I bet you all thought I was dead. Wouldn't blame you, though. This is something I wrote for chasinglaughter's birthday, and it's my first fic in quite a while. It's also my first Neville/Luna fic (to be honest, I haven't read a single fic about them, but this was a request), so I hope you pardon any mistakes. Enjoy reading. :)

Oh, and as a warning, this is mainly bookverse except for the description of Scabior (the snatcher in the film that I've irrevocably fallen in love with).

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction, now would I?

Neville turned the page of his Herbology book, trying to remember which uses of dragon's blood were related to plants. He sighed and gave up, closing his book and putting it on the ground beside him. He enjoyed reading outside, but not as much as he used to, especially now that the Carrows have set a curfew for staying outside. He closed his eyes and felt the breeze gently caressing his face, wondering how his seventh year would have been without the war looming over their heads.

"What a lunatic," he heard someone say. His eyes snapped open and saw Pansy Parkinson sneering behind Luna's back, flanked on both sides by Daphne Greengrass and another Slytherin he didn't know.

"Hey, just leave her alone, alright?" He said, picking up his book and walking to them.

"What are you gonna do, Longbottom? Set your toad on us?" The two girls laughed at Pansy's remark, their high-pitched squeals irritating Neville's ears.

"Come on, Neville. Let's go look for some wrackspurts instead." Luna handed Neville a pair of spectrespecs and pulled him by his sleeve. The short boy followed willingly, but turned around one more time to see Daphne Greengrass holding up what looked like a radish earring.

Peering at Luna's ears, he saw that her left ear was bare. Taking out his wand with the arm Luna wasn't holding on to, he made her stop walking before casting "Accio earrings!"

The radish earring flew from Daphne's hand to Neville's, followed by several other pairs from inside the castle. He dropped them on the ground, staring at Luna with a confused look on his face.

Pansy laughed some more, before heading into the castle chanting "Loony and Longbottom, sitting in a tree, S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G!"

"Just ignore her. Come on, we can leave the other earrings here." Luna picked up her own and started skipping ahead of Neville. She put on her spectrespecs and he followed suit, both amused and unnerved by the rainbows he saw. That was when he noticed that her shoes were missing.

"Luna, why are you barefoot?" he asked her.

She just shrugged and said, "My shoes go missing all the time. They're probably in the Astronomy Tower or the kitchens or maybe even in the Slytherin Common Room. I dont't really care."

He conjured a temporary pair of slippers for her and she smiled at him.

He realized he liked seeing her smile.

He was one of the last to get on the Hogwarts Express because Mrs. Sprout said she had to talk to him about one of the plants he was growing in the greenhouse.

"You have to bring these home, do you understand? I can't take care of them over the holidays, but someone has to!"

Sighing, he walked to the very back of the train, pot of dirigible plums in hand. He opened the door to the last compartment and wasn't surprised to see Luna and Ginny Weaseley already inside.

"Hello, do you mind if I join you?" he asked, already stepping inside.

"Sure thing," Ginny said, moving over to Luna's side to make space for Neville. He shut the compartment door and cast a silencing charm around them.

"Any news on Harry?"

Ginny shook her head no. "McGonagall told me the Sunday before last that Ron was at the Burrow again, but she said that no one from the Ministry knew yet. At least, that's what they hope."

"Father said that the Ministry can't be trusted anymore. He thinks that the new Minister might be a Death Eater. He said he was going to publish his theories on it in the next Quibbler issue. I'm more excited about his ancient runes article, though. I can't imagine him going more than a week without using them."

Ginny laughed at the thought, and Neville couldn't help but join in. He was laughing not because of Luna's story, but beacuse he hadn't had a good laugh in a long time and they all knew they needed it.

"By the way, Neville, what on earth are those orange plants you've got with you?" the redhead asked.

"Oh, these? They're dirigible plums. Sprout said I had to take 'em home for the holidays because no one else would tend to them."

"I absolutely love dirigible plums. We used to grow them at home, but we forgot to water them one year so they all died." Luna sighed at the thought and clutched her book closer to her chest.

"I can give you some, if you'd like."

"Really?" she asked him, smiling brightly. Oh, how he absolutely adored her smile.

Just then, the train lurched forward and abruptly stopped, flinging Luna onto Neville's lap. He stood her up by the elbow and helped Ginny up from the floor as well. He kept his hold on Luna and opened the sliding door to see what was wrong.

Heads were poking out from the different compartments in the last car, all curious to know what was going on. Neville was the first to step out into the hallway, followed by Terry Boot and Michael Corner, both with their wands out. Neville did the same, just as the door to the trolley was blasted open.

A man with unkempt hair walked inside, his wand pointed at the three students. Neville noticed that he was wearing plaid pants and a pinkish scarf, but he couldn't be too sure because it was caked with mud. The man strutted in and waved his hand, signalling for others to follow him in. Five or so men, in similarly unhygienic conditions, obeyed and entered the train car.

Snatchers, he thought.

"He's not here, you understand?" Neville said, obviously referring to Harry.

"Oh, Potter's no' the one we're afte'," the leader said, coming closer. "We want..." His eyes scanned the room, and Neville looked at his own compartment, wishing that Luna would be safe.

And Ginny, too. he added. The snatcher's eyes followed Neville's gaze, and his face lit up with dark satisfaction when he saw Luna.

"There you are, love. We've been lookin' fo' you. You're gonna have to come with us." He pointed his wand at the blonde, who was looking both curiously and frightenedly at the man. "Stupe-"

"PROTEGO!" Neville shouted, wand aimed at Luna. The stunning spell bounced off of the shield and hit the man square in the chest.

"Well, wha' are you lot waitin' for? Get 'im!" he screamed, pulling himself off from the floor. The train car erupted into a frenzy, with Gryffindors joining in the fray against the snatchers.

Neville heard a scream and saw Ginny on the floor, screaming in pain. He recognized the Cruciatus curse at once and stunned the caster. He helped Ginny up and looked for Luna while dodging spells left and right.

A flash of blue static ripped through the air and he looked up just in time to see Luna struggling against the lead snatcher's grip, her wand in his hand.

"Party's over, kiddies," he said, tightening his hold on Luna's neck. Neville lunged forward, hell bent on getting to them but it was too late. The snatcher - Luna in tow - had apparated away.

"Neville dear, are you sure you don't want me to stay home from the bridge meeting today?" came his grandmother's voice from outside his bedroom door.

"I'm fine, Gran. You go and play bridge with your friends." Footsteps echoed down the hallway before he heard the door open then slam shut. He got up from his bed and walked over to his desk, where his Hogwarts things were being kept. Dipping his quill in ink, he attempted to get started on the Charms outline he was assigned over the break, but Luna's kidnapping kept plaguing his thoughts. Frustrated, he threw his quill at the wall, followed by his crumpled parchment.

Why'd they have to take her? It's not like she was doing anything wrong!

He remembered the day at the Department of Mysteries when the they fought the Death Eaters. Surely it had nothing to do with that? He shook his head and sighed. He got on his knees and reached for a small box under his bed. Opening it gingerly, he looked at the mementos and souveniers that he'd been collecting over the years. The box was charmed to be bottomless so that it wouldn't run out of space for his good memories, including a magically preserved flower from his first full-grown plant, one of the paper hospital bracelets from when he first visited his parents at St. Mungo's, his Hogwarts acceptance letter, and other trinkets that were special for him. He took out one of the photos Colin Creevey gave him after a particularly fun session of Dumbledore's Army.

It was a group picture, and he was wedged between Luna and one of the Weasley twins; which one, he had no idea. The picture version of Harry laughed at something Ron had said, while Hermione was trying to cast a Patronus while still staring at the camera. Picture Luna looked at him - the real Neville - and smiled.

He put the photo back into the box and slammed the lid shut, closing his eyes. All he could see was her smile.

He remembered her smiling when Colin took that picture.

He remembered her smiling when she finally cast her Patronus.

He remembered her smiling as she recounted what happened at the Slug Club.

He remembered her smiling at Harry on the train home after Dumbledore died.

He remembered her smiling at him when they arrived at Hogwarts together at the start of the year.

He remembered her smiling at him when they passed each other in the corridor between classes.

He remembered her smiling sadly when something reminded her of the war.

He remembered her smiling when he returned her earring to her.

He remembered her smiling at his offer of the dirigible plums.

He remembered her smiling. At him.

He knocked on the door while reading the plaques attached to it.

THE QUIBBLER. EDITOR: X. LOVEGOOD

PICK YOUR OWN MISTLETOE.

He stepped back as the door opened to reveal Xenophilius Lovegood, wearing a soiled robe and hastily wiping away the tears from his eyes.

"Wh- who might you be?" he asked him.

"I'm Neville Longbottom, sir. Luna's friend."

"Oh, well she- she's not here, see. Do come again another time." He tried to close the door but Neville's foot blocked the way.

"Please, sir, I'll only take up a moment of your time." He picked up the pot from the floor and handed it to the older man. "Dirigible plums. Luna said you might like them."

"I- thank you, boy. We haven't had these since her mother- well, thank you anyway." Neville thought the man was about to cry.

"Don't worry, sir. She'll be back, I know she will be."

Xenophilius gave him a small smile before shutting the door.

He remembered Luna's smile.

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