Luna Lovegood crept out into the dark night. The crisp, autumn wind was blowing her cloak behind her. As she pulled the cloak tighter around her body, the moon, high in the black sky, peeked out from behind the night’s gray clouds, and created a haunted glow over the trees. Their shadows rested on the cold ground. The lush, green grass looked blue in the moonlight. She looked up at the luminous orb and felt a stab of pain in her abdomen. She sprinted towards the Forbidden Forest; her shabby cloak begging to fall off of her body. She ran past the dark, towering trees, tripping on overgrown roots and fallen branches.

          Luna stopped against a spectacular tree and leaned over to catch her breath. There was less wind in here, and there was no danger from the forest creatures, for they knew her well. She often came in here to think or when she was . . . not herself. On nights like tonight, she ventured into the shallows of the tree ocean to avoid her fellow Ravenclaws. She would come out here to fulfill the addiction placed on her young body. She wasn’t a stupid girl, crazy - maybe, but certainly not stupid. It was the fact that she knew her peers thought her crazy; she protected herself from more of their painful words. Letting them see more abnormality - letting them know her secret – was foolish.

          On nights like tonight, the forest beckoned her like a fireberry to a Snorkaks. On nights like tonight, she felt something rise in her. Almost as if something inside in her heart, was trying to break free. Luna hated it, yet loved it at the same time. She hated the burning when she resisted, yet loved the feel of the moonlight on her skin and the eerie mysteriousness of the Forbidden Forest. She loved her curse and hated her mother’s gift.

          It wasn’t Luna’s fault her mother was a werewolf, or her fault her uncle was one as well. That’s what Luna’s mother died of - trying to cure lycanthropy. Luna was there when her mother’s “breakthrough spell” backfired.

          Her mother and uncle were obsessed with the extraordinary. That’s what drew her parents together in the first place. They both loved things that one never thought existed – myth. Luna’s mother never imagined that she would become a werewolf. Luna remembered all the tales her mother told her of her life, and actually, her mother’s life changed for the better; it was no surprise she accepted it. Luna loved her mother; she admired her more than any child could admire their parent. Laurentia Pax Lupin was the bravest, most clever, perfect woman Luna ever knew. Her uncle, Remus, was just as.

          Luna’s mother was bitten when she was younger, along with one of her younger brothers. Luna’s mother was ten, and her uncle was two. As soon as Laurentia Lupin left school, her parents died, and her younger brothers, Remus and Romulus (Romulus escaped without a bite), were left without a guardian. Laurentia took in her younger brothers and watched over them as if they were her own children. She never complained about her brothers or her lycanthropy. She didn’t cry and was never bitter. Laurentia Lovegood’s only complaint was the curse she gave to her brilliant daughter, Luna.

Luna looked up at the partially concealed moon, blinking away a tear falling from her eye. Laurentia used her burden to try and cure others. Laurentia never thought her curse awful. She always thought of others before herself.

          Because of her mother’s illness, Luna was now half-werewolf. She didn’t transform, and she didn’t become dangerous; she was still a perfectly normal girl.

          Except for the werewolf blood.

          The blood of her mother coursed through Luna’s veins, prowling at her heart and mind. Nights like tonight, with the moon full and high in the sky, the wolf blood possessed her body. It told her to come outside and explore the forest - to see the moonlight. The wolf blood wanted to take over her body as it did her mother’s.

          Luna loved her curse and hated her mother’s gift.

          She hated the gift her mother gave her. She hated the wolf trying to escape when the moonlight touched her. She hated the feeling of control and desire for something that would never come.

          However, she loved the feeling that the part-wolf gave her when she gave it what it wanted. It wanted the moon. Luna gave it the moon. When she did what the wolf told her to, it was pure ecstasy.

          One of the centaurs walked up to her. She knew the young, rebel centaur, Caradog, ever since she first came to Hogwarts. He was the same age as her and protected her against the others. None of the centaurs harmed Luna; though they disliked humans, they sensed the wolf blood in her and took pity. Even after they banished humans from the Forbidden Forest last year, they continued admitting Luna.

          Caradog laid his hand on her shoulder and whispered predictions of the stars to her. Luna smiled at her friend. He said that the moon was full and bright tonight. Luna smiled up to the aforementioned object again.

          It wasn’t fair her mother died. She didn’t submit to the curse. She used it to try and help others; she tried to overcome it. She didn’t hate the disease because of what it did to her, but that she passed to her only daughter. She laughed and was always happy. She was a brave woman for not letting the lycanthropy take control of her life. She never let anything stop her or bring her down. Luna wanted so much to be the same kind of woman.

          The best part of the wolf blood was the fact that Luna would always have some of that incredible woman – her mother - in her.