Nature Lovers

The Quidditch League Competition
Title: Nature Lovers
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Chaser Two
Prompt: Write about a character who loves nature.
Extra Prompts: (Color) Lilac; (Object) Pendant; (Word) Boardgame
Word Count: 1,671

With a contented smile covering his face, Neville Longbottom inhaled deeply the moment he opened the door to the greenhouse and stepped inside. It was very early on a Wednesday morning, and Neville was there to tend to the plants as he had every morning of the term since becoming Professor Sprout's assistant. Pomona had noticed Neville's affinity for all things that grew almost as soon as he had started attending Hogwarts, and had done her best to nurture that aptitude in him over the last few years.

It turned out that she had a near prodigy in Neville when it came to plants. She would have made him her assistant at the start of his second year, but she already had a very capable assistant in Gemma Farley, who was almost a prodigy in her own right. But after Gemma graduated, Pomona had asked Neville, who was entering his fourth year, if he would be interested in replacing her, and he had agreed almost without hesitation.

Glancing about the building, his smile grew as he took in the familiar sights around him. Of all the greenhouses at Hogwarts, this was his favorite. The plants were exotic, yet none of them were dangerous. Most of them had bright and very colorful blooms, and gave off heady fragrances that seemed to engage all his senses.

Trailing his fingers across the tops of the plants that lined the main pathway through the greenhouse, Neville froze about half way down, a slight frown covering his face. Something felt…off. Not in a bad way, just like something had disturbed the normal ambiance of the room. He had no idea what it could be, until he heard a rustle, and a soft giggle coming from his right.

Squinty into the relative darkness, his heart tried to move up into his throat as the outline of a person stood. "Oh, hello Neville. I'm sorry if I startled you."

Neville let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, as Luna Lovegood walked over to him, her face covered in the serene smile she almost always wore.

"Oh, hey Luna." Neville knew that the majority of students called her "Loony". But having been on the receiving end of bullying many times himself over the years, he never found it in him to call her that. "Yeah, I'm just not used to people being in here this time of day, that's all." Then he frowned. "Um, what are you doing here so early?"

"Well, professor Sprout lets me come down to the greenhouses on certain days so I can look for Heffalumps and Woozles."

Neville blinked at her. "Umm, what?"

Luna laughed, and Neville found it quite beautiful, almost musical. "Heffalumps and Woozles. They're attracted to certain plants, and early morning is usually the best time to find them. They are very rare, and getting more rare as the years pass. I give them potions to help them grow stronger. They are very endangered, but they seem to like Hogwarts especially, for some reason. Probably because the school is so steeped with magic. Muggle places scare them, and muggles are encroaching on everything these days, it seems."

Maybe I should start paying more attention in care of magical creatures class. "I've never heard of Heffalumps or Woozles."

The magical laugh sounded once more. "I'm not surprised. They are so endangered that the Ministry doesn't want knowledge of them to become widely known, and they're not covered in our Care of Magical Animals for that very reason. Otherwise, people may start hunting or trapping them for their magical properties."

Luna's eyes grew even dreamier than they normally did. Her face bore a faraway look as she said, "That's my goal after Hogwarts. I would love to have a nature preserve somewhere, so that these and other magical animals could live in safety. It was my mother's dream as well. She loved magical animals too, but she was never able to follow that dream."

Luna glanced down and lifted the necklace pendant she was wearing. "My mother gave me this when I was very little." She opened the pendant, and Neville saw a picture of Luna with her parents. After a few seconds, it morphed into a picture of just Luna and her mum. Neville smiled.

"That's beautiful," he replied.

A wistful sigh escaped Luna. "Did you know that our mother's were actually quite good friends when they went here?"

Neville's eyebrows rose at this piece of information. "No, um, I never knew that, actually."

Once more Luna's magical laugh sounded in the greenhouse, this time tinged with a bit of sadness. "I'm not surprised," she said again. "Your grandmother always thought your father could have done better, so she probably doesn't talk much about your mum."

Upon hearing this, Neville's first reaction was one of anger. But then he realized that his grandmother never really did talk much about his mother. Besides, he glanced into Luna's eyes and saw the truth there, and the lack of guile, and knew she was right. He sighed, and dropped his eyes.

Luna placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he glanced back up at her. "I'm sorry about your parents, Neville. They are good people. Sometimes war is necessary, but it's always bad. And sometimes good people end up being hurt. Or even killed. Like my mum."

Neville felt another momentary flash of anger. I almost wish they had died, at least then they would be in peace. You're lucky! But something kept him from saying that, for as his mouth opened, he was surprised to hear the words that came out. "So tell me more about these Heffalumps and Woozles."

Luna looked at him and her face lit up. "Oh, I will, sometime. But right now I don't want to disturb your morning routine. You talk to the plants, don't you? And they understand."

Neville's mouth dropped open. "H-how did you know that?" He stuttered. "I-I've never told anyone about that! I mean, they already think I'm a freak, almost a squib…if they knew I could communicate with plants, empathize with them, I'd never hear the end of it!"

"Oh, I've heard about it. And you shouldn't be ashamed, Neville. It's a very rare gift. Very rare. It's kind of like what I can do with animals. Not really talk, but communicate. Find out how they feel, what they need, that sort of thing. Maybe not in actual words, but they still communicate with you, and you with them. I'm quite certain that's why you have such an affinity for Herbology and growing things. It's much easier to grow things if they can tell you what's going on with them."

Neville couldn't contain his excitement. At last, here was someone he could share his deepest secret with. "Yeah, it really is! I was really little when I discovered I could hear plants. And you're right…it's not exactly talking. It's a non-verbal form of communication. There are words mixed in with it, but it's more emotional. I can tell when they're happy, sad, sick, healthy, you name it. Sometimes they even get angry. And then I can proceed with what they need at any given moment."

"That's very intriguing, Neville. You'll have to tell me more about it sometime. It does sound very much how I can communicate with animals."

She trailed her fingers gently across several plants that were near them on a table, then turned to face him . "Neville, would you like to come to the Ravenclaw common room and play a board game with me sometime?" Her voice was still its placid self, but there was an underlying current of excitement that normally wasn't present in her dreamy voice when she spoke. Neville noted it, but was distracted by her words. He frowned.

"What's a 'board game'?"

Luna's laugh sounded once again, and Neville's frown was replaced with a grin. "It's a muggle thing. You put little figurines on a board, usually square or rectangular that is covered in smaller squares that each have something written on them that you have to do or pay or sometimes even buy. Then you either draw cards or roll dice to see how far you move. And when you land on one of the smaller squares, you do what it tells you to do."

Neville was still confused about the board game thing she had mentioned. But he found the idea of spending more time with Luna, and getting to know her better, well worth learning how to play "board games". "It sounds…interesting, Luna. I'd like that." The two teens shared a smile.

Speaking of spending time with Luna, Neville found that he didn't want his current time with her to end just yet. So he blurted, "But, um, at the moment, please tell me more about these 'Heffalumps and Woozles'. For example, where does one usually find them? What do they like to eat? What color are they?"

One more, Neville was rewarded with the sound of Luna's laugh. And he liked it so much that he felt his face heat up and realized he was blushing. "Well, they have several different habitats they can be found in. They're very versatile creatures. They seem to have the highest attraction to Lilacs. Most people call Lilacs trees, but they're actually bushes. Did you know that's where we get the name for the colour Lilac? From lilac plants." She smiled at him.

And even though he already knew a thing or two about Lilacs, he indulged her, following her over to where the Lilacs were placed in the greenhouse, as she continued telling him about Heffalumps and Woozles. He really didn't hear what she was saying, because he was too enraptured by the lilt of her voice, by the way she seemed to breeze through the room as if she were a nature spirit herself.

And deep within Neville, his souls sighed, and whispered, "I have found my home."