"Do you know where Luna is?"
The question was echoed around the castle that morning many times, always by the same person. The tall, scarred man ran through the aisles of beds, not wanting to look down and see a certain face lying on one.
"Harry," he panted, skidding to a stop as he ran into his friend, "do you know where Luna is?"
"No, Neville, I haven't seen her," Harry responded, furrowing his eyebrows. "I'll check." He turned away and brought out the Marauder's Map, whispering the code to open it. The desperate Gryffindor tried to peek over the legend's shoulder, but Harry kept it safely hidden from view. "She's on top of the Astronomy Tower."
"How do you know for sure?"
"The map never lies," The Boy Who Lived replied, a smile on his face as he waved the blank parchment at his former classmate.
"Alright, thanks," answered the confused boy as he started to walk away. The he paused, turned, and smiled at Harry. "We won, mate."
"That we did," he answered gravely. They high-fived, and the once-bumbling boy ran off to the tallest tower in Hogwarts.
Taking the steps by twos, he wondered what the flighty Ravenclaw could be doing up there. "What if she's unconscious? She'd need help! Or what if someone cornered her there, and she's- no, she can't be. This is Luna we're talking about. She's too full of life to-to-
He came to the top of the tower, hesitated, then stepped out, afraid of what he'd see.
"Hello Neville!" greeted a chirpy voice. Neville's eyes met Luna's, and he sighed.
"I've been looking for you for ages. No one had seen you, so I… I was a bit worried," he admitted, coming up next to his friend and resting his arms on the tower's wall. He leaned over the edge a little and looked out to the dark world that was just waking up.
"I was waiting for the sun to rise," Luna explained, smiling dreamily.
Neville laughed. He enjoyed Luna's eccentricities. "The sunrise? Why today, of all days?"
"Why not?" The girl shrugged. But she was no longer looking out at the world, rather, at the young man next to her. Slowly, she reached out a hand and traced one of his scars. He turned suddenly at her touch, his eyes questioning her.
"You're awfully brave, Neville. I mean, here we are, both fighting for the same cause, but you did it so much better than I did."
"How?"
"You got hurt for it. You got tortured for it. But you didn't stop. You're really… very wonderful," Luna said cheerily.
"You were captured. You were imprisoned. You were just as brave as me," Neville pointed out, trying to be modest, though he couldn't stop himself from flushing with pleasure at his friend's words. Thank goodness it was dark.
Luna's permanent glow dampened a bit at his words. "I… I know that it happened. I mean, I was there, and so was Ollivander, and then Dobby saved us… But I wasn't there as well. Do you understand?" The boy shook his head, and she sighed. "I was in a different world, where I was with Father, and Mother, and all of you, and we were going to Hogwarts, and… and that's how I survived. I ran away from reality. I wasn't really very courageous at all."
Neville didn't like how her mouth was turned down instead of up. He hated the look of sadness and shame in her eyes. He wanted her glow to come back. And so, as the first hint of the sun broke across the landscape, Neville leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. They looked at each other for a few minutes until the young man saw the light that was slowly emerging.
"We missed it," he said quietly, then grinned. "Ha, we missed it."
"I don't need the sun," replied Luna, also amused. "You, like sunshine, warm every moment. You, like sunshine, brighten every day."
Neville looked at her and flushed for a second time. Luna did manage to say the most fluffy things without any hint of embarrassment.
Luna reached up and kissed him again as the new day washed over them in all its unspoken splendor.
A/N: Aw, Neville/Luna is the cutest couple ever! Like, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? You know that stuff? Well, they're "I Can't Believe It's Not Canon". I mean, seriously. That's the one part where our darling J.K. Rowling sort of messed up, in my eyes.
I hope you liked. Very very fluffy fluffy indeed. I couldn't make this remotely serious at all. Luna's just too darn cute.
Till next time, Her Majesty, The Queen, Violet ^_^
