The story of Neville and Luna

Neville Longbottom watched with a grin on his face as they ran towards the castle at full speed unsuspecting of the wall that stood between them and him. The first row slammed into it and were knocked back on top of the others behind them. They glared at the smirking seventeen year old who couldn't contain himself anymore, "Oh yeah? You and whose army?" he yelled gleefully.

A few long moments passed and he could hear shouting and screams coming from behind him. Neville let his guard down for a second, turned his head, and it happened. Spells were cast and holes appeared in the force field. The leader of the group carefully took a step forward, placed his foot firmly on the ground and shot a wicked smile at Neville. Without another moment to lose, he tore off back to the castle to warn Minerva and the others that they had broken through. He heard a scream of victory and thousands of people running after him.

They were catching him. He heard some of the other students shouting spells and charms at the group and Neville could feel the bridge shaking under him and he knew it was going to go. He saw a large crack in the wood a little ways ahead of him and shut his eyes tightly. He heard it snap, and without thinking, made a jump for the other side. He knew it was pointless but still he had to try. The first thing that popped into his head when he accepted that he was going to die was his parents. How much he loved them, how much he wished he could tell them that right now. How much he wished he could have made them proud. Mum, dad, I love you both, he thought to himself. His next thought was of her. Her sliver blue eyes and dreamy voice. Luna Lovegood. One of his best friends and girl he'd been crazy about since his fifth year. He wished he would have told her before it was too late. 'Don't give up, Neville.' her voice played in his head.

He felt his hand grab the edge. Neville couldn't believe it! He made it! A disbelieving laugh escaped his lips and he pulled himself up to find several people staring open-mouthed at him. "Well… that went well." he said, not able to keep the smile off his face. He then made a vow that come hell or high water, he WAS telling Luna how he felt. He turned to Dean Thomas, who was standing near by, still posed in a position that was ready to dive down and pull him up. "Can you handle things here for a bit? I need to do something."

Dean blinked. "Yeah, sure thing, mate." Neville patted his friend on the back, thanked him and started off on his quest.

He ran through the court yard of the castle dodging curses and other spells that came his way calling her name. Seamus Finnegan shot a curse his way and quickly ducked out of the way. He felt invincible. Neville burst through the doors of Hogwarts with only one thing on his mind. How was he going to tell her? He tried playing a conversation with her in his head and hoped that would work. Now, he needed to find her. The last time he saw Luna, she was running after Harry up to the Ravenclaw dorms. He'd try there first. He was half way up the stairs and scanning every face that passed by when a horrifying thought entered his mind: What if she didn't make it? What if he would find her later among the dead bodies in the Great Hall? Neville felt violently ill at the thought of seeing her dead. He noticed Harry and Ginny talking at the top of the staircase and called out, "HARRY!" his head turned and Neville waved his arms, and sprinted the rest of the way up.

"Neville, how are you? What's got you in such a hurry?" Harry wondered, observing his friend.

"I feel like I could spit fire. You two haven't seen Luna anywhere, have you?" his heart raced.

"Luna?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I'm mad about her. About time I told her since we're both probably going to be dead by morning." Neville was still searching for her. Ginny grinned at him. "Have you seen her?" he asked again. They both shook their heads. "Thanks anyways." and he took off again. "LUNA?" he shouted. "LUNA LOVEGOOD!"

"Neville?" a girl asked from behind him in a familiar dreamy voice. Relief flooded through him and he spun around.

"Luna." he sighed, grabbing her in a hug. "I need to tell you something, do you have a second?" he was nervous.

"Sure." Neville took her by the hand and they found a quiet spot near a window and they sat down. The moon was shining brightly in the sky and it lit up her face in a beautiful way. His face went pink and fought to remember what he was going to say. "Neville?" Luna asked again, concern flooding her face.

"Luna," he started, taking a deep breath, "you've been one of my closest friends since fifth year and you mean the world to me. Whenever I wanted to give up on myself in the D.A. you were always there to encourage me and not let me throw in the towel. You're always there if I need someone to talk to, and if I'm ever upset, you can pick me back up with just a smile. I'm so lucky that I've had the chance to get to know you. Luna, I'm crazy about you." by this point, Neville's face had changed from bright pink to a deep red and he was embarrassed about finally admitting it. "Now I feel like an idiot. But I needed to tell you in case something happened to one of us."

Luna gave him a sweet smile, took his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "You shouldn't. I'm mad about you too, Neville."

His eyes brightened up. "You really mean that?" she nodded and he grabbed her in another hug. "If we both make it out of this alive, would it be possible to kiss you?" a look crossed her face that said it was possible and Neville took it as a yes.