She weaves a chain of white flowers together, creating slits with her fingernails in the stem of each and then pushing the stem of the next one through it before continuing the process, humming a soothing melody as she does so. Her sunshine-coloured skirt hangs down the rock on which she sits, wafting gently in the wind. When she finishes her task and enchants it, she places it securely on her head over her long blonde hair, picks up the bigger one that she made first, and skips over to her husband, hair billowing, cloak-like, behind her. He is gardening, uprooting weeds to give the other plants more room and resources to grow. Once that is done, he plans to take a few shoots of Blubbering Hibiscus to plant in the greenhouses at Hogwarts and show the children in September. When he'd first bought the plant a year ago he'd decided that it would be a good prank to play on the first years in order to get them excited about Herbology from the get-go; get a few of them to ingest a leaf, or maybe ask for volunteers from one of his NEWT classes or from the prefects, and the kids would love the class. They're always impressed by the flashier Charms and DADA classes, so this year he'll help the plants win them over.
As he stands up to stretch his legs, he feels his wife's hands gently putting something on his head. He doesn't even have to reach up to know that it's one of her Djaero Protectors.
"Thank you," he says sincerely. "We can pull up the djaerofils now."
Luna giggles as he turns around, the daffodil chain making him look incredibly childlike. "Well, Neville, you won't be winning any awards for masculinity," she says, "but I think you look sweet. And well protected, which is really the important thing."
He kisses her briefly but fondly before adjusting his gloves as he carefully steps around his precious plants to reach the infected djaerofils. Djaerofils themselves weren't bad, on the contrary they were beautiful and effective seasoning when prepared correctly, but if left untended for long enough – such as for the school term – they became infected with the mischievous creatures after which they were named, and they started to cause problems, poisoning the plants around them, when they became tired of their plant's restricted territory. Luna usually made it back to treat them before the infection but this year she'd been following the tracks of a Wuthering Lizard, which she couldn't leave for fear of never finding one again. Fortunately, she'd caught the elusive lizard and his mate and had been able to bring both of them back to the Mythical Animal Research Centre with her.
"Wait!" She reaches out to grab him before he can go any further. "I forgot that the fioras are beside the djaerofils. You need a bunch of caskyria in order to get between them."
"Sweetie, if I don't get the djaerofils removed soon, we'll have to wait for tomorrow so we have time to plant the new seeds before the fiora roots get to that soil."
"I'll only be a second. I prepared the adornment earlier; I just forgot to bring it out with us."
Holding her skirt a few inches from the ground so it won't get muddy, Luna runs back to the house to grab the bulky pouch containing the adornments, which she called bunches in front of Neville so he would accept them. She allows herself a momentary mischievous grin before hurrying back outside, hers already in her hair by the time she reaches him. She attaches his behind his ear expertly before stepping backwards and nodding approvingly. "Now you're ready."
Neville smiles and they both get to work on the djaerofils. When the last infected plant is safely in the soon-to-be-lit fireplace and the last seeds are securely in the cool dirt, Luna takes his hands in her own. "I love you."
"I love you more."
"Unlikely, but remember that feeling, okay?"
"Okay…why?"
Tugging her hands free, she pulls out the other object from the pouch and, before he can react, takes a photo. "The caskyria bunches weren't really necessary. In fact, they were just pink hairpieces I found at a fair the other week." Since most of her friends, overly aware of their lack of belief in the past, never question any of her statements, she likes to occasionally throw in something made up for fun. Neville's the only person she's ever told about it, though, so this is the first time she has tried fooling him.
"I – Luna!" He hurriedly pulls the pink flowery adornment from his hair and examines it to find that it is, in fact, a hairpiece.
She giggles uncontrollably. "Don't worry, I won't show anyone." When she finally gets it under control, she surveys him seriously. "You do remember that feeling, right?"
"It's a little hard to forget it," he admits forlornly. "Even when you seem to be emasculating me, I can't help but think how lovely you are."
"Well then, let's go inside. We both stink and after our showers I'd love to re-masculinise you."