The Owlery

She could've been hinting at something, Neville thought later that night. Maybe she was trying to say that Luna does like me. Or maybe she doesn't.

Neville was laying on his bed, lights still on, unable to shake the goofy grin off of his face. After declaring his feelings out loud, they only seemed to have heightened. Even the possibility of Luna liking him back was amazing.

Harry and Ron walked into the room.

"What are you smirking about, Neville?" Ron asked, pulling him out of his serene trance.

"I think I know," Harry said, "Ginny told me."

"What? I thought she went to bed." Neville sat up in his bed.

"She forgot her homework in the common room."

"So what, it just came up during small talk?" Neville was nearly angry. Only a few minutes before, Ginny said not to worry about her telling anyone. He knew there was no point getting worked up about it, what's done is done. He told himself to calm down.

"I still don't know what we're talking about," said Ron.

Neville sighed. "You're going to find out later anyways. I like Luna."

Ron shrugged. "Not that big of a surprise. We figured it would've happened sooner or later."

"Who's "we"?" Neville asked. It seemed that everyone but himself was in on this. Was it really that obvious?

"Pretty much everyone who knows you two. I guess you guys just seem compatible," Ron said, "so when are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"I haven't even thought about that. I don't even know how I would. How do you ask someone out like Luna?"

Ron shrugged again. "Just ask her." The conversation faded, and soon after, they went to bed.

Neville spent the next week thinking about when he would ask Luna and how. He decided he wanted to do it the next time he got the chance to be alone with Luna; he would just wing it. He knew it would come out even more awful if it was scripted. And even with his knowledge, Neville still couldn't help going over how he would approach her during the moments he found himself alone. He was feeling slightly queasy at the thought of his fate lying in the hands of Luna Lovegood.

* * * * *

When Luna woke up a few days later, she was in standing position. She laughed, for it wasn't the first time. "I must have been sleepwalking again," she said to herself. She was thankful she remembered to put her shoes on the previous night. Her feet have become callused over the years due to lack of footwear during her midnight adventures.

Luna observed her surroundings. She quickly realized she was near the Great Hall. It didn't take long to get back to her dorm. When she arrived, Agnes was already awake, studying. Agnes wasn't surprised when Luna walked in, she knew of her nighttime wanderings.

To pass the time, Luna wrote in her journal. It was a light, baby-blue color, and was very worn from years of use. On the front she had written her name in curly cursive. She used it for school notes, but it also doubled as a diary. She wrote about thestrals, pudding, her experiences with nargles and wrackspurts, and more recently, Neville.

Luna looked at the clock when she was finished; she still had two hours before breakfast started. She thought about how she would use her time. She decided to write a letter to her dad because the last time she did was during the first week of school! So as quietly as she could, she set her journal on her bed and got out a piece of parchment. Luna didn't want to wake up her roommates.

Dear Daddy,

I'm sorry I haven't written to you for a while, I've been busy with schoolwork and other things. Thank you for sending me the Quibbler magazines, I have probably read the last edition at least three times cover to cover! I hope business is doing well.

How are you? I am doing well, I'm just anxious for Christmas break to come. I can't wait to see you. I miss you so much!

Love,

Luna

"I'm going to the owlery," Luna told Agnes in a whisper, just in case she cared. She nodded without taking her eyes off of her book. Luna got up from her seat and headed towards the owlery, but not before slipping some treats into her pocket.

Luna quite liked the owlery. Even when it hadn't been cleaned in a while and there were owl droppings and pellets everywhere.

Most of the owls were kind; they responded well to Luna's owl treats. Though there was one occasion when Luna left with some nasty scratches.

The walk there was quiet and peaceful. Luna always found that it was best to go early because nearly nobody was awake, so the owlery was usually empty.

But today was different. Today Neville just happened to be sending a letter to his gran as Luna stepped in, still in his pajamas.

"Hello, Neville."

Neville had not seen her come in, so he jumped when he heard Luna's voice.

"Oh it's j-just you, Luna. You scared me."

Luna and Neville haven't been alone together since the previous week in the forbidden forest. They said their polite hellos when they crossed paths, but they didn't have any real conversations.

"I haven't been able to write to Daddy lately, and I woke up early this morning."

"My gran gets annoyed w-when I don't respond quickly."

Luna didn't understand why Neville was stuttering so much, it seemed as if he was nervous.

"Are you alright, Neville? You seem tense. What's on your mind?" Luna walked further into the room. She reached into her pocket and got some treats out. She approached a cluster of owls and held her hand out. They gladly ate them. Then she turned to Neville, who was blushing madly.

Neville sighed. "I-I like this girl, and I don't know if she liked me back. I want to t-tell her, and possibly ask her out, but I'm afraid she'll reject me." He strapped his letter to an owl, and told it where to go. The snowy owl flapped its wings a few times before flying gracefully out of the tower.

"Would you like my opinion?"

"Uh, sure?"

"If this girl is at all respectable- and knowing you, she probably is- she would say yes. Anyone would be lucky to date you, at least I think so. Don't be so nervous"

Luna busied herself with the task of choosing an owl, knowing she'd break out into a blush if she made eye contact with him. Most of the birds were asleep, they were nocturnal creatures after all. She chose one of the few that remained awake, a brown and white-speckled tawny owl.

"Thanks, L-luna." Neville's owl had already left, so he stood awkwardly at the window, not knowing what do with himself.

"Bring this to my dad, please," Luna told the owl her address. The tawny owl flew out of the room.

The owlery wasn't the largest room, so at that point Luna and Neville were only a few feet apart.

"Have you finished your muggle book y-yet?" Neville asked, attempting at a normal conversation.

Luna smiled. "Yes, it was very interesting. I'm reading another one. It's called Pride and Prejudice. It's much harder to follow. It has a much more serious tone than Alice in Wonderland, but still wonderful all the same."

"S-sounds interesting."

Luna nodded. "I just realized that I forgot to give you your coat back the other day."

"I'm fine without it f-for now."

"If you want to feed the thestrals with me next time I go I could give it to you then."

Neville nodded quickly. "I should get going," He said, finally managing to get a sentence out without tripping over his words.

"I have to leave too." But instead of leaving, Luna sucked in a deep breathe and planted a soft kiss on Neville's cheek. It was over as soon as it had started, but that didn't stop Luna's stomach from doing backflips..

She turned around and exited the owlery before seeing Neville's reaction. Despite Luna's calm composure, she was screaming on the inside. It was such an un-Luna thing to do.

Luna was semi confident that the girl Neville was talking about was her. After her conversation with Ginny, she paid extra close attention to his behaviour when he was around her. It just added up.

She could still feel her heart hammering against her chest as she went to sleep that night. Or she tried to sleep. Thoughts swarmed her head and she couldn't make sense of any of it, so she ignored it all together.

Though the feeling in her stomach was new to her and strange, she found herself liking it.

I had a ton of fun writing this chapter, especially after such a suckish week at school. I was just so out of it and certain people were getting on my nerves, Im just glad to get away from it, if only for two days. Thanks to everyone who voted and commented on the previous chapter, I hope you do the same with this one! Special thanks to miss_inky19! This chapter was considerably shorter, but I thought that would be a good place to end it. A picture of Luna in the Owlery on the side :)