Sun and Moon: Chapter 13

“There’s my boy!”

My eyes immediately whirled around to focus on the familiar voice. Letting me find my dad in the middle of the crowd. Thankfully he was kind enough to distinguish himself from the crowd of the other parents that were watching their children disembark on the train.

He wore strange leather clothes, with a hat that had a wide brim. Strange tassels seemed to hang off his jacket as he staggered forwards towards me. But most importantly, he wore a rather wide smile.

Something I found myself mirroring.

“Hey dad. I missed you.”

I stated calmly, only to be quickly swept off my feet in a large hug. His hands patting me several times on the back before he started to grunt.

“I missed you too. You’ve uh…grown a bit, huh?”

Had I? My own height wasn’t something I took any interest in measuring. So instead, I simply hummed at him, causing my dad to laugh and begin to walk away with me in hand. His own hand wasn’t very big, but it was still bigger than my own. The warmth that emanated from it was all encompassing. It felt as if he was holding my heart in his hands instead.

It was a nice feeling.

Dad walked a bit oddly. Perhaps due to wearing boots for some strange reason. Not that wearing different clothes was out of place for him. Indeed, whenever he went out of the country for his research, he usually brought back several different outfits as well. In order to better mingle in with the muggles.

I wonder, were all muggles in different regions so particular with their clothes? Was it really that easy to stand out wearing normal clothes outside of the country?

Perhaps I could ask Tim about this…wait…would that be seen as inconsiderate because he’s muggleborn? Hmm. Maybe Marie was a better candidate. She was from France after all.

On the way home, dad was quick to start discussing his latest findings. Something about frog like creatures called cmuch’s that get overlooked because they look so much like toads. But in truth are actually magical creatures who’ve adapted so wizards would leave them alone.

It made sense to me, but that was no surprise. Dad always had a way of conveying his ideas with charisma. Talking in such a way that no one can help but to listen to him.

Even the most outlandish ideas will start to make sense the longer someone is around him.

Once we were finally home, I felt something a bit odd. It was a sudden throbbing in my chest that caused my eyes to focus on the familiar home I’ve known all my life. To see everything still in the same place as it once was.

In the living room I picked up a small moving picture frame. One that depicted all of my family during a much different time. A much more whimsical and happier time.

My thumb moved of its own accord and started to brush itself on the picture of mom. As if hoping to feel her through it. It didn’t need to be her skin, her hair, or her clothes. Just her warmth would be enough.

I would be satisfied with just that.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

“Sol! There you are.”

My wonderful sister made her appearance. Calling out to me from an adjacent dining room. Her head tipped out from behind a wall. Revealing the fact that she was wearing a curly fake mustache, a comically large pair of glasses that had a fake eye in them shaking around with her movements, and a smaller version of the hat that dad wore.

It also did not escape my attention that her pale blonde hair was rather messy. Showcasing that she had quite obviously not been taking care of it in my absence.

Despite wearing a small frown, I couldn’t help but be surprisingly happy at the fact.

“Hello Luna.”

After putting down the picture frame, I approached Luna. Quickly realizing the mess that was covering the dining room. What seemed like several piles of mud were simply scattered around in piles. Built up like a mound and smoothed out by hand, if Luna’s were any indication.

A part of me wanted nothing more to do than to fix and clean Luna. To wash and then get rid of any knots in her hair slowly and carefully. To have the act envelop my entire senses as to no longer be capable of thinking about anything else in my life. Even if only for a brief moment.

But it wasn’t time for that. Not yet, at least.

Luna was still obviously enraptured into her own work. Lips pressed into a frown as she gazed deeply into one of the mounds. Occasionally shaking her head in order to shake around the fake eyes in her glasses.

After bending down to her level, I wrapped up her side with my left hand. Which she returned by pressing the side of her head into my chest. Even so, it was obvious that her attention was still mostly focused onto her own project.

For a brief moment I considered asking her what she was doing, but it was quickly discarded. While dad was more than happy to explain things, and even genuinely excited to do so, Luna wasn’t quite the same way.

That wasn’t to say that Luna disliked explaining things, moreso that she was simply ambivalent to doing it. It was simply work for her.

Besides, she would simply just see through me.

Luna would know my true interest in the project wouldn’t be genuine. Well, as genuine as my interest in simply keeping her company would be. For moments like this, words didn’t really need to be said when the obvious was just that apparent.

The moment itself was more than enough of a reward for me. Feeling Luna at my side in silence as we both focused on the same thing gave an unrivaled feeling of serenity. As though everything in my world was completely fine. That it would continue to be so.

My thoughts were forced to pause as the mud shuffled around. Bulging out slightly as if shaking before being pierced open. Showcasing a strange looking…rat? That had burrowed out of the small mud mountain.

It gazed at Luna for several seconds, before deciding that retreat was it’s best option. Backtracking and going inside the mud once again.

…Perhaps I should ask a few questions after all…

*~o~*

I once read an interesting quote that stated “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Even now I wasn’t quite sure whether or not this was correct. All I knew was that my desire to see my family had definitely grown.

It felt like a gnawing pain. One that was distinctly different from exercising or whenever I pretended to be asleep with only my thoughts keeping me company.

There was a sort of pull there. I imagine it like some sort of chain leading down into a dark hole. At Hogwarts the force on the chain simply got stronger and stronger. Not pulling anything, but it caused a certain amount of tension in my chest. That only got tighter with time.

It was only now that I was with my family that the tension seemed to disappear. Having become loose and flexible.

Dinner was very enjoyable. Despite the food coming out mostly burnt, the feeling that dad was trying to pass on to me was felt. How deeply he cared for me wasn’t lost in the slightest.

…Even so, I decided then and there to be the one to do all the cooking while I was home.

The housework was also something I needed to occupy myself with. Not only was the dining room quite messy, but there were several areas around the house that needed to be dealt with as well. Dad attempted to fix this up himself with some rudimentary cleaning spells, but they weren’t exactly very sophisticated.

This was proven by the fact the washed laundry smelled strongly of mildew. Likely due to having been washed and never actually put up to dry. The dishes were also rather dirty, despite having been clean via magic. Unfortunately, the maintenance spell was only really good for just rinsing.

It didn’t actually scrub out the grime or get rid of the stains. Something that was more than easy for me to fix with effort and a bit of magic.

Then of course the rest of my time was designated with Luna. Who allowed me to wordlessly clean and pamper her to my hearts content. Well, mostly wordlessly. She did ask a few questions about my time in Hogwarts, and if I was making friends over there.

And if said friends knew about the dangers of Wrackspurts.

As I continued to wash Luna, it was becoming more and more apparent that she too was growing older. Her limbs were longer than I remembered, and I had quite a good memory when it came to my family. What felt like a sudden growth from her caused me to frown.

I found myself somewhat…dissatisfied with the fact that she was ‘growing up’. It was a perfectly natural outcome of course. Everyone eventually changes with time. Yet I didn’t want Luna to change.

It was rather selfish, but I preferred Luna as she was. The fact that she could grow up and change was more than a bit scary to me.

What if in the future the way she thinks changes as well? What if in the future she’ll love me less due to time? What if her values change? What if nothing remains of the Luna I remember?

The worst possible scenarios ran through my head. Haunting me like some sort of twisted specter. Due to being so deep in thought, I wasn’t able to focus enough to realize I had been brushing Luna’s skin too hard. Causing it to turn a raw pink shade.

Immediately I was filled with shame. Even apologizing to Luna wasn’t enough to make me feel better. It didn’t matter to me that she didn’t even feel it. What mattered was what I had done.

And what I had done was fail her.

That couldn’t happen in the future. I needed to be stronger. To be smarter. To be more focused on the here and now.

Currently I was almost completely worthless to my own family. They didn’t depend on me for anything because I could give just about nothing.

But that would one day change.

I would protect them. Make sure they never have to worry about anything ever again. If something bothered them, I would eradicate it. I’d make a future where the happiness of my family would be at its peak. Nothing would be able to threaten it.

…But that was something I couldn’t yet do.

Just admitting that fact left me guilt ridden. The fact that I couldn’t help the two who mattered most to me was shameful. There was none more deserving than them to be happy.

But for now, I had to only focus on what little I could do. Which was maintaining and cleaning the house. As well as it’s occupants.