Luna and Neville
Luna Lovegood was in the middle of the owlery while spinning around in a small circle. She was trying to take in every detail of the damaged and destroyed room. The only things that were in or near the tower were Luna and the few owls that had nowhere else to live. For everyone was busy trying to fix what was left of Hogwarts. It had been a little bit over a month since the battle and half of the castle was still in ruins. That was a small price to pay for the end of Voldemort's reign. Luna had been staying there while her father was on trial for trying to helping the death eaters capture Harry Potter. Luna had wanted to be there but no one would let her outside of the grounds. Luna had seen many of her friends throughout the time she had been stuck here nut they were all in a rush to get somewhere each time. Overall, Luna was alone.
Suddenly, Luna stopped spinning right in front of one of the many windows the owlery contained. The sunset, which Luna had not notice appear until now, was shining through the window's cracked glass in just the right way to make it look breathtaking. It was perfect for what she needed.
Luna took a few paces backwards and went on an angle so that she wasn't right in front of the window. She, then, pulled out her wand and summoned all of her painting supplies. When they appeared, Luna quickly set up and sat down. She grabbed her notebook and pencil and flipped through until she found the next blank page.
For the last month, Luna had kept herself entertained by drawing and painting pictures of the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. She hoped that by the time construction was over, Luna's collection would be finished and her father's trial would be completed. Then, she could go back home and everything would go back and everything would go back to normal, well kind of normal anyways. It would be different without DA meetings to look forward too. That was the only time Luna had had friends.
Luna shook her head, as if it could get rid of the bad thoughts, then started concentrate to sketch the basic outlines of the room. Luna's concentration was broken by a soft hoot of one of the owls. The owl flew over and swiftly landed on Luna's shoulder. Luna quietly sighed as she laid down her notepad and looked over at stormy gray owl.
"Hello Sugar. What brings you to my shoulder?" Luna asked Sugar, which was the name Luna had been calling the small barn owl. This was one of the few owls that had been left by its owner after the battle. Luna had asked around if anyone had known whose owl this was but no one knew.
Luna and Sugar had meet during the days just after the battle of Hogwarts. The first time Luna had come up to this room, she had brought a cup of tea with her. She had still not put the sugar cubes into her tea and had them resting on the edge of her saucer. As she walked into the room, a flash of dark gray went across Luna's vision and caused Luna to scream and drop her tea. The flash, then, landed right next to the broken cup and began to eat the sugar cubes. Luna had started to laugh quietly to herself when she noticed that it was a simple owl that had scared her. Luna had decided to call the owl Sugar, since it liked sugar cubes, and the two had been friends ever since.
Sugar hooted feebly back at her and gave Luna a look that asked, "Do you have anything to eat?" Luna laughed at her small friend. It was just like her friend, Ron Weasley, since they were both always hungry.
"Not today, sorry Sugar. I came up her to paint," Luna said. "But how would you like to be part of my painting?" Sugar hooted happily, which Luna took for a yes, so she took her over to the sill plate of the window and positioned her the correct way. "Now, you need to stay perfectly still." Luna told Sugar while backpedaling to her seat. When Luna got back, she picked up her notebook and pencil, with the intention of getting back to drawing, but instead was interrupted by a person running up the flight of stair that leads to the owlery. With a sigh, Luna put down her book and turned around to see who the oncoming visitor was.
A few seconds later, a short brown haired man walked into the room. He was breathing hard from running up the stairs and had a little bit of sweat running down his face. Luna felt her heart rate speed up and she started to blush slightly.
"Hello, Neville. What brings you to the castle today?" Luna managed to say after a second, which she used to collect herself. She had started to find herself attracted to Neville Longbottom ever since the end of the war but hadn't been able to tell him how she felt.
"Oh, hello Luna. I'm here to help fix this place. First, I have to send a letter to gran telling her that I got her safely. What are you doing here?" Neville answered sweetly. He smiled down at Luna, which only made her heartbeat speed up more as she smiled back.
"I'm painting." Luna said while lamely gesturing to her supplies, "I have to stay here while my dad is on trial." Luna's voice got lower as she admitted why she was there. It was slightly embarrassing to say that your dad was on trial for going fighting with the death eaters, even though he didn't. The only crime Luna's father had committed was when he gave the tip to where Harry Potter had been, which he did only to save her from being tortured any longer.
"Right, I forgot about that!" Neville exclaimed while giving Luna a comforting look. "Have you heard how the trial is going?"
"No word from anyone. They have put me in the dark." Luna admitted sadly and without her usual wittiness. Moved with pity, Neville pulled Luna into a hug and rubbed her back comfortingly.
"I'm sure he is fine, Luna." Neville murmured into her ear. A smile lit upon Luna's face and, while pulling out of the hug, Luna noticed that Neville was holding onto a pot of flowers.
Luna's curiosity brought out her usual character and said "What are you holding there, Neville?" dreamily. The smile that was on Neville's face vanished instantly and he staggered over to the small bench on the other side of the room. He sat down and put his face into his one hand.
"I forgot about this for a minute." Neville commented with a harsh laugh. "I was going to give this to someone, Hannah Abbott to be precise, and as I was going up to her, I saw that she was snogging one of the Hufflepuff. I think it was Ernie Macmillan. Stupid git, he is." Luna heart plummeted. Of course he liked another girl. Why in the name of Merlin would he have feelings for Loony Lovegood? Luna though sourly. She, then, pasted a fake and forced smile on her face, quickly went over to him, and pulled Neville into a hug. When she made contact, Luna felt her face immediately heat up and prayed that Neville wouldn't notice.
"You know, we hug and comfort each other way too much." Luna noted after a minute or so, with her blush now completely gone "It's like we are part of one of those Muggle soap operas." Neville laugh hoarsely and gave Luna a genuine smile.
"Your right yet again, Luna. It does seem that way." Neville answered while continuing to chuckle. Suddenly, Luna got an amazing idea, at least to her anyways.
"How would you like to be part of my painting?" Luna asked excitedly while pulling away from the hug again. Neville gave her an uncertain look, but Luna quickly put on her best puppy dog face. "Pretty please, Neville, with sugar on top!" She whimpered.
With a sigh, Neville replied, "Fine, I'll do it. What's the harm anyways?" Luna, then, let out a very loud squeal and dragged him over to where Sugar was patiently waiting. Note to self, bring Sugar lots of sugar cubes tomorrow. Luna mentally told herself.
Luna continued on with positioning her models and, when she was satisfied with the way it looked, went back over to her seat. "I'm going to need both of you to be completely still and quiet for the next few minutes." Luna casually remarked as she got back to work.
A half hour later, Luna had finished drawing the scene in her book. "Alright, we are done. Tomorrow, I will recreate this onto the canvas and, the day after, I will paint it. You two can do whatever you wish now." She said while closing her book. Sugar flew over to Luna and swiftly landed on her shoulder. Then, Sugar unceremoniously gave Luna a look and gestured over to where Neville was, with her head. Of course Sugar noticed I have a bloody crush on him. Luna thought with a sigh. And now I am getting relationship advice from an owl. They are worse advice givers then nargals! Thank goodness I'm wearing my Butterbeer cork necklace. There is no way a nargal could come here and confuse me more than now. Luna slowly walked over to where Neville was standing and, when she got to be next to him, Sugar flew away to be with the rest of the owls. They both stared out at the last of the sun for a little while in an awkward silence.
"So, um, I'm sorry about Hannah." Luna said lamely in attempt to start some type of conversation.
"It's okay. I really didn't like her that much, now that I think back upon it." Neville admitted with a small grin, which made Luna's heart flutter. She looked down trying to conceal the blush that appeared on Luna's cheeks.
After a few minutes, Luna was calmed down enough that it wasn't noticeable that she wasn't freaking out. She, then, looked up and attempted to talk to him again. "Neville, can I," Luna started but was interrupted by a pair of soft lips brushing against hers.
Neville quickly pulled away, with his face as red as the Weasley's hair. "Sorry, I don't know what just came over me." He muttered apologetically, while looking down at his feet. Luna pushed his head up, so he was looking at her.
"There's nothing to be sorry about." She whispered before leaning in and kissing Neville for the second time. For the first time in weeks, Luna was actually happy.