered as they were, bubbacks and knut seekers he liked just fine when it came to her discoveries but for some reason he always kept his distance from the dribble snappers.
It might have something to do with his past experiences with legimency and oclumency in the war, that made him wary of any of her magical creatures that had any ability over mind manipulation, Luna knew that Harry had been very strong to live through such things, so she did not blame him for avoiding dribble snappers, even if they were harmless nargles, which was why the dreamy eyed woman was so baffled when he announced all of the sudden that he wanted to feed them, that morning all she had done was casually mention she was pregnant, part of her had merely expected him to shout, or maybe stutter, not volunteer to feed the pets…huh maybe that's how wizarding men reacted to parenthood nowadays, feeding nargles.
Still Luna Potter remained baffled, calmly serving herself pumpkin pudding before deciding to hunt Harry down in the stables later, ha Harry voluntarily feeding dribble snappers….she would have to ask her daddy about it.
In the meantime Harry Potter was sitting in the stables next to a small pen that held ugly chameleon-like fuzz balls, trying desperately not to think….not about his family, or job as an Auror, or wife, or impending fatherhood, really all Harry Potter wished for in that moment was for Luna's dribble snappers to turn his mind into a blank slate, else all his conflicting thoughts might drive him crazy.
Luna was pregnant, she was with a child, somewhere inside his wife there was a fetus with magical Potter-Lovegood infused DNA, a fetus that would turn into a baby, who would later turn into an actual child with Potter-Lovegood infused traits and features...
Oh Merlin.
Not that there was a problem with Luna, if anything on their wedding day Harry had hoped that their children got everything from her and very few things from him, but hoping for children and actually facing a soon to be real baby where different things.
Their story was a strange one, how Harry the-boy-who-saved-all-of-us Potter had fallen in love with the loopy magical explorer known as Luna Lovegood, an ex-classmate and longtime friend , back then both had been in their twenties, Harry working in the Auror offices and dating Ginny and Luna breezing through the world chasing one impossible creature or another, keeping in touch trough owls and port keys just like they did with any of their other friends, but until that visit she made to his flat on the summer of his twenty fourth year, Harry never realized how colorless his life had become.
Harry didn't remember the reason for that visit, it could have been anything, knowing Luna, waking up to the sun shining was as good as any to drop by unexpectedly on a random friend, all he knew was that the moment he woke up to tea cups playing croquet over his head and house elves dressed as Japanese ninjas, he had laughed, for the first time, since the end of the war, laughed like a child on a playground, and when he got up from bed there she was, Luna, in the middle of his kitchen twirling her wand, dressed in some sort of traditional Austrian dress like something right out of Alice in Wonderland.
And Harry had laughed some more and decided he liked the feeling, so he joined Luna for breakfast without questioning the whys or how's, for once in his life he just let himself enjoy a simple happy morning
Even then years after the war Harry felt the grey void of the people he had lost like a phantom limb, he often wondered if being a war hero made people lose their spark for laugher, George had certainly grown up without Fred there for him, until that colorful morning with Luna, he thought he would always feel that way.
But like always Luna seemed to live in a world far different from the one her peers inhabited, which was why Harry enjoyed her presence so much, in her world death was just a nice way of saying goodbye, not a terrible sentence, war meant triumph over evil, not disaster, she saw rainbows on stormy windows and patronus opportunities in the face of dementors, Luna just was the kind of person who saw the best in the world's worst, and tough her restless belief in the impossible was out of place in a woman her age, how could one not enjoy someone like her? She who lived in a world of color and faith so different from his.
So Harry had asked her to come by again, and again, and again, by the time Luna Lovegood realized she was halfway in love with her friend Harry Potter, he had already broken up with Ginny, moved out of his flat and told house elves to ready Lilyhart manor in case she said yes when he decided to propose, oblivious Luna, so used to the impossible, had been taken aback by the realization of her love for Harry, both puzzled and elated by the lovely feeling.
In hindsight given their Hogwarts houses, they respective reactions surprised nobody, Luna being a former Ravenclaw more in tune with what happened in her mind, barely noticed when she fell in love, often distracted by a million other things, one day Luna simply woke up and knew that it was a fact, she loved him… wizards had magic, her hair was blond, the sun rose in the east, and she loved Harry, all unchanging facts, all truths she accepted like a textbook following Raven, not seeing any reason to deny it, love was quite a marvelous thing to feel when one embraced it after all.
Harry unlike Luna, being a Gryffindor went through a bit of more turmoil and friendly denial before accepting he loved her, she was his friend and he had Ginny, yet brave thing he was, he soon faced his troubles with the same determination he used with Voldemort charging right ahead by breaking up with Ginny despite the repercussions, after that things got a bit muddled up since well, Harry did not quite know what to do next, and being at odds with the Weasley family he knew he couldn't ask them, his Auror mates would give him hell about it and even Dumbledore's portrait was only likely to chuckle, so he searched for the next big source of information, a Gringotts goblin, "Sharpfang say if I as a Potter wanted to propose to a witch, a very unconventional one mind you, how does one go about it in the magical world?" to his credit Sharpfang did not mock him, instead calmly proceeded to outline the properties he owned as both the heir of Potter and Black, pointing out that before proposing he must be sure he had a stable home to offer her, a good income and a nice prospect for their future marital happiness "do I own anything with big stables? And space for magical animals?" Harry piped up smiling
When he finally did propose to Luna in a very unconventional way befitting their somewhat unconventional relationship, she clapped her hands in joy, throwing her arms around his neck while whispering her yes.
Harry sighed, smelling the aroma of Luna's pumpkin pudding wafting down the manor, a sure sign that it was already time for lunch, following the sound of her voice towards the kitchen he smiled at the sight of his wife dancing with ninja house elves to the tune of singing pots and pans.
When asked Harry often described living with his wife as living in a fairytale, Alice in Wonderland or the Wizard of Oz, to be exact, with furniture courtesy of Disney's rendition of Beauty and the beast, yes, just like in fairytales, from their house decor to the habits of their elves, nothing ever was as it should be in the Potter-Lovegood household, some days Harry came home to find the house upside down with Luna walking in the ceiling, other days it was a flurry of newly discovered mythic creatures having tea in their sitting room, once she arranged their house elves into quidich teams and declared she would have the very first house elf world cup in their yard, best of all was when his father in law came to visit, Xenophilius had a very eccentric way of viewing the world.
"Look Harry, Bobbitt learned how to do the grand Jette" Luna said pointing to one of her ninja house elves that had made a perfect ballerina pirouette "does she not look graceful" his wife cooed in approval
"I imagine you will be teaching them how to waltz once they master ballet, well done Bobbitt you do look very nice" Harry smiled kissing his wife's temple and drawing her into his arms, the dancing house elf stammered a embarrassed "thank you master" before ushering the rest of the ninjas out of the kitchen
"Oh I hadn't thought of that, I suppose I should, waltz is just as important as ballet you know Harry, I dare say, by the time our baby is born we will have quite educated house elves" her hand tightened around his drawing it to her stomach "Speaking of which, you left so suddenly that I barely had time to ask how you feel about fatherhood"
Luna had a distinctive way of manifesting her kindness that people often did not understand, jumping from one topic to another with ease, Harry though about it for a moment then he smiled "I think, a baby of ours, will be quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to us, but to be honest Luna I cannot imagine myself as someone's dad, I didn't exactly have glowing role models in the Dursleys"
Luna cocked her head to the side thoughtful as if trying to solve an arithmancy equation "do you think your godfather would have been a good father to you if he hadn't been sent to Azkaban when your parents died?"
"Sirius? Of course he would, he would have been great to live with, fun, reckless, but careful with me, oh no don't look at me like that I am no Sirius Black"
"And Dumbledore? Would he have made a good father? What about Mr. Arthur, he had many children and so far all the Weasley grew up to be nice people"
"Well Dumbledore ran a school of rambunctious mischief makers and Mr. Weasley is one of the men I admire most, what are you getting at Luna?"
"For the man that discovered the hiding place of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem when he was a teen, you don't see the obvious often do you?" Luna pointed out with a patient smile waiting for him to put it all together
Harry knew what she meant, yes uncle Vernon hadn't been the ideal guardian, but that didn't mean Harry hadn't had positive father figures in his life, there where good men out there that really did make great fathers, take Luna's dad for example, going against the daily prophet on his own because of what he believed in, not caring if others thought him crazy, or professor Lupin, sacrificing his life to give Teddy a chance in a better world "you are right, I don't need to be afraid, our baby won't have a bad father, no matter how much I doubt myself" Harry said smiling down at Luna then a musical clatter in the dining room made him grin in amusement " I dare say we are breeding burocracy here, he or she will probably be the only baby to have Intellectual house elves"
"Yes, I believe we are" Luna replied with a dreamy eyed smile caressing her stomach "it will make for a very happy childhood"
::::::::::::::::::-'::::::::::::::
That was the easy part, then came the complications...better known as pregnancy blues
Lucky for Harry he had friends to share the experience with otherwise, he would have thought himself bonkers. Maybe he still was anyway, because nothing Ron, Fred, Neville or even Draco (yes he kept in touch with the git from time to time) reported of their respective pregnant wives resembled his life with Luna. And apparently they all resented him for that
Because while Ron raved about Hermione's dragon cake cravings and Neville sighed pitifully recounting Ginny's magic charged morning sickness, expecting Harry who had a wife as unconventional as Luna to be the one with most trouble, Harry simply sat there dumbfounded, because compared to his wizard friends Luna's pregnancy had been surprisingly...muggle
Her morning sickness rarely caused her any stress, her wild cravings consisted almost entirely of simple muggle food she probably only had eaten once or twice in her life and her mood swings often lasted no more than a few minutes, in fact, ever since the end of the first trimester of her pregnancy, Luna had taken to staying in the sitting room sipping tea, knitting booties and painting, instead of going outside to frolic around with their magical assortment of creatures as she usually did.
When he told the guys, they had resented his good luck.
This was what had Harry Potter almost pulling his hair, Luna wasn't like that and it irked him, she was color and magic and dreams of impossible things, her pregnancy had her acting...normal.
And Luna wasn't normal, she hadn't been normal ever, normal wasn't even a word she was fond off…Harry could have taken anything from a magical pregnancy, cravings for gorgon meat enchiladas, bring it, mood swings that had her crying her eyeballs out, he could cope, magical attacks out of nowhere, that Harry could take, he could handle all except that infuriating normalcy that had her acting like a British housewife.
The healer had assured them that strange behavior was completely normal during the first months and would eventually pass as the pregnancy progressed, which brought them to the Seerscope dilemma.
Apparently in the magical world people left nothing to chance when it came to their offspring, even from before they were born, wizard born parents especially paranoid first timers and pureblood ones who obsessed over their children's genes and possible features and accomplishments liked to have Seerscopes performed as soon as magically possible when they found out they were going to be parents. The world (and the Daily prophet) didn't expect the Potters to be an exception.
"Xeno, what is a Seerscope? I can't seem to go a day without seeing it mentioned in the paper, or being asked about it by my friends, even professor McGonnagall owled me this morning to enquire about it? Luna doesn't seem to mind not having one but I still do not know what it is" Harry said finally caving in and going to his father in law for answers, because apparently this Seerscope business was something too personal for portraits to talk about, even Dumbledore's
"Of course how crass of them, it seems some need to invest in anti-humdinger charms, I lost count of the people that keep forgetting you were raised by muggles, come here Harry I believe I still have a copy of Artemisa's Seerscope somewhere in my office"
According to Luna's father, a Seerscope was a mix between a divination crystal ball and a pensive, that could be found in the headquarters of obstetrician medi witches, it was designed to scan the unborn baby's magical core to present a rough image of how said baby would look, behave and how much magic he or she would be likely to have in the future "you mean like an advanced ultrasound?" Harry summarized
"Considering how primitive muggle prenatal care is, yes a muggle ultrasound is the closest thing that comes to mind, ahh here it is come Harry, this is a Seerscope" Xenophilius produced from the back of his crowded office a pink crystal ball the size of his palm, inside the crystal ball Harry could see a little girl smiling, similar to a moving photograph, but this particular girl didn't move from place to place like a normal photograph, this one seemed to be growing… "Artemisa and I were amazed at it too, don't worry, Seerscopes are wonderful things, here take it"
And as Harry peered reverently into the pink crystal he saw the image change, from a girl, to a small silver eyed baby wrapped in a pink blanket among swirling grey smoke, then the image gradually started modifying itself, the baby grew bigger, it's hair grew longer, growing teeth and longer limbs, until the baby no longer looked like a baby, instead it looked like a blonde curious toddler, the toddler kept on moving about until it gradually turned into a little girl dressed in blue pajamas that appeared to be chasing a cat, this time Harry could see older Luna in her, the girl kept growing, her clothes and hair alternating, until she looked eleven and her clothes changed into Hogwarts robes, the Luna in the Seerscope had short hair and appeared to be taller, her Hogwarts badge was grey and as she continued growing the details around her became less clear, until finally Luna was an adult, her features in the Seerscope certainly where the same as her real ones, but she had short hair and appeared to be dressed in Umbridge pink "she looks different here, why?"
"A Seerscope isn't a prophecy Harry, it simply tries to predict how a child will grow up to be, drawing on how it's parents are and how they are likely to raise him or her, you must have noticed that the older Luna got, the harder her behavior was to predict, simply because the variables multiply and parents have less influence as a child turns into an adult Artemisa thought it was fascinating, but nobody's future is set in stone" Xenophilius produced a mischievous smile that made him look eons younger "lucky for us don't you think, if we all knew our futures"
"Life would be very boring" Harry finished for him because Luna liked to say the same thing when he got sullen, his father in law laughed and poured some firewhiskey for them both "So you were happy then, it didn't bother you to see it"
"Yes, we were happy, I've never seen a witch as happy as my Missa was that day, Seerscopes offer hope, and in hindsight I'm glad she could see, in a way, how our daughter would be in adulthood, after her death this" he said holding the pink Seerscope in his hands with a misty faraway look "reminded me that not all had been in vain"
"To Mrs. Lovegood then" Harry said holding up his cup of firewhiskey for Xenophilius benefit
"To my wife" Luna's father agreed downing his cup reverently
::::::::::::::::::…))))
Harry's conversation with Xenophilius had been enough to make him talk to Luna about the matter, Luna apparently didn't see a problem with having a Seerscope done but hadn't mentioned it because she thought "doing something because others pressured you into it" was never a good reason to do something, especially if that something had to do with her baby
It wasn't that Luna didn't want to know the sex of her baby, or it's magical core information, it was just that… she wanted her baby to be hers and Harry's alone, the tiny thing had been safely nestled inside her body for five months, while a number of people out there speculated on his or her sex, face, life and happiness, why couldn't their baby be theirs and theirs alone?, why did everyone feel entitled to talking about him or her? Inside her body at least she could protect it, was it wrong to want their baby's things to remain their little secret a little longer?
Yet she too wanted to end the uncertainty, which was exactly why they found themselves in flooing to St Mungos, for their appointment with Madam Schneider, the friendly medi witch that had been taking care of Luna and the baby.
"Ah Herr Potter and Fraulein Luna, just in time, finally ready to meet your little bundle of joy, the other medi mages where wondering how long untill you gave in"
"Heidi please don't make jokes, I seem to have caught a case of nerves from the nargles" Luna mumbled, as they entered the room, Heidi Schneider made a tsk sound smiling as Harry ushered his pregnant wife into a seat "what if our baby doesn't like me Harry?"
"Then I will be very shocked, because how could he or she not love you when you are the most maddening wonderful and lovely person in the world" Harry replied putting his hand in her stomach and feeling a kick "See, the baby agrees"
Madam Schneider snorted before pulling up her wand "ready for your Seerscope Fraulein Potter?" And after Luna gave a permissive nod, the medi witch offered her a vial of larkspur
and started chanting patiently as she made complicated movements with her wand, Harry watched on fascinated as a warm yellow glow started forming around his wife's womb, when the spell was done, Madam Schneider made a motion with her wand like a carnie and started scooping it around the yellow light, rolling the glow around the wand like if it where cotton candy, finally when she had scooped it all and her wand looked like a big fluff of glowing cotton, the medi witch summoned a crystal ball and pushed the fluffy mass inside "all done Herr Potter" she sang happily
"Really that's it?" Harry asked in disbelief, Madam Schneider and Luna nodded "Now what?" He asked puzzled making Madam Schneider glare at him furiously
"Now we wait Herr Potter, you must not rush brilliance" The medi witch complained in a haughty tone but before Harry could reply a squeal from Luna cut him off
"Look Harry there she is! Isn't she beautiful" Luna's delighted gaze was focused on the crystal ball in madam Schneider's hands, where the yellowish tone had dissipated into the image of a newborn child swaddled in a pink blanket.
Harry felt his knees wobble, thanking Merlin he had a chair behind him, because the baby in the Seerscope, the baby looked like a tiny him, with wispy tuffs of black hair in her head, sporting her mother's silvery grey eyes, in the crystal ball the child sent them a toothless smile, that made the Potter hearts leap, then the girl started growing, going from a tiny bundle of limbs to a upbeat toddler giving her first steps "She will have my father's nose" Luna said staring in awe, as the toddler grew into a little girl sporting black pigtails and wire rimmed glasses
"And my father's eyesight apparently" Harry said watching the little girl pick up a toy broom to ride it, his daughter grinned as she grew always holding an object in her hand to give her parents an idea of what she would most likely be interested in when she grew, a book, a broom, a Phoenix, a wand, finally the little girl's clothes changed into grey Hogwarts robes, and Luna watched as she was surrounded by smoky faceless children in grey robes, her daughter's black hair lost the pigtails as she progressed into her teens and the wire rimmed glasses soon gave way to much more feminine variants.
Soon Harry and Luna where looking at a beautiful eighteen year old young woman sporting long black ringlets, delicate facial features and grey eyes, this was his daughter harry thought, one day she would look like that, meanwhile the projection smiled, her intelligent and dreamy eyes alight with Potter mischief behind her glasses jumping and waving her arm high in the air "She will look like you" was the first thing Harry though to say once the Seerscope had run its course, their daughter would inherit most of her delicate features from Luna as far as he had seen, but then again with her raven black hair and spectacles it was more likely that she would be compared to him when people looked at her.
"And you" Luna replied beaming with complete happiness, her eyes misting up with tears "she's the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen Harry and we made her" Luna continued wonderstruck "She's in here" she pointed to her stomach "And she's ours, something so beautiful is actually ours" then she looked up at her husband's eyes "we made a miracle"
"A beautiful miracle Luna, we are going to be parents" Harry added equally wonderstruck touching her stomach "She must be so small right now but I wager she knows how loved she is and how much we are waiting for her"
"Have you thought about a name for her?" Madam Schneider asked quietly transferring the Seerscope to a smaller crystal ball for the Potters to take home.
Harry looked at Luna then, both being only children, they had agreed that if their child was a boy, Harry would choose his name but if it was a girl, Luna would "you never did tell me what you would name our baby if it was a girl"
"did you know that the first time I met you I thought your eyes where awfully shinny?" his wife remarked as an answer "and over the years you kept doing shiny things, I used to think that it was strange to be as much sparkle as you…and then, we fought Voldemort and you died, and I killed death eaters, but the thing I remember most about that battle is the sparkle" Luna continued freely "I was standing next to Neville, in the field, feeling happy that it was over, when the sun came up, do you remember Harry? The sun was beautiful, and warm, it made everything sparkle so brilliantly, I kept thinking that he shone so brightly because he was happy for us, and I was happy for the sun, because it brought light to a very gloomy world, and sunshine made everything better just by existing…it sparkled…like you Harry" Luna's eyes took a dreamy glint as she caressed her hand on her belly "She will be named Luz" Luna told them "Luz Sunburst sounds about right"
"Luz Potter" Harry repeated smiling, she named their child light, bright, warm and irreplaceable, it was the side they had fought for and the word he associated with Luna "it's a beautiful name Luna, you are beautiful too"
"And a very fitting one me thinks" Madam Schneider remarked with an amused smile "that the daughter of the sun and the moon should be named light"
Of course that was just another perk.
Funny that after visiting St Mungos and saying goodbye to madam Schneider Harry should run into his old school yard nemesis Draco, who coincidentally also was there with Astoria to see the Malfoy's obstetric medi witch.
Astoria who unlike Draco held a moderate friendship with Luna Potter happily compared their budging wombs sharing thoughts on unborn Scorpius wellbeing with the other expectant mother, Luna in turn regaled her with happy hopes on Luz while their husbands tried to have an awkward conversation on the weirdness of their upcoming fatherhood.
It was the strangest thing, Malfoy and Potter years after the war awkwardly trying not to talk about the fact that their children would be born with very few months from each other.
When the Malfoys took their leave, Harry made a mental note to owl his friends and comrades on the Seerscope development that same day, before Mrs. Malfoy had a chance to let it slip to her pureblood friends, Luna seemed to agree, Astoria wasn't a bad woman, she just got bored easily and had a tendency to talk offhandedly, inavertedly becoming a prime source of gossip.
Nevertheless even without the additional threat of Astoria blabbing, Harry and Luna Potter could not have helped themselves from sharing their happiness with everyone even if they wanted to, Luna kept looking at the Seerscope like if it where the very mirror of the erised, entranced by the sight of the baby she would soon give birth to, writing long letters to her father who was just as delighted on the prospect of having a granddaughter, and talking to Ginny and Hermione as excited as ever.
Harry on the other hand also felt on cloud nine, Molly and Arthur Weasley who treated Harry like a second son, had been very happy when they along with professor McGonnagall received a moving photograph of Luna's Seerscope, and Harry was glad that even after his breaking up with Ginny years ago the Weasley family hadn't judged him harshly on his marriage to Luna. Professor McGonnagall had even sent them a present, a magic toy version of the Hogwarts sorting hat, with a note attached to it:
" Harry and Luna thank you for your owl, I commend you on the beautiful name you chose for your child and wish you both as much joy as I can wish on any couple looking forward to their first nappy change…other than that I look forward to having said child here in Hogwarts when the time comes Mr. and Mrs. Potter, with such parents I imagine her years here will be quite eventful… yet I pray to Merlin that unlike you both she has the good sense not to let her possessions be stolen or battle any trolls on her first year "
with love-Minerva McGonnagall Hogwarts Headmistress
Soon news that the The-boy-who-killed-he-who-must-not-be-named was officially having a daughter, spread through magical Britain like wildfire, and just as Luna had predicted, many began speculating, not that gossip had ever bothered her before but Luna would have wished for the strangers that read the daily prophet to have a little more tact when expressing their dissatisfaction with the gender of their hero's firstborn. Not that there where many of those, certainly not as many as there where congratulations notes and baby gifts, but Luna disliked them all the same. So did Harry, getting angry when she told him, but then again someone had to parallel her infinite patience with some Gryffindor temper.
Other than that their lives remained very much the same, and by that I mean the Potter-Lovegood household continued being perfectly unpredictable, with just a few minor changes, them being that Mrs. Potter travels by floo and portkey over the world where put on hold temporarily, Mr. Potter began cutting back on field work with the Aurors, their house elves now wore colorful business suits instead of ninja gear and the nursery in Lilyhart park was almost finished.
As her due date approached Luna's excitement seemed to spread everywhere she went, from her father's office in the quibbler to Bessie's Bewitching robes, every person that passed her in the street could see that there was no woman as happy as her, her smile was too contagious, this was one expectant mother that went through life completely delighted by her "miraculous" ability to give life, for a girl raised to believe in the impossible nothing was more magical than the tiny life she carried inside her and she was very proud of it. Life after all, was a gift and she was going to bring life into the world, how much more miraculous could the world get?
Harry of course shared his wife's happiness, but in a more subdued way, after seeing the Seerscope of their daughter, he was more conscious of the kind of father he wanted to be, so he worked his best in preparing for the responsibility, sure he liked children and adored his godson Teddy, but often Luna would find him conversing with Dumbledore's portrait, reminiscing abut his childhood in Hogwarts, or taking long walks with Arthur Weasley, she left him to his thoughts when he did that, which made Harry grateful, she always knew what he needed even when he didn't know himself, and Arthur was a big help, lending a sympathetic ear to Harry's fears.
Luna breezed through her pregnancy like a fairy on ballet slippers, but Harry knew that like all mothers a small part of Luna worried about her baby, regardless of her optimistic way of viewing life, some days she would take to cloud gazing in the flower speckled lawn of their gardens, silently lost in her thoughts and Harry would lie down with her, she would tell him about her mother then, whispering about what she remembered, asking Harry if he thought their baby would feel as loved as she had felt when her mother was alive...those where the days Harry understood Luna's fears and tried to soothe them.
And then one night, after working in the Auror office later than expected Harry came home to the most heartwarming sight, the nursery was finished...and Luna had fallen asleep in the rocking chair with a book in her lap.
Harry felt his heart break at the beautiful sight, both of them had been working on decorating the nursery for the past months, now it was finished and he could almost see his daughter there.
The room had a high celling enchanted to look like a clear night sky with calming ribbons of aurora borealis, the blue crib in the middle of the room had a mobile with lifelike replicas of fuzzy nargles and other magical creatures Luna had discovered, not to mention each pillow and blanket draped around the wooden crib seemed chosen with care, sporting teddy bear prints and moving unicorn lace around the edges.
The shelves painted in the warmest royal blue, held a collection of magical toys and fluttering quidich paraphernalia, and next to the crib a moving portrait of Harry and Luna was hung right above the rocking chair, so that their child could see her parents once she woke up every morning, there was color splashed over the walls, and he knew that the baby tub and the changing table in the corner had been enchanted so that a rainbow would come out every time they were used.
And he could see his daughter growing up there, he could see an army of house elves dressed in samurai uniforms surrounding the crib trying to make the "little mistress" smile, being cooed over by her Grandfather Xenophilius and her aunts Hermione, Ginny, Fleur and honorary grandparents Molly and Arthur, he could see his baby smiling every morning and being rocked to sleep every night, clapping her hands and throwing baby food on him.
And he looked around once more and his gaze settled on Luna, he sighed with a satisfied smile.
His child would never have to grow up in a world where she was told that being herself was wrong, she would never have to be ashamed of her magic or get ignored by adults, Luna would cherish their daughter's individuality, encourage it as much as she could and celebrate each day together as the gift it was, unlike him with the Dursleys, his child would never have to endure unfair treatments or suffer any abuse, in Lilyhart Park away from magical London, she might grow up familiar with having play dates in the department of mysteries or picnics in the Bermuda triangle, but she would have adventure, their daughter would have freedom, she would have laughter and pudding.
Maybe she wouldn't be raised like the rest of the children of the magical world (being that Harry disapproved of the way normal magical people educated their children), she might not get dolls and dresses on Christmas, or be taught to sit and be quiet, but Luz would have rainbows, she would have butterfly winged birthday cakes and quidich playing house elves, she would have singing nargles and hippogriff rides when she asked for a pet, she would have magic and wonder but most of all...His daughter would never have to go a day in her life without knowing how loved she was.
He briefly wondered if this had been what his parents had felt when he was born, a perfect mixture of uncertainty and complete calm, he supposed they probably did, his father probably had stood in Harry's nursery too and dreamed of the kind of future Lily and him would have built for Harry once the war was over. (but then again, his mom and dad both had been living in the dark days and had been raised by relatively uneccetric families, they probably would have had their misgivings on how Harry planned to raise Luz, letting her roam free in the country, frolicking with thestralls and making friends with centaurs)
"Harry is that you? I seem to have fallen asleep" Luna yawned as tough she felt his gaze on her face, with a sleepy smile she held up the book in her hand "I was reading our baby the story of the deadly hallows, I think she liked it"
"Come Luna, we should get you to bed" Harry chuckled approaching her and lifting her with an easy motion "the nursery looks beautiful I noticed you finished painting the walls"
"Hermione helped, she was here for supper, with Rosie" Hermione had given birth to her first child four months before and often liked to bring little Rose to Luna's house in order to keep the tiny thing amused, then Luna's voice trailed off coming to an abrupt halt "Harry I think you made a mistake in lifting me up" she said suddenly sounding ten times more awake
"Why? I remember the medi witch saying that you can't be on your feet too much, I am only doing what the doctor ordered"
"Because, our daughter seems to want to meet us early my love, that is why" Luna replied wincing in Harry's arms and that's when he realized something
"You are having contractions"
"Yes I suppose so, now dear would you put me down and floo for the midwife? I do not know much about labor but Hermione and Ginny seemed to think it was particularly painful the first time around" Luna said with as much calm as she could wincing again fifteen minutes later
Harry obeyed carrying his wife to the rocking chair and transfiguring it into something more comfortable before rushing to the fireplace, but Luna stopped him just as he left to floo for Madam Schneider and her army of midwives "do you think our daughter will be happy Harry? With everything here, after she comes out?"
"I think she will love it" Harry replied looking around the enchanting nursery and back at Luna's sweaty but smiling face "this will make for a very colorful childhood indeed"
Five hours later, as dawn began to break, Miss Luz Sunburst Potter Lovegood graced the world with her presence
it took me a while but I really hoped anon liked it, I loved writing it, please comment if you like lunarry, my favorite part was probably reversing the starting lines of HP and the Philosoper Stone =) up there in my first paragraph, not sure if you guys noticed that...Also on their ages I figured Luz would be contemporary with Rose and Scorpious because Im one of those feminists that always has Harrys first born be a girl, considering both Luna and Harry had boys the first time around (older sisters rock!) kudos to Bailee Madison as my dreamcast for Luz Potter, in this fic I exposed all my (very valid) reasons for Lunarry becomming my otp... they compliment eachother and I agree with Harry, children with Potter-Lovegood infused DNA would take the world by storm...oh Merlin...