Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I don't.
Confidence
Neville sat on the bank of the lake, alternating between reading a book entitled Herbology and Its Significance in Healing and watching the giant squid floating lazily and contentedly on the surface of the water. His toad Trevor sat next to him, keeping a weather eye out for flies.
He was halfway through a new paragraph when he heard a familiar dreamy voice say, "Hello, Neville Longbottom."
Neville looked behind and above him. There stood his fairly new, yet very good friend Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw fifth year. Her long, wavy blonde hair was down, and she was wearing her favorite radish earrings, her necklace made of old butterbeer bottle caps, and her charm that consisted of a single cork on a string. The bright purple, fuzzy sweater she was wearing was also rather difficult to miss. She had a bright blue messenger bag slung over her right shoulder. It was undoubtedly full of books, parchment, quills, and, of course, the usual barrage of quirky things Luna liked to carry with her.
"Luna!" Neville said brightly, happy at the sight of a friendly face. "Care to join me? Er—I'll understand if you don't. I know I'm not the best of company."
"Actually, Neville," said Luna, sounding as she usually did—as though she was in a reverie—and seating herself down beside him, "I think you make great company."
"Thanks," said Neville bashfully. "Sorry—it's just…I'm not at all used to receiving compliments. I'm usually always hearing about what I'm not doing right…"
"So why are you out here by yourself?" Luna asked him.
"Oh—just reading," Neville replied, showing Luna his book. "About Herbology, you know—since, well…it's pretty much the only thing I'm good at."
Luna was fishing around in her bag as he spoke. She soon found what she was looking for and took it out—a turnip.
"It really likes these, you know," she said to Neville. She then lightly tossed the turnip into the lake. It didn't bob in the water for long before the giant squid propelled itself towards the two of them (Neville recoiled slightly), wrapped a tentacle around the turnip, and brought it under the water to devour. Luna sighed contentedly.
"And I'm sorry, Neville—but in regards to what you just said, I have to disagree. I don't think Herbology is the only thing you're good at," she said dreamily.
"Really?" Neville responded doubtfully and glumly. "What else do you think I'm good at besides Herbology because I certainly can't think of anything."
"Well—you fought a boggart twice in your third year, didn't you?" Luna said.
"How did you know about that?" Neville asked, surprised.
"Ginny told me," Luna replied simply. "And you improved so much when we were in Dumbledore's Army last year."
"I miss the D.A.," said Neville. "That's the only time I've ever really felt like I have friends. Do you suppose we'll ever have meetings again?"
"Probably not," Luna said. "I expect it's no longer necessary to practice defensive spells in secret now that Umbridge is gone. But I miss the D.A., as well. It made me feel well-liked, too…But you do have friends, Neville—very good friends: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, and of course me—always me."
"Thanks, Luna," Neville said gratefully. "I should do better to remember that. But sometimes it's difficult when your Gran expects you to be just like her son—just like your dad."
"What do you mean, Neville?" Luna asked, her wide, blue eyes focused intently on him.
"Well, I live with her, you know, because…well…when I was little, Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, brother-in-law, and another Death Eater tracked down my parents. Dad was an Auror, and both he and Mum belonged to the Order of the Phoenix. Bellatrix and the others were trying to find You-Know-Who—they believed he was really gone. So they tortured my parents until my parents went mad…I still visit them at St. Mungo's from time to time, you know, but…they don't recognize me…I always accept Mum's gifts of gum wrappers, though—they're all she can give me, I think…Gran just wants Dad back, but she'll never get him back. I think she knows that deep down, but she still expects me to be just like him—follow in his footsteps and become an Auror and all that. But I can't, Luna—that's not me. And no matter how hard I try to please her, it's not enough—it's never enough."
"So that must be why you don't have enough self-confidence. The only thing I think you struggle with is believing in yourself all the time. When you are confident, you do great things. You mastered the spells in the D.A., you stood up to Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries last year, you went to the Department of Mysteries last year…Personally, I think you're quite brave. You're much braver than you give yourself credit for. Just believe in yourself, Neville. Believe in yourself, and don't care what anyone thinks of you. That's all you have to do, really," Luna said in her floaty voice.
"Luna—I'm glad we're friends," Neville said.
"Me, too, Neville," Luna replied.
She rummaged in her bag again and pulled out another turnip, which she held out to Neville. She nodded towards the giant squid. Neville took the turnip from her, took a step towards the lake, and lightly tossed the turnip to the giant squid. The squid extended a tentacle, grasped the turnip, and took it beneath the surface of the water to eat. Luna watched and then turned to Neville, smiling.
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