Drabblefic #3: Neville/Luna, "Coconut Shy"

[gilpins_tales]

Title: Coconut Shy
Genre: Friendship; General; Pre Romance (am trying to cover all bases here).
Ratings & Warnings: PG
Word Count: 1948
Summary: Luna seeks out Neville after the first ever meeting of Dumbeldore's Army with a somewhat unexpected proposition... Set during OotP.
Author's Note: For calyndra, who wanted Neville/Luna and the prompt palm tree.

Comments

[shimotsuki]

I'm glad I've finally had a chance to read this, even though it has taken a lot longer than I would have liked!

Characterization is always a real strength of yours and is one reason why I enjoy your stories so much. And this piece is no exception. Luna is absolutely positively perfect. In canon, from Harry's perspective, she comes across as vague and odd, unexpectedly perceptive about people, and willing to talk about topics that others avoid. You've tied all that together here, but now that we get to see what Luna is actually thinking, we see that she actually makes a lot more sense on the inside than on the outside! The fact that she understands why people sometimes do think she's odd (like Professor Sprout with the questions) also fits in perfectly, because it's the natural consequence of her turning her perceptiveness on herself.

Your Neville is wonderful, too; (as tegdoh says) I wanted to cheer to see Luna recognizing the beginnings of the Fierce Neville we are all going to see in DH. His mixture of shyness and determination is perfect. I was so glad to see him relax after his initial reaction when Luna mentioned his parents -- maybe it's actually a relief that someone is matter-of-fact about them. And I love his idea about the coconuts. It's preposterous, of course (although not more than Trelawney's crystal ball!), but I like the fact that it gives Neville a sense of purpose, and I'm glad he's thinking about what he can do to help.

(Also as others have noted, I wanted to cheer every time a fond reference to good old Professor Lupin came up, heh.)

[gilpin25]

I'm so glad you think Luna sounds right to you here - not having the books to hand (one day, my new bookshelves will come), and not knowing the lines these two utter half as well as some others I could mention, I did wonder if I was writing more my impression of them than as they really are in the books. I do imagine that Luna's thinking on the inside is a mixture of astute Ravenclaw sharpness and inquisitiveness, jumbled together with the fact that she leaps around from thought-to-thought and tends to say whichever one's foremost in her head at the time. She always seems a very poignant character to me, and I thought she'd probably be very aware that other people do find her strange - and understand the reasons why. (I always think of the scene where she meets Harry while looking for her belongings in OotP.)

As for Neville, I was thinking he'd be an appealing mix of charactersistics here, too. I thought that Luna's remark about his parents would be the breakthrough: that he'd brace himself for something very personal, but she'd mention them in the same matter-of-fact way she does her mother - and it's a bond between them. I couldn't think of anything very intelligent to do with the coconut prompt, but I hoped that wouldn't matter because, as you say, Neville is simply trying to find a sense of purpose for himself, and it's the kind of completely nutty thing Luna would go along with and be all for.

Thank you very much for reading, and all the kind words. Especially as I know you're probably leaping around like Luna right now. (But, obviously, making a lot more sense.;))