Chapter Thirty-One – Crossing the Line

"You don't have to do this, Luna," Neville whispered into her ear.

"I want to," Luna said confidently. "Someone has to test the potion, right?"

"Miss Lovegood, if you feel anything out of the ordinary, you have to let us know instantly, understood?" Professor Snape asked.

Luna nodded and took the goblet that was sitting in front of her. "Cheers," she said, taking a sip. She made a face. "Oh, it tastes awful."

"The taste doesn't matter," Professor Snape said quickly. "Please drink the whole thing."

Luna sighed, pinched her nose and drank the entire contents of the goblet. When finished, she shuddered and quickly placed the goblet away from her. "That has to be the most foul, disgusting-"

"Hold out your arm so we can take a sample of your blood," Professor Snape said.

Luna obliged. "Isn't there anyway to make it taste better?" she asked Neville as Professor Snape drew her blood.

Neville shook his head. "I don't think there is," he said apoligetically.

"Oh well," Luna sighed. "If it keeps me alive, I guess I won't be complaining too much."

"How do you feel?" Neville asked.

"I feel fine," Luna said. "Absolutely fine."

"There are three weeks left of school," Professor Snape said. "We'll take a sample of your blood every day until you leave. And then I want you to owl me a sample twice a week."

Luna nodded. "So what's in it?" she asked curiously.

"Stewed horn slugs, Essence of Hellebore, Spine of Lionfish…" Snape started listing the ingredients.

"I'm sorry I asked," Luna said dreamily.

"And what did you call them, Longbottom?" Snape asked.

"Turnishes, sir," Neville said proudly.

Luna gave Neville a look of surprise, but said nothing.

"Now, from the samples of your blood that we've already used, we know this will not cure you," Snape said seriously. "However, your blood treatments are usually three months apart. At first, this should almost double the time between treatments…"

"Only twice a year?" Luna asked quickly. "Twice a year would be fine."

"Once your blood is used to the potion, we are hoping that in a few years you will be able to go at least a year between treatments. That will give us time to develop an actual cure for you. Not just a delay between treatments," Snape told her.

"Having a treatment only once a year would be like a cure!" Luna said excitedly. She jumped up off of her stool and threw her arms around Professor Snape. "Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much this means to me!"

Professor Snape had an amused look on his face and patted Luna on the back. Neville snickered to himself that the man had become much more easy going since he got married.

"You're welcome," Snape said. Luna stepped back and beamed at him.

Neville cleared his throat. "Is it true, sir?" Neville asked. "I heard you were leaving Hogwarts."

"I am," Professor Snape said briskly.

"What are you going to do?" Luna asked interestedly.

"I am planning on going into medical research," Professor Snape told them. "I dabbled in it before we started working on this potion, Longbottom. But now I realize how much I enjoy it."

"When Neville's a Healer, maybe you two could keep working together," Luna said brightly.

"Have you heard yet?" Professor Snape asked.

"Yes," Neville said, somewhat proudly. "Just the other day actually. I start training August first."

"Congratulations," Snape said. "That's a difficult program to get into."

"Thank you, sir," Neville said. Luna took his hand and they started to leave the room.

"Longbottom," Professor Snape called after them.

"Yes, sir?" Neville asked, turning around.

"I've been teaching for sixteen years now," Professor Snape said seriously. "And I don't think I've ever seen a student with as much improvement as you have had over the past seven years."

Neville felt his ears turn pink. "Thank you," Neville said softly. Professor Snape nodded, and Neville and Luna left the dungeon.

When they reached the steps, Luna stopped and asked, "You used the Turnishes?"

Neville grinned as they started up the steps. "They were exactly what the potion needed. It's useless without them. Just think," Neville said, "The only reason I breed them was because you were so nice to me at the beginning of last year."

"And now they might save my life," Luna said softly.

"Not might," Neville said. "Even if we can't find a cure, can you imagine only having to have one treatment a year? No more worrying that the space between treatments was getting too short. Just one treatment a year."

"That will be wonderful," Luna said. She stopped and looked at him. "I know how much work you've put into this. I'm very proud of you, Neville Longbottom."

Those words made Neville pause for a moment. They were simply words that Neville didn't hear very often. He thought back to all of the years that he tried living up to his dad's name so he would hear those words from his grandmother. And now he realized that he didn't need to hear them from her. He had heard them from Luna, and that meant more to him than she would ever know.

"Thank you," Neville said. Then trying to laugh, he added, "It was completely selfish reasons to make this potion. I want to keep you around for a while."

"I would hope so," Luna laughed. "And now I'll get free medical care when you're licensed. What could be better?"

Neville stopped. "It's going to be hard, you know. I've heard that a quarter of the students drop out by the end. Did you see the schedule for the last year? It's like you're on call twenty four hours a day-"

"But it will be worth it," Luna said simply.

"It'll be worth it," Neville repeated, believing every word.

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Luna waved to Neville from across the Great Hall. Neville smiled, but inside felt sad. His last Final Feast was finally here. Tomorrow he would cross the line, and no longer be a student at Hogwarts.

He was surprised at the color of the banners decorating the Great Hall, a deep purple. According to the hour glasses, Slytherin had won the House Cup this year. But there were no green and silver decorations anywhere. Neville glanced at the Gryffindor hour glass. They were miles behind Slytherin this year.

Professor McGonagall stood up from her chair. The student quieted down instantly, keen to hear what she was going to say. "This has been quite an extraordaniary year," she said in a clear voice. "We have seen the rise of evil. We have seen wizards joining together to fight that evil. And we have seen the defeat of evil.

"For those of you who do not know, there were eight students that worked together to defeat Voldemort. From different houses, they put aside their differences and worked together for the better good," Professor McGonagall continued.

"I didn't think she would talk about us," Hermione said in a low voice.

"Everyone's staring at us," Harry mumbled.

"Don't they always?" Ron sighed.

"For Nata Haley, who had the courage to ask to be included in the circle, I award twelve points," McGonagall said.

"That ties Hufflepuff with Slytherin!" Ginny said excitedly over the murmur that went around the Great Hall. Neville looked over at Nata sitting at the Hufflepuff table and saw that she was smiling happily. The Hufflepuffs started clapping very loudly.

"For being willing to bury grudges, I award Draco Malfoy nine points."

There was a combination of a hiss from the Slytherin side and claps from the Ravenclaw table.

"Luna Lovegood, who never waivered in her beliefs, I also award nine points."

"Now Ravenclaw's tied with them!" Neville said. He glanced over at the Slytherin table, most of who looked very upset.

"For Ginny Weasley, who always had a smile on her face, I award fourteen points."

Harry nudged Ginny in the side, and she just started laughing.

"Hermione Granger will be awarded fourteen points for realizing that not everything is as it seems," Professor McGonagall said.

"Do you think we have a chance?" Ron murmured to the group. Neville nodded excitedly. It was just like first year!

"For Ron Weasley, who's loyalty to his friends was always there, I award fourteen points."

"I bet you're next, Neville," Hermione whispered.

"For Neville Longbottom, who has come to realize the wizard he was meant to be, I ward fourteen points," Professor McGonagall said proudly.

Neville felt his friends patting him on the back. "Good show," Harry whispered.

The Gryffindor table was practically bursting with excitement. All they needed was fifteen points, and they would win the House Cup! Surely Professor McGonagall would give Harry fifteen points for all he had done!

"For Harry Potter, who showed the world a power we all desperately need, I award…fourteen points."

The Great Hall stood silent for a moment, not quite understanding what Professor McGonagall had done. Then someone from the Ravenclaw table shouted, "It's a tie!"

Indeed it was. Professor McGonagall flicked her wand, and the dark purple instantly changed into decorations that bore the Hogwarts Crest. "It may only be this year," Professor McGonagall said. "But this year, you have all earned the House Cup."

The Great Hall burst into applause and cheering. Neville jumped up, along with the rest of his friends, and started shaking hands and giving hugs. Luna practically ran from the Ravenclaw table and threw herself in Neville's arms.

"We tied!" she said excitedly.

"We certainly did," Neville said. "We certainly did."

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Neville awoke the next morning with the sun streaming in his face.

"Oi! Neville!" Dean said loudly. "Time to get up."

Neville groaned and turned over on his side. Then he sat up. Today was the day. The day that he would be leaving Hogwarts. He was of two minds about this. Half of him was sad to officially leave his childhood behind. But the other half couldn't wait to see what being an adult in the wizarding world would be like.

"I'm up," Neville said sleepily. "Is it breakfast yet?"

"Not too long from now," Dean said, buttoning his shirt.

Neville jumped up and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He would change for the line crossing ceremony later. There had been a rehearsal for the ceremony yesterday. It amazed Neville how simple the ceremony was, yet how much it meant.

Luna was already sitting with Ginny and Hermione at the Gryffindor table when Neville made it to the Great Hall. She took out her wand as he sat next to her.

As she pointed her wand to his chin, she whispered, "You're bleeding just a bit." She did a quickly charm and looked satisfied. "You need to be more careful shaving."

"Thanks," Neville grinned as he started piling his plate with breakfast. He looked at Ginny. "Are you staying for the ceremony?"

She nodded. "Mum and Dad will be there, so they can help me with my trunk. We'll probably take the Knight Bus home."

Breakfast seemed to end quickly. The ceremony wasn't until three o'clock, so Neville and Luna went to the Greenhouse for one last time. He looked at his plant fondly; he always felt so safe in the Greenhouse, and now he was leaving. Professor Sprout had been wonderful and told him that she would try to keep up with some of his work. Neville planned on applying for a workstation at St. Mungos once training was underway. There was still so much he wanted to learn.

"I think I'll end up coming here a bit still next year," Luna said as they were leaving. Neville noticed how empty the hallways were, as the Hogwarts Express had already left for London.

"Why?" Neville asked curiously.

"I think you've left a bit of yourself there," Luna said. "An imprint almost. I'll have to stay close to you somehow next year."

"If you do, will you water the…" Neville trailed off when he realized that Luna looked sad. "We have the summer, and Christmas, and I'll try to meet you at every Hogwarts weekend."

"I know, it'll just be so different," Luna sighed. Then more cheerfully added, "At least it's only for a year."

"Exactly," Neville said as they came to the hallway where Neville went left and Luna went right. "I'll see at the ceremony." Luna nodded and went skipping toward the West Tower.

His dorm mates were all there, getting ready for the ceremony. "This has got to be the most idiotic robe I have ever seen," Seamus said.

"Well, isn't the design a thousand years old?" Neville asked as he changed from his t-shirt and jeans into a pair pf dress slacks and a dress shirt. He looked at the robe he would be wearing for the ceremony. It was an odd looking robe; a rich brown color with all sorts of odd-shaped copper buckles and buttons. Neville wasn't even quite sure how to get in the robe, to be honest.

"It didn't happen to come with instructions, did it?" Neville laughed.

"No such luck," Ron moaned. "I've had five brothers wear this exact same robe. You'd think I'd know how to put it on!"

"To be fair, mate," Harry snickered. "You only had three. Not like Fred and George came back and crossed the line with their classmates."

"I think it's one last test, personally," Dean said. "If you can't put on the dress robe, you can't cross the line."

"Then we'll all be here at Hogwarts for another year," Harry moaned.

Many minutes later, the five young men from Gryffindor walked down together in the common room. Hermione, Pavrati and Lavender were already there, waiting.

"I thought us Gryffindors would all go together," Hermione said.

And together they walked to the Great Hall, which was already set up for the ceremony. The professors were milling together, watching the students file into the Great Hall. There were already some friends and family sitting in the seats.

Fifteen minutes later, the ceremony began. For as much as Neville had heard about it, there wasn't much to say. There were no speeches, no heartfelt congratulations, only a reading of the names of the graduates.

And as each name was read, the student walked across the stage and simply stepped over a line, the line signifying the transition between childhood and adulthood.

Neville thought he would feel different once he stepped over the line. There was no magical moment that made Neville truly feel like an adult. There were no fireworks that announced the graduates to the world.

That is, until the ceremony was over. As Neville held Luna in his arms, he realized just how lucky he truly was. There was Luna, who he knew would be his wife some day. His friends, who Neville learned to depend and who depended on him. Neville had become a man he was proud to be; a man who knew his parents would be proud of as well.

And that was the most magical moment of all.

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A/N – Sigh. That's the last chapter folks. Though it's not completely over. In a day or so I will post an epilogue so we can see how our dear Neville is doing in life after graduation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me share this story with you. For all of you who review all the time, thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. For those of you who read and simply enjoy the story, thank you as well. (But feel free to leave a review for one chapter!) : )