A New Light

Neville Longbottom took a deep breath and walked up to the main desk of the fourth floor at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, which specialized in spell damage. He had never been alone before so he was quite a bit more jittery and nervous than usual. It was weird not having his Gran there with him. He almost expected to see her exiting the loo right about now after 'powdering her nose'; then she'd be making her way over to him, her head held high, her long nose pointed up and the vulture on her hat swaying dangerously from side to side; but he was alone this time. Neville snuck a quick glance towards the loos, his Gran wasn't coming out.

"Can I help you dear?"

Neville, who had been lost in his thoughts turned to face a middle aged witch sitting behind a large, wooden desk which was a little worse for wear. She had a round, pale face; piercing blue eyes and long, grey hair piled in a messy up do on top of her head.

"Oh, yes...ummm," Neville began. He didn't recognize her but he didn't want to seem rude so he continued on. "I'm here to see...Frank and Alice Longbottom...are they errr...up for visitors?"

The middle aged witch, whom according to her name tag was named Belinda Dooley, sat for a moment observing Neville from head to toe.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom you say? Are you related?"

"Uhhh, y-yes'm...I'm their son..." he mumbled in nearly a whisper. All of a sudden he wished more than ever that he had been bestowed at least some of the charisma and confidence both his Auror parents once had.

"Well..." Belinda began, "they were just given their potions about a half hour ago, which is an hour earlier than normal but Alice was acting up. She was giving the trainees a lot of trouble again so we decided to bump things up and give them their potions earlier to calm them down. So now maybe they'll get to sleep earlier and sleep longer tonight. Other than that I suppose it would be alright for you to step in and say hello. But only for a few minutes. Frank and Alice have had a long day. I suppose you've visited before then...?"

"Yes, but usually I'm with my Gran..." he replied, his throat growing dry.

"So I take it you know the whole procedure then. Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom are located down at the end of the corridor there. Just go on down and have yourself a nice chat, then come back here and sign out before you leave. Alright then? If you need anything just holler and someone will come and assist you." With all that said, Nurse Dooley returned her attention to a large stack of parchments in front of her. She began to sing quietly to herself as she picked up a quill and began to write.

Neville quickly grabbed the extra quill that Nurse Dooley had placed near him and scribbled his name on the sign-in sheet. He and his Gran had never had to sign in during visits before. This was something new they were doing. Neville had read in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago that the security at St. Mungo's was beginning to tighten up to ensure the safety of all patients during these dark times.

Dragging his feet, he slowly shuffled down the long corridor. His head was down staring at the brand new pair of shoes his Gran had just bought him- they were an ugly brown color and not to mention a size or two too small for his feet, but Neville hadn't wanted to offend his Gran so he opted not to say anything. He shoved his hands down deeper into the pockets of his light green corduroy pants.

'What am I doing? Why did I come here? Why did Gran let me go through with this alone? I'm not ready...I can't do this...'

These thoughts kept spinning around in Neville's head at full speed. He didn't even really remember how all of this had come to be. He vaguely recalled his Gran asking him over dinner a few nights ago when he was planning on going to St. Mungo's without her. After all, Augusta didn't really need to be there. She knew the place like the back of her hand. She also knew that her son and daughter-in-law's conditions would never improve by much.

The exact same thing happened every time they visited, and that was ultimately nothing. Nothing ever changed. Alice would totter around the room, twirling her thin, brittle white hair around one finger, while the other hand was busy either sliding her long, bony fingers in and out of her gaping mouth like a child or waving around Drooble's bubble gum wrappers, which she would eventually hand one over to Neville each time before he left. Frank, on the other hand, would either be lying down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his eyes wide open but empty of any life, or he would be sitting in an armchair which was faced towards a window. There he would sit, and with his lifeless stare he would watch the outside world from inside St. Mungo's.

Neville wasn't sure if he would be able to go in and go through that with his parents again; at least not without his Gran there guiding him through the visit and making small talk. Neville had finally reached his destination, room 466. Neville looked back towards the main desk where he had just come from. It looked so far away. He took another deep breath and tried to gather himself.

'Okay, just relax. You came all this way and you are NOT going to chicken out now. Besides, what would Gran say?'

Just the thought of what his Gran would say if she ever learned Neville's first time visit to St. Mungo's alone had resulted in failure was enough to make him cringe. He felt a sudden chill run down his back as he heard her voice bellow in his head.

'You oughtn't be ashamed, boy! Your parents gave up their health and sanity for you! You ought to be proud, boy! Proud! Those great minds of theirs are gone and the least their only son could do would be to visit them, and you couldn't even manage that could you boy?'

He shook his head in an attempt to free himself from his Gran. It was quite amazing actually, she wasn't even there with him and yet she still managed to find a way to reach him and get inside his head.

Neville walked up to the door and peered inside through the little window patch. Everything was just as he and his Gran last left it. The only light in the room was whatever little light left from outside poured in through the windows, which gave the room sort of a greyish-blue tinge. It was a very depressing place to be. Neville was ashamed to admit it, but it was also a place he was growing to hate.

He searched the room for his parents. Frank was lying in bed, his eyes wide open as usual, staring up at the ceiling, and Alice was sitting on top of her bed, with her legs crossed. She was sifting her fingers through a ridiculously large amount of Drooble's bubble gum wrappers. Neville watched as she grabbed handfuls of the wrappers and threw them up into the air, watching and giggling madly as the wrappers came down. Now there were wrappers everywhere.

Neville took a step away from the door, pressed his back against the wall and slowly slid down until he was in a half-sitting position. He leaned his head against the cold, hard wall and closed his eyes.

'How could I have been so stupid? I can't do this...there is no way I'm going in there by myself...I guess I AM just a coward...I can't even face my own parents...'

"Hello."

Neville's eyes opened and his head snapped up. Once again his thoughts were interrupted, only this time he recognized the voice. Neville looked up to see a girl with a small, heart-shaped face framed by long, endless locks of dirty blonde hair. She had wide and exuberant pale blue eyes which always made her appear as if she was in a dream-like state. The soft, airy voice belonged to none other than Luna Lovegood.

Neville had been startled out of his wits and was too shocked to say anything for few moments.

"Have I come at a bad time? It looks as though I might have." she easily confirmed.

"Uhhh..." was all Neville could say.

Instead of uttering some poorly-made excuse, exchanging an awkward good-bye and hurriedly walking away like any other person would have done at a moment like this, Luna Lovegood elegantly lifted her long, white skirt off the floor- which oddly enough had vegetables on it- and squatted down right next to Neville.

"Neville Longbottom," she declared out loud without even looking at him. Instead she was staring at the wall in front of them, which at one time had been white but had now become dirty, faded and chipped.

Neville, feeling his face burn up, felt like a complete idiot, sitting there not saying anything. It was rude.

"Why are you here?" Luna asked, still staring ahead at the wall.

Somehow finding his voice, Neville spoke.

"I'm uh...I'm uh...just here visiting someone...or well there's two of 'em actually..."

"Ah, that sounds lovely."

"W-what about you?" asked Neville, hoping he didn't seem any ruder.

"I was just about to leave and then I caught a glimpse of someone I was sure I was familiar with. Indeed a good friend. I am glad it was you."

"Oh, well t-thanks...I guess," replied Neville awkwardly.

"My father and I were here visiting an old friend of his, Gordy Beckett, ever hear of him? He used to work with my father on the Quibbler, quite a well known wizard in our parts. He was permanently damaged in a duel last week. He is still all there though, if you know what I mean. He is just a little confused about some things, like for instance, when Daddy and I first walked in, he referred to us as Mr. and Mrs. Bojambles and started going on and on about tap dancing woly-wogs and singing narple-nits...but I suppose it could be worse."

Neville finally turned to Luna and forced a tiny smile. "Uh-huh..." he mumbled not really knowing what else to say.

Now he was expecting Luna to ask him who he was here visiting, so he held his breath, braced himself and waited for it.

"Are you here with anyone?" she asked simply.

"Oh, no, it's just me..." he replied, quite relieved that she hadn't asked the dreaded question yet. As much as he liked Luna, Neville was kind of hoping she'd leave before she had a chance to question him further.

"This is only my third time here," Luna began, "the first time I do not remember very well, all I remember is a nice old witch giving me this huge lollipop that was bigger than me!" Luna was now laughing hysterically but she continued on. "The second time I had to come here was after my mother had her accident...she died you know. I saw the whole thing." Suddenly she had stopped laughing, although a faint smile on her lips did not cease to fade.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." replied Neville.

"It is alright. I still do not understand why everyone here looks so depressed all the time. I think they need clowns here to cheer everyone up. Things are only depressing if you make them that way..."

Neville couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Luna not realize where she was? Did she accidentally stroll into the wrong building? This was St. Mungo's! How many visitors are going to be walking around with big goofy, grins on their faces? How many visitors are going to be happy? St. Mungo's most certainly wasn't the happiest place on earth, well maybe unless you were a Dementor, but Neville said nothing.

"You do look just like every other person I have seen here Neville. So how long have you been here? Do you like sitting like this?"

"Uhhh, well you see, I was just errr-waiting...for the right moment."

"So I will wait with you then! I am sure we will find the right moment."

"Errr, won't your dad wonder where you are?"

"No. I told him to go on without me. I told him I saw someone."

"Oh."

And then for the next five minutes they sat in silence.

"Ecnelis Srepeeks," Luna whispered dreamily.

"Eh-excuse me?" Neville replied, turning to look at Luna with his eyebrows raised high.

"Ecnelis Srepeeks..." she repeated, "whenever a strong silence becomes of two people that is how you know they are present...they really are magnificent little things. Their job is to consume the silence as fast as they can so that the slow moments in life fly by faster. They are these tiny, yellow blob creatures with hot pink hair. Of course you can not see them now though. You can only see them with your eyes closed...but if you do not believe in them you will not see them. I see them all the time."

Neville sat there staring at Luna, completely dumbfounded.

Luna turned to him and at the sight of his face she began to giggle.

Neville couldn't help but feel a little silly. He could now feel a slight tugging motion playing at his lips. It was as if two invisible fairies were each trying desperately to lift the corners of his mouth into a smile, but he tried so hard not to let it show.

Luna let out a wistful sigh.

"I think we are getting closer."

"What?" asked Neville.

"To finding the right time."

"Oh, right," replied Neville feeling another blush coming on. "It's just...I've been trying to figure out...I've been waiting here for my parents-"

"Are your parents meeting you here Neville?" Luna interrupted him, unable to contain her excitement.

"Oh, no...I'm actually here to visit my parents..."

"Oh how exciting! I should love to meet your parents Neville!" Luna burst out.

"Errr...I uhhh...don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why?" Luna asked starkly.

'Oh please don't make me say it...'

"Well," Neville began slowly, "because I'm not even sure if they are up to having visitors...I don't even know if they are up to seeing me...I don't want to overwhelm them with a stranger, no offence or anything."

"Oh, none taken, but I would love to meet the people who created you. I am sure the right moment will tell us what is best."

Neville, suddenly feeling very bashful, blushed yet again.

"Well, Luna,errr it's not exactly what you think...it's not that easy..."

"Do tell." Luna prodded.

"You see...Luna, my parents are not...well they're not normal..."

Luna let out a rather loud, hearty laugh, followed by a sharp snort.

"Since when is anyone normal?"

"No, but Luna...you don't understand...my parents are...well they're, they're insane..."

'There, you said it!'

"Oh?" Luna replied quietly with her pale eyebrows raised high, practically disappearing into her hairline.

"Yeah, you see...my parents, they were Aurors...and they ended up being t-t-tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange and the rest of her filthy Death Eater followers..."

"Tortured..." Luna echoed.

"Yes...with the Cruciatus curse."

"Oh Neville, I am so sorry..."

"You'd think it'd get easier...at least my Gran seems to think it should be getting easier for me to...to see them in the state that they're in...but it never does."

"I would still really like to meet your parents Neville."

"But Luna, they're insane...literally insane...they can't communicate, they aren't aware of their surroundings...they can't even take care of themselves..."

"But that has not stopped you from visiting them before has it?"

"Well, but that's different you see...I had my Gran with me all those other times and well, she just knows how to deal with them better than I do and plus we were never really expecting anything..."

"I see...well how about I go in with you?"

"No...I just- I don't think I'm going to be able to- to do this...today...I just, I can't..."

"Alright then, I will go in for you," replied Luna hurriedly before Neville even had a proper chance to react. In the blink of an eye Luna pushed herself up onto her feet, opened up the door and walked right into room number 466, the permanent residence of Frank and Alice Longbottom.

Neville jumped up and reached for the doorknob, but suddenly he froze and found that he couldn't move. He stood planted in front of the door, unable to maneuver his body into motion or his brain into thought. So he just stood and watched through the little window patch as Luna Lovegood approached his parents.

******

"Hello," Luna called out cheerfully as she approached Alice, who was still sitting on her bed, content and thoroughly entertained by her Drooble's gum wrappers. Alice did not look up at the sound of Luna's voice, but this did not stop Luna Lovegood. Luna sat down near the end of Alice's bed but as she did Alice immediately gathered up her Drooble's wrappers, cradled them close to her chest, got up and tottered over to Frank's bed and plopped down near the end. So Luna got up and sat herself down next to Alice.

"My name is Luna Lovegood and it is a great honor to meet you both."

Alice still did not respond, instead she was immensely focused on seeing how high she could stack her Drooble's wrappers. Frank did not respond either. He was lying ever so still, his wide, vacant eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

"Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, would you like to know about Airohpue gubs?"

Alice now began softly humming to herself as she continued piling up her Droobles wrappers, paying absolutely no mind to Luna. She was going on about her business as if Luna wasn't even there. Once again, this did not stop Luna Lovegood.

"Well, the reason I bring up Airohpue gubs is because I can sense them in this very room. They are an exceptionally rare phenomenon, which is partly why I find them so fascinating. I begged my father to let me report my knowledge of them in a spread of the Quibbler; he is the editor you know. Airohpue gubs sort of resemble ladybirds, only they are a lot bigger, about this big," Luna stopped talking so she could demonstrate to Frank and Alice just how big they actually were, "they come in all sorts of different colors, every color you could ever imagine. Some are even rainbow colored. They travel all over the world together in these enormous groups. Their purpose is to bring joy and excitement to those who need it most. They only settle in high places though." Luna stopped to observe Neville's parents for a few moments.

"This feels just right," Luna breathed. "Do you see them, Mr. Longbottom? Do you see the Airohpue gubs?"

Suddenly Alice stopped playing around with her Drooble's wrappers and looked Luna straight in the eye.

"I am very much in love with your son. I think he is fantastic. I wish you could both know him...he is here actually, just outside the door," Luna replied pensively, as she gently motioned with her head towards the door. "There is no doubt in my mind that you will both someday be able to live your lives outside of these walls."

Alice continued to stare at Luna, her oversized eyes blank.

"One of these days...I am going to ask your son to marry me, unless of course he asks me first..." she stated broodingly, as if this were a well-known fact.

Alice looked away and unexpectedly burst into a fit of mad giggling. Luna was beaming, and she soon joined Alice in her giggling.

"I feel as if I have known you both before now. This is exactly how I want it to stay," Luna declared happily, turning her eyes to Frank.

"Well, I think I am going to go now. I promise I will come back, and then I will tell you about Suzsu Minglehoppers. Neville will be here too."

Luna, grinning from ear to ear, slowly stood up and took a step back from the bed.

"Before I go I want you to have something of mine to remember me by..." And with that Luna carefully lifted her bottle cap necklace off of her head and tenderly placed it around Alice's neck. It was actually quite pretty for a necklace made of bottle caps, the caps varied in all kinds of sizes, shapes and many bright colors- Luna had even placed a charm on the necklace so that it sparkled. "Do not worry Mr. Longbottom, I have not forgotten you." Luna walked over to the other side of the bed and pulled out a new copy of the Quibbler from the pocket of her jumbo-sized jacket. She opened it up and tore out what appeared to be a large poster of the moon and the stars. She got back up on the bed, stood up and stuck the poster to the ceiling with gum she had been chewing all day.

"There," she said. "Now you can dream and wish upon the stars anytime you want."

Luna jumped down off the bed and began walking towards the door. The moment her hand touched the doorknob she felt something tug at her skirt. Luna turned around to find herself face to face with Alice. Alice gestured frantically for Luna to hold out her hand, and when Luna did Alice placed a Drooble's bubble gum wrapper in her open palm and then wandered off.

******

Neville could not believe what he had just witnessed. He still felt frozen in place. He fought desperately to swallow the lump that was now forming in his throat. He continued to watch through the little window patch as his mother wandered off after handing the wrapper to Luna.

Seconds later the door opened and Luna stepped out looking rather pleased.

"Oh Neville! Did you see? I think they like me!"

Neville did not say a word, he couldn't. He was still fighting the lump in his throat. His eyes were now planted on a large crack in the wall. He was trying to focus on something, anything but what he was feeling right now.

"Neville...? What is the matter?"

Neville opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"You are wrong about your parents Neville..." Luna began softly, her pale blue eyes narrowed and sparkling mysteriously, "they are not insane..."

Now it wasn't just the lump in his throat Neville had to try and fight, but something different, something much larger that he couldn't explain. An overwhelming sense of loss was washing over him...unknown feelings, or rather repressed feelings which he had tried to ignore for all of these years were beginning to rise to the surface. He could feel the surface starting to break. There was nowhere to hide.

"...and even if they were...it would not matter," Luna firmly finished.

Neville turned the other way, away from Luna. He felt his lips begin to quiver.

"You like to hide your feelings," Luna stated matter-of-factly, walking around to face Neville.

Neville sighed and stared down at his ugly shoes.

"Hiding your feelings will not change the fact that you are feeling...hiding will not make the pain go away...it will only take you further away from the truth."

"Luna..." Neville whispered, because he knew if he tried to speak, his voice would break.

"Yes Neville?"

"T-t-thank you..."

"What for?"

"For b-b-being so nice to m-my...parents..."

Luna's face broke into an open grin and she slightly tilted her head.

"Why do you say that? You could not hear what I was saying to them..."

"Well, I know, b-but I watched you. You were so p-patient and g-good with them. I mean m-most p-people don't know how to act around them...m-most people almost act as if- if they are s-scared or weirded out...you know because my parents are...well because of their condition..."

Luna straightened up her posture and took one large step towards Neville. Her pale, lively blue eyes were now burning into Neville's dim brown ones. When Luna Lovegood looked at you like she was looking at Neville now, it was as if she was seeing right through you, seeing right into your very soul.

Neville immediately felt the coldness around his body being lifted and at long last vanquished by the warmth and pureness of Luna's intense gaze.

Luna held her power and began to speak.

"How could I ever feel anything other than happy towards the two beautiful people who brought you into this world?"

Neville did not drop his eyes from Luna's. Instead he stood there in front of her and reached for her hand. Luna gave his hand a tight squeeze and began to tug him back up the corridor. They walked together in silence.

When they finally reached the main desk, Belinda Dooley looked up at the odd pair thoughtfully and without a word placed a quill in front of them to sign out with. Neville grabbed the quill and scribbled his name in the sign out column.

Belinda eyed Luna curtly after she did not sign out.

"Dear," Belinda began; with a rather cool delivery yet somehow managing to force a phony smile- which she apparently thought looked convincing. "It is required that all visitors sign in and out during visits."

"Oh, but I already have signed out earlier. You must have missed it. I have to go now Neville. I will see you tomorrow." With that Luna gave Neville a soft peck on the cheek and left.

Neville was feeling all sorts of different emotions at the moment and now there was confusion to add.

'I'll see you tomorrow?'

Neville grabbed the sign-in sheet to take a closer look. Luna Lovegood's signature appeared under the sign-in column for the whole upcoming week. It was at this moment that a single tear slid down Neville's cheek; and it was on this day, that Neville Longbottom had begun to see himself, his parents and Luna Lovegood in a new light.