“Are you certain?” he stuttered. “Me?” “Why me?”
“Yes, I am quite certain. Professor Sprout requested you personally, Mr. Longbottom,” Professor McGonagall informed him curtly. “It is a great honor to be chosen for such an assignment. I am sure that you will not disappoint me.”
“I realize that it is a great honor, Professor,” Neville replied respectfully. “It’s just…Me…Why me?” His voice had risen an octave and begun to take on a whiny quality. “I can’t do anything right. I’ve even melted a cauldron in Professor Snape’s class.”
“Professor Sprout has told me of the high level of quality work that you produce in Herbology. I expect, as a member of my own house, that you are certain to succeed. Should you require any assistance, I will be here the entire time.” Professor McGonagall signed the parchment on her desk and handed it to Neville. “You will be staying in the guest flat attached to Greenhouse Three. The password to gain entrance is on the parchment, along with your instructions from Pomona. Try not to lose the parchment, Mr. Longbottom. Good luck.” She nodded dismissively and returned to the many rolls of parchment on her desk.
Neville turned to leave the office, his eyes still filled with the wonderment of his task. He glanced around the Headmistresses office, taking in the subtle changes that had taken place since he had last visited. While it was understated, Professor McGonagall had integrated her clan colors into the decorating scheme. There was a tartan throw draped across the back of the high leather chair behind the desk.
“Mr. Longbottom,” Professor McGonagall called at his retreating back.
Neville’s heart skipped a beat and his stomach plummeted to his knees. “Don’t take this away. I can do it. I promise I will not disappoint you.”
“Would you be so kind as to send in Miss. Lovegood?”
Neville released his pent up breath and nodded his head. “Professor McGonagall sounds beat. I hope everything is well with Luna.” He turned to face her once more. “Certainly, Professor.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the new Headmistress bow her head deeply. He could have sworn that he saw the cloth covering Dumbledore’s portrait shift slightly.
Neville practically ran to the door before Professor McGonagall could change her mind and call him back. He was both excited and nervous about what lay on the other side of the massive door. His hand grasped the handle and a great surge of anticipation surged though him. He flung the door wide open and hurried down the stairs. He had completely forgotten Professor McGonagall’s request when he barreled into Luna.
“Hello Neville.”
"Luna,” Neville squeaked. “Professor McGonagall wants to see you.” “That didn’t come out right. She’s going to think that I am an idiot.”
“I know,” she informed him. “I got her note after the funeral.”
“Are you staying at Hogwarts?” Neville asked, unable to contain his curiosity. “I am.” He was bursting at the seams to share his good news with someone.
“Yes,” Luna replied bitterly, all traces of her dreamy voice gone. “I’m stuck here while Daddy’s off on another trip without me. Why are you staying?” She seemed genuinely interested in his news.
“Professor Sprout asked me to keep an eye on the greenhouses while she attended to a family emergency.” Neville explained his situation briefly. “I’m sorry you’re stuck here.” He brightened as he had a thought. “At least you aren’t alone now. We could eat together if you’d like. There’s nothing better than good company.”
Luna could not discern an ounce of pity in his voice, there was only an offer of friendship. She smiled broadly, her first real smile since she read the letter after Dumbledore’s funeral. “I would like that,” she told Neville happily. “I should go talk to Professor McGonagall now. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll come get you for lunch tomorrow,” Neville promised.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she called over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs.
“She’s pretty cute. She was so nice to me and she didn’t laugh at me once.” He hummed the entire way to his temporary residence. “I almost have a job. I almost have a date. Sort of,” he mused. “I have a real chance to prove myself.”
Neville reached Greenhouse Three and his flat. He read the password, memorized it and chuckled as he folded the parchment for safekeeping. “I won’t need to worry about forgetting this one.”
“Mimbulus Mimbletonia,” he called out clearly, smiling at Professor McGonagall’s choice of passwords. “She remembered.”
The door creaked open slowly, it ancient hinges protesting the movement. The flat was small, but inviting. The rooms themselves were spacious and well furnished. Through his explorations, Neville discovered a bedroom, complete with a four poster bed. His school trunk sat at the foot of the bed, just as it did in the Gryffindor Tower.
There was a sitting room, designed similarly to the Gryffindor Common Room. There were two large couches, upholstered in maroon fabric, and a single overstuffed chair. The golden color of the fabric covering the chair glinted in the firelight. Several tables were scattered through the room, each with a different set of items. One held several pieces of parchment, a quill and a pot of ink. Another held a chessboard and a Muggle pack of playing cards. The last table was littered with books and articles. Upon closer discovery, Neville saw that they all related to Herbology. Having explored the house, he headed to the bedroom to sort out his belongings.
“It’s perfect. Absolute perfection.” He breathed deeply and sunk onto the bed. He fell asleep thinking o his impending lunch with Luna.
The next morning Neville awoke refreshed and ready to tackle Greenhouse One. He dressed quickly, tucking the instructions from Professor Sprout into his gardening pants. He grabbed his gloves off the nearest table and left the room. He stepped into the sitting room and noticed three doors that had not been there the previous night during his inspection.
They were each labeled with a number. The door on the far left was lime green and a large, black ‘1’ was burned into the brightness of the door. The middle door was the same yellow as a Lemon Drop. “Harry told me those were Dumbledore’s favorites.” A ‘2’ appeared, sunk into the brilliance of the colored wood. The third door, on the far right, was red. It reminded Neville of a Muggle stop sign. “Or that candy coating that they put on apples for Halloween.” The door was labeled with a ‘3’. The door seemed to advertise itself as dangerous. “I think I’ll start with ‘1’.”
Feeling like he was Martin Miggs, he opened the door to Greenhouse One. Pulling on his gloves, he set about checking on his charges. He attended to each plant tenderly, giving each one the loving care it deserved. He made his way around the Greenhouse slowly. He frequently stopped to water certain plants, remove dead leaves from others and perform pest clearing spells.
It was nearly lunchtime when he finished his work in Greenhouse One. He hurried back to the flat to clean up and change his clothes.
When he was sufficiently clean and most of the dirt had been removed from under his fingernails, he grabbed a daisy he had picked for Luna and left.
He wandered through the hallways of Hogwarts, trying to find his way to the Ravenclaw Common Room. He wasn’t having much luck, there wasn’t anyone left at Hogwarts to ask. “There has to be someone here who can send me in the right direction.” He kept walking until he ran into Peeves. Aside from being incredibly annoying and insulting the flower Neville had chosen, Peeves was not much help in finding the way to Luna. Frustrated and flustered, Neville glanced around at the changing staircases.
“I should have thought to ask her how to get to the tower. I’m always getting lost.” He was kicking himself for his stupidity when Luna appeared at the top of the stairs in front of him. He grinned up at her; his thoughts focused on her beauty. “I am so sorry I’m late. I realized that I had no idea how to get to the Ravenclaw Tower. I was just standing here, hoping someone would come along and point me in the right direction, but the only person I have run into is Peeves. He wasn’t much help. You know, he never is…” Neville trailed off as he realized he was babbling about nothing important.
“Shall we go to lunch?” Luna asked calmly, ignoring Neville obvious nervousness.
“Yes,” Neville breathed gratefully. “Let’s go to lunch.”
They walked together, along the silent corridors of Hogwarts, enjoying the peacefulness the castle seemed to exude in the absence of the normal hustle and bustle of everyday school life. They wandered aimlessly for the better part of an hour before Neville’s stomach growled in hunger. Luna giggled at the sound and suggested that they head somewhere to get some food.
“We could go to the flat,” Neville suggested hopefully. “We could be alone there. It would be so nice to sit and talk with her, she seems so understanding.”
“That would be nice,” Luna replied.
“We have to go past the kitchens to get to the Greenhouses, we could just ask the house elves for a picnic to take with us,” Neville offered.
“We just need to make sure that there aren’t any Lobalugs in the food they serve us,” she commented.
“What?” Neville asked. “How could a Lobalug end up in our food? They only live at the bottom of the North Sea.”
“You know what a Lobalug is!” Luna exclaimed. “You don’t think I’m weird?” Her voice dropped off, the fear of rejection evident in her eyes.
“Of course I know what a Lobalug is,” Neville explained impatiently. “Professor Snape told us about them in Second Year. He was spouting off about the venom. It can be used in several potions, but don’t ask me which ones. You’d have to ask Hermione. More importantly, though, I don’t think you’re weird.”
“Really?” she breathed.
“Yes,” Neville admitted. “I think you are smart and funny. I think you have eccentric taste in jewelry, but that’s a good thing. I think it makes you unique and beautiful.” He held his breath, hoping that he hadn’t pushed it too far.
Luna couldn’t think of a thing to say in response, so she spoke from her heart. “I like that I can be myself around you,” she observed. “You don’t judge me for my father’s actions. You didn’t think I was weird because of the way I talked. For some reason, you think I am unique and beautiful. I didn’t know I could be this happy.”
They had reached the kitchen and Neville approached the painting to tickle the pear. When they had gained admittance to the kitchen, the house elves sprang to action to get them a feast worthy of the Minister. The house elves paraded in front of them, each holding a different type of food. Neville and Luna both picked their favorite foods as they passed by, held up on display by each house elf. Luna giggled the first time her finger hit Neville’s as they both pointed to the treacle tart floating by on a particularly short house elf. After a few more choices, Neville began to protest that they had enough food to feed an army. The house elves packed their choices into a magically expanded picnic basket and sent them on their way. “It would have taken 20 Muggle picnic baskets to hold all that food,” Neville guessed.
Neville hardly noticed the walk to the flat. He was entranced with Luna, letting her do all the talking. He was absorbing every word of her childhood stories, so much so that he couldn’t’ remember the password to the flat. He fumbled around for the parchment for a few minutes, his embarassment growing with each passing second. He found the parchment and could have kicked himself when he read the password. “Mimbulus Mimbletonia,” he muttered under his breath. “Of course, how could I forget that? What is she doing to me?”
It was Luna who pulled Neville from his fog of self-consciousness. “Why don’t we eat on the grass near the Greenhouse?” she suggested. “It will be cooler there and we can spread out and enjoy the weather.”
Neville nodded, his ears burning as brightly as Ron’s did. He allowed Luna to select the location of their picnic. She conjured a large blue and crimson checkered blanket for them to sit on while they ate. She continued to tell him about her childhood, including the wild tales that her father had always told her. Neville found himself opening up to her and sharing his deepest fears and darkest secrets. He told her about his parents and his grandmother. He regaled her with stories about being in class with the ‘famous trio’.
Lunch turned into a walk around the lake. When they returned from their walk around the lake, Neville took Luna on a guided tour of Professor Sprout’s private garden. He told her about the time that Professor Sprout had taken him there to console him after the attack at the Ministry. “She thought I was lacking guidance,” he divulged. “She thought I had lost my path. You know, she was right. I was lost that day. She brought me here and showed me the wonder and beauty of the world. I never wanted to leave and I told her so. She gave me permission to visit whenever I needed a place to think.”
“It sounds like you have your life planned out pretty well,” she noted. “Not only do you love plants, you excel at Herbology. You should be happy that you have found something you love to do.” She paused for a moment before admitting how she was feeling. I’m still wandering around, searching for something I can’t describe. I don’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps, that much I know. But what else am I good at?”
Neville’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. “I have faith in you. I think you can do whatever you want to do. You will be great at whatever you try.”
The time in the garden passed quickly and soon it was time for supper. They adjourned to the flat where they ate the leftovers from their lunch. After they had finished eating, Neville asked Luna to stay for a game of Wizard’s Chess. After she had beaten him once and he had beaten her twice, she decided to call it a night.
“I should go back to my common room,” she sighed. “I have kept you from your work all afternoon.”
“I will take care of the other two Greenhouses tomorrow,” he assured her. “I will walk you back to the castle.”
“That would be wonderful.”
They walked together, hand in hand, both sad that the ‘date’ had to end. When they reached the castle, Luna leaned in close to Neville and chastely kissed his cheek. “Thank you for a lovely time. Should I come get you for lunch tomorrow? I know how to get to the Greenhouses!”
Neville laughed heartily at his earlier misfortune and nodded. “I can’t wait.”
He watched as she entered the castle, waiting until she was out of sight before returning to the flat. He noticed that Gryffindor Tower looked especially dark. “I hope that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny will be able to help Harry find his way.”
Neville couldn’t sleep that night, so he worked feverishly in Greenhouse Two. When he had finished he was exhausted and he fell into bed, his eyes closed before his head hit the pillow.
It was the last full day he had to spend with Luna, he realized immediately upon waking. He dressed hurriedly and made his way to the red door to Greenhouse Three. He followed the same routine he had with the previous two Greenhouses. He whistled as he pruned long branches and pulled magical weeds from smaller pots. His heart was in his work, but his mind was elsewhere. “Maybe in Ravenclaw Tower?” He chuckled at himself. He was acting like some poor smitten fool. “Oh.”
Luna arrived for lunch, dressed in a casual sundress partially revealed by her open robes. They ate on the same blanket, shared more of their stories and took another long walk around the lake. Neville couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon. The sun was shining brightly. There was a small breath of wind, keeping the temperature down and driving away the oppressive heat of summer. They were sitting in Professor Sprout’s garden again when a blinding flash of light erupted from the castle.
Neville jumped up, protecting Luna with his body. Luna tugged on his sleeve. “Sit down,” she commanded.
It was the first time Neville had heard her sound so authoritative. “What just happened?” he whispered. It was then that it dawned on him that there were only four other people in the castle that day. “Luna! We’ve got to help them.” He was shouting, bordering on the verge of hysterics and paralyzed with the fear that his closest friends had been harmed.
“They aren’t hurt,” Luna informed him gently. “That wasn’t a sign of death or destruction. If I’m not mistaken, that was a sign of the complete opposite.”
“What?” Neville stammered. “How would you know?”
“My Mum,” she reminded him simply.
“Oh,” he mumbled. “I feel rather stupid right now. I didn’t think before I opened my mouth. Forgive me?”
“Of course. Let’s go inside. I will have to return to the castle shortly.”
Neville walked her to the door of his flat. She insisted on returning to the castle alone, claiming that she needed some time to think. She waited patiently, but he said nothing further and made no movement closer to her. She sighed and thanked him for a wonderful day.
Neville entered the flat and found a note from Professor McGonagall. Her concise note told him only that the Hogwarts Express would leave the following morning at eleven. She warned him that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would also be aboard the train. Members of the Order would be there also, escorting them home for the summer.
Neville spent the rest of the evening thinking about Luna, pretending to read the books on exotic plants from far off places. In his mind, he knew that he would be sorry to be leaving Hogwarts in the morning. “At least I will get to spend the train ride with her. I’m sure that Harry will want some time with Ginny. Ron and Hermione might pretend it isn’t so, but they need some time together too. This will be an enjoyable train ride, I think. It should be filled with friends and laughter, conveniently missing anyone who could spoil the fun.”
Greenhouse Guardian by Khrys
Chapter Notes: Author’s Note: J.K. Rowling created the world in which I work. Everything Harry is hers alone.