How many times had he been here? Neville asked himself once again. He could no longer count the amount of times he had tried to tell Luna how he felt. He'd known it almost since the moment he met her. Most people thought she was weird, but people often thought that about him too. Unlike him, though, she didn't seem to care. No one seemed to have more confidence than the petite blonde girl he was staring at. She had possibly the kindest personality in the world. She appreciated every person, or animal, for who, or what, they were. This, of course made things difficult for Neville.

She was always so sweet to him. She smiled whenever she saw him and greeted him in a loud and friendly way. She would even listen to him talk about herbology whenever he wanted. She would sit and look up at him with her wide, sparkly, blue eyes with what Neville wanted to believe was admiration, but he wasn't sure. She was really nice with everyone, so how was he supposed to know if she liked him!? He didn't believe he was good enough for her. A girl as unique as her deserved someone much more special, but he just couldn't get her out of his mind.

He had tried to tell her how he felt so many more times, but never ended up doing so. Originally it was just because Luna would get really excited about something and not give him time to talk (he loved the way she ranted) or they were interrupted, but after failing to tell her several times he ended up just believing that it was not meant to be. He would decide there was no way she could see him as more than a friend and their friendship would be ruined and not tell her. A few days later he would decide to man up and tell her, but again chicken out.

This cycle had been repeating for months, and, with only one month left in the school year, Neville was going crazy. He decided it was time to ask for help. He decided to talk to Harry and Hermione for help. He knew Ron would be no help, as he was clearly in love with Hermione and he was doing worse than Neville with it. He trusted Harry, and he had just gotten together with Ginny, so he clearly new what he was doing, and he thought it would be helpful to have Hermione there, so he could have a girl's opinion.

He expected them to be surprised when he told them, but they burst out laughing, which really annoyed Neville. Through gritted teeth he said, "It's not funny! Why are you laughing?" Hermione stopped laughing when she saw how upset he was. She put her hand on his arm and responded, sympathetically, "I know I'm sorry, it's just that it was kind of obvious. We know you're crazy about her." Neville was astounded, "Does she know?" he asked. Harry answered, "No. I think she's the only person who doesn't. She seems totally clueless, but that's just how she is. She's so stuck in her own head she never really sees what's going on around her."

Neville felt both relieved and scared, "Please tell me what to do!" he pleaded. Hermione laughed for a second and quickly stopped, "Just tell her how you feel," she told him, "I can't be certain, but I think there's a good chance she feels the same way." Neville then looked at Harry and asked, "What do you think? Should I?" Harry laughed and said, "Hermione's the smart one. I'd listen to her if I were you." Neville forced a smile and thanked them.

This leads us to right now. Neville stared at Luna, waiting for her to walk his way, so he could approach her. He brewed himself a tea with some of Madame Pomfrey's plants that was supposed to help with confidence, but it didn't seem to be working. He knew it was time though. She started walking his way with a smile on her face. Not because she saw him, but because of whatever she was thinking of, but when she saw him her smile grew wider. He was ready. He knew it was time. Finally he was going to tell her how he felt.