I know, it's been such a long time. Do not fret my little pets, however! I have multichaptered stories in the plannings, which is why my oneshots are being to horrifically stalled. Reviews will cause them to come faster!!!!
He watched her in the rain. She always went in the rain. Merlin knew why, all she ever did was stand and watch the sky. He'd asked her once.
Why don't you ever do anything when you go outside? All you do is stand and watch.
It's not the time to do anything. Just to watch.
Why? What are you looking for?
The cleaning of all the world's cobwebs. Have you ever watched the trees when it rains? Seen the sky after the storm? Have you ever really looked at them?
Of course, he had to say no. After that, he'd meant to watch, really; he did. But every time it rained, he just didn't have the time to stop and look.
But now it was raining, and he had nothing to do. Except his potions essay. And study his charms lessons. And work on his Transfiguration. And, and, and….
He sighed, he couldn't this time. He just couldn't. He had too much work to do, he was falling behind already. He turned his eyes away from the window and looked back down at his schoolwork.
Honestly, how could she even afford to squander her time outside? All of them had missed an entire year of Hogwarts, all of them were far behind. Even Hermione was struggling to keep up with all the work. Granted, she was about one week and a half ahead of everybody else, but that was beside the current point.
..n..l..
Luna sat on the edge of the left bench, her hair sopping and her robes dripping. She couldn't possibly seem more content with her current near-drowned look. She sat, her legs softly kicking under the table, a large spoon in one hand, a small book in the other, and a large smile on her face, with a long lock of hair sticking to her cheek.
It took her no time at all to meet Neville's stare. Something she did often. He'd noticed back in fifth year that he could stare at her for all of ten seconds and she'd be staring back, but she never seemed to notice anyone else's stares. Or maybe she just didn't care for them.
After a moment of searching his eyes, she found what she was looking for, and smiled to attempt to draw it out. A small smile, with her eyes doing all of the work. He gave a shy smile, hiding his eyes from her. She looked down to her plate, bringing lettuce to her lips when she felt his eyes on her again. She glanced up at him through her eyelashes, and it sparkled for a moment. Just a small moment, then it retreated back into his eyes and hid itself. She gave him one more smile and continued on with her lettuce, freeing him to complete his own dinner.
She'd work more on that sparkle later.
..n..l..
Neville wandered the halls that morning. There weren't many people anywhere. Few in the halls, bits and small groups outside. Some scattered about in the strangest places. For an example, he found one on a window sill, reading Othello, and another one in a rather large hole in the wall hidden by a tapestry. He wasn't sure what that one was doing in the hole, and asked if it needed any help, but it commented that it was doing just fine and would prefer that he allow the tapestry to cover it up again.
There were two others on the ceiling; Merlin knew how or why. Upon asking why they were sitting on the ceiling, they shrugged and began to play hide and seek.
Eventually, he went outside. There were less ceilings to wander and holes in the school to climb into. As he wandered some old worn in trails around the school, he found a pair of legs dangling from the tree. He didn't notice them at first, but after walking right into one of their soft kicks, he found them. Or perhaps they found him?
Oh, Neville. Hello.
Oh. Luna. He blinked a few times, gave her a smile, Hello. The sun was in his eye, that's what it was. He brushed it from his cheek, and it was gone. He gave it no thought.
Luna bit her lip, almost got it. That sparkle was slowly becoming a gleam. She smiled.
"What are you doing in that tree?"
"Hanging. What are you doing on that ground?" Neville looked around his feet to confirm that he was indeed, on the ground, and shrugged.
"Hanging." They smiled a moment before Neville noticed her Father's magazine. "New Quibbler edition?"
"Oh, yes. They have a great article about Blibbering Humdingers this month."
Neville nodded.
"It's going to rain soon." He looked up. She was right. The sky was grey and deep purple clouds were headed straight for them. "Why don't you hop on up and watch the cobwebs with me?"
He wasn't sure what she meant by cobwebs, only that the rain cleaned them away. He had been meaning to watch, and it would be better to see them with Luna.
He nodded and she scooted over on her branch. Neville attempted to hop up, but found that from that height, it was too hard. So, as Luna instructed, he pulled himself up on one branch, placed his foot on another, and climbed. Luna giggled as he finally plopped himself on the branch next to her. He huffed, gave her a sideways look that made her smile mischievously, and smiled to himself because of her adorable actions.
They both looked out, in between the trees and over the hilltops, to the sky and the storm closing in. Neville sat there, next to her, and looked. He knew he was searching for cobwebs, but it turned out they were harder to find then he originally thought.
A gust of wind ran its warm fingers through their hair, blew past their faces in a most gentle manner, and brought them the damp smell of distant rain. He wanted to ask Luna where the cobwebs were, but something kept him from talking. Perhaps it was the look on her face at this moment. She looked so peaceful right now, the wind blowing in her hair, the small smile playing on her lips, the dreamy way she had about her, the far away look in her eye. A pair of radish earrings. A flutter of lashes. A stray ray of sunlight playing in her hair. A raindrop fell on her cheek and she turned her eyes to try and see it. A hand lifted to feel it. Her fingers smeared it. She turned her eyes straight up, and another raindrop fell on her forehead.
One raindrop fell on Neville's head and he turned up in surprise. He could hear the rain coming; could see a few of the raindrops who were further ahead fall down through the leaves and tall branches.
Luna looked over to Neville. And there it was. The little sparkle she'd been trying to release, only it was positively glowing.
Neville felt her stare and turned return it. He gave her a small smile, and began to softly and quietly, weep.
..n..l..
Luna and Neville walked into Hogwarts lunch, holding in their giggles and absurdly late. Not to mention they were soaked to their bones. They were already serving dessert! The two walked over to the Gryffindor tables and sat next to each other, everybody either smiling broadly or whispering fervently to their neighbors. Ginny leaned over to Neville and whispered in his ear.
She finally get you to clear the cobwebs?
'Allo! Did you like it? Did you hate it? What was your favorite part? Your least favortie? Oh, ca'mon people! I wanna review....
