Luna Lovegood runs desperately through the halls of the Department of Mysteries. After the stand-off with the Death Eaters had descended into chaos, she and her friends have split in six different directions. She hears crashes and shouts around her, but simply focuses on getting back to them, back to the door.
Suddenly, along one length of corridor, a black mass rises up in front of her out of nowhere. A Death Eater, still masked, who promptly punches her in the nose so that her head reels back and she crumples to the floor.
Luna reacts fast. "Levicorpus!"
The Death Eater is blasted away into the darkness above her. Luna smiles to herself, though it looks perverted with the red stain of blood quickly filling her own mouth. She keeps going.
It isn't long before she encounters another Death Eater. But before he can wave his wand, a male's voice yells out, "Petrificus Totalus!"
The Death Eater - maskless - goes rigid and collapses to the floor, lying still, to reveal a shaken Neville Longbottom behind him. Moved and grateful, Luna slides close, stands on her tiptoes and gently kisses Neville on the lips.
"Well done, Neville." And taking his hand in hers, they run to find the others.
It is the wee hours of the morning when the Six are escorted, stumbling from hurt and fatigue, back into Hogwarts Castle. Though some in the group are worse off than others. The main Trio - Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger - look half-dead, and with wounds more serious, are promptly ordered to the Hospital Wing. Ginny Weasley looks like she wants to follow, her eyes not leaving the boy with the lightning scar, at least until she catches Neville's eye. Almost like she is asking him for permission. Neville shakes his head.
"Go to bed, Gin," he tells her quietly. "You'll go crazy if you don't, and we likely won't know anything new until tomorrow."
The redhead reluctantly obeys. Neville will follow her to the Gryffindor Common Room, but first he wants to drop Luna off at Ravenclaw Tower.
"Are you all right?" Neville asks her yet again, as they climb the stairs to the fifth floor.
"I'm fine," Luna murmurs simply. "Thank you for saving me."
She does not mention the kiss they shared, and Neville waits, anxious. He has never been very good with girls. He only managed to go the Yule Ball with a date last year because Ginny was so desperate to go. Hermione had turned him down gently before that, but she had had a pretty good reason to in Viktor Krum. That moment in the Ministry with Luna had been his first kiss.
All at once, the stairway they are on swings into motion. The staircases like to change in Hogwarts, and often do. Neville and Luna are thrown off-balance, and when the staircase finally comes to a halt, Luna is thrown against the banister. Neville's form pinned to her, his hands going instinctively to her waist, is all that prevents her from going over.
Luna's hands have found purchase on his chest, and for the first time since he has known her, her eyes appear wide and anxious, gazing into his. Before she can react, Neville finds the Gryffindor courage within him - he knows not where; dipping his head, he kisses Luna firmly on the mouth.
She gasps in surprise into his kiss, whimpers a little even, and her lips part so that his tongue slides effortlessly inside before he can stop it. He tastes the coppery rust, tangy and sharp and by now dry, of blood on her teeth. A punch must have been thrown at some point, or maybe slight Sectumsempra, during the battle. Neville tries to lick the blood away, but it has congealed too much. And anyway, it doesn't matter, as he feels Luna's tongue twine about his, exploring his mouth. Her delicate fingernails dig into his cardigan sweater, fisting the fabric until her knuckles turn white. "Hmmmm..." A groan of pleasure vibrates from Luna into his mouth, tickling him. He feels her kiss him back.
It is lost on them how long they stand there, pinned against the banister and openly kissing, but at long last, Neville and Luna break apart.
"Go out with me." The words tumble breathlessly from Luna's flushed and very kissed lips, the tone assertive in a way that is new for her, and that Neville decides he likes. Very much. "Fancy a picnic by the Black Lake? Tomorrow?"
Neville slowly smiles, a flake of Luna's dried blood upturning along the corner of his mouth. "I'd like that."
Neville and Luna start the next morning by visiting their friends in the Hospital Wing. Ginny has beaten them there, staking out a chair in between Harry's sickbed and that of her brother. When the Golden Trio notice the picnic basket and Neville guiltily explains what it is for, he and Luna are promptly shooed away, even as Ron pouts at not having a taste of the basket's contents for breakfast. Hermione's scolding voice is all that stays him, but not before he calls to Neville, "Save me a drumstick, mate?"
"Sure," Neville grins.
The sun is shining on a beautiful spring day, flakes of golden light glistening over the waters of the Black Lake. Buckbeak the Hippogriff is drinking his fill on the grassy knoll bordering the shoreline, as Luna - her yellow sundress billowing out around her knees - kneels on the blanket Neville shyly spreads out. Spying Buckbeak, Neville suddenly develops a mad desire to impress her as he gazes at her unloading the picnic basket. He proceeds to catch Buckbeak unawares and actually manages to get on the creature's back, hanging on as the mighty beast bucks. He should have remembered watching Harry in Hagrid's lessons, but his well-intentioned arrogance blinded him. And hearing Luna's trilling laughter behind him is all worth it.
At least until Buckbeak upends him into the grassy knoll before lumbering away. Neville lands hard, but not too hard, and makes a show of struggling to get up and failing.
He can hear the rustle of Luna's skirts as she runs to him; through his lashes and the blades of grass, he can see concern and fear in her eyes. "Neville?"
She reaches him and turns him over... to find Neville laughing uproariously. Gawking in amused offense, Luna tries to slap his chest, but he catches her hand, pulling her down with shrieks with glee. The pair roll around in the grass, down a slight slope, laughing, coming to rest with Luna straddling Neville's hips in a very compromising position. Neither take notice of this, however, as Neville shifts to the side and pulls Luna to her feet.
All at once, their breathing becomes ragged. Luna's hands have somehow come to rest on Neville's biceps, her face is quite close. Neville watches as her eyes grow heavy, as she is drawn nearer. Bending, he closes what little distance is left between them, and captures her lips with his in a soft, sensual, lingering kiss. Luna's eyes flutter closed and she winds herself about Neville as she kisses him back. It feels beyond wonderful, snogging Luna.
Luna finally, reluctantly draws away, mumbling something about the Nargles destroying the food if they don't eat. She and Neville return to their picnic blanket hand-in-hand, a new understanding silently passing between them. An acceptance.
They are more than just friends now. They are in love.