The cackling of the Carrows was hard to miss. Mandy froze in her footsteps, looking all around her for a place to escape as the voices got nearer. A softer voice cursing behind her made her twirl around, her hand going for her wand.
She needn't have though. It was Neville Longbottom standing beside her, his face tight as he glared at the passageway the Carrow's voices were coming from. His eyes were wide, but he didn't freeze like Mandy had.
"In here," he hissed, tugging a door open along the corridor and ushering Mandy inside.
She didn't have time to think much of it as the Carrows grew closer. What she found inside was a small room that had apparently been used as storage. Stacks of old items filled the small space, much of it covered in a layer of dust.
Neville ignored all of that as he pressed his ear against the door. Mandy kept her eyes on a stack of rusting candlesticks to avoid thinking about how close his body was to hers.
Though they were in the same year, she didn't know Neville Longbottom well. All she knew was that he was kind, and had gone from being a rather scared first year to leading the charge against the Carrows. She was scared of being associated with him as much as she was impressed, but she also couldn't deny how attractive she found him when they were in such an enclosed place.
She could only hope the lack of light disguised her blush.
"They're gone," Neville said over his shoulder, not even really looking at her.
Mandy shifted her weight to her other foot and shook her head as Neville went to open the door.
It didn't move.
"Damn it," Neville said, hitting the door in frustration. "It won't open."
He tugged out his wand, still not having turned around to face her. He cast the unlocking spell, but when he tried again, it remained as immovable as before. Mandy's stomach sunk.
"Can I try?" Mandy asked, though she was well aware that it wouldn't make a difference.
Sure enough, the door remained locked. Neville cursed again, leaning back against an old, empty portrait frame.
"Filch," Neville growled. "This'll be one of his new ways of catching rulebreakers now that the Death Eaters are in charge. I bet no one would even find us for days."
Mandy sucked in a deep breath. Perhaps she would have been better off having to face the Carrows, taking their taunts and escaping, than following Neville Longbottom, who was known to get himself into terrible situations.
"So, we're going to starve," Mandy said, crossing her arms against her chest to appear stern even as the quiver in her voice betrayed her.
"No," Neville snapped, sticking his hand in his pocket and pulling out a coin. "I'm going to have someone come get us. The door can be opened from the outside, so we just need someone to find us."
"That's supposing the door will open once it's trapped someone inside. Filch easily could have made it so that won't happen."
"You're putting too much stock in Filch," Neville said, using the coin to inscribe some strange sort of message before stowing it back in his pocket. "Luckily for us, I don't think he'd have thought to do that."
They fell into silence, Mandy wrapping her arms around her abdomen as the chill of the closet air sunk in. She wanted to stew in silence, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her.
"What was that thing?"
To her annoyance, Neville zeroed in on the way she shivered when she spoke and not the question itself.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she snapped even as a shiver wracked her body.
She didn't handle the cold well. It was a fact all of her friends knew about her. But the walk between Ravenclaw Tower and the library was meant to be a short one, and she hadn't thought to bring a cloak. She wouldn't make that mistake again.
Neville was standing close enough that she could feel some of his body heat, and she thought with annoyance that he must have been particularly warm blooded. She envied him.
"I don't have a cloak," Neville commented, looking down at himself as if he'd discover one he hadn't realized he was wearing. He hesitated for a moment before suggesting, "We could huddle together for warmth if you wanted."
Her face betrayed her shock at the suggestion, and even in the dim light, she could see Neville's embarrassment in the way he looked away and began twitching.
"Maybe that was a stupid idea," he said. "Ignore it. It's just, I kind of got you stuck in her, and you're shaking so badly that I can seriously feel it right now."
She was. Now that the shivering had started, it seemed that she couldn't quite stop it, much to her chagrin.
"We never speak of this once we get out of this closet," she said, taking a step closer. "No one knows."
She wasn't sure why she was so adamant about that rule other than the fear of the Carrows linking her back to Neville. He swallowed as he wrapped his arms around her, and Mandy realized that she might have been the first girl he'd ever really touched, even if it was nothing but innocent. She swallowed at the thought, struggling to keep her thoughts far away from anything that would have been embarrassing to voice out loud.
Being pressed against Neville was much warmer than standing in the closet on her own. She couldn't stop herself from sinking deeper into the embrace. After several minutes, she went as far as the press her cheek against his chest, her heart racing as she felt his muscles flex at the contact.
While she'd always thought of Neville as skinny, she realized with their proximity that he'd filled out a bit over the years. He still wasn't muscular, but she could feel the muscles in his abdomen tighten as she pressed against him, and it was impossible to ignore. She struggled to keep her breathing even so as not to make him think she was thinking anything untoward.
Part of her wanted to see if he'd be willing to take it further, even if it was just to pass the time they spent locked up together, but she kept repeating her mantra of how dangerous it was to get close to a member of the DA. Not to mention that Neville expected them to be found at any moment, and though Mandy was sceptical, she had no desire to start rumours no matter who they were with.
Just as she was about to give in and say something to Neville, the door swung open, and they were met with the sight of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. Mandy sprung away from Neville, smoothing the front of her robes.
Ginny raised an eyebrow at her, her lips already turned up in a smirk, but Mandy ignored her, choosing to look at Luna who was smiling but in a way that made it seem downright normal to find Neville and Mandy wrapped in each other's arms in a closet.
"Thanks," Neville said, his eyes on the floor. "Knew I could count on you guys."
"Obviously," Ginny said with a snort. "Though perhaps we should have let you stay in their a few minutes longer."
"I was cold," Mandy replied shortly. "It was freezing in there."
"Uh huh," Ginny said with a slight laugh. "It's not as if it's actually my business anyway."
"It's not," Mandy said with a cluck of her tongue. "Now, I need to be going. I have homework to do."
As she went, she could hear Neville insisting that nothing had happened between them, and for reasons she somewhat hated herself for, she couldn't help but grin.
Prompts:
Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments
Advent Calendar: huddling together for warmth
Seasonal Challenge - Ravenclaw Themed Prompts: Mandy Brocklehurst
Word count: 1,324