A/N - I just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because I've been bored recently, and then I came up with the idea for this fic. Neville is sitting in the Great Hall after the Battle of Hogwarts, and Luna comes along.
Please review!
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"The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater." - J.R.R Tolkein
Neville sat down on what he supposed used to be the bench at the Gryffindor table. It was mostly a mess of broken and burnt wood now, but a small bit was pretty much intact. A little damaged by fire or jinxes, but it was as good as he was going to get. He considered taking it home with him as a sort of memorial to all his fellow Gryffindors who had been killed, some in this very hall, probably. Fred, Remus, Tonks...
"God..." muttered Neville under his breath. He dismissed the idea of taking it home. He'd ask McGonagall to put it somewhere, on display, once they got the school sorted out again for kids to start coming for an education. Not an easy thing to do, rebuilding a castle. It would take a hell of a while for it to be completed, but Slughorn had just assured everyone that this was not the end of Hogwarts, rather the begining of a new chapter in its history. Neville doubted very much that other people who had spent the best years of their lives living within the old castle's walls, people who had found a home there where they may never have had one before, people who had lost friends and relatives fighting for the school, would think that way. Maybe in a while, they'd come around and see that Slughorn was right, but for the meantime, people just wanted to be miserable and mourn the loss of their school and their friends. Neville looked up to see again the damage the place had taken, as if he didn't already know.
That's when he saw a familiar face walking through the door of the hall; Luna Lovegood, the only girl Neville had ever truly had feelings for. And she didn't even know. Neville had spent the whole battle hoping against hope that both he and Luna would survive, just so that he could let her know how he felt.
She looked around the hall, spotted Neville sitting alone, and walked towards him.
"Hey." she said softly.
"Hey." Neville replied.
"Well, move over," said Luna, smiling at Neville, who shifted over on the seat, making room for Luna to sit next to him.
"You alright?" asked Neville.
"My leg hurts, but just because I fell over." said Luna. "You?"
"Just a few cuts and bruises, thankfully." said Neville.
"Did you lose anyone?" asked Luna quietly after a moment or two.
"None of my close friends, but nobody's heard from Dean so I'm presuming he's gone." said Neville. "How 'bout you?"
"Don't really know." said Luna. "I've checked on Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, some of the DA, and now you, so I know you're all okay. That's everyone I care about, really."
"It'll take everyone a long time to get back to normal." said Neville, as he watched three students leaving the now practically empty hall. "There'll be no Hogwarts for a while. Everyone's lost somebody."
"Yeah." replied Luna softly. Neither of them had anything more to say. After a few minutes of silence, Luna rested her Head on Neville's shoulder. Neville then awkwardly put his arm around Luna.
"I don't think I'm going to come back next year, regardless of wether the place is fixed up or not." said Luna. "So I've got a year on my hands that I never thought I'd have."
"I'm finished with school anyway." said Neville. He decided there was no time like the present. "Look, Luna, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while."
"Yeah?" replied Luna.
"I like you," said Neville, mustering up every ounce of Gryffindor courage he possessed.
"I like you too." said Luna. Neville's eyes opened wide in shock. Had Luna seriously just said she liked him? She surely must have done, as she had just reached for his hand, and he had, withou thinking, gripped her's in response. Luna brought her head up, and looked Neville in the eyes.
"Half my friends are dead, my school's pretty much wrecked, I don't even know if I have any family to go home to, I don't have much left to live for anymore, so what've I got to lose?" said Neville aloud, before kissing Luna full on the lips. After a few seconds, they broke apart.
"Now you have something to live for." said Luna.
"And what's that?" asked Neville.
"Us." said Luna, as Neville pulled her into a hug.
The future wasn't looking quite so bleak anymore.
A/N - Thanks for reading! Leave a comment teling me what you thought! (I've secretly always loved Luna/Neville, I just think they're so sweet together!)
Thank you again ;)