1Chapter Five. They're the only pants he has.
Ginny stared at Neville for so long, by the time she spoke up the new students were lining up in front of the stool with the sorting hat on it. "Neville, I think I've told enough. If Luna wants you to know, she'll tell you..." she said, looking down to her empty golden plate.
"Ginny!" Neville shouted, looking around afterwards before remembering there was a sound-proof bubble surrounding them.
"Neville!" Ginny mocked him, smiling a little. "I wont say anymore about it." She said, flicking her wand as suddenly the sounds of the great hall seemed almost deafening after such silence.
"Arons, Sophia!" A young woman standing next to the sorting hat called out. Neville and Ginny looked up in unison to see who had taken Professor McGonagall's place at the sorting hat. A woman nobody seemed to recognize was holding a parchment list of names in one hand, and the sorting hat in another, as a new first year cautiously sat down on the stool and had the grungy old hat placed on her head. The woman looked as if she could have still been a student at Hogwarts, possibly in her seventh year. She had long, flowing, dirty blonde hair, silvery blue eyes, and looked strangely familiar. And what set Neville's mind twirling was that the girl had her wand placed just behind her ear. Her noticed Ginny's eyes widen as she realized the same thing he did.
"Neville..." She whispered, elbowing him in the ribs. "Doesn't she kinda look like..."
"I noticed too..." Neville whispered back, glancing back to the Ravenclaw table to compare this familiar girl to Luna. Startlingly, Luna's seat was empty. Neville tapped Ginny's shoulder, pointing to where Luna had been sitting.
"She probably went to the loo..." Ginny replied, brushing her chin-length, fiery hair out of her face.
"Probably." Neville said in a nonchalant way, looking back to the girl who seemed almost enchanting.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Neville was awoken from a trance as Haylie Kettleburn was sorted into Gryffindor. Only then did he realize Ginny was waving her hand in front of his face, trying to catch his attention.
"Oh, what?" he asked, shaking his head as if just waking up.
"Luna's back..." She said, pointing over to the Ravenclaw table.
Luna was sitting with her back to them, now smiling up to the girl who was helping with the sorting. Her eyes were glazed over like they had been when she was truly happy, one of the things Neville noticed.
"Luyu, your turn..." The woman said, which completely caught everyone's attention. It always seemed that in order to have a sorting ceremony, the professor was supposed to call out the students last and then first name. Neville cricked his neck, turning his head so fast to see why the woman spoke like this. He soon noticed yet another resemblance to his girlfriend. The girl who was taking her seat on the stool had long, waist-length, dirty-blonde hair, huge silvery eyes, and a wand placed behind her ear. She was smiling so broadly, it almost took the attention away from her radish earrings, and, Neville noticed quickly, butterbeer-cork necklace. He glanced back over to Luna, who was smiling just as brightly as the girl getting sorted, and felt his stomach do a somersault when her eyes locked with his, still smiling.
Ginny nudged Neville again and whispered "Go sit with her..."
Neville looked at her with wide eyes. "Am I allowed to do that?" He asked quietly. Ginny's only reply was a shrug as she turned her head back to the girl getting sorted.
Neville shifted his eyes around; everyone's attention was either on the sorting, or on
someone else talking. He ducked down so he was the same height standing as he had been sitting, raced quickly to the Ravenclaw table, and sat down next to Luna, wrapping his arm around her waist from behind. Apparently she, nor anyone else, had seen him switch tables.
"Hey." She greeted him, leaning into his arms.
"RAVENCLAW!" The sorting hat shouted, making the girl smile even brighter if it was possible.
Luna burst into applause, a bit louder than the rest of the Ravenclaw table, as the girl came running up to sit next to Luna. The girl giggled, and sat down on the other side of Neville, grinning broadly.
"I told you you'd get in Ravenclaw." Luna said, reaching across Neville to pat the girl on the head.
"This guy has his arm around you..." The girl said, poking Neville in the arm. "You didn't tell us you had a boyfriend."
"That's because I don't. I mean didn't. He wasn't my boyfriend until not long ago." Luna smiled at Neville.
"Who is he?" The girl asked airily, sitting on her knees on the bench.
"Neville. And this is Luyu, my youngest sister." Luna said, crossing her legs Indian style on the bench like Ginny had done.
"I didn't know you have a sister." Neville said, soon realizing he didn't know much about Luna at all.
"I have more than one. I have two. Luyu here, and Lydia up there sorting. She's going to be Tonks' assistant in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Luna explained, quietly as another girl with dark brown hair got sorted into Hufflepuff.
"What about Lenora?" Luyu piped up from somewhere under the table, seemingly searching for something.
"Hush Luyu. What are you doing?" Luna asked, peeking under the table.
"I dropped my wand." Luyu said simply.
"Oh, I'll help you." said Luna, climbing under the table to help in the quest for the missing wand.
Neville looked around nervously at the other students sitting at the Ravenclaw table. None of them seemed to notice Luna go anywhere, as if they made a habit out of ignoring her.
"Luna's boyfriend, will you help us?" Luyu asked, somewhere out of site.
"His name is Neville, and he doesn't need to get his pants all dirty climbing around under here, they're the only pair he has at the moment." Luna said, also out of sight.
"No, it's ok." Neville said, dropping to his knees and hands under the table, and smiling at Luna in the dark.
"Why don't you have any other pants?" Luyu asked curiously, looking up.
"Uh..." Neville muttered.
"He forgot his trunk at the train station." Luna explained, crawling around, making sure not to lean on anyone's foot.
"Why did you do that?" Luyu asked, still staring at Neville, who wasn't moving as easily around under the table, being a bit bigger than Luna.
"I didn't do it on purpose..." Neville whispered, finding a sickle on the floor and pocketing it.
"Luyu... I found it." Luna said, crawling back towards Neville and handing the girl her wand.
"Thanks Luna." Luyu said, putting her wand behind her ear, and returning much more easily to her seat than Neville and Luna. As Neville tried to slide back up through to space between the bench and table, Luna pulled him back to the darkness and smiled before she gave him a sweet kiss.
"What was that for?" Neville asked, brushing his hair out of his face, smiling of course.
"No reason." Luna grinned, getting back to her seat and helping Neville up.
"SLYTHERIN!" The sorting hat shouted as it sorted the last student into applause only coming from the Slytherin table.
"Do you think anyone will mind if I stay here for the feast?" Neville asked, looking up to the staff table.
"I don't see why they would. Besides, the worst a staff member could possibly do would be expel you, take away your apparation license, take any earnings you might have, and stick you in Azkaban. But I really don't think they'd do that just for sitting at a different table." Luna said in the most serious of tone. Neville only looked at her, wide-eyed.
"I think I'll take my chances." Neville said as Dumbledore stood from his seat in the middle of the staff table to say a few words before the food appeared.
"As I'm sure you all know, there will be a graduation ball for those graduating this year. We don't normally have a ball for such thing, but this event was recommended by someone who wishes to remain anonymous..." Professor Dumbledore spoke loudly, pausing for just a fraction of a second as he looked to Lydia, who was now sitting in a seat next to Tonks. "..I am sorry to say, however, that not all students are invited. Only those graduating will be presented with an invitation for themselves and a guest. If the student chooses to bring someone of younger year, that is their decision. Prefects who are not yet graduating must remain in their dormitories to fulfill their prefect duties..." Dumbledore spoke over the loud groans coming from the tables, most likely of students not yet graduating. "If this event goes well, It will not be the last. Tuck in!" Dumbledore shouted, raising his arms high.
The only applause seemed to be coming by students who would be graduating, and a few people sitting next to those students, probably boyfriends and girlfriends in other years who would get to go to the ball as well.
Neville laughed as Luyu's eyes grew wide, watching the plates on the table fill with many different foods. Luna loaded her plate full of vegetables, breads, and fruits. Neville furrowed his eyebrows as he observed.
"Don't you eat meat?" Neville asked, dropping a chunk of shepherds pie on his plate.
"No." Luna said simply, placing her napkin on her lap.
"Why not?" He asked, picking at a piece of chicken.
"I... I just don't." Luna said, as if it were a perfect answer.
Neville shrugged and got back to his food. After a moment of just the sounds of silver clinking, chatter started to spread like a disease all through the great hall.
"So...Whose Lydia?" Neville asked, swallowing a bite of potato.
Luna looked at Neville for a moment, deciding whether to discuss her eldest sister or not. She came to a decision quite quickly, when she noticed Luyu turn her head to answer.
"She's our oldest sister. We're not supposed to talk about her though." Luna said quietly, looking back to her plate.
"Why not?" Neville asked, wiping his face with his napkin.
"I really don't want..." Luna began, but was cut off as Ginny popped up behind them and squeezed between the two, jokingly putting her arms around both necks.
"How are you two lovebirds this evening?" She said in a stewardess voice.
"Luna, is this Ginny?" Luyu asked with a mouth full of mashed squash.
"Yes. Ginny, this is Luyu. My little sister." Luna said, looking up to Neville as confirmation that she really didn't want to talk about Lenora.
"Why didn't you ever tell me you had a sister?" Ginny asked, smiling at Luyu.
"You didn't ask of course." Luna said plainly, taking a bite of something that could have had sauerkraut in it.
"Of course." Draco mocked, sitting down across from them. All the Ravenclaws at the table seemed to shift down a bit, away from him. Just to add to the drama, Draco winked at a Ravenclaw first year, who almost fainted in her seat.
"Hey, you're taken, remember?" Ginny said, kicking his foot.
"Ouch!" he yelped, beginning a game of Footsie war.
"Have you noticed a bit of a... huge change in Draco?" Neville whispered to Luna, who giggled.
"I'll explain it later..." She whispered back, staring at the two with eyes of envy.