Chapter Text
Tired students slowly filed into the Great Hall, automatically separating themselves by house. A quiet murmur filled the air, the sound of students who had stayed up way too late complaining to each other about staying up way too late. A window opened silently and the room dimmed slightly as owls glided in, covering the enchanted candles. A newspaperr tied in a bright string landed right in front of Neville, jolting him awake. He unrolled the paper; his copy of the Quibbler had arrived.<\p>
Looking at it, he already regretted his decision. The newspaper proudly proclaimed "Belatrix Lestrange and Voldemort's Secret Love Child: Evil's Heir". He thought about chucking in the nearest bin or just burning it now, but the thought of disappointed Luna again kept it glued to his hands. He read the most sane sounding article "How to keep your family safe from the return of Voldemort". A few tips and tricks seemed more like superstition than actual advice, but Neville found himself actually interested in the section about defense spells for your home.
"Neville?" Hermonie's voice brought him back to reality. She looked concerned and a little confused. "Is that-? You know it's all just old wives tales and insanity, right?"
<\p>
Neville felt his cheeks warm. Hermonie was smart and tough and the idea that she thought he was insane was not a pleasant one. "Oh, it's just" He racked his brain for a reason why he would read this. Actually why was he reading this? "It's not the Quibbler. It's a Daily Prophet about the Quibbler. You know, satire stuff."
<\p>
Hermonie raised her eyebrows. "Right." She said shortly. Neville mentally kicked himself. Everyone else had around them had a copy of the real one, which has about how much of a failure Dumbledore was.
<\p>
She lowered her voice and spoke again. "Have you been hanging out with Loony-" She stopped and looked at him, his face suddenly a lot less anxious.
<\p>
"Maybe I have. We can't all spend our days petrifying our friends and sneaking out." Neville said, still scared of her, but now with an anger to balance it.
<\p>
"We were eleven, Neville" Her voice was calm. She sounded ready to lecture him.
<\p>
"Whatever. She's a lot more loyal a friend than you lot anyway." He got up, grabbed the Quibbler and walked away. Harry didn't have a monopoly on teenage angst after all.
<\p>
He thought about that loyalty as he walked. They hadn't known each other long enough for any true tests of character, but she had the thoughtfulness of a Hufflepuff. Surely that counted for something. As he passed the courtyard he saw Luna, tearing off pieces of her toast and throwing it in front of a barn owl. She was edging closer to it, holding more bread crumbs in her hand. The owl rustled it's feathers and squawked angrily at Luna. She tilted her head. "What happened to you?"
<\p>
Neville stepped forward. "Uh, Luna. I think that's just a non magic owl. Probably got mixed up the ones that came here for the mail." Luna's widened and she let out a soft "Oh" in her breathy voice.
She looked over at Neville to say something, but the sudden movement was all it needed to set it off. Neville ran up to her as she scrambled back. In a confused rush of adrenaline he grabbed the owl with his hands. The owl, now seriously frightened, clawed at his arms, causing him to drop it. Behind him, Luna quickly whipped out her wand and calmly cast a petrifying spell.
<\p>
The owl immediately went stuff. Neville looked at it, worried. "Should... should we take it somewhere? Will it be okay?"
Luna shook her head. "It shouldn't be like that for very long. But we should move inside before it does." She looked at his arms. "I can help you take care of that if you'd like."
<\p>
Neville nodded. He could just do it himself, but as family liked to remind him, he was hardly more than a squib. His attempts would probably make his wound worse. Luna gently look his hand to lead him somewhere inside the castle. Neville's eyes widened at the sight of her hand in his, and he felt his face redden. She talked as she walked, never stopping to look behind or make sure he was paying attention. "I have some healing herbs in my room. I read once that certain herbs can be used to lure forest sprites out into the open. It worked, but she was scared off as soon as she saw me."
<\p>
Neville snapped his head up and he must have made some sound of surprise because Luna looked back at him. "Surprised I would try to find something you consider real?"
<\p>
Neville stammered and panicked, looking for a good answer, but Luna just shrugged. "Most people are. I like Magizoology in general, but I wish people would stop denying the truth about it. Oh this is as far as I should probably take you. Please wait while I grab some of the healing herbs from my room."
<\p>
Neville waited on a stone bench while he waited for Luna. A few Ravenclaws side eyed him as they passed him on the way to their dormitory, gathering into a closer huddle, likely wondering what he was doing so close to the Ravenclaw tower. Neville waved awkwardly. After a few more minutes Luna came back, carrying a bowl with various herbs already crushed and mixed with some liquid to make a paste along with a roll of bandages. "Why can't one of us just cast a healing charm?" He asked her as she walked up to him.
<\p>
"Too much magic is bad for the body. If you constantly shift and change yourself, your body won't remember how it's supposed to work." She spread some of the paste his arms as she talked, but Neville kept his eyes on her face. Her voice had lost its carefree tone, but her face was calm and collected. With anyone else he just would have thought she was but that's just who she was. People may have called her crazy, but she was the most level minded person.
<\p>
Neville looked down at his arms. "Is that borage mixed with stinging nettles?" He asked.
<\p>
Luna looked mildly surprised, an expression he had never seen on her before. "It is. Are you into gardening?"
<\p>
She didn't sound judgemental, just curious, but still Neville was flustered. He didn't seem to ever not be flustered lately. "I mean its called herbology. I wouldn't call me a gardener. Although, I do like gardening with my grandma. Not that-" Neville rambled on his words running together, but stopped when he noticed Luna chuckling at his word vomit.
<\p>
"Sorry Neville" She said after a moment. "I hope I didn't offend you." She paused and then added. "Or your plants."
<\p>
Now it was Neville's turn to laugh. Her work done, she sat next to him. Sitting together on the bench they talked and laughed for a while. He was in the middle of telling her about the time he didn't realize that his Gran's snapdragons really snapped when the Ravenclaw head girl came up. "Luna." She said briskly. "It's nearly lights out and will not have you lose points for us again with your late night wanderings." She turned to Neville. "I'm not in charge of you, but you should head to bed as well."
<\p>
Neville looked at her for a moment. Apparently all the Head Boys and Girls were this strict and posh. He turned back to Luna. "Talk to you later, I guess?" She nodded and smiled and he turned to go.
<\p>
As he walked back to his dorm he heard the Head Girl call to him. "Later better mean tomorrow. Don't let me catch you out." He smiled to himself and wondered when later meant.