One Love
Summary: His first two years, Neville liked Hermione Granger. His 3rd and 4th year, he liked Ginny Weasley. But after that, he only truly loved Luna Lovegood. Neville/Luna.
Summary: Back again, I am. There's nothing I like better than a great Neville/Luna oneshot. This is a Neville "through the years" kind of story. I hope you enjoy it :)
For his first two years at Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom had a crush on Hermione Granger. Though the bushy haired girl proved to be on the pushy side, and her know-it-all personality could come off as a bit berating at times, she was always there to help poor Neville.
As the boy tore his hair out over his schoolwork, and struggled on to the point of tears in most of his classes, Hermione Granger would always be willing to assist. As Professor Snape would drift down the rows of the potions classroom, and suddenly drone out a "What is the final ingredient in this potion, Mr. Longbottom?", Neville would always be at a loss for words. So, as Neville's first response would of course always be "Um….uh, er….um….I-I think…..", Hermione would always jump to his aid and cough out a lovely "toad's blood" under her breath.
"Uh, toad's blood!" The boy would repeat back to his teacher.
And although Snape would always glare back at the boy and utter a simple "Thank you, Miss Granger. However, I am certain that Mr. Longbottom is more than capable of answering for himself, next time?" He would hiss, causing Neville to quiver and Hermione to frown.
The girl would always come to Neville's defense in his struggles with angered Slytherins and bullies, and was always more than willing to give him an answer to a homework or test question. Neville never thought he'd develop feelings for a girl so fast….but Hermione Granger certainly knew how to make the boy melt.
However, as time went on, and the group began to enter their third year at Hogwarts, everything began to change. Hermione was becoming more involved with deeper issues with Harry and Ron, and starting to help Neville less and less in classes. But, even more so, something else was becoming more and more apparent:
Hermione Granger was in love with Ronald Weasley.
For Neville's third and fourth year at Hogwarts, he had a crush on Ginny Weasley. Although the girl was a year younger than he, it didn't stop her from being any less motivated or intelligent than a student in a year above her.
In fact, one time, the fiery red-head even helped to fight off a crowd that was threatening to put the boy in danger.
"Watch your step, Longbottom!" Draco Malfoy screeched, sticking out his foot, causing Neville to trip face first, his books scattering across the stairwell.
While Crabbe, Goyle and the other few Slytherins that considered themselves to be part of Malfoy's gang laughed and taunted the boy, who would attempt to scramble to his feet (and usually slip the first few times), a certain someone was quick to come to Neville's rescue.
As Draco kicked Neville in the behind as he attempted to get back up, he pulled his wand out.
"Let's have a little fun, shall we?" He chuckled, pointing his wand at Neville.
Suddenly, in an instant Neville heard a familiar female's voice yell "Expelliarmus!", and Draco's wand went flying from his hand. Neville quickly looked up to see who had come to save the day.
"Leave him alone, Malfoy!"
Sure enough, Ginny Weasley was standing there, grasping her wand tightly, pointing it at Draco's forehead.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Coming to save your boyfriend, Little Weasley?"
Ginny glared, keeping her wand pointed at the blonde. "Neville would be 10 times more of a boyfriend then you ever would be, Malfoy!"
This caused quite a bit of laughter from the Slytherin crowd.
"That Neville?" Draco chortled, motioning towards the boy on the floor. "The one who trips over his own feet six times a day? The one with teeth as big as the tables in The Great Hall? You think that mess is boyfriend material?"
"Take it back!" Ginny yelled, her wand coming into contact with Draco's face.
It took the blonde a minute to respond, before realizing a fight with the fierce Weasley girl was not worth it.
"Fine. I'll deal with you another time, Weasley. You too, Longbottom."
As the Slyteherins left, Ginny offered a kind hand to Neville to help him up, collecting some of his books off of the floor.
"Thanks, Ginny." Neville said, somewhat quietly.
"Anytime, Neville. You needed it. Draco's a jerk."
The girl flashed him a soft smile, before turning the other way.
"I better go. I, uh, have to get to Transformations."
"Ginny, wait!" Neville called. She turned.
"Would you, uh…..I was wondering if you maybe wanted to, um….well you see, I just sort of…..er…..um…ah…..Y-Yule Ball…."
Ginny giggled. "Sure Neville. I'd love to go to the Yule Ball with you."
"R-really? You mean it?"
"Yeah. Why not? You're a good guy, Neville. Besides, you of all people deserve it. It should be fun. See you around." She smiled, heading off down the stairs.
And so, Neville Longbottom took Ginny Weasley to the Yule Ball. It was a night of excitement, dancing, and celebration for the teachers and students of Hogwarts. Although, as Neville tried to make his feelings for Ginny as apparent as possible, his date seemed rather distant and distracted for most of the night; distracted by a certain boy who kept toying with his glasses and rubbing the scar on his forehead.
Even though she danced with Neville till the very end, her eyes tended to wander. Neville even tried to kiss the girl at the end of the night, but even then, she turned her head slightly so he only kissed her cheek instead.
And so, once more, something was becoming very apparent:
Ginny Weasley was in love with Harry Potter.
For his fifth, sixth, and seventh year at Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom had a little bit more than a crush on Luna Lovegood.
The first day the two met, Neville instantly noticed her beauty. It was a different kind of beauty, of course, but Neville couldn't help but find himself attracted to her. Her long, blonde locks would always traipse along her back, and her wand would always rest comfortably behind her ear.
Something about the radishes she wore on her ears and the electric blue color of her tights matched with purple polka dot sneakers had an effect on Neville. He wasn't sure if it was because he had never seen anyone dress quite like this before…or if he was just hypnotized by Luna's overall beauty and uniqueness.
The two became close during Neville's fifth year, when they became proud serving members of Dumbledore's Army and started to increase their magical abilities and strengths. As always, Harry, Ron and Hermione were always preoccupied with each other and with the issue of the Dark Lord's return, and Ginny was too busy trying to steal Harry's attention away from Cho, often leaving Neville and Luna to be off on their own.
This was another thing that led Neville to like Luna so much. During their many bonding moments, conversations about their varied (or not so varied) interests would come up. Anytime Neville would even mention plants or Herbology in a conversation, people would always turn away. Luna, however, was always willing to listen to whatever Neville had to say about plants, and would always take general interest in whatever the boy was saying. In return, Neville would listen intently to Luna's many tales and explanations on the many imaginary (or real, to Luna) creatures of the Wizarding World.
The two outcasts had finally found someone who was willing to listen to them.
Of course, being that it WAS Neville Longbottom, he could never have a crush on a girl without having an awkward or embarrassing encounter with them.
One night during his sixth year, as suggested by Harry, Neville decided to cut all of his losses and take a nice, relaxing bath in the Prefects' bathroom.
Neville arrived (quietly, trying to avoid a visit from Moaning Myrtle, something Harry warned him of) and noticed that the water was already running.
"Hm." He shrugged, figuring someone had probably just left and forgot to turn the water off.
Just as he began to undo his robe and prepare to slide into the water, he was startled by a voice.
"Hullo, Neville."
The boy jumped, quickly tying his robe in the front again.
"W-who's there? Myrtle?" He asked, whipping his head around.
"No. Just Luna. Although Myrtle was here a little while ago."
Neville relaxed once he realized he knew the person behind the mystery voice.
"Oh. Luna. What are you doing here?"
"Well I came in search of some Crumple Horned Snorkacks, being that they're quite fond of water…..but there doesn't appear to be any. So I've just decided to bathe instead. Would you like to join me?" She asked, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.
Neville noticed that the girl appeared to have two colored straps across her shoulders. She was wearing a bathing suit….something Neville did not think to bring.
"Uh…well….maybe I'll just dip my feet in….I mean, I can always shower tomorrow morning."
"Why did you come here, then? Most people don't just come to the Prefects' bathroom to dip their feet in. Unless you came to look for Crumple Horned Snorkacks as well."
"Er, no, sorry. I didn't. I uh….came here to bathe, but…..I didn't expect anyone else to be here, so….I didn't wear a bathing suit."
Luna's expression remained the same, a light smile on her face. "I don't mind. I won't look as you take your rob off."
"Luna…." Neville was cut off by the blonde. "Please stay. It gets to be quite lonely in here. I can even read your palm if you'd like…."
Neville sighed. If there's one thing he learned from spending time with Luna Lovegood, it was that she never took no for an answer.
"You promise you won't look?" He asked. Luna nodded, covering her eyes with her hands.
Neville reluctantly untied his robe and slid it off, quickly slipping into the water, finding the nearest area with bubbles to cover him.
"Do you mind if I remove my hands now?" Luna questioned.
"Go ahead."
Luna peeled her hands away from her eyes, and inched closer to Neville, who's face instantly turned a bright shade of red.
"Uh….maybe not so close….there are only so many bubbles, Luna…." Neville began to slide away, but Luna only got closer.
"It's alright. I'm not looking down there, Neville. Give me your hand." She demanded. Neville quickly removed his hand from the water, and Luna grabbed it, examining it.
"I must warn you, my palm readings aren't like most. My father and I have designed our own way of reading palms, a much simpler way that gives people much clearer readings." She explained, her wide eyes focused on Neville's hand.
Neville wouldn't expect anything less from Luna Lovegood.
She gently traced her finger along the lines of the boy's hand, causing every part of his body to tingle. He never expected his first time touching Luna's soft hand (a moment he dreamt of often) would involve him sitting unclothed in the Prefects' bathroom.
"This line here," Luna dragged her finger along the line going straight across his hand. "This represents your courage and bravery. Yours is quite long. But so are the lines of most Gryffindors."
She brought her finger to another line. "This one represents friendships. It appears you have many friends. It's like there's a space on the line for each one. Here's Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Seamus…."
"You." Neville added, offering the girl a gentle smile. She returned the smile, and went back to looking at each line.
She got to the next line, and stared at it for quite some time. "This one's for romance." Both of the teens' faces turned shades of red. Suddenly, Luna's eyes widened and she gasped, wrenching Neville's hand up to her ear.
"Uh, Luna, what are you doing?"
"Shhh! Your romance line is telling me something." She paused, her fingers in a tight grip around Neville's palm. "You're in love with someone. Somebody who you're very close to, one of your best friends. You have a special bond with this person, different from the ones you have with your other friends. She means a lot to you, this girl. It seems as though you're afraid to tell her so."
Neville knew very well that everything Luna had just said was not part of any "palm reading ritual" that her and her father made up. Neville slowly pulled his hand away. Luna's face could not have been closer to his if she tried.
Neville carefully inched away.
It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss Luna….he did, more than anything. Something inside him just told him that this was not the right time.
"I really should go. It's getting late. They'll start to wonder where I am." Neville added, breaking the tense yet romantic silence.
Luna's smile faded, and she turned away.
"Yes. I suppose it is getting late." Luna mumbled, not budging. Neville waited to see if she would catch on to his wanting to leave the water.
"Um….do you mind if I….you know, put my robe back on?"
"Oh, not at all. Sorry." Luna placed her hands back over her eyes, allowing Neville to climb out of the water and slide back into his robe.
"Um, this was….nice, Luna. It was good seeing you." Neville added, while shifting towards the door.
Just as his hand reached the handle, Luna called to him.
"Neville!"
The boy turned back around.
"I don't know if anyone has told you, but….you've become quite an attractive fellow over the past year."
Neville blushed furiously.
"Oh, uh….t-thanks."
Neville had failed to notice that Luna's fingers seemed to have "slipped" a bit while he was undressing.
He didn't care. Luna Lovegood called him attractive.
So after the war during his seventh year, Neville told Luna how he felt.
And when Neville tried to kiss her, she didn't move her head. And so finally, something was certain:
Neville Longbottom was in love with Luna Lovegood. And Luna Lovegood was in love with Neville Longbottom.
Ta da! Another day, another Harry Potter fanfic. I just can't stop writing Neville/Luna! Expect me back here soon. Very soon.
