AN: This is a word of fiction using the characters from Harry Potter that are trademarked by J.K. Rowling

Neville stood in the stacks of 'Pages & Prose' with a cart full of books. He was currently stacking the new biographies that came in while he tried to summon up the courage to ask out for dinner after work. He had been trying to flirt, unsuccessfully, for the past week and his friends never let him live down his awkward attempts with the beautiful blonde who danced, instead of walked, around the store.

He bent his knees to look through the shelves and saw the blonde at the cash register. So far there were no customers in the store and only Harry was working on the floor, with Ron and Hermione in the back, so this was his chance.

He summoned all his courage, placed the stack of books he held onto the cart, and marched down the aisles towards the front of the store. He saw Harry out of the corner of his eyes and winced at the dopey thumbs up his friend shot him but continued forward.

Just as he stood in front of the check-out and opened his mouth, the phone ran loudly.

Luna picked up the phone with an apologetic look and said, "Hello, Pages & Prose! How can I help you?"

Neville grimaced, he knew that his moment had evaporated as Luna assisted the customer on the phone, so he turned and shuffled back to the aisle that he was working in and proceeded to stack more books.

*Pages&Prose*

During their break, Neville prepared himself to ask Luna. He stood in the kitchenette beside Ron and watched as Luna grabbed the honey from the middle of the table and then drizzled the amber liquid into her green tea.

"Mate, just ask already," Ron hissed from next to Neville.

"Alright," Neville said and pushed off the counter.

"Hey, Lu-"

"Have you seen the latest shipment? McGonagall says it needs to be organized immediately!" Hermione hollered from the entry to the breakroom.

Luna stood up and danced out of the room and Neville just stood there, mouth agape.

"Don't take this the wrong way…"

"Don't!" Neville warned.

"That did not look good, mate."

Neville just hung his head and followed Ron out of the breakroom to get back to work.

*Pages&Prose*

Lunch would be the perfect time, but it was not meant to be. They were outside in the small courtyard garden since the weather was quite warm, but just as he opened his mouth loud construction noise was heard from the next-door renovations.

Neville tried to raise his voice to be heard, "Luna! I…maybe we should…"

Luna just frowned at him and yelled, "I can't hear you! Let's chat later!" before she got up, gathered her garbage, and left to go back inside. Just as the door closed behind her the noise suddenly cut off and all Neville could do was put his head on the table and sigh.

*Pages&Prose*

Later in the day, Neville and Luna were working in the back and it was just the two of them. He saw this as an opportunity since none of his friends would be there to witness it if he was shot down.

He walked over and saw that she was organizing the books that were going to be going up for sale later that week.

"So, Luna. I was thinking-"

A loud pounding was heard, and Neville turned to look towards the back door as a UPS driver rolled in with a dolly full of boxes.

"Order for McGonagall."

"I'll sign," Luna said with her dreamy voice, and she glided over towards the man in brown to sign the clipboard that he held.

Neville sighed and moved forward as well to help unload the new boxes.

*Pages&Prose*

Neville and Luna were back up at the front of the store as they unloaded the new delivery into the 'psychological thriller' section. Neville was crouched on the ground as he passed the books up to Luna who stood by the shelves.

"So, Luna. Do you have any plans for tonight? Because I was thinking…"

"Excuse me!" a woman called out from behind Neville, "Do you have any recommendations for a mystery novel?"

"Of course!" Luna said cheerfully, "Sorry Neville, I'll be right back."

*Pages&Prose*

Finally, it was the end of the day and everyone else had left. Only Neville and Luna remained to lock up the store. Neville cleaned while Luna counted and balanced the till for the day and their laughter echoed through the empty aisles.

Once the laughter died down, and they were done for the day, the duo stood in the back of the store as they gathered their belongings to head out for the night.

"I've been trying to ask you something for a while now," Neville said.

"What is it?" Luna asked curiously.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me? I'd really enjoy spending more time with you, outside of work," Neville said nervously.

"I'd love to!" Luna said with a large grin.

"Amazing," Neville breathed out, "Did you want to go now?"

"Yeah," Luna nodded, and the couple left the store hand in hand.

Word Count: 850

Challenge/Prompts:

Advent Calendar – Neville Longbottom / "Don't take this the wrong way..." / Book Store
Candy Cane Daily Writing Challenge - Colour: Amber