Luville Lovebottom

DISCLAIMER: I am not Just Kidding when I say that I'm not J.K. (R.)

Luville Lovebottom on Mondays

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In the Beginning

Neville tended to move slower than most people. He saw a thousand private moments in the week following the Battle of Hogwarts: Harry and Ginny snogging each other silly in unobtrusive corners, Hermione sleeping with Ron on the Gryffindor common-room couch, even older people like Argus Filch and Irma Pince holding hands in the wrecked library, and Arthur and Molly Weasley in a fervent embrace over their dead son's body. As he felt that these intrusions were caused by the manipulations of fate, it occurred to him that he was meant to take away a lesson, somehow, from his blunders.

The question was, what was the lesson?

Oh, no, he wasn't really that dense. Every time he spotted Luna Lovegood, his stomach knotted; he knew that the crush he'd been developing since late last year had suddenly bloomed into something more perfect, more divine.

The thing was, did he want to act on it? If he remained passive, would it blow over, like his long and puppy-dog-like affections for Hermione Granger?

With all the love he was exposed to, flagrantly tossed around in the aftermath of the Battle, he wanted to say No! It's real! I'll act! I'm madly in love with the beautiful Loony Lovegood, and I don't care who knows it! However, his melancholy half, which was largely influenced by fear of rejection, whispered Neville, you're a foolish boy, she'd never fall for you, you don't deserve her.

Though, as she sat beside him at dinner--house unity being abandoned for the remainder of the school year--chatting amiably about Nargles and her pet boar (named Bilbo, apparently), he allowed himself to dream.

He dreamed as he had all through the school year, that when the end of the war came, she would be his. Their work together in the D.A. only strengthened his desire to be closer to her, and, by some happy accident, they got to see more and more of each other as the year passed.

Snape had an unfortunate start as headmaster, and, at the beginning of term, found himself with a stack of teacher resignations and therefore short-handed of staff. The result was that he mixed up the schedules, combining some of the sixth and seventh year classes, and re-arranging the timetables, resulting in that Gryffindors had classes with Ravenclaws more often than Slytherins. Neville found these new arrangements just fine; he now got to be in some classes with Luna, even though they were different years.

At his suggestion, she agreed to study with him for these classes, her reasoning being that she could learn to see a new point of view from him. Most of their study sessions, ironically, were spent the opposite way; Luna jabbered on about her magical animals and fantastic beasts and where to find them, and Neville simply listened, entranced by her vast knowledge and beauty.

He would have given a lot to have a chance to try each other out in a romantic relationship, but was certain that he would never be worthy of her good opinion.

Well, seeing as Aphrodite took pity on him, his wistful Someday came a lot sooner than he expected.

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Exactly seven days after the Battle, Luna was sitting at breakfast, looking perfectly ordinary and complacent.

"I must remember to pick up the mess those Amorwranglers left," she mused, spreading butter on her toast, and Neville searched in his memory banks for any previous mentions of an 'amorwrangler'. He could not remember Luna talking about it before, and, as he tried, he could not remember what it was.

"What did they do?" he asked, puzzled.

She merely smiled serenely.

"I do believe they've made your mind rather a terrible jumble. I suppose, since they've been at it for so long, you want to ask me out? It'd help to tidy things up a bit in your head."

He closed his mouth tight, and bit on his porridge-spoon.

"Wait," he mumbled with a grimace, removing the spoon from his mouth and wiping it with his napkin (as his grandmum always taught him to do). "You...I want to ask you out?"

Her eyebrows seemed to rise just millimeters higher, and she turned her head.

"I could be wrong, of course, but that's what I thought was infecting you."

He was stunned.

"Luna," he managed, "I...I do want to ask you out, if you'll have me?"

She shrugged. "That's a silly question. Of course I'll have you."

So saying, she took his clammy hand, and patted it gently.

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