Mad For Her (A Nuna Fanfiction)

Daisies

Neville took the fistful of starch-white daisies he had collected in his dress-shirt pocket. Ginny had informed him that those were Luna’s favorite flower. It seemed almost bizarre to Neville; of all the magical flowers with amazing properties and vibrant colors, she chooses the plain-jane-daisy (try saying that three times fast) as her favorite. But it was Luna we’re talking about, who was far from normal.

Neville flattened his hair once more before exiting his dormitory, where Harry was still getting ready. He had to leave far earlier than Harry because Professor Slughorn claimed that there was a special technique to serving, and that he had to come extra early to perfect his skills. Personally, Neville thought it was a load of crap.

He made sure to say goodbye to Ginny, and thank her for the tip-off on the daisies.

“Don't mess it up,” Ginny told him sternly. Neville tried to laugh to cover up his sudden uneasiness, but it came out sounded like a wounded kitten.

Ginny’s face softened. “You’ll do fine,” she said, straightening out the collar of his dress shirt. “You like her, she likes you, so what's the worst that could happen?” Neville’s mind swarmed with all of the possibilities. 

“O-okay. Bye, Ginny.”

“Bye.” She gave him a small, reassuring smile before waving him off towards the exit.

“Ah, Neville! Just the man I wanted to see,” Slughorn exclaimed as Neville stepped walked in with an over-the-top, almost fake cheeriness. “Don't you look dashing this evening! The flowers give it a nice touch,” He handed Neville a silver platter with assorted treats.

“Now let’s get down to business. Hold the platter in your right hand and put your feet shoulders width apart- and do mind your posture, Neville- good.” As he went on with his instructions (with more scrutiny and petty details), Neville felt awkward under examination and began to squirm under pressure. Slughorn had turned a once thought to be simple task into an overbearing challenge. And how was he supposed to converse with Luna on top of all of his responsibilities?

“Uh, Professor?” Neville asked, interrupting Slughorn’s carefully thought out training methods. “What happened to all the other servers?”

“I'm afraid it's just you tonight, Neville. All of the others mysteriously got sick and couldn't make it. Pity,” Slughorn said, shaking his head. Neville nearly laughed, knowing that they were not sick at all, but were looking for an easy way out of the embarrassment of being a waiter. He couldn't blame them.

“So you’ll have to work extra hard tonight.” Neville groaned internally, wishing he'd been sick. But before he could even finish his own thought, he scolded himself. He looked down at the daisies that remained untouched in his shirt pocket to remind himself why he was there.

Fast forward about an hour, and Neville was helping Slughorn do last minute touches as the first flow of people began to arrive. He tried to focus on the task at hand, but couldn't help but watch the door, waiting for a familiar, dotty blonde to show her beautiful face.

Luna was nowhere to be seen for the first half hour of the party, much to Neville’s disappointment. Then, Neville watched as all eyes shifted towards the entrance. He followed their gaze; there she was.