Prologue

It was a party. Granted it was a small party, family and close friends only, but it was a party nonetheless and this proved that he was still doing something with his life. Not a whole lot, but still something. And he had after all managed to ask Luna to go with him, although it had been a spluttering, embarrassed thing. She had blushed, highly unusual behaviour for Luna, and patted his arm gently.

"That'd be very nice Neville," she said, positively glowing.

They apparated outside the Potters' house in the late afternoon and Neville had a giddy feeling somewhere in the pit of his stomach as he passed the familiar white painted fence with the blonde witches arm looped through his. He remembered the day that first summer after the war when Harry had painted them himself. Ron was elsewhere, expressing his disgust over his best friend's refusal to use magic in the construction of his house.

"Home is where the heart is," Harry had announced loudly as he white-washed the picket fence.

"I'm sorry?" Neville had asked, as he watched his friend with an air of bemusement. Harry's push for a new life was intriguing to all of his friends; a cottage in the Cotswolds where the door was always open, a year at Hogwarts without the hint of murder at every turn, a fiancé in Ginny Weasley…although rumour was that Molly Weasley hadn't taken it well.

"It's a home, Neville. That's important," Harry had said earnestly.

"Right…okay then," Neville had said, and received a wink for his troubles.

He opened the backdoor that led into the Potters' kitchen, smiling as Luna pulled herself a little closer to him. Today, today he would tell her how he felt. He said that to himself every day he saw her and even some he didn't, but so far he never had. Occasionally he wondered if he had left it too late for Luna and he. But the year of darkness, the year of the Carrows and of Snape, was still too fresh in his mind. Every time he summoned up his courage and began to speak, he heard the screams of every child that had been tortured that year and he stuttered to a stop.

"Here they are!" Ginny Potter announced as they stepped into the room.

"You're late mate. Hermione was all for sending out a search party…" Ron said, smirking as the bushy haired brunette cuffed him around the back of the head.

"The party's outside," Hermione said "we're just trying to get some of the food ready before Mrs. Weasley has a fit,"

"I wonder if she's been affected by wrack spurts," Luna wondered idly. Neville's stomach made a swooping sensation at the mention of the creature that he'd come to hear so much about.

"Nah, she's always like that," Ron muttered under his breath. Neville suppressed a snigger as the group made their way outside to see Harry having what looked like a very intense conversation with Kingsley Shacklebolt. The eldest Potter looked very glad to see his friend as he moved away from the Minister. Neville grinned at the child that he was holding in his arms.

"Here he is, the birthday boy," Neville said as Harry shifted James Potter about in his arms.

"And what do we say James?" Harry said, positively beaming.

"Da!" the baby demanded, waving a podgy fist. Neville chuckled.

"Smart lad, isn't he?" he said as Luna tickled the child's belly with a pale finger. James made a gurgling sound.

"He has your eyes," Luna said dreamily.

"I know," Harry said with just a hint of pride mixed in with the adoration.

Neville spent the rest of the evening making conversation with the various guests to the Potter abode. He had an interesting chat with Hagrid about how some of the wildlife in the Forbidden Forrest had broken into one of Professor Sprout's newly renovated greenhouses and had decimated the latest batch of Crying Chrysanthemums. Molly Weasley was convinced that he'd lost too much weight since she'd last seen him, to the hilarity of many of the men around her. As the sun set over the sleepy garden, Ginny brought out a large chocolate cake with a single candle in the middle. The group was roused into a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' led by Hagrid, who was simultaneously sniffing into a large purple handkerchief.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it?" Luna said, resting her head on Neville's shoulder. He felt the familiar swooping sensation that he'd come to associate with Luna Lovegood.

"Yes, I think it is," Neville said, half smiling. The blonde girl shifted her head and looked at him, her eyes huge pearlescent orbs.

"I've got to tell you something," she mumbled, not quite meeting his gaze.

"What?" he asked, hope surging through his chest. Could she perhaps feel the same way as he did? Was she about to make the first move? He couldn't help but grin.

"I'm leaving," she whispered.

Suddenly there was a chill in the air. It felt like the bottom had dropped out of his stomach, and he made a gulping sound. She was leaving? Leaving to where? Would she be back? So many questions flitted through his head, but all that came out was:

"W-wher?" he spluttered. She sniffed and moved away from him.

"I have to go," she breathed, moving backwards "I can't stay here, I have to see things,"

He approached her slowly, like one would a frightened animal. She looked panicked, frightened by his reaction.

"Luna," he whispered "please,"

"I have to go," she said, more to herself than to him this time. She turned and started walking brusquely towards the gate. He could hear the sounds from the party all around him, but they were faded like they were coming from very far away. He started to run after her, almost tripping in his haste.

"Luna!" he said, and he was aware that there was silence from the party goers. He suddenly realised that he was shouting, and words were tumbling out of his mouth that he couldn't stop, like a runaway train on it's inevitable course down the track "Luna, please! I love you!"

She was beyond the gate now, but that stopped her. She turned around, slowly, and Neville was put in mind of a rabbit caught in the headlights of a Muggle truck.

"I'm sorry,"

It was so quiet that he was sure no one else heard it but him. And then she was gone.