Chapter Nine – The Halloween Ball

Before Neville knew it, September was over. His life had a very nice pattern to it now. For the first time in his life, Neville was able to hold his head up in class. He had been more shocked than anyone, one day in Charms when Professor Flitwick asked a question and Neville raised his hand before Hermione.

Luna and Neville ate dinner together at least twice a week, sometimes more. Several times Neville almost had the nerve to say something, to tell her his feelings, but he never could find the courage.

It was the first week of October and Neville was in Transfiguration when Professor McGonagall made an announcement. The class had started working on changing skin colors. They started easy, making the skin just a little lighter or darker. Now they were trying to change the color completely. Neville was very proud when he was able to make Dean Thomas even paler than Ron was.

"Class, before I dismiss you, I have an announcement to make. The Seventh Years have decided to host a Halloween Ball this year. It will be Fourth Years and above will be able to attend, though you may invite someone from a lower year. I hope you all decide to attend," she said sternly.

Neville gulped. A ball? This was the perfect opportunity to tell Luna how he felt. All he had to do was ask her to the ball. Yeah, he told himself, like that would be easy.

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That evening, Neville was in the boys' dorm with Harry and Ron. Ever since Professor McGonagall's announcement, the only thing the students were talking about was the ball.

"I don't know if I can do it, mate," Ron said miserably.

"Do what?" Neville asked.

"Ask her. I have to ask her, and soon. I don't know how!" Ron sighed.

Neville was glad to know that other people were having the same problem he was. He didn't even ask Ron who he was talking about. Everyone seemed to realize that Ron had a crush on Hermione except for Hermione herself.

"I know what you mean," Neville replied.

"Who are you going to ask?" Harry asked. "Luna?"

Neville turned bright red. "Maybe," he said, barely audible.

"You are, aren't you?" Ron asked.

Neville nodded. "Who are you going to ask Harry?" he asked, trying to change the subject from himself.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe Lavender? That's all that's left in Gryffindor. I can't ask Parvati again," he said smiling. "Or maybe someone will ask me, and I won't have to worry."

Neville thought about how wonderful that would be. If only Luna would ask him to the ball, instead of him having to ask her. He would be a very happy person indeed.

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Two weeks passed, and Neville hadn't worked up the courage. Every time he saw Luna, he wanted to ask her. But he kept talking about other things, or if the subject came up when they were in a group, he quickly started talking about something else.

One morning, the day of the first quidditch match of the year (Gryffindor v. Hufflepuff), Luna joined the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She was hard to miss, wearing that huge hat of hers that supported the Gryffindor team. Neville wanted to laugh, but didn't. Neville and Dean had painted their faces Red and Gold to support the team. They joked and called themselves the left-overs, since they were the only two Gryffindor Sixth Years boys not on the team.

Luna sat down, very regally, across from Neville. He was amazed that she was able to keep the hat up on her head. She nodded at Harry, Ron and Ginny who were all sitting together.

"I'm sure you'll do wonderfully today, Ronald, Ginerva and Harold," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Erm...it's just Harry," Harry said.

"Pardon?" Luna asked.

"My name isn't Harold. It's just Harry," he repeated.

"Oh," she said dreamily, "I guess that would be too much of a coinedence, you and Ronald both having names that end in 'ld.'"

"LD?" Ronald asked, jaw open.

"Yes, Ronald. I thought it was strange. But if your name is really just Harry..." she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, Harry. Transfigure your hair red and we could be twins," Ron joked.

Luna started laughing hysterically. "Twins! You don't even look alike!" She was laughing so hard that her hat fell right off her head and knocked over a first year.

Still laughing, she picked up her hat (which started roaring) and said, "Sorry!" to the little first year that was on the floor. She put the hat on her head, realized she wasn't done laughing yet and put the hat right on the table.

Neville stared at her in disbelief. Ron had made a joke that wasn't remotely funny. Yet here she was, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. He remembered overhearing two girls giggling about boys they liked in the library. The girls said they always laughed at the boy's they liked jokes.

Neville was crushed. Did Luna like Ron? She kept looking at Ron and shaking her head, smiling. Just then the team stood up to go to the changing room. Neville finished his breakfast in silence.

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The game went very well. Harry caught the snitch in twenty minutes. Neville had been worried that not playing for so long would make him rusty. He was very pleased to be wrong. Luna had sat right next to him during the match. Neither talked much, but concentrated on the match.

They were walking down the bleacher steps when Luna turned around suddenly and faced Neville, who was two steps behind her. She turned so quickly that her hat almost fell off her head.

"Should we go to the Halloween Ball together, do you think?" she asked.

"The Ball?" Neville asked, feeling incredibly stupid.

Luna nodded and stepped up one step. Neville realized how close they were. He wanted to see her face, but the hat was covering up her eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to go?" she asked.

"Well...I..." Neville started.

"You haven't already asked someone, have you?" Luna asked.

Neville shook his head, then realized she couldn't possibly see his face because of the hat, said, "No, I haven't."

"Good! Then let's go together," she said simply.

Neville sighed a breath of relief. "Sure," he said, scarcely believing this was happening. "I'm not the greatest dancer," he added.

"That's fine," she said cheerfully, turning around and walking down the steps. "I don't like dancing all that much!"

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How Neville made it to Halloween, he didn't know. Finally, the long awaited night arrived, and the sixth year boys were getting ready for the Ball in their dorm room.

"Thank goodness it's not a costume party," Seamus muttered.

"I can't believe you're going with Hermione," Dean said.

Ron shook his head. "I know, it doesn't seem real," he said, putting on his shoes.

"Are you two..." Seamus started.

"No," Ron shook his head sadly.

Neville put on his dress robe. He liked the robe. It was a navy blue with a high collar. He didn't particularly like the collar though. It seemed to be a little too tight.

"Luna's at the table all the time, are you two..." Seamus now was talking to Neville.

"Same answer as Ron," Neville said.

"What's wrong with us?" Seamus asked. "Here we are, good looking and smart Gryffindor men and none of us can get a date!" Harry and Seamus weren't able to find dates for the ball and were going stag.

"Speak for yourself, mate," Dean said loudly, "I still have Ginny."

Ron stood up. "You better be treating her well," he said menancingly.

"I treat her just fine. I haven't heard any complaints," Dean said, winking at Seamus. Luckily for Dean, Ron missed the wink.

"How long have you been with her now?" Neville asked.

"Almost six months," Dean said proudly.

"Well, I'm ready as I'll ever be," Harry announced, jumping off of his bed. Neville followed him and Ron out of the room. Hermione was already in the common room. Even Neville's jaw dropped when they saw her.

Hermione was wearing a dress robe that looked like it was made out of lace. The robe was dark blue, and underneath, she wore a long sky blue dress. Her hair was very sleek and shiny, falling around her shoulders. She looked wonderful.

She cheeks turned red when she saw Ron. "Shall we?" she asked.

Ron held out his arm, which Hermione hestinantly took. "Let's go," Ron gulped. Neville started after them, but Harry flung out his arm to stop him.

"Let them go ahead of us," he said to Neville quietly.

A few minutes later, they left the common room. When they reached the corridor outside the Great Hall, Neville started looking around for Luna. A minute later, he heard her say, "Neville Longbottom," behind him.

Neville turned around slowly. He wanted to pinch himself when he saw her.

Luna decided against wearing a dress robe. She wore a sleeveless silvery dress that fell right above her knees. The dress seemed to glitter and sparkle when she moved. Her hair was up in elaborate twists and curls. She had butterfly pins in her hair, which she must have bewitched, because they were flapping their wings. The only makeup she wore was some glitter around her eyes, which made her eyes look even bigger and like they were made of pure silver.

The moment he saw her, Neville knew he had to tell her how he felt tonight.

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There wasn't a live band tonight, but a DJ in the corner. A fast, lively tune was on when they entered the Great Hall. Several people turned and stared at Luna as they walked by. Neville debated offering his arm to her like Ron had done for Hermione.

Neville cleared his throat. "You look really nice tonight, Luna," he said.

"What?" she asked. The music was very loud.

He raised his voice. "You look really nice!" he shouted.

"Thank you!" she shouted back. "The music's loud!"

"What?" he asked, not understanding what she just said.

"The music's loud!" she yelled.

"Right!"

Someone else must have complained about the music, because just then it was much quieter.

"Better," she said, looking at him.

For the first hour or so, neither one of them made a move to go on the dance floor. The only time Neville left her side was to get two glasses of punch. He brought them back to the table and sat down.

Luna took a small sip, while Neville, being thirsty and nervous, drank the whole glass in one gulp. "It's spiked," Luna said softly.

"No way," Neville said.

"It is. I shouldn't drink alcohol. I can taste it in the punch," she said, pushing the cup away from her.

Neville looked at his empty glass. He had never had any alcohol before, only the occasional butterbeer, which didn't count. "Would you like something else?" he asked.

Luna smiled at him. "I'm fine," she said.

They sat in silence for a bit. Neville thought he might feel a little light-headed, but it could just be his imagination. Then a slow number came on. Neville closed his eyes, willing himself the courage. He stood up and faced Luna.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

Luna didn't answer, but instead stood up and took his hand. Together, they made their way onto the dance floor. The first time they danced, Neville put his hand on her back and clasped her other hand, like he had practiced once with his grandmother. Luna had her hand on his shoulder. He only stepped on her foot twice. Neville wished the song would never end.

But it did end, and another fast song came on. Holding hands, they went back to their table. Ginny and Dean were sitting there, neither one looking very happy. Neville didn't want to ask.

Luna and Neville starting talking about all sorts of things. If Neville had to tell you what they were, he probably couldn't even remember half. He just knew that he was very, very happy.

When there was only about an hour left to the dance, another slow song came on. Neville didn't even have to ask this time. The moment the song started, they were both on their feet.

This time, Neville got the nerve to put both hands around Luna's waist and held her close to him. It might have something to do with the fact that he had another glass of punch, having forgotten it was spiked.

Luna rested her head against his shoulder. Neville was frantically trying to figure out how to tell her how he felt. He didn't want it to be here, in the Great Hall, with a lot of students around. He wanted to it to be special.

It turned out he didn't have to figure anything out at all. When the song was done, Luna looked up at him and said, "Would you mind if we left? I'm feeling really crowded in here."

Neville nodded. "That's fine," he said, feeling slightly breathless.

Together, they walked out of the Great Hall, bodies almost touching but not quite.

Neville gathered up all the Gryffindor in him and asked, "Would you like to go somewhere to talk?"

Luna smiled, and Neville felt his knees go weak.

"We could go to the Greenhouses, I have the password," he said quietly.

"That would be nice," Luna said.

They walked towards the Greenhouses. Neville decided he was ready to have the conversation that would hopefully change the course of his life.

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A/N – I hope this chapter didn't seem to out of place. Tragedy struck this week when my notebook, that has all my notes for all of my fanfics, was lost. I was almost in tears; it had all my notes for every one of my stories. I'm slowly trying to recreate it, but I just know some of my ideas are going to be lost. That's my sob story for the week. : (

Also, I gave a little PoA movie tribute in this chapter. Did you find it?