Luna sighed, smiling. She lifted her hand, and stroked the creature's forehead.
"You're just like me." she whispered. "We're both different from everyone else." She smiled, tucking a strand of curly blonde hair behind her ear. "Yes...thestrals are very gentle, aren't they." she let out a quiet laugh as the baby thestral nuzzled her palm. She let her hand fall as the creature pranced towards it's mother. "You have a mother...that's what's different."
She wouldn't cry this time. She had learned to accept death for what it was. But the scene kept coming back to her, in replay. The spell; the accidental backfire; the helplessness as she watched her mother become one with the stars. And the tears started to fall. It had been six years ago- when she had been nine. And yet it seemed like yesterday. Luna just sat there, on the large rock, oblivious to the sky starting to darken. The nightingales started their chorus of songs, but she didn't hear them. The water continued its gentle rhythm against the shore, but she didn't hear it. All she heard was silence.
"Luna?" said a voice. She turned around, wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her Ravenclaw robes.
"Hello, Neville." she said, trying to block the pain and sadness out of her voice.
He walked towards her, and sat down on the boulder. "You want to talk?"
Luna had always admired Neville; he was one of the few people who talked to her, and the only person who shared her interest in prejudiced creatures such as thestrals.
"No." she replied, shaking her head. "I'm fine now." They sat in silence, comforted by the presence of another person. Luna adjusted her tie, and let her hand fall beside her.
"Luna?" Neville said quietly, turning to face her.
"Yes, Neville?"
He stared at her, hazel- brown eyes meeting silvery- blue. He leaned forward, and briefly kissed her on the cheek. Luna smiled, quickly looking away.
"What was that for?" she asked, her voice taking on a quieter, shy tone. Neville's face reddened.
"I like you, Luna." he said shyly, his Gryffindor courage seeming to fail him when he needed it the most. "That's what it was for."
A firefly hovered in front of her nose, flapping its tiny wings. She lifted her finger, and it settled, blinking its faint yellow light. Soon, tons of fireflies illuminated the clearing where Luna an Neville sat. She looked around, and watched as the forest was soon illuminated with small lights. It reminded Luna of the fairy lights that she had hung in her room. It was...comforting. She looked at the tiny firefly on her finger.
"Here." she said to Neville, moving her hand so that he could take the firefly on to his finger. The little creature fluttered its wings, and landed on Neville's hand. He gave a slight smile, glancing at her.
"You know, there are over 2000 different species of fireflies." he commented, trying to start a conversation.
"How interesting." Luna smiled.
After a few moments, the small creature flew off Neville's hand to the forest. He lowered his hand, and put it down on the rock. He looked down suddenly, feeling a warm hand and a heartbeat instead of cold rock.
"Sorry." he murmured instantly.
"It's okay." Luna said, looking up at him. "I don't mind." Glancing down at Luna's hand, he nervously put his hand down on top of hers. Luna looked down at his hand, and smiled. She didn't move it; she let it stay there, resting on top of hers.
Luna didn't know what she felt; it was like a dream. It was so calming, just being there with him; it was so delicate, like the fluttering of a Flitterby moth's wing. It was so gentle, so serene, so tranquil, and so surreal. If this was a dream, neither of them wanted it to end.
"Neville?" she said quietly, face tinted ever so slightly with pink.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Life's like a firefly." she said suddenly.
Neville looked at her. "What?"
"Yes." she nodded. "Life is like a firefly. One moment , the light can be dark. Another moment, the light can be lit. And fireflies talk to each other, don't you see?"
Neville looked out at the clearing. Yes...they did seem to talk to each other with little flickers of light. "Yeah." he agreed. "It is."
"It reminds me of the fairies that I sometimes see around here. They're perfectly pleasant, as long as you don't comment negatively. They're quite vain little creatures."
"I'm sure they are." Neville said quietly, smiling. He looked at her and Luna looked back, hazel meeting pale blue. They knew what the other was thinking; and so, almost as if they had read the other person's thoughts, they leaned in at the same time. It was short and gentle; but it held so much emotion. They pulled away, both with smile on their faces. They looked back at the fireflies; Luna rested her head on Neville's shoulder, and he smiled. It wasn't every day that something like this happened.