House : Slytherin
Year : Prefect
Prompt : Kappa
Category : Drabble
Word Count : 1044
Neville was tired, frustrated and slightly peeved. He wanted a break; that's all he wanted when he left Britain.
After the war he couldn't stomach the aftermath. He fought in it, watched his friends die, but staying after to acknowledge it was not something he could do.
He was brave when he needed to be, but he accepted the fact that he was Gryffindor's number one cowardly lion. His cowardice knew no bounds. He didn't even think twice about running away from all those grieving, the very same people whom he grew up with, and together they would find a way to get through the pain and be okay.
He never was one to do things like any normal Gryffindor. He'd rather stay out of messy situations than engage in them, so he ran all the way to Japan.
Now, here is where the problem lay; he didn't mean to. He really didn't and yet he found himself with a kappa who thought it was a house elf.
"What's Master Neville like Kappa to do?" the green tinted creature asked voice filled with hero worship.
This was so not his thing.
"Kappa is not your name." Neville tried, the annoyance creeping into his tired voice.
"Is that not what Master named Kappa?" it asked.
"No! A Kappa is what you are, not who you are!" Neville snapped.
He felt guilty immediately when the small creature winced. Deflating and letting the tension of the never forgotten war ease he placed a hand on the ugly green creature.
"Master?"
"I'm not your master, you are not a house elf, you are a kappa native to Japan."
"But master wished for a house elf."
The realization dawned and Neville then and he couldn't help but groan at his own stupidity. It was his fault!
"Yes, but that was wishful, not something I wished to be fulfilled."
"I's indebted to master, master saved Kappa life, Kappa life is now master life."
The speech pattern of the Japanese creature was giving him a headache and took a few seconds to decipher.
Neville bit back a groan as he felt the weight of the entire situation unfold on him. He thought the damned river creature was a child, being bullied. Neville never got involved, but he would if it was bullying - it was one of his staunchest beliefs. He would never stand aside and allow anyone to get bullied, his greatest Gryffindor trait and his current downfall at the moment.
He researched the different getaways and Japan was the most appealing with it's not so in- your- face things as much as the other countries, it had just the right amount of exotic he needed to make him forget about Britain. He'd only been living here for a couple of months when he acquired his kappa.
"Longbottom, may I come in?" it was his new neighbour Mrs Kaito.
"Yeah, its open, Mrs. Kai!" he called back. He had gotten her to drop the san, but the old lady was very stubborn, he couldn't get her to call him by his name. He would never admit to anyone out loud, but he liked Mrs. Kai more than he did his own grandmother.
"How was you holiday, Mrs. Kai?" Neville asked with a smile as he got up to greet the woman properly from the low set table of his lounge.
"Wonderful thank- Longbottom what is that?"
He knew that she knew exactly what it was being a witch and a creature expert, but the rarity of such a creature in human company in this age was shocking.
"It's a Kappa. It feels indebted to me." He answered dryly.
Glancing down at the creature he found the creature glaring at Mrs. Kai.
"Hey! Be nice!" he admonished.
The tinkling laugh of the old woman stopped him from chiding the creature further.
"Neville would you mind asking your Kappa to get us some refreshments."
Stunned by the use of his first name from the old woman, the young veteran could only do as asked.
With the creature happily bustling in his kitchen, kind brown eyes settled on him.
"Neville, how did you acquire the loyalty of a river-child?" he could hear the curiosity seeping into her voice.
"I saw him being bullied by a bunch of teens down by the stream. They were trying to drown him, so I stepped in. I didn't realize what it was until after I had pulled it out of the river."
"I see." The two words of understanding was followed by peals of laughter.
"As much as I enjoy making you laugh Mrs. Kai, can you tell me what is that I've done, exactly?"
The mirth shining in her eyes didn't falter as she set into a long explanation of what the creature was.
"…and not only did you save its life making it indebted to you, you 'captured' it from its home, it is now your slave to do with as you please." She said as she sipped at the tea his Kappa had brought in.
Neville couldn't help but thank his stars that he commanded the creature to leave the room.
"So, I can't get rid of it?" he asked slight panic raising his voice, he didn't want a slave. It reminded him too much of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.
"Unless of course you want it to take its own life, no."
He didn't want that. He was tired of death. With a long-suffering sigh, Neville accepted his fate, he had unintentionally and unknowingly bound a creature to him.
"Alright, I guess we could learn to get along." He grumbled.
"Neville long time no see!"
"Hello." Neville greeted with a small smile as he regarded the remaining members of the DA.
"Uh mate, where did you get a green house elf from?" Ron asked being the first to notice the creature hiding in his robes.
"It's a Kappa, actually." Neville corrected almost automatically.
"A Kappa, they're so very rare how did you come across one!" Hermione asked in awe as she tried to peer closer at the creature hiding in his robes.
With a shaky laugh and a nervous smile Neville coughed into his hand.
"Well it's a funny story really…"