The Courtship of Neville Longbottom

The first rays of sunlight crept through the east window and alighted on the jumble of sheets and limbs that occupied the twin bed. Neville's arms and legs were skewed about in a way that any observer would have agreed it would be impossible to sleep in. However, the boy's eyes remained decidedly closed while the light gradually became sharper and brighter.

Few people knew that Neville Longbottom, with his awkward nature and penchant for making a mess out of nearly anything in a lesson, was the cleanest of neat freaks when it came to his own personal space. The sleep-tossed covers and their odd entanglement around his body made an odd juxtaposition with the other objects in his room.

An old-looking trunk with the faded initials F.L., sat at the foot of his bed. Impeccably folded on top of it was a set of pressed, black robes and a small, brown-paper package. A coarse tan rug lay at the side of the bed, while just out of the sun's reach, a stuffed dragon lay under it. Neville's small writing desk held his Hogwarts booklist, a few pieces of spare parchment, an empty inkwell, and a used quill. On top of the desk, a strange-looking plant partially obscured a picture of two people, who leaned on each other as they slept. Other varieties of odd-looking flora occupied Neville's room, neatly arranged with scraps of parchment stuck to their pots and trays, identifying their names and origins.

Suddenly, Neville's mouth opened as if to scream and his body jerked. Arms flailing, he promptly fell out of bed with a crash, his legs nearly tied to the foot of his bed by his tangled covers. He opened his eyes with a start, breathing heavily. It was only a dream, Neville told himself, only a dream.

He shook his head, as if to shake every bad thought out of it, and gazed up at his clock with apprehension. At least he was up early. Footsteps hurried up the stairs followed by a knock on the door.

"Are you alright, Neville, dear?" Augusta asked her grandson. Neville dragged his hand through his mussed hair with a sigh.

"I'm fine, Gran. I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay. Make sure you have everything packed. We don't want to be late to King's Cross!" she said in her usual stern tone. Neville nodded as the sound of the footsteps faded. He fought with the sheets a moment before his legs slipped free and fell to join the rest of his body on the floor. Neville paused for a minute, looking at his legs as if they were a separate entity from himself. He had grown nearly three inches over the summer, and wasn't quite used to his thinner, lankier frame.

Pulling himself up off of the floor, Neville walked over to his writing desk and cooed softly at his Mimbulus mimbletonia as he gently pushed aside its leaves to uncover the photograph. Smiling, Neville gave his parents a wave. They sleepily waved back.

"I'll try to make you both proud this year mum, dad. I promise." Frank and Alice Longbottom continued to wave at their son, as he shook his head once more. People already thought he was weird enough without knowing he talked to pictures, or plants for that matter. Petting his Mimbulus mimbletonia back into place, Neville walked to the right of his desk and looked into a small habitat expectantly. Shaking his head, he groaned.

"Trevor!" he called.

* * *

Neville gazed apprehensively at the brick wall in front of him, leaning on the cart that carried his trunk and school supplies. Although he had successfully walked through it several times, he was always so nervous that he had never passed through it at any speed below a run. He swallowed and looked back at his grandmother, who was watching him sternly.

"Don't forget. You need to straighten things out with Minerva as soon as possible," she said strictly. Neville was beyond fighting his grandmother on the subject of his Transfiguration O.W.L. or lack thereof. He seemed doomed to suffer humiliation in front of his Head of House once more. Neville nodded and felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he quickly turned around and saw an odd-looking girl with scraggly blonde hair. Her large eyes were trained on Neville's face, although they dreamily looked beyond it with a hazy, unfocused quality. She was already changed into her Hogwarts robes, although her blue and grey tie was undone and her collar was popped up on one side.

"Uh...Hullo Luna," Neville managed to stammer out. Augusta quickly swooped in between the two and grabbed Luna's hand a firm grasp, shaking it enthusiastically.

"You must be Luna Lovegood," she said. "Neville's told me all about you, of course. You must be very brave to accompany Neville and his friends to the Ministry. And I heard you saved Ginny and Ron Weasley's lives."

Luna looked at Neville as his face erupted with a red flush. Smiling dreamily, she nodded at Mrs. Longbottom,

"Thank you," she said in her soft voice. "However, Neville saved Harry's life, didn't he?" Luna and Augusta both looked to Neville, who was blushing even more furiously than before.

"I didn't really do anything..." Neville mumbled as he stared at the ground.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Neville," his grandmother said, with a hint of disgust in her voice. "You should be proud of what you've done!" Neville nodded miserably. Luna looked up at his grandmother, her eyes brushing past the odd hat that was perched on her head, before looking back at Neville, who was studying the ground with interest.

"Well then," Luna said, her voice a bit stronger, "It's getting late, I think." And without further ado, Luna meandered over to the wall, looking slightly lost, and quickly vanished to the other side. Neville nodded and drew himself up to his full height. Nodding one last goodbye to his grandmother, Neville braced himself and ran full speed at the brick wall.

A soft 'whoosh' accompanied Neville as he burst through the wall. Unfortunately, the momentum his cart had gathered from his quick sprint, dragged Neville forward onto the platform. He winced as he realized he was about to crash into a robed figure in front of him.

"Oof!" Neville gasped as the wind was promptly knocked out of him. Thankfully, Neville's trunk and belongings remained on the cart, with the exception of Trevor, who had seized his newest opportunity for freedom.

"Trevor!" Neville yelled, throwing himself forward onto the pavement after his fleeing toad. For the second time in less than a minute, Neville found himself momentarily unable to breathe. As he lay, sprawled across the pavement he could feel the stares of his fellow students, and even heard the hoarse, honking laugh of Pansy Parkinson as she shrieked to Blaise Zabini about the spectacle. Blushing, Neville slowly picked himself up and dusted off his robes wearily. He looked beyond the crowd that had gathered for a sign of Trevor.

"Accio Trevor."

Neville heard a calm, soft voice coming from the ground. Croaking madly, Trevor flew through the air. Neville slowly turned around to see Luna Lovegood looking, if it was possible, more disheveled than before, holding out his toad in her outstretched hand. A few people laughed, and the crowd began to disperse, with mumbles of 'Loony' and 'Longbottom.' Neville rushed to Luna and grabbed his squirming toad from her hands.

"You should keep better track of him," Luna said seriously. "You might really lose him someday." Neville stared down at Trevor again, and then shook his head furiously.

"Uh...thanks Luna," Neville mumbled as he shoved Trevor back into his habitat. "And...uhhh...I'm sorry, you know, for knocking you over..." he trailed off as he watched her vague, unfocused eyes roam over his face. She nodded and then turned to gather up her own things, which had been scattered about on the platform.

"Oh!" Neville exclaimed. "Let me, um, help." He knelt down awkwardly and picked up an edition of The Quibbler. He glanced at it for a moment, as he'd seen a teaser about Rufus Scrimgoeur being a vampire. Shrugging, he handed it back to Luna, who smiled.

"Daddy said that's one of his most popular articles," she said. Neville looked at her oddly.

"Uh...what?"

"There's evidence, you know," Luna said.

"Um...yeah, I'm sure there is," Neville said. "Listen Luna," he said, glancing at the scarlet steam engine, "we'd better get on the train."