Okay I'm not gonna preface this much. You all know the deal: I'm the Ravenclaw Astronomy student and prefect in the ninth season of The Houses Comp! This is my drabble for this round, and the prompt I've gone with is (color) midnight blue. This is gonna be a short and sweet story, and I hope you guys like it!

Word Count: 829

Betas: Ash Juillet, Miakoda, pretenseofperfection

Neville stared at the shop windows cluelessly as he made his way down Diagon Alley. It was nice to see the shops almost back to how they were before: the way he remembered them the day he came for the first time. The streets were bustling, vendors were peddling snacks and trinkets, and the patrons were chatting animatedly about whatever came to their mind. Things weren't exactly the same, of course. Some of the shops still bore signs of raids, while some shops remained closed due to the deaths of their owners.

The biggest changes were in the people. To the untrained eye, everyone seemed to be fine. Neville knew better, though, having gone through the war. He noticed the way a few people limped or held their arms awkwardly or jumped at unexpected sounds. The effects of the war were still being felt.

His musings quickly ended as his mind came back to the reason he was here in the first place. He was looking for a gift for Luna. Next week was the one-year anniversary of their first date. Neville always had trouble getting gifts for people; he was always so indecisive. His best hope was scouring the shop windows and hoping something would catch his eye. This method hadn't failed him yet. Of course, Luna was amazing and pretty easygoing, so she would never make him feel bad if she didn't like what he got. He knew that he would be able to tell though.

Animals on display in front of the Magical Menagerie, some spellbooks in the window of Flourish and Blotts, Spectrespecs on a rack by the door of Wiseacres, they all caught his eye, but none seemed quite right. What's something Luna would really like? He kept asking himself the question but couldn't come up with an answer.

And as he was passing Madame Malkin's, his eyes landed on a cloak hanging on a mannequin in the window display. It was a beautiful thing, made of dark, midnight blue cloth, which he knew was Luna's favorite color. The sign beside it only confirmed this was the right gift. "The Universe Cloak: When the wearer is completely surrounded, they will see a complete image of the night sky which will change as the days pass."

"Perfect," Neville murmured to himself. For a few minutes, he stood dumbly outside the shop, unable to believe such a perfect gift just happened to be on display right where he'd see it. Finally, he noticed someone inside the shop looking at the cloak, and that brought him to action. He couldn't let someone else buy it first, and so he quickly headed into the shop.

"Good afternoon, dear!" Madame Malkin greeted as Neville entered, pins in her mouth as she worked on fitting a young girl, who was evidently an upcoming Hogwarts first year. He politely returned her greeting and made a beeline for the cloak. Thankfully, the person he'd seen looking at the cloak had only looked as the cloak was still there. He touched the material, the beautiful midnight blue material felt smooth like the ocean as it fell through his hands.

"Need some help?" Neville turned to see one of the employees behind him. At his seemingly confused look, she said, "You're buying that, yes?"

"Oh, yes!" Neville managed to say. Here he'd thought he'd changed so much due to the war, and yet a simple shopping trip still managed to bring out his awkward side. The employee disappeared behind a counter nearby, returning with a box. She carefully removed the cloak from the model and folded it into the box.

"Madame Malkin's busy right now, but she'll help you check out soon," the employee, whose name tag identified her as Phoebe, said. He nodded to her and made his way to the register with his purchase.

After a minute or two, he was joined at the counter by Madam Malkin as well as the little girl she had been fitting. "Let me just check Neville here out, and then it's your turn," she said to the girl's father. She opened up Neville's box and smiled. "Special cloak you've got there. I had one myself years ago, one of my favorite cloaks I've ever owned. If you hadn't gotten it, I'd be tempted to claim it for myself."

The little girl couldn't stop herself from peeking into the box and gasped in awe when she saw the cloak nestled within the velvety cloth. "It's pretty! Is it for your sister?"

This made Neville turn quite red. "Er… no.. it's for…"

"Halley, that's not polite to ask," the girl's father reprimanded.

"It's fine," Neville said, managing to pull himself together. "It's for my… my girlfriend."

"Ohhh," Halley nodded in understanding. She looked at the cloak enviously. "I hope I find someone who loves me enough one day that they get me a cloak like that."

Neville smiled faintly at her remark. "I hope you do, too."