She is sitting quietly beside him on the bench as he reads the Prophet, holding one of her favorite books. It is not an unusual scene.
But then … she hears his hands crinkle the paper as he clutches it tighter, and looks up to find him glaring at it. The headline makes even her frown slightly.
"Bellatrix Lestrange Escapes from Azkaban," it says, and the words have brought tears to Neville's eyes. When she slides closer to him to comfort him, however, she notices they are not tears of sadness. Neville Longbottom is furious, and while it is a rare occurrence, it is also a dangerous one, as she knows well enough.
He does not speak of it ever again after the first week, despite it being the only thing that occupied his mind during those first few days. He seems to forget it soon enough, however, and she tries to, also, but she cannot get that terrifying glare out of her mind. She hopes she is right in thinking he has let it go, allowing the Aurors to take care of it.
She knows she is wrong when Harry shows up at her door, carrying a message that Neville is in St Mungo's. She doesn't register much of what he says through the blur that is her rushing to the hospital, but she hears a few words, here and there. Bellatrix. Crucio. Ten Hours. Broken.
The Death Eater had taken great pleasure in doing to him what she did to his parents, and he had walked right into her trap. Everyone knows that the witch is full of rage and hatred, and her vengefulness at being thrown into Azkaban takes few by surprise.
And yet, everything seems to go back to the way it was, soon enough. She is glad it does, and the incident is never mentioned again.
Until the day he suddenly looks up from the work he is doing, and lets out a terrified scream. She follows his gaze to find him staring at an apparently empty corner of the room, white as a sheet with fear.
She knows it is not in his nature to be scared easily, so she waits for him to speak. When he does, it is little more than a whisper.
"D-do you see it?" he asks, lifting a shaking hand to point to the apparently empty space. She waits some more, for further explanation, but none comes.
"I do not," she says quietly. He turns and looks at her in surprise.
"What is it?" she asks. He hesitates before answering, his terrified eyes never leaving her face, almost as if he was afraid to look back there.
"The ... c-creature," he stammers, clearly too shaken to describe it. She looks again, just to make sure. So does he. But while she stares quietly at the space, he lets out a strangled gasp. She furrows her brow. He is not lying, or pulling a trick. He really sees something she cannot.
He is afraid, terribly so. But so is she. Not of the creature he sees, because she knows there is nothing there, but she is afraid for him, because he sees the nonexistent. She wishes she can be the Luna of old, finding colourful reasons as explanation, but her imagination and memory both fail her, and she stares at him, stunned and anxious.
In the beginning – being the headstrong wizard he sometimes is – he does not accept that there is anything wrong with him. She wonders if he thinks he has to prove that he is not a coward now, every waking moment, and tells him that he doesn't. He doesn't reply.
"I'm just tired," he says, sounding as though he is trying to convince himself more than her. She tells him there is nothing to be ashamed about – nothing wrong with asking for help … His own words, from years ago. He laughs it off and she realises he doesn't believe her.
"You worry too much, Luna," he chides, but his voice shakes slightly even as he says it. She sighs and keeps her fears to herself, hoping they are foolish and irrational.
She notices he grows more and more distant, but he brushes it off when she asks.
"The Department has been facing lots of issues this year," he justifies. She simply stares at him with sadness in her blue eyes, and he looks away, ashamed. It hurts her that despite all the years they have known each other and everything they have been through, he does not trust her enough to confide in her.
And then it all comes raging back one day. The shivers, the nightmares, and every memory that he has shut away for years. She sits by his side through it all, and he fights it by taking on as much work as he possibly can, until she barely even sees him anymore. Her concerned pleas fall on deaf ears.
Those who know him well were not shocked that Neville did something as bold and vengeful as he did, but they had certainly not expected him to pay so dearly.
And she wonders what sins she could possibly have committed for it all to end like this, as she sits on the pristinely made bed, beside him as he sleeps. Some distance away, she sees Alice jabbering away to herself. Frank is asleep, softly snoring like his son. She never realised before how much harder the journey to the Janus Thickey Ward could be by making it alone. It breaks her heart every time she walks past the white corridors and into the room where his eyes will stare into hers vacantly as they have for so many years now. He does not have an inkling as to who she is, and neither do his parents. She still hopes, some days, that something will change. Other times, she simply visits because she would rather be beside him, even if he is not really there.
Everyone knows Luna Lovegood is not a vengeful woman, and she sometimes wonders if Bellatrix is lucky for it.
Notes: For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Training Camp Round 2!
Position: Chaser 2 for the Banchory Bangers
Word Count: 1020
Main Prompt: Write about your OTP dealing with a mental illness.
Optional Prompts: Inkling, Accept, Bench