Special Delivery For: nephthysmoon Title: Second Beginning Author:myownmuggle Recipient's IJ/LJ name:nephthysmoon Rating: NC-17 Pairing: Charlie Weasley/Luna Lovegood Word Count: 2189 Warnings: Outdoor!sex and good wine. And a touch of Alternate Universe. Summary: Luna gets a chance at another beginning when she returns to her family’s ancestral home. When a letter brings back some pleasant memories, she decides it’s time to act on what she wants for a change.
Author's notes: There is something liberating about letting go of your inhibitions and just enjoying the moment. This pairing seems to fit that bill so well, and I love them for it. Happy reading!
"There is no protection from fate. Or from age. Few people know how to grow old. Because our hair is white and our faces lined, does that mean we are enfeeble or no longer able to be ourselves? I am not yet tired, although my heart is weary."
~ Count Leandro della Robbia as written by Karen Moline
Luna paused in front of the fireplace as she padded quietly through the family room. With a wordless flick of her wand, the fire jumped to life and crackled warmth into the air. She knew without checking that it was the first of February, and like her mother had long taught, she’d laid out a list of tasks for herself.
“It’s an important time of year, my darling. Ancient Muggles who fancied themselves as something akin to witches and wizards celebrated the first of February as a herald of spring. Of new life and new beginnings.”
Bevan Lovegood told her only daughter about the festival of Candlemas and how the local village residents lit candles and fires to welcome the day. The farmers in the community welcomed the spring lambs. The women polished hearth and home, decorating with greenery and preparing old family recipes to share with friends. The old was swept out and the new was welcomed. Even the smallest child was put to work.
Luna had carried on her mother’s traditions after she died, though her father had shaken his head ruefully at her childlike efforts. Xenophilius quietly asked some of the neighboring women to help his daughter. And they had until she was old enough to do things on her own.
When the battle at Hogwarts had ended and Luna recovered from the injuries she’d received while being held at Malfoy Manor, she returned to the place she’d known best as a child. To the traditions she’d loved.
Termonfeckin was a tiny wizarding village in County Louth. It was old – older even than the Muggle monastery that was founded by Saint Feichin of Fore that drew so much attention from visitors and historians alike. Not so surprisingly, it was the large number of visitors that allowed the wizarding population so much freedom. If a tourist noted someone wearing odd clothing or gesturing with a stick in hand, it was chalked up to the quaint backwoods nature of the isolated town.
Luna felt at home, despite the fact that she had no family left in the area. That wasn’t true, Mrs. Pennyfoot scolded her on one occasion. Everyone in Termonfeckin was family, whether they were related by blood or not.
For the first time in her memory, Luna was nervous. Normally, she loved the preparations for Candlemas. Seeing An Grianan, her family’s ancestral home, bedecked in bits of greenery from the surrounding woods and magical plants from the large greenhouse was soothing. The candlelight and blazing fireplaces were festive. This year though, was different. It was the first truly on her own. Xenophilius had died in the fall, only living long enough after the battle to learn of his daughter’s bravery and courage. He’d enjoyed some of the celebrations marking Voldemort’s defeat before his body simply gave out.
A tapping sound on the window roused Luna from her memories. The owl hopped across the sill and fluttered down to perch on the back of a large wooden rocking chair. Luna gently untied the parchment scroll from its leg. The tawny bird hooted softly as it turned and flew out the window.
Luna’s eyes widened in surprised as she read the signature on the letter. Her jaw dropped nearly to her chin when she read the letter itself.
Luna,
I hope you don’t mind me imposing this way – my mother would have my hide for it and sentence me to a life of degnoming the garden if she knew!
I’ve been working at the Drogheda Dragon Reserve, which Ron tells me is only a few kilometers from your family’s home. I’ve some free time in the coming weeks as Danut’s insisted I take some sort of vacation.
Fancy a bit of company?
Charlie
She smiled.
“Charlie Weasley,” she murmured. Luna felt her stomach start to do something akin to a Quidditch maneuver and the heat creep into her cheeks. She was fond of Ron, of course, and the twins since she had known them at Hogwarts. She’d consulted with Bill on several scrolls she’d stumbled across while doing herbology research in France. He and Fleur were kind enough to invite Luna to dinner with Fleur’s family where she entertained them with tales of some of the more adventurous places she had visited since becoming a well-known naturalist.
Charlie was an entirely different matter. They had corresponded on a number of occasions and shared one very interesting and unexpected night at the reserve in Romania. Luna had written to Charlie, asking if she might come and study the Suileach Blue dragon that had unexpectedly hatched from an egg found by a Muggle.
They’d not exchanged letters since that night, and now Charlie was asking to see her. Luna was pleasantly surprised and somewhat terrified at the prospect.
Knowing that Charlie was coming to her home spurred Luna into action. “Mrs. Pennyfoot,” she called as she wandered toward the kitchen.
The heavyset woman emerged wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Her wand was tucked neatly in her apron.
“What’s got you all in a tizzy, dear?”
Luna thrust the parchment at Mrs. Pennyfoot and blushed furiously as she spoke. “He’s coming. Here. To An Grianan.”
Mrs. Pennyfoot smiled broadly. “Your young man from Romania? That’s a lovely surprise. When does he arrive? We’ve preparations to finish.”
“I haven’t replied.” Luna shook her head. “Oh no. I forgot. I was so caught up that I forgot.”
Mrs. Pennyfoot gently nudged Luna in the direction of the study. “Go reply to your young man and tell him to come this evening for supper. I’ll see to everything.”
Luna nodded in agreement without saying a word. She hastily penned a reply and sent it off to the Drogheda reserve.
Charlie knocked on the heavy oak door shortly after the sun set. Luna drew in a deep breath and opened the door, squaring her shoulders and ordering herself not to panic.
“Luna,” Charlie said warmly as he wrapped her in an enormous hug, lifting her off her feet.
“It’s lovely to see you, Charlie,” she replied when he’d set her down. “It’s been far too long, I fear.” Luna pushed a lock of her behind her ear and twisted it nervously.
“Aye, that it has.” He touched her cheek and rubbed his calloused thumb across her skin, sending a spark traveling down her spine.
She flushed again and turned, leading Charlie towards the study where Mrs. Pennyfoot had laid supper and quietly vanished back to her own quarters.
They talked as they ate, mostly about the history of the area and the research Luna had done on nearby Omey Island. They didn’t speak of dragons, of Romania, or anything else that lead them back to the one night they had unexpectedly (and unabashedly at the time) shared.
As Charlie refilled her glass (Mrs. Pennyfoot had selected the rare golden Rhenish, Luna noted), she looked up and searched for his eyes from beneath a curtain of blonde hair.
He caught her before she could turn away.
“Luna,” he started.
“Charlie,” she said at the same moment.
The laughter broke the tension that had been hanging in the room.
Charlie rose and extended a hand to Luna, gesturing towards the grounds that sparkled with faerie lights outside the window.
They walked silently together towards the river that bordered the south side of An Grianan’s grounds. The moon had risen, full and large, and cast its glow over the bubbling water. Luna perched on a boulder and watched as Charlie paced in front of her. She had learned patience at a young age and knew he would come to her in his own time.
Charlie stopped and stared across the water. He could just make out the shape of a High Cross on the opposite bank. A cool breeze carried the scent of rosemary and lavender past him, and he inhaled deeply. Warmth spread from his chest, loosening the knots, and settled in his toes. There was nothing to be worried about, he told himself. It wasn’t like he was dealing with a case of dragon pox and a very angry Chinese Fireball. It was Luna, for Merlin’s sake! He’d pictured this moment a dozen times a day since she left Romania.
He turned back; planning to tell her exactly what was on his mind. To speak of the proverbial hippogriff in the corner of the room that everyone wanted to ignore.
Luna beat him to it. Only she didn’t speak.
Her lips were as soft as he remembered. The scent of rosemary and lavender that had wafted across the water moments before surrounded him. When Luna’s fingers stroked his hair, grasping at the back of his head as she rose onto her toes to draw him closer, Charlie lost all sense of what he’d planned to say.
He simply moved and felt his breath grow ragged as her body pressed against his.
“Luna,” he moaned as she trailed hot kisses from the corner of his mouth down to his collarbone.
“Hush, Charlie,” she whispered. “I don’t think we need words just now, do we?”
Charlie fisted a hand in Luna’s hair and yanked her against him. He’d grown painfully hard at the sound of her voice.
“I want-” he growled as she began to fumble with his shirt.
“I know what you want, Charlie Weasley.”
He stripped off his shirt and stood frozen as he felt Luna’s hands tugging at the zipper on his dragon hide trousers. She deftly hooked her thumbs in the waistband and tugged them down until they puddled at his boots.
Luna’s mouth was just as hot and wet as he’d imagined (hoped, he told himself). She sank to her knees and looked up at Charlie from beneath her curtain of blonde hair as she took his cock into her mouth. She sucked gently but insistently, causing him to draw a sharp intake of breath as she swallowed his entire length. His hips moved of their own accord, and his cock slid in and out of the wet heat that enveloped him. Luna’s hands reached upward and grasped at Charlie’s arse, kneading at the muscles.
“Oh, Merlin,” he exhaled raggedly as Luna circled the head of his cock with her tongue before swallowing him again.
“So close,” he hissed.
Luna pulled back and clambered to her feet, allowing her fingers to stroke him before unbuttoning her white blouse, exposing the fact that she wore no bra underneath.
“I know what I want, Charlie.” Luna tugged at her skirt and let it drop to the ground.
Charlie gasped when he saw that she wore not a stitch underneath. A jolt shot through him as he realized she’d been like that since he knocked on her door.
“A wise man once said we should be ourselves, Charlie. To not let our hearts be weary. It’s the first of February, you know. Candlemas. They say that how you start the season can change the course of a year.”
Luna slid her blouse off her arms and removed her feet from her shoes. Following, Charlie removed his boots and trousers.
“I want you, Charlie. I want to taste you, to touch you, to-”
Charlie pulled Luna against him and kissed her roughly. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, last much longer.
His hands were calloused, but they sent waves of pleasure through Luna’s body. He slid one finger and then two inside of her and rubbed gently at her clit with his thumb. Her head tipped back and she called out his name as the orgasm shook her body.
“Please, Charlie, now,” she begged.
Charlie sank to the ground beside the river and drew her down with him. He kissed her mouth and trailed heat down to her breasts, sucking at one nipple and then the other. He spread her legs and hesitated only a moment before plunging inside. She was tight and hot and wet and the sensation nearly undid him.
Luna hitched one leg around Charlie’s waist and grasped his buttocks to pull him close. He thrust himself forward slowly, savoring the rippling of her body as he filled her.
“Oh yes, please,” Luna moaned. She nipped at Charlie’s lower lip and sucked greedily at his tongue as he moved faster.
He felt her orgasm a split second before she cried out, and that took him over the edge. Charlie exploded, nearly collapsing on top of Luna as the sensation rolled through his body. He lowered himself nearly to the ground, propping himself on his elbows to allow her to breathe.
Luna reached one hand up to stroke his face and smiled.
“Gods, I’ve missed you,” Charlie said.
“Every moment since I left,” Luna replied. Her voice was husky, and Charlie felt himself growing hard again at the sound.