"What day is it and in what month? This clock never seemed so alive." -Lifehouse (You and Me)

The weather was starting to get colder, which made it clear that winter was definitely on its way. One day, at the end of November, I noticed that Neville wasn't at dinner. I scanned the entire Gryffindor table for him but he wasn't there. I grabbed a few pieces of bread and a few apples from the table and stood up, having three possible places in my mind where Neville might be.

I headed to the Owlery first, since it was the closest. Neville and I had gone there a few times last year to hang out. It probably isn't the nicest place to hang out, be we always enjoyed it. When I arrived, one glance showed me that Neville wasn't there. One of the owls flew down and perched on my shoulder, trying to take a bite of one of the pieces of bread in my arms. I giggled, moving the bread out of his reach. "You can't have that, but hang on." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few bits of owl food, feeding them to the owl on my shoulder. He ate them and with a quiet hoot, he took off and flew back to his perch.

With a sigh, I turned and headed back downstairs. I had two other places in mind where I thought Neville might be: the greenhouses or with the thestrals. The greenhouses were closer so I headed there next. Sure enough, Neville was standing at the far end of the first greenhouse I entered. When I came in, he didn't turn around, so I walked over and stood beside him.

"Hello, Neville," I said I paused for a second. I knew he liked to come to the greenhouses alone sometimes. It was his method of getting away, just like mine was going to feed the thestrals. "Did you need some time alone? I just noticed you weren't a dinner, and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine, Luna," he said quietly, continuing to water the plant in front of him.

"Okay," I said, deciding to not press him further. I set the food I had brought down on the table next to him. "I brought some things down from the great hall. It's only a few things that I could manage to carry and without having to bring down any plates because I'm thinking the school actually needs those."

A small smile flickered across Neville's face and he set the watering can down. He still didn't turn to look at me, though. Instead of being offended, I turned for the door. I figured he did need some time alone and it would be best if I gave it to him.

"I didn't get into the Slug Club," Neville finally said as I was halfway to the door. I turned to see him looking at me over his shoulder, biting his lip nervously. "I guess Slughorn ended up deciding that I wasn't worth having."

"We discussed this," I told him, "I don't care if you got picked or not."

"I know, but it would have been nice to be picked just this once."

"Did Harry and Hermione get picked?" I asked, guessing there was more to the problem."

"Ginny, too," Neville added miserably, turning back to his plant. I walked back to stand beside him and didn't say anything. Neville didn't seem to mind. He continued to talk. "I won't be able to go to the Christmas party and that means we won't be able to go together."

"That's alright," I said. "The party isn't the most important thing and like you said, the two of us can just do something on that night instead."

"I wanted to bring you," Neville said, frustrated. "You've never been to a party before."

"There's plenty of time for me to go to parties," I shrugged, "and there'll be plenty of parties for us to go to together. I'm guessing there will be a lot of them that are even better than Slughorn's."

"I guess you're right," Neville said.

"Did you even enjoy the meetings with Slughorn that you did go to?" I asked.

"Not really," he shrugged. "It was only somewhat enjoyable because Harry, Ginny and Hermione were there. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have had too much fun, but like I said, it was nice to be picked for something."

"That's not always a good thing," I shrugged. "Being picked for things, I mean."

"What?" Neville asked, turning towards me and looking confused.

"I mean, for instance, you could be picked by Professor Snape to demonstrate a Sleeping Drought and you end up being left on the floor for the rest of the day, out like a light."

"Did that happen to you?" Neville asked. His eyebrows were raised with slight amusement.

"No," I said, shaking my head, "a boy in my class. Also, more seriously, think about Harry. He gets picked for a lot of things that he doesn't want to do."

"True," Neville said.

"So, when was this Christmas party supposed to be?"

"December 21st," Neville answered.

I nodded. "So, we'll be able to do something together."

"Yeah," Neville said, smiling. "Start thinking of things we can do. I'll probably have a lot more fun with you than I would have at the party anyway."

"Thank you, Neville. How nice." I squeezed his hand and gestured to the food. "You should eat something."

"I think we still have enough time to go join dinner," Neville said, "but thanks for bringing this to me. It means a lot."

I smiled and shook my head. "We may have enough time, but do you really want to go to dinner? I mean, now that we're together, why don't we do something?"

"Like what?" Neville asked.

"I have an idea," I said. "Come on." I took his hand and pulled him from the greenhouses at almost a run.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see in a moment. I want to keep it a surprise for as long as I can."

We finally reached our destination and I stopped abruptly. Neville ran into me and we both tripped forward a few steps. "The clock tower?" Neville asked, looking around the room.

I nodded before lying down on my stomach and pressing my cheek to the ground. I gestured for Neville to do the same. He did and there was silence for a few moments.

"This is lovely," I finally said.

"I guess, but what exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"Nothing. We aren't supposed to be doing anything."

"You mean we just stay still here on the floor?"

"Yes," I said. I turned to rest on my other cheek so that I was facing Neville instead of the wall and looked at him. "I come here a lot."

"You always seem to visit the least common places of Hogwarts," Neville said.

"Well, yes, I find the least visited places tend to be quieter, which is what I like a lot of the time."

"Okay, so what's the point of coming here and what's the point of lying on our stomachs?"

"Well," I said, "it is quiet most of the time, but you can hear the clock ticking away quietly and then when it chimes it is quite loud, but it's never too bad and with your cheek pressed against the floor you can feel it shaking slightly. It's never scary, though. I find it relaxing. Once, about two years ago, I actually fell asleep up here."

"You fell asleep up here?" Neville asked, as if the possibility was completely mental.

"Oh, yes. It sounds like it would be difficult, but it's very easy."

"Wasn't anybody looking for you?"

"No, I think people are used to me wandering off and finding all of the odd places in the castle. They know I like to be alone, and I always come up here whenever I have a lot of free time just in case I do fall asleep."

"You have it all thought out," Neville said quietly.

"Yeah, I do a lot of thinking," I said.

Neville laughed. "I know."

"Only sometimes it works to not think, don't you agree?"

I saw Neville shrug against the floor. "I guess so."

I smiled and closed my eyes, letting out a happy sigh. I felt Neville grab my hand and I gently squeezed his fingers. "You know," I finally said, keeping my eyes closed, "I think we have the best hang out spots out of everyone in the entire school."

"You're the one who usually finds them, though," Neville said.

"You hang out in the greenhouses and you took me to the Owlery last year so we could eat when Umbridge gave us a detention during dinner." I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

"Yeah, but you've always liked going to the Owlery anyway. You even keep owl treats in your pockets. So that doesn't count."

"How about we found that one together?" I said.

"Joint custody," Neville laughed.

"We have joint custody of the Owlery," I said with a smile. "Neville?" I asked after a few moments.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm glad you didn't get into the Slug Club."

"Why's that?"

"Well, you see, since you didn't get in, you'll get to spend more time with me."

I couldn't help but smile as Neville burst into laughter and squeezed my hand.

"Er, Luna, can I talk to you?" Neville asked, catching up to me in the hallway between classes a couple of weeks later.

"Of course you can," I said, looking up at him. "What is it? You look terribly upset."

"I can't spend time with you next week. "You know, during Slughorn's Christmas party? Something came up."

"Is everything alright at home?" I asked. "Is it your Gran?"

"No, everything's fine at home. It's just—it's complicated." I noticed Neville blushing and I hesitated. I desperately wanted to figure out what was wrong, but he was clearly embarrassed and I didn't want to make it worse. However, at the same time, I didn't want him to be embarrassed around me.

I sighed. "Okay." My voice came out quietly.

"You're disappointed." Neville's face fell even more, if that were possible.

"Well, I was looking forward to spending time with you." I wasn't going to pretend I wasn't disappointed at all because the truth was that I was a little disappointed. I loved spending time with Neville whenever I could.

"I was looking forward to spending time with you too." Neville pulled me over to the side of the hallway and took my hands. "You have to believe me. I really wanted to spend time with you, but I kind of got roped into something else."

"If you really don't want to tell me, I won't force you," I said, "but I think it would be good if you told me. It's healthier for you to tell people things instead of keeping them all inside. It's also more of an attraction for Nargles if you keep everything in."

Neville bit his lip and looked as if he was considering saying something, but he just shook his head.

"Okay," I said, smiling. "Tell me when you're ready."

"Luna," Neville said.

"No, it's okay, I'm not mad that you won't tell me. Like I said, I won't force you if you aren't ready."

"That's just it. It makes me feel worse that you aren't mad. It's just—okay, well, Slughorn kind of roped me into helping out at the Christmas party. It was kind of hard to say no. He wouldn't take no for an answer, actually, so-,"

"So you're going to the party after all," I said. I actually smiled. I felt sort of happy for him. He had wanted to go and now he could.

"Not as a guest," he said, "and now I'd actually rather spend time with you."

"I thought you wanted to go to the party," I said.

"I did, but you changed my mind," he answered. "Are you still disappointed?"

"Well, yes, perhaps a little bit. Maybe I just thought that the party didn't mean as much to you anymore."

"It doesn't," Neville assured me quickly.

"But you jumped at the chance to be able to go, even if it is to help out. I'm happy for you, though. I'm glad you get to go."

"But I wanted to be able to bring you as my date." Neville looked really disappointed and torn.

I smiled. "We'll have plenty of chances to spend time together. Go help out at the party and enjoy yourself even if you aren't a guest. Just promise to tell me all about it later."

"Okay," Neville grinned shyly. "You aren't incredibly angry?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "I'm just glad that the party isn't two days later than it is."

Neville nodded in understanding. "Then it would be on our year anniversary."

"Exactly," I said. "At least it worked out that way. So, you go to the party and then on the last day before break, we'll go on our own date somewhere in the castle. You can pick. I mean, sometimes the best dates are ones when there aren't a lot of people around, don't you agree?"

Neville nodded. "I guess you're right. I'm sorry, Luna. I really wish I could have spent time with you or taken you to that party."

I shook my head and gave him a small smile, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Just pretend I'm there," I whispered.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and adds to story alerts and favorites! Don't forget to review this chapter and let me know what you thought.

And Happy New Year everyone!