Written for Gryffindor's 72-Hour Truth or Dare Competition! I used the Dare prompt - dialogue: "Was that supposed to happen?"
Other prompts and author's note to follow.
Helping Luna Lovegood
"Luna! Hey, Luna!" Neville jogged up to the dirty-blonde Ravenclaw in the first floor corridor, panting. "Do you...do you need any help?"
Luna shifted the posters in her arms and tilted her head as though assessing him. "Hello, Neville. You're very kind to offer, but I think I can manage by myself."
"Oh." Neville tried not to look too disappointed. "Right. I just thought...the castle is so big..."
"Tell you what," she said suddenly, a huge smile lighting up her face, "why don't you come with me and keep me company? I'll do the hanging, and you can do the entertaining."
Neville returned her smile, although much more nervously. The only time people found him entertaining was when he was messing up somehow. He wasn't naturally outgoing or funny, or whatever people had to be in order to be considered "entertaining." But then, he mused, Luna Lovegood is not most people.
"Sure," he said at last. "I mean...I'll try."
Luna didn't seem terribly bothered by his uncertain reply. In fact, she had already walked off, leaving Neville to scramble after her.
"So, um, do you have any plans for the break?" he asked, falling into step with her.
She turned her pale grey eyes on him and he swallowed nervously. "Oh, yes, Daddy and I are going on an expedition. We're going to try and find a three-snouted Sporgle!"
As usual, Neville had no idea what she was talking about. His confusion must have shown on his face, for Luna added, "They live in Ecuador. They're quite savage, but if you can get close to one, you can tame it by stroking it's middle nose. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Oh, er, yes." Neville privately thought the creature, if it indeed existed, sounded quite terrible.
Luna turned down the hallway that led to the kitchens. Neville followed her until they were both standing across from a stack of barrels.
"Hufflepuff common room," Luna explained. "I don't think any of them would have taken my shoes-" Neville decided not to make an argument for Zacharias Smith- "but maybe they know something." She affixed a poster to the wall with her wand and stood back to admire her work. Neville looked at the sign, too.
"Wow. It's so...bright."
Luna had certainly gone all out. The posters were a vivid turquoise with neon yellow letters, and she had enchanted them so that they flashed like strobe lights. In truth, they made Neville's eyes water just looking at them, but at least they were sure to catch anyone's eye. On them, Luna had written, "Wanted: the safe return of my possessions, no questions asked." Neville felt a surge of pity flare up inside himself. It's not fair that people target her because she's different.
"Do you like them?" Luna beamed. "I made them all myself, just this morning."
"You did a great job," Neville assured her. "I'm sure you'll get your shoes and things back in no time."
Her face fell slightly. "Yes, I rather hope so. Makes it a bit hard to pack, you see."
"You will," he insisted, and was rewarded with a squeeze to his hand.
"You're a good friend, Neville Longbottom."
He turned away, hoping she wouldn't see him blush. She's just saying that to be nice, you fool. "C'mon," he mumbled. "We should put some signs near Gryffindor tower."
They climbed back up to the entrance hall and began to ascend the first of several magical staircases. As they made their way towards the tower, Luna asked about Neville's plans for the holidays. He couldn't very well tell her about going to visit his parents at St. Mungo's, however, so he stuttered something about spending time with his grandmother. He was so flustered that he forgot about the missing stair, and sank miserably into the gap. He almost never remembered to skip this step anyway, but to forget in front of Luna was nothing short of mortifying.
He sighed and looked at Luna, expecting to find pity or mirth in her gaze. He was immensely relieved to find neither.
"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.
He nodded. "I just...I can't stand up. Not properly. But it doesn't really hurt or anything."
"Perhaps you can use this to your advantage," she mused. "See the world in a different way and all that. Shall I join you?"
"No," he said hastily. "Things don't look that much different to me, anyway. The stairs just look closer than usual." Luna laughed. Oh, what a lovely sound...
"Oh, Neville, what will we do with you?" she teased. She reached under his armpits and tugged until he freed his leg.
"Thanks," he said, praying she wouldn't comment his burning face.
"No problem," she said lightly, and skipped her way up the rest of the staircase and onto the landing. Neville joined her and looked around.
"Let's go this way," he said, pointing to a brightly lit corridor to their left. "I think there's a secret passageway somewhere along here we can use."
If Luna found it strange that he wanted to use a secret passageway, she didn't show it. In fact, she looked downright excited. Neville couldn't help but smile at that.
Halfway down the hallway, Neville stopped in front of a faded tapestry of a battle scene. He pulled out his wand and tapped it twice. Sparks flew from the tip of his wand and caused the hanging to catch fire. Great, now I really look like an idiot.
Luna quickly whipped out her own wand and said, "Aguamenti!" Water spouted out of the tip and extinguished the flames. Thankfully, the tapestry must have had magical protections on it, because it appeared unaffected by the his clumsiness.
"Was that supposed to happen?" she asked conversationally.
For the third time that evening, Neville found his face going red. "No."
"Well, are you sure this is the right entrance to the hidden passageway?"
Neville looked down at his feet. "No," he admitted. Maybe the floor will swallow me up if I wish hard enough...
"No worries," Luna said, patting his arm. "We can always put a poster on that bulletin board over there while we're here."
"Good idea," he said, ignoring the swooping he had felt in his stomach at her touch. He followed her a little ways down the corridor and watched her put up another sign. Noticing that her arms seemed to be getting tired, he asked, "Do you want me to carry the posters for you?"
"No, I'm alright," Luna started to say, before she was interrupted by a drawling voice.
"Well, isn't this adorable."
The pair whirled around to find Pansy Parkinson smirking at them. Neville gulped audibly, causing her smirk to widen.
"Looking for these?" she asked sweetly, pulling a pair of scuffed black shoes from behind her back.
"Why, yes," Luna replied, and reached for them.
Pansy stepped back. Uh-oh. "Did you really think I'd give them back to you that easy, Loony?" she sneered.
"Give them back, Pansy," Neville said quietly.
"Oooh, I'm scared now, Longbottom! What are you going to do, stutter at me?"
Neville drew himself up to his full height. At least I'm taller than she is, for whatever that's worth. "Surrender her shoes," he said with bravery he did not feel, "or I'll-I'll hex you!"
She shrieked with laughter. "Yeah, right."
"I-I will!" Neville shouted, drawing his wand once more. There's that Gryffindor courage, he thought proudly. It didn't show itself often, but sometimes his inner Lion was poked one too many times and he was forced to assert himself.
"Neville," Luna said gently, "it's quite alright. I can always get another pair of shoes."
"It's not alright," Neville huffed, adrenaline coursing through him. "I won't-I'm not going to let her-"
Pansy was still laughing hysterically. "If I didn't know better, Longbottom, I'd say you were in love with Loony here."
Neville froze. "That's not-why would you-"
"So what if he is?" Luna cut in, raising an eyebrow. Her voice was slightly sharper than usual and her normally serene eyes had darkened.
Neville turned to face her, his mouth opening and closing without a sound. Did she just-
"'So what if he is?'" Pansy echoed. She somehow looked both disgusted and flabbergasted, her facial features torn between scrunching up and stretching out. Neville might have laughed if he hadn't been so humiliated. "Well, I suppose you wouldn't mind having a freak in love with you, would you, Loony?"
Neville felt anger bubbling up inside of him the way his cauldron sometimes did seconds prior to exploding in Potions class. I am Lion, hear me roar! Before he could think about what he was doing, he had yelled, "Petrificus totalus!"
Pansy's arms and legs snapped to her side and her entire body stiffened. She fell over on her back, her eyes wide, unable to say anything due to the Full Body-Bind Nevile had just put her in.
"Oooh, nice one, Neville!" Luna whispered, picking up her shoes where Pansy had dropped them.
Neville smiled shakily as he took the stack of posters from her and tucked them under one arm. "We'd better get out of here before Filch or someone else comes." Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her out of the corridor. Back at the landing, he ran up another flight of stairs, still pulling her behind him.
"Neville, wait up!" she cried, but she was laughing.
"Sorry," he gasped. "I just didn't want anyone to see us. Near Pansy, I mean. I don't care if people see us together...other places."
Luna leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, eyes sparkling. "I know what you meant. I don't care if people see us together either."
Neville blushed yet again.
FIN
Word count: 1,632
Other prompts are as follows:
Hogwarts Seasonal Challenges
Days of the Year - 1st May: write about someone proving their loyalty (this one may be stretching it a little?)
Colors - Turquoise
Birthstones - Diamond (dialogue): "It's so...bright."
Flowers - Hyacinth (word): surrender
Hufflepuff Challenge - Traits: loyal
Writing Club
Disney Challenge - Rex: write about someone with an inferiority complex
Showtime - Do You Wanna Hang? (dialogue): "I can't stand up."
Sophie's Shelf - Lannister: "Hear me roar!"
Lo's Lowdown - trait: loyal
Film Festival - item: wanted poster
Hogwarts Gym
Oliver Wood's Quidditch Training Camp Level 1 - Sit Ups: at least 500 words in the genre Romance
Paint by Numbers
Blue - words: flabbergasted
Insane House Challenge
63. Character: Neville Longbottom
A/N: Due to the time crunch of the challenge I wrote this for, there may be some errors/continuity issues (which will be fixed later, though I did try my best to find them), but overall, I really like this story! I'd consider it a sequel or companion of sorts to my 2009 (!) fic "Kissing Luna Lovegood," which I would also recommend if you like Neville/Luna fluff. Oh, and the three-snouted Sporgle is my own invention - it is mentioned in my story "Her Fleeting Fancy" as well.