Hello, I Love You
In response to Glee Challenge, issued by babygirl121896
Song given: Hello by Rachel Berry and Jesse St. James (originally sung by Lionel Richie)
Pairing: Luna/Neville
It had been years since the people of the Wizarding World witnessed the Final Battle at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was a tragic sight, of course, and as soon as the war ended, there was a sense of mixed emotions in the air. There was joy – the battle was over, finally, and Harry Potter had won. Yet, there was also melancholy – hundreds have died, risking their lives in the battle.
All the damages done on Hogwarts have been repaired to ensure continuity of the school system, and all was back to normal in merely a few weeks. Harry Potter and his fellow students, meanwhile, continued on with their future careers. He and Ronald Weasley have accomplished their ambitions of being Aurors while Hermione Granger worked for the Ministry. Ginny Weasley rejoiced in being one of the members of the Holyhead Harpies.
As important as those four are, who would ever forget the other two memorable, extremely brave individuals who had helped Harry in saving the day? Neville Longbottom pursued a career as a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, and he didn't regret it. That is, until Luna Lovegood decided that she would travel the world in search of new magical species and such.
Their separation, at that moment, seemed almost unbearable. Yet they found themselves writing to each other as often as they could, keeping their friendship strong. There was one thing, however, that was still kept hidden. Neville harboured a secret love for Luna, and as the years passed, he never had the courage to admit it. There was one fateful, stormy night that changed everything – for good.
x.x.x
Neville Longbottom set down his quill and took a sip from his glass of cool water. He stretched his arms, his eyelids felt as heavy as lead. As he looked up at the clock on his wall, he knew why. It was nearly two in the morning, and he was halfway through marking his student's papers.
He looked out the window. The wind was howling, making the trees sway furiously and rain was pattering against the window so loudly his concentration was starting to waver. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His face was still round-shaped, though not as chubby as before. He had grown to look rather decent, as his Gran had pointed out just a week ago during Easter holidays. He took notice of the dark shadows under his eyes and his light stubble, resulting from some sleepless nights.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. He was dying to crawl into his bed and just doze off into Dreamland, but he still had about ten papers left to mark. It wasn't helping that he was marking Slytherins' papers, who mostly wrote nonsense that didn't apply to the topic given. It was either that they weren't very bright or that they were being stupid on purpose just to annoy him. After all, he was quite a notorious Gryffindor, even though it was well past his school days.
Taking a slow, deep breath, Neville went back to Reese Lloyd's paper, quill in hand. Reese is actually not so bad, he thought, his eyes scanning the text his student had presented him, He gets his facts right, at least. He was just about to dip his quill in a bottle filled with red ink when there was a sudden, loud rapping at the window. He accidentally knocked over the bottle in shock, making red ink spill all over his table, soaking some of the unmarked papers.
A barn owl was fluttering outside, still rapping on the window, completely soaked beacuse of the rain. She was holding a roll of parchment. Neville quickly took out his wand and uttered a spell to clear the inky mess before letting the owl fly in through his window.
The owl perched on his clothes hanger, shaking off water from its feathers. This made Neville's bed slightly damp, but Neville was too eager at the prospect of getting a letter to care. He took the parchment from the owl's beak and unrolled it. Slumping back on his chair, he started reading the contents of the letter.
Dear Neville,
Words cannot describe how much fun I'm having here in Australia. Logan was kind enough to let me explore some off-limit territories, which of course led me to some kind of mysterious-looking creatures, but they turned out to be just a couple of under bred Kappas.
I can't write much now, just getting ready to go out with Logan for a quick lunch before setting off on another adventure. I miss you.
Sincerely,
Luna Lovegood
Neville sat for five minutes, re-reading the letter over and over, appreciating her neat handwriting and imagining her soft, dreamy voice in his head. He was glad that she was having a great time, but he missed her so much it ached. By the time he re-read the letter for the ninth time, he started to notice one thing that stood out like a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product in Borgin and Burkes.
Who is this Logan guy? He started wondering, thinking back to all her previous letters. All of them mentioned this 'tour guide' named Logan, who she claimed to be an old friend.
"...a brilliant guy, believes he's seen some Nargles once..."
"...seems genuinely interested in Crumple Horned-Snorkacks, like me..."
An alien feeling clenched Neville's stomach - he felt jealousy. He wondered whether she was still with Logan now, wherever she is. He clenched his fists at the thought of her spending much more time with that stranger rather than with him. Surely Luna had enough sense in her head to consider his feelings? Then, he realised... She wasn't aware of them.
He remembered the time when he'd brought her to the Greenhouse just before she left for France a year ago, thinking that he had the courage to spill it all out. Instead, fear took over and he ended up blabbering about some of the plants there, completely forgetting his original plan. She didn't seem to mind his trivia and facts, though.
"You're passionate about Herbology," she'd made that blunt statement after he'd finished talking about an ugly looking plant housed in Greenhouse 4. "I like that about you."
When you've figured out the definition of a true man, come back later and we'll try this again, a nasty voice had said in his head at that moment. He felt truly bitter about it, especially after seeing Luna off at the train station.
Neville turned his gaze towards the owl perched on his clothes hanger. God damn it, he thought, infuriated with himself. He's slain a live snake, how the hell is he not capable of confessing his feelings to a girl?
That's it, I don't care. The long wait is over. I've just got to let her know.
He took a fresh sheet of parchment from his cupboard and took up his quill once more. This time, he dipped it in black ink. He started writing. After five minutes, he signed his name and gave it back to the owl. The owl took it and flew out the window.
The storm, apparently, has stopped without him noticing.
x.x.x
After that night, he anxiously awaited for her reply. In fact, he was so distracted at the sight of an owl one day that he just stopped talking mid-sentence during a class.
"Uh, Professor?" one of his students that greatly resembled Hermione Granger had asked, "Professor Longbottom? Are you okay?"
He fell out of his stupor at his student's enquiry. He shook his head, gave a small smile and continued on, feeling slightly embarrassed.
After a whole week, the anticipated letter arrived. It was during breakfast in the Great Hall, and Neville was just scooping up some porridge from his bowl when the owls arrived, bringing mail for teachers and students. He was actually rather engrossed in a book at the meantime, but when a letter plopped just next to his bowl, it was enough to make him put down his book and unroll the parchment.
Dear Neville,
Your letter has taken me by surprise. But I assure you that I'm just friends with Logan. Must be all those Invisible Inglemites bothering your head. They make you paranoid, you see. I recommend you to stay away from the unused classrooms. They're full of those.
I'm on the way back to London now. Hope to see you soon.
P.S: I love you too.
Sincerely yours,
Luna Lovegood
-Fin.
A/N: Reviews will be much appreciated, thanks.