As I called out the warning in the Great Hall, I watched out of the corner of my eye as Harry slipped on the invisibility cloak and disappeared. I smiled at the people who stared at me angrily or with confusion as I settled back down in my seat. All around me people sat, with smiles on their faces, enjoying the victory we had all received. The war was over, after many years and we were all finally free.
"Hey Luna," I smiled as Neville settled down across from me.
"Hello Neville," I greeted softly. Neville glanced over his shoulder and I followed his gaze over to a group of people who seemed eager to catch Neville's gaze. "I see you have acquired many admirers," I commented and Neville looked back at me a blush surfacing on his cheeks.
"Yeah..they seem to idolize me," Neville said nervously.
"They have good reason," I whispered. "Standing up to Voldemort like that was very brave." Neville blushed again and I giggled. "I do believe Godric Gryffindor would be quite proud," I added.
"You think?" Neville asked clearly pleased by my comment.
"Of course," I said and leaned in closer to him so as no one around could hear my next comment. "And don't forget, your parents would be too." I straightened back up and stared at Neville calmly,watching, as his face turned from happiness to sadness to disbelief to happiness once more.
"Thanks Luna," Neville said. "If I may ask, why are you sitting alone?" He asked.
"Harry was here, but he went off to be alone for a little bit," I explained.
"Aren't you lonely?" Neville asked.
"With all these people? Never," I replied signaling as I spoke to all the people that sat around the Great Hall.
"Yeah I guess no one can feel lonely in here," Neville whispered. Suddenly I got the most wondrous idea in my head.
"Neville, I feel like seeing the Room of Requirement once more, would you like to come?" I asked. Neville blinked for a few seconds before he stood up.
"Sure," He shrugged. I stood up and together we quickly exited the hall, out of the corner of my eye I saw his group of admirers sending me jealous looks, but I dismissed it quickly. 'The nargals are working extra hard tonight' I thought to myself as Neville and I walked among the nearly deserted halls in silence. As we walked I noticed Neville observing the destroyed walls, once in a while letting his hand run across one of the walls that had survived the battle. It would take a while for the old castle to be back in its prime condition, but that is not to be worried about for now. After about a 20 minute walk we reached the wall in which the Room of Requirement was hidden. I felt a smile spread across my lips as I saw that it was virtually unharmed.
"It's safe," I whispered reaching forward and touching the wall gently. When I touched it the material shimmered as if I had touched the surface of water and now small ripples were panning out from beneath my fingertips. The ripples soon vanished and changed, moving and bending into something the room was creating. The wall settled into the shape of a door, which I opened. I glanced over my shoulder to see that Neville was still by my side. Neither of us had seen this door though and what lay behind it was a complete mystery to us both.
"Did you ask it to create something?" Neville asked softly.
"I once read that the Room of Requirements can sometimes create something based upon the feeling it gets from those around it, not just a thought or command," I explained gently. I looked at Neville and he nodded his eyes fixed on the open doorway which neither of us had yet to cross. "Shall I go in first then?" I asked and Neville just firmly nodded. I smiled and walked inside without a second thought and as I did so a smile crossed my face.
"Whoa," Neville whispered. We both walked forward into the room that had now turned itself into a beautiful scenery. It was like standing in a wondrous forest, trees of all types, mainly willows though, sat comfortably around us, the grass was soft and springy and their were birds and other beautiful animals bounding around us. The greatest feature though was a small pond that sat in the far back, but it seemed to stretched back until it just seemed to disappear. It might not have been real, but it looked so real, I almost felt like I swim in it for a long time.
"It's beautiful," I whispered stepping forward and bending to touch a silver lily.
"I wonder what made the room create this," Neville wondered as he walked over to examine a plant that was singing a soft tune through its amber colored leaves.
"The room is quite smart," I whispered standing back up. "It senses the emotions and feelings of the people around it. It must have been scared itself, especially with the war going on," I reasoned.
"The room? Having its own feelings? Can it actually do that?" Neville asked curiously.
"Everything has feelings Neville, although in some places or things they are harder to detect," I said gently stepping up beside Neville and examining the amber leaved plant over his shoulder.
"Okay, if the room has feelings of its own, what feeling made it create this?" Neville asked signaling the scenery around us.
"The war has been raging on all around it, now that the war is settled it has created just what everyone has hoped and wanted for such a long time," I whispered. I glanced at Neville who still looked a bit confused. I smiled and took in a deep breath twirling in a small circle. "A peaceful place, where no evil has touched and everything shines so beautifully." Neville straightened up and stared at me with a small smile on his face.
"A peaceful place," Neville repeated still staring at me. After a few minutes his smile faded and he shook his head. "There is no such thing as a peaceful place, not in this world."
"This isn't the world Neville. The room of requirement is a place where dreams, hopes, and goals are reached. The room makes what everyone wants, it doesn't describe reality, nothing can but reality itself and the people who live in it," I whispered. I held out my hand and Neville slowly reached forward and took it in his own. Together, hand in hand, we walked back towards the still open door. Before we left though, Neville cast a final look back over the beautiful place the room had created.
"Shame, this is such a beautiful place, too bad its not even real," Neville said.
"Its real, even if we're the only two people who believe it to be," I murmured softly. Neville nodded and with him leading the way, we left the room and we started down the hall. After a few seconds though, we both stopped and turned and watched as the doorway slowly disappeared and was replaced by the normal appearance of a wall. With that Neville and I turned around again and started back down to the Great Hall.
*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I think it turned out okay. It was supposed to be a romance fic between Luna and Neville, but theres only a hint. Oh well.