Sharing Time

Neville raced through the hallways. It'd always been a personal rule of his that he wouldn't use the Sword of Gryffindor in the corridors where someone could get hurt, but with everyone at dinner, he took a chance and used it and his rope to expedite his journey. Even with several stretches of corridor where his feet didn't touch the ground, he pushed himself harder. He had to reach Luna before she left Umbridge's office. If he didn't, he didn't know when he'd see her again. Knowing her, seeing how shaken up she'd been about Hermione, and whatever it was that had started bothering her between then and now, she'd withdraw in on herself, and he didn't know what she'd do. He'd already lost one friend; he wasn't going to lose another.

Toad?

Rose?

Did you ever think she might not be there? That she might be hiding somewhere?

She's there. I know she is.

How?

Umbridge is gone too. If Luna's anywhere, she's with Umbridge.

What if Moon already left, and Umbridge is with another student?

No, she's with Moon. I know it.

Again: how?

I just do!

No, you don't. You're getting emotional. Wanna know what happened last time I got emotional?

Leave the lecturing to Alavel, he's better at it.

Internal Rose didn't say anything, but he could feel her sticking her tongue out at him. As much as he admired Rose for having the confidence to do her own thing, it bothered him sometimes when she acted too much like a child.

Neville's speed carried him past Umbridge's office, but he tumbled and used the sword to slow himself down. When he returned to the door, he found it closed. Neville sat down in front of it, taking a minute to catch his breath.

Then he waited.

The minutes dragged on, each one more unbearable than the last. Every few minutes, Neville got up and started pacing. Students passed by, but most avoided Umbridge's office like they avoided Snape's. None of them wanted to have the misfortune to be caught by one of them and dragged into an impromptu meeting. It worked better for Neville; fewer people to talk to him. He wanted nothing to do with anyone apart from Luna.

Neville checked his watch again. It was nearly curfew, and there was still no sign of anyone coming out. It didn't matter; he planned to wait as long as necessary.

"Ms. Blake said I'd find you here."

Neville glanced at Alavel, but didn't respond.

"Is Ms. Lovegood still inside?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Neville rolled his eyes and grumbled at Alavel.

"If your impression of My Lady Rose is that responsible, then I should commend her for being so responsible around you. At least I would, except I know what she put you through."

Neville stopped pacing and frowned at Alavel.

"She told you?" he whispered.

"No, but Reflectesalon did. He was concerned that she was pushing you too hard when she put you in the Nightmare Scenario."

"I'm fine. Besides, that's not important now."

"So I see." Alavel stood still for a moment, then approached Neville. "If you want to wait, you'll have to have an escort. It'd be best if you weren't caught out of your room after curfew, especially by a teacher whose disciplinary methods are of ethical concern."

"Can you wait here then?"

"Neither of us should wait here, but Lady Moon will almost certainly want to return to her room after this is over. If you want to catch her, then you will want to wait somewhere on the path between here and there."

Neville looked back at Umbridge's door, then to Alavel.

"I'd rather wait here."

"It won't do Lady Moon any good if you receive detention. What if Professor Umbridge gives you detention immediately? Then Lady Moon would be forced to return to her room, where people will no doubt be hard on her for some reason or another."

"That will happen anyway." Neville thought about how Luna's roommates treated her when she had nightmares. Like she was doing it just to spite them. Like her feelings didn't matter.

They matter to me.

Me too!

An image of Rose waving her hand excitedly while bouncing up and down popped into his head. An idea struck him at the same time.

"Does she still have standing permission to sleep in Gryffindor Tower?"

"From Professor Dumbledore, yes, but do recall that Minister Fudge recently made Professor Umbridge the High Inquisitor. She may revoke that privilege if she sees fit, and if she really does think there's a conspiracy within Hogwarts, she will almost certainly do so."

Neville swore under his breath.

"What about the Hospital Wing? If Umbridge is making her write lines again, she'll need to stay in the Hospital Wing, right?"

"I think that would do well, although you're missing the big question."

"What question?"

"Why Lady Moon?"

Neville opened his mouth, but closed it soon after. He didn't have an answer to that.

"She's been talking to all of us about what happened at the CI meeting. I didn���t think anyone had told her anything."

"I doubt anyone has. She likely believes that there is something going on in Hogwarts and that it somehow involves Lord Skyeyes and his friends."

"But then why not hold Harry? Why Luna? Why so long?"

"As you said, she's been talking to all of you. If you had to single out one person in your group that would crack given adequate pressure, who would you choose?"

Neville's eyes grew wide as he realized the answer. Ginny wouldn't say anything to prove how tough she was. Neville himself had gone through worse harm than anything Umbridge could throw at him. Harry believed in the cause. Umbridge wasn't allowed around Hermione, as per Professor Dumbledore's instructions to Madame Pomfrey. Ron didn't know anything. Sally-Anne could talk her way out of anything, and probably convince Umbridge that the woman herself was behind everything. That just left Luna. Sweet, innocent, hopeful, trusting Luna. Umbridge must not have been applying a lot of pressure to her. If she'd really been in with Umbridge all day, Luna should've broken before lunch.

While they had been talking, Alavel had moved them away from Umbridge's office. That being the case, they were down the corridor when they heard the door open. Neville jumped to go see Luna, but Alavel held him back. Neville glared at him, but also took a moment to check his watch. Midnight.

Labored footsteps echoed through the corridor, and Luna rounded the corner in a daze. Her skin looked more pale than normal, and her normally cheerful face held only a blank stare. Even when she spotted Neville and Alavel, she didn't react. She just kept walking forward, as if unaware of what was happening.

Alavel held a finger to his lips, then moved his arm away from Neville.

"Moon."

Her head jerked upon hearing her nickname. Neville got a good look at her eyes. They were bloodshot, and he could still see trails of tears running down her face.

"Toad?" Her voice was barely audible. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Neville replied. "Come on. Let's go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm okay," she said, her eyelids beginning to fall. "I'm fine."

"Lady Moon, I must insist."

Luna shook her head, but still followed where they led her.

"What happened in there?" Neville asked when they were on the first floor again.

Luna shakily held up her right hand. Her hand bore the words "I will not spread lies", but unlike the previous incident where the words were barely legible, it looked as if the words had been burned into her hand.

"I didn't give in," Luna said, her voice shaking as much as her hand. "She said I had to write lines until I talked, but I didn't say a word." She forced herself to smile, but even that shook. "Not about you, or Rose, or Brain, or Skyeyes, or Daddy, or anyone. She didn't get anything from me. I didn't break."

Neville stared at her in amazement. She'd been in Umbridge's office for more than 12 hours. He doubted even he or Hermione could've lasted that long.

"Luna, you're amazing," he said.

Luna tried to smile again, but she couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds. Tears fell from her eyes, and she began to cry. Neville pulled her to him, stroking her hair as Rose had done for him after he'd been chosen as a Triwizard Tournament champion. She buried her head in his chest and clung to his shirt. He didn't care; Luna was safe, and that was all he cared about.

"Not to sound inconsiderate," Alavel said, "but we should get her to the Hospital Wing."

"You heard her," Neville said. "Umbridge had her in there for more than 12 hours. She wrote lines the entire time with those blasted quills."

"My point exactly. We don't know if there are any adverse effects. If there are, Madame Pomfrey will want to see her immediately."

"I know, just…"

He looked back at Luna, wanting to ask her where she'd been the past few days, but another part of him told him he shouldn't.

"Thank you for not being mean," she mumbled.

"What? Of course not. Why would I be mean to you?"

"Brain was. She was going to… she was going to kill me. And then you were… erm… were…"

Sorry, I'll stop.

It's fine. What was it?

Rose, if you're trying to make some sort of point…

If you want her to talk, you've got to tell her first.

"My… my parents are empty."

"What's that mean?"

Before Neville could stop himself, he was telling Luna everything he'd told Rose. How scared he'd been of Lestrange when he was a child, trying to teach his parents to talk, the Nightmare Scenario and how he'd drawn on his determination to stop her during that and the third task, and finally what Rose had told him about finding Lestrange and taking Hufflepuff's Cup from her.

By the time he'd finished, Luna had completely stopped crying. She clung to him, not saying a word. Neville knew they needed to go, but he couldn't bring himself to let go of Luna. He wanted to stay with her forever, just the two of them. Neville didn't have a care in the world apart from how Luna was feeling.

"Sometimes, I'm… I'm afraid I can't stop Lestrange from hurting someone else. I don't know if I'm strong enough yet."

Alavel took a step towards them and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Luna began to talk.

"I… I have dreams. Dreams of other Lunas. I get confused sometimes…"

And so Luna explained her dreams to Neville. She explained that they'd been worse two years ago, just around the earthquake, then said that she got Rose's memories sometimes.

"That's what I meant last year when I said you always try to be brave. You always stand up for me. I've never met a mean Neville… until a few nights ago." Tears returned to her eyes. "He… he was going to hurt me. I don't know why." She looked up at him, her eyes sad.

"I would never hurt you, Moon."

"I know, but I can't always tell when it's you!"

They stood in silence, their eyes locked on one another's. Neville didn't understand everything, but he thought he had the basics. Luna had psychic dreams that often left her questioning reality.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked.

Luna turned her pale eyes to the floor. "I'm only supposed to tell family. Rose only knew because she was like my big sister." She looked back at him. "I guess… erm… I don't know! I'm not supposed to tell anyone!"

"Moon, I promise I won't tell anyone."

"But… I'm…"

"Lady Moon, if I may, I'm sure your parents wouldn't be worried that Lord Toad knows. This is a young man who would throw himself in harm's way for you. I can assure you he will never tell anyone."

Luna's headed darted between Neville and Alavel, but her arms remained around Neville. A faint bark came from her pack.

"Tutela's right," Luna said. "Rose trusts you. So I will too."

They stood in the corridor for a few more minutes, then Alavel finally convinced them to go to the Hospital Wing. Then he convinced Madame Pomfrey to keep Luna there for the night. And for his final tricks, he convinced Neville to return to Gryffindor Tower with him, and (Neville wasn't paying attention after that) he somehow managed to convince Hermione not to ask questions.

"If you can," Neville whispered to Madame Pomfrey, "give her one of the good blankets."

Madame Pomfrey gave him a wink, then set about preparing an extra bed for Luna.

Luna stared at her hand in the dark. Toad had left a few hours ago with Alavel. She didn't want to fall asleep; if she fell asleep, she might forget. It'd been hard keeping it together, but it'd all been worth it to see Toad so proud of her. And he'd hugged her! She'd never realized how much she liked hugs.

"Moon, you awake over there?"

"Yes."

"How's your hand?"

Luna instinctively hid her hand under her blanket. Alavel had told her before going in not to mention anything to Brain. Any talk of Umbridge could set her off, and they wanted her to remain calm. Luna shuddered when she remembered the black tentacles that had tried to grab her.

"Fine."

"I know you're all trying not to talk about Umbridge around me, but really, I'm fine. I know she did that to you, I saw it when you walked in."

"Oh. It hurts a lot still."

There was silence for a while. Tutela, who'd taken up a spot at the foot of Luna's bed, opened her eyes and perked up her ears.

"I'm… I'm sorry. About what I did at the CI meeting."

"It's… it's fine, really."

"No, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to cast the Patronus. I… I've been getting carried away."

Luna thought again about casting the Patronus Charm, but she didn't like thinking about it. Getting lost in her memories terrified her. She never knew which ones were hers, or who'd she be when she came out of them. It was best to just not try.

"You've got some of Rose's memories, right?"

Luna gasped and Tutela picked up her head.

"It's the only way you could've known what Valignatiejir looked like without having been in the room that day. Neville said you knew it was Valignatiejir when he said it was a black dragon, but Rose has never mentioned a color. Not before that, at least. So you must be getting some of her memories. It's why you don't want to cast the Patronus, I think. You can't tell which is which, right? I mean your memories and hers."

Luna began to panic. Now two people knew about her dreams, and one of them was talking about them openly.

"I… erm… I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. That's interesting, though. And… oh, I'm sorry. You've actually got her memories. She's—"

"I don't want to talk about."

"Right."

Silence filled the Hospital Wing again, along with the smell of embarrassment. Luna was thankful for the silence. She didn't want to talk more about her dreams. As Rose had said before, if anyone could figure it out, it'd be Brain.

"Is there something going on between you and Neville?"

Luna blushed when she thought of Toad's arms around her. The smell of pine surrounding her, making her feel safe and warm. Even thinking about it, a warmth filled her body, and she smiled.

"Erm… I don't…"

"Let me try it another way. If you fancy him, which I'm quite sure you do, and if he fancies you, which I'm quite sure he does, then go for it. Trust me. Breaking up with Ron was one of the worst mistakes I've ever made, and that's counting running in blind last year at the World Cup. I'm never going to have another chance with him, but you've still got a chance with Neville. Take it while you still can."

Luna smelled something different in the Hospital Wing. She was sure it was from Hermione, and she was sure it was bitter, but it was hard to place the exact smell. It reminded her of the smells she'd associated with sadness and embarrassment.

The next day, less than a minute after curfew ended, the occupants of the Hospital Wing heard a crashing sound from down the corridor. To Luna, it sounded an awful lot like someone had just jumped from the seventh floor down to the first. A few seconds later, Toad came into the Hospital Wing. Luna sniffed the air and got the smell of pine from Toad. She couldn't help but smile.

"Mr. Longbottom, curfew has just ended," Madame Pomfrey said. "You couldn't have possibly arrived here so quickly."

"I took a shortcut," he said, wiping some dust from his clothes. "I promise I didn't cut curfew to be here."

He walked straight over to Luna's bed, waving a quick hello to Brain.

"How's your hand?"

"Still hurts," Luna said. She drew her legs in, hoping Neville would sit with her.

To her delight, he sat down just in front of her.

"It's not as bad though."

She heard scribbling on a notebook, and caught a glimpse of Brain writing something down. With a wave of her hand, Brain held up the notebook to her.

Ask him to Hogsmeade today.

Luna blushed, and her mouth suddenly felt dry. Her mind instinctively ran through the possible creatures that could've infected her in the Hospital Wing.

"I'm glad you're alright," Brain said.

"Me too."

She and Brain smiled at one another.

"Erm…" he started.

"I…" she started.

Luna heard something that sounded like a hand hitting its owner's face in frustration.

"If you're up to it…" Toad tried again. Now his face turned red. Maybe it was contagious.

Tutela whined and covered her eyes with her paws.

"Will you go to Hogsmeade with me today?" Luna and Toad said at the same time.

They both stopped and stared at one another. The only sound they heard was the sound of Brain clapping.

"Say yes!" came Madame Pomfrey's voice from her office.

Luna tried to say yes, but the words wouldn't come to her mouth. She tried to say anything, but she couldn't bring herself to.

"If you're feeling up to it," Toad said, "we could go for just an hour or two."

Luna nodded.

"Brilliant."

Neville spent most of the day with Luna in the Hospital Wing. Just around lunchtime, they left for Hogsmeade, Luna with a bandaged hand.

On the way, they took a carriage with Sally-Anne and Ginny. Sally-Anne took one glance at the two of them, hand in hand, and smiled.

"About time," she said. "Have you two spotted Harry and Cho?"

"No, why?�� Neville asked.

"They're on a date, too," Ginny said. She grinned. "Not to brag, but I get to set her on fire if I find him in tears."

Neville exchanged glances with Sally-Anne.

"Don't ask," she said.

They went their separate ways when they arrived. Neville and Luna headed towards Madam Puddifoot's, when Neville spotted a jewelry shop out of the corner of his eye. An idea struck him.

"Moon, would you mind getting us a table at Madam Puddifoot's?" he asked.

"Not at all." She smiled back at him, then skipped over to Madam Puddifoot's.

With Luna distracted, he quickly made his way over to the vendor.

"Have you got pins?" he asked. "Or broaches?"

"Best in town!" the merchant exclaimed. "What do you need? I've got simple, I've got extravagant! Whatever it is you need, my friend, we've got it all here at Thindro's Jewelers!"

"Just something simple," Neville said. He checked his pocket and found he didn't have much in terms of money. Plus, he was planning on paying for food, meaning he only had a handful of knuts and a few sickles to spare.

Should've thought of that before coming here.

"I don't know what I can afford, I just—"

"Hey, don't I know you?" the merchant asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Erm…"

"Merlin's Beard, you're Neville Longbottom!"

"Yes?" Neville said slowly, nodding his head while wondering why the man knew who he was.

"I saw you in the tournament last year! That was marvelous, how you fought that giant metal bug!"

Neville smiled, glad to have some context.

Is this how Luna feels all the time? No wonder she's always so confused.

"You were watching?"

"Everyone in Hogsmeade was there!" the man exclaimed. He grabbed Neville's free hand and shook it vigorously. "What a pleasure! The Neville Longbottom, in my shop!"

No matter how much time goes by, I'm never going to get used to this.

"What are you looking for today? I'm sure I can find you the best!"

"Just something simple," Neville said. "A frog pin, and maybe a crescent moon if you've got it."

"Absolutely, if you're sure. I've got much better than just those!"

"It's for my…" Neville wasn't sure if he should call Luna his girlfriend. Weren't there rules? Why were there rules? He decided he didn't care. "For my girlfriend and I. Her sister used to call her 'Moon' and me 'Toad'."

The merchant pulled out a box with a dozen glistening broaches. He took out two of them: one with green gemstones (Those can't be real emeralds, can they?) in the shape of a crouching frog, and another with glittering white gems in the shape of a crescent moon.

"Those are brilliant, but I can't afford them."

"I can't have the Neville Longbottom leave my shop without giving him the best I've got. You tell everyone where you found them — here, at Thindro's Jewelers, the best in all of Hogsmeade! — and I'll take it on faith that you'll pay me back someday."

Neville stared at the two broaches.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything to me, my friend. Just tell the world!"

The merchant — presumably Thindro — placed each broaches in its own pouch, then handed them both to Neville.

"Good luck with your lady friend! She must be some girl to have landed you, my friend!"

Neville couldn't help but smile.

"She's pretty special."

Neville walked over to Madam Puddifoot's, fastening the toad broach to his shirt as he walked.

"Can I help…" The man at the entrance began. "Neville Longbottom?"

Neville frowned for a moment as the man in front of him recognized him.

Have I not been here all year? No, I don't think I have. Got to remember to ask Harry how he deals with this all the time.

"How may we help you, Mr. Longbottom?" he asked. "I'm sure we can find you the best table available. How many are in your party?"

"Two, and I see the other's already got a seat. Thank you, anyway."

Neville walked past the man and sat down across from Luna at her table.

"I was starting to worry you'd been captured by something," Luna said.

"Sorry, took a little longer than I'd expected to get you this," Neville said, placing the crescent moon broach on the table. "I thought it matched your necklace."

"This is lovely," Luna said, a broad smile on her face. "Thank you, Toad."

"You're welcome," he replied. He pointed to the one on his shirt. "I got one to match, so now you can tell me apart from all the other Nevilles."

Luna froze midway into putting on her own broach. Not even her chest was rising with her breaths.

"Oh no," Neville breathed. "I'm sorry, I didn't think. I forgot to trigger doublespeak, and–"

"You did that… for me?" Luna asked. "Not even… not even my sister ever did something like that."

Neville smiled at her.

"Of course." He reached over the table and took her good hand after she finished fastening her broach. "You didn't just believe in me last year, you helped me believe in myself. Rose might have given me the final push, but… I couldn't have done all that without you."

Neville squeezed Luna's hand, and she squeezed his back. For that moment, he was on top of the world.