The Houses Competition, Term 04
Pre-Round Challenge
Prompt: Aya, Head Girl (Ship- Harry/Neville/Luna)
Loosely inspired by the song "Something to Love" by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
For Aya- it's not a lot, but I hope you enjoy it! (P.S. Listen to the song! It totally makes me think of these three!)
Twin Wishes
"Luna, what are we doing out here?" Neville asked through chattering teeth.
"Catching our death, I think," Harry muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders. "Or she's taking us into the forest after dark to murder us and hide our bodies."
Luna pranced down the stairs of the cabin with a small picnic basket in hand. "We're going on an adventure! Harry has the blankets—did you get the pillows, Nev?"
Neville patted his pocket. "Right here. But I still don't see—"
"Well, come on, then! No time to lose!" she chirped before turning to saunter down the path that led from the cabin's back door to—supposedly—the very heart of the forest.
Harry grabbed the muggle flashlight from where he'd laid it on the steps—magic was great, but it wasn't always the best solution. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" he asked as they followed their girlfriend into the darkness.
Neville shrugged, slipping his hand into Harry's. "While we were unpacking, Luna told me she wants to show us all the fun things she and her parents did before her mum died. I suppose we should have known that the Lovegood family holidays would be a bit… unconventional."
"I wonder if they spent a lot of time here," Harry murmured.
"We came here every year at the start of the Christmas season," Luna said, stepping out of the forest and back onto the path.
Neville clutched his hand to his heart. "Merlin, Luna, you've got to stop sneaking up on us in the dark. I think Harry almost stunned you."
Their eyes slid over to where Harry was hurriedly stashing his wand back in his pocket.
Luna sighed. "Darling, I know you're an auror, but must you always expect the worst?"
"Yep," Harry said with a pop. "Constant vigilance!"
Luna just rolled her eyes, took both men by the hand, and tugged them off the path.
After half an hour of tromping through the dense foliage and Neville nearly breaking his ankle twice, they still hadn't arrived at their destination.
"Should have just killed us back on the path," Harry muttered.
"Patience," Luna hissed back.
Finally, the trio stepped out of the trees into a clearing not quite the size of a Quidditch pitch.
Luna skipped out into the clearing, obviously headed for the small rise near the center. Neville and Harry hung back in the tree line, brows furrowed.
"What are you waiting for?" Luna called over her shoulder. "You're missing it!"
With a shared look of trepidation, Neville and Harry walked over to where Luna was standing and gesturing at them to hurry up!
As soon as she could, Luna snatched the blanket off of Harry's shoulders and shook it out on the ground. Neville, sensing his turn was next, pulled the shrunken pillows out of his pocket and returned them to their normal size. Luna snagged a pillow, plopped down in the middle of the blanket, and laid back, staring up at the sky. With a shrug the men followed suit, sandwiching the blond between them.
"What are we looking—" Neville started to say when a flash of light streaked across the sky.
"A shooting star," Harry breathed.
Luna nodded. "The Geminids. It's one of the best meteor showers in Britain. Mum used to drag Daddy and me out here every year to watch them. Even after she died, I would still lay out in our back garden, even though Daddy refused to join me. It was harder while I was at Hogwarts, but sometimes snuck down to the Great Hall and watched them on the ceiling there. It wasn't quite the same, though…"
Neville gently squeezed her hand. "It sounds like a great tradition, sweetheart."
"Sometimes, when I was at home for the summer at Privet Drive," Harry whispered, "if the Dursleys didn't lock me in my room, I snuck out into the back garden and looked at the stars. There was always too much light pollution to see much, but I remember one summer I actually saw a few shooting stars. I thought that was beautiful, but this… this is incredible, Luna."
"My gran never allowed anything like that—it wasn't 'proper' enough for her, I suppose," Neville said. "But Harry's right, this is amazing. I'd like to do more of it…"
Taking both their hands, Luna smiled. "Then it's settled. More meteor showers."
Neville shivered lightly. "But maybe, for the next one, we could try the one Harry saw? So that we don't freeze our arses off?"
Luna laughed before casting a Warming Charm on each of them. "Of course, dear."
The wind was cold, the sky was dark, and the ground was hard. And the night was absolutely perfect.