Disclaimer: JKR's, not mine.
Note: This was inspired by prompts from JacksonFrost: Neville/Ginny and "anticlimactic." I set out to write a drabble, but it's too long, and I set out to write romance, and I ended up with friendship. Le sigh. It just goes to show that you can't make Neville and Ginny do anything they don't want to do.
Ginny didn't think she had ever felt more helpless than when she was forced back into her compartment at wandpoint by a grinning Death Eater while one of her best friends was kidnapped off the train. It had all happened so fast. One moment she and Neville had been sitting together, waiting for Luna to return from the restrooms and quietly sharing how good it would be to be home for a few weeks, away from Snape, out from under the Carrows' thumbs, and free of their responsibilities to the DA. The next moment, the train was full of screams and shouted curses. The two of them had burst from their compartment to see Luna hurtling toward them, hands outstretched, a cadre of Death Eaters and Slytherin students at her heels. They had been unable to save their friend, unable to do anything but watch as Death Eaters wrenched her hands from theirs and took her away. What would happen to Luna now? Would they ever see her again? Despair and fury left a bitter tang on Ginny's tongue, and she wanted nothing more than to tear open the sliding door and begin cursing her enemies with all her might.
She knew if she did, however, she would end up suffering Luna's fate or worse. The sensation of helplessness intensified, and she could feel herself shaking.
Behind her, Neville was muttering under his breath and pacing like a lion in too small a cage. The remaining Death Eaters' eyes followed him with a sort of watchful readiness, waiting for him to snap and strike, and Ginny abruptly grasped the pull cord and yanked the blind over the window, blocking the view into the compartment from the corridor.
"Calm down, Neville," she whispered, turning to face him.
He was red-faced and shaking, his wand clutched in one hand, desperate for some sort of action when none was possible. Too often, the DA had to back down from fights they couldn't win, and it went against Neville's nature. Ginny tucked her own wand up her sleeve and grimaced. It went against her nature, too.
"Getting ourselves killed or arrested won't help Luna. There's nothing we can do to help her now." She kept her voice soft and matter-of-fact. Never mind that admitting her helplessness aloud, even to Neville whom she trusted as much as Harry or her brothers, made it worse.
"Those bastards," he snarled. "This isn't about Luna, and it has nothing to do with what we've done in the DA! Did you hear them? This is because old Xeno won't stop printing the truth about Harry; they're going to make Luna suffer and force her father to print their lies!"
She swallowed hard at the unfairness of it all. "I heard. Neville—"
"And we let it happen!" he interrupted. "God, if only—"
"Neville!" Ginny cut off his rant before it could begin. In a barely audible whisper, she said, "She passed me a note." She held out her hand, still shaking, and opened it until the crumpled parchment within, folded into a tiny square, could be seen.
Neville edged closer. "When…?" he whispered.
"Right before they grabbed her." She looked down at the crushed square again. "Neville, if she knew something we didn't—"
"Shh!" he hushed her, and they both looked at the compartment door. Some things should not be said out loud, things like speculating whether Luna might have known something, some secret about Harry passed to her by her father, such as where he might be. The Death Eaters were almost certainly still outside, and they would be blasting the compartment to pieces to get the note if they overheard. Neville faced the sliding door, tightened his grip on his wand, and gave her a sharp nod to go ahead.
She held her breath and unfolded the parchment. She could almost still feel Luna's fingers pressing the note against her palm in secret. It hurt to think of her friend, scribbling out a desperate note in the loo with their enemies right outside and then fighting her way past them to deliver it. Ginny took a deep breath and opened the final fold. Luna's familiar handwriting, small, loopy, and in the blue ink she favored, caused a pang in her heart, and the message…Ginny blinked and read it again, tilting it slightly so Neville could read it at the same time.
There have been reports from the Continent of Nargles infesting Christmas stockings. Do be careful!
Beside her, Neville sounded like he was choking, and a loud, horse-like bray of laughter escaped Ginny before she could help herself. "That's it? That's what she ran half the length of the train, dodging Death Eaters left and right, to bring us? Nargles in our stockings!"
Neville collapsed onto a seat and laughed until his eyes were wet. "Well," he wheezed. "She obviously thought it was something we should know."
They laughed until their knees were weak, until Ginny had a stitch in her side, and Neville was hiccupping uncontrollably. Ginny staggered against the window, sending the shade zipping up its roller with a loud whap-whap-whap and sending them both into renewed hysterics. In the corridor, Goyle, obviously left to stand guard in case they left their compartment, stared at them bug-eyed and perplexed, only making them laugh harder. When their laughter petered out, and Goyle returned to picking at his chin and staring into space, they sat side-by-side, looking at the bit of parchment as Neville smoothed it flat against his leg.
"She's strong," he said suddenly, sitting up straighter against the bench seat. "Luna, I mean. If anyone can hold out for a rescue, I think it would be her."
"And they won't want her dead." She hoped with all her heart it was true. "She's only useful to them if she's alive."
"Right. We'll see her again. I'm sure of it." He smiled a little, and to Ginny's surprise, tore Luna's note in half. He passed part to her and folded his own half into a small square that he tucked into his breast pocket, over his heart.
Ah, she thought, and tucked her half away. Relaxing against Neville, feeling him hiccup against her side, she rested her head on his shoulder and started planning the DA's next moves.