Challenge 57: Fic: Real Beauty
Title: Real Beauty
Rating/Warnings: General, G
Characters/Pairing: Neville, Luna.
Summary: Neville and Luna have a discussion about what beauty is and other odd and profound things.
Word Count: 617
Author's Notes: This is kind of weird and I'm iffy about it, but I fufilled the prompt and time period, so I guess it counts.
Registered purchases?: are registered
Song Prompt: Shimmer, by Fuel
“Don’t make fun!” she says, attempting to control her dreary voice into something more confident. “I’m not done.”
“It’s beautiful, Luna,” says Neville. “Seriously, the magic is amazing.”
“Really?” she smiles, taken seriously for the first time in a long while. With a flourish of her wand, three pink butterflies shoot out of it. They fly up and up, circling around each other before bursting into gold glitter that rains down on them. “It’s just magic,” she shrugs. “You know.”
“So? I can’t even get a simple potion right,” he consoles her.
“But there’s no market for beauty.”
“Why not? A spell that makes beauty is the same a glamour charm, isn’t it?” Neville asks.
“But those spells work on people. They give them something tangible, something they can see in the mirror.”
“So give them something they can use. I bet Madam Puddifoot could use a spell like that on Saint Valentines. You’ve got amazing talent; you should get something from it.” Neville stops to think,” What use is art other than sitting on someone’s walls. What you have it art, too.”
“I don’t do it to get something. I do it because it’s beautiful. Am I the only one who appreciates beauty around here?” Luna asks him. “At least art, paintings, sculptures, even music is tangible on a record, and once it is created it doesn’t fade.”
“No,” he says, blushes as he stares at her. She’s crazy as she is beautiful. He appreciates her. “But dance isn’t. Dancers work had and long and once you see it, you enjoy the beauty of it, but you can’t take it with you.”
Absently, she twirls her wand again, making pink butterflies zig zag around the room. They move faster and faster, before they turn golden and explode into a pouf of glitter in Neville’s face. She laughs innocently. “So what can I do with that?”
“You have great control with the butterflies,” he says, avoiding the question.
“Yes, but they aren’t real. Nothing here is but you and I, here and now.”
“So?” Neville asks densely.
“Will we ever be again?”
“What?”
“Real. Like this. Real people having a real conversation with no holds barred. Half the people here aren’t real. They have their own agenda, they play by their own rules and they bend and change depending on what they want. It’s all a game, don’t you know that?”
“You play it very well, then. Do you want people to think you’re crazy, or is that just a mask?”
“Don’t be cruel,” she says, dipping her head down at the insult. “I don’t care what people think. And once you get over that nothing matters but you and the people you care about, the people you trust. And the people I trust don’t think I’m crazy. They accept me as I am, and I do the same. I thought you did too, but I guess I was wrong.”
Luna turns to leave, but Neville grabs her shoulder. “I’m just, intimidated by you, I guess. I’m sorry. You’re so confident about everything.”
“Everything except my magic.”
“You’re crazy,” Neville says, but sees that he’s once again insulted her. “Not like that. Your magic is great.”
“So? It’s pretty? It’s not helpful, useful in some way, is it? It’s not going to solve a disease or be a new ingredient in an important potion. Butterflies and glitter won’t create world peace, defeat Voldemort, or even get me an E on the charms project. It has to be useful.”
“So make it useful.”
“You can’t solve everything, you know.”
“I know, but I want to help.”
“Some things are beyond help,” Luna giggles in her sing song voice.
Kat//Hufflepuff
Rating/Warnings: General, G
Characters/Pairing: Neville, Luna.
Summary: Neville and Luna have a discussion about what beauty is and other odd and profound things.
Word Count: 617
Author's Notes: This is kind of weird and I'm iffy about it, but I fufilled the prompt and time period, so I guess it counts.
Registered purchases?: are registered
Song Prompt: Shimmer, by Fuel
“Don’t make fun!” she says, attempting to control her dreary voice into something more confident. “I’m not done.”
“It’s beautiful, Luna,” says Neville. “Seriously, the magic is amazing.”
“Really?” she smiles, taken seriously for the first time in a long while. With a flourish of her wand, three pink butterflies shoot out of it. They fly up and up, circling around each other before bursting into gold glitter that rains down on them. “It’s just magic,” she shrugs. “You know.”
“So? I can’t even get a simple potion right,” he consoles her.
“But there’s no market for beauty.”
“Why not? A spell that makes beauty is the same a glamour charm, isn’t it?” Neville asks.
“But those spells work on people. They give them something tangible, something they can see in the mirror.”
“So give them something they can use. I bet Madam Puddifoot could use a spell like that on Saint Valentines. You’ve got amazing talent; you should get something from it.” Neville stops to think,” What use is art other than sitting on someone’s walls. What you have it art, too.”
“I don’t do it to get something. I do it because it’s beautiful. Am I the only one who appreciates beauty around here?” Luna asks him. “At least art, paintings, sculptures, even music is tangible on a record, and once it is created it doesn’t fade.”
“No,” he says, blushes as he stares at her. She’s crazy as she is beautiful. He appreciates her. “But dance isn’t. Dancers work had and long and once you see it, you enjoy the beauty of it, but you can’t take it with you.”
Absently, she twirls her wand again, making pink butterflies zig zag around the room. They move faster and faster, before they turn golden and explode into a pouf of glitter in Neville’s face. She laughs innocently. “So what can I do with that?”
“You have great control with the butterflies,” he says, avoiding the question.
“Yes, but they aren’t real. Nothing here is but you and I, here and now.”
“So?” Neville asks densely.
“Will we ever be again?”
“What?”
“Real. Like this. Real people having a real conversation with no holds barred. Half the people here aren’t real. They have their own agenda, they play by their own rules and they bend and change depending on what they want. It’s all a game, don’t you know that?”
“You play it very well, then. Do you want people to think you’re crazy, or is that just a mask?”
“Don’t be cruel,” she says, dipping her head down at the insult. “I don’t care what people think. And once you get over that nothing matters but you and the people you care about, the people you trust. And the people I trust don’t think I’m crazy. They accept me as I am, and I do the same. I thought you did too, but I guess I was wrong.”
Luna turns to leave, but Neville grabs her shoulder. “I’m just, intimidated by you, I guess. I’m sorry. You’re so confident about everything.”
“Everything except my magic.”
“You’re crazy,” Neville says, but sees that he’s once again insulted her. “Not like that. Your magic is great.”
“So? It’s pretty? It’s not helpful, useful in some way, is it? It’s not going to solve a disease or be a new ingredient in an important potion. Butterflies and glitter won’t create world peace, defeat Voldemort, or even get me an E on the charms project. It has to be useful.”
“So make it useful.”
“You can’t solve everything, you know.”
“I know, but I want to help.”
“Some things are beyond help,” Luna giggles in her sing song voice.
Kat//Hufflepuff