Harry Potter 1. The Start of the End

Neville stared at his own reflection in the mirror, practicing his words over and over, carefully making sure that they were phrased perfectly and articulately. He didn't want to make a fool of himself tonight. "Luna, I've been looking for you my whole life. You complete me even when I don't expect you to. You are smart, ambitious, comforting, and beautiful. I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. I love you. So Luna Lovegood… Will you marry me?"

He breathed deeply in and out, wondering if his little speech would be enough.

There was a soft knock on the door and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His hand hovered over the doorknob for a second before he finally pulled it open, greeting Luna with a customary kiss. "Hello," he said, hoping very much that his voice wasn't shaking from nerves.

"Where are we off to tonight?" Luna asked, comfortable standing in the doorway where as a normal person would have expected to be asked inside.

"W-Well, I thought a picnic might be nice," Neville said, indicating a small basket he'd set next to the door.

Luna picked it up, humming cheerfully as he closed the door behind him, following her into the hall. His apartment was located close to the Ministry because the Auror office wasn't considerate about the hours they called you in to work, and Neville had felt guilty waking up Gran at all hours of the morning to traipse in and out of the house.

"Where are we picnicking?" Luna asked, prancing down the stairs gracefully as he followed her like a ghost, pale complexion included.

"I thought around Hogwarts, you know," Neville stammered. "It's our one year anniversary and it's where it all started, isn't it?"

Luna stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to stare at him. "You remembered."

"Of course I did," Neville spurted with dignity. "It was a very important day. How could I forget?"

Seeming very pleased with his answer, Luna grabbed his hand and spun, taking them both to the outskirts of the small village of Hogsmeade. "To Hogwarts, then?"

Neville had cleared their picnic with Hagrid earlier in the week, making sure that although the school had been out of session for a week, it'd be okay if two former students wandered the grounds for a few hours.

He held her hand as they walked up the path to the school, finding the wrought iron gates open for them. "He's always on top of things, Hagrid is," Luna commented as they entered the grounds, finding a nice patch of grass by a tree beside the lake to spread the cloth Neville had packed. They sat down, Neville pulling out the odds and ends he had put in the basket, and Luna staring dreamily toward the lake as though she hoped the Giant Squid might join them for dinner.

"How has your week been?" Neville asked as he continued with his busy work, pulling out two small meals.

"Oh, it's been fine," Luna said, turning her attention back toward him. "Daddy offered me a special job for The Quibbler, and I think it's going to be very exciting if I accept."

Neville handed her a sandwich and a bottle of pumpkin juice as he asked, "What sort of job?"

Luna took a bite of her sandwich and wiped her hands delicately on her robes before responding. "Well, he's getting a bit older now, and Daddy can't do some of the research that he used to. On-field sort of stuff, you know?"

Neville nodded in understanding, "So you'll be doing research then?"

"Well, sort of," Luna continued cautiously, picking over her words as though they were part of the meal. "I'd be traveling the world finding the sort of creatures that Daddy finds worthy of reporting about in the magazine."

Neville had to swallow a large bite of sandwich before blurting out, "Luna, that's fantastic! Why haven't you accepted it yet?"

Luna set down her food and sighed. "Well, I need to talk to you about that, Neville. Because if I accept, I won't be around much. It'll be hard to keep up correspondence with anyone, much less a relationship. I just—I can't accept Daddy's job because it would mean losing you," she said quietly, meeting his eyes when the normal person would have made sure to look away.

"Oh," Neville said, his fists clenching by his sides in shock. What Luna wanted more than anything in the world was to find these creatures, especially if it meant helping her father. How could he possibly ask her not to go? If he truly loved her, which he was sure he did, he would let her live her dreams.

"Neville?" Luna asked with concern, watching his face grow dangerously paler than it had already been.

"Well then, you'll just have to lose me, won't you?" he said as though it were the obvious choice, choking back tears so she wouldn't see how upset he was. "You can't pass up an opportunity like this, Luna. I won't let you."

"That's very kind of you, Neville," Luna observed, torn between gratitude that he was making her decision easier, and being hurt for the very same reason. Her response had been far too polite and far too unemotional, but for the first time ever, Luna didn't know what else to say. Should she fight him and sound clingy, or should she respect his decision and understand that he had offered it to her for all the right reasons? Breaking the tension that had fallen, Luna made a grab for her container of pudding that he'd set out.

"No!" Neville shouted, lunging toward her and snatching the pudding back from her. "Take this one," he said, thrusting his own at her. She took it slowly in confusion. "I just want the chocolate one," he said lamely, staring at the small cup of pudding in his hands. The real reason was that there was a diamond ring encased in a bubble charm inside the chocolate pudding, but she would never know that.

This was her one opportunity to live her dreams, and Neville wasn't going to be the one who stood in her way. There would likely be a wrench in their relationship years down the road when she realized that anyway. No, he would let her go, and he would do his best to be happy about it.

She opened the vanilla pudding and took a bite, this time avoiding meeting his eyes. "Neville, you're upset," she observed, watching as he stirred his pudding without eating a single bite. Really he was swirling the ring around, watching it with sad eyes, but of course, to her it just looked like he was pouting.

"I'm happy for you, Luna," he said earnestly, trying his hardest to make it true. "You are finally going to find proof of all the creatures that everyone has been laughing about for years, and that'll show them all," he muttered, harshly stabbing his spoon into his pudding, breaking the bubble charm and losing the ring inside the gooey mess. He threw the container back into the basket and folded his arms over his knees. If anyone understood proving the world wrong, it was him.

"Happy one-year anniversary, Neville," Luna whispered, licking the last of her pudding off of her spoon and leaning against him to stare out at the water. "Thank you," she said, still unsure how she felt about his quick decision to let her go, but deciding it was likely for the best. Together they watched the sun set over the lake, bringing the end of a blissful together.

* * *

><p><em>AN: This was short and sweet, and I think I like it that way. Luna is hard to write as, yet very easy to over-detail, so I like keeping her stories crisp and neat. However, if you really liked this little blurb, the next chapter is more of a sequel than another chapter. It's kind of like a "10 years later" type deal. I hope you enjoy it! _

_-Ashley_


	2. The End

**10 Years Later**

Paper after paper, word after word, the ink became blurred as Professor Neville Longbottom skimmed every essay that his fifth years had written about the usefulness of the Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Suddenly there was a small knock on the door. "Come in," he called without raising his head, adding a large "E" to the essay in front of him. As he slid it to the side and removed his reading glasses, he looked up at his guest.

"_Luna_?" he asked in disbelief, standing up quickly, almost knocking his chair over behind him.

"Hello, Neville," she said cheerfully, not waiting for him to properly welcome her before sitting down in one of the chairs across from his desk. "You look well. I see you're a Professor now. It's not what I would have seen you becoming, but I'm sure you're doing fine."

Luna was always honest, even when it sounded ruder than she'd intended. Neville was happy to note that even the ten years that had passed since he'd last seen her hadn't changed her in the slightest. In fact, besides the increased laugh lines around her eyes, she hardly looked a day older than the last time they'd met.

Meanwhile, he had gained several gray hairs, however dignified around his temples (mostly courtesy of Gran's illness) and a receding hairline. "H-how are you?" he finally stammered, sitting back down to quiet his shaking knees.

"Oh, I'm well," Luna said, staring at him rather intently. "I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop by. I went to the Ministry first, but they told me you switched jobs six years ago. Have I really been gone that long?"

Neville opened his mouth and then closed it again. He began to wring his hands, a nasty habit he had only recently developed. "Luna, you've been gone for over ten years," he said softly, not sure how she couldn't possibly have known that.

"Oh." She said it as though it were an interesting fact that she had just learned and found quite fascinating.

"H-have you found anything?" Neville asked, knowing that she'd been gone to research Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and other interesting creatures.

"No," Luna sighed as though it wasn't disappointing in the slightest. "But I'm sure if I go back, something interesting will turn up soon."

"_If _?"

"Well, I thought since I was here, maybe I'd find something that could convince me to stay…" Luna hadn't taken her eyes off of him even though he was pointedly avoiding her gaze. He knew what she meant, and he hated that he knew it.

"Luna, you've been gone for _ten years_…"

"Neville, I know that being a Professor is probably a lot of stress on your mind and might cause you to forget things sometimes, but I think you should know that you've already told me that."

"I know," he urged softly. "What I'm trying to say is, a lot has happened in ten years."

"Generally that's the case," she reasoned, still not getting his point. Or, if she was, she was doing a good job of being vague about it.

Neville remembered that the last time he'd seen her had been the night he meant to propose, but she had left to go do work for The Quibbler. She had left him behind. Even ten years of time and distance hadn't made him stop loving her, but he had also moved on.

"Luna," he said softly, resisting the urge to lean across his desk and take her hands, which were now folded gently on the surface in front of her. "Luna, you're wonderful, and—and I wish I could give you the reason to stay that you're looking for, but you see—Luna, I'm married now." He held up his left hand, gesturing to his thin, golden wedding band.

To anyone who didn't know her, Luna would have appeared un-phased by this bit of information, but Neville knew her well enough to catch a bit of the light leaving her eyes. There was a pregnant pause where she simply stared at the ring as thought mesmerized.

"Congratulations, Neville," she said finally said, quietly but earnestly, and it ripped into his chest. How could she be so calm? "I'm happy for you. Well, at least I'm happy for you as long as you're happy, which I'm assuming you are?"

"Quite," Neville said, staring at the top of his desk as though attempting to memorize the patterns in the oak.

"Oh, that's good. Unhappy marriages are always so sad." She moved from staring at him to staring around the room at the many plants that resided on the shelves throughout. Neville, for the first time that day, stared directly at her, boring into her with the hopes that he would understand what she was thinking. He never could, and it drove him mad.

"Luna, how are you being so calm about this?" Neville demanded to know, raising his voice significantly as he got to his feet again.

"Calm about what? You getting married?"

"YES ABOUT ME GETTING MARRIED! LUNA, WE WERE DATING, AND THEN YOU LEFT, AND YOU CAME HERE EXPECTING SOMETHING FROM ME AND I'M BLODDY MARRIED! HOW AREN'T YOU ANGRY?" His face was flushed and his knuckles white as they gripped the edge of his desk tightly.

Luna seemed serene although he was towering over her, shouting in her face. "Neville, are you asking me to be upset that I've been gone for ten years and you had the audacity to move on? Or would you rather I were upset because you didn't invite me to your wedding?"

Neville couldn't do anything except blink. She was right. In all honesty, she had no reason to be upset. None at all. He sat back down, wringing his hands again. The mood had shifted instantly as only Luna had the capability of doing. He found himself sitting in silence with her again, and while the lack of talking didn't seem to bother her in the slightest, it drove him mad.

"Why did you go?" he whispered, almost too quietly for her to hear.

"I went because you told me to," Luna answered honestly. She remembered how she felt when she first told him about the business deal her father had posed and how he had urged her to accept with almost no hesitation. She had felt heartbroken, like he hadn't wanted her at all. "I wanted to stay—with you. You told me to go. I didn't want to stay for someone who didn't want me."

Neville's heart almost shattered in his chest. After all this time, and he thought he'd been being noble by honoring her dreams, but really he'd ruined what chances they had had for a life together. "Luna, I'd planned on proposing to you that night."

He hadn't told her, and quite honestly, he hadn't been planning to. It was a secret he'd wanted to take to the grave.

Luna's eyes widened a little, but all other forms of shock were absent. "You had?" Her lip began to tremble slightly. "Well why didn't you, Neville Longbottom? Why did you send me away instead? Did you change your mind?" She was practically shouting now- or as close to shouting as Luna could manage- and he felt that he deserved it. If he were her, he'd be breaking all the items in the room and threatening terrible things.

"No!" Neville said quickly, comfortingly. "I mean, well, yes, I did. But I didn't change my mind because I didn't want to marry you, Luna. I changed it because I didn't want to be the reason you stayed behind."

The two of them sat together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Before either could continue the conversation, there was another knock at the door. This person didn't wait for any response from Neville before pulling it open and striding in.

"Neville, are you coming home for dinner tonight? Because I was thinking of making those little cabbage things you like—" Hannah Longbottom suddenly paused, looking from Luna and Neville. "What is she doing here?" she asked, not hiding the condescension in her tone. All Hannah really knew of Luna outside of school and the DA was that Neville had dated her, and that it had gotten fairly serious. To see Luna sitting here in her husband's office was more than a little unnerving.

"Hannah, I trust you remember Luna?" Neville stammered, looking from woman to woman with boyish fear on his face.

Luna turned slightly in her seat to get a good look at Hannah. Hannah's strawberry blonde hair had once been long, but was now cut short, framing her face. Otherwise, she looked practically the same as she had during school, so it was very easy for Luna to recognize her. "Hello," she chimed sweetly, obviously not picking up on the irritated look on Hannah's face, nor her crossed arms or drumming fingers.

"Luna—Hannah is my wife now."

She stared at Luna with narrowed eyes and then back to Neville who shook his head as his way of telling her that this was definitely an unplanned visit.

"That's very nice," Luna said softly. "It's good that the DA members are still united." Her voice had lost its usual luster, but she was doing a very good job of being polite.

"Luna stopped by to say hello. She's on a vacation from work and was in the neighborhood. Isn't that nice, dear?" Neville asked Hannah, who softened her posture and nodded a little. "Whatever you make for dinner will be fine with me," Neville added.

"Hannah runs the Leaky Cauldron now," he added to Luna. "There's always great food for dinner. It's almost like being at Hogwarts for meals."

"Did you learn to cook while at school? The Hufflepuff common room is near the kitchens, isn't it?" Luna asked curiously, glancing up at Hannah despite the tension in the room.

"I learned from my mother," Hannah said, politely answering the question, but not offering any more than that. "It's nice to see that you're well, Luna. But if you'll excuse me, I'd like a word with my _husband_ alone now."

Luna might not have been one for proper social protocol, but she knew that it was time to leave. She had intruded on enough. "It was nice talking to you again, Neville."

Neville made a move like he wanted to go around the desk and give her a hug goodbye, but one look from Hannah stopped him in his tracks. His wife wasn't cruel by any means, but her one soft spot was jealousy, and the only jealousy she had was for Luna. He hadn't ever expected to see her again, so it hadn't been an issue until today.

Neville was a smart man, however, and knew that anything more than a moderately friendly goodbye and he might not be getting any dinner that night after all. "Goodbye, Luna," he said softly. "I'm glad you stopped by."

She stood up and made her way to the door, pausing for just a moment to add, "For the record, I wish you'd just asked me instead." With that, she vanished from sight, and Neville wasn't sure if he'd ever see her again.

He knew what she meant, and it broke his heart. Her vague statement did, however, leave Hannah clueless, which he supposed was for the best. He loved Hannah, but Luna would always be his first love, the one he would never forget. "I do, too," he whispered so quietly that he almost couldn't hear it himself.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, in my head, this is what transpired between Neville and Luna. Let me know if you agree or disagree! And if you're left feeling sorry for Luna, you should go read my very short one-shot entitled When Luna Met Rolf and it might make you feel a little better for her. Cheers!_

_-Ashley_


End file.

Harry Potter, Hurt-Comfort, Romance