Sisters of the Moon

Sisters of the Moon

Chapter 3

Redemption

Pansy floated in blackness. Don't take me back, she sent. That was so awful, I don't know if I could bear it.

A warm comforting presence cradled her. Yes you could: I did. You'd be surprised at how strong you really are, but we have more to show you. That was the dark path, this is the light.

She was Luna again. Mrs. Malfoy had led her from the great room to a nearby bathroom. She was giving her a gentle sponge bath, mending her wounds, and desperately trying not to cry. Every now and again, when Luna's back was to her, she heard her release a catching sob. When she was clean, healed, and dressed, Mrs. Malfoy led her back to the cellar. As she opened the door Luna turned to her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy," she said, and before Narcissa could react Luna stepped up to her and drew her into a hug. She felt an enormous wave of relief and sadness flow through Narcissa. A soft hand stroked down the back of her head, and tears, a lot of tears, fell in her hair.

Blackness.

She was Cho, in the owlery. She and Cedric had spent their last romantic moments here. This was where she came to mourn him, and to weep, as she was doing now.

"He's not really gone you know," a soft voice said from behind her.

The blonde girl with the odd earrings, two years her junior, was staring at her with wide blue eyes. Cho hadn't heard her come up the stairs.

"I saw his body!" she spat.

"You saw his shell," was Luna's calm reply

She walked up to Cho. "My mother died when I was nine. It was a shock, but I soon came to realize that she hadn't left me at all."

Cho was puzzled.

"She's here." Luna placed her hand over her heart.

"And here." She touched her forehead.

"And here." Luna spread her arms wide to indicate everywhere.

"Cedric didn't leave you. His physical presence was taken from you, violently." Luna took Cho's hand. "That he is not here as a ghost means he's at peace, he's moved on."

Tears were streaming down Cho's face once again.

"He would not want you to waste your life mourning him. He would want you to live, and love, and be happy, and be the woman he loved." Luna released her hand and turned to an owl. "Come Chester." The owl fluttered off its perch, and landed on her arm.

As she gave it the letter she said, "One day, when you move on, you'll see him again. I think he'll be very happy at the life you'll have led."

These simple words from this extraordinary girl gave Cho more comfort than all the platitudes and consolations she had received in the last few weeks. As Luna turned to go, Cho said a halting, "Thank you."

Luna smiled and left.

She was Ginny running back up the steps of the school, and pandemonium ruled the day. A Death Eater reared up in front of her, and she blasted him through the doors to the great hall. Then Luna was by her side, and they were firing curses and jinxes at any foe they could find.

A voice rang out in the hall: "BELLATRIX LESTRANGE!!" It was Hermione, striding through the great room towards the woman in black. Ginny looked at Luna, and they both dashed to Hermione's side. With her head held high Hermione wore an expression both inspiring and terrifying. Bellatrix watched the trio march across the room to face her.

"Ahh, the mudblood and the oddity, but who is your friend?" She said as she fired her first round of curses at them. "And I'll have my wand back!"

Hermione cracked a fierce grin. "Molon labe," she said through clenched teeth. With a growl of pure hatred she sent a huge swirl of blue flame at the woman in black. Voldemort's most faithful servant was not without skill herself. She blocked Ginny's Expelliarmus! and Luna's tripping jinx at the same time as she quickly levitated a table into the path of the flames. One eyebrow tipped toward Hermione as the table was incinerated. "I'm impressed, little Mudblood," she said.

"Well I have got a very good wand," Hermione said, taunting her.

Bellatrix danced and pranced, whirling and ducking, and just barely dodging the three young women's spells. All the while she was taunting them, trying to get under their skin. It wasn't working. The longer the fight went on the more the girls fought as one. In the part of her that wasn't devoted to the battle, Ginny felt a ferocious delight. They weren't just friends, a different magic was swirling between them, and they were connected. She knew what Luna would do next, saw that she needed to parry a blast from Bellatrix to provide cover for Hermione's next curse, and watched as Luna's shield charm deflected yet another stream of green from Bellatrix's wand.

"Who are you?" Bellatrix asked grinning, as Ginny's blasting curse evaporated a bench next to her.

"Ginevra Weasley. You and your friends killed my brother, Fred, you fucking whore."

"Oh, tisk, tisk, such language. What would Mummy say?" And another green jet sailed past Ginny's ear.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" a voice roared.

"Something like that!" Ginny said beaming.

Ginny had seen her mother mad, sad, helpless with laughter, and most recently heartbroken to a depth she couldn't imagine. But she had never seen her mother like this. Cold unquenchable fury burned in her; Ginny could feel it. Her mother looked 10 years younger, as she too skipped and wove in lethal dance with Bellatrix. Damn, she's good, Ginny thought and her heart nearly burst with pride as she realized that Bellatrix was losing. Bellatrix taunted her mother once too often, and when she heard her mother's voice take on that tone, the youngest Weasley knew Bellatrix was finished. Ginny looked towards Luna and shook her head, thinking at her, this woman doesn't know what she's just unleashed. Her mother swatted away Bellatrix's curses like irksome flies, and then sent a curse straight to her heart. As the dark haired body fell to the floor Ginny, Luna, and Hermione ran to her mother and drew her into a mass hug.

Then Harry, - impossibly - was there, alive, and he was lecturing Voldemort! Her heart froze, her mind was blank and all she could do was watch as the final act played out. The dawn broke and it was over: Harry had won, they had won, and she ran to him. Luna and Hermione, her sisters, shoved her into Harry's arms, and they shared a brief, passionate kiss. Then he was borne away by the crowd.

She was Lavender laying the last lines.

...I just couldn't forgive myself if that happened.

I love you so,

Lavender

The door to the hospital wing flew open and slammed against the wall. A group of women strode down the aisle toward her, Hermione at their head. She looked behind them and saw Professor McGonagall in a heated discussion with Madam Pomfrey.

Hermione stopped in front of her bed. "You're coming with us." It wasn't a question; it wasn't a demand; it was just a fact.

"I can't, it's the full moon and..."

"Yes, we know. Get up," Hermione said.

"Really Hermione," - tears were welling once again in her eyes - "you think you can just walk in here an..."

Hermione cut her off. "You think we don't know what you're planning to do in...ohh...about half an hour?" She ripped the parchment out of Lavender's hands, and threw it over her shoulder. It burst into flames and was ash before it hit the floor.

"Get. Up." There was no anger in her voice, but it was stern, hard, like Professor McGonagall's sometimes was.

"What do you think you're going to do?" Lavender said, haughtily.

Hermione smiled a little. "Help," she said in a soft, kind voice.

Lavender actually laughed, she hadn't done that in weeks. "Oh right, I forgot! The brilliant Hermione Granger can do anything she likes. She can have any boy she wants, she can wrap professors around her little finger with her silver tongue, she can do anything. Well, miss super witch, this is one thing that's out of your control. There's nothing you can do to help. Nobody can help."

"You're so very wrong about that Lavender." It was Luna. Lavender rather liked Luna.

"We've actually been working on this since you were bitten," she said. "I've been keeping an eye one you, and when I felt you this afternoon I told them we needed to act quickly. So, come on now, get up and come with us."

"But it's not safe! I'm not safe!" Lavender shouted. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks yet again.

Luna smiled. "How well do you know Hermione?"

Lavender thought for a moment. She actually felt that she knew Hermione pretty well. Six years in the same house, same room in fact, shared boyfriend, shared classes and they were in the DA together.

"Yes," - Luna nodded - "so, don't you think 'miss super witch' might have done just a little research into this... problem of yours?"

"A little research?" laughed Angelina Johnson. "Yeah."

"NEWT thesis work, more like," said Katie Bell.

"What are you going to do?" Lavender said as she looked at Hermione.

"Well, there are some potions, some spells, and... some other things," said Hermione, laying a hand on Lavender's shoulder. "Time to go, Lav."

Lavender's hands tangled in the bedclothes. "But I'll hurt you; maybe kill you...or worse."

"You can smell fear, correct?" Hermione asked.

Lavender nodded.

"Do you smell it now?"

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. There was no fear in the air; in fact there was a different scent, a scent of women and strength. An unexpected wave of gratitude ran through her. She looked at Hermione with shining eyes, half smiling.

"No."

"We're not afraid. Are you a Gryffindor or not?" Hermione grinned and held out her hand. "Time to go."

Lavender took Hermione's hand.

When reality folded back out of the darkness, they were standing on a flat rocky outcrop. There was a steep rise at one end of the island, with a small rock house perched on it. A circle of standing stones was set around them and a cauldron simmered in the center. The women spread around the circle as Hermione led Lavender to a spot near the cauldron. The sun was low on the horizon when Hermione stepped to the north stone and started to cast the circle. The seven other women raised their wands, and Lavender felt an immense swirl of magic flow around them. She was overwhelmed as Hermione turned and spoke in a loud, commanding voice.

"A sister is alone. Will we come to her?"

"YES!"

"A sister is in need. Will we help her?"

"YES!"

"A sister is in danger. Will we fight for her?"

"YES!"

Hermione crossed to Lavender's side.

"This potion helps ease the pain of the transition; in time you won't need it. Here." She ladled a portion into a cup. "It's actually not bad."

Lavender took a cautious sip; Hermione's idea of "not bad" could be suspect, but she was right. It was a little tart with a hint of dirt. Hermione levitated the cauldron and floated it over to the north stone.

"This potion" - she pulled a small vial from her robes - "will dim the fire in your blood."

It tasted like soap, and Lavender made a face.

Hermione smiled. "Professor Slughorn was right, yeah?"

Lavender handed her the bottle. "I've had worse... recently."

A giggle went around the circle, and Lavender felt love and friendship produce a large lump in her throat. Hermione produced a little bottle of gold liquid from her robes.

"And this potion will help you gain control of the beast, but first it must be charged. Ladies?"

Hermione placed the small vial on the tip of her wand. A small dent in the bottom held it in place as she raised it over her head.

"One, Two, Three."

Seven golden streams converged on the vial. Lavender was awed by the power she could see pouring into it, and the effort it was costing the women around her.

"Good. Now drink it." Hermione handed her the vial. She downed it in one like a shot of firewhiskey, and that was how it felt as it burned its way down. Suddenly her intellect sharpened, her thoughts were clearer than they had ever been, and she could almost hear the minds around her. Lavender looked to her left and her heart raced; the sun had set.

"Are you sure?" she implored Hermione.

"Yes, we're sure. Luna knows an art that will help us reach you, bring you out, and Cho and I have been studying with Professor McGonagall." She leaned in to Lavender and said in a quiet voice, "I had to change my Patronus, but it was worth it."

Hermione backed away from Lavender and threw off her robes. She was quite suddenly naked. Lavender looked around, and all the women had dropped their robes to the ground. It heartened her to see that fully half of them, including Hermione, hadn't made it through the war without scars of their own, yet they bore them proudly. Hermione was changing, getting taller, and brown fur was starting to sprout all over her body. Cho was changing too. She was on her hands and knees, white fur sweeping over her. Their bodies stretched and swelled in odd places, and in moments a large brown bear and a snow leopard stood in the circle. Luna stepped forward.

"They can't talk in their animagus forms like you'll eventually be able to, but I can reach them. I can hear them now. Here, let's save the hospital gown."

Lavender was embarrassed for a moment as Luna helped her remove the robe, but then she realized they didn't pity her for her scars, they respected her for them. The sun had gone and there was a white glow in the eastern sky. Around her six women, wands in hand, waited. Flanked by the bear and the leopard she was moved to speak one last time before the change. Her voice shook with emotion.

"Thank you, thank you all. Luna, Parvati, Padma." She turned on the spot to address them all. "Katie, Angelina, Ginny, I just...UHH--"

She clutched her stomach and her eyes flew wide.

"It's coming! AAAHHH!"

She fell to her knees, her bones aching as they stretched and changed. First coarse, then fine soft hair began sprouting from her. It itched badly. Then the fire came, and the wolf. That far away secret desire she had felt in the infirmary was nothing to the bloodlust that gripped her now. The wolf rose in the moonlight, and a howl tore the night asunder. Prey was all around, what to choose? She leapt towards Padma, and a huge paw slapped her back across the circle to slide into Ginny's shield charm. She rounded on Ginny, and the leopard tackled her. Together they rolled into Angelina's shield. The leopard threw her off and the bear pinned her.

"NOW!" shouted Luna. "Immobilius!"

The wolf was frozen. Her muscles strained to move her immobilized limbs but it was no use.

"Quickly, quickly."

The women gathered around the wolf as the bear and the leopard backed away. Luna pointed her wand squarely between eyes of the wolf and five hands laid over hers.

Misty blue eyes looked into fierce golden ones. "Legilimens."

They were in the wolf, and the wolf in them, suspended in a void. It wanted to tear at them, but they were untouchable. It wanted to flee, but it couldn't run. They had it cornered, trapped, but they didn't pounce.

Lavender, come back to us, came a chorus of six voices. You have the power, you have the strength, you have your sisters.

In a far off land of nightmares a young woman awoke.

It was like swimming upward though dark, thick water, but the golden potion had worked. Lavender touched her sisters' minds and found a power there. She turned to the wolf in her and mastered it, then with the gentle touch of her sisters, she tamed it.

Are you ready? The chorus said.

I think so, Lavender sent.

As she opened her eyes the six women stepped back. Lavender rose. The blood lust was still there, but she didn't have to obey it. The fire was there, but it didn't burn. She turned to them and smiled. Luna approached and cupped her cheek.

"You're really quite beautiful, as a woman, and a wolf."

Lavender tried to say "thank you" but it came out as "toworerou."

The women's laughter was warm and loving.

"That's going to take some practice," said Luna, and they all laughed again.

The night had gone from Lavender's worst nightmare to the best moment in her life. She had been saved. She felt a debt of gratitude to these women that she could never repay. They brushed her fur, combed her tail, and spoke to her as an equal. She was just another woman in the group. Then they Apparated to a field near by. The wolf, the leopard, and the bear romped under the moon as the other women laughed, danced, and occasionally rode one of them.

She was Luna on the back step of number twelve Grimmauld Place. It was the morning, or more properly, the afternoon, after Harry's nineteenth birthday. The revelers were just starting to stir. Dean was still asleep upstairs in Mrs. Black's old room, and a smile played on Luna's face. Harry had insisted; he had said if anyone could undo the lingering malevolence in the room it was Luna. Seamus and Lavender, morning tea in hand, were talking rather intently on a bench a little way away in the garden. Luna was very pleased at this little development. They had both been in the DA, but had really got to know each other because of Luna helping Lavender, and Seamus being Dean's best friend.

"Who knew the little munchkin liked it furry and rough?" Dean had said one evening not long ago, to Luna's amusement. She didn't think they'd taken it that far yet, but it wouldn't be long.

"Morning Luna," said Cho as she sat next to her. "I'd have expected you to still be asleep."

"Why's that?"

"Well, it's hard to put this delicately, but you two are somewhat...vocal."

"Dean did the silencing charm..." Luna said, looking puzzled.

"He missed a bit of the floor. Angelina and I thought it was a radio for a while, and then it dawned on us. It was you." Cho grinned. "Luna? You sing?"

"Well, yes we all...Oh, you mean ..."

"Yes." Cho nudged her, "Where'd you pick that up?"

"It just occurred to me a while back that men like us to sing, and I thought Dean might like it during...um...well... the warm up part." There was a pause. "He does," she said with a wicked grin.

"How'd you know the bit about men liking us to sing?"

Luna's smile left her; she was quiet for a while. Cho could see that she was lost in remembering. "Draco liked me to sing."

Cho nodded, and said in a much more serious manner, "Luna, I've watched you answer this question a few times. You gloss over it, you deflect, you make light, I don't think you've actually lied, I really don't think you can lie, but I also don't think you've ever told anyone the whole story." Her expression clouded. "What really happened at the Malfoys'?"

Luna was quiet for a long time. "No, you're right. I haven't told, not even Dean." She was quite again.

"After everything you've done for us, Luna, for Lavender, Parvati, me, Hermione, all of us. After all of that you're still shy of asking our help?" Cho asked.

"It's...big," Luna said softly.

"Listen, you saw what it did for Hermione, to share her torture at the hands of Bellatrix with us. Your use of Legilimency let her unburden herself, it freed her and it bonded us in way I was unprepared for. Let us help you."

Luna turned to her. "You remember the pain, yes? When Hermione relived those tortures."

"Yes."

"It would be worse."

A light was dawning in Cho's eyes and she nodded. "And you don't think the other eight of us can handle it?"

"Oh...I think you could, but I don't want to inflict it on you."

"You wouldn't be inflicting anything on us. Listen, we've all talked. We know you've been keeping it private, and we respect that, but you've got to let it out. We've been noticing that you're not as happy as you should be, especially considering Dean, and occasionally we see you crying for no reason. That's really not you at all."

Luna nodded. "No, I suppose not, but you don't know what you're asking."

"Oh, I think we do. You spent months there, and it's not as though Bellatrix didn't have ample opportunity to do to you what she did to Hermione," Cho said with an air of disgust.

"She did, but it wasn't just her," Luna said, almost in a whisper.

Cho took her hand. "It doesn't matter. We don't care about that, we care about you." Cho squeezed Luna's hand so Luna would look at her. "A sister is in need, and I would help. I know you don't want to show me, but could you tell me? Please?"

A single tear escaped Luna's eye. It was time at last. "All right."

They found a secluded bench in the garden, and then Luna told Cho everything. From the terror of being dragged from the train by Death Eaters, and the degradations at the hands of Bellatrix and the Malfoys, to her torture at the hands of the Dark Lord, all of it. Cho started out asking a few questions from time to time, but by the end of the tale she was simply drop jawed, tears drawing lines down her face.

"How did you survive?" Cho said in a whisper, mostly to herself. "Doesn't matter, you're here," she said, composing herself. "Don't go wandering off tonight. Tell Dean you've got a date with your sisters, and we'll collect you around nine."

"A sister is in need, will we help her?"

"YES!"

"A sister is in sorrow, will we comfort her?"

"YES!"

"A sister is in pain, will we heal her?"

"YES!"

A fire blazed in the north of the circle casting flickering shadows on the stones. Eight women stood in a tight circle around Luna, all of them naked. Hermione, her back to the fire, looked into Luna's eyes.

"My beloved, beloved sister," she said. "You have carried a great weight, far greater than we knew, or we'd have been here sooner. We know the danger, we know there is pain, we know there is sorrow, and we would share that with you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do this before now," Luna said staring at the ground. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"It hurts us more to see you suffer without our help," Hermione said, and nodded to the other girls. They all put a hand on Luna's skin: her arms, shoulders, back. "Please, show us."

Luna looked into Hermione's eyes, and the entire circle quietly said, "Legilimens."

They looked into her darkest times, and they found her pure. They saw how the Dark Lord had used her, and they reviled him for it. They felt her temptation at the elixir of others' pain, and they forgave her. They lifted the load from her shoulders and helped her bear it. When they had finished and she was wrapped in their arms, Luna realized that for the first time since she had left Malfoy Manor, she was truly free.

Pansy was cradled in their arms when she came back to herself. She had read "A Christmas Carol", but never thought anything like that could happen to her, and yet here she was, a changed woman in a single night. They really were four of the most powerful witches in England. Her heart swelled with affection for these women. She had hated some of them at times in her life and was deeply ashamed of the person she had been.

"We all make mistakes," Luna said with a knowing nod. "Don't dwell on them, learn from them."

"What do I do now?" Pansy asked as they released her from the embrace.

"That's entirely up to you," said Ginny. "I suggest that you get together with your friends, and form a coven like we did."

"And we'll help, if you want," said Lavender.

"It's what we're meant to do: love each other, care for each other, protect each other," Luna said, "and that's what we did here tonight."

"I should be furious with you," Pansy said with a smile. "You kidnapped me, essentially tortured me, and entered my mind forcibly, but all I can say is...thank you."

"You're quite welcome," Ginny told her with a smile. "Hermione will be pleased."

Pansy hung her head. "Tell her I'm sorry."

"You can tell her yourself," Ginny said sniggering. "Come to our next circle as my guest. We get together the first night of every full moon. Like Luna said, you're really lucky that was... well... night before last now, or things probably would have gone a little differently. It's not all bad for her you know. Part of canceling an Amore potion...that is what it was right?"

Pansy nodded, and her cheeks coloured. "Yeah."

Ginny laughed again. "Yes, well part of canceling the effect involves a good deal of...closeness." A musical laughter ran through them. "And it's not like you were the only one to try. Why do you think my brother has that goblet in the first place?"

"I see your point," she said, nodding. Pansy had never felt this close to anyone in her life. "I just don't know how to thank you, all of you."

"Well I've got an idea," said Cho. "Sun's coming up, Lavender's going to be back to her beautiful self in a few minutes," - she winked at Lavender - "and I'm quite hungry. Let's get breakfast."

"Oh, I like this plan!" Ginny chimed in.

"Okay, I know a great place and it's my treat," Pansy said, smiling broadly. "It's the least I can do...for my sisters."