Rowena's Quill

The next time Luna saw Neville, he was sitting alone in the library. Seeing him there made her want to jump for joy, but of course, Madam Pince would never permit such behavior. So instead she contented herself by going over to talk to him.

"May I sit here?" she asked.

He looked up from his parchment. "Sure," he said. She sat down eagerly and began to unpack her bag, taking out a bag of dried tea leaves she'd saved from Professor Trelawney's class, a bit of muffin left over from breakfast, a few stray Rack 'n Rune tiles, her Spectrespecs, the latest issue of The Quibbler, and finally, her quill and parchment.

Neville stared at the Spectrespecs for a moment, and then said, "I'm very sorry about the other day."

"Which other day?" asked Luna.

"You know. At the meeting when I knocked you out by accident." His voice got charmingly worried again. "You do remember that, don't you?"

"How could I forget? It was the nicest thing that's ever happened to me."

"Oh," said Neville, bewildered.

"Ginny used to say that quite often in our first year, you know," said Luna.

"Huh?" asked Neville.

"She used to say that, too."

"Oh," said Neville.

Luna breathed a sigh of relief. She'd mentioned Ginny without feeling a single nargle.

"What are you working on?" she asked.

"An essay for Umbridge's class," he said with a grimace.

"Oh, thank you for reminding me! I never did get a chance to fully explain Fudge's army to you." Luna checked over her shoulder for Hermione Granger. She didn't want any naysaying now, though the living proof of Umbridge ought to have made that impossible. But Hermione was safely absorbed in her work, so she continued, "Just as I told you, he uses heliopaths, which are spirits of fire. They're easy to hide because they have rather an amazing capacity to camouflage themselves. They deceive people into thinking that they're harmless, but of course they're quite far from harmless. Do you want to see how it looks when they attack?"

"Um," said Neville, "I think I'd better work on Umbridge's essay."

"Yes, precisely," said Luna. "Let me show you." She began to wave her arms around, but her demonstration was interrupted by the jeering of a pair of Slytherin boys at a nearby table.

"Practicing your dance steps, Loony?" said Draco Malfoy. "Surely you've heard there's no Yule Ball this year."

"Good thing, too, with moves like that," said the handsome black boy sitting with him. "Even Longbottom's not that desperate for a date."

"What do you mean? They're made for each other," said Malfoy. "She's Loony enough to make him feel right at home." Then the two of them began to snicker loudly.

Luna was angry. It was bad enough that they interrupted her conversation with Neville, but they called her that hateful name. She couldn't get accustomed to it no matter how hard she tried.

But Neville was even angrier than she. While the two Slytherins were holding their stomachs from laughing, Neville whipped out his wand and shouted, "Stupefy!"

Malfoy's head fell onto the table with a loud knock. His friend stood up scowling and Luna was afraid he would really hurt Neville, but Madam Pince stormed over to them just in the nick of time. While she revived Malfoy, Hermione came running up.

"I heard everything, ma'am. Neville was provoked."

"I heard everything, too," said Madam Pince, "and I'll be speaking to both Heads of House. Zabini, take him up to the hospital wing. And you two - OUT!"

They didn't need telling twice. Once outside, Neville said, "I'll probably get detention for that, but it was worth it. I don't care what they call me for bungling my way through Potions or for flying like I've overdosed on billywigs, but nobody makes fun of - " He stopped abruptly.

Luna picked up the conversation. Luna seized on the moment to thank him. "I do so hate it when they call me 'Loony.' But nobody's ever defended me the way you did. Ginny threatens sometimes, but she hasn't fight actually fought anyone."

"Loony, I mean, Luna," said Neville, "I can't take credit for what I didn't do. I don't like what they called you, nor what they said about me, but what really made me angry was . . . something else."

"Oh," said Luna. "What?"

Neville suddenly got a stricken look in his eyes. "It's not important," he mumbled.

"It must be very important if you were willing to fight for it."

"Well, yeah, it is, but I . . ." He avoided her eyes and began to walk faster.

"Oh, I understand. This is a matter of confidentiality. My father is a press wizard, so I'm quite familiar with those."

"Umm . . . yeah, right," said Neville. "Well, I think I'd better go see Professor McGonagall and tell her myself. The punishment will be lighter if I don't try to avoid her. I just hope she doesn't Floo Gran. I'll see you, Luna."

"Oh . . . well, goodbye," said Luna as he ran up the stairs. It felt worse than the day Ginny's brother led her away. Luna looked around hopefully, thinking Professor Dumbledore would pop out of nowhere and assure her that Neville would be back again soon, but after a few moments, she gave up and headed back to the dorm.

"At least I can enjoy the memory of him," she thought, and she began to recall everything they'd said to each other, right up to the Very Important Thing which he felt he had to defend. She knew better than to press Neville if he was unable to give details, but if it really was important, it might have been written up in The Quibbler. She doubled back, climbed the stairs leading to the Owlery and dashed off a note.

Dear Dad,

Just as I told you in my last letter, I'm making lots of new friends this year, people who are really interested in Snorkack hunting and defusing heliopaths. One of the most dedicated is Neville Longbottom. He's very nice, too. Have you ever heard of him?

Love,

Luna

P.S. I got an "O" on my last Runes assignment.

Luna looked over her letter. In these treacherous days, she knew she had to be careful about her language. But the letter was sufficiently vague about the things that would matter to the Ministry, and for some reason, she'd been sketchy about Neville, too. She didn't know why, but she felt strangely shy about telling Dad all about the way he affected her. This was unusual because Luna had never been shy with her father about anything before, but something about this felt so private.

The next day at breakfast, the owl returned with a small envelope containing a note from Dad and a few old clippings from The Quibbler. She read her father's note first.

Sweetie,

I am very happy you are making so many friends who share our values. I am sure Mummy is especially happy about Neville Longbottom. She was a very close friend of his mother's. In fact, the Longbottoms used to visit us now and again and you and Neville would play together, but you were both so little at the time, I am sure neither of you can remember it now.

Enclosed are two old Quibbler articles. I have never shielded you from the truth, and I will not do so now. But I must warn you: their content is as shocking now as it was back then. Please write back if you want to discuss them.

Keep studying hard!

Love, Dad

Luna did not know quite what to expect. She looked at the first article, headlined "SNORKACK MATING SEASON." Luna promptly turned it upside down and saw that it was written in highly advanced code. She fished around her bag for her Spectrespecs, put them on, and read: Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom were discovered in their home last night injured to a point of permanent incapacity. St. Mungo's Chief Healers report that except for their tongues and throats, the Longbottoms show almost no sign of physical damage, though each is severely mentally impaired. The Healers surmise that the Longbottoms were first magically deprived of their power of speech and then subject to the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse for unnaturally long durations.

In the words of Chief Healer Mimrose, "The bastards who did this didn't even allow them the release of screaming, and I make no apologies for my language."

Speculations are rampant as to who perpetrated this atrocious crime. The Auror Department of the Minstry claims to be in the midst of a thorough investigation into the matter but would give no further details.

A grief-stricken Albus Dumbledore, close friend of the Longbottoms, theorizes that the act was probably committed by Death Eaters in search of information as to their former leader's whereabouts.

"The crime fits their perverse idea of justice," said Professor Dumbledore. "The Longbottoms would not talk, so the perpetrators deprived them of speech. It is thoroughly abominable."

The Longbottoms will now reside in St. Mungo's closed ward. Their four-year-old son Neville will be raised by his paternal grandmother.

When Luna looked up from the article, her face was soaked with tears.

"What's with her?" someone asked.

"Maybe someone killed the Snorkack," answered another.

"Hey, her Transfiguration homework is sticking out of her bag. Grab it, will you?"

Luna did not give them the satisfaction of looking up. She moved on to the next clipping, dated six years later.

"When Mummy died," she thought, pointlessly drying her eyes.

The article covered the trial and conviction of Neville's parents' torturers. Professor Dumbledore had been correct. The perpetrators were Death Eaters and they did everything he'd guessed and worse. Crouch, the youngest of them, claimed innocence and begged for mercy, but the witch named Bellatrix Lestrange gave a full and proud confession with all the brutal details. Luna stopped reading halfway through.

"Miss Lovegood?" came a gentle voice from behind her.

Luna turned around and looked up. It was Professor Dumbledore. Except for the two of them and the house elves clearing the tables, the Great Hall was empty.

Luna stood up and showed him the articles. It was the simplest way of explaining her tears.

"I see," he said gravely. "Am I correct in surmising that you sought this information from your father after the incident in the library?"

"Yes, sir."

"And Neville told you nothing?"

"Never, sir."

"Then I trust you to keep this information to yourself."

"Yes, of course, sir," said Luna, as a few more tears spilled from her eyes. But it was useless for her to say what she was thinking. What would a "poor Neville" or an "it's so horribly unfair" do to change the situation?

"May I ask," began Professor Dumbledore, "do you think you will treat Neville differently now that you know about his parents?"

Luna pondered the question. She thought of Neville's dedication to the D.A. and his bravery in taking on those two Slytherins in the library. "I don't think I will be able to help it, sir," she answered. "Now that I know, I respect him even more."

"That is precisely what I expected you to say," said Professor Dumbledore. "Whether he knows it or not, I think Neville has just won himself the ideal confidante."