Dora! It's been wonderful to have you on the team, thanks so much for choosing Catapults, it wouldn't be the same without you! You listed Neville and Luna as a favourite pairing, so I'm excited to share with you this fic! I've also included your patronus in here somewhere, I wonder if you can spot where! :)
OoO
It was a couple of days after the battle of Hogwarts. Neville had been helping clear the castle, but it had gotten to be a bit too much for him so he was walking through the forbidden forest.
He got to a clearing, and sat down on a tree stump, running a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh.
Over everything that happened during the battle, seeing Voldemort come back with Harry's body was the part that Neville had hated the most. They should have never had to go through with it. Any of it.
He knew now that for the future, he wanted their generation of children to grow up without fighting. Without a Dark Lord. And now, they could.
He wiped a tear away from his cheek as he realised it was really over.
No more fighting.
"Neville?"
He turned around to see Luna walking towards him. His heart stuttered when she sat next to him. His crush started a couple of years ago, he had never been brave enough to say anything to her. Now that there had been a chance he could lose her forever, he spoke up, wanting to say how he felt.
Luna didn't say much to him, though. Just held his hand and said they were going to be just fine. It was comforting, but at the same time, he wasn't sure how they'd be fine after this.
"How are you?" Luna asked softly, as she intertwined their fingers together.
"I…I'm tired. You?" He replied with a small smile as he looked at their hands. Was this truly happening?
"I'm happy we won. I think we'll be a lot safer than we were before," she rested her head on his shoulder for a second, as she mused. "Do you ever dream about leaving?"
Neville blinked, and shook his head. He wanted to stay—help rebuild the castle, become a Professor. Make sure nothing like this would ever happen again.
"I do. This war made me realise I want to travel the world, see what's out there. Look for different animals and see where they come from. I want to explore. I've only just started visiting other countries — I don't want to stop. It's magical out there, Nev. You should see it," she said all in one breath.
He swallowed and glanced at her. She made it sound so lovely. So amazing.
"That's so cool, Luna. Maybe I'll see it one day," Neville spoke softly, a little unsure if he ever would.
Why leave his home when he loved it so much and his parents were here? Not there?
"I want you to come with me, please?" Luna asked, with a big, warm smile. "I think we'd both love it out there!"
He wanted to say yes. But…
"What about me being a Professor?" He blurted out in a panic. "What about Hogwarts?"
"You can be a Professor anywhere in the world, Neville. And Hogwarts will still be here when we come back."
He leaned in slowly. He smiled when she did the same, and they closed the gap, his lips touching hers in a soft, yet passionate kiss.
He could feel the fireworks going off around them. His heart was beating heavily.
He finally kissed her.
It was everything he thought it was going to be.
When they broke apart, their foreheads rested against each other.
"So?" she questioned.
"We'll make it work, no promises, but I do want to visit Paris. I need to be able to come back here every so often. It'll take a while for them to build Hogwarts," he replied, feeling giddy.
She smiled and kissed him again.
"Deal."
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A year later, Neville received a letter from Headmistress McGonagall asking him to teach Herbology. He stroked the snowy owl as he gave her bacon as payment.
After working as an auror for a little bit, he stopped and joined Luna and her travels. But even that wasn't as amazing to him as he thought it was going to be.
The travelling didn't suit him. He didn't know why, it was just something that wasn't him.
Luna accepted this, and they broke up. If he didn't want to travel with her, he wouldn't be able to see her that often and it would have put a strain on their relationship.
It was… fine, he thought, as he replied to Headmistress McGonagall. He'd be fine. Right?
OoO
He wasn't fine. He missed Luna. He missed her beautiful smile and her laughter. A year turned into two, two turned into three, and three turned into eleven. It was too late. She would have found someone else by now. He should have found someone else. He had been close with Hannah Abbot, but… it hadn't felt right.
He groaned. He had just taught one of the worst lessons in his life. Everything had gone wrong recently. It was always him. He needed his luck to change.
"Sir?"
He glanced up as he spotted one of George and Angelina's children—Fred Weasley II. He nodded at him and put on a slight smile.
He had to show he was fine.
"Mr Weasley, how can I help you?"
"Well, Sir. I was wondering how I can help you? You're like another father to me and I want to help you be happy," he said, quietly, but confidently.
His heart warmed at that and he smiled a true smile, one he hadn't done in a long time.
"Well, if you could somehow get a blonde girl to come here and stay, so we were both happy, I might just give you an Exceeds Expectations on every essay from me for the future."
He watched young Fred grin at that and Neville realised what he had said.
"Wait, Fred—"
It was too late, the boy had run out of the classroom quicker than he could say Quidditch.
OoO
Exactly a month later, Neville was visiting his parents in the hospital at St Mungo's.
He was updating them on his life. He had just got to the part about Fred supposedly going to help him find Luna and get them to both be happy. How, and why Fred wanted to help, was beyond him.
But he was curious to see what would happen.
Before he could get into any detail, he heard heavy footsteps and hushed whispers.
"One second, mum, dad…" he trailed off, standing up, he stepped back in surprise when he saw Luna standing before him.
"Luna?" He didn't stop himself from hugging her tightly.
"I missed you, Nev."
"I missed you too."
Now, this felt right.
OoO
"Your grades this year are amazing, Fred," his mother said, with a proud smile. "Acceptable in six, Outstanding in three, and exceeds expectations in three. Including Herbology!"
Fred blushed at the praise as she hugged him and his father ruffled his hair proudly.
"You must take after your mother, I never got Outstanding. The Herbology result intrigues me though, you don't even like that subject!" his father reminded them with a small frown, before smiling. "It doesn't matter, what matters is how well you did, so good job son!"
Fred was so pleased with the praise. He ignored the comment his father made about Herbology, but he did smirk at the mention of it.
Thanks, Sir. He thought.