Sweep
Title: Sweep
Author: kerrymdb
Prompts:October and hail
Rating: G
Genre: Romance
Summary: After being caught in a hailstorm, Neville and Luna discover that more than flowers can blossom in a greenhouse...
Sweep
Neville Longbottom sat back on his heels and looked at the vegetable garden in front of him. Hagrid had requested that Neville take a look at his vegetables, or more specifically, the pumpkins, which he thought might be infected with Root Rot. When Neville had tried to explain that he worked best with plants and flowers, not vegetables, Hagrid simply patted him hard on the back and asked when he could come to his cabin to investigate.
The sound of laughing easily distracted him for a moment. Near the Forbidden Forest, Neville could see that the sixth year Care of Magical Creatures class was ending. Student were rushing away from Hagrid's latest creature and heading towards the castle.
Except for one student.
Luna Lovegood was walking slowly, her arms stretched out, as if she was walking on a tightrope that only she could see. Neville found himself smiling at the look of fierce concentration on her face.
Only when she passed Hagrid's cabin and saw Neville kneeling in the garden, did she stop. "Hallo, Neville Longbottom," she said quietly.
Neville nodded in greeting. "What were you doing?" he asked good-naturedly. "Whatever it was, it looked like your life depended on it."
"In a manner of speaking." Luna blew some air past her lips. "I thought I might have had Horklump's Disease. But I don't."
Neville's brow furrowed. "How do you know?" he asked, ignoring the obvious question of what exactly Horklump's Disease was.
"Because I didn't lose my balance," Luna said simply. "If I had lost my balance, I would have gone straight to Madam Pomfrey."
"Is it life threatening?"
Nodding gravely, Luna said, "Yes."
Neville smiled. "Then I'm really glad that you don't have it."
"So I am," Luna told him. She stretched out her arms again, this time closing her eyes. "You have to be able to walk in a straight line for one hundred paces."
Her eyes still closed, Luna took one step, and then started another. Neville tried to shout and stop her from stepping any further, but her foot landed right on top of one of his gardening tools. Her ankle twisted, eyes opening instantly, but Luna wasn't able to stop herself from falling to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Neville asked, moving to her side instantly.
Luna leaned back on her hands and nodded, a dreamy expression crossing her face. "I've always wanted to be swept off my feet," she said with a slight sigh. Picking up his weeding tool, she added, "Though I didn't think it would be by inanimate object."
Neville breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she was alright. "It apologizes," he grinned.
"When I was little, I used to think that you needed a broom to be swept off your feet," Luna smiled. Then shaking her head, added, "But I thought a lot of silly things when I was a child."
They shared a smile, sitting side by side. Neville let his mind linger briefly at how pretty - though certainly unconventional - her eyes were.
Luna stared back, but after a moment her attention switched from him to Hagrid's garden. "What are you doing? I thought you didn't like working with vegetables."
"It's not my favorite," Neville agreed, poking a bit of dirt with his wand. "But I promised Hagrid I would. He provides a lot of fertilizer for the greenhouses. It's a fair trade."
"Then why isn't Professor Sprout helping?" Luna asked.
"I didn't feel like studying this afternoon, so I said I would take care of it," Neville admitted. He looked up at the sky, where several threatening storm clouds had gathered. "And until just a few minutes ago, it was really nice out."
"Can I help anyhow?" Luna asked. "I don't want to go inside yet."
"You'll miss dinner," Neville pointed out.
"So will you."
"I was just planning on grabbing something from the kitchens later," Neville said. He looked at her eager face and added, "You can join me if you'd like."
"I'd like that," Luna said, kneeling down next to him. She looked down at her uniform and laughed. "I'm glad I chose to wear trousers today."
For almost an hour, Neville and Luna worked side by side. He showed her how to find the infection. She searched and if she found an infected vegetable, Neville cured it.
Just when Neville was sure they had cured all of the vegetables, a loud thunder clap could be heard. The sky broke open, but it wasn't rain that started to fall, but hail. Large hail that stung Neville's entire body as it hit him.
"We better get back to the castle," Neville said, standing up. He performed a quick Shielding Charm on the vegetable garden, wanting to protect it from the worst of the storm.
They both started jogging back towards the castle. The hail was relentless. Neville was almost certain that he would end up with a few bruises from this.
As they were closing in on the castle, Neville heard a thud, followed by a soft whimper. He looked behind him and saw Luna on the ground, holding her head, with a piece of hail the size of a Snitch lying next to her.
Without thinking, Neville grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Can you walk?" Neville asked, not letting go of her hand, in case she was woozy. Even with the storm and the cold weather around him, Luna's hand felt surprisingly warm in his.
Luna nodded, and they ran the rest of the way to the castle. Once inside, Neville reluctantly dropped Luna's hand when he saw that she was still holding her head. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I think I should sit down," Luna said softly.
They were near the greenhouses so Neville took Luna's hand again and they went inside the closest one. Luna sat on a stool and removed her hand from her head. There was a small amount of blood trickling from a cut on her forehead.
"You should go to the Hospital Wing," Neville told her, looking at the cut. "Madam Pomfrey can clean you right up."
"I'll be fine," Luna smiled, bringing her legs up and sitting Indian-style on the stool.
"Can I clean the cut at least?" Neville asked.
"If you'd like."
"I'd like," Neville said with a grin. He walked over to one of the workstations and pulled out a First Aid kit. This kit was like an old friend. Far too many times had he needed it when he became overconfident while handling one of the many dangerous plants in the greenhouses.
Taking out a cleansing pad, Neville stepped in front of her, suddenly very aware of how close they were. Her eyes closed and Neville breathed in, thinking that she smelled like raspberries.
Her eyes opened instantly once the pad touched her skin. Wincing, she grabbed his waist with both hands to keep still.
"Does it sting?" Neville asked apologetically.
"Not too much," Luna replied quietly. Her eyes - which had been focused on his - briefly glanced towards his lips.
With a start, he realised that Luna was hoping that he would kiss her. He briefly looked into her eyes, checking to see if there was any sign of a concussion.
There wasn't.
His mind wandered a bit as he cleaned the small amount of blood and dirt from the wound, enjoying the feel of her small hands on his hips. Neville had kissed girls before. Ginny kissed him after the Yule Ball and he and Hannah Abbott had kissed a few times last year, before her mother was killed, ending their brief, week long relationship.
He rather liked kissing, limited as his experience was. But he never thought about kissing Luna until this very moment. As much as Neville liked her as a friend - and he really did - she was still Luna Lovegood. A person even more picked on and teased than he was. If they started going out, the mocking would be endless.
His eyes locked with hers, and Neville felt a warm sensation in his stomach. He then realised that he there was nothing more he would like to do at this very moment than kiss Luna Lovegood. Maybe that was one reason why he was placed in Gryffindor.
Before Neville could listen to the doubts in the back of his mind, he cupped her face with his hands and leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. He felt her tighten the grip on his waist and took that as an invitation to press his lips against hers a bit more urgently.
After quite an enjoyable kiss, Neville pulled away and looked at her uncertainly. What if he had mistaken the expression on her face? True, she hadn't pushed him away, but what if she was just being polite?
They were still so close. He decided that he would let her make the next move. His breath hitched as she grabbed the front of his cardigan and pulled him in for another kiss.
Neville pressed against her, momentarily forgetting that she was sitting cross legged on a stool that had had no back. Luckily it was rather a low stool, as Neville wasn't quite quick enough to keep her from tumbling to the ground with a thud.
"Luna!" he cried, kneeling down next to her. "Are you alright?"
He wasn't quite sure what to expect. Maybe she'd be mad, maybe she'd never want to kiss him again. And after kissing her just once, Neville knew that would be the worst thing that could happen.
What he didn't expect was Luna to burst out laughing with a huge smile on her face. "You swept me off my feet!" she said, covering her hand over her mouth, as if she was worried that she was smiling too wide.
Neville blushed - he couldn't help it - remembering her earlier declarations outside. Luna looked up at him expectantly. Still slightly red in the face, Neville held out his hand and helped her up.
Never had he thought himself the type that could rush in and sweep a woman off of her feet. Men who did that were dashing and handsome. Everything that Neville didn't consider himself to be.
But, Neville realised with a start, as Luna's arms wrapped around his waist and he lowered his head for another kiss, Luna looked at him as if he were just that type of man. Somehow, without even trying, he had managed to become exactly that.
And he didn't even need a broom.