A/N: This may be a OneShot then again it may not. I've never really shown anyone my fan fiction before so I'm more than slightly worried, but I think it's time to take the plunge. It's weird I'm doing it with a character I've never actually written for before this fic, but it's a chance I'm taking. I usually do marauders, and Neville can be hard to convey. I'm sorry if you don't enjoy my story, but I've done the best I could do with an unfamiliar character at half past eleven in the evening. I'm English, so my spelling is different from American spelling, don't just think I'm some crazy illiterate person. Please review, as I'd like to know what people think. Niceties are not needed, just be honest, I can take it. ;p
Disclaimer:Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters etc., however much I might like to pretend otherwise. ;p
So, all hail JK. :)
NEVILLE: The next chapter.
The sky was a clear, bright blue. Neville Longbottom gazed out of the open window at the Hogwarts Grounds. Hagrid could be observed striding into the Forest, no doubt going to tend to some dreadfully frightening creature. A shiver ran down Neville's spine, no matter how brave he was, he couldn't pretend he didn't like the kind of monsters he knew dwelled in the Dark Forest. The Whomping Willow could be seen from this distance, swaying dangerously on the non-existent breeze – it made Neville chuckle.
"What's funny, Neville?" came an airy voice from behind him.
"Nothing, Luna." He said, simply.
She had interrupted his surveillance of the grounds and so he turned to face her, sitting down in a red arm chair. Neville found he had grown quite fond of Luna Lovegood through the past couple of years. He knew she understood the slight feeling of loneliness that mingled with not really having a best friend. That was all over now, of course. Neville and Luna had been… adopted. That was how he liked to think of it. Taken in by a group who were now the most famous 'children' in the Wizarding World.
Of course, they weren't really children any more. At the ages of 17 and 18 Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, himself and Luna made up the most courageous group of teenagers in Britain.
After the battle in which they had all fought so hard, they had all decided to stay at Hogwarts over the remaining summer months. Once the new term was starting, however, they were all to move out, and pursue the career paths they desired. A month had passed, and it couldn't have been a better one for Neville. Everyone had of course had losses in the battle, but they had all learned to cope with their grief, and everyone was moving on.
Neville smiled inwardly. Endless games of Quidditch, picnics in the grounds, feasts in the Great Hall with Order members; so many happy times had already been enjoyed, and Neville knew there were many more to come.
Luna stopped playing with what looked like a fuchsia coloured pendant and eyed Neville. Before the summer he would have felt no nerves under Luna's gaze, but he could feel things changing between them now. They were such good friends, rarely out of each other's company, and yet they were more than friends. Sometimes Neville wondered if he would still feel this way about Luna if they weren't in the constant presence of 'coupled' friends. He did not think it would have made much of a difference. The abnormalities of Luna had always grabbed his attention in a way they didn't seem to for anyone else. He found her oddness almost attractive, indeed it was one of the things he liked best about her.
She gave him a broad smile, lighting up her pale face.
"Well," she began. "Shall we go and find the others? They might be already off in their pairs but if they are we can always do something, just the two of us?" her voice sounded almost hopeful. Neville's insides soared.
"Sure." He managed to say, although he seemed to be choking slightly. "Go down by the Lake, or something?"
"Ooh yes!" she exclaimed. "I need you to help me with what I can only describe as an unidentifiable plant down there. I thought at first it was a dead Gurdyroot but it seems to be rooted and still growing, so…" her voice trailed off.
Neville had felt a slight leaping feeling in his stomach. Luna needed his opinion, she trusted his knowledge. Of course, it was widely known that Neville had been the best in his year at Herbology, but to hear it as a compliment from Luna had almost made his day.
"Yeah, alright then. Shall we go now?" Let her say yes! He thought. Let her walk down by the Lake with me'
"Yes, I think so. I'll just go and take this charm to Professor McGonogall, she said she heard a buzzing in her ear yesterday, and Daddy says this should do the trick. I'll meet you at the front doors in about fifteen minutes, Neville!" she said, and with that she skipped off, to find Minerva McGonogall.
The Lake. Thought Neville. It might be a bit difficult on the area of bank the plant's at .What if I have to help her climb down? What if I have to hold her hand as she climbs down? Will I be able to do that while concentrating? Grow up, it's LUNA, remember? Yes, it's Luna…
Seventeen minutes later, by Neville's watch at least, Luna came bounding down the steps and out into the fresh air. She smiled at the sight of him: a smile which made his insides do cartwheels, over and over again.
I love you
The thought had entered his mind before he was consciously aware of it. Yet now, now he was very much aware of what he had thought, and it made him even more nervous. He looked down at his feet. They seemed overly-large, and he felt ridiculously awkward as they strolled down to the Lake. Luna was walking with what to him seemed casual elegance. He knew he could never look that naturally beautiful or confident.
Thump.
Too busy watching Luna to worry where he was walking, his foot had caught in a small hole in the grassy grounds, and Neville had fallen to the floor. Luna was by his side in an instant, chuckling slightly, while he tried to pull his foot out of the hole, blushing.
"You should really keep a careful eye on where you're walking, Neville. You don't want to step on any unfortunate creatures!" She suddenly bent lower, over his body, apparently searching the grass for any injured insects he might've landed on.
Neville was very aware of how close her face suddenly was to his. Too close.
Not close enough. He thought, again before he could stop himself.
He was being silly now. He could barely contain the impulse to pull Luna to him and embrace her in some way. The sun seemed to illuminate every feature of her face, and he gazed longingly at her.
"No, it's all okay, I don't think you landed on anything!" she said brightly, rolling over and standing up. She extended a pale hand and helped him up. "All okay now? Ready to go?"
Neville cringed. "Yeah, I'm quite alright now. Thanks, Luna." He said, bashfully.
But Luna wasn't listening, she was looking out across the grounds, towards the Lake.
"Everything looks so, err, wonderful in the summer time." Neville stated, dumbly.
Great. She must think you're a right idiot.
'Everything looks so wonderful in the summer time' – why couldn't I have said something normal and far less stupid?
"Oh yes." Luna agreed, turning to smile at him once more. "Yes, I've always thought that."
It turned out to be quite an enjoyable walk. The Grounds looked mesmerising in the heat and sunshine, and though they exchanged small conversations, Neville and Luna mostly concentrated on their own thoughts as they made their way steadily to the Lake.
Several times Neville wondered what was going through Luna's thoughts, and whether she was thinking about him. He couldn't suppress the feeling that she might just feel the same way about him as he felt about her – after all, she didn't have to be here with him now, walking to a Lake in what was clearly a secluded area.
As they approached the area Luna said the plant was, they found it was almost perfectly smooth. Neville's insides sank briefly; he would not need to play the gentleman, helping her down to a lower section of the bank.
When they retired later that afternoon to the Great Hall, they found the others sitting in there, plus a few members from the Order, sitting not too far away. Most of the Order could afford to take some time off, now, and often came to visit the teachers who had remained just as Neville and his friends had.
"Where've you two been all day?" inquired Ginny, brushing a strand of red hair from her face.
"We – " began Neville, but Hermione interrupted.
"Yes, I feel like we haven't had a proper chat with you both for a while." She gave a small, guilty grin and pressed on. "Well, I suppose we've all been a bit busy, doing… things." She finished lamely.
Harry snorted loudly and Ginny began to giggle as well.
"Don't make things too obvious, Hermione!" she laughed.
"No, well. You know what I mean! I just, hope you don't feel we've been neglecting you or anything? Maybe tomorrow we can all do something? Go into Hogsmeade or just spend a day outside? Ooh! We could always spend some time in the library, I've been wanting to look up – "
"Hermione, get out of it! It's the summer and we're not going to spend it cooped up inside reading books, we can do that any time." Ron interrupted.
"I was just saying – " she began again, but he stopped her once more.
"I know you were!" he said, giving her an encouraging squeeze of the hand. "And I was just saying, some of us aren't as thirsty for knowledge all of the time as you are, that's all."
She was still looking a bit hurt and Neville was wondering what he could do to change the subject when Hermione decided it was fair to forgive Ron. She gave him a grin and turned around to the table once more.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. I guess a day outside would be the best thing for everyone? A nice chat and a picnic and maybe we can play some chess or something?"
Now it was Neville's turn to grin. "That sounds great! Although, I'm really not that good at Wizard's Chess. I just can't seem to get my knights to trust me, I mean … it takes an age to get them to obey an order I give them, is that unusual?"
The time passed quite quickly, that evening and after a quick dinner of shepherd's pie, they all left the Hall, thanking Dobby for helping with the cooking, and were soon all climbing through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room.
Although Luna was in Ravenclaw house still, (she and Ginny still had another year left at Hogwarts) the Fat Lady had been told to let her sleep and relax in the Gryffindor Common Room for the time being – she could not be expected, they told her, to sleep and spend her nights on her own.
Neville sat in an arm chair very close to the one Luna was sitting in. If he moved an inch to the left, his elbow would have brushed the edge of hers. He was very careful when adjusting his position not to bother her in any way, too careful in fact that he ended up leaning a bit too far to the right, and bumping his knee into Ron's.
For another four hours they sat in their chairs and discussed random topics from careers to favourite foods. Neville now felt that he knew so much about the people sitting before him that it was rather like they had been best friends for all of their years at Hogwarts.
At half past eleven, Ginny gave a great yawn which made Harry insist she got some sleep. Willingly, they both got up, wishing the others goodnight.
"I-I think I might g-go to bed too, if you don't mind?" said Hermione, as she yawned as well. "I'm feeling tired now, and I want energy f-for tomorrow."
Neville and Luna both said it was fine, and Ron obediently headed after Hermione, giving her a gentle kiss before turning to go up the staircase leading to the boy's dormitories.
Neville was suddenly more alert and awake than he had ever felt at this time before. Being alone with Luna in the open air on a sun-filled summer's day seemed a lot easier than being alone with Luna in a dimly lit, cosy room.
He cleared his throat loudly.
"I err…" he started, but fell silent, as Luna opened her own mouth.
"Neville?" she said, in possibly the quietest voice he had ever heard her use.
His heart began to beat what felt like twelve times faster.
"Y-yes?"
"Thanks for today." She said, but Neville had a feeling she wanted to say more. Why was she speaking in such a hushed tone? "I had a great time. I'm sorry we couldn't find the plant. We had a good time though, didn't we? So, yes. Thank you."
"Any time." He said simply, still slightly confused.
Luna looked strange for a moment, as though she had been hit by a sudden impulse, but then the firelight flickered, and her expression was a mere memory.
She got up from her chair, and Neville rose too. She eyed him furtively before giving him a swift kiss on the left cheek and heading up the stairs to the girl's dormitories, muttering the word "'Night" as she went.