For Cheeky Slytherin Lass (Amber)

Here Comes the Sun

As the sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, Luna knew that nothing was going to be the same from then on. Life as most people knew it had changed and she knew that it was going to take a lot of getting used to. They had suffered so many losses and had one great triumph in the last twenty four hours and somehow they cancelled each other out, leaving people unsure of what to feel. She remembered the bodies of those who had died; Tonks, Lupin, Fred, Colin Creevey and was glad that everyone had thought to move them away so that families could pay their respects quietly.

"Hey Luna," she heard a voice say dully from beside her and turned to See Harry sitting down.

"Hello Harry," she said, smiling slightly. Unsure of what to say next, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I'd want some peace and quiet if I were you," she said. Harry looked up eagerly.

"I'd love some," he said.

Luna smiled, "I'll distract them, use your cloak," she watched as Harry pulled the silvery thing out from below his jacket and shouted, "Ooh look, a blibbering humdinger!" Most people within a ten foot radius turned to look at the strangely named creature that Luna was pointing to before realising that she was Luna Lovegood and the creature probably didn't exist. When Luna turned back, He was gone. She watched as people were pushed out of the way by an unseen force that she knew to be Harry underneath his cloak trying to find a way out of the Great Hall.

She looked around, observing the people in the Great Hall, trying to get a glimpse of anyone who might need some company, because sometimes in situations like this, a person to talk to is all you need. But everyone seemed to have someone. Two tables away she could see Ginny and Mrs Weasley sitting together with glum looks on their faces, obviously mourning their lost brother and son. She could see Neville, whom she had become so fond of in the last year they had had together, sitting with the Sword of Gryffindor by his plate and surrounded by a gang of admirers. Luna couldn't help but smile at the sight of Neville looking so bashfully awkward as girls pressed themselves up against him and asked him questions, presumably about the sword and the snake. He was finally getting the recognition that he deserved.

But as Luna took in the scene before her, she couldn't help thinking that there was something missing, but she couldn't put her finger on it until her eyes landed on George, who was sitting at the edge of the hall accompanied by Bill and Mr Weasley, who were deep in discussion about something. Something in Luna's mind clicked and she realised what was wrong. It was Fred. At almost every gathering of the school in the Great Hall, she could always hear the Weasley twins' voices and laugh's echoing around the hall and making even making people who had had the worst day feel a little bit happier. That's what was missing, the joking, the laughing, the entertainment that they always offered with their huge stock of joke products that made Luna laugh for days on end. It was then that she realised that none of that was ever going to happen again. There were no more Weasley twins, and while George would eventually get over Fred's death, nothing would be the same again. She had been lucky enough to have not lost anyone to the war but she knew what losing people felt like, she had experienced that when she was nine years old and her mother's spell had backfired upon her, killing her instantly. Luna knew that her life probably would've been drastically different if her mother hadn't been experimenting that day, just like everyone else's lives would've been drastically different if they hadn't lost the people that they had lost today. But Luna knew that everything happened for a reason and while the reason probably wouldn't become clear for a while, it wold always be there waiting to be found.

"Hi Luna," Luna snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her right where Neville had just seemingly appeared out of thin air.

"Hello Neville," she said with a smile, "What happened to your admirers?"

"I told them that I needed some peace and quiet," Neville said, blushing a bright red.

"And they agreed?" Luna asked, quite surprised.

"Yeah," Neville said with a shrug, "I guess that everyone knows how everyone else is feeling huh."

"Yes," Luna said quietly, "I guess they do. We've all lost people in one way or another."

"Yeah," Neville said, looking at his lap "People keep telling me that I don't know how it feels to lose someone but I do know. I grew up without parents, I lost two of the people that I most greatly admire tonight, I lost the most courageous fighter of Dumbledore's Army, I lost friends and teachers and people tell me that I don't know what it feels like because they were closer to them than I was when the truth is that no matter how close you are to a person you're still going to be as equally as upset as their siblings or parents when they die."

Luna beamed at him, "That is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I've been trying to convey that into words for a while now but haven't found the right phrases. My thoughts are like stars that I cannot fathom into constellations."

Neville smiled bashfully, "I've just had a lot of time to think."

"As have I," Luna said, thinking briefly of her time in the cellar of Malfoy Manor with Mr Ollivander and Dobby but she pushed the thought out of her brain quite quickly, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there after Christmas, I very truly wanted to be."

"Why are you sorry?" Neville asked in confusion, "You were kidnapped by Death Eaters."

"Yes I know," Luna said, "But I wanted to be there, and I'm sorry that I wasn't. How did overthrowing the Carrows go by the way?"

Neville snorted with laughter, "Terribly," he admitted, "Once you had been taken and Ginny never came back after the Holidays I was sort of like a one man band that had other players that weren't willing to pull their weight. That is, everyone was too scared to try and defy the Carrows."

Luna laughed, "What did you do then?"

"We kind of just lay low in the Room of Requirement until Seamus decided that he wanted to do something to the Carrow's to get them back for putting Lavender in the Hospital wing, so we filled their desk draws with firecrackers and watched as the exploded in class the next day. It was the most interesting Muggle Studies lesson that I've ever had."

Luna giggled as Neville chortled at the memory, "At least you had a little bit of fun," Luna smiled looking down at her hands and then back up at Neville who seemed to be fidgeting slightly.

"What's up?" Luna asked, a smile still sticking to her face. Once you got through the awkward shell, he was really quite a funny and entertaining person once you got to know him and that was what made Luna constantly happy around him.

"I just wanted you to know that I really missed you when you were away," Neville said nervously and Luna smiled and hugged him without a second thought.

"I missed you too," she said into his ear before pulling away with a smile still on her face. To her surprise, Neville was still looking down at his hands, albeit shocked from her hug.

"Neville," she said more seriously, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Neville said, sighing slightly, "It's just that I promised myself that if I didn't die I was going to tell you something that I've been keeping a secret for ages."

"Well," Luna said, "You're not dead, and neither am I."

"I can see that," Neville said, taking a deep breath, "It's just not as simple as spitting it out. I feel like it won't mean anything if I do it that way."

"Well, firstly, what are you spitting out?" Luna asked.

"That's the problem," Neville said, "I can't. You won't think it's sincere."

"Neville," Luna said, putting her hand on his arm, "I think you're forgetting that I don't judge my friends based on how they say things."

"Promise?" Neville said, his eyes full of apprehension.

"Promise," Luna agreed, smiling kindly at him.

He took another deep breath and blurted out something so fast that Luna was surprised that she caught what he was saying, "I really fancy you Luna and I have for a while now and I hope if you don't feel the same way that we can still be friends."

Luna took a moment to process what he had just said. He fancied her, not just as friends but as something more. She had never experienced this before, not in her whole time at Hogwarts had anybody ever told her that they had fancied her, nor had they asked her on a serious date. But this was Neville, Neville who had kept her safe when they graffiti the halls, Neville who had paired up with her in DA meetings when nobody else would, Neville who had carried her out of the Department of Mysteries when she was unconscious with a broken ankle, Neville who she had gradually come to fancy as well. She had realised that there was something there that wasn't friendship in about November but It had taken six months and a confession from Neville to bring it out of her.

"Well that's good," Luna said, trying to keep how nervous she was out of her voice, "Because I quite fancy you as well."

"You do?" Neville asked.

"Yes," Luna said, "I do."

"Really?"

"Yes,"

"You're not just saying that?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Neville, shut up," she said and with those words, she leaned forward and kissed him, giving him an answer to any other question that he wanted to ask her on the subject.

AN: Amber I really hope you liked it!

Before I go, every week this year, I'll be gifting someone a fic of their choice. All you have to do is PM me before all the spots are taken! What to do is on my profile under "GIVING BACK IN 2013" I'd love it if some of you could help me fill up my spots!

DFTBA,
Best Wishes

~The Original Horcrux~