Entry tags:

complete, luna, neville

He used his body just like a bandage
Characters: Luna and Neville
Summary: In times of sorrow...
Note: Due to a series of technical difficulties this scene has been posted late. This took place shortly after the residents of Haven's Loft got the news.


"Now, you see Gawain, you charm the blocks sticky like this, and then you stack them like that, and when they fall over, they make a pretty arch like a rainbow!" A rapping on the doorframe interrupted Gawain's concentrated effort to achieve the same results.

"I hope you don't mind that we let ourselves in," Pandora said, peeking into the doorway.

"Nana!" Gawain shrieked, followed by, "Nanana!" when Augusta entered the room in a much more dignified fashion.

"I'm here to kidnap you for the day, and Augusta is here to kidnap your kids for the day," Pandora added brightly.

Luna looked between the two older women. She knew when there was no point protesting something. "Well, then. Just let me jot a note for Neville first." She summoned a sheet of parchment and her quill.

"Nana loves you both," Pandora said, kissing each of the twins in turn, before Augusta lifted one child in each arm and headed down the stairs.

She does that on purpose, just to prove she can, Luna thought with a mental headshake as she finished the note. "The two of you ganging up together? Dad doesn't project the end of the world for at least another twenty years, you realize."

"Now, now, I just wanted to have my daughter to myself for a day, is that such an evil plot?" Pandora linked her arm with Luna's and marched her down to the fireplace before she could so much as consider the possible answers to that question.

It was the sort of day Luna had daydreamed up when she was younger. They giggled over the animals in Magical Menagerie, covertly ogled the Quidditch players in ads and flyers under the guise of window shopping (fortunately Ronald wasn't in any of them, as that would have made for an awkward conversation), and dissected a stack of books from each of their expertises together. The thread of conversation throughout wasn't exactly as Luna had imagined it, seeing as Neville was no longer the boy she'd taken a hopeless fancy to and her mum was helping with The Quibbler for the time being instead of experimenting with new spells, but it was close enough that Luna realized how much she'd ached for those daydreams to be real.

As with any good outing, they wound up at Fortescue's, demolishing large bowls of ice cream. Pandora finally put her spoon down with a sigh. "I've got to be going now."

"All right. I'll see you soon."

Pandora shook her head. "I rather hope not. I've got to be going now." She covered one of Luna's hands with hers. "Belief is a powerful force, even moreso than magic itself. Never forget that, Luna. Sometimes it's strong enough to bring about things it really shouldn't. But in the end, it's not strong enough to keep them that way forever. Nothing is. Fate is a self-correcting entity."

"Mum.... " Luna whispered, fear clenching her stomach and tingling at the back of her neck.

"I think, when things started thinning and twisting, that the two of you brought me back, but I can feel myself drawing back to where I'm supposed to be. I'm glad we could have this time together, but time is something I don't have much more of, here, and I want to spend the rest of it with your father. He doesn't have anyone else, just his work, especially now that you have a family of your own. You understand, I'm sure." Pandora stood and opened her arms for a hug and Luna clung to her desperately for a moment, swallowing thickly.

She felt like she ought to be telling her mother that she understood and that it would be all right, but all that came out as she stepped back was, "I love you, Mum."

"And I love you more." Pandora winked and kissed Luna's cheek. "See you on the other side, Luna-love."

"See you on the other side," Luna echoed. She forced herself to wait until her mother disappeared before making her way to Floo home herself.

***

Neville forced himself to stop pacing and drew in a few calming breaths. He had hoped that his anger would have faded by now, but it had been coming in waves ever since he had read about Barty Crouch's return to the land of the living. The only thing that had kept the lid on his rage when he had first read the article in the newspaper had been the fact that Crouch was behind bars, and he had still had to storm off and break a flowerpot in the privacy of his office.

He had thought he had got himself under control after that, but Faelan's sudden disappearance from work today had left him with too much time on his own to stew over the continuing articles about the returned Death Eater. He had even gone so far that afternoon - when he had sent off Elizabeth with a concerned note to Faelan - to worry that Faelan was currently being tortured by Crouch, which was ridiculous as the papers were still adamant that Crouch was safely behind bars.

Throwing himself on the sofa, Neville wondered why Crouch in particular had upset him. While he would always have a special hatred for Bellatrix Lestrange, it had only been in the time during the war when he had faced her head on that he had felt this kind of anger. Perhaps it was because she had always been the known enemy. He had known when she had escaped from Azkaban, he had known it was her when he had faced her at the Department of Mysteries and on the battlefield.

Crouch had always been the unknown: the young man in his Gran's paper clippings who had looked too innocent to be one of his parents' attackers; the teacher who had talked with him over tea and given him books on Herbology. Neville had been sick for a lot of the summer after his fourth year at school, unable to deal with the fact that Moody had actually been Crouch in disguise, and he felt the nausea rush up again when he remembered the class in which Crouch had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse.

Pushing up from the sofa, Neville rushed to the kitchen, hanging over the sink for a few uncertain moments before finally pouring himself a glass of water. Glad that his Gran had taken the twins for the day, Neville closed his eyes and let the peace of the house soothe him. He was just wishing that Luna would come home soon when he heard the whooshing of the floo, and he hurried back into the living room.

Luna stepped through the Floo, disoriented by the fact that everything still looked the way it had when she'd left earlier. The sofa was still slightly askew from where she'd run into it yesterday, a pair of Neville's muddy jeans lay on the floor next to the bathroom door, the owls were still sleeping on their perch in the foyer. She blinked a few times as Neville entered the room, further proof of life continuing to tick on when by rights it ought to have turned upside down, or right side up after turning upside down, or maybe it should just be stuck at a right angle. Then her thoughts came back in line with reality enough to recognize that Neville was there and she needed him. She launched herself into his arms, her face pressed to his chest as the first sob began to rise to her throat.

Completely taken aback by Luna's behaviour, Neville let his instincts take over and he closed his arms around her, bending over slightly so he could press his cheek against her head and croon soothing nonsense in her ear. His anger and sickness were forgotten, over-ridden by his need to protect Luna. Slowly, he coaxed her to move with him towards the sofa, sitting down and pulling her with him so she was sat on his lap, body cradled against his own. After kissing her forehead, he finally asked her what was wrong.

"She's leaving again," Luna said, her breath hitching around the words. "She's leaving again and there's nothing I can do to stop it this time either, and I don't want to understand, I don't want to, but there's nothing I can do to stop that either." She wiped the tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands, trying to get her breathing under control, partially against her will. On the one hand, she wanted to have a petty tantrum -- she'd been tucking away the pain of her mother's death for years now, and while she knew she should be grateful for the extra time and the chance to say goodbye, losing her again felt like being smothered with a pillow full of glass shards. On the other hand, she desperately needed to control something, even if it was only her own breathing. There was nothing she could do about her mum, but she was too important for Luna to let it slide without wanting to fix it.

There was no question who Luna was talking about. Neville could hear the pain in Luna's voice and knew that he and Laurence were the only two people aware of just how much hurt Luna had hidden beneath the seeming calm acceptance of her mother's death. Neville had only recently come to know it himself, and his concerns since Pandora's sudden return were realised in Luna's tears. He held her as she wiped at her face, not knowing what to say and so hoping that his touch said all that was needed. Smoothing some damp strands of hair back from her face, he waited for Luna to either calm down or let herself cry some more.

When it looked like Luna had done with her tears and her breathing sounded calmer, Neville kissed her flushed cheek. "I know it's hard," he murmured. "While you got to speak with her this time, saying goodbye is still difficult. Did she tell you why she has to go? Is it because Harry fixed the veil?"

"She wasn't supposed to come back at all. She... I guess she thinks that Dad and I are so open-minded that we managed to pull her back, when the Veil started to go wrong. Maybe it's part of everything returning to normal, or maybe there was always a limit to how far our belief could stretch her time here, but she says she feels it pulling her back Beyond again. She's not sure how much longer she has, but she wants to spend the rest of that time with Dad. He hasn't got anyone else now, and I have you and the t-twins -- " Luna stopped to swallow a few times. "I can believe in nargles, I can believe in Crumple-horned Snorckacks, I can believe in Heliopaths, but I can't believe in anything enough to keep my mother alive," she finished softly.

Neville felt at a loss, as he usually did in these situations. He knew how much Luna had to be hurting, having felt his own hurt sharply disturbed by the article about Crouch. At least Pandora had the chance to explain to Luna what was happening, he thought. He didn't know if it was really down to Luna's belief of whether it was something that had happened in the Department of Mysteries that was drawing Pandora back, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was Luna.

He stroked Luna's hair again, and let out a long sigh. "Believe in us, then," he told her. "Believe in me and the twins and that no matter what happens we'll always be here for one another - in one form or another: 'But love me for love's sake, that evermore, Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity,'" he quoted, and he raised her hand to kiss the wedding ring which was engraved with one half of those lines.

"I don't have to believe that, I know it," Luna said. "But -- " She stopped, thinking how Neville never got to know his parents, while she had gotten extra months with her mother that she shouldn't have had, by rights. Her children had gotten to meet the grandmother they never should have. She ought to be grateful, not sad, she reminded herself again. She rested her head on Neville's shoulder with a small sigh.

"I just miss Mum already." Her hand tightened on his. "And I love you."

"I know," Neville replied. He kissed her fingers again, and then coaxed her to raise her face by gently lifting her chin. He searched her eyes for a long moment, seeing her heartbreak but also the strength which would get her through this. He dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers, trying to show with a kiss that while she was strong enough to get through this on her own, she could always trust him to support her.

Luna clung to Neville's shoulders as she deepened the kiss, then slid one hand to the nape of his neck, her fingers denting his skin. The last time she had felt this helpless, it had been Neville's life in danger, but in the end, she did keep him alive. She couldn't do anything for her mother, she simply had to breathe it out and let it go, but this precious thing, this she'd saved. She pulled back on that thought, her teeth scraping across his bottom lip. She stared at him for a moment before tilting her head. "I want to fuck you."

The sudden ferocity of Luna's kiss took Neville by surprise, but he gave himself over to it whole-heartedly. This was a part of Luna's strength. As much as he wanted to protect her, she could also make him feel like the one protected, the one desired and held close. It was what made her both unique and his perfect partner. She could satisfy all of him, even the part that was now giving in to her fierce kiss and begging for more. In response to her words he whispered, "Yes. Please."

Luna slid off Neville's lap and onto her feet, and took his hand to pull him up as well. Despite the reestablishment of their height difference, she dragged Neville into another crushing kiss before tugging him up to the bedroom, not speaking again until she shut the door behind them, briefly pinning Neville against it as she did so. "Get undressed," she ordered in a low voice. She stepped backwards to the bed and knelt to rummage underneath for the box with her strap-on in it, but she didn't take her eyes off Neville the whole time.

Neville struggled out of his clothing as quickly as he could, throwing his shirt and socks off and unbuttoning the fly of his jeans. Aware of Luna's gaze on him, he tried to slow his motions to give her something to watch, but it was her stern gaze and the way she had ordered him to strip that had got him this excited. He shoved down his jeans, kicking them impatiently off his legs, and waited for her next order.

Luna's questing hands found the box and knocked the lid aside as Neville stripped. She startled for a moment when her fingertips met slick scales, and her gaze darted toward Herbert's tank, which was predictably empty. Fortunately Neville didn't seem to have noticed either the empty tank or her brief confusion, so she simply patted Herbert on the head and disentangled the harness from his body before removing it and the dildo. Why Herbert wanted to sleep in a dark box was beyond her, but surely he knew what was best for him better than she did, and it wasn't as though he carried anything wizards weren't resistant to.

Her eyes raked up and down Neville's naked form, her fingers tightening in the straps as she did. "Now get on the bed, whatever position you want." She didn't much care how, but her need to be inside felt almost as suffocating as helplessness, and her fingers fumbled with the buckles.

Stretching out on the bed, Neville rolled onto his back. He watched Luna putting on the harness, amazed that something which had scared him the first time around now made his mouth go dry with anticipation. He parted his legs and bent his knees, planting his feet flat on the mattress, and stretched his arms above his head, crossing the wrists as a sign of his submission to Luna. He belonged to her and she would take care of him.

Luna only realized that her tongue was caught between her teeth when she began to cast the lubrication spell and the involuntary tongue movement along with the nonverbal spell scraped. She knelt at the end of the bed, between Neville's legs, and ran her thumbnails up two of the lines of his tattoo, up over his hips and stomach until they circled his navel. Her breath caught as his did. She stretched out over his body to reach for her pillow, sliding her lips along his jaw and nipping his earlobe while she was there.

"Lift up a bit," she said as she settled back to her knees, then arranged the pillow beneath his hips when he did. She couldn't resist licking away the drop of precome that had formed at the tip of his cock, and after a moment's thought, she went down on him as far as she could, wetting it. Her hands trembling in anticipation, she took hold of one of his hips to steady them both, and slowly began to push into his body.

The scrape of Luna's nails made Neville shiver. He pushed his wrists down on the pillow above his head, resisting the urge to touch Luna back. She wanted to be in control this time, and that meant he would wait for permission to touch her. The teasing touch along the lines of his tattoo never failed to excite him, and his cock, half-hard from watching Luna put on the harness, became fully erect. His hips twitched as she stretched out over him and he moved his face to the side, encouraging her light kisses. He sucked in a breath when she nipped at his earlobe, and obediently shifted when instructed to. With the pillow under his hips, Neville let his knees fall further outwards, opening himself up as much as he comfortably could. His sphincter reflexively tightened against the exposure, but his body was quickly persuaded to relax by the ministrations of Luna's mouth.

Luna had already cast the lubrication spell, and it was enough to just ease the way as she began to push inside, leaving Neville to enjoy the sensations of her entering him without further preparation. The burn was replaced by the familiar, enveloping feeling of fullness and Neville tilted his hips, his eyes shutting and his hands pushing against the headboard as he took her in all the way.

Luna stilled, closing her eyes and allowing them both a moment to adjust. Without pulling out any, just slowly rocking her hips, she stretched out over Neville again, propping herself up with one hand while the other wandered from his hip and up his side. She bent to lick his nipple, swirling her tongue around it until the nub hardened and his skin no longer tasted of salt. She targeted his collarbone next, nibbling along it while tweaking his other nipple with her fingers. At the juncture of his shoulder and chest, she bit down harder and sucked, leaving her own mark on him.

Ignoring Neville's squirming for the most part, she did allow her hips to rock faster as she dipped her tongue into the hollow of his throat. She gave his nipple one last pinch before ignoring his silent begging on that front as well, instead brushing his hair out of his eyes with a gentleness that belied her fingers' previous action. "I love you," she murmured, bringing their lips together just as gently while she traced her fingertips up Neville's arm to his crossed wrists, savoring the beat of his pulse there as she twined their tongues. Her movements took the secondhand heartbeat as their metronome, even after she began making the delicate patterns of a hidanleous bumblefly in flight on Neville's palms with her fingernails.

Finally tiring of the teasing, Luna straightened up again, bringing one of Neville's hands with her. Staring into his eyes, she laved the knuckle of his forefinger, then sucked it into her mouth as she pulled out of him halfway and thrust resolutely.

When the ticklish teasing of his skin was changed to the warm, moist suction around his finger, Neville couldn't lie still anymore and he let out a low, choked cry as he rocked up against Luna. He felt her thrust deep inside him, and his other hand left the pillow to grasp at her buttock, holding her against him. "Please," he begged. "Fuck me."

Luna wriggled against Neville's hand on her arse before continuing with slow, measured thrusts. She suckled each of Neville's knuckles in turn, then his fingertips, losing herself in the scent and taste of him. She caressed the lines of his palm with her tongue, dipped it between his fingers, moving his hand to his cock when she was satisfied and wrapping her own hand around his. "Of course," she finally answered, her voice calm as she pulled out until just the head of the dildo remained inside him, then slammed back in.

Neville moaned as Luna wrapped his own hand around his cock, and his thrust up into their twinned grip, the motion rocking him Luna's movements against him. The combination of the the slide of his cock against his moistened palm and the slide of Luna inside him forced another vocalisation from him, and then another. His short, low noises echoed the building rhythm of their thrusts against one another. The hand Neville had placed on Luna's buttock slid up her back, fingers splayed to touch as much of her flesh as he could, encouraging her, thanking her, offering himself.

"Luna," he groaned, as he began reaching his peak. His hand moved faster on his cock and every muscle in his body seemed to be tightening before the release. "Oh, God, Luna!" he shouted, back arching as his climax rushed through him, so intense that it felt like he was being yanked backwards, balls first.

Luna thrust a few more times before her own orgasm hit, with the familiar heady weaving through her veins and an unexpected shock of pain low in her abdomen. The jolt stole what breath she had after the exertion, and she collapsed across Neville, panting into his neck with his pulse hammering beneath her lips.

The heat and weight of Luna's body on top of his own felt amazing, and Neville wrapped his arms securely about her, enjoying the closeness after such amazing sex. Unfortunately, he seemed to have a cramp, and he carefully shifted, reaching down to help slide the still perfectly erect toy out from his body. Lying on his side thankfully relieved the ache low in his torso, and he snuggled against Luna, noticing that she had thoughtfully cast a cleaning charm so he could enjoy her warm skin without having to deal with a cooling wet spot.

"Love you," he told her, picking up a strand of her hair and brushing it over his lips before tickling her shoulder with it.

Luna was dimly aware of working with Neville to ease out of him, but she only regained full awareness at the sound of his voice and the brush of her hair on her shoulder. She must have been terribly out of it, seeing as Neville had already cleaned up the wet spot without her even noticing, though they were still in danger of sticking together with sweat. She didn't mind. "Love you too," she said, caressing his cheek and letting her fingertips hover over his lips where his breath gusted against them. "Thank you."

And then, after all that had happened that day, she rested her head on Neville's bicep and burst out laughing. "That was rather intense. I wonder how long we have before your grandmother brings Gawain and Nimue home."

Neville chuckled. "The way she dotes on them, she'll keep them until we go over there and rescue them. Which would be just enough time for cuddling and a nap?" He punctuated his hopeful words with a peck against her lips.

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Luna rolled away from Neville long enough to unbuckle the harness and shimmy out of it, tossing it beside the bed for the time being, then curled back into his arms. Stress and exertion had done their part to tire her, and the warmth of Neville's embrace finished the job. As she drowsed, she felt a wistful pang, and she knew with sick certainty that her mum was gone. Tears welled up behind her eyelids, but Luna didn't blink them away. She took a deep breath and released it. Goodbye, Mum, she thought, Neville's heartbeat lulling her the rest of the way to sleep.