Special delivery for all our lovely pinch hitters! Title: A Couple of Weddings Author: Recipient's LJ name: All our lovely pinch hitters Pairing: Neville/Luna. Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny as background pairings. Rating: NC-17 Summary Neville bumps into Luna at a wedding Word Count: 1600 Warnings/Content: Wall!sex, allusions to shower!sex. Disclaimer: The characters and situations do not belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended. Author Notes: Thank you so much to TC for the beta!
Neville was feeling a little tipsy. He'd had a few too many beers. In his defence, when he'd ordered, he thought that they were Butterbeers, and then he'd been too embarrassed to give the glass of bitter liquid back to the bartender. After the first glass, however, he began to realise that it wasn't so bad after all. It actually tasted quite nice. Not at all like Butterbeer but much nicer than Firewhisky and all the other types of wizarding liquors Neville had tried.
"Don't you think you should go easy on those?" Ron had asked as he danced by with a smiling Hermione. She looked radiant in her white robes. Before Neville could answer, Ron had disappeared into the crowd.
"I'm fine," Neville said. "Completely fine." He stood up to get himself another beer, but the room seemed to be moving so he sat back down again.
"You're drunk."
Neville turned around and saw Luna staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm not," he contradicted.
"There's nothing wrong with being drunk," she said cheerfully. "I'm a little bit drunk myself. It's normal at weddings."
"I suppose," Neville conceded. "I'm still not pished." Oh crap. Had he said pished? "Or maybe I am."
Luna grinned at him. "Doesn't Hermione look beautiful?" she said. "And fortunately, there are no Nargles in sight."
Neville stared. He had never quite understood Luna. She had always exuded a sort of calm confidence that he had always lacked. He suspected that she was just as socially awkward as he was during Hogwarts, but she never seemed bothered by it. While he was less awkward generally now, Neville still found himself intimidated sometimes, especially by pretty women. "Why would there be Nargles?"
"I heard that they were in the area," Luna said solemnly. "I warned Hermione against having her wedding ceremony here because if there were Nargles, then they would have been very disruptive. She just laughed at me. I'm glad I was wrong."
"Oh," Neville said. "That's good." He wasn't sure what else to say but obviously that was the right answer because Luna beamed at him. He felt his stomach clench. This was Luna Lovegood, he told himself. He had known her for years. They were friends. Yet right now, she looked beautiful. Her hair freshly washed and he could smell violets every time she moved her head.
"You look nervous," Luna said, tilting her head to one side. "Is there anything wrong?"
"No, nothing," Neville said hastily. It was just the alcohol, he told himself. Luna was his friend. He didn't think of her like that. He decided he really needed to stick to Butterbeer in the future.
"If you're feeling sick, the bathroom is that way," Luna said helpfully.
Neville pushed his chair back and was glad when the room only tipped slightly. "Thanks," he said. "I think I do need to, uh, go."
Luna nodded solemnly. "Sometimes, when you need to go, you need to go."
Neville could feel his face turning red. "Well then," he said awkwardly. "It was nice bumping into you again."
"It was," Luna said.
-***-
"Neville!"
Neville turned around and saw Luna grinning cheerfully at him. She was holding an oversized box in her hands and there was a slightly wilted flower in her hair. The flower reminded him of how much he had loved Herbology back when they were at Hogwarts. He still kept plants on his window-sill but it wasn't the same thing. "Is that your gift?" he asked, pointing at the box.
She nodded. "I got them a Nargle detector," she said happily. "I thought that Ginny might want one."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," Neville said doubtfully.
Luna smiled at him and he felt his heartbeat speed up. It seemed to be thrumming right in his eardrums. "Thank you," she said. "Everybody else just gave me a puzzled look when I told them."
"It's a very thoughtful gift," Neville said. "Much more unique than mine. I just got them a Muggle toaster."
"That's very useful. Especially if they have electricity," Luna said seriously. "I'm going to put my gift in the pile."
Neville watched her walk off. Damn it, he thought. It wasn't just the alcohol. He couldn't seem to stop looking at her. Sure, she was a bit odd, but that aspect of her personality was endearing. She made sense once you thought about it. He was sure that if Nargles actually existed, then Ginny would very much appreciate a Nargle detector. He sighed and looked at his water.
"No beer this time?"
Neville jumped as Luna seemed to appear at his elbow. She drew up a chair and sat at the table. "No, just water," he said.
"Then would you like to go out for a drink afterwards?" Luna suggested.
Neville blinked. There wasn't a hint of nervousness in her tone. It didn't seem like it was anything other than a friendly offer to an old friend, but his hands began sweating anyway. "Sure," he said nervously. "Do you have anywhere in mind?"
"There's a lovely old pub down the road," Luna said. "It's Muggle, but I know you drink beer."
"That should be good," Neville said. He couldn't help but think his voice sounded almost strangled.
Luna laid a hand on his arm and he shivered. She didn't seem to notice. In fact, Neville realised that she wasn't even looking at him, she was looking over at the happy couple standing at the front, making toasts. "Aren't weddings so colourful?" Luna asked happily.
As Neville looked around slowly, he suddenly noticed the vase of mixed flowers on each table, the robes worn by everybody, and the streamers hanging from the rooftop. "They are," he said, in surprise.
"Come on," Luna said suddenly, turning towards him. "Let's dance." She grabbed his hand and led him out onto the dance floor. Neville briefly considered running away but as he looked around at the other dancing couples, he realised that would be far more obvious than his terrible dancing.
"I'm not very good at this," he confessed.
"Neither am I," Luna said simply as she twirled around. "It's fun anyway."
As Neville watched her happy face, he realised that dancing might be fun. Even if he was awful at it.
-***-
Neville was shocked when Luna kissed him as they walked out of the wedding. It was just a quick peck on the lips, almost a platonic kiss except for the electricity that seemed to tingle in the air. He blinked at her. "That was surprising," he said slowly.
"Didn't you enjoy it?" Luna asked. "I can do it differently, if you'd like."
Neville stared at her. He wasn't sure what to say to that, but it was obvious that Luna took it as assent because she leaned in and kissed him softly and sweetly. He could taste the lemony wedding cake on her lips. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her.
"Better?" Luna asked, pulling back slightly.
"Uh," Neville said. "I think they were both good."
Luna gave him a big smile. "So would you like to come back to my place?"
Neville blinked. "I thought we were going to a pub?" He could have kicked himself as soon as the words came out of his mouth. "Not that I don't want to go to your place," he said quickly. "I mean, not that I think that anything will happen there that won't happen at a pub."
Luna silenced him with a kiss.
-***-
As soon as they were in the door of her place, Luna turned around to face him. "Would you like a beer? Some water?" she asked.
Neville swallowed some of his nervousness. He leaned forward hesitantly and kissed her lightly.
"You're an excellent kisser," she said seriously.
"Thanks," Neville mumbled, feeling his face flush. Her hands were on his chest causing tingles to fly down his spine. He could feel himself hardening underneath his robes and prayed that it wasn't too obvious. He took a tiny step back but found himself pressed up against a wall.
Luna took a step forward. She had a gleam in her eyes as she reached down and deliberately caressed the head of his cock. "I always love this part," she breathed out as she knelt down, pushing his robes aside.
Neville was suddenly glad for fact that wizarding traditions dictated that no underwear be worn under robes. He gasped as he could feel her warm mouth enclose around his cock, her tongue sliding up and down the length. "Oh Merlin," he moaned as she swirled her tongue around the tip.
"Of course," Luna said, as she stood up, "the next part's fun too."
Neville felt like he could barely breathe as she slipped out of her robes. Her nipples formed perfect pink peaks from the cold winter air. Luna reached forward and pinned his hands up over his head against the wall. Neville could feel his mouth form an 'O' of surprise. None of his previous girlfriends had ever done that before but as Luna leaned in to kiss his neck, he realised that he quite liked it.
"You taste like honey," Luna said into his neck. "It's nice."
Fuzzily, Neville remembered that he had used honey-flavoured soap that morning. Luna stepped backwards slightly and let go of his arms. Before Neville knew it, she had spun him around and let him press her up against the wall.
"Better leverage," she explained as she hooked one leg up around his hip. He could feel himself sliding into her as she rocked forward into him.
Neville moaned and let himself go to the sensation as he thrust into her. Her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist and her back pressed up against the wall. She was so very wet. Dimly, Neville realised that he ought to be doing something with his fingers that involved her, but as he tried to do that, Luna simply tightened her legs around him and gasped, "Faster."
He complied.
-***-
Afterwards, Neville lay there on her bed. He glanced over at the open drapes and wondered if he should say something. Then again, when they had moved into the bedroom, Luna hadn't seemed to mind. She had even left her bathroom door open when they ended up in the shower, and her bathroom door faced the open window. He thought he could smell the scent of roses growing in the box on her window-sill but he hadn't got up to check.
He was about to ask when he could see her again, but then he realised he didn't know how to phrase the question. What was the right way to ask? "That was nice," he said awkwardly.
"It was," Luna agreed calmly.
"I'd like to see you again," Neville said softly.
Luna nodded. "As would I. Should we wait until the next wedding or would next week be amenable to you?"
Neville turned over to look at her. "Next week is fine," he said, tracing a finger over her still-naked body.