Author's Note: So, this will be my contribution to Human Multitaskers Monthly Writing Contest (Harry Potter Edition) of January 2012. You could vote for me on their page here between January 20 and February 5 ( u/3342434/The_Human_Multitaskers).
Snow. Neville/Luna. "Say that again, I love how it sounded."
"I'm fine, Neville," Luna said, sensing the question upon his lips. Her eyes had remained solely upon their path, never even having trailed to him to speak.
Neville smiled, shaking his head slightly. His hand momentarily tightened upon hers. There were so many reasons for him to love her. Others thought her weird at best… There were times when she did not make sense to him either, but it wasn't enough of a reason for him to love her less, never mind stop loving her at all. There wasn't anything about her that could possibly make him not love Luna Lovegood. What others saw as weird, he embraced… he accepted, despite not always understanding.
Scientific interpretations weren't everything. Sometimes one could so easily enjoy the more dreamy, less realistic versions of the how and why of everything. Neville sometimes needed the candor, the ingeniousness… and he gladly took the non-sense accompanying it – recounted mythology or not, updated mythology or entirely new.
Whether he believed in them, he didn't quite know… but he believed truly in his Luna.
An innocent and dreamy voice like hers sounded welcome after times of loss – a thread between the loss of belief in human nature and a restoring love.
Sometimes one needed to be able to get into a state over reality, and Luna… altogether was more abstract and solid than anything or anyone else whom he knew. In all, she was his everything. He would never regret having told her he loved her – he never would have seen Luna the way in which he did now, had he not.
What had begun as a mere sudden realization that despite the weird behavior and slight mythological edge, he could not bear the thought of losing Luna, her having been part of his sanity… thoughts of a little something she said making him smile through the darkness, and then thoughts of her in all.
Holding onto one another, they waded through the layer of snow – another few centimeters had been added that night. They had to be careful not to sink into the white. They easily could have Apparated the bit of distance, but Luna had mentioned she would like to walk instead. Wordlessly, he had followed her after having said goodbye to her father until Saturday. They always came over on Saturdays for dinner.
The snow creaked beneath their feet, warming charms shielding them from the cold wind and chill air that naturally accompanied snowy, wintery weather. Green fields of summer had turned into the typical winter wonderland. It created absolutely beautiful a scene in the wide fields of Ottery St. Catchpole, though… holding a sort of natural magic far unable of being created by Muggle or Wizard.
"You know," Luna said, foregoing looking at her lover still, "Mom and I used to make snow angels in this type of weather. She very much liked the nature… beside experimenting, that is."
Neville quietly turned his head to look at her, waiting for her to continue if she wanted.
"Do you hear that?" she asked him while finally turning her head to look at him in return.
His brow furrowed as he listened but heard nothing. His head shook in denial. To his utter surprise, Luna's smile widened. "That's because of the wonsgels."
Neville chuckled. "Wonsgels?" he repeated, not quite able to voice it as she did.
Luna smiled and nodded in confirmation nonetheless. "Yes," she said. "They're very tiny little animals within the snowflakes that fall from the sky – little angels, so to speak."
"Oh, no one invented them – they were always there. I'm not sure when they ever were discovered, but Mum has told me about them. You know, when you step on snow, the sounds you're making?" Neville nodded. "That's the wonsgels. They don't particularly like to be stepped upon."
"Why don't we better Apparate then?"
Luna's head shook. "No. They'll be okay."
They continued for a little while longer, until they saw the weird shape of the Weasley home appear in the far distance. Suddenly, Neville chuckled. Luna turned to him curiously. He shook his head at the vague look of unformed question in her large blue eyes. "Say that again, I love how it sounded."
"Wonsgels?" Luna questioned.
A chuckle left Neville's mouth at how perfectly… normal and beautiful it sounded, coming from her. "I love you," he whispered, letting go of her hand and wrapping his arm around her, pulling her against him just as a new thin cloud of snowflakes began swiveling down from the skies above again. A mist of snow certainly would be covering them at arrival by the Wealseys.
"I love you, too," she said in her naturally dreamy voice, head falling upon her lover's shoulder. Those four little words were the most beautiful word combination he ever had heard of her and would ever hear as well. They were like a nice dream, just like she.
"Would you like to make a snow angel?" Neville suddenly questioned, halting.
Luna halted, too. She eyed him in what seemed like disbelief, then smiled while nodding vigorously. A shriek left her as Neville immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled them down into the snow. As she fell atop of him, looking at him with those clear blue eyes, a feeling of warmth, perfectly contrasting with the cold of the snow in which they lay, overwhelmed her… Love overwhelmed her while realizing how much she in fact loved him. Leaning down, she let their lips touch momentarily… then began giggling uncontrollably. Neville's laugh joined hers only seconds later.
These moments were always the best.