The train trundled down the long stretch of track across the England countryside. The three friends sat in their compartment. A girl with long, red hair and light brown eyes sat close to the door, knees pulled up to her chin and staring at her two other friends by the window. Another girl with waist-length dirty blond hair sat with her head leaning against the window staring up at the clouds. A taller boy with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes stared at the girl across from him.
"Look!" cried Luna "That one looks like a running squirrel!" Even though it was a cloudy day Luna made up a game where you find shapes in spaces between the clouds. She was good at finding things to be cheerful about even in the shadiest times.
"No," said Neville "It looks more like a teapot with steam coming out of the spout." He pointed to a thick, puffy part of the patch that Luna had obviously interpreted to be the squirrel's tail.
"Oh I don't think so," said Luna serenely to her best friend, holding his gaze. He stared back into her light eyes and noticed for the first time what a pretty shape they were. Neville dropped his gaze quickly as Luna turned to the red-headed girl. "What do you think, Ginny?"
Ginny did not answer. She had barely spoken a word since arriving at Platform 9 ¾ that morning. Neville knew it was because their other good friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione, were travelling; not coming to Hogwarts this year. Ginny had said that Harry told her that they were going into hiding, but that she had her suspicions that they were trying to finish off You-Know-Who. This made Luna shudder and Neville had asked what they, the remainder of the group, were going to do. With Dumbledore dead and Snape the new headmaster Neville didn't know what to expect this year. Ginny had said that they had to take matters into their own hands. Neville did not yet know how they were going to do that.
"Here Ginny," said Luna soothingly, reaching into her bag, "Have a Chocolate Frog." She handed the sweet to Ginny who took it and mumbled her thanks.
"Oh, can you pass me one?" Neville asked Luna. As she passed him one he was careful not to look into her eyes. Why was this so hard for him all of a sudden? Luna was just…Luna. And he was Neville. And that was Ginny. End of story. It had been this way for the past two years. Yes, he knew that he and Luna had a stronger friendship than he and Ginny would ever have; but that was it. That was where he had drawn the line…
"Neville," Luna giggled, "You have chocolate all over your face." Neville didn't realize that while he had been thinking about Luna he had devoured his Chocolate Frog in a few bites. He promptly began to turn scarlet.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I'll just-" He wiped the area around his mouth with the back of his hand. Why was he so embarrassed now? These girls had seen him in much more embarrassing scenarios over the past couple years and it barely bothered him…
Luna sighed. "You've still got a little bit right-" she leaned over and lightly brushed her thumb across his cheek. "There." She sat back smiling, apparently pleased with her work. Neville just stared wide-eyed at her. When Luna turned to talk to Ginny Neville rubbed the part of his face where her thumb had met his cheek. Her touch lingered like white-hot embers in a dying fire. This was ridiculous. Why did he feel so differently towards her now? Or did he feel this way all the time and had never been conscious of it?
The train suddenly and violently lurched forward so that Neville fell onto the ground on his knees. Ginny's head snapped up immediately. From the window Neville could see two cloaked figures boarding the train.
"Do you think they're Dementors?" asked Ginny, her wand at the ready. Now she was acting more like her usual self; ready to spring into action at any moment.
"We would have felt them by now," Neville assured her. Nearer to the front of the train he heard voices and the opening and slamming of compartment doors. Finally the intruders came to their compartment and slid the door open.
There stood a short hooded man and a stout hooded woman. Neville knew instantly that they were Death Eaters, though in a few minutes he would not have doubted.
"Names?" asked the man with a rough voice, though not rough enough to intimidate to trio.
"What'd 'you need our names for?" asked Neville defiantly. Standing up to these people would be a suitable way to take matters into their own hands. Showing everyone that they were standing up would be a start to a new Hogwarts rebellion. This idea permeated through his very attitude. He felt oddly and uncharacteristically bold.
"Look, kid, this is just standard procedure," the woman said. She had a high, nasally voice that could compete with nails on a chalkboard. "The Dark Lord said to check ev'ryone on the train. So we can make sure there 'r no Mudbloods tryin' to sneak inta Hogwarts."
"Well, I'm Luna Lovegood," said Luna, "and this is Ginny or – erm – Ginevra Weasley and Neville Longbottom." She pointed to each party in turn as she uttered their names.
Obviously, thought Neville, Luna was just trying not to get them into too much trouble before they even got to Hogwarts. She had brains, that one. Almost as much as Hermione.
"OK, you're cleared. But one more question," said the man "Do any of you know the whereabouts of Harry Potter?"
"Well," said Neville, standing to his full height (which was almost a head taller than the man) "I wouldn't tell you if I knew, would I?"
The man turned to the woman who gave a shifty grin and a nod. "Very well," said the man, turning back to Neville with the same sadistic expression on his face. "Crucio!"
All of a sudden Neville couldn't feel anything but the burning pain slashing through his veins. He knew he was screaming. Knew the Death Eaters were laughing. But he couldn't hear, couldn't feel. He just wanted to die…
Then Neville could hear something over the scorching pain. He could hear someone. The only reason he could hear them was because he never dreamed she could make such frantic sobs.
"NO! NO! P-please! Just stop! STOP! Please! Please, please…" Luna's gasps were almost as terrible to hear as the pain was to feel. As suddenly as the pain came…it ceased. Neville's eyes focused on his surroundings. He was lying on his back facing the ceiling; Luna kneeling at his side, her face in her hands. She was shaking. The male Death Eater was leaning over Neville's face; his partner laughing maniacally behind his shoulder.
"You know what, Longbottom?" he said, his breath swirling around Neville's face. "I don't like you, or your insolence. I don't think you'll be very cooperative this year. But that'll change once you get whipped into shape."
"Never cross the Carrows again, boy," said the woman with a menacing snarl, "or you will be sorry."
With that they slammed the door and proceeded to the next compartment. Kids were in the halls staring wide-eyed at the Carrows as they passed. Evidently, Neville's stand had not gone unnoticed.
Neville propped himself onto his forearms as Luna's hands fell. Her large, round eyes found Neville's. They stared at each other until the train started moving again, which could have been years for all they knew.
Then Luna abruptly got back up on the seat and grabbed the latest addition of the Quibbler from her bag and hid her face behind it as if nothing had happened.
Neville got up off the floor to face the two girls. Ginny was staring at him with round, impressed, horrified eyes.
Neville looked to Luna. He realised with a pang that this was the same she'd looked when he's first met her back in his fifth year. He had passed this compartment by, somehow knowing instinctively that this girl was different. He was now grateful to Ginny for leading Harry and him to this compartment. When he first met Luna she scared him a little, being overly different was not something that Neville was particularly used to. During DA meetings, though, he got to know this girl better. He recognized that she was just as much of an outcast as he was. They became close through these similarities, but he truly appreciated her differences from him. She made him feel important. Just saying well done after he cast a particularly difficult spell was enough to have him flying high for hours. He's never realised that this feeling wasn't just friendship until a few minutes ago. Luna was, and always will be, his closest friend; but had that much changed between them, in an instant?