"Oh my GOD, you were amazing!"

"When you told him you'd join him when hell freezes over-"

"And then you just KILLED the thing! You just chopped it's head right off, it was awesome!"

"Amazing!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"You're my hero!" "Yes, yes, thank you very much..." Neville managed to close the common room door just before a particularly eager third-year grabbed a piece of his shirt. He turned around and adressed the two girls in front of him, smiling. "Damn," he said with a chuckle. "Kill one snake and bam, you're a stud. I could do without all that high-pitched squeeling, though."

"Oh, shut up, you love it," said Ginny Weasley, a small, red-haired girl sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Gryiffindor common room next to her best friend, Luna Lovegood. A smile appeared on her face as she spoke. It faded quickly, and Neville remembered.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny" he said, sitting down on the floor next to her. "We'll all miss him. Your brother was..." his voice trailed off as Ginny began to cry, and he decided instead to join Luna in patting her comfortingly on the back.

"It's just..." Ginny tried to stop crying. "I want to be happy right now... Voldemort's gone, it's finally over, Harry won. But Fred... he was my brother..." The tears began again.

"How's George?" asked Neville.

"Horrible. The last time I saw him was in the Great Hall, when everyone was celebrating. He was just sitting there, staring at his lap. Not even crying. It's like a part of him died right along with Fred..."

"You know," said Luna, softly "when my mum died, that's how I felt. Like a piece of my soul was ripped away from me." She looked of into space, sadly. "But then I realized that she wasn't really gone. She never could be. You remember learning about religions in Muggle Studies? Well, I'm not sure if I believe in Heaven. But that seems a lot more likely to me than death just being the end. There's got to be something beyond the veil..."

Ginny suddenly reached over and hugged Luna tightly "You're right. Harry told me, about what you said when Sirius died. Fred's not gone. He can't be."

"I remember that night," Neville remarked. "Our first adventure together."

A tiny smile formed on Ginny's face "Yeah..." she said in a faraway voice. "You know..." she began "you two... you're the best...the best friend I could..." her voice broke and she began crying again, but softer this time, with just one tear traveling down each freckled cheek and a nostalgic look on her face.

"Yeah. We know." said Luna, in such a Luna voice that all three couldn't help but laugh.

"I mean it, though. You are."

"You too." said Luna. "All those times you've defended me... remember that time in second year? When we first met?"

"Yeah," said Ginny, smiling...