Ink in Paper - Regulus Black

Chapter Two

It was no shame to have a parent that was a Muggle, Luna knew; several of the children had at least one parent of Muggle heritage, after all half-bloods marked almost half of the school. Yet, she thought odd that up to that point, Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic hadn't found a way for those parents to enter the Platform, she thought the exclusion to be cruel and unprecedently mean-spirited. Still, she was glad she managed to say goodbye to her mother on the King Cross' Station, even if it was the Muggle division.

"My dear boy, do keep out of trouble this time, alright? I love you so much," Hope whispered into Remus' hair. Luna stood to the side, waiting for her turn to say goodbye. "Keep your grades, my little Prefect. Don't get into too much trouble and be nice to your friends, give them some of the chocolate I put on your bag."

She always did that, always put chocolate in their bags, though she did put more on Remus' with the excuse that he shared it with his friends on the train ride. They didn't have money enough for them to go around buying sweets on the trolley, so she put some in their handbag so they wouldn't be excluded from the tradition.

She turned to Luna.

"My Luna, please, be careful with the boys. We talked at home," Hope said, kissing Luna's forehead. That wasn't exactly what had happened; Hope had talked, and Luna had listened while clearly uncomfortable as her mother went into too much detail about sexual intercourse, since she had no idea Luna knew it all far too well already. "The doctor's iron pills are going to be sent monthly to you by owl, I talked to your father. If you feel unwell again even with the pills, go to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey is in communication with your father about your iron-shortage."

"Just call it anaemia, Mum, we both know the meaning of the word," Luna said, bitterly. She wanted the love-declaration her brother had received as well, but there was her mum going on and on about her health.

"Sure, love, sure," her mother quickly dismissed. "Now, the other pills are in your bag, you have six boxes with you."

Luna blushed.

She knew the pills her mother was talking about were contraceptive pills. Her mother had insisted that she needed them, even if she went on and on about how they were not going to be used in the way a 'married-woman' should; it was all about controlling her cycle or whatever. Her anaemia had been bad enough that the doctors decided that her period was too long (which, she agreed, after all ten days bleedings certainly wasn't too normal) and might be a reason why she wasn't keeping the iron, even when it had been introduced into her body through her veins instead of small round pills that they had been trying before. Now, she was back to iron-pills, trying to see if the Pill would help with her body's control.

"I know," Luna said. Hope had said it all before and she kept going.

"When it's done, send me a message and I'll send you more," she answered. Luna nodded. "There's chocolate in your bag, share with Pandora. Keep out of trouble. Keep your grades up, Luna."

As her mother hugged her, Luna caught a glimpse of her brother trying to keep in the laugh at the awkward exchange. She rolled her eyes and showed him the middle-finger, he showed both of his back at her, but hid it fast when her mother pulled back from the hug.

Luna didn't say how quick the hug had been or how she wanted a few more seconds of her mother holding her. It was so odd. Hope only seemed to love Luna as much as Remus when she was saying goodbye to her.

"Now, go to the station," Hope said, taking a few steps back to look at both of her children. "I love you."

They mumbled their responses before they started moving towards the pillar between stations to go where their father was waiting for them.