Love in the Darkness

Neville, Luna, and Dark Arts Class in Seventh Year. Can love overcome pain?

With so few of them this year, all the Seventh Years had been placed in the same classes at the same times. Amycus Carrow was once again trying to teach them all how to use what seemed to be his favorite subject: Unforgivable Curses. Of course he would never be satisfied just showing them the curses. No, he wanted the students to practice them on one another.

"Be careful!" Amycus shouted. "If anyone dies it'll be an extra night o' hanging upside down by your ankles!" Then he turned, winked at Vincent Crabbe, and propped his feet upon his desk with a malicious grin.

Neville turned to see a pair of silvery gray orbs peering at him from behind a wall of white-blonde hair. With a smile and a nod, he and Luna partnered up just like usual.

Both set to their normal task of causing mayhem and doing anything but what was supposed to be done. Neville and Luna had found early on in the school year that their favorite thing to do was mutter derivatives of each curse and see what the outcome was. Neville lazily pointed his wand at a flower pot on Luna's left and muttered, "Crucinia!" The flowers immediately turned blue. He heard her tinkling laugh and she pointed her wand to the open window. "Emperor," she said. Suddenly, a six-inch tall man with no clothes appeared on the windowsill. He scampered around trying to cover himself up until he slipped and was no longer seen. A small, shrill screaming sound could be heard and then a tiny thud reached their ears.

Neville gulped and turned back to Luna, who still had an unfazed smile on her face.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I think he might have been part nargle," Luna answered in a lost, dreamy voice.

A hand suddenly came down on the desk between the two. Neville looked up into the soulless, black eyes of Amycus Carrow.

"Perhaps you would like to demonstrate for the class, Mr. Longbottom," Carrow sneered, "the correct usage o' the Cruciatus Curse on your partner."

Neville's throat tightened. "No," he answered.

"No?" Carrow echoed. "Well then I suppose I'll just have to do it myself." With a sharp turn he leveled his wand at Luna and yelled, "Crucio!"

Neville watched in horror as Luna fell to the ground screaming and writhing with pain. He had sudden visions of his parents in Luna's place, Bellatrix Lestrange standing over them and cackling madly. His eyesight grew fuzzy and a fire seemed to have lit itself in his heart. Neville peered up into the smug face of Amycus Carrow and lunged—

-only to be pulled back by a strong set of hands. Seamus Finnigan had caught him and stopped his attack on Carrow. Neville squirmed and tried to break free, but Seamus kept his hold.

"Neville, stop it! He'll kill you!" Seamus grunted against a struggling Neville. "Focus on Luna! She needs your help."

Neville glanced down at an unconscious Luna and gained control over himself once again. With one last hateful look at Carrow, Neville gathered Luna into his arms and hurried out the door.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey placed Luna into a bed and gave her a potion for the pain.

Neville sat in a chair by Luna's bedside until it got late enough that he decided he should leave. He stood up and gazed at Luna longingly. In a snap decision, he brushed his lips to her forehead and muttered, "I love you, Luna." He turned and walked out of the Hospital Wing.

"I love you too, Neville," replied a faint voice that didn't carry.

Luna fell back to sleep with dreams of one very special Neville Longbottom to restore her good health.

Not my best work, but I've always thought that Neville and Luna should have been together in the end, so I wrote this. Luna's spell was based on the story The Emperor's New Clothes. I remember it from when I was little, so I just decided that would be what happened then. Review if you have time, just please no flames. Some of my other stories are better than this one (in my opinion)