JUNE 24TH 1998:
The sun framed her face perfectly. She was radiant. He'd never understood why people didn't think she was beautiful- the evidence of her beauty was staring him right in the face. He wished he had the confidence to just go and snog her senseless, that was how Ron and Hermione had got together…and Harry and Ginny for that matter.
Neville then took a deep breath and decided to tell her a bit of what he was thinking:
"You're beautiful, Luna. You know that, right?" he said to her, taking her arm gently. She smiled timidly back at him. That was unusual for her, Luna was usually anything but shy.
"That's very nice of you to say, Neville." was her reply as she looked down at her bare feet on the sand.
"I'm not saying it to be nice, Luna. I'm saying it because it's bloody true. You're gorgeous, inside and out. Remember that." Neville sounded almost forceful as he said this. He was surprised at himself and wasn't sure where this confidence had come from.
Luna blushed and looked away. Again, this wasn't normal Luna behaviour. Neville was just about to say something else when suddenly she looked directly at him, her pale eyes staring into his own darker ones. Neither broke the connection for a while, both continued to look at the other. Neville tried to memorise her face. He drank in every feature, from her delicate rosebud mouth to her long but almost invisible eyelashes. Without warning, Luna broke the connection and spoke:
"I think you're beautiful too, Neville Longbottom, everything about you is wonderful and beautiful. You're one of the best people I know. Believe that." He was stunned into silence- she thought he was wonderful and beautiful.
Without planning it, Neville reached for Luna's hand and grasped it in his. She turned to look at him again and without breaking eye contact, she said:
"I'm pleased you did that, Neville. For ages I've wanted to hold your hand just because."
"What do you mean by 'just because'?" Neville asked her.
"Just because we can. Just because we're not running away from darkness, like last year. Just because we're here. Just because we don't need to be, but we are." she smiled up at him again and he squeezed her hand gently.
"Just because we can, I like that." he grinned, before putting his arms around her.
"So do I, Neville." Luna said, standing on tiptoes so as to be as face to face as was possible for the pair. She was small and he was tall.
Neville closed the tiny distance in between them, before lifting her off her feet and gently pressing his lips to hers.