A/N: written for round 12 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Enjoy!
Maybe it was fate. No one knows. They just know that something drew both of them to that place on that day.
Neville Longbottom was bored. It was the week before he went off for his first year at Hogwarts and he couldn't sand having to wait for so long. This left him in a thorough state of anxiety. His Gran had brought him to the park to try and cheer him up a bit, only the park was empty. This is where we find him, sitting on a swing and staring off into space.
Luna Lovegood ran faster than ever before, her dirty blonde hair flying behind her. She tore through the bushes and trees, the twigs pulling at her clothes and scratching her skin. She didn't really care. Luna had no idea where she was going, or where she even was, but she knew what she would find at the end. This is where we find her, racing through the undergrowth with no idea that she will find more than she expects.
As time slowly ticked by, Neville sat in the same position and did nothing. His Gran had gone off to get him something to eat, hoping that that would lift his spirits.
Out of the corner of his eye, Neville suddenly saw something move around the bushes. He turned to see a little puppy with long brown fur and huge black eyes. He didn't know what, but something about this puppy intrigued Neville, so when the puppy scampered back into the bushes, he decided to ignore his gran's warnings and follow it.
After almost 15 minutes of constant sprinting, Luna burst into a clearing. It was surrounded with tall, green trees, and the floor was covered with twigs, earth and moss. It was beautiful. In the middle of the clearing was a boy about her age holding a puppy.
"Herakles!" she yelled, for this was her puppy.
Neville looked up, startled by the noise, to see a girl. She was about his age, maybe a bit smaller, with waist length, dirty blonde hair that had twigs stuck in it and she was wearing a blue mini dress which were ripped and torn. She had slivery grey eyes and looked very shocked. She didn't seem to blink, either. Some people would have called her ugly, especially in this state; but Neville didn't think this. He thought that she was perfect in every way; he had never seen someone so beautiful and he didn't think that he ever would again. He didn't know it, but this was love at first sight.
He could have stood there all day, just gazing at her, but it suddenly occurred to Neville that he was holding her puppy. He blushed a deep shade of red. For a moment there was an awkward silence where neither knew what to do.
"I am so sorry! This is not what it looks like; I'm not trying to steal your dog or anything, I swear! I just saw him and followed him here. Okay, that sounded really creepy but it's not as bad as it sounds; I'm Neville Longbottom, by the way, who are you?" the sentences stumbled of his mouth in a rush on account of his heart leaping into his throat.
"My name is Luna Lovegood." The girl said as she laughed lightly. Neville had never heard a sound like it. It was like a thousand tiny bells being rung while fairies wove their magic into the notes to create a perfect harmony. At this sound, Neville fell a bit harder for this mysterious girl. Then, in the distance, he heard something.
"Neville Longbottom! You come back here this instant!"
"Oh my gosh, that's my gran; I'm so sorry but I have to go!" Neville said and before he could Luna could say anything, he put down the puppy and ran off.
Luna stood there staring at where the mystery boy had just been standing. Neville Longbottom. Most people would say the name is weird, but to her it was perfect. Neville Longbottom was just perfect. The way he blushed was so cute and the way he stumbled over his words was simply adorable. She sighed, knowing that she would probably never again see the boy that she had fallen in love with.
So this is the situation. They both love each other, but they think that the love is unrequited. As the years go by they go to Hogwarts and they meet again, both too scared to admit their love, but neither giving up.
Nearly seven years later.
Neville wandered about the castle, not sure what to do. The war ended a week ago, and the castle was being fixed. Most of the sixth and seventh years that were alive and healthy stayed to help. They were all staying in the Gryffindor common room, as it was the first place properly fixed. As he had a break, Neville decided to head up for a nap.
Luna walked through the Gryffindor common room and up to the boy's dormitory to fetch a book for Ron. She pushed open the door and sighed, realising how hard this task was going to be. Everything that you could think of was thrown onto the floor anywhere in the room. She headed towards Ron's bed, hoping that the book had not travelled too far.
On the way, something caught her eye. She turned to see a silver photo frame on Neville's bed-side table. She walked over and picked it up. It was a picture of her and Neville from two years ago. They were standing in the clearing where they had first met.
A noise disturbed her and she turned around to see Neville standing in the doorway. He looked pale, and had dark circles under his eyes, like everyone else, but on him they looked mesmerising.
Luna went a deep shade of red. "This isn't what it looks like! I wasn't going through your stuff; I just came up here to get something for Ron. I-" Luna was silenced by Neville's light laugh. He started to walk towards her. Luna started to do the same.
"Why does that sound similar to the first thing that I said to you?" he asked. They were now standing face to face in the middle of the room.
"I've no idea." Luna replied. Their hands locked and their lips met.