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

Luna looked up as she heard footfalls approaching. Neville slowly approached her, looking slightly nervous as he had so often at Hogwarts. She had a brief thought that had she not known him so well, she might not have guessed that he was actually a veteran auror. Luna rose from her spot kneeling before a shrub behind her father's home. "H-hi Luna. Your father said you were back here."

Luna smiled gently. "He even sounds nervous. I suppose I can't blame him.", she thought. "Hello Neville, it's good to see you." Neville managed to smile back as Luna started toward him. "If you'll excuse me for just a moment, I just need to finish this."

Neville followed Luna as she headed toward the front yard of the house. He noticed that she was holding a stick with a couple of green and black colored insects crawling on it. He watched as she held the stick to a tree and worked the insects onto the leaves. "Are those Caladan Beetles?"

"Yes.", Luna answered, "I found some in a shrub in the backyard. I'm just moving them to this dirigible plum tree. They're a natural control for the aphids that like to nest on the leaves. You know about these beetles?"

Neville nodded. "I read about them back in school. You have to know a little about insects if you are going to work with plants. I mostly just learned about the ones that can damage plants and the ones used to control those insects. Would you like any help?" Neville found that he felt gratified when she nodded. He picked up a stick from the ground and followed her back to the shrub near where he had found her. For the next 20 minutes they worked in silence coaxing beetles onto the sticks they held and then on to the dirigible plum tree.

"I'll think that should suffice.", Luna said with a satisfied smile after a quite a few beetles were devouring the aphid clusters on the leaves.

"If you don't mind, I came here today because I wanted to continue our conversation from a couple nights ago.", Neville said while alternating his gaze between the plum tree and Luna's face.

"The night of Hermione and Ron's wedding?" Neville nodded. "I recall that you had more you wanted to say."

"Did you know that Muggles maintain standing armies?"

Luna blinked, a little confused as to the sudden change of subject, but she decided to let Neville follow his train of thought. "No, I'd never heard of that."

"Most Muggle nations do. The numbers in each army range from thousands to millions."

"Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix never came close to that number. I don't even think Voldemort gathered anything close to those numbers. The Muggle world must be quite a dangerous and violent place to need that many."

"It is. There is almost always a war going on somewhere in it."

"Neville, while this is quite fascinating to discuss, I'm a little confused as to how this relates to us."

"Just hear me out, please. I've spent a lot of time thinking this over. If you still think I'm crazy after listening to everything I have to say, I won't blame you but all I ask is for you to listen and think about it."

Luna nodded for Neville to continue. "Go ahead Neville, I'm listening."

"While I was on tours of the Muggle world in my last year at the academy, I met with quite a few soldiers in the UK military. Many of them had served overseas and had been apart from their families during their service. Many of these soldiers had wives, children, girlfriends, or fiancées. And they would be gone for months, or even up to a year! I remember some saying they have been away for 18 months! If they were gone for a year or more, they might get to see their loved ones maybe for a two week holiday during that whole period. Sometimes the only contact they had was through the post or through something they call the Internet where they send messages, or talk, or use something like a camera where they can see and hear each other. But the Muggle post takes days at best and weeks at worst to send messages. And sometimes they can't communicate by any means at all for weeks at a time for various reasons. My point is though, they find ways to make their relationships, their marriages work. I asked one bloke how he could stand all the separation, traveling, stress, and long distance relationships. And he said to me, 'Home is wherever she is, mate. You sort of get used to it, but more importantly, you work together to make it work.' I think I understand what he meant. If they can do it Luna, why can't we? Just because we're not right next to each other, why can't we be together?"

Luna remained silent for a few moments, mulling over everything Neville had just said. It wasn't the most coherent speech but eloquence was never one of Neville's strong suits. Still, he had improved since his Hogwarts days. Luna could definitely tell that Neville had devoted considerable time thinking this through, which is why she chose her next words carefully. "These Muggle relationships Neville, how many of them work out in the end? What percentage?"

To her surprise, Neville's reply was delivered without hesitation or flinching on his features. "About half don't work out. The odds are stacked against them. It takes a lot of work on the part of those who do succeed."

"Is that really what a relationship should be? Always having to work at it?"

"Luna, what relationship doesn't require that? For that matter, what good things in life come without work?"

"As you said before, the odds would be against us."

"We've taken on worse odds before in our life. Who knew a bunch of students could take on Death Eaters and survive? I think our odds are better in this case. At any rate, I don't care about the odds. Odds don't matter if you never even take the chance. This is us Luna! This is something I am willing to fight for. I think WE are worth fighting for!"

"Neville, I have no doubt that you have given this a lot of thought. But I have to ask, are you sure about this? I'll still be traveling and I will still be gone a lot."

"I know that. But I don't believe we have to see each other every minute of the day to love each other and be together. Like that soldier said to me: Home is wherever you are. It goes beyond being a physical place, it becomes a concept. As long as I know you'll come back to me, as long as I know you're with me here-", Neville put his hand over his heart, "- and I'm with you there-", he pointed to Luna's chest, "-I'll be fine with that."

"You're really sure about that?", Luna asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Luna, it's not like you're going to be gone for years fighting a war somewhere…are you?", Neville asked. Luna shook her head with a slight upturn to the corners of her mouth. Neville had a sudden mental image of Luna in British DPM-style camouflage but quickly shook it off. "I can't guarantee this will work, if that's what you're asking. But I know it won't work if we never try and I am almost certain it will be something we regret. I still love you and I wish we had never broken up. But I don't know if you feel the same. Tell me that you don't still feel something for me and I'll drop this whole idea. And I'll never bother you with it again."

Luna stared at Neville with a look that hinted of some anxiety. He had to admit that he had rarely seen Luna like this and it made him somewhat nervous just to see it. "I do still love you Neville. But I'm afraid…"

Neville stepped forward and took her hands in his. "So am I. But I know that loving you means loving all of you. And that includes the part of you that wants to find all the magical creatures hidden in every corner of this world. Do I want you around as much as possible? Of course I do. But do I want to see you happy? Do I want to see you pursuing your dreams and goals? Absolutely."

"You're being quite the generous one in this Neville."

"It's not all giving on my part. I do work some rather long and odd hours as an auror."

Luna looked down at their clasped hands for a few moments as she thought his words over. "I think I can handle that. Like you said: We don't have to see each other every minute of the day to love each other and be together.", she said with a gentle smile.

Neville broke into a wide grin that nearly overflowed with relief. "I know this won't be easy and it's going to take some getting used to. I can't promise a faerie tale but I can give you my word I'll do my best."

"I never expected a faerie tale Neville, I prefer fables anyways. And I know you'll do your best. I promise I'll give you my best as well."

Neville pulled Luna toward him and engulfed her in a hug. "I promise I'll do my very best to make you happy Luna."

"Don't forget to make sure you're happy too. I'll not have you making me happy at your expense. This is supposed to be give and take on both our parts to make it work."

"You're right. We're in this together." They stood, enjoying their embrace for a few moments before Neville spoke again. "My mind is a still a little fuzzy after that grand speech I just made. So, just to be sure, this does mean you're saying yes….right?" Luna broke into a laugh against his chest. "Oh how I've missed that sound.", he thought.

"Yes, Neville. It means I'm saying yes."

"Oh good. Just making sure."

Luna pulled back a little to look over his face. "It looks to me that wrackspurts have afflicted your mind again. It's been quite some time so you probably didn't even recognize it.", she said with some amusement in her voice.

"I wouldn't be surprised. My mind certainly feels fuzzy right now."

"I'll bet you've long forgotten the countermeasures against them haven't you?", Luna asked with a somewhat mischievous smile on her face.

Neville missed her expression as he searched through his memory. "I remember you told me before." He shook his head in mild frustration. "My memory is still not the best. Ummm, let's see…you had to turn something inside out, ri-mmph!" Neville found his answer interrupted by Luna lips pressing against his own in a kiss. "Ah yes, how could have I forgotten?"

Author's Note: My wife and I had some conversations similar to this one before we were married and still dating. I was still on active duty in the military at the time and away from home quite a bit. She put in a lot of time and effort convincing me that she could handle it. And handle it she did.

Caladan beetles are an homage to Frank Herbert's "Dune". Caladan is the homeworld of House Atreides and green and black are the house's colors.

Special thanks to ozwoman and cappie lover for reviewing! Thanks to everyone who is reading and hope you are enjoying the story!