Into Your Gravity ( Luna Lovegood & Tom Riddle )

Chapter five: Trapped

"I haven't known you for long, but what I see is not a girl who has lost her faith. You believe everything I tell you, don't you? Perhaps you just have found better things to believe in. Perhaps you find the world extraordinary enough already."

A squeal of laughter came from under the table, and Violetta went running out on her little legs with the monkey following behind her. The little girl then ran up to Luna's side, pulling on the sleeve of her sweater. "Chase!" she told her mother, before running off again with the marmoset in close pursuit. Luna watched her daughter with a smile, the faintest echo of an ache in her heart.

"You see him in her, don't you? You still are so broken-hearted over the little girl's father?" Elena asked shrewdly.

Luna's smile faded a bit. "Yes. I think I might always be. He was very important to me." She had never spoken about Tom with Elena, but she knew it was pointless to lie to the woman. She was far too astute, and Luna far too poor a liar.

Elena nodded, then held out her ancient hands across the table, gesturing for Luna to take them. Once Luna had done so, she gently squeezed Luna's hands. "That's alright, that's alright. That means you loved him with your soul. Remember your strengths, girl."

The old woman's eyes fell shut and she began swaying almost imperceptibly back and forth. Luna knew what she was doing, as Elena had done it several times before now, and had even taken the time to teach Luna how to do it herself. But she was still moved when the light appeared, streaming steady and white off of each of them, as if each of their individual atoms were the tiniest beacon of soul-stuff. The faintest barrier was present between their two energies, where one of them ended and the other began.

Elena opened her eyes and smiled at Luna. "Your soul. You have a good, strong one. You will do just fine."

                                •

Back at their temporary home, Doyle offered to take Luna's cloak upstairs for her, as Violetta was repeatedly insisting she was hungry, even though she had just eaten quite a bit at Elena's house. Luna handed Doyle her cloak gratefully, and he disappeared up the stairs to put it in her room for her.

She prepared some food for Violetta, who promptly began refusing to eat as soon as she sat down at the table. "Play, Mummy," she said sullenly, pushing the plate away from her.

"Violetta, you said you were hungry," Luna said, propping her tired head on her hand.

"Violetta's not hungry," the girl argued.

"I've prepared all this food for you, and now you don't want it."

Violetta paused, frowning at her mother. For a moment, she was all Tom, and Luna was fairly sure a tantrum was on its way. Instead, Violetta reached out a hand, grasped a single handful of food from the plate in front of her, and shoved it into her mouth. "All done?" she asked, mouth full.

A laugh bubbled up inside Luna. She stroked Violetta's hair. "Yes, very well, a valiant effort. You can be all done."

Just as Violetta ran off to play, Doyle cleared his throat from the doorway. "She's funny," he said as Luna looked up. "Real sweet, real smart. Didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"She is," Luna agreed.

"Got quite the temper on her too, hasn't she?" Doyle said, sitting down at the table across from Luna.