Chapter 3

1 Year Later

The last year had gone quickly to Neville. He did the usual for Christmas- visited his mum and dad, and then saw Gran's friends. He did rather well on his exams (except for the Troll in potions). Luna did much better than him.
Luna and Neville kept in contact for the whole summer. Luna sent Neville a ton of pictures from Sweden, and he hung them up in his bedroom. When his Gran walked in on him smiling at one, she asked who the 'dreamy eyed' girl
was.
'A friend.' Neville had replied. He saw his grandmother smiling to herself as she left.
Now, it was his 7th year. Of course, it was Luna's sixth, but this was big for him. Neville had been reading the prophet, and he had found an article on Snape becoming headmaster. To his surprise, Neville wasn't scared, but he gained a sort of confidence that stuck with him for the rest of the year, and
ultimately, the rest of his life.
On September first, Neville went with his Gran to Kings Cross Station. As soon as he stepped through the brick wall, he sensed something was terribly wrong.
A woman and a man that Neville recognized as The Carrow twins were standing at the entrances of the trains, sneering. All of the students looked miserable. Everything looked sad, dark, and dreary. Neville looked for Luna, but
couldn't find her. I'm going to tell her I love her this year, he thought. Courage had come to him, but most definitely not for girls.
He lined up, was allowed in the train, and found a compartment with Ginny Weasley.
"Hullo Ginny." he greeted politely.
"Oh, hey Neville!"
He set his trunk down and slid into a seat.
"Have you seen Luna?"
Ginny froze in place. She stared at Neville and turned white. Her eyes were frantic, and she ran her hand through her red hair.
"You haven't heard?"
A rock fell in Neville's stomach. Did she get hurt in Sweden?
"N-no...w-what hap-happened?" he stuttered. Ginny sighed, put her hand on Neville's, and looked him in the eyes.
"Neville do you want to hear this? I know you really like her...and I think...it's a lot for you to handle..." her voice shook.
Neville surprised himself by yelling.
"Of course I want to bloody well hear it! Luna is my girlf-" he cut himself off, and turned beet red. He very well knew Luna was not his girlfriend. Even though what happened in Hogsmeade was great, he suspected Luna only thought of him as a friend.
"I-I'm sorry Ginny." he sighed.
"Neville, look at me." she ordered. His eyes met hers.
"Luna...Luna was kidnapped by Death Eaters."
Neville froze in shock. Luna? It surely can't be his Luna? The dreamy eyed one? The beautiful one? Luna Lovegood?
Yet Neville knew it was. He buried his hands in his face, and then bit his nails.
"I'm sorry Neville." He saw Ginny's eyes were watering, and a solemn look was on her face.
"She's going to be killed." he whispered. Ginny didn't respond, and looked out the window. She knew better than to lie to him. There was a big chance Luna might be murdered.
"Why do they want her?" Neville cried out. Ginny moved her eyes from the window to him.
"Her father...he's been saying too much against You-Know-Who. They said to get Luna back, he needs to give them Ha-" her voice cracked. "Harry."
Then, that was it. Neville sat in silence the rest of the ride, taking breaks to look at his pictures of Luna and her father in Sweden. She looked so happy...

Time passed at Hogwarts. Neville had been almost starving himself, only eating pudding for dinner. He felt sick all the time. A minute didn't go by that he didn't miss her. For the first few days, Ginny had tried to cheer him up
when she saw him sulking in the common room, but realized he couldn't be helped, and stopped.
In class, the teachers radiated sadness and anger towards the Carrows. They never turned students over to them to get punished. It seemed inhumane.
Neville was punished a lot. He refused to use the Cruciatus curse on first years, which gave him a black eye. He made snide remarks about their blood status, which got him a swollen lip. After a while, he realized he needed to get
the DA together again, to hide people. They gathered in the Room of Requirement, and used a passageway to the Hogs Head to get (horrible) food.
Neville found himself lying in his canopy, thinking about Luna for hours. The other students would know, because 'Missing' posters and pictures of Luna would appear all around the room. It's been two months, he thought, she
must be dead.

Luna was lying down on the cold dungeon floor of Malfoy Manor. She was counting the ants that climbed up the walls. Ollivander was huddled in the corner, shivering. Peter Pettigrew was guarding the door.
"WORMTAIL! GET UP HERE!" screeched the high pitched voice of Bellatrix Lestrange. The small rat-like man scurried up the stairs. There was a bang, then voices. Luna recognized them from somewhere.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM?" Bellatrix thundered. There was a zzipp, then someone gasping for air.
"The mudblood's bag...»said a low voice.
Luna stood up. Wormtail was walking down the stairs again, but now there were more footsteps...
"Ollivander, who is that?" she started, but before he could respond, a voice broke out through the darkness.
"Luna!"
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley entered the dungeon, after being forcibly pushed by Wormtail. Wormtail sneered, and then scurried back upstairs.
"Harry! Harry Potter!"cried out Ollivander.
"Luna, what happened?" said Ron. She explained how her father had said too much, and how she was kidnapped.
A scream broke out.
"Hermione!" shouted Ron. "We need to get out of here!"
Harry paced back and forth, perplexed.
There was a crack, and a small house elf appeared out of nowhere.
"Dobby has come to assist Harry Potter!" the small elf grinned.
"Dobby, can you get them somewhere safe?" said Harry, pointing to Luna and Ollivander.
Dobby smiled and nodded, then grabbed their hands.
"Dobby will be back!"
Luna was spinning- her ears felt like they were inside out. The feeling stopped when Dobby took them to a dingy, small bar- The Hogs Head. An old man that
looked like Dumbledore stepped into view.
"Good, Dobby. Thank you. Now just get Ollivander to Shell Cottage so I can
get Luna to Hogwarts."
Hogwarts! Luna's heart skipped a beat. Neville was at Hogwarts!
The elf disappeared with Ollivander, leaving Luna alone with the man.
«You best be getting back to Hogwarts. The kids'll teach you what t'do." sighed the man. He looked at a portrait above the fireplace of a beautiful young girl, and then nodded. It swung open.
"Just go through there. Make your way through the tunnel. The Room of Requirement is on the other side."
And so, Luna made her way back to Hogwarts. It was dark in the tunnel, but she managed to get through the door, where she met with the girl again.
Here I go, she thought.
Luna was ready for Hogwarts, and most importantly, for Neville Longbottom.
***