Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: This is along the same lines as Roses, but it has almost nothing to do with cemeteries. For the Colored Roses challenge (no surprise there). I claimed Luna and all colors but it's Luna/Neville all the way. Hopefully I've done them well this time. Be warned – it's really long, but I couldn't figure out how to split it into two or three parts. Parts of this were inspired by Until You're Mine, by Demi Lovato
Blue – UnattainableShe sees him for the first time and decides she loves him, but there is nothing she can do about that. He's in the year above her and not in her House, so she will probably never see him again, other than maybe glimpsing him on the school train again, like she is now. After all the chaos that occurred during her first year, she'd hoped this year would be better, but the world isn't that lucky.
Her reputation as a genuine weirdo always precedes her with people in her year, the only people who know she exists. She's a silent observer of her world, not sure she wants to live in it.
She thinks about him frequently, in daydreams and such. She doesn't even know his name, but she loves him.
Lavender – Love At First SightShe stands alone, like she usually does. People swirl around her, but she barely notices them. Her eyes focus on someone she's seen before, but who she doesn't quite know. No one will notice that she's staring at him, watching his every mood; she's been known to do stuff like that before, although never to this degree.
He glimpses her, sees her focused heavily on something, but he never thinks she's looking at him. He's too awkward, accident-prone, and just plain idiotic, or so he thinks. Those are the only things anyone's ever though of him as, at least the only things they've said.
She watches him, sees him get the hang of something a lot faster than some of the more intelligent students do. Everyone else is rather surprised, but she isn't. She knows there's a lot more to him than meets the eye, and she wants to find out what else is beneath the surface.
He's not sure what he's just managed to do, and even less sure how he'd managed to do it. Everyone's surprised and happy, but he doesn't care. He just wants to be seen as someone that isn't a disaster waiting to happen, the way everyone seems to see him.
She decides to talk to him. "I knew you could do that," she says, inching closer so he can see her.
"Really?" he's surprised, but not as much as he would be if someone else were telling him that. She has a reputation for being a little crazy at times, but he's okay with crazy. Besides that, he knows that she's like him; that she's trying to shed the two-dimensional person everyone thinks she is.
"Yes," she replies, "I mean that."
"I don't even know what I just did."
"Something amazing."
White – Secrecy, Heavenly / Orange – DesireIf there is one feeling he never wants to forget, it's what he feels right now, this ecstasy of seeing her safe, with only a few scrapes on her fragile body. The past year has been so hard for him, having spent the first half of it defending her and the second half worrying about her. He panicked when she was taken over Christmas, and he worried about her, thought of her constantly after that.
She is also pleased to see him, although for much different reasons. She'll never be able to tell him that she kept her sanity while she was captive by thinking of him, but she did. It gave her life, as well as a reason to stay strong when she could have broken down so easily.
"You're … you're alive," he gasps. The panic, the worry, the fear, everything he had felt for her over the past few months had come to a head last night. He hadn't been fighting so bravely because of his desire to avenge his parents so much as because he wanted to save her if she was living or avenge her if she was dead.
"You're surprised?" she asks curiously. She's just as shocked as he is that both of them survived, but she hadn't worried about him as much as he'd worried about her. She'd always known he was more than people saw him as, and she knows she's right.
"Not surprised so much as amazed, elated that you're still here." He finds that he can talk without stumbling overt words, as he usually does in such a situation. The euphoria of this moment, of knowing that everything's over and that he still has her, has numbed that part of him.
"It's odd, isn't it," she says peacefully. "Both of us made it, even though there was no reason for us to survive."
"That's not why I mean," he replies. "What I'm trying to say is that this might be the best moment of my life, seeing you safe and unharmed."
"I'm pretty sure it IS the best moment of my life," she says in an odd moment of normal behavior, reaching out to him. Their eyes meet, then their lips, and he holds her protectively, vowing to never again let something hurt her.
Yellow With Red Tip – Falling In LoveThere's something about him that's been throwing her off-balance lately, but she's not certain what it is. She's falling for him, she realizes. It's been this way ever since the day after the battle, a few months ago, when they kissed that first time. She struggles to put her feelings for him into words, and then she decides it's useless – words will not express them.
He's not certain what direction their relationship will go on, now that the war is over. Before, it was mainly about him protecting her, standing up for her, keeping her safe. That's not needed anymore, and he's not sure what to make of things as they now are. He knows he can't let go of her, not now and not ever, but nothing's clear these days.
She's remarkably quiet about the relationship, not telling anyone unless they absolutely must know. After learning her dad was gone, she saw that no one needed to know anything about it. After all, she's told herself, it's not like the relationship is built on physical things.
He has also remained silent, but for his own reasons. He isn't sure how to handle things, and he's sure as hell not about to ask any of the people he knows how to go about it. They'd likely think he was crazy for choosing her, and he doesn't want that at all.
They aren't separated over the summer, as they would be if things were normal. Instead, they help with the aftermath, trying to make things as they used to be. They see each other frequently, and it's clear to everyone around them that there's something going on between them. Sooner or later, they realize, everyone will know about them.
Pink – Gentleness, Appreciation"Are you alright?" he asks her, starting to worry. He's so defensive and protective still, and it hurts him to see her in any uncomfortable situation, even one as mundane as trying to plant a rosebush.
"I'm fine," she replies. At the same moment, a thorn pierces her hand, causing a fair bit of pain.
"Let me handle that," he says. He uses a simple healing spell, one even he can't butcher, and her hand is fine again. "What's with the rosebush?" he asks, since there seem to be no reasons for one to be near the cemetery.
"It's a memorial," she replies. "I heard it was quite a fight to get it put here, but I wouldn't know." She decides, once and for all, that she should never, ever, attempt gardening again as another thorn makes its way into her arm. "Want to help?" she asks him, though she knows he'd rather not.
"Why not," he replies. Unlike her, he's rather good with plants, so within a minute the rosebush is properly planted. He would do anything to help her, and doing something he rather likes is merely a bonus.
Red (Single) – "I Love You."
If knowing she was safe was the best moment of his life, then the one facing him is a good candidate for the most awkward moment. He never thought he'd fall in love, let alone decide to propose to someone, but she's good at changing his expectations and plans. So he stands here, waiting for her to turn up, hoping he won't butcher this moment.
She arrives a moment later, so happy to see him like she always is. "Sorry I'm late," she says, hoping he'll understand like he always does. "Why'd you want to meet me here?" she notices their surroundings, a beautiful Muggle park, and starts to get excited.
"Luna," he stammers, "would you … would you marry me?" He blanches, noticing the lack of surprise on her face, like she almost knew what he was going to say. He dismisses it, though, accepting the way she sometimes knows things.
"Of course," she says, letting him gently place a ring on her finger. She looks at it and knows that it's a significant object. This is a moment she never thought would happen to her, and she loves everything about it.
He notices her curiosity about the ring. "It belonged to my parents," he says, watching her eyes light up for no reason. "What are you thinking?" he asks, always curious to know what's on her mind.
"This almost makes sense," she says contentedly. "Our families have always been connected – its gone back ages, or so I've been told – and you're just continuing it."
Red (Dark) – Unconscious Beauty"You do realize how pretty you look, don't you," he says, stepping into the small room in which she waits for their wedding to begin. He now sees exactly why she is a part of his life, why she matters more to him than anything or anyone else in the world.
"Get out!" she says playfully. "You're not supposed to see me before the wedding, period." Everything feels like a dream come true to her, as though she could wake up any second and return to the life she suspects she'd have if it weren't for him.
"But still," he replies, stepping towards the door, "you're stunning." She has always been beautiful in his eyes, but this is almost more than he can take.
"Really?" she's not ready to believe him, not ready to accept that her life is finally going properly. In her mind, she looks ordinary, and she doesn't quite get why anyone would think otherwise.
"Really." He isn't the least bit nervous about the wedding; even though he knows there's a chance something will go wrong. This is what he has always wanted.
Black – Death, FarewellShe feels his pain, every last part of it, as he is torn apart. Everything was supposed to be okay, and this is so far from it. If she had any sense of self-preservation, as some of her friends would put it, she would have ran far from here a long time ago. But it is her love for him that keeps her here, watching him die and wishing she could intervene.
He's shocked that something like this COULD happen again. He's holding on as much as he can, gasping for air as his life flashes before his eyes, wanting to fight back. This is all so wrong, so improbable, and so frighteningly much like what had happened to his parents nearly 40 years ago. He sees her, hiding in the shadows, not showing herself for fear of being killed. "I love you!" he screams, not daring to speak her name in case his tormentor realizes that someone hears him.
Now, she runs like there is no tomorrow, and in her mind there might not be one. His final words ring in her mind, and she will never forget them so long as she lives. They will haunt her until she too breathes her last.
She is tempted, so tempted to end her own life, but she realizes that he would want her to hold on, to live the life she would have had if nothing had ever happened to him. So she runs until she is out of the tormentor's earshot, then Apparates to where the children are. She will not tell them exactly what has happened, but they will know that their father was brave until the end of his life, that he was always there to protect her.
A/N: In case it wasn't clear, here are the times in which each segment occurs.
Blue – The beginning of Luna's second year
Lavender – At some point during the DA
White/Orange – Right after the final battle
Yellow with red tip, Pink – Several months after the final battle
Red (single), Red (dark) – 6 years post-DH
Black – 14 years after the Red segments
And if you were curious… Black is a slight teaser for something I'm going to write in the near future.