Happy birthday BlackKitt! Hope you have a great day.

Disclaimer: I only own my laptop and several battered copies of the Harry Potter books, I certainly didn't write them.

A/N: My first attempt at Nuna, this is a birthday fic for BlackKitt, who is an incredible friend and beta reader. If you're into Yu-Gi-Oh!, you should read her stories. I hope you like my story as much as I enjoy hers!

xxx

It was the first day of Neville Longbottom's second year at Hogwarts, and he was late. Punctuality had never been his strong suit, but this time, it wasn't his fault. Sort of. With all the excitement of Harry and Ron arriving at Hogwarts in a flying car, they had stayed up late talking about the eventful evening, and Neville had overslept. He had feebly suggested they went to sleep at some stage the previous evening, but he said it with so little conviction that nobody paid him any attention, and they talked well into the night.

When Neville woke up, he was the only person left in the dormitory, and he hurriedly dressed and ran down the stairs. He was too late to grab some breakfast before his first class, which meant that he didn't have his timetable yet either. He didn't know where he was supposed to be, but he knew he didn't have long to get there. If he was lucky, he would be on time, but that also depended on which classroom he was meant to be in. Neville groaned. He decided that getting to the Great Hall as quickly as he could was the best thing to do – hopefully there would be some Gryffindors there that would know where the second years were supposed to be.

Neville was halfway along the Charms corridor when he heard a squeaky voice pleading for help. It sounded like it was coming from a tapestry. He was very confused, as it was usually only the portraits that talked, not the tapestries, until he remembered that this particular tapestry was a shortcut to the fifth floor. Neville pulled the cloth aside and saw a small girl – so small she must have been a first year. She has a Ravenclaw tie looped around her neck, and her hair was a mess of wispy blonde strands, forming a sort of halo around her face and upper torso. Her leg was stuck in a trick step, and she couldn't free herself. She gasped with relief at the sight of Neville, and looked at him imploringly through big, pale silver eyes.

"Please, could you help me? I'm meant to be going to History of Magic and then this step captured my foot. I think it's a nest for pink-haired unipeds, their fur is unusual, and they are often hunted by cats or kneazles, so they camouflage their nests for protection. I do hope they don't eat my shoe."

Neville was flabbergasted, and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Why would they eat your shoe and not your foot?"

"They're vegetarian, you see. Actually I don't think you do, they're invisible," She smiled and stretched out a hand. "Will you help me, please?"

Neville shook his head, as though clearing water from his ears. He felt distinctly dazed. He reached out his slightly pudgy hands, and grasped her delicate wrists. He planted his feet firmly on the floor and tugged on her wrists. After a few seconds of watching her ankle slowly slide out of the stone, which behaved much like quicksand, and seemed reluctant to relinquish its grip on her, her foot was free. She beamed, and began admiring her shoe.

"Look at that! Do you know, I think those are teeth marks! Oh I can't wait to write to my father about this, he's been looking for proof of the pink-haired unipeds for months. My name is Luna Lovegood, what are you called?"

She took in Neville for the first time, as though checking to see if he too was a previously undiscovered species.

"Neville Longbottom." He timidly extended his hand again and she shook it.

"Thank you Neville. What an exciting first morning at Hogwarts! Now I'd best go to History of Magic, I don't want to be too late. I know Professor Binns is late but I don't suppose that means I should be too." She giggled at her joke and Neville stared at her, lost for words.

"What's your first lesson? I hope I've not made you late too."

"Erm, I don't know" Neville mumbled. "I was late and I don't have my timetable yet. I'm a second year Gryffindor, I don't suppose you know where my lesson is?" He looked hopefully at Luna, who twirled a lock of hair around her finger as she thought.

"Herbology, I think. I overheard the ginger boy who flew a car here talking about it."

Neville grinned at her gratefully.

"Thank you, and watch out for other trick st- uh, nests around Hogwarts. A few other steps will trap your feet too. I should know, I fall into them a lot."

Neville stared at his shoes in embarrassment as he finished the sentence. Luna looked at his shoes with excitement.

"Have you ever had your shoes eaten? Have you seen one of them?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I've never really checked my shoes for bite marks before."

He smiled at how odd the sentence was.

"It was nice to meet you Luna, now I've got to go to Herbology before I'm late." He waved, turned around, and tripped over his feet as he broke into a jog. Saving himself before he fell, he stumbled away from Luna and towards Herbology.

"Watch out for the green-haired unipeds too! They're more violent than their pink cousins!" She called after him as he left, and he couldn't help but smile to himself.

What a strange girl. Neville was no expert, but he was pretty sure that there was no such thing as pink, or green haired unipeds. As he jogged across the front lawn, he saw Harry standing outside the greenhouse, talking to the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He felt a wave of relief sweep over him, at least he wasn't the only one to be late. He slipped inside the greenhouse just after Harry, deciding to ask Hermione about pink-haired unipeds.