Who: Luna & her daddy. Where: St. Mungos. When: A weekend. Rating: PG, talk of death and sad things.
Saint Mungo’s was her least favourite place to be. The smell of the hospital turned her stomach each time she entered. The solemn look on the faces of many always brought her down, it seemed to her as if this place were the grim reaper that Trelawney had once told her about in Divination and everyone here was waiting their turn to feel the pain of his scythe. The place reeked of defeat, death, and disturbances. For some reason, the hospital seemed to be expelling more horrible energy than any of her other visits.
It was normally pretty difficult to bring Luna down. She had her mind set about death, defeat, and disturbances ever since her mothers death. Luna had promised herself to never allow them to upset her. She would be strong, she would deal with things as they came. Luna Lovegood would never worry about the future, for the future was always going to be unknown and full of changes or surprises. Things would get better, people would recover…
Or so she hoped.
She let her feet drag as she wandered blankly towards the elevator. The last thing she wanted was for her father to leave her. Luna was unsure how she would be able to deal with it if he did. Sure, she was an adult now. She could live on her own. She could do a lot of things now. But, it wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to go on adventures with her father again, she wanted him to be there when she graduated, when she married, forever, if possible.
She lightly pressed the button for the floor she wished to go to and sighed as the doors closed and slowly moved her towards her destination. She hummed, hoping to bring up her spirits. There was no way she would allow her father to see her this way. Luna raised a hand to her earring and tugged slightly. She had a habit of doing this when she was nervous which, thankfully, wasn’t often.
When the door opened, she pushed past a few people in her way, mumbling apologies as she made her way towards her fathers room. When she approached it, she knocked lightly on the door before opening it.
“Hello daddy,” Luna said softly, once again playing with the large red radish that dangled from her left lobe.
He made a nod, acknowledging his daughters presence and patted the bed next to him. Luna walked slowly towards him and took a seat. The blonde girl smiled and struggled to find something to say to him. She couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried. It pained her to see him like this. Her father seemed so much older this visit. The happy smile he usually displayed was long gone and the light in his gray eyes had dimmed. His skin seemed as if the sun hadn’t touched it in years. His entire body seemed to tremble with every movement.
It frightened Luna more than anything to see him this way.
“How’s school, darling?” Mr. Lovegood managed to say, giving his daughter’s hand a squeeze.
“Well, father,” Luna replied softly, “I’m doing well. My classes are easy, you know. Professor Trelawney seems to be very interested in the Rotfang Conspiracy. She asks me about it at least once a week. She seems to think I have all of the inside information,” Luna paused, glancing at her father before continuing, “And, I’m doing a bit better in Transfiguration now that I’ve got the hang of the new stuff Professor McGonagall is teaching us. And, I’m starting to rather dislike Arithmancy. It is boring me and I find it not as simple as last year.”
“Arithmancy is a good class, Luna,” He said with a slight wheeze, “It’ll do you well later in life.”
“I suppose so,” She said, shrugging, “I’ll stick with it, of course. I‘m not about to give up on it.”
“Good.”
And again the two were shrouded in silence, the only noise being the tapping of Luna’s pale purple shoes hitting the bed in a steady rhythm. The two clung to each others hands, both feeling as solemn as the other.
“Pardon me,” A sweet, motherly voice came from the doorway.
Both Luna and her father glanced up to see a nurse standing before them. She smiled at the two and let herself in, “I’m Lenally, your nurse for today!” She gave Luna a big grin before speaking with her, “You must be Mr. Lovegood’s daughter. What’s your name?”
“Luna,” she replied.
“Well, Luna, would you mind moving for a second? I need to check your father’s temperature and make sure he’s doing okay, okay?” She said sweetly as she nodded, her blonde ponytail bouncing along with the nod.
Luna moved and placed herself on a nearby chair. As the nurse tended to her father, she noticed how drab the room looked. The entire room was white, there was nothing on the walls. In the right corner there lay a plant Luna did not know the name of. It was tall and leafy and rather ugly, in her opinion. On the left side, the side Luna was sitting on, their sat three brown and white chairs. One of them seemed to be ripped. Luna sighed, making a mental note to bring something decorative next time she visited.
“Alright!” The nurse squealed, making Luna cringe slightly. “Your pops is still really ill, but doing a little better. I’ll leave you two alone now, alright? Just let me know if you need me!” She waved her wand behind her and shut the door.
“She seems nice, eh?” Her father laughed, which soon turned into a small cough.
Luna merely nodded. She watched her father’s attempt to smile. It paled in comparison to his former smile. She did not like this new one. It made her feel sick. She scooted her chair closer and let her head rest upon his bed. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the sickly sent of hospital rushing into her nose. Her stomach flipped and flopped, but she managed to control her nausea.
“I hope you can leave soon,” She mumbled, burying her face into the bed.
“Me too, dear.”
Her eyes stung a little, but she withheld the tears. She would not cry. She hadn’t cried in years, there was no way she would do it now. She breathed in again, this time deeper. The stinging sensation ceased and the nausea dissipated slightly. Luna’s calm only lasted a few minutes though, for her father put his hand upon her head and began stroking her long blonde hair.
“Don’t worry, Luna. I’ll be fine. Just fine. And, if not, I‘m sure you‘ll be fine on your own. You‘re a strong girl. I believe in you, I love you.”
That was the last thing she wanted hear. Her hands clenched as she gripped at the blankets, hoping that this time the horrible feeling in her eyes and stomach would go away. It had been hard enough to lose her mother. But, in all honesty, she knew losing her father would be a hundred times worse. She had always been close with him. He had always been her friend, her father, the one person that had guaranteed he’d always be there for her. She did not want him to go. A sniffle escaped and her fathers hand began to reach her hand. He kissed her balled fist softly, whispering to reassure her that he would be fine.