(This chapter starts immediately where the last one ended. Please, READ AND REVIEW!)
Chapter Two: How All of it Began
Neville smiled as he relived that memory. "The day I fell in love with her," he remembered happily. Luna's big blue eyes just melted his heart whenever he looked at her. She was always curious, and different that the other girls. And, she was smart. Not smart like Hermione Granger, though; Luna's intellect deserved a completely different category. She thought about things no one else seemed to care about or even notice, and that was what Neville loved about her.
Harry, Ron and the others did not know the secrets these two shared. Luna may still be at Hogwarts, but every trip to Hogsmeade was bringing them closer as a couple. He remembered when he first asked her out, though, before the Battle.
Things were really tough in Neville's seventh year of Hogwarts, especially dating anyone. "Good thing we were part of Dumbledore's Army, or it would've never happened," Neville had told himself many times before. The Room of Requirement was the one spot in the whole school that it was save for Harry's friends back then.
One day, hiding from the Death Eaters, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and many other opponents of Lord Voldemort and his ideals were eating the dinner they had acquired from the Hog's Head pub earlier. Neville had arrived late (he had been sent on a mission to see how things were around school), and was forced to sit right across from Luna. Usually, he would sit down the table from her, so that he could admire her from far away. But sitting so near to her, he could not help himself to stare at her through the entire meal, not eating anything.
Luna apparently noticed this behavior, and tracked him down after the dishes were cleared. She, whether meaning to or not, trapped him by sitting down on the same bench as he did and starting a conversation. Neville, not wishing to appear rude, was forced to endure the sheer pain of being with the person you love, and being afraid to even speak.
Luna didn't get much out of Neville the first time, but after several events relative to this one, the boy let himself really be himself with her. Over the next month, the two were nearly inseparable. Ginny realized the spark between the two outcasts. Being the good friend she was, she assured everyone that they were not dating. "Funny," Neville thought later, "That even in times of trouble, we would have never had any privacy if Ginny hadn't been there."
It wasn't until the moment Neville found Luna after the Battle that he told her that he loved her. He, surprising himself, even, simply went up to her in the empty Room of Requirement, and told her. He remembered the event quite vividly.
(Okay, so I'm leaving you at a huge moment of suspense. That means you simply MUST return for the next chapter, where I shall reveal the beginning of these two lovely character's relationship. Sorry, but I hit a terrible case of writer's block, so you'll have to wait until I overcome it to discover what happens next. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Please, review.)