Fireflies

She stood there at the precipice; not only the metaphorical one of her life but literally. Her long curly blonde hair moved in the wind; it moved across her face and tickled her nose gently. Her hair unfortunately had bits of rock and dust lodged through her curly locks . The mood around her was somber, and she didn't know if they would ever recover from what had occurred; only hours ago they were all fighting for their lives. They had a purpose in this world, to give everyone an equal opportunity for magic and to live without the rule of a mad man. Voldemort was defeated and Harry lived on, but the after math was what they had to deal with now.

The aftermath came in all types of forms: scars, nightmares, injuries, and death. She imagined now that everyone would be able to see Thestrals, because of the deaths, and the beasts would no longer grow lonely. Everyone thought of them as dangerous but Luna knew better, but only regarding the magical creatures. Everything else though, no one seemed to know how to deal with that.

Luna didn't know what to think anymore. She stared at the area of land, once fertile and filled with magical creatures roaming. Now it was a desolate wasteland of dirt and blood; the shared blood of her fallen comrades and that of the Death Eaters that did Voldemort's dirty work. Was it all worth it? Their blood was no different when it soaked into the soil. It still stained the ground equally and caused the magical creatures and beasts to flee.

The sun had begun to set over the castle finally after what felt like the longest day of her life. She felt like it was cleansing them of that day, and washing the blood from their hands and their wands. If only it could be that easy for them in reality. Luna stared down at her wand that was clenched in her hand; it was marked. She had a wand that had done more harm than good.

Luna didn't believe in crying, she believed that everything would always get better. How could things not get better when they were blessed with creatures like Nargles and Wrackspurts? For once in her life she stood at the edge of the cliff near the bridge without a happy thought. She saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry standing at the very end talking to each other, her eyes looked away as they stood together; their arms locked together. It was such an intimate moment for them that she felt like an invader.

Her nails dug into the palms of her skin and she couldn't look away from the dead land in front of her. So much hatred had gone into this battle and for what? This.

She hiccuped once and covered her mouth. The tears were now streaming down her face—they ran down hard and fast, gathering on the ledge of the top of her hand and spilled over. She hadn't realized how good it felt to cry, and she hadn't cried this well since the passing of her mother. She had to be strong for her Dad for so long, but she didn't blame him for that. She blamed herself for not grieving properly through the years. Luna was wrapped up in helping others and comforting them that she never stopped to comfort herself and now she had the rest of her life to do it and recover. She wouldn't regret it, no she was glad to of helped. It made her feel useful, something that she hadn't felt in such a long time.

"It'll grow back," she heard a voice behind her. She slowly turned and saw Neville standing behind her. She didn't say a word back, but nodded her head and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. She wanted to blame it on the Nargles or maybe the Wrackspurts, they were known for making head's fuzzy. She sure felt like her head was fuzzy now.

"I know it doesn't seem like it but it'll be okay, I've studied enough Herbology to know– to know that things will improve and the animals will come back, all of our magical creatures. Hogwarts will be their home again Just like it's ours," Neville stepped forward towards her and she smiled at him. He always said the right thing to her even when he believed it was the wrong thing. Their friendship had formed in a strange way; at first it almost seemed she scared him. He questioned her and made her belief in herself; with every strange question about her beliefs and magical beasts that she believed in. No one had ever done that, they just went along with what she said for fear of the answer or that they would upset her. Hermione had danced around her still even though she considered her a great friend. He was different though, even if he thought she was crazy he still asked.

He reached forward and took her hand in his, she mused that he once wouldn't dream of taking the reigns and initiating something with her. She was always the first one to go forward and now he was making the effort for her. Their fondness for one another grew through the last two years and after the war she was slowly understanding that nothing is for certain; she had to live in the moment.

She still didn't speak but her smile widened with each passing thought, the hum of magic around them. It broke through the barrier that she had built around her for these past few hours. She watched as the fireflies had started to fly around and come out of their hiding spaces, they lit up the fading sky. The moon was high in the air and Hogwarts was lit up at night; it was the center of their lives.

"You destroyed the last hoarcrux," she commented. Her voice hoarse as she stepped towards him and he intertwined their fingers together; he smiled crookedly down at her. "You're a true Gryffindor," she whispered against his shoulder.

"Your smile, it lights up the room like fireflies," He whispered "It's so bright and beautiful that I can't...look away," Neville finished.

"Would you help me, save them?" She asked and put her head down. Luna rarely felt nervous; her head always up in the clouds looking towards the sky. Now, she couldn't help but look at the ground, the reality came crashing down around her.

Neville lifted her head up with his hand, "whatever it takes," she smiled at him and they kept their fingers locked around each other and then stood side by side and stared out at was once a proud school with the most amazing grounds they had ever seen. It was their home; she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I—I told them after I did it that I had to come find you, I had to tell you," Neville rambled on and sighed.

"I know Neville—I know," she looked up at him with fondness in her eyes and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. There was nothing else that needed to be said. They stood there for what felt like forever to her. She was content, and she was going to be fine and their world would move on.

"I know you do," he finally whispered against her hair.

A/N: Some short fluff about one of my other favorite parings! I love this friendship and this ship in a romantic sense. I wanted to try my hand at writing Nuna.