It was inevitable, really.
Neville x Luna.
This is my entry to the 'Potter Project' competition by Spuffypotter97.
Neville first met Luna in his fifth year, on the train journey to Hogwarts. He had seen her before, noticing her long blond hair in the corridors, but had never known who she was. He, Ginny and Harry had been trying to find a somewhere to sit, and the only remaining carriage was the one in which Luna was sitting. She had her wand behind her ear and her magazine upside down, but he thought she was a very pretty girl, which made him nervous.
As they entered the compartment, Luna focused all of her attention on Harry. Neville thought she hadn't even noticed him come in with the others, so he silently settled into his seat. However, Luna promptly told him that she didn't know who he was.
"I'm nobody." He hurriedly replied, without really knowing why he hadn't just told her his name. Perhaps because it would mean nothing to her, unlike the name of the famous Harry Potter.
Ginny then stepped in and introduced them properly, not realising that she was introducing him to the love of his life.
-o-
Luna thought Neville was sweet when he entered her compartment on the first day of her fourth year. He looked so shy, sitting in the corner, hardly saying a word. The only time he seemed to come alive was when he was talking about his new plant, the Mimblus mimbletonia. She had thought it was interesting, even if it did squirt stinksap all over her and her magazine. It was peculiar, like him, and everything else that she loved.
-o-
Throughout the year, they became close friends. After Dumbledore's Army was set up, they saw each other on a regular basis, often pairing up at the meetings. It was hard not to bond when helping each other to learn in such close contact, both giving tips to the other on the different spells. Neither of them had been any good at defensive magic before the DA was set up, and their similar skill levels made it easy for them to work together.
Neville often found himself watching the sunlight reflect off her hair, or sparkle in her eyes. She was such a beautiful person to him, not just because of her pretty face and slender form, but because she was so open minded and accepting of everything. Others saw it as strange, but he found it refreshing to meet someone so different.
-o-
Luna only truly realised her feelings for Neville were more than just friendship whilst at the ministry, when they were battling the Death Eaters. The way he had looked at her when surrounded by the prophecies and dark wizards, before the fighting had begun, showed his feelings for her in a way words never could. It was a pained expression, telling her that he was more worried about her safety than his own, or any one else's. And as she looked at him, and worked everything out, she suddenly knew that the feelings he felt were mutual.
When the fighting began, he stayed close to her, protecting her as well as he could. He kept standing in front of her, defending her from any spells that broke through their magical shields. She tried her best to fight off the Death Eaters, stopping them from hurting Neville as much as possible – she didn't want to see him injured because he was protecting her.
-o-
After the fight at the ministry, and over the next year, Luna never mentioned their feelings for each other. She felt it would be best to wait for him to say something first, although she knew if that was to happen it would take time, he was painfully shy. Content to just wait, Luna and Neville stayed as friends throughout her fifth year. He was her best friend, and she was happy.
Neville found his feelings for Luna becoming more and more intense as the months passed by. He wanted to tell her, wanted her to know how much he loved her, but it was impossible for him to do so without more courage, which he could not find.
-o-
The seventh year of Neville's life at Hogwarts seemed to pass in a blur. Harry, Ron and Hermione, some of his closest friends, were out fighting Voldemort. Some thought they had fled, but he knew they would never do such a thing, even if news of their activities never came. At the school, he had become the new leader of the DA, along with Luna and Ginny, which had started again. They used the old group to cause as much havoc as they could, refusing to give in to the new faculty.
He found himself becoming ever closer to Luna. He knew that soon he would be able to tell about his love for her.
And then, suddenly, she was gone. He awoke one morning to Ginny telling him that she had been taken away the previous day, no one had seen it, but all of her stuff was gone and she hadn't told anybody about leaving. He knew straight away that it must have been Death Eaters, though he had no idea why they would want her. It felt as though something that belonged to him had been taken away, like someone had decided they needed to use one of his organs, and cut him open without asking first. The next few days were the worst; he felt alone, he needed to be with her. He knew now that whenever he next saw her, he would be able to tell her how he felt.
-o-
During the battle of Hogwarts, Neville felt strangely calm. He was fighting as hard as he could, doing his best to injure all the masked figures in his path, but he felt no anger or fear. He knew that Luna was here somewhere, and he would try his best to find her. Darting through the rubble that littered the castle floors, he ran into Harry and the others.
"Neville! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Luna! I have to tell her how I really feel!" He shouted back, without pausing to explain himself.
In the end, he didn't see her until everything was over. He had just had a face to face conversation with Voldemort himself, shortly before his death, the best news for the wizarding world for 17 years, but when she walked over he could think of nothing else but her. Though there was dirt covering her clothing, hair and skin, with scratches scattered across her face and hands, and blood smeared across her left cheek, he thought she looked more beautiful than anyone. She sat down next to him, without looking at his face. He opened his mouth to talk, but she took his hand in hers, squeezing gently. He knew he didn't need to say anything, and they just looked at each other, smiling.
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