When your worst fear come true.
Talbott was the one that got the call.
He stood up almost immediately and ran out of the room to catch Tonks before she leaves.
“Sorry, mate.” Tonks said before he had a chance to say anything. “I know there’s a call, but I have to be somewhere else.”
“Nope, I’m off the clock. We’ll talk tomorrow-“
“Listen.” He blocked her way, shooting her an extremely serious look. “The address – it’s Luna’s parents’ house.”
Tonks froze and stared at him for a few seconds, before her mind caught up to the severity of the situation. “You mean-?”
“Oh, no.” Tonks murmured. “Let’s go.”
They didn’t even try to follow procedure, they just left as fast as possible. Three seconds have past before they stood in front of the house. The front door was open and the Dark Mark was floating in the sky a few meters above the roof.
A high-pitched cry cut through the air, followed by loud sobbing. They didn’t wait any longer and went inside, passed through the long corridor and into the large living room. Luna was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, cradling the body of her little sister. Another loud cry burst out of her throat, so intense that it cracked mid-way through and turned into choked shrieks. She wasn’t aware of their presence yet.
Tonks turned to look at the body of the old man that was on the ground half a meter from Luna – it was her father. She and Talbott exchanged looks and without saying a word, managed to have an understanding on how to handle the situation.
With slow steps, Talbott headed toward Luna. He lowered himself to her level; his bent knees supported his weight, as he said with a soft voice- “Luna.”
She jumped away from him, not letting go of her little sister and shoved her wand in front of his face. After a moment of hesitation, she realized who she’s looking at and lowered her wand. Her dirty tears were mixed with make-up and smeared on her cheeks. An expression of complete horror filled her face.
“What happened?” he asked with the same soft voice.
Luna turned to look at Tonks that examined her father’s body and then back at Talbott. She struggled to speak without tears making her choke up, but after a few second of breathing, she said in a trembling voice- “Death Eater. Used the killing curse on them. According to…” her breaths became heavier.
Talbott gently patted her shoulder, whispering- “Take your time.” It helped calm her down enough to keep going.
“According to the state… the state of the bodies…” she wiped out the new tears that emerged from her eyes. “It happened about four hours ago, at least.” She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on her little sister. “The Death Eater left a… a…”
“This.” Tonks said and raised a sheet of paper for Talbott to see. “But I don’t think it was intentional, because it looks like some sort of code.”
Luna’s expression turned from horrified to enraged.
“It’s because of me.” She whispered in an accusatory tone.
“Luna-“ Tonks started to say, but Luna cut her off immediately.
“I don’t want to hear anything from you!” Luna roared. “It’s your fault – THE ORDER’S FAULT!”
“What? A coincidence?!” Luna said furiously. “They knew I help you! That’s why they killed her!”
Tonks looked helpless. Tears starting to fill her eyes as well, but she managed to get a hold of her emotions in time. “No, Luna-“
“SHUT UP!” Luna screamed at her from the top of her lungs and Tonks fell silence.
“Maybe you should get that paper to evidence.” Talbott said calmly, his voice was firm but still compassionate.
Tonks seemed like she didn’t want to leave, but after a few more seconds of silence, nodded her head and apparated.
Luna turned to look at Talbott, tears running down her cheeks again. “I did this.” She started trembling.
Talbott wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. “I know how you feel right now.” She was about to say something, but he repeated- “I know.” Their eyes met and were locked in a gaze that expressed the same guilt and pain. They both knew how it feels to lose their family to the Death Eaters.
Luna lowered her head, leaned on his shoulder and started sobbing again. It was a quite cry. A defeated cry.
After Luna managed to calm down again, Talbott asked- “Where are Jana and Lilia?”
“Gone.” Luna said quietly, unintentionally, because she lost a significant amount of her vocal abilities by exhausting her vocal chords. “Not in the house, but all of their belongings are still here.”
“We’ll find them.” Talbott said. “Alive.” He added when he saw the helpless look on her face.
She shook her head. “They’re dead, I know it.”
“No, they’re not.” He insisted. “I will do everything I can, I swear.”
Luna kept shaking her head, but didn’t say anything else. She knew that Talbott is patiently waiting for her to get over the initial shock, so he could bring a unit to examine the crime scene.
“You can’t be on this case.” She said suddenly. “If the moles knew you’re here-“
“Do you really think Death Eaters haven’t came after me already?” he said with a bitter smile. “Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
“If you die in this house too-“
“No one else is going to die.” He reassured her, gently smearing the fresh tears off her cheeks. “We won’t let them get away with it.”
“No,” Luna shook her head and slowly pulled away from him, still holding onto Olivia’s body. “No, it’s my fault. You will die, everyone will die-!”
“Luna.” He said with a firm voice, but the hysteria got the better of her.
“They know. They’re watching me. I have to disappear. That’s the only way.”
“They were after your father regardless.”
“But Olivia!” She whisper-screamed in panic. “They killed her to send a message!”
“We don’t know that yet-“
“I have to go. You have to go!”
He never saw her like this. Even in the worst situations, Luna was always able to keep a calm appearance and stay levelheaded. Losing her entire family in one day was a shock too extreme to handle, even for someone as strong as her.
She quickly pushed herself to her feet, still hanging onto her dead sister, holding her in her arms like an overgrown child. Talbott followed her, but tried to keep a small distance so not to startle her.
“Funeral.” She murmured. “We have to do it quickly.”
“Luna, let’s put Olivia on the couch for a moment-“
Luna turned her back at him and started to walk from the point she was standing to the nearest wall and back.
“We can’t have it out in the open, it has to remain a secret. There’s a muggle-church nearby-“
“Luna, give me Olivia.” Talbott said and tried to remain calm, even though he started to feel the burden of her pain too. Seeing his closest friend in this condition was heartbreaking.
She ignored him. “I… I have a phone. I can call them. I need to find a spot where the magic won’t block the signal.”
“Stop for a second.” He reached out to her, but she dodged his touch.
“Maybe cremation would be the best option-“
“Luna, stop!” he snapped and grabbed her by the wrist. She looked like she’s just woke up from a dream.
“I… I…” she wasn’t able to finish the sentence.
“I know.” He said and very slowly and gently put his arms around Olivia and pulled her from her big sister’s grasp. He laid her down on the couch and got back to Luna, that buried her face in her palms.
“I’ll help with the funeral, we’ll do it as quickly as you want, but first I have to-“
“Yes.” Luna interrupted, lowering her hands and turn to look straight at him. Her gaze was almost soulless. “You need to examine the bodies.”
“I know you probably want to do it yourself, but you’re not in the right state of mind right now.” He pulled her into another embrace. “If we want to catch these fuckers, we have to do it right.”
Luna sighed loudly and wrapped her arms around his torso.
“Fine, I understand.” She said in a monotone voice. “But I’m not leaving them.”
“There’s no need for that.” He said. “You can stay here the whole time, and I’ll be here too. I promise.”
With another long sigh coming out of her mouth, Talbott knew he got through to her.
I know it’s a bit cliche to say that you can split Luna’s life in two - before she lost her family and after she lost her family, but it also very realistic, since a trauma at this scale can change anyone forever.
She was never the same, especially because she lost Olivia as well - the only person she believed could live a happy and normal life out of her entire family.
Also, I know Jacob is absent, it’s because right now he has two potential paths that I haven’t decided on yet - the first where he dies and the second where he survives... You can call him Schrödinger's cat until I pick one. Either way, he wasn’t there when she found the bodies or had the funeral, so in any case he’s irrelevant.
I wrote a bit more about the situation, but I’ll save it for another post!
For those who read the whole thing - I hope you liked it!