the way we fit together

for Bailey (brokenbottleaurora) for the Monthly Oneshot Exchange over on HPFC.

[Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and accept no credit towards it. I am not the wonderful J.K. Rowling nor am I in any way affiliated with her.]

without further ado...

They meet in the Room of Requirement at eleven on a cold and damp evening in November and they sit there together, in silence, as the wind howls around the castle and the rain lashes furiously at the windows.

The sky grows darker and somewhere overhead, lightning flashes and thunder cracks like a whip but still neither of them twitch even a muscle.

They do this, when the war almost seems to swallow them; they sit here, together and in each other's company, knowing that for these brief moments, they are safe, they are happy, they do not have to worry.

Eventually, she speaks, her head resting on his shoulder.

"You ought to be more careful,"

"Huh?" He tries to turn but his face is too swollen to move painlessly.

She gives him a rather pointed look.

"Exactly," her fingers reach up to trace his black eye, her fingertips lightly dancing across the surface of his cheek. He feels his heartbeat pathetically start to speed up. "I heard what the Carrow's did to you," her gaze hardens. "I had half a mind to set a Nargle on them."

"You'd have to find one first," he snorts, because he's irritated and exhausted (but that's not her fault), and it isn't until she shifts away from him that he realises what he's said.

"Sorry," he says gently, closing the distance between them and giving her a beseeching look. "That was harsh."

"You're in an awful mood today," she says softly, entwining her fingers with his and staring at them; Neville thinks at the way their hands seem to fit perfectly together. "Did something else happen?"

"Only getting beaten up by the pricks we call teachers," Neville mutters and then flinches as he notices he's doing it again.

A thoughtful look crosses Luna's face and there is a moment of silence as her pondering takes her far out of this world and in to a fantastical one of her own creation.

Neville envies her sometimes.

She seems to hesitate before she speaks, which is unusual for her.

"You're acting like Harry,"

"What?" He says, gobsmacked and not entirely sure he's heard right as Harry is a painful word here and hearing the name of his quite-possibly-dead friend is not something he was expecting.

"Don't play the fool," Luna says, her eyes big and wide and reproachful, "you must've noticed, Neville. Ever since Harry disappeared-" Neville flinches automatically "-you've been taking responsibility, stepping up. You've taken his place in his absence," she smiles. "He'd be proud of you, you know."

Neville opens his mouth to speak and then closes it again.

It's been almost three months since Harry vanished, Ron and Hermione alongside him, and Neville won't pretend it hasn't been hard for those they left behind.

He doesn't blame them, he knows that Harry would never abandon them without good reason, they must be doing something for the Order, for Dumbledore, but life at Hogwarts without the three heroes they usually all go running to when faced with a problem has been...almost...well...scary.

Neville's been so used to relying on Harry's bravery, on Ron's wit, on Hermione's intelligence these past years that when they suddenly aren't here anymore, things feel off and threatening, like black skies lurking around the edges of a sunny day.

He supposes, if he really thinks about it, that it's almost been second nature to him this year, taking care of the younger students, protecting those around him, making sure nobody else gets hurt, doing exactly what Harry would've done had he been here and not alone in some godforsaken place that Neville hardly wants to think of.

But, no, not alone, because Harry has Ron and Hermione and Neville does too, he has Luna and Ginny, and those are two of the best friends (and maybe something more for the former) he could ever have asked for.

He turns to Luna.

"Yeah, but it's not all been down to me, has it?"

He thinks of the newly reinstated DA, of the patrols Ginny formed to roam the corridors at night, of the wards Luna dreamt up to protect the Room of Requirement from discovery, of Seamus, of Parvati, Lavender, Ernie, Susan, Colin, Padma, all these people and more, being brave, and fighting, fighting for a better world so that they can all have a chance of waking up in a brighter tomorrow.

"True," Luna smiles and rearranges her skirt. "Ginny's been inspirational this year."

"She's not the only one," Neville says and before he can stop himself, he's leaning in. Pausing mere inches from her face, he whispers,

"Is this okay?"

"More than," she nods, managing to look surprised and sage at the same time, and suddenly they're kissing, his lips meeting hers - and this is the first time he's ever kissed a girl so something should register but it doesn't - all he knows is that he's kissing Luna Lovegood, he's kissing her, and if winning this war means he'll get to kiss her some more, he fight for the rest of his life.

"Oh," she says when they break apart. "Oh,"

"Is that 'oh' in a good way or a bad way?" Neville says, trying to keep his tone joking.

"Good," she says and then fiddles with one of her feathery earrings. "I just never thought that a boy would want to kiss me."

It's the blunt, shoulder-shrugging way in which she says it that gets him so he picks up one of her hands again and squeezes it tight.

"Well, I do," he says determinedly, "and I'll do it again if you'll let me."

She grins, big and slightly crooked and beautiful, and this time she takes the lead and kisses him, and, even with the rain lashing around their safe haven, the Death Eaters they'll have to face tomorrow, and the war looming over everybody, for a short, sweet moment, they are happy.

Prompts used:

Hogwarts under Death Eater occupation (setting)

Romance/angst (genres)

Neville/Luna (pairing)

First time writing Neville/Luna so I hope I did them justice.

Happy November, Bailey, and I hope you enjoy your fic! Xx

As always, thank you so much to anyone and everyone for reading! Xx