Luna Lovegood did a lot of strange things, Neville thought. Everyone, from Ron Weasley to Sir Cadogan knew that. Her appearance alone was enough to confirm her strangeness, with her long, scraggly hair, clothes and jewellery Neville had never really seen anyone else wear, and her large blue eyes that can get quite unnerving when she looks at you in that way of hers.
They weren't unnerving now, however. She was walking towards him after pointing out to the air, declaring that there's a Blibbering Humdinger about the castle (Harry, Ron, and Hermione had mysteriously disappeared after that). Even after a battle with Death Eaters, she still walked with a dreamy, lopsided way. It was almost a skip, actually, and it comforted Neville to know that at least one person in the castle was not changed.
She sat down next to him amongst the debris of Hogwarts and looked at him with eyes that produced feelings that were nowhere near unnerving.
"Was there really a Blibbering Humdinger?"
"No, I just said that because Harry wanted me to distract everyone. They do live in forests though, so maybe one slipped in here from the Forbidden Forest."
To anyone listening, two students discussing a possibly-mythical creature might have seemed absurd after almost being killed by the greatest Dark wizard of all time and his supporters, but Neville was glad for the topic of their conversation. He didn't want to talk about the battle, no, not now. He was starting to feel the wounds various Death Eaters had given him, and the sword he got from the Sorting Hat was starting to get heavy.
How in the bloody hell did I kill that snake?
Luna just kept looking at him. "That was really brave, you know." Her voice was soft, like the wind rustling through the leaves of the plants Neville so carefully tended. "Standing up to You-Know-Who, I mean. There are very few people who can do that." She didn't say it in an impressed, feverish way, nor a sarcastic one. She simply said it in the way she says everything, which was something Neville can't really describe. He was glad she didn't mention the snake, though. That part didn't really feel like him; he felt detached from his body when he killed it, and besides, he felt it was mostly the sword that did the work. Telling You-Know-Who he'll join him when hell freezes over, on the other hand… that had taken every ounce of courage in him. Luna knew that, he realised, and he supposed it gave him a bit more courage, because, tired and nervous as he was, he grabbed her hand and slipped his fingers between hers.
Luna did not seem surprised or bothered in the slightest, because all she did was hold on to his hand tighter and looked at him with those blue eyes of hers. The blonde hair that fell from her shoulders to her waist was rippling slowly in the wind, and her hand was soft, even with all the cuts and bruises on it. She smiled slightly at him. Luna Lovegood did a lot of strange things, and Neville supposed making him feel… buoyant, even in the midst of all this destruction, was one of them.
Luna Lovegood was beautiful, Neville realised, and he would make sure everyone, from Ron Weasley to Sir Cadogan, knew that.