Unreplied Letters

Nix Wolfwood

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After six years at Hogwarts, Neville had given up trying to get people to notice him. He just was not good at it. He saw himself as a nothing, and knew that everyone else did as well. What good did he bring to the world? Besides Herbology, which nobody really cared about, Neville was bad at everything.

Everyday Neville would go to the common room and feel a pang of hurt when nobody would even look at him. He would go up to his room, grab a few books, and go to the library for some peace and quiet. At least that is what he would tell people when they asked, or more like, what he planned to tell them if they ever asked. In reality, he would just sit in the dark corner of the library and wonder why he was such a screw up.

What Neville did not realize is that someone did care. He knew she would send him a letter every day before he got to his bed asking him how his day went, plus a few different things depending on the letter. It was always on his bed when he went to get his books. However, he never really let the reality of it sink in. He just assumed that either she had nothing else to do or that Ginny had put her up to it.

Because Neville never gave them much thought, he never replied to even one of them. There was no point really, especially if he was correct on his assumptions about them. Besides, she probably did not even notice that he never replied anyway. Why should this particular letter be any different?

Sitting in the back of the library feeling sorry for himself, he did not even notice the presence approaching him. Nobody ever did, so it was quite a surprise when she sat down in the chair next to him.

It took him a little while to recognize who it was. When he did, he was even more surprised. He had hardly seen her all year, and besides the letters, had not conversed with her. Well, he never replied to those so even with them he never did.

"Luna?" He looked baffled at the wild-eyed girl sitting next to him, "Why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for my response." She smiled at him and her hand turned towards him, waiting.

"What?" Neville's eyes widened as he went agape.

"I would like my response to the letters that I've been writing you." She stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you serious?" Neville's confusion become more noticeable and he just stared at her. There was no way that she was actually here expecting a response. Nobody wanted to hear what he thought about, so why would she?

"Why would I not be?" She laughed at him as if he said the funniest joke in the world. "You, Neville Longbottom, are so funny."

"But," He stilled seemed very confused by everything, "I never wrote a response to any of the letters."

"You're not telling me you did not read my letters are you? Because, I worked hard on those for you and it would not be nice for you to have just thrown them away." Luna tilted her head to the side, waiting for his response.

Getting defensive, he loudly said, "No, I would have never even thought about throwing your letters away." Actually, I have them all here with me. I just, well, I never though you would want a response to them. To be quite honest, I didn't think you really cared."

"Why would I send you one every day if I didn't care, that just does not make any since." She snorted, believing this all to be a joke of some sort.

"I'm sorry that I never responded to your letters, I really am." Neville stated quite sincerely. "I would have replied to every single one of them if I only knew."

"But you know now, don't you?" Luna smiled at him, pushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. "So, you can respond right now?"

"You want me to write you a letter right now," Neville scratched his head in bewilderment. He was not sure if he understood the fifth year Ravenclaw sitting next to him so he asked, "With you sitting right next to me?"

"Well, you can if you want." She laughed at him again. He tended to do that to her. Even though she had not seen him much this year, every day she would write him the letters it would make her happy. She would think about Neville and she would laugh, thinking about how he would react if she were in front of him telling him those things, instead of a whole castle apart writing them. "But I was just expecting you to tell me."

"What I thought of the letters?" He questioned, not wanting to make a fool of himself, "Is that what you want?"

"I want whatever you want to tell me, Neville Longbottom, but don't you dare make it short. I expect a long response since I've sent you more than fifty letters in total." She smiled even more, scooting her chair closer to him and leaning again her hands.

"Well, I suppose I liked them. I had never given much thought to them though, because I didn't think you meant anything by them." Neville's face flushed slightly at that statement and he stuttered trying to correct it, "I didn't mean that you would mean anything by it, I just meant that…"

"It's okay," She scooted even close to him without him noticing, "Don't worry so much Neville Longbottom. Just talk. I'll listen to what you say."

"Okay," he calmed down and collected his breath, letting the blush fade from his face. "I did enjoy your letters Luna. But, I just always assumed that you were writing them because you felt sorry for me. If I had known that you really cared, I would have written back to you."

There was a slight pause before Luna broke the silence. "Don't worry about it. I know that you weren't ignoring me. I would never believe that you would ever do anything like that. A Marshwiggle would laugh before you would ever intentionally hurt someone."

"Do you really believe that?" He smiled, never hearing a compliment like that before. Particularly the Marshwiggle bit, but he knew she meant well by it all. Luna may be a wee bit loopy, but she would never say something she did not truly believe, and he knew that.

"Of course I do." She grinned devilishly and moved another strand of hair from her face that had broken free of her braid. "But I wish you would take more notice of things, Neville Longbottom. Why don't you tell me what thoughts are in your head? I would like to know more about you."

"You want to know about me?" Neville stared at her in disbelief. "Why would you want to do that?"

Again, Luna laughed at him. "You are so funny, Neville Longbottom. Why wouldn't I want to know more about you? You're so interesting, and I can never tell what you're thinking. If you told me, I would know. That is why you should tell me."

"Oh." He stared at her, for that was all he could do. She had a way with being very blunt and to the point about things. "I don't know why I should talk about."

"Whatever you want to, that's why I'm here. I want you to talk so I can listen to you." She tilted her head and smiled sincerely. "You have a very nice voice."

"Thank you." He blushed, still at a loss for words.

"How about I ask you questions, and you answer them for me." Luna grinned, playing with her radish earrings that Neville always found so interesting.

"I have an idea," Neville spoke up, suddenly getting courage from her strange wardrobe. "We should just take turns asking and answering questions; for I too have many things I would like to know about you."

"Brilliant!" Luna beamed at him, surprised by his sudden valor.

Neville blushed, but before he lost his nerve he said, "I'll go first." He took a couple of deep breaths and began. "Why do you wear radishes on your ears and how do you keep them from shriveling?"

"Simple," she remarked, "I wear them because they match my robes and they don't shrivel because I use a spell to counter such an effect."

"What spell do you use?" He questioned her, forgetting the game they were playing.

"Technically you went out of turn, but I'll answer anyway." She grabbed her wand from behind her ear while taking one of her earrings out. "It's Prohibe currugas."

"Oh." Neville stared astonished at her charms ability. It was far superior to his knowledge on charms. He, in his amazement he reached down for the radish earring, not realizing that Luna was doing the same. Their fingers touched, sending a wave of energy through Neville that he never expected, and ended up turning into a slight blush on his face.

"Now it's my turn you ask you a question." She declared, not attempting to move her hand away from his.

Neville, on the other hand, was far too stunned even to know what to do. There were feelings pulsing through his body that he did not even know existed prior to that moment. One part of him thought that he should move his hand so that Luna did not think he was an idiot, but the other part of him wanted to keep it there for all of eternity. He did not even notice that she was speaking, although he knew her mouth was moving.

"What are you thinking about right now, Neville Longbottom?" She asked him, knowing that he was not really paying attention to what she was saying. Because of this, she was shocked that he actually answered her.

"Your hand." Was all he said, without even realizing that he had said that. His thoughts were still on the small amount of her skin he was in contact with at that time.

"Why are you thinking about my hand?" Luna asked him, thinking it would be fair since he had asked her two questions before.

"Because of the feeling it is giving me." With that, he realized he was talking and again he suddenly felt very embarrassed. His voice dropped down to a whisper when he finished with, "I just don't understand it."

Their eyes locked for a while before Luna broke the silence. "It's your turn to ask a question."

He looked away from her and asked, "Should I move my hand?"

"No. I like your hand there. It also gives me a feeling." She took that opportunity slowly interlocking her fingers with his, until their whole hands were together. "Do you want me to move my hand?"

Neville shook his head, searching his head for some reason why he was feeling this way. Why was it that he was not about to even think clearly? He blushed upon realizing how close she had moved to him, giving him another reaction that was different from usual. He was just happy that was a very forgetful person and had forgotten to take off his robe after class.

Trying to get his mind into focus, he asked her, "What feeling does it give you?"

"It gives me a happy feeling." She smiled at him, bringing their linked hands closer to her. "Just thinking about you gives me a happy feeling. That's why I write you, Neville Longbottom. You give me a feeling that is new to me. It makes me want to go into the Forbidden Forest and dance with the pixies. It makes my body feel tingly, and I want nothing more than to be close to you. Holding your hand like this, I know that every dream I've had with you was right."

Neville stared at her, letting every single word sink in. He never thought that anyone would have such thoughts of him, least of all her. She was so carefree, so amazing. He was so dull and cowardly. What did he have to offer her? What could he say to her to respond to such words that she was speaking to him? His words alone were not worthy of her ears.

"Can you do something for me? If you do, it will make up for every letter that you have not responded to yet." She smiled at him; bring their hands up to her mouth and barely touching his with her lips.

He could not even open his mouth to reply to her. Nothing would come out. Her lips, they were touching his skin. He could hardly control himself. Actually, he could not control himself.

Without another thought, he bent down and placed his lips on hers. Instantly, both of their eyes shut and her mouth opened. Having never kissed a girl in his life, he had no idea what he was doing, but he did not want to stop what he was doing. It felt so good. His tongue slightly reached out of his mouth, meeting hers. It caused a sensation in Neville much more powerful than earlier.

Upon breaking apart, he noticed that his hands had moved without him noticing. The one, which had been previously in hers, had become wrapped in her hair, and the other one was securely around her waist.

Before everything had sunk into Neville's head, Luna grinned from ear to ear saying, "You might not have replied to any of my letters, but you replied to my question before I even asked it."

He smiled back at her, suddenly not nervous anymore. Using the hand wrapped around her waist, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her once more.

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A/N: How did you like the first chapter? Was it too abrupt or was it fine? Should I leave it here, or should I add a rated 'M' chapter for the next bit? I would really like to know how I could improve my writing, so please respond. As the good book says, "Harsh correction is better than the songs of a fool." (Ecclesiastes 7:5) So, please do not leave flames, unless you are going to tell me why you hated it or praise, unless you are going to tell me why you liked it. My writing is important to me, and I need all the help I can get.