Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This story is meant purely in tribute to the original work.

"Almost seems like nothing has changed.", Ron remarked over a butterbeer. Neville had to admit, The Three Broomsticks had survived relatively unscathed. That, or repairs had been carried out so well that one could not tell the difference.

"Well, some things have changed.", Hermione observed. "It is kind of nice not to have homework and exams hanging over your head all the time." Harry, Ron, and Neville groaned and shot daggers with their eyes at her. "Whoops…"

"I never thought I'd hear Hermione say something like that.", Harry dryly remarked. As Hermione was warming to her reply she lost the attention of two of the men at the table with the arrival of Ginny and Luna through the door. Harry and Neville rose to meet their girlfriends and greeted them in a fairly predictable manner. Ron pointedly averted his gaze from the sight of his best friend and little sister locking lips. Neville and Luna eventually came up for air.

"I am so happy to see you.", Neville said through a broad smile.

"I am very glad to see you too. We are so lucky our long weekends coincided like this.", Luna replied. She had never considered herself one to preen before. Nevertheless, Luna had found herself standing before the mirror more times in the couple of hours leading up to her and Neville's reunion than she had in the past week. Finally, she convinced herself that Neville probably would not much mind how well her hair was brushed, if her make-up was perfect, or if her jewelry was too odd. He had mentioned before how he liked how creative she was with her unorthodox jewelry. After mulling over assorted combinations of outfits, Luna mused that Neville probably wouldn't mind if she showed up in a bathrobe and her hair wrapped in towel. Her cheeks immediately flushed as she continued that line of thought to what Neville might do with her if she did show up wearing that. Luna could tell from the look on Neville's face that he was happy just to be with her at that moment. Neville pulled a chair from the table to seat Luna and took his place next to her. He reached for her hand underneath the table and squeezed back when he felt a gentle squeeze from her hand. Ginny opened up the conversation with a recounting of the last quidditch game and Luna's latest round of commentating.

It was one of those comfortable conversations where you talk for what seems like the entire afternoon, you don't recall what you talked about, and you realize it doesn't really matter. You were there for the company. That's how Neville felt by the time they parted company by couples. As he walked Luna up the path back to Hogwarts she leaned in to whisper to him. "Do you remember the tunnel from the Hog's Head to the Room of Requirement?"

"Don't think I could ever forget it, it helped keep us alive during that wretched year."

"Would you be willing to meet me in the Room of Requirement later on tonight?"

"Didn't my Gran collapse the tunnel?"

"Ginny and I worked on it. It's open again."

Neville gave Luna an appraising grin. "You two have been hard at work haven't you? Such well thought out plans."

"We learned a few things about how to set up secret plans haven't we? She's going to meet Harry out in Hogsmeade tonight. That leaves the room for us."

"Did you two flip a sickle for that?"

"Actually yes, how did you know?"

"Not important, never mind. What time did you want to meet?"

"How does 8:30 sound?"

"That would be fine. Until then." They kissed good-bye and Neville watched as Luna entered the school.

Later On

Neville walked into the Room of Requirement a few minutes past 8:30. He wanted to allow Luna time to set up the room just in case it took her longer than anticipated. Neville found himself in a comfortable looking room with plenty of soft chairs, cushions, a table with snacks and drinks set out, and a merry looking fireplace. He found Luna comfortably seated by the fireplace poring over a book. She smiled sweetly at his entrance and angled her head up to meet his greeting kiss. "Have you been waiting long?"

Luna shook her head. "I arrived a little early to make sure the room was all set up." Neville smiled and drew her into a closer embrace. Luna leaned into him for a moment before speaking again.

"Please don't think less of me but there IS a non-romantic reason I asked you here tonight." Neville pulled back to meet her eyes, thoroughly confused. Luna sheepishly held up her Charms textbook that had been in her lap when Neville had arrived. He blinked rather slowly, still not quite understanding.

"You're sure you want MY help with that?"

"Of course silly! You did well enough in Charms as I recall."

"Well, I guess I didn't do too badly-"

"I remember you doing just fine. You don't still think it's a soft subject do you?" Neville remembered telling her about his grandmother's attitude concerning the subject of Charms. And McGonagall's retort on the same subject. He smiled at the memory.

"Not at all. It ended up coming in quite handy last year. So you actually want to study on a study date?"

"Of course, whatever else would we do?" Luna deadpanned that line so well that had she not broken into a mischievous smile immediately afterwards, Neville might have actually believed her. He decided to humor her for the time being.

"Alright, let's take a look and I'll see what I can do." Luna shifted the textbook over and Neville peered over her shoulder. They were both slightly surprised to find that they spent a good hour going over Charms. Most of it was Neville recalling his experiences to advise Luna on what she could expect in her upcoming year.

After that, it didn't take long for the textbook to be set aside and the two of them switched to the study of another subject they found far more interesting. Snogging soon gave way to something more passionate. By silent, mutual consent, clothing that was far too warm for the room was shed. Neville did not recall seeing a bed in the room when he arrived but he was not going to take time out to sort it out. All the two of them cared about at that point was that it was there and it was quite comfortable. A bra, panties, and boxers soon followed the growing pile of clothing on the floor. As Neville rolled Luna onto her back and he positioned himself above her, their eyes met and they paused. "Are you sure?", Neville whispered. He fervently hoped she would say yes. He could feel his body crying out to him to fulfill an instinct that was near overwhelming. Luna nodded and smiled up at him.

"I'm sure. Please Neville, I've wanted this for so long."

"So have I. I love you so much Luna." She pulled him down into her embrace and a gentle kiss. Predictably, the experience did not last very long. Both of them were inexperienced and extremely aroused. As they lay on their sides afterwards, they held each other close as their breathing and heart rates slowly returned to normal. Neville ended up breaking the silence first. It took him quite some time to think of a way to give voice to his feelings. "What do you say to a girl who just took your virginity? And whose virginity you just took as well?" Neville concentrated. "Thank you?" He winced mentally at the lameness of that idea. "That won't do at all. Did the Earth move for you? That's worse!" Neville ran his hand lightly along Luna's arm as he continued to ponder. "Well, there's always the truth…" He tentatively began, "I…" Then he cleared his throat and tried again, "I'm sorry I didn't last very long. I promise I'll try to get better at that."

Luna shook her head emphatically. "You have nothing to apologize for Neville." She leaned in and nuzzled against his neck. "You were wonderful."

"But I didn't hang on long enough for-"

Luna silenced him with a kiss and then pulled back to meet his eyes. "Let me make it very clear to you that I enjoyed having sex with you very much and I am very pleased with you." Neville opened his mouth to speak again and Luna placed a finger upon his lips to keep him quiet. "It's not always about reaching that peak. This is not a scoreboard where we need to keep score. Besides, I did get something out of it." Neville found it difficult to argue with her logic and generosity. He wisely decided not to.

"I still want to make it up to you. Just consider it a promise."

Luna giggled and kissed him again. "I look forward to that. I think we just need some more practice." Again, Neville decided not to contest her idea.

Author's Note: Just in case you are wondering, this is why I rated the story M just to be safe. I actually wasn't quite sure if I was supposed to set a rating by chapter or just have a blanket rating. I've also found that each chapter looks way longer in MS Word for Windows than it does on 's website. Sorry if these chapters are shorter than what you're expecting!

Special thanks to Acacia Carter for reviewing! Much appreciated!