mama, life had just begun [luna]

[Deleted]

Blinded. (Susan had lied to him.) Sander had been shipped back to Mungo's (he didn't know he had been in Mungo's at all, but apparently he had been there before), where they had confirmed what the staff at the hospital wing had guessed. Lysander was blind. Blind, as in, he could not see. Blind, as in, he would never see his mother's beautiful eyes, or RJ's wonderful smile, or the way a baby unicorn looked when it was just learning how to walk. Blind, as in he would never see anything, ever. They offered him magical eyes, but then added that they could see through everything, and that they would get stuck, and that they were expensive, and that there were other "design flaws", and Sander didn't want that. He just wanted his old eyes back. He wanted the potion never to have exploded. He wanted a whole host of things, but most of all, he wanted to be back at school, so they let him leave. He was back in the hospital wing, waiting for something to happen, and Lysander thought of something new he wanted: he wanted his mother.

LUNA LACHESIS TRELAWNEY

[Deleted]

Luna had been informed almost immediately when Lysander had been sent to St. Mungo's, but she had known, in the way only a mother could know, that something was wrong long before she had ever been told. She had checked on him frequently throughout his unconsciousness and once he returned from St. Mungo's. He couldn't see her, but she lingered like a shadow over him, trying to find the words to say. She often sat in a chair by his bedside, her face buried in her hands, while her son twitched and squirmed in his sleep. It was maddening.

She was making her daily trip to the hospital wing to check on Sander. She opened the door slowly, smiling sadly when she saw that Sander was awake. She still wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. As a mother, she should have a myriad of cliches and advice to offer. Even as a person, she always seemed to have something to say. But she was helpless. Settling into her usual chair at his bedside, Luna murmured, "Hello, sweetie."

@lysander

[Deleted]

Lysander almost cried when he heard his mother’s voice. It was still so blue, and reminded him of Rose’s, and all that he could think was that the last face he saw had been Rose Weasley’s, and he wanted to see his mother’s face again. He sat up when he heard her, turning to where the chair for guests was. “Mother.” He said quietly. It sounded so mature, coming out of his mouth, even though he felt more like a child than he ever had during his adolescence. Without thinking, Lysander reached out his hand, pressing his palm into her cheek. His memories of her face were always hazy at best when he was at school, since he never got to see her, but the fact that he never would see her again seemed to have the opposite effect of what Lysander had expected. He had expected his brain to hold on tighter, make the image sharper, but instead it was like a smear of pastel paints. The only thing he could remember for sure were her eyes, and that was because they had the same color as her voice. “What am I supposed to do?” He asked her. Lysander didn’t know if he wanted her answer or if he just wanted someone he didn’t feel bad asking the question to. She was his mother, so he could ask her, even if she had no answer.

LUNA LACHESIS TRELAWNEY

[Deleted]

Luna's eyes closed and she bit her bottom lip as Lysander pressed his hand against her cheek. He had done the same thing when he and Lorcan were born, reaching up for her and touching her face. He had been the most beautiful baby, and she could only hope that he would grow into a beautiful young man. He had, of course, but she never could have expected this. She covered his hand with hers and squeezed gently, gazing at his gauze-covered eyes with an intense pain that she was grateful that he would never see. What did his eyes look like under that gauze? Were they the same lovely shade of liquid brown she had always known? Or were they hazy and milky blue? She didn't think she could handle that.

Luna was known for her overwhelming optimism. During the second wizarding war, she was bright and positive, even after being snatched off the Hogwarts Express and being imprisoned in Malfoy Manor. She knew someone would come for her, and that all would be well. Oh, how things changed when one became a mother.

"I don't know, love," she said gently. She was supposed to offer some sage advice about how this wasn't the end and how he would bounce back and be better than ever. But he had taken after her in so many ways, he would see right through the flowery crap. So much of magic depended on sight and surrounding. Unless one was born with the lack of ability, it would be very hard to adjust to the eternal darkness. And both she and Sander knew it. So there was no use tip-toeing around the subject. "You'll have to learn," was all she had to offer. The idea of learning was always exciting for any Ravenclaw, but this wasn't an academic study. She didn't know how Sander would respond, but she hoped that he would latch on to the optimism. She hoped she could latch on to the optimism, instead of the gnawing feeling that her son would be forever lost in darkness.

@lysander

[Deleted]

Lysander could swear that, in the quiet of the hospital wing, he could hear his mother breathing. Or maybe he could feel it, the rise and fall of her chest somehow translating to tiny little movements in her cheek, which was warm and soft beneath his palm. His mother’s hand was warm, too, when she covered his with her own, and squeezed it. He wanted to use his other hand so that he was cradling her face with his hands, but his orientation on the bed, and his fear of what would happen if he allowed himself to touch her any further, kept him still. He was barely holding on as it was, and Sander didn’t want to do anything that might increase the chance of his bawling like the baby he felt like at this moment in time.

His mother said that she didn’t know what he was going to do, and Lysander’s stomach leaped into his throat before dropping into his toes. He had expected an answer like that, but it didn’t make anything any easier. Lysander sniffled slightly, but still kept a tight enough hold on his emotions that he didn’t cry. Yet. His mother said that he was going to have to learn, and Lysander let his hand drop from her face, nodding slowly. Learning was something he was good at, but there was no textbook for what to do when you were blinded, and even if there was one, he couldn’t read it. Braille was going to have to be his first avenue of exploration, Lysander thought with a sigh. That was enough to keep the tears at bay for a moment or so longer, since it was the first step of a plan, but afterwards everything seemed to be murky and dark, much like the world he was now living in. Lysander couldn’t remember ever feeling so lost before. “I’m scared, mother.” A single tear squeezed out of Lysander’s eye, but the gauze caught it before it could roll down his cheek and betray to his mother just how horrible he felt.

LUNA LACHESIS TRELAWNEY