Author's note: This is a sequel to White Out, but can be read as an independent one-shot. Extreme thanks and love to Rent_Serenity for the beta-reading.

Normal 0 21 !- /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:DE;} page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} - DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

The Way You Do That Thing You Do

Neville settled underneath his covers, the coolness of the pillow against the bare skin on the back of his head unfamiliar. The Healers who'd Flooed in to treat the scores of wounded had had to shave all his hair off in order to treat the burns he'd suffered when Lord Voldemort had set the Sorting Hat alight on his head. They'd done a good job on him, although the skin was still bright pink and looked like he had a bad sunburn. They'd advised him to stay out of the sun for six weeks, but also said he wouldn't bear any scars.

He'd opted to stay at Hogwarts tonight, rather than go home directly. Most of the other students, like Ron and Dean, hadn't wanted to stay. Neither of them had been at school that year, anyway, so Neville didn't miss them tonight, either. In fact, his only roommate the entire year had been Seamus, and he was still down in the infirmary. Seamus' own injuries, a crushed leg and a collapsed lung, had been healed well enough, but he had insisted on remaining by Lavender's side. She was still under heavy sedation, the outcome of her savaging by Fenrir Greyback being unresolved.

So many injured. So many killed: Colin Creevey, Professor Lupin and his wife, Fred Weasley. At least Snape had gotten what he deserved, Neville thought with a vicious satisfaction. After all that he had put the students through in the past year, it was fitting that he had been done in by the very snake that was the symbol of both his House and of his evil master, Lord Voldemort. The very snake that Neville had, later, slain. If the snake hadn't been a Horcrux, Neville thought he might well have liked to award it an Order of Merlin for outstanding service to the wizarding world. It was vindictive, he knew, and he shouldn't be like that – he certainly would never have said it aloud – but Snape had put them all through such hell that year… he was glad the man wasn't alive any more for him to have to forgive.

So many thoughts and emotions were whirling around in Neville, which was one reason why he'd wanted to stay on. He wasn't quite ready to go home with his Gran yet, have her press him for details and prate on and on about how proud she was and how much like his father he had turned out to be. It wasn't that he wanted to forget what he had done, but he needed some time to let it all settle in, to think about what it all meant.

Was he different now than he had been three days ago? Or three months ago? Some people had already called him a 'hero', including Harry, for whom that label had always been reserved exclusively over the past seventeen years. He hadn't felt all that heroic when he had killed the snake. He'd been scared to death, acting in blind panic, just doing what Harry had told him to, because he'd been too petrified to think. If he'd thought about doing it, he probably never would have. He still could hardly believe he'd held the Sword of Gryffindor in his hands.

He'd left the curtains around his bed open, and the dim light from the mullioned window cast geometrical patterns on the wall. He let his eye wander along the lines, feeling his lids become increasingly heavy. He'd always had to be wary of shadowy spaces during the year; twice, he'd been ambushed and beaten without provocation. And he'd never known when someone might simply be lurking with an open ear, gathering information to be used against him later. But now, the darkness was simply calming, a stark contrast to the green and red flashes that had slashed open the previous night.

Neville awoke with a start, realizing that someone was moving under the covers next to him. He scrambled out of bed and fell hard on his bottom, his heart going a hundred miles an hour. It was still the middle of the night, and he felt frantically for his wand on the nightstand.

"Neville?" a female voice said softly. "Are you all right?"

Neville tried to place the voice: "Luna? Is that you?"

"Of course," she answered, and now he could see the shimmer of her long, blond hair in the semi-darkness. She was sitting up on his bed.

"What… What are you doing here?" he asked shakily, getting to his feet. Was it his imagination, or was she… naked?

"I wanted to see you," Luna replied simply. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you since … the battle," she said, and her normally carefree manner seemed to falter at that word. "I saw you kill the snake, Neville," she continued. "That was very brave. Of course, Gryffindor is the House of the brave, so I shouldn't really be surprised. Harry was also brave last night. I used to have a crush on Harry, you know."

Neville found this both surprising and bothersome. He had never actually thought of Luna in terms of her having feelings for boys. But if she did, he supposed that Harry made the most sense.

"He was the only boy who was ever kind to me," she continued on, making Neville wonder what in the world this had to do with him, "so I suppose it was natural that I developed a fondness for him. But I don't think he ever really liked me in that way. He's in love with Ginny, you know."

"I thought so," Neville said, still puzzling over how this related to Luna sitting in his bed…naked.

"I'm happy for them," she said. "I think they can make each other happy. Here, why don't you sit down?" She patted the bed next to her. Neville, for want of anything better to do, followed her suggestion. He was close enough to touch her, now. She was still mostly hidden in the shadows, the light coming from behind her, but he could see the soft glow of the moonlight on her bare shoulder.

"And so I wanted to tell you that: that I thought you were brave and that you did the right thing. I tried to find you today, when things started getting straightened out, but they wouldn't let me in to the infirmary because I wasn't injured badly enough, and I wasn't family. Then I thought you might have gone home with your grandmother, but when Seamus came out for dinner, he told me you hadn't, and that you weren't in there any more, so I figured you must be here."

"But… how did you get in?" It wasn't that he thought she shouldn't be, but it was a bit odd, her being a Ravenclaw, popping up like this in the middle of the night in Gryffindor Tower. Apparently naked. In his bed.

"Of course, I didn't know the password, so the Fat Lady wouldn't let me in. I hoped that someone else would come by who knew it, but I waited for over an hour and no one came past. So I challenged her to a drinking game, and that's how I got in."

"Pardon? How did that get you in?" Sometimes, Luna's stories were a bit hard to follow.

"I arranged for Lord Chartlebousse to bring over the decanter of wine from his painting, and every time I guessed the password wrong, the Fat Lady had to take a sip."

"Don't you mean you had to take a sip?"

"Well, neither one of us could see how I could drink painted wine," Luna explained patiently, "so the Fat Lady generously agreed to drink it for me. It was very sportsmanlike of her."

"And so after a while she fell asleep and you snuck past her?" Neville guessed.

"She's a very good drinker," Luna informed him. "I think it would have taken more than the one decanter to put her under the table. No, actually, she finished the wine up, and said, 'I'm sorry, dear, but that's the last of it. I'm afraid that means you've lost.' And then I said, 'Thank you anyway. What was the password, by the way?' And she said, 'Victory,' and I repeated it back to her, and then she had to open the door."

Neville couldn't quite make out Luna's face, but he thought he detected an air of triumph in her tone. He laughed. "Luna, that's brilliant."

"I should have guessed the password in the first place," she admitted. "I thought it would be something difficult like 'Oswegian Crup Stew' or 'Phenophthalamine'."

"I couldn't even have said that last one."

"It would have made a much better password."

"I suppose you're right," Neville agreed. After a moment, when it seemed that no further explanations were forthcoming, he said, "Well, um… It was nice of you to go to all that trouble to see me, Luna. I was just sleeping, though. It's kind of late now."

"Oh, I know," Luna said. "I didn't mean to wake you. No, I did mean to wake you. If you were asleep, that is. I had hoped you wouldn't be yet, but when I saw you were, I didn't want to leave again.

"You see," she continued with a dreamy air, and Neville wasn't sure whether she was really addressing him anymore, "I realized something during those months I spent in the Malfoys' dungeon. Several things, actually. One is, Wrackspurts are the embryonic form of Dementors. Another is, I hardly thought of Harry at all. I did wonder where he was, and how he was able to evade the Death Eaters, and what would happen if they ever caught up to him – but when I thought about who I would really like to see again, it wasn't him. It was you."

This admission gave Neville a strange, yet not unpleasant, feeling in his stomach.

"It was a great comfort to me to remember how you asked to ride to the station with me, and how we sat together in the carriage to keep warm. And I remembered that you said that you might like to see me naked, if we liked each other, and if one thing led to another."

Luna slid herself a little closer to Neville. He froze. She couldn't possibly mean what he thought she meant!

"And the third thing I realized in the Malfoys' dungeon is that I shouldn't wait for things to happen to me. I suppose I always knew that, but having one's life in danger makes one realize that every moment is magical, and it would be a shame to waste them. So here I am. I like you, and I think you like me. And maybe one thing will lead to another." He could hear her smile, but he couldn't see it, because she was now very, very close to him. So close, in fact that….

Her lips seemed to inadvertently brush against his, and before he knew what was happening, she was kissing him. He stopped breathing. What should he do? It wasn't the same panic he'd felt back in December, when Luna had kissed him in the carriage. He now had a general idea of what one did when kissing, having had more than a bit of practice with Hannah. But how did he feel about Luna? Did he want to start something now? And what about Hannah? But then he felt the stirring of an excitement in his stomach, and elsewhere, and he kissed her back. Her lips were so soft, thrilling against the brand-new skin of his cheek. She tasted fresh and slightly salty – had she been crying? – and her scent was sweet yet secretive, a whiff of something that seemed oh so familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it. It left him wanting more.

She continued with her gentle, soft kisses, and pulled him down to lie next to her. The excitement in Neville's stomach had spread out in all directions now, and he hoped both that she wouldn't notice, and that she would.

He could feel her warm body next to his, now, and he was careful only to touch her head and face with his hands. She wasn't so timid, however, and now slid her arm around him, right up underneath his pajama shirt onto his back. Her hand was warm and smooth, and gave him shivers in all the right places. She was kissing his jaw now, moving her tender, warm mouth down onto his neck, which he found very pleasurable… perhaps a little too pleasurable, as he tried to angle his hips away from her in an effort to hide the effects of her stimulation.

"Luna, maybe we should—" he began in a shaky voice, but she didn't stop, and so he gasped, just as she hit a particularly sensitive spot: "—wait!"

Luna did pause at that, to say, "I've been waiting for five months, two weeks and thirteen days." She didn't seem irritated, just slightly puzzled.

Neville placed his hands on either side of her face and tilted her head up so that he could see her. She watched him placidly, and he realized that he did want this, and not just because he was curious. But what was 'this'? Did Luna just want to 'mess around', as Hannah had called it? Were they about to have sex? Luna didn't seem at all embarrassed by such things, but he was!

"Have you ever…" he began, stopped, swallowed, then tried again: "I mean, I've never done this before."

Luna's eyebrows rose with interest. "What, kissed a girl? But you did kiss me, in the carriage on the way to the station. Do you remember?" She smiled broadly. "I remember it. It was my last happy memory before I was captured."

For some reason, this made Neville uncomfortable. It felt as if she were putting him up on some sort of pedestal that he didn't really deserve. "Of course I remember," he said. "It – see, that was kind of the first time I ever kissed anyone." Maybe he needed to set her expectations just a bit lower.

"You're very good at it," Luna commented ingenuously. "Much better than I remember, in fact."

"Well, actually…" Neville stammered. He didn't want to tell about him and Hannah. It didn't seem right to discuss kissing another girl with her lying there so naked like that. He and Hannah hadn't done much more than kiss and fumble around a few times, up in her room, before they had had to go into hiding in the Room of Requirement. And there hadn't been any privacy there. Hannah had stayed on the girls' side of the room, and he'd stayed on the boys' side. It hadn't really seemed appropriate to carry on with a relationship. He'd had a lot more to worry about than a girlfriend, anyway. He thought he understood perfectly why Harry hadn't let Ginny go along with him (a fact which Ginny had lamented loudly to everyone all year, until she'd left at Easter).

He settled for saying, "I have, you know, kissed other girls since then. Well, one other girl," he corrected himself.

This seemed to sober Luna up a bit. "And you feel guilty about kissing me?" she questioned. "Are you a monogamist? It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Many people are."

"I'm not—I'm not anything. I'm not really together with her," he admitted, now wishing he hadn't even brought it up. "I'd like to…" He paused, then plunged onward: "…keep kissing you. I've just… never done anything… more. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea." Very nearly all the excitement had drained out of him by now. How could sex be such a turn-on, when talking about it was such a turn-off!

Luna brightened up. "Oh, you're talking about sex! I've never had sex with anyone, either," she assured him. "I know how it goes, though. One of the Death Eaters who was supposed to be guarding me was kind enough to explain." Her brow furrowed in recollection. "Actually, I should say he was not very kind. But he did explain what he would do to me if I didn't cooperate. He used quite a lot of detail. I don't think we really need to do exactly what he said. Some of it sounded painful, to tell you the truth. On the other hand, I've read that it's normal for there to be some pain, especially for a girl the first time she has intercourse. I'm not afraid, if there is. It's supposed to be very pleasurable, even more so than masturbation," she concluded expectantly.

"Oh," Neville said. There really didn't seem to be much more for him to say than that. Was he really lying here in bed with a naked girl, talking about touching oneself?

"But… he didn't actually do anything to you, did he?" Neville asked, both with genuine concern and with the intention to direct the conversation back to less embarrassing terrain.

"You mean sex? No. Mr Ollivander said if he laid a hand on me, he'd never cooperate with them no matter what they did to him. He did end up casting some very ugly curses on me, but it didn't do any good. You see, I didn't have any of the information that they wanted, and they didn't seem very interested in finding out how to brew Gurdyroot tea," Luna reported with some regret.

Neville stared at Luna in horror, forgetting for the moment that she was in his bed, naked, and that they had just been discussing having sex. He'd never quite found out exactly what had gone on with her during her captivity. He had somehow assumed it wasn't much more than her being locked up in a room somewhere with not much to eat. But if they had taken her and tortured her for information… At least here at Hogwarts, they had had each other, and hiding places, when worst had come to worst. "That's terrible, Luna!"

"I know. It's very effective against insecurity and foot odor. Nearly everyone at the Manor could have used a good strong cuppa."

Neville shook his head. Sometimes it was really very frustrating talking to her. "No, that's not what I mean. I mean how they treated you! I wish I'd been there," he avowed.

"They would only have cursed you as well," Luna replied gently. "It wasn't really any worse than being here with Snape and the Carrows," she said, apparently in an effort to appease him. "And if you'd been in the Malfoys' dungeon, you wouldn't have been able to start up the D.A. again, and things might have gone much differently yesterday. You were needed here, Neville."

Neville was stunned by the fact that even though she had gone through hell over the past few months, she wasn't lamenting her own fate, but was trying to make him feel better about what had happened to her. "I suppose it doesn't do any good to think what if," he agreed. "I'm just glad that Harry got you out of there when he did." And he was. To think what else might have happened!

"Well, technically, it was Dobby who got us out," Luna said. "And then they killed him," she added, more quietly.

Neville's heart contracted at that. Dobby the house-elf. He had truly given his life to save them. He had given more than Neville, more even than Harry. "I know," he whispered over the lump that was developing in his throat.

Luna didn't answer for a bit, her eyes downcast. Then she looked back up at Neville, and he could see that they were very wet. "They didn't have to kill him," she said, her voice defiantly steady.

He felt emotion overcoming him as well, but was able to keep himself enough in control to say, "No, they didn't."

"Thinking about it makes me sad," Luna said, and her voice seemed to be getting tighter.

"Me, too."

After a pause that seemed to go on forever, Luna asked, "Do you want to cry?"

He didn't. Not in front of her. He didn't want to cry. He didn't want to, and yet he had to. Not just for Dobby, but for everything that had happened. He shook his head and pressed it against her shoulder. Luna held on to him, not moving and not saying anything. He cried silently, his face buried in Luna's hair, until his nose started to run and he forced himself to stop. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, sitting up and pulling off his shirt over his head so that he could blow his nose on it, not having anything else handy. "Sorry," he said again. He tossed the used shirt onto the floor.

Luna still didn't say anything, just lay there and watched him.

All of a sudden, Neville was terribly sleepy. He flopped back down onto his back and rubbed his hands over his face. "If it's okay with you, I think I'd like to go to sleep now," he said wearily.

"Of course," Luna said. She sat up in order to get out of bed. Neville reached out and gently caught her wrist.

"No. Stay. I'd … I'd like it if you'd just stay."

Luna lay back down again, and Neville arranged the duvet over her, laid one arm over her, and fell almost instantly asleep.

He didn't sleep well. His dreams were vivid and half the time he wasn't sure whether he was really asleep, whether the scenes playing in his mind were truly dreams or just memories or even wishful thinking. He also had a hard time relaxing fully, knowing that Luna was next to him. He tried to keep very still so as not to disturb her. When he awoke and saw from the change in the light that it was morning, his eyes felt like sandpaper, and his body was stiff and sore. His face and head hurt, too, where the burns were. It wasn't unbearable, but it was a constant stinging and prickling. The pain potions they had given him the day before must be wearing off.

He turned his head to see Luna. She appeared to still be sleeping peacefully. Her mouth was slightly open, her face completely relaxed.

He was surprised by the surge of protectiveness he felt then. Would he be feeling this way if she hadn't snuck into his room last night and tried to seduce him? He still wasn't sure exactly what her motives were. Did she think she was in love with him? She had compared him to Harry, or something, said both of them were brave. Was this some kind of groupie-fangirl thing? But then she'd said she didn't want Harry, she wanted him, and had even before he'd become this 'hero', or whatever it was that he had become. It was a strange feeling, to hear a girl say something like that about him. On the one hand, it was flattering, of course, but on the other hand, he had a hard time believing that she really meant him, and not what he had done, or some false image that she might have of him.

But what he had done was him, wasn't it? He did have it in him to do extraordinary things, even if he didn't feel very extraordinary.

He knew that some blokes wouldn't worry about what it all meant. Here was a girl who wanted him. Why shouldn't he take what she was offering? Because she wasn't just a body, she was Luna. His friend. She was his friend. And he was attracted to her. He couldn't deny that. So what was holding him back? They both liked each other. Very much, in fact. Maybe the weird part was, he considered, that they hadn't seen each other for months, and now Luna wanted to skip over most of the usual hand-holding and flirting and make up for lost time, as it were. And why not, after all. She was right: They had waited a long time. He couldn't deny that he'd also thought fondly of Luna during the months of her absence, and more than once replayed that day in the snow in his mind, wondering what might have happened if Hagrid had not gotten to them so quickly, if they'd had to spend the night stranded in the carriage.

But sex… He'd never really thought that far. He wasn't sure he wanted to commit to that. For him, it would have meant a commitment. Even if Luna apparently was much more carefree about such things, he hadn't been raised that way, and despite the maturation he had gone through over the past several months, he didn't feel like a sexual relationship was what he needed right then. Although, the physical temptation was quite powerful.

He'd spent most of the past year fighting and hiding and helping everyone else. He'd learned how to be a leader, how to take advantage of opportunities. And here was one. He wasn't using her under false pretences. It would make both of them happy. Maybe just a little more kissing….

He propped himself up on one elbow to look at her. She looked beautiful, there was no other way of putting it. He leaned down and kissed her gently. She stirred, then blinked her blue eyes open to look right into his.

He smiled. "Good morning."

She stretched, and in doing so inadvertently moved the duvet down, exposing her bare breasts, which Neville did his best not to stare at. They were larger than he'd expected. Or maybe it was just that they were so close to him now. He wondered now if she were nude on the bottom as well. The thought caused his heart rate to increase perceptibly.

"Good morning, Neville," she said cheerfully.

They looked at each other for a few seconds. Neville was overcome by shyness and ducked his head. Now that it was light enough for them to actually see each other, he couldn't quite bring himself to continue where they'd left off the previous night.

Luna seemed to understand, somehow, or else she had her own ideas, for she reached one hand up behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. As soon as he tasted her, all the sensations of the previous night returned, the tingles of excitement in his abdomen and groin, and he was once again surprised that what he felt was more than just a physical reaction. He wanted to be here, with Luna, and he wanted her to want it, too.

When they paused for a breath, Luna put her hand gently onto his cheek and looked with great interest at it. Neville realized she was looking at the burns and his shaved head. She hadn't been able to see him properly the night before. He twisted his face away. She wouldn't want to kiss him, or do anything else with him, now that she could see how awful he looked.

"Did I hurt you?" Luna asked lightly.

"No." He shook his head and ran his hand gingerly over his bare head. "I mean, it hurts anyway, not because of you. They healed the skin, but the nerves are still damaged, I guess. The pain potion they gave me yesterday must have worn off. It's not too bad." He looked at Luna. She didn't look disgusted, or even overly sympathetic. She was just looking at him the way she might look at anyone, waiting for what he might say next. "They said I may never be able to grow a beard," Neville added, feeling like he should supply further information.

"Of course not," Luna replied. "A dearth of beards is one of the signs of the Age of the Carnelian. Do you remember?"

Neville chuckled. "No." Somehow, although had no idea what she was talking about, it made him feel better.

Luna smiled gently. "It's not important." She looked at his bare jaw. "Would you want to cover it up?"

Neville shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it." He touched his chin. The skin felt absolutely smooth. "Does it look very bad?"

Luna shook her head, and he believed her. At least, he believed that she didn't find him monstrous. "It's different, though," she said. "I didn't notice it when I came in last night. It was so dark. I imagine lots of people will look different after yesterday."

"You don't look any different," he said gruffly. "You're still beautiful."

He leaned down to kiss her again, mostly to cover up how awkward he felt right then. It was then that he realized that he didn't have a shirt on any more – he had used it to blow his nose on the night before – and he was startled and stimulated to feel Luna's nipples against the bare skin of his chest. He thought it prudent not to make a big deal about it, and he kissed her some more, but it was really very distracting. He couldn't actually lean against her, because her breasts were in the way and he was afraid of squashing them. That would probably be uncomfortable for her, he figured, and he wanted to make her feel as good as she was making him feel. He tried to support most of his weight on his elbows.

While he was focused on that, Luna slid her arms around him and ran her hands up and down his back. It felt fantastic. Neville shifted a little and felt his arm brush against the side of her breast. They were hard to avoid!

"Sorry," he mumbled against her mouth, placing his arm even further away, which made it awkward and difficult to support his upper body.

Luna stopped kissing him. "Are you trying to avoid touching my breasts, Neville?"

"I… No," he answered, flustered, "I don't know."

"It's okay if you want to touch them. I like to touch them, myself." As if to prove this point, she took one hand off his back and placed it around one breast, caressing it. Neville tried not to watch. It looked very enticing.

"It's okay, I don't need to…" he said politely, all the while imagining what it would feel like.

"I'd like it if you did," Luna encouraged him.

Neville looked her in the eye, to see if she was making fun of him, but she was simply watching him, eyes wide open in anticipation.

He let out a shuddering breath. "Okay." He tentatively put one hand on her chest, then slid it down around the curve of her breast. Her skin was very pale, and he could see the veins under the skin, leading toward the pale pink aureola surrounding the little pink button of a nipple. He'd never actually seen a breast up close like this before. He was mesmerized.

Luna was lying very still, breathing very shallowly. "That's nice," she said, a bit breathlessly.

"Yeah," he answered.

He left his hand there and leaned down to kiss her again, this time caressing her breast gently at the same time. He was fully erect by this point, and angling his hips away from her so that he wouldn't poke her by mistake.

Luna pulled him closer to her, her kisses becoming more insistent and intense. Neville rubbed his palm over her nipple, fascinated by the change in texture. In response, Luna arched into him and made a satisfied little sound in her throat. This gave Neville a little thrill. He was actually making her feel good! Maybe even as good as he was feeling.

"You feel really good," he whispered against her mouth.

In answer, she ran her hand over his chest and rubbed his nipple with her thumb. Neville twitched, not expecting the little jolt of sexual pleasure it gave him. He'd always just concentrated on stimulating his more obvious sexual organs, when the urge had come over him. He'd never thought that his own male nipples could be a source of pleasure as well.

"That—That feels good, too," he mumbled, wanting to assure her that he liked what she was doing, but at the same time feeling quite awkward about expressing it out loud.

He tried rubbing her nipple again, this time with his thumb. She did the same to him, and he could feel her smiling. "Very good," she sighed, and he wasn't sure if she was agreeing with how it felt, or praising him for figuring it out by himself. He felt rather triumphant himself.

Up until now, they had not been using their tongues to kiss. He'd only ever done it with Hannah once, but she hadn't liked it. He had, both the slick-rough sensation and the slight naughtiness, but he hadn't insisted. Now, emboldened by his first successes, he put his mouth on hers and gave her lip a little lick. Luna seemed to understand, and reached out her tongue to meet his. It felt strange, both soft and hard at the same time, but he liked tasting her and it made him want to get inside her more. It was much more intimate than their kissing up until then had been, but at the same time it slowed their pace down a bit, as they took time to explore what they could do and what felt good.

All of a sudden, the thought came to Neville of where she had gotten her experience from up to that point, but then quickly decided he was probably better off not knowing. He found he was not at all interested in imagining Luna doing this with Harry or … well, anyone else.

His arm was now getting tired from propping himself up, so he lay down again on his side, pulling Luna over so that she was facing him. He looked at her face now; her lips were bright pink and slightly swollen, and he found it incredibly sexy. She was smiling, her eyebrows quirked up almost to points, as if to ask, what now?

Neville didn't really know what he wanted now. It was all so much, all at once. His erection was throbbing, asking to be taken care of, but still wasn't comfortable with the idea of intercourse, and despite her earlier talk of masturbation, he was too shy to take himself in hand with her there. It would also be awkward to just kind of stop there and leave her while he went under the shower. Not to mention frustrating.

As if she understood his indecision, or maybe she was just impatient, Luna put one hand on his chest and caressed him the way she'd found he liked, while kissing his chin and neck, nuzzling up against him and discovering new ways of pleasuring him. All of Neville's doubts seeped out of his brain, along with most of the blood. Luna hooked her leg up and over his hip now, pulling her pelvis right up against his. Neville groaned involuntarily with pleasure at the contact, even if he was still wearing his pajama bottoms. He put his arm around her and tried to pull her even closer, finding her mouth with his and kissing her eagerly.

He slid his hand down her back and over her bare buttocks, then down and around to her thigh, aware of how close he was to touching her there, but purposely avoiding it, and pulled her leg up higher on his hip. It was all he could do not to thrust against her. The muscles of his thighs were hard from the tension as well. They were both breathing heavily now, and Neville was afraid Luna could tell how nervous he was by how hard his heart was beating.

But if she could, she gave no sign of it. She seemed to take his moving her leg as an invitation, and she continued the motion, pulling herself up on top of him and forcing him over onto his back. She was now leaning over him - sitting on him, really - her upper body bent down so that her breasts were resting on his chest. His cloth-covered erection was nestled between her buttocks, which felt amazingly intimate, but at the same time, he hoped she hadn't noticed it… although he could hardly imagine how she couldn't have.

She smiled at him and sat up slowly, so that he got a good look at her. The sunlight was now streaming in through the uncovered window (Neville would estimate it was about eight o'clock), and every nuance and curve was presented in full view before him. It was now that he appreciated for the first time that he had a fully grown woman here sitting on top of him, and not just a friend who was a girl. It was very weird, and he didn't feel completely comfortable with it. Although his body was clearly mature, he didn't feel grown-up, himself. He still felt very much like the boy who'd blown up his cauldrons and ended up hanging upside-down from a broom his first year. It was true, however, that that was the same boy who had stepped in to lead the students when no one else had wanted to. Surely that was a grown-up thing to have done.

Luna's long, blonde hair was messy and tangled and fell down far below her shoulders, and in fact right at that moment she reached both arms up to pull it all back behind her and twist it up somehow into a loose knot. In doing so, she caused her skin to be pulled taut over her ribcage and the gentle roundness of her stomach, and Neville couldn't help but put his hands on her waist and feel the satisfying firmness of her hips. And there, just below his hands, was the triangle of light hair, which he tried very hard to avoid looking at. But if he didn't look there, then the next stop up was her breasts, which he also felt it would be rude to stare at (even if they were really very lovely). However, Luna seemed to have no qualms about being completely naked in front of him. And she had said that she had come here so that he could see her naked. It might also be rude, he considered, not to oblige her by looking.

"There, that's better," said Luna, once she was finished with her hair. She ran her hands down his bare chest, and Neville shivered with pleasure.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Better."

Luna happily bent over again, and he met her tongue with his and slid into her warm, delicious mouth. He was so engrossed by the kiss that he didn't notice at first that she had begun to move her hips, but she had, back and forth, rubbing herself over his rigid length. This only excited him further, both the friction itself and the knowledge that she was doing it, and he put his hands back on her hips, both feeling and guiding her motion.

"Do you like that, Neville?" Luna whispered, her lips hovering just over his so that he could feel her breath tickling his skin. She didn't say it in a seductive manner, but rather as if she were genuinely checking to see if it were good for him.

"Oh God yes," he answered, closing his eyes. He wanted her to go faster, but if she did, he would explode, and while it would feel very good for that to happen, it would also be very embarrassing, and so he didn't know what to do, other than to try and hold on and hope that this could just go on forever.

It couldn't, though, more's the pity, and try as he might, Neville couldn't stop the tension building in him with every stroke Luna made, until he was finally forced to squeeze her hips and hold them still.

"Stop, Luna," he said hoarsely, his eyes still closed. He was afraid if he opened them, and saw her sitting there in all her glory, it would cause him to lose the fragile grip he had on his control.

"What is it?" she asked.

Neville shook his head. "That feels too good." Every impulse in him urged him to go on and let things come to their natural conclusion, but now he realized just what that would mean, and he didn't want to do it with Luna there. Maybe she would be disgusted… Maybe she didn't even know what would happen … although he had to assume she did, and from the way she handled herself, it was more than likely that she'd been in exactly this position before.

"It feels good to me, too," Luna reassured him.

"But it feels too good," he repeated. "If you keep going, I might – you know, not be able to stop."

"That's okay," Luna said, and he could feel her lips just barely brushing his. "You don't have to stop."

Neville felt it was safe to at least open his eyes now. Luna lifted her head just a bit so that she could focus on him; several tendrils of wispy blond hair had come loose and were floating fetchingly about her head. He reached up to tuck one tenderly back behind her ear. "But if I keep going, then it will all be over, and I don't want it to be over just yet. Just… wait a bit, all right? Let me catch my breath." He closed his eyes again, enjoying the ebbing sensations.

"All right," she agreed. "Maybe in the meantime, you could touch my breasts again. Look, I'll show you."

Neville felt her sit upright again and shift her weight slightly forward, giving his most tender region some breathing space. His eyes snapped open at her words, and he was rewarded with the sight of Luna cupping both of her copious breasts in her hands in such a way that she was able to hold her nipples between her thumb and forefingers, alternately pinching and rolling them. The tip of her tongue was protruding between her lips, and she seemed to be very concentrated. Neville felt himself twitch in response. It looked like it must hurt - she even seemed to be pulling on her nipples, stretching them outward – but far from pain, there was a look of complete contentment on her face.

After a minute, she picked up one of his hands and put it on her breast. He tried to imitate what she had been doing, but he didn't want to hurt her.

"A little harder," she encouraged him in a breathy voice.

Neville tried to accommodate her by squeezing more firmly and pulling a little, the way she had done. He concentrated on watching her face, finding that he could tell by her expression when he got it just right. She sighed a little and leaned down so that he could reach better. Just as he was beginning to feel more confident—

The door opened and Seamus Finnigan's shaggy head poked in. Neville normally slept with the curtains drawn, but last night he hadn't bothered closing them, thinking that he would be alone in the dorm room. Seamus' eyes became wide when he caught sight of Neville and Luna. Neville snatched his hand away from her breast in a state of panic. Should he pull the covers over them? Toss Luna off onto the floor and try to make it look like he was alone? But it was obviously too late for all of that. A huge grin found its way onto Seamus' face

"Damn, Neville!" he swore in awe.

"Hello, Seamus," Luna greeted him in a friendly manner, sitting back on Neville and turning so that Seamus got a good view of her body.

Neville mumbled something unintelligible and wished he could turn invisible. His erection rapidly turned cold.

"Uh… hi, Luna," Seamus responded, not even making an attempt to look at her face. "I, er… McGonagall sent me up to check up on you, Neville." He couldn't seem to stop smiling. "I guess you're doing fine."

"Yes, we're fine," Luna answered. "Thank you so much for checking." She turned to Neville. "Would you like him to join us?" she asked politely.

Neville stared at Luna in horror and slowly shook his head.

"I wasn't sure, you being roommates and all," she replied cheerfully. "I'd rather just be with you, anyway, so that's all right, then." She turned back to Seamus. "I'm sorry, Seamus. Did Professor McGongall need us for anything in particular?"

"No, just wanted to make sure Neville there didn't bite the grass during the night or something."

"Oh. Well then, you can tell her that Neville is alive and that he'll be down in a little while. All right?" She looked questioningly at Neville.

"Yeah," he whispered, beyond embarrassment.

"No problem!" Seamus said. "Well, cheers, mate! Carry on."

"Bye," Neville replied weakly as Seamus closed the door.

"That was nice of them to be concerned about you," Luna said.

"Yeah," Neville said automatically, although if he'd taken the time to think about it, he would have wished that they'd been a little less concerned… or later.

"Now then, where were we?" Luna asked. "I think right about here…" She leaned over and kissed Neville again, this time slipping her hand down to feel his pyjamas. Neville gasped and pulled his knees up in reflex. What was she doing? Did she really want to continue? He for one was feeling completely unsexy after that interruption.

"It feels like you've softened up a bit," Luna determined. "Would you like me to rub against you again?"

"I—don't know," Neville stammered.

"You seemed to enjoy it quite a bit before. I know I did. Don't worry about Seamus," she said as she began sliding very slowly and deliberately against him. "I don't think he was very put out."

'That's not what I'm worried about,' Neville thought. He fleetingly considered finding some way to prevent them being interrupted again (the dormitory doors actually did not have locks), or maybe break the tryst off altogether before Seamus got it into his mind to send some more peeping Toms up. But he didn't spend very long dwelling on it, as Luna was right: What she had been doing, and was doing, was definitely very pleasurable, and the blood was rapidly returning to take up its previous position.

As he felt that happening, he remembered that Luna liked him to touch her breasts, so he reached up with both hands and did just that. She rewarded him with a grateful smile. "Thank you. You're getting very good at that," she praised him.

She swept her pubic bone along his length, and he involuntarily raised his hips up to increase the pressure. He felt an instinct inside him yearning to bury himself in her. It felt so good, but he didn't know how to ask her for it. If he hadn't had his pajama bottoms on, he would probably have just slid into her, his previous worries about whether he was ready for sex or what it might mean for their relationship completely overridden by the hormones coursing through his system.

He concentrated instead on matching her rhythm, rising up when she slid down. It was hard to keep that up and keep his fingers moving on her breasts at the same time, but he wanted to keep going. This whole morning seemed like a dream now, and he was anxious to find out how it would end. In addition, in the back of his mind, he felt the specter of Seamus' interruption, which served to increase his urgency before it was repeated.

Finally, when he was fully erect again and his arms were getting tired, he gave up trying to coordinate both hands, and dropped one to her hips, where he could help control her pace and pressure. He found her stimulation somewhat awkward and slow, to tell the truth; he was used to his own agile hand, able to pull and squeeze and adjust quickly to apply varying pressures and speeds. Nonetheless, it was a heady feeling, having a girl – a woman – riding him like that, and he would never say that he wasn't enjoying it.

His pajama bottoms were becoming noticeably damp now just where Luna was sitting, and he hoped it wasn't from him, but then that meant that it must be from her, which, honestly, wasn't any better. He tried not to think about it too much, which was easy enough, as there were many other interesting distractions. Luna was making little panting and squeaking sounds, and he caught himself letting a moan or two escape as well. It felt so good…. He didn't want to yet, but he could feel the inexorable pressure building. He tried to relax and not push so hard on Luna's hips, but she was rubbing harder now of her own accord, seeming to focus on one spot; her mouth was hot, her tongue pressed against his, and he felt the wave rising up in him. Panicking – now that it was imminent, he didn't want to have an orgasm with her there, it was too embarrassing – he snatched his hands away from her.

"Luna, I can't—" he tried to say, but she covered his mouth with hers, insisted: "Don't stop, Neville!" and as she ground hard against him, he realized then that she was about to have an orgasm herself, and then she gasped a couple of times and made a little squeal in the back of her throat, and he saw that her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and just that knowledge, knowing that she was coming on him, was enough to make the wave break in him as well, and he knew there was nothing more he could do but ride it out, so he grabbed her hips again and lifted up against her, thrusting a couple of times in rhythm with the pulses in his groin.

Oh, God. He'd done it. Well, mostly Luna had done it to him. He'd actually come with someone else there. "Oh God," he groaned out loud, both mortified and exhausted. But Luna was laughing, happy, was kissing him, peppering his poor, raw face with kisses.

"Oh, Neville," she said in delight. "That was so much fun! Did you see the Jollipers? I think I might have, but they flew away so quickly."

Neville had no idea what she was talking about, but she didn't seem to expect an answer, which was just as well, because all he could think about was that the state of his pants. He hoped she didn't notice.

Luna rolled off him and lay on her back next to him, sighing with contentment. "I can see now why people like to do it together. I always thought there wouldn't be any difference between an orgasm alone and with someone, but it is different. I'm glad we tried it." She reached out to squeeze his hand. "Where's your bathroom?" she asked suddenly, getting up and looking around the room. She pointed toward a door, not the one Seamus had come in by, and raised her eyebrows, questioning.

"Yeah, that's it." Neville nodded, pulling the cover up over himself. She did have an amazing body, if a bit on the thin side. He had to admit, he did like looking at her, but it made him feel slightly uncomfortable to have her walking around naked in broad daylight. Anyone could come in!

She disappeared into the bathroom, but left the door open. In a moment, he could hear her on the toilet.

As soon as he was sure she would be occupied for a few seconds, he whipped off his pants, wiped up the worst of it, grabbed his wand from the nightstand, whispered, "Accio trousers!" and was just sitting on the edge of the bed, buttoning them up, when Luna returned.

"Do you think they're serving breakfast?" Luna wondered aloud. "Technically, the school year isn't over yet. Although the house-elves may not be working without a Headmaster to tell them what to do. Are you going to go home today?" She came over to stand in front of Neville, still naked. He in the meantime had finished with his trousers (although without underpants). It was not a very pleasant feeling, but he couldn't very well shower with her still there.

"I don't know," he said, trying to focus on her face and ignore her breasts hanging there in front of him. It would be so easy to reach out and put his hand on her waist, pull her towards him… They would be at exactly the same level with his mouth… He also noticed that the hair between her legs was darker than the hair on her head, although still blonde, and that it seemed to be cut short. Or maybe that's just as long as it grew on girls. He caught himself and swatted such thoughts away. He was turning into a pervert!

What had she asked again? Oh, about going home. He supposed he couldn't put it off indefinitely. They were probably going to send everyone home today who was well enough to travel.

"I guess I will," he said glumly. "Nothing else to do here, is there."

"That's a shame. I would have liked to have some more sex with you. Not that we actually had intercourse, but I think it's a good idea for us to go slow."

Neville tried to see if Luna was joking, because that certainly hadn't felt like going slow to him, but she seemed utterly sincere, as always.

Luna put her hand on his head, either in a gesture of affection, or maybe just to feel the texture of the shaved skin. Whatever it was, it caused the beginning of a new excitement in Neville's stomach. Or maybe it was just the after-shocks of the last one. All of a sudden, he felt the need to get away.

He stood up abruptly, nearly bumping into her.

"I'll just… go take a quick shower, then," he said and walked around her, trying not to touch her

"Oh, that's a good idea. I feel a bit sticky. Shall I join you?"

Neville hadn't expected her to say that (although he should know by now that everything Luna did and said was unexpected), but in any case, he was definitely not up for a joint shower quite yet. Luckily, the bathroom had multiple showers and toilets, so he was able to offer, as a second-best option, "You can use the other stall if you want. I'll give you a towel." This did mean that he would have to shower in the same room as her, but at least he would have his privacy.

"Oh, I don't need one," she said breezily, trailing after him.

Neville didn't question her, presuming it was another one of her odd ideas about water not being wet or something.

He walked into the shower stall with his trousers on so that he wouldn't have to get undressed in front of her, and only removed them once he had firmly shut the curtain. He tossed them over the rod, then turned on the water. He could hear Luna doing the same in the next stall.

She called something over to him, but he half-pretended not to hear with his head under the water. He was actually racking his brain over how to get dressed without having her watch. He might have to resort to Summoning his clothes into the toilet stall.

He had very nearly decided to do just that, when he took stock and realized that he was being absolutely ridiculous. He had just shared a very intimate moment with Luna. She had already seen him half-naked, and hadn't said anything unfriendly or even critical.

She certainly wasn't going to laugh at him or think any less of him if she saw the rest of his body. He had always been self-conscious of his soft belly and thick thighs, but it was true, he considered now, as he soaped up, that he had lost a good deal of weight during the weeks he had spent in hiding.

Aside from that, nudity didn't seem to be anything extraordinary to Luna Lovegood. He recalled the story she had told him about being stripped nude and left in the courtyard by Crabbe and Goyle, and the only thing that she had complained about was that it had been cold.

It was decided, then. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by a girl – woman, he corrected himself. He had killed one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, for crying out loud.

Luna had finished her shower before him, and when he came out of the bathroom with only his towel wrapped around him, he found her standing in front of his mirror, applying a drying charm to her hair with her wand; the same one she had used to dry her hair back in December, in fact. He wondered where she had been hiding her wand; he certainly hadn't seen her holding it before. Luna saw his reflection and smiled at him in the mirror, humming a little tuneless melody to herself.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked, shivering himself a bit as the air hit his damp skin.

Luna shook her head. "No."

Neville nodded and went to his wardrobe, took out fresh clothes, and, keeping his back to Luna, dropped his towel. His fingers were shaky, but he managed to get his underpants and trousers on before he heard Luna announce, "I think I've just understood why people wear clothes all the time."

"Huh?" Neville turned around, his shirt in his hand.

Luna let her gaze linger over his bare chest and down past his stomach, making him check to see that he was buttoned up. "But you knew it, didn't you," she said. "That's why you've been trying to cover yourself up."

Neville felt his face flushing. "I haven't—" he began to protest, embarrassed at being caught doing exactly that.

"I've always wondered," Luna said, staring dreamily at Neville's groin, "why we have to wear all those clothes when it's hot, or when we go swimming, or any time when it would be more comfortable to go without. I've seen lots of girls without clothes, of course, and while I find some of their bodies interesting or even beautiful, it never had an effect on me. But standing here, watching you get dressed," she went on in a misty tone, her head cocked to one side, "I found myself completely forgetting what I was doing. I wanted to kiss you and touch you again. You have a very attractive body, you know. I don't think I could ever get tired of feeling it. And I want to know what your penis looks like, and touch it, too. I keep thinking of how pleasurable that would be for both of us."

Neville's mouth was dry and his heart was pounding. He had absolutely no idea how to respond to that.

"And so I realized," Luna continued in a matter-of-fact way, now turning back to the mirror to admire her own body, "that if everyone walked around naked all the time, that's all that anyone would ever think about. No one would ever get any work done. And so clothing is a very sensible thing for many occasions." Thus having made her pronouncement, Luna bent over and picked up her own clothing, which Neville hadn't noticed was lying on the floor nearby.

"I'm sorry if I've been distracting you terribly, Neville. It was thoughtless of me." She began putting her things on.

"No… No problem," Neville managed to respond and began buttoning up his own shirt. "I like your body, too," he added, shyly, without looking up at her.

Luna smiled. "It is nice, isn't it?" She smoothed her hand over her stomach and shot herself a sidelong glance in the mirror. "I'm quite happy with it myself. Some people don't like their bodies or think certain parts of them are too fat and try to apply reducing charms. It seems like an awful lot of trouble to get a body you don't like."

Luna buttoned up her robe and came over to Neville. "I've learned something else today," she said with a smile. "It's even better if someone else likes your body, too, and you can share it together. Ready for breakfast?"

Neville nodded, although he was very apprehensive about what reception might be awaiting them. Seamus wasn't going to let it go. But then, he reminded himself, straightening his back, he didn't have anything to be ashamed of. Luna certainly wasn't ashamed of what they'd done, or of him. It had been natural, and good. As they went out the door, Luna slipped her hand into his. Whatever they were walking into, they'd be together.