Neville stared at his own reflection in the mirror, practicing his words over and over, carefully making sure that they were phrased perfectly and articulately. He didn't want to make a fool of himself tonight. "Luna, I've been looking for you my whole life. You complete me even when I don't expect you to. You are smart, ambitious, comforting, and beautiful. I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. I love you. So Luna Lovegood… Will you marry me?"
He breathed deeply in and out, wondering if his little speech would be enough.
There was a soft knock on the door and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His hand hovered over the doorknob for a second before he finally pulled it open, greeting Luna with a customary kiss. "Hello," he said, hoping very much that his voice wasn't shaking from nerves.
"Where are we off to tonight?" Luna asked, comfortable standing in the doorway where as a normal person would have expected to be asked inside.
"W-Well, I thought a picnic might be nice," Neville said, indicating a small basket he'd set next to the door.
Luna picked it up, humming cheerfully as he closed the door behind him, following her into the hall. His apartment was located close to the Ministry because the Auror office wasn't considerate about the hours they called you in to work, and Neville had felt guilty waking up Gran at all hours of the morning to traipse in and out of the house.
"Where are we picnicking?" Luna asked, prancing down the stairs gracefully as he followed her like a ghost, pale complexion included.
"I thought around Hogwarts, you know," Neville stammered. "It's our one year anniversary and it's where it all started, isn't it?"
Luna stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to stare at him. "You remembered."
"Of course I did," Neville spurted with dignity. "It was a very important day. How could I forget?"
Seeming very pleased with his answer, Luna grabbed his hand and spun, taking them both to the outskirts of the small village of Hogsmeade. "To Hogwarts, then?"
Neville had cleared their picnic with Hagrid earlier in the week, making sure that although the school had been out of session for a week, it'd be okay if two former students wandered the grounds for a few hours.
He held her hand as they walked up the path to the school, finding the wrought iron gates open for them. "He's always on top of things, Hagrid is," Luna commented as they entered the grounds, finding a nice patch of grass by a tree beside the lake to spread the cloth Neville had packed. They sat down, Neville pulling out the odds and ends he had put in the basket, and Luna staring dreamily toward the lake as though she hoped the Giant Squid might join them for dinner.
"How has your week been?" Neville asked as he continued with his busy work, pulling out two small meals.
"Oh, it's been fine," Luna said, turning her attention back toward him. "Daddy offered me a special job for The Quibbler, and I think it's going to be very exciting if I accept."
Neville handed her a sandwich and a bottle of pumpkin juice as he asked, "What sort of job?"
Luna took a bite of her sandwich and wiped her hands delicately on her robes before responding. "Well, he's getting a bit older now, and Daddy can't do some of the research that he used to. On-field sort of stuff, you know?"
Neville nodded in understanding, "So you'll be doing research then?"
"Well, sort of," Luna continued cautiously, picking over her words as though they were part of the meal. "I'd be traveling the world finding the sort of creatures that Daddy finds worthy of reporting about in the magazine."
Neville had to swallow a large bite of sandwich before blurting out, "Luna, that's fantastic! Why haven't you accepted it yet?"
Luna set down her food and sighed. "Well, I need to talk to you about that, Neville. Because if I accept, I won't be around much. It'll be hard to keep up correspondence with anyone, much less a relationship. I just—I can't accept Daddy's job because it would mean losing you," she said quietly, meeting his eyes when the normal person would have made sure to look away.
"Oh," Neville said, his fists clenching by his sides in shock. What Luna wanted more than anything in the world was to find these creatures, especially if it meant helping her father. How could he possibly ask her not to go? If he truly loved her, which he was sure he did, he would let her live her dreams.
"Neville?" Luna asked with concern, watching his face grow dangerously paler than it had already been.
"Well then, you'll just have to lose me, won't you?" he said as though it were the obvious choice, choking back tears so she wouldn't see how upset he was. "You can't pass up an opportunity like this, Luna. I won't let you."
"That's very kind of you, Neville," Luna observed, torn between gratitude that he was making her decision easier, and being hurt for the very same reason. Her response had been far too polite and far too unemotional, but for the first time ever, Luna didn't know what else to say. Should she fight him and sound clingy, or should she respect his decision and understand that he had offered it to her for all the right reasons? Breaking the tension that had fallen, Luna made a grab for her container of pudding that he'd set out.
"No!" Neville shouted, lunging toward her and snatching the pudding back from her. "Take this one," he said, thrusting his own at her. She took it slowly in confusion. "I just want the chocolate one," he said lamely, staring at the small cup of pudding in his hands. The real reason was that there was a diamond ring encased in a bubble charm inside the chocolate pudding, but she would never know that.
This was her one opportunity to live her dreams, and Neville wasn't going to be the one who stood in her way. There would likely be a wrench in their relationship years down the road when she realized that anyway. No, he would let her go, and he would do his best to be happy about it.
She opened the vanilla pudding and took a bite, this time avoiding meeting his eyes. "Neville, you're upset," she observed, watching as he stirred his pudding without eating a single bite. Really he was swirling the ring around, watching it with sad eyes, but of course, to her it just looked like he was pouting.
"I'm happy for you, Luna," he said earnestly, trying his hardest to make it true. "You are finally going to find proof of all the creatures that everyone has been laughing about for years, and that'll show them all," he muttered, harshly stabbing his spoon into his pudding, breaking the bubble charm and losing the ring inside the gooey mess. He threw the container back into the basket and folded his arms over his knees. If anyone understood proving the world wrong, it was him.
"Happy one-year anniversary, Neville," Luna whispered, licking the last of her pudding off of her spoon and leaning against him to stare out at the water. "Thank you," she said, still unsure how she felt about his quick decision to let her go, but deciding it was likely for the best. Together they watched the sun set over the lake, bringing the end of a blissful together.
A/N: This was short and sweet, and I think I like it that way. Luna is hard to write as, yet very easy to over-detail, so I like keeping her stories crisp and neat. However, if you really liked this little blurb, the next chapter is more of a sequel than another chapter. It's kind of like a "10 years later" type deal. I hope you enjoy it!
-Ashley
