Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Spontaneous
The usually noisy streets of Hogsmade were absolutely deserted and quiet today. No one dared to go outside for they were having an uncommonly chilly and bitter winter day. However, the silence was suddenly broken by a loud "crack", and a young woman with long, flowing blonde hair appeared seemingly out of nowhere. As she walked toward the looming towers of Hogwarts, the crunch of hardly packed snow could be heard under her dragon-hide boots, a traveling cloak flying behind her.
When the woman arrived at the imposing wrought iron gates of the castle, she was greeted by a large, tall man with rosy cheeks and a graying beard.
"Hagrid!" Luna yelped enthusiastically and ran into his gigantic outstretched arms.
"Luna! Yer finally back. So, ye find tha' Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" asked Hagrid as they trekked uphill to the castle.
Luna seemed slightly disappointed. She sighed, "Well, no not yet. You see, my expedition group went to northern Sweden- we heard a few rumors of sightings there. Unfortunately, we were looking in the wrong place because the locals told us that they had already moved on to another feeding ground..."
As Luna went on with her story Hagrid wondered how someone could be so immersed in their studies of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks (he wasn't even sure that they really existed) that they would be willing to spend 3 years away from their friends and family in order to hunt one down.
"So we all decided that it was time to take a break. Everyone wanted to see their families again. I mean, I for one missed everyone so much, and I had a bad case of home sickness."
The pair had just passed by the doors of the Great Hall when a girl with long black hair came up to them. "Hagrid! I think that the Blast-Ended Newts have gotten out again. They're terrorizing a bunch of first years down by the Quidditch pitch!"
"Well, I guess I'll have ta go take care of this. She's waiting her office for ya. Ya know the way, don' ya?"
"Yup, I do. Bye Hagrid!" Luna called after him as he jogged off. The girl with the black hair stayed and just looked at her. Luna noticed that she was in Ravenclaw, and that she was oddly reminiscent of Cho Chang. The silence between them was getting awkward so Luna tried to break the ice by saying something clever. Unfortunately, all that came out of her mouth was, "Um, hi there." So much for being a previous Ravenclaw. "So in Ravenclaw, huh? I was a Ravenclaw myself when-"
"I know you. You're Luna Lovegood one of Harry Potter's friends! Professor Longbottom has a picture of you in his office!" the girl said suddenly. At the mention of Neville's name, Luna turned slightly pink. She knew that this shouldn't surprise her- Neville was one of her best friends- but still. She mentally scolded herself for being such a priss when it came to him.
"Umm. Yeah, I am. And you are?" She asked wishing to take the conversation away from the subject of her friend.
"Jade Chang. Nice to meet you," she held out her hand. Chang. That explained the similarity. As they shook hands, Luna noticed that they had started walking again. Then, Jade said the most unexpected thing to her, "You know, I think that Professor Longbottom likes you. He always smiles when he looks at your picture, like he's remembering something. And when I asked him who he was staring at he just blushed and mumbled something about his friend. I can tell- he likes you a lot."
"What?" was all Luna managed to say with so many different thoughts racing around in her head.
Before she could ask her anything else, Jade suddenly stopped walking. Luna looked around realized that we were at her destination already. "Nice talking to you Miss Lovegood. Tell the headmistress that I said hi!" And with that she promptly walked away. When she looked at the stone gargoyle, Luna remembered that she didn't know what the password was. "Oh and the password is 'otter' if you're wondering," Jade called back.
After she told the gargoyle the password, she jumped up on the spiral staircase as it ascended up to the large door leading to the headmistress' office. Luna outstretched a pale hand and knocked twice on the door.
A familiar voice called, "Come in!" When Luna entered, the first thing she saw was a mane of brown hair flying towards her. "Luna! I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!"
"It's good to see you too Hermione- I mean Professor Weasley," Luna giggled.
"Look at you! Luna, you look amazing! Next time you go on a 3 year hunt for Nargles or Crunchy-Headed Snotsacks or whatever you were looking for, remind me to come with you!"
Luna smiled. It was true. Instead of tiring her out, these missions seemed to uplift her, and she had a glow about her. Her blue eyes shined brighter than ever, and her long blonde hair was shiny and healthy. To top that, she had lost the radish earrings and the bottle top necklace; her style was still eccentric but she had toned it down to wearing bright colors and patterns and wearing interesting (not weird) accessories.
"So, tell me, how are you and Rolf doing?" Hermione asked. Of course she already knew the answer- Ginny had already told her right after Luna had come and visited her at the Holy Head Harpies Stadium. Even Harry must have told Ron and maybe even Neville after his wife had told him. However, she didn't want Luna to think that the news had already spread.
"I would think that Ginny had already told you. Rolf and I split," she sighed, "He was just using me to get his hands on information about all the creatures I've been studying. Silly of me to think that he actually cared about me."
"Git," Hermione looked surprised at what came out of her mouth. Luna did as well. She was usually the one to yell at people for using such language. They both cracked a smile and started laughing.
"Thanks, Mione. I needed a laugh after that. That really cheered me up," Luna said still giggling.
"Speaking of things that cheer you up, I think that a certain professor is still down in the greenhouses if you want to catch up on things," Hermione smiled as she jerked her head towards the window in the general direction of the greenhouses.
"Oh. Are you sure that you don't mind? I mean, I've been talking to you for less than 10 minutes," Luna responded in an airy voice looking hopefully out of the window.
"No, no, no. I insist. You should go visit him. He'd be so happy to see you! Besides, I've got some paperwork to attend to," she pushed. Truthfully, Hermione just wasn't in the mood to listen to another speech about Nargles. She gave her friend a hug before she waved her off towards the door. Luna tried not to seem too eager as she hurried out the door but, the headmistress noticed the excitement painted all over her face.
As Luna Lovegood walked down the familiar corridors of Hogwarts, she started losing her excitement and started getting more and more worried. Her pace was getting slower and slower, and she wondered if she should just turn around and forget visiting her old friend. A million thoughts suddenly popped up in her head-What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he forgot all about me? I mean, I was away for three years. What if he already has a girlfriend? Luna suddenly realized that that last thought was true- He had just started dating Hannah Abbot when she left for her trip. She sighed any hopes of Neville falling in love with her as soon as she got back were dashed. Oh dear what am I thinking? He'll never fall for me. But what if I get so mad that I- no, I'll just have to control myself. What if he gets angry at me? For a second Luna just stopped in her tracks and seriously considered just turning around. It was so unlike her to be this hesitant about something! However the image of her friend and her seeing him again kept her feet shuffling towards the green glass houses.
When Luna got closer, she saw a flash of brown amongst all the green in Greenhouse Three. She lingered for a moment at the entrance, her hands brushing against a vine crawling up the wall. Once again, she thought about turning back. Too late-
"Luna!" Neville exclaimed, rushing over to her to sweep her up in a tight embrace. For that moment, Luna thought that she was in heaven. But of course she had to remember Hannah. A sudden rush of guilt swept over her and she yelled at her brain for a second time today. Yet, there was still that tinge of jealously there.
She laughed at her friend's excitement- he was practically jumping out of his skin. "It's nice to see you too Neville."
As they walked into his office Neville asked her to tell him all about her little adventure- he was always the one to at least pretend that he cared about all her made-up creatures. So, Luna told him the same thing she told Hagrid. She was just finishing up her story when she noticed a picture of Neville and Hannah sitting on his desk.
"So, how are you and Hannah doing?" Bloody hell! Did I just say that? Luna had lost complete control of her mouth. "I heard that you two had started dating just before I left." She fought the urge to slap herself silly. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I am a complete idiot!
Neville smiled weakly, "We thought it would be better if we stayed as friends."
Victory!! There were fireworks in Luna's head, and she was pretty sure that her brain cells had started a conga line. How she kept so nonchalant about it on the outside was a mystery. "Oh," she said simply.
A student's head suddenly popped into the door. Luna recognized her as Jade Chang. "Professor- I have a question about that worksheet you assigned," she noticed Luna sitting on Neville's desk, "Oh. Never mind. I'll just ask James about it." She gave them a knowing smile as a disappeared out into the greenhouse beyond.
Luna lost control of her mouth again as they said, "She seems to think that you fancy me quite a bit, Neville." What is wrong with me today?!
Neville turned a deep shade of red and his eyes bugged out a bit. He managed to sputter out, "She- she did?" He said this quite despairingly as if Luna had found out that his grandmother still picked out his clothes for him sometimes instead of discovering his true feelings for her. "I wonder where she got that idea," he said nervously keeping his eyes locked to ground. You would have thought that there was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack on the floor with the way he looked at it.
Luna studied him carefully. "Really? I was under the impression that you did as well."
Neville's eyes immediately darted up to meet her own. He had a curious look on his face. The next move that Luna made took so much courage on her part you would have thought that the Sorting Hat ought to have put her in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
It was perfect. It was bliss; so magical that even Hogwarts couldn't compare. It was... spontaneous.
Please review! Its my first fanfic so please be kind, and I hope you enjoyed it!