Chapter 4: Childhood 3 (Final Stage)
Life in the burrow was good as far as poverty allowed, but it was quite warm on an emotional level. Time passed, and unlike previous years, I dedicated myself to improving myself and improving.
I started to exercise, since even though my body was automatically strengthened by my magic, I could still go further, plus I liked the feeling of running across the field. Blame my sister and her friend, who from the first time we met used to use me as a mount, another reason to exercise because they were both growing and my strength was not keeping up with them.
I kept going with Luna to have thoughtful talks. There was a time when my mother brought Ron with us, hoping to mend our strained relationship, and it didn't work out.
When the girls saw that there were now two mounts, they wanted to have a competition, so they put one on each of us to start a race, but because of the competition, my [Dominant Presence] appeared again. Maybe Ron got some trauma from it because he started crying right then and there.
Realizing that he was crying in front of the other girls, he humiliatedly ran to our mother, who ended up taking him home. Our brothers made fun of him because when he told the story, everyone believed that he cried for losing the race and that affected him again. I think my presence is causing more insecurity problems for Ron than the original would have. Anyway, that was the first and only time that Ron accompanied us to the Lovegood house.
In addition to playing, I also had my therapeutic talks with Luna. Her mother kept spying on us until we found out when she ended up bursting out laughing once when I told her I was worried about staying single because of my Temperament and that even Ginny had a better chance of getting a date than me. Not all of it was child talk, sometimes I just let go of my insecurities and fears. I appreciate that Luna, despite not always fully understanding them, was a good listener.
When we discovered Pandora she apologized and from that moment she no longer hid from us, there were times when she kept us company and participated in the talks. I wanted my mother to do it too so that she can also connect with her son, but I couldn't, if my mother was here I wouldn't be able to feel the freedom to say everything I think like when I'm only with Luna.
So the three children, and she, were the only ones left to talk about our problems during the afternoons. Certainly, it helped me a lot, Pandora gave me a lot of advice and the girls gave me their company. With all these sessions I have been able to improve a lot, in these three years of therapy I managed to feel that the shell that enclosed my feelings was weakening, and I could already have short conversations with others, but I still gave the vibe that I did not want to have them, even if it was not my actual intention.
My situation at home got better too with my better communication, they kept teasing me a bit, but now I could get back at them, so it became a lot more fun.
But it must be clarified that there were also other quite remarkable details. My appearance was becoming more and more unlike the rest of the Weasley family. My features were very different from theirs, I didn't have the eyes, hair or skin that everyone else had, not even the slightest resemblance. My skin became a smooth white, without any marks or freckles on my face, besides being soft and fluffy; both my nails and my corneas darkened a little, they were still white but not so clear, and my facial features were refined giving a feeling of beauty, elegance and intimidation.
This increased the comments of my brothers that I was adopted or that I was not my father's son, but my mother threw what she had in her hand at them when she listened to them, I guess she did not want them to end up defaming the fidelity of their marriage.
Peter Pettigrew also joined us at this time, but he spent most of his time at Hogwarts with Percy, so I didn't pay much attention to him. There was one exception when Percy was showing Scabbers to my brothers, but when he approached me, I looked the rat in the eye and said "I don't like rats, if you come near me, I'll skin you" that scared him, and he ran back towards the rest of my brothers. Precy got mad, but put it aside because to him, I was just 'Red' as an adjective. I did not give it importance, the jokes were never lacking inside the house.
I had more late nights with the seller, as bad as it sounds. I stopped hunting gnomes during the day because it was easy to expose myself and I couldn't explain it. So I started going out to catch them during the night before the merchant arrived, and I locked them in small cages that I made with branches and other things that I found, well the first ones broke easily, but I already got the hang of it. Also, during my third night out, I got another ability.
[Auras and Essences: Skill "Thief Essence" obtained]
-When you try to sneak or go unnoticed, your presence is reduced, and it will be more difficult for others to find you. Works best at night or places where you can do a better job of stealth-
This made my escapades much easier, since I also got [Auxiliary: Map] which made a map of all the places I've been, but if there was any change in an area I would have to go back to it to update it.
My outings became more frequent. I even disappeared for a few full days and even though I left notes to warn them not to wait for me, I still received terrible scoldings for it and very long punishments. My butt cheeks still hurt, and Ginny laughed a lot during the time that I walked weird, and couldn't sit down.
Ginny was a trustworthy girl, and she never revealed anything about my nights out, although I did have to bribe her with some candy. She also started getting more excited about Quidditch and because our brothers wouldn't let her play with them, she started sneaking off to the broom room at night, but I caught her red-handed. We came to an agreement and during the night we would both sneak out to fly for a while together, that way I could make sure to keep an eye on her and prevent her from getting hurt. I learned a bit before I went out with her to avoid accidents, we didn't fly very high, but it was still fun for a couple of kids.
Her fascination with Harry Potter also became more noticeable. Seriously, the number of books recounting his victory against the dark lord was ridiculous, he was a baby and there isn't even enough padding to tell that story well.
I didn't mind her admiring him, but I didn't want it to get to the point where just two words from Potter could send her off her feet. I know Ginny is smart enough not to let herself be manipulated, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. During one night I went into her room and found her reading one of those books and I asked her to accompany her.
"...and ever since then the reign of the Dark Lord came to an end, all thanks to the 'Boy Who Lived', the savior of the wizarding world, Harry Potter..." she finished the book for about the hundredth time with the same face fan who put every time.
"I think it's not that impressive" I commented, "it's just a baby"
"But… but it's Harry Potter… he beat… You know…" she said somewhat sheepishly.
She didn't seem to want to be against me, but she really believed in her heart that Harry was so wonderful. I don't want to break her expectation, but I don't want her to get confused either.
"I think the best ones were his parents" I decided to go that way "They fought against Voldemort"
"Shhhii...! Don't say it...don't say it" She tried to shut me, putting her hands on my mouth.
"Okay, I won't tell. Think of them fighting him... 'Psycho' I think they're great."
"You think...?" She was thoughtful, trying to remember that it mentioned fighting Voldemort.
"Yes, Harry was a baby who couldn't even change his nappies by himself. It must have been his parents who protected him with great courage"
Ginny stared at me, not knowing what to say, so I started a story of how their battle could have been. How the 'Psycho' entered the house in Godric's Hollow and Mr. and Mrs. Potter stood up to him, protecting their son. Spells flew here and there, with destruction and explosions inside the house, a mix of what I knew from my past life with a bit of action movies to make it impressive. I also put something emotional in it, about how Harry's father sacrificed himself fighting to give his wife time, so he can save his son and ended up going down like a hero. As prepared to die, his mother, she decided to use all her love to cast the most powerful protections to her son, even if it consumed her own life. And as after ending the life of both parents, Voldemort severely wounded and exhausted by the fight, when he was about to end the life of the child, the protections that cost poor Mrs. Potter her life protected her son to the time they ended the life of that disgusting monster.
Ginny looked at me completely focused on what I was saying, even she had tears in her eyes, I think I shouldn't have gone into so much detail about the Potters' death. My usual serious face, plus the sum of my auras, made me seem completely sure of what came out of my mouth. There are few people who know the truth, so I'm not worried about it being known that I lied a little.
We went to bed late that night, and Ginny was very contemplative after asking me about Harry's parents and if what I said was true, I just answered with "probably", since he was just a baby. And after several mental processes in my sister's head about the story I told, she finally fell asleep.
The next day, Ginny asked Mom and Dad what the Potters were like. They responding to her daughter, thinking that she was impressed by the stories of the 'boy who lived', that they were great people and powerful wizard, which by the look on her face I knew that she now believed that everything that I said it was true.
I think to avoid being manipulated, I ended up manipulating her, but not everything I said was a lie.
Today Harry Potter lost a fan, but he won someone who admired both him and his parents. I think it was for the good.
Also, Ginny was very touched when, after our mother told her that both she and Mrs. Potter had the same beautiful hair color, I told her that I was sure that in the future she would also become a great witch willing to have the most amazing battles to defend her family. She was ecstatic and every time she forces me to tell her the story again, which ends up changing every once in a while, she would go back to her previous fanatical look, only this time with a completely different goal, a goal she dreamed of... with reach her...
With time, I was able to understand a little more about my magic, the Blood Magic that is in my body is not the same as the magic of the wizard, it is a completely different one. It's like a mist or mist inside me. I had a hard time being able to feel and move it inside me, I tried many ways to practice with it, but except for when I use the skills I gain, there is very little that I could manipulate. The good thing is that I feel how it increases in quantity and purity, with the increase I also notice how it is easier to handle, and I hope in the future to be able to use it at will.
In this time I also gained a lot of skills for one thing or another.
After hunting my ninth Gnome I got [Predator Presence] which allows me to emanate a hunting aura, it is very good to terrify my victim to the point of freezing with fear, as it gives off a feeling similar to the natural predator of my objective, although it weakens its effect on humans because they do not feel prey to any being, but surely there will be exceptions.
By training my blood magic, I got [Blood Control(Rage)] and [Blood Control(Hunger)], both of which are easily understandable. The first causes the target to go into a state of momentary fury and be easily irritated by everything, the second causes the sensation of hunger and even if the same target is completely satisfied, they will still have the desire to eat. They're both useful in some way, but I can't keep them on for very long without getting exhausted.
Along with the natural growth of my blood energy I got [Blood Reserve] which is the reason why blood mages don't die instantly when they use their own blood to make constructs like blood swords or blood arrows. It is like a space inside me where blood is stored and generated in addition to that of my own body to use it later, I am supposed to also store blood that does not belong to me to fill my reserves, but currently I do not have a method for it.
And for no apparent reason, I also received [Purse]'s siblings and his amazing older brother. They are [Keychain], [Gem Bag], [Scroll Case], and [Inventory]. The first three serve the same as [Purse] but for keys, gems and writings respectively, as for [inventory] it is a space of one cubic meter where to store any type of non-living object, which at this time, a year after obtaining it has grown ten cubic centimeters.
...
But not everything could be good news, a completely sad and devastating event has come to us. I wanted to avoid it, but I couldn't remember when it would happen or how, so there was no way to even tell anyone. Earlier this morning, Pandora Lovegood, having a failure during her experiment, passed away.
It is night, and we have arrived at the Lovegood house. Completely ignoring Mr. Lovegood who was talking to my parents, I ran straight to meet Luna, and there I saw her, sitting on a chair in the main room.
She could no longer see those open eyes of hers with her smile full of joy, she seemed to be completely out of herself, she did not move at all even when she heard how she ran through her house looking for her.
She only looked up when I was standing in front of her, "Red?" was the only thing she said, and I couldn't help but notice from the look on her face how she was in a complete trance. I didn't know what to do, the girl who always responded with a smile on her face to all my problems, and she listened to me whenever she needed her, now she looked in this state.
I just walk over and give her a very tight hug while saying the only thing that came out of my mind... "You are not alone". She hugs me almost instantly and begins to cry uncontrollably.
I have no idea what to do now. In the past I told her that it bothered me that I couldn't be sad, but now I realize, I was completely wrong. This hurts, it hurts a lot, it hurts that someone I knew is no longer here, it hurts that someone as good as her has died, it hurts that the person who helped me open up to others leaves us, and it really hurts to see Luna suffer like this way, it seemed that her smile had gone with her mother.
At this point I wasn't strong either and I cried too, I cried hard like I've never done in this life and like I'll never forget in any other.
The two of us, hugging each other and crying, didn't separate even when our families came. I didn't want to leave her because I thought that just by separating from her for a moment she would break and also go away forever.
They tried to comfort us, but we continued until Luna fell asleep.
I stayed at Luna's house for a whole week using my skills to help her sleep peacefully, it was the only thing I could do for her at the moment.
We got back together enough and my parents looked for me to go home. I didn't want to part, but I couldn't stay forever either. I just hoped that she would get some of her joy back and get over this.
The next day Xenophilius arrived carrying Luna, he said "Luna wanted to come to see you to sleep" as confused as the rest of my family except for Ginny. So she spent an afternoon just sleeping with me, before they left I used my blood control in Xenophilus to relax him, since it seemed that he was not having a good time, with this he understood a little why her daughter wanted to see me
"Thank you" he said before carrying his sleeping daughter on his shoulders back to his House.
We returned to a kind of normality, in my house everything was as before except for Ginny and me, who began to go more often to our friend's. The talks we had changed a bit, now I wasn't the only one with something weighing on me, so we helped each other. Xenophilus accompanied us in some cases, he was a great conversation partner, we got to talk about how his wife was when he was young and about various things he achieved throughout her life, not with a depressing environment, but with a very affectionate and friendly. With which we wanted to honor her.
The Lovegood family is recovering from this tragedy, at times they openly ask me to use my "gift" on them and I happily do. Not like it becomes an addiction, it's just when we get together to chat and want to clear our heads and rest for a while.
That's how my life went on until I was ten years old, just one year to receive my letter and go to Hogwarts, so that worse and worse things begin to happen every year, which will turn the British wizarding world upside down. But I decided that I don't care, I'm just going to enjoy my life in the best way I can and if fate leads me to intervene in the next story then I will make my contribution to this work completely my own way.
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Here the childhood finally ends, although there is a little more data to see, soon the main story will start and there may be more time between chapters because of that.
I also clarify that it is the first Fan-fic that I write and I use it mainly as a practice and to test some things. This story is one among others that I wanted to do and since it was the easiest and I wouldn't feel bad if I failed, I decided to use it as a starter.