A/N: Alright. It's been a week, and I'm keeping my promise, so here's the chapter. I can tell that my writing quality went down drastically, so don't expect perfection out of this. Don't hate me either. I expect this to be the ACTUAL last chapter, too, so enjoy this while you can!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the sensitive and slightly depressed Seamus Finnigan (jk i dont own him just his personality in this part)

Chapter 5: Death

Luna sat in the Leaky Cauldron, not saying a word. She hadn't spoken at all since Neville's death. Out of every day she'd lived, that would be the clearest day of her life. She was absolutely positive about that.

She remembered his heartbeat stopping. She'd had that moment of denial. That moment where she thought, No, he can't be dead. He can't possibly be dead. But realization came into her and the tears began to come. She still held his hand. But then the nurse came and ushered her out. She held onto Neville's hand as long as possible, but eventually the nurse forced her to let go. And then she was dragged out of his room, and when the curtain closed, Luna knew that would be the last she would ever see of Neville Longbottom.

She had gone home and cried her eyes out. She knew she should be stronger, but she just couldn't handle it. The boy she loved, and the boy who loved her, was gone. Gone forever. And there would be no getting him back. Every time Luna thought the tears were done, she began to think of this, and then the tears would start again.

Then she slept. For almost an entire day. And she sat around being a lump. Eventually, two days later, she convinced herself that she needed to get out of the house.

So there she sat in the Leaky Cauldron. The tears still sometimes came out. She might have not been crying on the outside, but on the inside, she was broken and sobbing.

On the table sat a pumpkin juice. Not her normal butterbeer. No, those reminded her too much of Neville. Instead she settled for a pumpkin juice. Which she hadn't even touched, let alone opened.

She thought of Neville. Oh, why did it have to be him? Why did he have to go? Luna thought of all the fun times she'd had with him. The times they'd sat by the lakeside, the times they'd talked together despite the constant torment, Neville's blush when Luna had kissed his cheek under the mistletoe, the times she'd sat in his arms...the tears came to her eyes again. She loved him. There was no doubt in her heart now. And he was dead.

As Luna was wandering in painful thoughts, she heard the door to the Leaky Cauldron open. And who could come in but Seamus Finnigan. One of Neville's dearest friends. Who'd known his past. Who's been the one to convince Neville he loved Luna.

Luna tried to keep a low profile so that Seamus wouldn't notice her. But, of course, Seamus being Seamus, he spotted her immediately, then made a beeline for her table with a happy grin on his face.

"Hullo, Luna. Didn't expect to see you here," Seamus said happily. But then he noticed the tears in Luna's eyes and her grim expression, and his smile faded. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, taking the seat across from Luna.

Luna didn't want to meet his eyes. But she didn't want to be rude. She looked across into the pools of blue. Good-natured Seamus didn't need his spirits crushed with the news of Neville's death. No one knew yet. If Luna had her way, no one would know. But it was only right to tell everyone else. They deserved to know. Looking at Seamus, she didn't want to tell him. But the eagerness on his face left her no other choice.

"It's Neville," she whispered.

"What about him?" Seamus asked.

Luna gulped and took a deep breath before saying, "He's dead."

Complete and utter shock showed on Seamus's face. "What?"

Luna took another breath and spoke louder. "He's dead, Seamus. Dead. Gone. And he won't be coming back."

Finally the news sunk in to Seamus's brain, and he suddenly laid his head down on the table and started to sob. He sobbed like no eighteen-year-old boy should, yet Luna found it acceptable anyway.

His tears triggered Luna's tears, and soon she was sobbing as well. She sat there, crying with Seamus. Neville was dead. Dead. There was no bringing him back.

They got strange looks from people passing by, but no one bothered them. Most everyone these days knew what it was like to lose a loved one. Sympathy was in the air.

Seamus understood Luna's pain. Luna had lost Neville, the one she loved. Seamus had also lost a loved one; Lavender. Luna knew Seamus wasn't really in love with Lavender, but he had had a crush on her, and it'd been hard for him. But he hadn't cried. Not like this. Obviously Neville meant much more to him than Lavender did.

They still sat there; crying. And eventually, after a long agonizing while, Seamus sat up, wiped his eyes, and sniffled. This made Luna stop crying, too. Seamus started to speak.

"I-I-I didn't even know...how heartless am I? Not checking to see if my friend was okay. At least I could've been there for him."

"There was nothing you could have done, Seamus," Luna said. "I was there. And he died anyway."

Seamus's face was still grim. "Still, I feel bad now. I've barely spoken to anybody after the war."

"What about Dean?"

"He's off in America doing some fancy wizard ambassador job," Seamus said. "I'm glad for him, but it's not for me. I need something low-key. Right now I work as a wizard demolitions expert. I'm the best there."

This brought a hint of a smile to Luna's face. The first in days. Seamus knew how to make almost anyone laugh. But it soon disappeared, since there were grim thoughts in Luna's mind.

"Hey, I know it's sad, and I feel like crying my eyes out, but there's no reason to get so down," Seamus said, trying to cheer up Luna.

"No, I can't cheer up, Seamus," Luna said. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like. I...I love him, Seamus. And now he's gone. You don't know what that's like."

Seamus was silent for a moment. "You love him?"

"Yes. I do."

Seamus sighed. "I always thought so. He loved you, too. A lot. You two always did have that sort of connection. One that nobody else had. It's just heartbreaking you had to realize it too late."

This made the tears fall again. Their love for each other confirmed by Seamus. An outsider. She couldn't take this much longer. She had to go and be alone. But she had a few pieces of business to take care of first.

"S-S-Seamus, Neville, wanted you to know something," Luna said through tears.

"What?" Seamus asked.

"H-h-he wanted you to k-know that...h-he did end up snogging me. Before the end." Seamus looked like he was about to say something, but Luna cut him off. "And m-m-make sure you tell that to Harry, as well." a few more tears fell, and there was a bit of something you almost never got from Seamus: silence. And Luna dug through her bag, pulled out a book, and handed it to Seamus. "Here. I think Neville might've wanted you to read this." It was Neville's diary. Seamus took the book in his hands.

"Oh, I remember this old thing," Seamus said softly.

Luna nodded. "Please read it. But...return in back to me when you're done, alright?"

"Okay."

And without another word, Luna apparated out of the Leaky Cauldron, leaving the now depressed Seamus behind.

(Page Break)

She was in charge of the funeral. Neville didn't have any family members left, so the planning of the funeral immediately fell to Luna. Although she was honored, she didn't like that much. It was a lot of work, and she could barely think about it without crying. Luckily, she'd had two good friends swoop to the rescue: Ginny and Seamus had both offered to help plan.

Luna remembered the day she'd told the rest of them. It hadn't been a fun day. Ron and Ginny had insisted she come to visit them at the Burrow. She'd reluctantly come, knowing she'd have to face them sooner or later. She'd arrived, and saw that both Weasleys, along with Harry and Hermione were there waiting for her. She was bombarded with hugs and greetings, all of which meant nothing to her. They didn't even ask how she was, or tell her how they were. Ginny had immediately asked what was wrong. Not getting an answer out of her, they'd all sat down on the couches, and asked her again. After a deep breath, she braced herself and said, "Neville's dead."

After a moment of silence, all hell broke loose in the Burrow. Hermione immediately started sobbing, followed by tears by Harry and Ron, who tried to be manly and hide it, which wasn't really working, and then Ginny started sobbing, which made Luna cry too. Ginny held Luna in a hug, and they both cried.

Eventually George and Mrs. Weasley came down to see what all the fuss was about. When they learned Neville was dead, Mrs. Weasley shed tears, and George turned stiff and left the room.

The sobbing lasted longer than on Luna's run-in with Seamus, which Luna didn't tell them about. They didn't talk; though. After the sobs turned to sniffles, they all simply sat on the couches and took turns hugging Luna. They didn't need to speak to know she needed the most comforting. It seemed as if The Trio and Ginny already knew that Luna loved Neville. Luna wasn't willing to ponder it now.

Soon she bid goodbye to her friends and left the Burrow. She arrived at her home and laid in bed, doing nothing for the rest of the day.

Now she stood in Neville's house. She was forced to go through all his things. She had to choose what was to be buried with Neville, what was to be sold or given away, and what Luna chose to keep for herself. She felt it was wrong to give away all his things. It would be insulting. But Luna knew Neville would want his things to go to good use.

It was a memory trip to go through Neville's things. Each one brought back a memory to her, and even though they used to make her happy, they now brought her only pain.

In the end, Luna had gone through all the items. A few of Neville's more personal items were to be buried with him. Most all the furniture and some of the other things were going to be sold. But Luna had chosen a few things to keep for herself: a sweater vest of Neville's (it smelled of him, and reminded Luna of all the fun times they'd had together. And even more special; it was the same one he'd worn when they'd traveled to the Department of Mysteries with Harry), the photo album Luna had given him on his birthday, Luna's own pearl necklace (not exactly something belonging to Neville, but Luna had considered burying it with him, but then decided against it when she realized Neville would want her to wear it instead), and Neville's diary. Luna knew that the diary would have a permanent spot in her house, and would be read often. It held so much emotion, and was written in Neville's handwriting. Luna could barely put it down to focus on much else, most of the time. She didn't have it now, since Seamus was currently reading it. She wondered if Seamus felt as much emotion in those words as she did.

(Page Break)

Luna didn't want to go into that garden. She would break down if she did. No one could make her. The last place she wanted to be was to go into the garden, filled with people dressed in black...

It was the day of Neville's funeral, which was to take place in a very spacious, airy garden, filled with magical plants and such. It was a perfect place for Neville. But he was dead.

Luna was dressed in a black dress, which contrasted greatly with her platinum blonde hair. It was quite unusual to see Luna in black after she left Hogwarts.

Luna hung by the hedge wall, peeking in through the entrance. Everyone was expecting her to go in, but she didn't want to. No one could make her. She could just leave now. Apparate out and leave the scene.

"Luna? Why aren't you inside yet?"

Too late for second chances. Luna turned around to see Ginny, followed by Harry, then Ron and Hermione, who were hand-in-hand. Luna wished she and Neville could have been like that, even for just a little bit...

Just that little thought made Luna cry. She couldn't do it. She didn't have the mental stability. Soon, she found herself wrapped up in one of Ginny's hugs. She still cried, though, no matter how reassuring Ginny could be.

Soon Ginny drew away and it was another set of arms that incased her. Harry's. She still cried, even as she was passed from Harry to Ron to Hermione. Eventually, though, she stopped her tears, and Hermione let go.

Luna wiped her eyes and took a good look at all of them. Ginny and Hermione were wearing the most beautiful black dresses. Harry and Ron were both wearing black suits. Overall, it was perfect funeral attire.

"Luna, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.

Well, Luna knew the question meant other than all the normal things that were wrong with a funeral. "I...I can't do it, Hermione. I can't go in there. It's just too much. I'll break down."

Apparently Hermione didn't know what to say to that. But the next thing Luna heard was a voice behind her, speaking in that distinct Irish accent.

"Luna."

She turned around, and there he was. Seamus Finnigan. Dressed in as much black as the rest of them. Luna wondered why he stopped to speak to them rather than going straight into the funeral.

"Yes, Seamus?" Luna asked.

"I have something for you," Seamus said. He reached into one of his pockets and he pulled out the diary. He placed it in Luna's hands, and closed her fingers around the spine. Luna forced herself to look directly into his eyes.

"I understand now," he said. "Just exactly how much you meant to him, and how much he meant to you. I know what it must've been like for him. And I want you to know that I'll always be on your side, Luna. I'll always understand."

Knowing Seamus, Luna had some doubts at first. But looking into his eyes, Luna knew he was trustworthy. And despite all else, she threw herself into his arms, receiving quite a long hug. No, she did not love Seamus, not in the least. And he didn't love her. But she knew, that even if no one else understood, he would.

She could feel the eyes of the others staring at her. She didn't care. She had become used to it after all these years.

Eventually, she was forced to draw away from her Irish friend. He looked right at her.

"Luna, I know you can go in there," Seamus said. "You're strong enough and brave enough to go in there and keep yourself together. And Neville would have wanted you to. He believed in you. You have his love behind you. Trust me."

If it weren't for that last comment, Luna might not have believed it. But, despite all, Seamus was one worth trusting. So, holding the diary close to herself, she walked through the hole in the hedge wall, knowing that she had both Irish and Longbottom luck behind her.

A/N: Alright, this is the END. The VERY, VERY end. I will not post another chapter AT ALL unless I get, like, 30 or more reviews before tomorrow night. But please don't make quota. I want to be done. Although, you people are a demanding crowd.