Neville has always been a nervous eater, and that habit certainly becomes clear to the rest of his table when the lid is lifted off of the first silver platter. "Mmm, rosemary chicken." His manners have never been particularly good, and no one has ever felt the need to tell him so. He shovels bite after bite into his mouth, not pausing to take a breath in between.
Luna, on the other hand, takes the daintiest of bites. She has a relatively small appetite, and chooses to take tiny portions of many dishes—rather than large portions of few. Okay, maybe she took a bit more from the dessert table than other tables, but sugar is what keeps her Luna-charm alive. Neville's eating habits don't bother her, though. In fact, she finds them quite endearing.
A giggle escapes her throat. "You have a bit of pudding on your nose. Better wipe it off before the Hippogriff's come for you." She smiles, and a thick red blush fills his cheeks. "Hagrid has informed me tapioca is their favorite."
"Sorry." he says, while a spelled napkin rises from the table and cleans off his nose without another word from him.
Luna's grin only grows wider. "You know, you don't need to apologize for everything. It's not as though you've offended me. I'm not some prissy princess."
"But you are a princess, Luna. How could someone so beautiful not be a princess?" he says, words rushing out of his mouth before his brain fully processes them. He automatically wishes he could take them back, but then he sees the shy, pleased look on her face.
"Why, Neville Longbottom. I never knew you could be such a gentleman." She reaches out and trails her fingers down his arm. Her usual Luna confidence has come back, though she doesn't know how long it will last. She figures that even if Neville has no interest in her, it doesn't really matter. She won't see him until the next reunion anyway.
He almost chokes on his chicken. No, he actually does choke on his chicken. He reaches up to grab his throat, a sputtering, terrible sound coming from his mouth. He looks as though he's just seen a dementor, but Luna doesn't even look worried.
She pulls her wand out of her boots, and flicks it in Neville's direction. "Accio chicken." To emphasize how easy this is for her, she checks her nails while doing so.
As it moves up his throat, the piece of meat does not make a smooth exit. It pinballs all around the back of his mouth, then flies out and lands right on Pansy Parkinson's new hair extensions. She shrieks, then gets up and runs out of the dining hall as fast as her six-inch heels will allow. Her crocodile-skin purse gets stuck on the back of her chair, and she exclaims loudly, "Draco Malfoy! Get my bag!" Draco looks like he has eaten a sour lemon, but obliges.
"Oops." Luna says innocently.
Neville looks at her in awe. "You…you saved my life."
She looks at him through her eyelashes. "It was just a simple spell. You would have done the same for me. I know you would have."
He shakes his head. "It still means a lot." Neville is embarrassed that he actually choked on his food in front of Luna, but Luna appears to have already forgotten the entire ordeal. She can sense how uncomfortable he is; that has always been a gift of hers, so she changes the subject.
"So Neville, what have you been up to since Hogwarts?"
Neville's brain is still focused on his embarrassment, so he doesn't hear her. He just stares at his food, not willing to take another bite just yet. Luna waits patiently, assuming he is thinking about his answer before he says it. Finally Neville says, "You don't think mashed potatoes are able to be choked on, do you? Because I'm still hungry, but there's no way in bloody hell I'm eating another bite of that chicken."
Luna resists the urge to laugh out loud. "No, Neville. I don't think you will choke on your mashed potatoes. But what does that have to do with my question?"
Automatically, he is nervous again. This entire evening feels like one big test he is failing. Neville has never been an exceptional student. Also, his guess-taking skills have never been finely attuned in the slightest. He mumbles, "Um, green?"
This time, Luna does crack up. "Green? Wow, your life has been highly eventful." Neville notices that hundreds of tiny bells are attached to the hem of Luna's sweater, and every time she laughs, her body shakes to activate them. He stares at them, instead of into Luna's beautiful blue eyes.
"Geez, Luna. Sorry I didn't hear your question. Sorry I made a fool of myself choking on that chicken. Sorry I can't do anything right. I bet you wished you hadn't wasted your night on me."
He honestly can't tell how adorable he is, Luna thinks. "Neville, stop it." she says, voice gentle and sweet. "I'm having a wonderful time. I happen to think your plunders are quite funny, not a nuisance. They liven up the evening. Alumni events are never much fun without a friend to remember the good old days with. Plus, remember that you're talking to Luna Lovegood here." Her eyebrows nearly touch the ceiling as she tries to convey her meaning.
Neville's eyebrows follow suit, but not for the same reason as Luna's. "What do you mean?"
She looks incredulous, which is not a very Luna-like expression. "What do you mean what do I mean? Everyone thought I was a looney." When he still looks confused, she adds, "Loony-Lovegood? No?"
"I've never thought you were crazy. Why would other people? You're too wonderful to be crazy." He honestly believes the words coming out of his mouth, which only makes Luna like him more.
Luna is so surprised, her words come out a smidgen too choppy. "Well…because. I was. I am." She is torn between taking the compliment and defending her looniness, although she doesn't know why she is so protective of it. Shouldn't she want people not to think she is crazy?
"You're not crazy." Neville restates.
Her odd mindset has been the cause of so much hurt and judgement, but she isn't willing to let it go. It's become a part of her, an excuse. Whenever anyone questioned anything she did, it was blamed on her supposed lunacy. She used it as an excuse for why people treated her the way they did. People didn't want to talk to her because she was crazy, there couldn't have been any other reason. In a strange way, the labels placed upon her protected her. She didn't want that to go away.
Luna doesn't bother hiding the annoyance in her voice, which gets higher with her rising frustration. "Yes, Neville. I am. For what other reason would people avoid me so much?"
"What are you talking about?" Neville exclaims, still completely and utterly befuddled. "Why are you fighting me on this?"
"Because Neville, I can deal with being labeled as crazy. I can't deal with being labeled as unloveable."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed!
