It was easy to find themselves overlooked. After all, their triad (Ginny always insisted they not call it a trio) didn't have Harry Potter in it. But they'd forged bonds like steel in the flame, and it could quite possibly be the best thing any of them had ever had.
He would like to say that they were inseparable after the Battle of the Ministry. They'd gone, done what their moral character demanded, but he knew that he and Luna had never had delusions of the Trio expanding to make room for them. Neville is used to being left behind. Luna is just adjusting to the fact that she had some one to leave her. But he knows Ginny had thought she would grow up and become pretty and they would begin to include her. And so, though letters were written that summer, she was right back to her own quest - for Harry's heart - as soon as term started up again.
But there was awareness. Neville and Luna clicked and became fast friends. They would study together, or lay out by the lake, sometimes go turning over stones looking for strange creatures. But he could never deny that something was better when Ginny joined them, fiery personality setting even the most mundane of tasks alight.
For a while, they had to make due on their own. The two of them are happy to see her so happy, strolling hand-in-hand around the lake with Harry. Neville admits he misses her, but will take it no further. He refuses to be the same stuttering idiot he used to be.
But, less than a year later, through a panted confession in a stolen moment from a world at war, Luna says she knew then - suspected earlier, but really knew then - that Ginny meant more to the both of them than they were able to admit.
After Ginny and Harry break up (but it's not for real, she insists), she doesn't seem upset. After all, Neville knows that her main draw to Harry Potter is that he was the hero - if he'd told her the world could go hang as long as he has her, she'd never be pleased. But she has more time, and they're glad to have her back. And when the girls write to say that they'd been swimming or picnicking (Ginny always signs love, and Luna always signs yours) he knows that the pang in his heart isn't jealousy: it's longing.
When Harry runs off (the Trio runs off), she is inconsolable. Neville secretly thinks it's because this is the last "adventure," and though she had grown up and become absolutely gorgeous, she still wasn't allowed into the tightly knit group. Under the pretense of visiting Luna, Neville stays in Ottery St. Catchpole for a week. They spend almost all of their time at the Burrow. Luna tries to explain to him that he is the foundation, that Ginny needs him, but he's not quite ready to fully understand.
They are lounging on the slightly overgrown pitch at the Burrow when the owls arrive. Neville's feels heavy, and he's surprised. When the Head Boy badge fell out, he squeaked (and damn it, he hadn't done that since before the Ministry). When Luna offers "The perfect compromise - monied, pure-blood, but a Gryffindor," she looks sheepish, as if he'll be upset.
"They obviously don't know anything about Neville." Ginny juts out her chin, and his heart stops because finally the fire is back.
"We're going to give them hell," he laughs viciously.
When he and Luna walk back to her place for the evening, she asks "did you see it?"
He could only reply with a sigh of relief, and one word - "amazing."
"She's beautiful," Luna replies, and slips her hand companionably in his.
Surprisingly, the Head Girl is tolerable. Then again, he should have realized that Slytherins are not necessarily evil, and it's not so odd that she would want to keep her head down and save her own skin. She knows, she must, about secret meetings and the things he says about their new Headmaster, even the two girls that spend entirely too much time in his room. But he suspects that, though he cannot outright trust her, she will keep his secrets as long as there is not a pressing need to reveal them. In return, he never lets on that she's more scared than cold.
"Hermione's a bloody genius," Ginny exclaims as soon as his door is shut and the silencing charms are in place. "She knew they wouldn't return, she must have done. When we went to the room, we found a blank sheaf of paper. Once we figured out the password-"
"-Snape can shove it up his arse!" Luna giggles, excitedly flushed, and shows off the papers covering themselves in Hermione's precise handwriting.
"-because of course, who would EVER consider Hermione using that? And Merlin, but she's left us a treasure trove. Every spell the D.A. will need to learn-"
"-potential weak points in the castle's defenses-"
"and even a map!"
"The map?" Neville choked out.
"No, of course not," Luna said. "Not under only one layer of protection. But it's a map to the map."
"She's even got the spells for the galleons in here. I mean, obviously, we'll need to use something other than a coin, but it's all there."
Neville thanked Merlin none too discretely. He knew it would be his job to lead the resistance, but he truly had no idea where to start.
Later, Ginny naps on the bed while Luna attempts to decode the map, and he decides who to bring into the D.A. He hears a soft snore, and he looks up at Luna. She quirks her lips, vanishes all of Hermione's writing once more, and kicks off her shoes. As she snuggles under the covers, Neville goes to make himself comfortable on the little loveseat. He notices Luna poke Ginny, bringing the girl out of her slumber, and she directs the unfocused eyes toward Neville.
"Oh, Neville, get over here, you ponce," Ginny slurs. Luna wears her usual serene expression, but he sees the troubles underneath. "I think we could all use a little comfort now."
"It's all so real, now," Luna agrees as Ginny scoots to the middle of the bed and throws and arm and leg over Luna. Neville is frozen by the sight, stuck unmoving by the side of the bed, but Ginny flings a hand behind her, smacking him in the chest, fists her hand in his shirt, and drags him to the mattress. Luna licks her lips at the sight, eyes darkening. He just allows himself to be brought in, finally settling with an arm around both girls, other hand laced with Luna's over Ginny's head, face buried in red hair. He only falls asleep after allowing the feeling of peace and elation to soak all the way into his bones.
Luna all but moves in immediately. She and her dorm mates have no love lost between them, and they are willing to keep mum if it means she will be gone. When Neville realizes she is practically living out of her trunk, he promptly enlarges his wardrobe and chest of drawers.
Ginny walks in on the tail end of Luna's sobs. She looks fierce first, until she switches from Neville's shoulder to Ginny's, leaving her hand on the back of his neck.
"You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me," she sobs. "I love you both so much I can barely contain it."
They murmur their love as well, and although Ginny returns to her own bed that night, he feels happier than he has in a long time.
The first time he and Luna kiss, she has just found the map. Hidden in what looks to be the dustiest, most boring tome in the library. Luna quickly hands it off to Ginny for safe keeping, making sure no one can see them. He feels a surge in his chest - what an amazing gift they've just been given. "God, Luna, I could kiss you!" he whispers, lost in the heady moment.
Then, she is kissing him. It is not tentative, like he'd imagined, but a shared triumph - her veins also pump with the thrill of the chase. And when they pull back and go to retreat from the library, Luna, their balance, makes sure to lace her fingers with Ginny's.
They don't talk about it for weeks. Every night, they change into their pajamas, snuggle next to each other, and just sleep. In the daylight there are kisses and caresses, but they never take it further. Neville knows he is not predisposed to passion - he is more water than fire, cool and calm and implacable. He could be happy with this for the rest of his life ('however short that may be' he tries not to think).
But when Luna says "I wish Ginny were here," like it is the most natural thing in the world, he realizes that it could be the most natural thing in the world.
"I do, too," he says, and kisses the top of her head.
"Do you trust me?" She asks, as if she already knows the answer.
He hopes she does know.
Now there are more excuses to get Ginny to stay late, fewer glances at the clock, and new secret grins as curfew is allowed to "accidentally" slip by.
When Ginny trees to sleep on the loveseat, in a reverse of the night weeks prior, Luna hauls her to bed.
Luna's pajamas get smaller, begin to cover less.
And finally, the night that marks exactly 6 months since Harry's disappearance, they get somewhere.
Neville watches Ginny cry, sandwiched between him and Luna. He can't help but notice when Luna places an exploratory kiss on Ginny's neck, looking him dead in the eye.
He might die.
When Ginny moans and presses her lips to Luna's, he's pretty sure he has died.
Then, when she flings herself off the bed and declares that this cannot happen, he wishes he had.
"You have to go after her," Luna whispers, as the noises coming from the Head's common room indicate that Ginny has not left completely.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asks.
This time, when she explains that Ginny is the passion, and she herself is the fancy, but that Neville himself is the rock that keeps them from burning up or floating off, he finally understands.
"Gin?" He asks quietly.
"Oh, Merlin," she stifles a sob.
"Can you come back to bed?"
She jumps up, but takes care to avoid waking the Head Girl. "How can you ask that? I just snogged your girlfriend in your own bed!"
"You think that's the problem? Not Harry?" He is dumbfounded.
"Oh, Nev. Harry left me. He didn't trust me to come with him. Not much of a foundation for a relationship. I love him, sure. But...I wouldn't feel guilty if I moved on."
"Well, that was unexpected." He dropped onto one of the couch cushions, knees giving out from the relief. "Much easier, though."
"Easier, how?" She sank down next to him and put her head in her hands. "I can't believe how calmly you're taking this."
"Ginny, there is something you should know." He decides to lay it on the line. "Luna and I haven't labeled ourselves. Not because we don't care about each other. Merlin, I love her so much, you know?"
"Oh, I know," she cuts in bitterly.
"Good," he says. "Hold on to that."
He kisses her, and realizes that this is the passion they had been missing, that he might be in danger of burning up. And when she pulls back, he sees a flicker of understanding.
"What you don't know is that, as much as I love Luna, what she and I have pales in comparison to what we have. All three of us." He searches her eyes. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes. Yes, absolutely yes," she says and rapidly closes the distance between them again.
"Do you think we can do this in our warm bed?" Luna asks from the doorway. "My toes are cold." She says it as if it is the most pressing matter they have to attend to.
The first letter they get is in a butter dish. As Luna pulls off the cover, she does not even start at the sight, merely slides it into her bag. She decodes it that night as Ginny and Neville attempt to study while passing her sidelong glances. When she does crack it, it turns out to be Hermione. ("Oh, my, it's in French, in short hand, then substituted using today's date as a base code.") She needs help, and they will of course always be willing.
The letters end up in the strangest places. The next comes to Ginny and Luna's unmentionables drawer (though Neville is hopeful that Hermione was unaware that there is a drawer full of frilly knickers in Neville's room). Once, the squid delivered one.
The hunt is always on.
Something about sneaking into the Restricted Section made the war seem so much more real that even D.A. meetings or Snape at the Head of the Great Hall.
And of course, what they were supposed to look up is the most terrifying thing he'd ever heard of. He realizes that Hermione has asked about multiples about a second after Luna, and looks up at her huge eyes. He thinks he might vomit.
Soon, he is afraid, their luck will run out, and one of them will have to pay the ultimate price.
They learn Ginny can draw. Luna conjures an image of Ravenclaw's diadem, and Ginny draws it on the bottom of their latest letter. It is almost more than Neville can stand to let her finish before he smothers her with heated kisses.
Ginny is fire. He has always known this. He is water. But Luna, Luna is air. Not only does he require her to breathe, but she whips them both into a frenzy, stoking the flames, making the water churn. Though he enjoys time with just one (as he knows they do while he's on his rounds), nothing seems to fit so amazingly like the three of them together.
They have a plan, of course. When a note is found behind Neville's pillow that just says "Tomorrow - be ready," they know what to do.
Ginny is the puppet master. She will command the everyone with the map. Luna, the most empathetic, will evacuate the school of the younger children. And Neville had been charged with finding the snake (Neville still futilely wished that Luna had translated that word wrong - but Hermione had asked him to destroy a Horcrux in a living creature, there was no mistaking it).
They notified McGonagall and Flitwick, the members of the D.A., then set about waiting.
No one said, but Neville knew that this was their last night together. There was no way they could all hope to survive. Only in one scenario was that plausible - total victory of The Boy Who Lived. Which meant Ginny would be gone, anyway. They all seemed reluctant to let the opportunity slip by, and stayed up until the small hours of the morning enjoying heated skin and muted confessions.
When he saw Luna, he nearly cried. She was battered and bruised, bleeding from a cut over her eye, but walking of her own accord. He pulled her to him, and she grasped at him, desperate to be close despite the snake blood splattered across his arms and torso.
When he sees Ginny, he does cry. Because he looks to the center of the Hall, and Harry Potter marches straight up to her and claims her mouth with his own. At Neville's choked sob, and the cheer from the crowd, Luna doesn't even ask - just pulls him out of the hall behind her without looking back.
Neville cannot keep himself from attending every funeral, back to back for days. At Fred's they don't want to make things harder on her, so they keep to the back. Harry has his arm around her at the front of the assembly, and Luna never lets go of his hand. When Ginny looks back and meets their eyes, he just smiles sadly at her and they leave as soon as she looks away.
Early in the morning, he walks the halls of his family home. It is hard to get dressed and leave Luna, but not as hard as it had been to leave the girls during the time he now just terms as "before." He knows he could stay with Luna for the rest of his life, but they both know that now a part of themselves will be missing.
He stares at the two rings he had bought. It had been ridiculous at the time, and he'd had to make up some lie about why he needed two rings clearly marked "engagement." He knows he will give Luna hers, but he cannot write off the feeling that it will never shine as bright without its counterpart.
He is awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, for his hand in Voldemort's downfall and his work with the DA. His grandmother is proud. He has been given an extension on his NEWTs. It should have been the happiest time of his life. But as he and Luna settle into bed, there is always the reminder that they are incomplete.
He awakes to Luna shaking him. "Get up. Can you feel it?! Neville, Hurry!" His eyes follow her as she digs into the wardrobe for the first set of clothes she can find, throwing his clothes on the bed. "Hurry! I want to be outside!" He has learned that when Luna is talking gibberish, she's actually not, and he knows his observation about impending rain will be ignored. As he walks out the door, still buttoning up his shirt, Luna breaks into a run. Over the next hill comes Ginny Weasley, looking apprehensive. But when she sees Luna running, she runs too, and they mesh together, tears and kisses and love. As he reaches them and they pull him into the hug, he feels something sharp digging into his thigh. He reaches in to his own pocket to find the rings. Luna kisses him and laughs "your hiding spot was atrocious."
He drops to one knee immediately.