Another new pairing for me. New characters for me in general, actually. Interesting. Idk Neville and Luna are both such heartbreaking characters once you truly dig into their lives and sufferings

Written for:

.Oh the Thinks You Can Think Challenge - Gertrude McFuzz

Mismatch

Neville Longbottom had spent an awful long time being unnoticed. Everywhere he went, he was pushed off to the side and considered unimportant in the shadow of others in the room.

From the time he was a young boy, his grandmother had clearly known that he wasn't going to be or show any of the characteristics that his parents had had. She pushed him off to the side – never neglectful or abusive, just distracted.

Even his magic hadn't been noticed until he was nearly ten, when his great uncle had "accidentally" dropped him out the window in favor of some bloody pie. But oh, before that, he had heard the whispers around the dining room table whenever they thought that he couldn't hear.

A squib? What will we do with a squib?

He had gone off to Hogwarts when he was eleven years old, just like all the other boys. Suddenly, he was perfectly alright with being pushed into the background and unnoticed.

After all, he was clumsy and forgetful, the butt of everyone's jokes. If he could just stay out of sight and out of mind, they wouldn't laugh at his incompetence, right?

And then there were those few who noticed him.

The first time he had ever truly been noticed was by Professor Snape. Merlin knows that it wasn't in a good way – he had been yelled at and berated for somehow managing to find a way to melt a cauldron with a perfectly harmless and stable potion. But he had been noticed, and that was what mattered. He was reduced to a blubbering idiot by the sheer novelty of the situation, and that would continue throughout his education and set him constantly on edge. Professor Snape was the only one who had ever noticed Neville, regardless of whether it was good or bad attention.

Harry Potter noticed him. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One. The Savior of the Wizarding World. Harry had paid attention to him from the very beginning. And when he felt belittled and insulted, Harry was always there to reassure him and pick him back up.

You're worth twelve of Malfoy.

And then there was Luna Lovegood.

oOoOo

Luna Lovegood was odd, to say the least. She escaped from reality, escaped from her mother's death, through imaginary animals and occurrences. The Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorkacks kept her company in her motherless world, and although she knew deep down that they didn't exist, she couldn't bear to find herself living alone once again. She couldn't bear to feel that big, gaping wound in the center of her chest.

Of course, her oddness certainly didn't score her points with the rest of the students at Hogwarts. They found ways to tease her when they thought she didn't know. They stole her stuff and refused to give it back until the end of the school year – when it really mattered. They dismissed her words and her ideas as inane and insane.

But most of that didn't even matter to Luna – not really. After all, escapism was what she knew best. It wasn't so hard for her to imagine that she somehow happened to misplace all of her belongings, which magically happened to turn up at the end of term. It wasn't so difficult to pretend that when her classmates refused to acknowledge her, it was simply because they didn't hear.

But at the same time, she knew the truth. Deep down, she knew exactly how they felt about her. She knew exactly how everyone treated her. She knew exactly what they called her when she wasn't around to hear.

Loony. Loony, loony Lovegood.

And deep, deep down, she knew that her mother had been dead for years and that none of the fantastical beasts that she spoke of so often truly existed. Yes, she knew it all.

But then again, Luna was incredibly good at escaping reality, and it was really quite easy for her to forget everything as soon as she remembered it. It was really quite easy for her to block everyone out just as they blocked her out.

But then there was Neville Longbottom.

oOoOo

Neville didn't think that he had ever truly seen the thin, blonde girl before. Her eyes had a dreamy gleam to them, and the sunlight reflected dully off of radish earrings and a necklace that seemed to be made of butterbeer corks. Her lips turned up in a small smile as she returned his gaze.

She was looking at him. Not past him, not through him, at him. She saw him.

"You're Luna, right?" Neville prompted nervously. "I think you know my friend's younger sister. Ginny Weasley?"

Luna's smile widened. "Yes, of course. And you're Neville Longbottom," she stated with assurance.

Neville felt a strange tightening in his chest. He was seen. He was noticed. He was known.

oOoOo

The silence hung thickly in the air between them. Luna continued smiling as Neville stood across from her, looking stricken but pleased.

After a moment, Luna couldn't help but wonder aloud, "Have the Nargles got your tongue?"

Neville snapped to attention, and Luna subconsciously felt her heart sink a little deeper into her chest. Here came the questioning, the ridicule.

"Sorry, the what?" he asked in confusion. His voice, in spite of the slight stammer, had a charming lilt to it.

"The Nargles, of course," Luna clarified. "They have a tendency to sneak in your ears and mix up your brain sometimes if you don't pay attention. Nasty little things, but don't worry; they get the best of me sometimes too." She winked conspiratorially.

"Oh, of course," agreed Neville with an amused smile. "That must have been it. I knew there was an explanation there somewhere. Thank Merlin you were here to explain it, right?"

Luna took a moment before responding. She studied his face and his tone of voice. He had to be mocking her, right? Everyone knew that Nargles didn't exist. Hell, she knew that Nargles didn't exist. But here stood Neville Longbottom, with his embarrassed smile and lack of words, with his quiet acceptance.

He might not have understood, but he was clearly not insulting her. Merlin knows he was the first one.

"Ah, yes," she began, a little distracted by her thoughts, "Thank Merlin for that."

"Hey, uh, I know we don't really know each other," Neville stammered, "b-but I don't really know much about, um, Nargles. So I was thinking that maybe – well, maybe we could take a visit to, um, Hogsmeade next weekend and talk about them a little more?"

Luna was incredibly surprised. Here she was, a fourth year at Hogwarts, shocked because a boy had – for the first time – refused to mock her odd tendencies, and now he was asking her on a date.

"I mean, if that's not what you want to do, that's – that's okay. We could always do something else. Or nothing. I mean, if you'd rather do nothing, without me, that's okay too. I didn't – "

"I'd love to," Luna said simply, cutting off his embarrassed rambling. The shy, dreamy smile returned to her face as they began walking together toward the greenhouses.

oOoOo

He found himself noticed by the unaccepted.

She found herself accepted by the unnoticed.

What a mismatched, perfect pair they made.