Tears leaked from Neville's eyes.
"Does it still hurt, Neville? That burn healing ointment should be blocking the pain too. I have a pain-diminishing potion I could give you if you need it."
"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey. I'm OK. It doesn't hurt anymore," Neville answered. He scrubbed the tears from his face with bandaged hands. "You can go help the others, I'll be alright."
It was true, he felt no pain. The ointment was blocking that sensation and now all he felt was a mild tingling. More tears were welling up anyway. Despite being pain-free, he felt awful. He knew this whole situation was his fault, as usual. If he weren't so stupid and useless, none of this would have happened.
They had been instructed to make an intermediate flame-blocking brew today in potions. Even with lots of help and supervision from his partner, Dean, Neville had still managed to screw it up. His hands had been shaking as he dribbled the pine sap into the potion, adding far too much. This caused a large cloud of steam to erupt from the cauldron, creating large, second degree burns on everyone it touched. He and Dean had gotten the worst of it, but Lavender and Parvati had been affected as well.
The girls sat on beds across from him, alternating glaring at him and whispering to each other. He didn't blame them for being mad. He was such an idiot, he knew that everyone must hate him. As if causing painful burns to his classmates wasn't bad enough, Snape had taken 15 points from Gryffindor for being "a clumsy fool" before allowing them to be lead to the hospital wing by the other Gryffindors.
Madam Pomfrey finished applying salve to the four students' burns and declared the girls fit enough to go on to their next lesson, which was about to start. Dean's face had been burned pretty badly, and the salve obstructed his vision, so she was having him stay a little longer. He was asleep a few beds down. She had also deemed Neville too coated in the pasty ointment to be allowed to leave, so he lay on the bed, dark thoughts swirling around his head, trying to keep the tears from coming. He wouldn't let himself be a useless lump and a crybaby.
Shortly, his brooding was interrupted by someone walking towards him. He glanced over to see Luna, covered head to toe in feathers. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to her, clicking her tongue in concern.
"Luna dear, what has happened now?" She examined the feathers, poking and pulling gently to see how they were attached to Luna's skin. "Hex based, will need to be removed carefully," she mused. "Did someone do this to you, dear? You can tell me."
"No, Madam Pomfrey. It was just an accident," Luna replied.
Madam Pomfrey looked unconvinced, but she directed Luna to the bed next to Neville's. Then she walked off to gather what she would need to induce molting.
Luna turned. "Hello Neville, fancy meeting you here," she said lightly. "Are you well? You look sad."
Neville stared at her. He was sitting in the hospital wing, nearly a third of his body covered in burn ointment and she wanted to know if he was well?
"Um… Er… It's been… a bit of a rough day. Although, I guess you would know about that too." He gestured at her face. "Were you telling the truth to Madam Pomfrey just now? You're not the type to have clumsy accidents." He was attempting to deflect the conversation from himself. Luna was a very canny girl, she noticed more than most gave her credit for. He wasn't keen to talk about his feelings, especially not the self-loathing that occupied him when she had arrived.
"I guess some of the other girls thought it would be funny to hex my soap. I'm not sure I see the joke, honestly. Though I didn't want to bother Madam Pomfrey with that."
Neville, who knew his fair share about hiding the unkind actions of his peers from adults, decided not to press the issue. He fished for something else to discuss. "Er… Anything interesting in the Quibbler?" Immediately, he berated himself for the lame question.
Luna's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Why, yes! My dad just sent me an advance copy of an article he's writing! It's about an interesting magical device that he encountered recently."
Neville found himself smiling back. Luna was an infectiously positive person.
"In fact, he sent me two as a present. Would you like one, Neville? They're nice." She started rummaging in her bag.
"Uhhhh." Neville froze, thinking of the Quibbler glasses Luna had been wearing on the train, and the radish earrings, and stuffed-lion hat.
"Here it is!" Luna triumphantly pulled something from the depths of her bag. She held it out to Neville. "It's a bracelet. What do you think?"
Neville stared at it. It was a small piece of woven cord, with a fascinating, intricate design that seemed to move as he watched. "It's lovely," he replied.
"Then it's settled! Just a second, let me read the instructions for putting it on. They're somewhat particular." She pulled a piece of paper from her bag and studied it intently. "OK, hold out your left arm, please."
Neville hesitated, unsure about accepting this gift. They had been given to her by her father, which, in his eyes, meant that they must be very precious. One look at her shining, happy face convinced him though. It appeared that nothing would make Luna happier right now than sharing this with him. So, he complied, and Luna wrapped the bracelet around his wrist. Then she tapped the ends with her wand and muttered an incantation. They twirled around each other, before joining seamlessly.
"Thank you so much, Luna. This is really nice," he said sincerely.
"We all deserve nice things sometimes," she replied.
xxx
Madam Pomfrey bustled towards them, carrying a tray with a few vials of potions. She set them down on the table next to Luna before turning to Neville.
"Your burns should be sufficiently healed now, Neville. Here's a towel to wipe off the ointment. You can go wash off the rest, but there's no hurry if you'd prefer to stay here and rest for a while," she said kindly.
"Can I stay and keep Luna company?" Neville asked her. "That is, if you'd like me to, Luna?"
"I'm afraid I have to say no," Madam Pomfrey interjected. "Luna is going to need privacy during this process."
"It's fine, Neville. Thanks for offering."
"Alright. I guess I'll see you later."
Madam Pomfrey conjured curtains around Luna's bed while Neville wiped himself off with the towel. He collected his bag, which someone must have left for him, and walked back up to the dormitories. He showered in solitude, finding new, pink skin under the remains of the ointment. Exhaustion set in as he stood under the warm spray, and he decided to head to bed. He tried not to address the thought that going to bed early would allow him to avoid the other Gryffindors, but he was secretly glad not to put up with their disappointment right now. He pulled on his pajamas and went to bed. Sleep overtook him quickly, his body tired from the day's ordeal.
xxx
Despite his early bedtime, Neville slept in late the next day. It was a Saturday, so no one would miss him. When he got up, the dormitory was empty. He collected his toothbrush and walked to the bathroom to get ready. As he finished, Harry walked in. He wore his Quidditch robes and had evidently come from an early morning practice. Mud splattered his robes, and his hair looked rakishly windswept. Neville tried to avoid his gaze and quickly gathered his things, wanting to avoid an awkward conversation. Harry stopped him.
"DA meeting today, Neville. Did you get Hermione's reminder?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, I did," Neville replied.
"I wanted to ask you for some help, actually."
"F-from me?" Neville's voice squeaked a bit. He liked DA meetings but knew he had no particular skill at defensive magic. His head rushed, he was nervous about being singled out.
"Yeah, I've been wondering if you know of any plants that dark wizards may be likely to use? For setting traps or something? You know so much more about Herbology than I do. I thought you could tell us what to look out for and how to deal with it," Harry said, looking Neville in the eyes, and with no trace of mockery in his voice.
Several dangerous plants he'd read about came immediately to Neville's mind. He also remembered what Professor Sprout had told him about some uncommon, but deadly uses of several plant components.
"I do. Do you want me to tell you or Hermione about them so you can teach everyone else? I have some books I could lend you, one includes a section about magic fungi that emit toxic spores. Is that what you're looking for?"
Neville was thinking about other good resources that he knew of when Harry replied, "I'd like you to teach everyone, Neville. You're the best at Herbology so you'll be able to answer everyone's questions."
"I- I- I—" Neville spluttered.
"You'll do great, I know it," Harry said as he clapped Neville on the shoulder. "I know I can count on you."
Neville had no idea how to respond, so he just nodded his head. Harry smiled at him.
"W-well I guess I should g-go look through my books again," Neville stuttered before rushing from the bathroom, face burning.
xxx
After a few hours of flipping through various books about plants, Neville was feeling hungry. He thumbed through the notes he'd been making and decided that he was at a good stopping point for now. So, he collected his things and walked out of the library. He skimmed through his notes while walking towards the Great Hall, absorbed with thoughts of how to present all this information.
As Neville approached a junction in the corridor, he didn't notice the person stopped at the corner in front of him. He bumped into the other person, accidentally knocking them down. Neville dropped his notes.
"I'm sorry," Neville gasped in apology, reaching out to help the other person.
"Not as sorry as you're going to be, you useless lump," they replied.
Neville looked down to see Malfoy, his light eyes glinting like a knife blade. Neville started to back up, raising his hands and stuttering another apology. Malfoy stood, then raised his wand. Neville cringed, anticipating what was coming.
"Oy! What's going on here?" Another voice rang out from nearby.
Ron Weasley was striding down the adjoining corridor, his wand out as well. Malfoy stared at it and lowered his own.
"Nothing that concerns you, Weasley," he spat. "Although it makes sense that you would come to Longbottom's defense. You're nearly as useless and clumsy as he is. I suppose losers always stick together."
Ron's ears turned red.
"You know," Malfoy smirked, "I'm surprised your team hasn't replaced you with him yet. The two of you are an even match for coordination but Longbottom might be able to afford a broom that can actually fly."
Ron's free hand balled into a fist and he started to advance on Malfoy.
"Ron, no! He's not worth it!" Neville ran to get between the two.
Malfoy scoffed. Ron continued to scowl. A thought struck Neville.
"Why were you stopped here, Malfoy?" Neville gestured to the corner Malfoy had been standing at when Neville had run into him. "Were you waiting here? You're both supposed to be going to a prefects' meeting now, right Ron?"
Comprehension dawned on Ron's face and Malfoy turned pink.
"I don't know what you're talking about you… pathetic excuse for a wizard," Malfoy hissed. Then he swept off down the hallway, his steps a little quicker than normal.
Ron laughed at his retreating figure. "Good one, Neville. Wonder if the slimy git's really stalking me. Be pretty pathetic if he was. Are these your papers?"
He bent over and started to collect them. Neville reached down to grab some as well. They both went for the same sheet and their hands collided.
"Whoops, sorry. Here you go. Will I see you at the club meeting later?" Ron asked as he handed over the papers that he'd collected.
"Yeah. Harry asked me to talk about plants that dark wizards might use," Neville replied, looking up at the taller boy.
"Sounds cool! I'll see you later." Ron said.
"See you later, Ron," Neville replied.
Neville briefly watched Ron stride down the corridor, before continuing on his way to the Great Hall.
xxx
Neville sat at the end of the table. He ate very slowly. He was having soup today and he knew that if he wasn't careful, he'd spill it all over his notes and ruin everything. So, he ate slowly, collecting a small spoonful, lowering his face to the bowl, then raising the spoon very slowly to his mouth. All of this was despite the fact that his notes were safely stashed in his bag, which he had set down several feet away from himself. As he slowly reached for his beverage, someone sat down next to him.
"Hey, Neville. How's it going?"
Neville's hand hung in the air, only partway to his goblet. It was Dean. He must be here to yell at him for yesterday. Neville tried not to cringe as he turned to face him.
"I'm so sorry, Dean. I can't believe I did that to you yesterday. I'm so sorry I hurt you and you were just trying to help me and—"
"Neville, it's OK. Madam Pomfrey fixed me up no problem. Look." Dean gestured at his face and, indeed, it looked the same as it normally did. "I just wanted to make sure you're ok. You weren't in the hospital wing when I woke up, and you'd already gone to bed when I got back to the dormitory. I know you were only nervous yesterday because that slimy git was hovering behind you. Accidents happen, Neville. Anyway, this was nowhere near as bad as that time Seamus switched my fingers for cat paws. Do you remember? I couldn't control the claws and it took days to fix!" Dean laughed and Neville smiled timidly.
"So, no hard feelings, alright mate?" Dean extended his hand and Neville shook it.
"Thanks, Dean."
"Everyone got fixed up and there's nothing to worry about. Right?"
"Yeah. I guess so. Madam Pomfrey fixed me up in no time." Neville rolled up his sleeves to show Dean his unburned skin. As he did so, he got that funny feeling in his head, the one he got when he was forgetting something. He paused, trying to figure out what it was. His preparations for the meeting! He had wanted to get back to it after lunch!
"Sorry Dean, I've got to go. I'll see you later!"
"OK, see you."
Neville picked up his bag and hurried to the library.
Sitting back amongst the books, the nagging feeling of having forgotten something remained. Neville tried to ignore it. He was so used to forgetting things that he assumed it was probably some homework assignment left undone. He'd check with Hermione at the meeting. An essay for History of Magic? Extra work on a spell he'd failed to complete in Charms? Or was it…
His eyes caught on his wrist. His left wrist. His bare left wrist. His gut wrenched as he realized what he had forgotten. He pulled up his sleeve, and the bracelet was gone. He hadn't even made it one day. He couldn't believe himself. What kind of useless, brainless, hopeless waste of a person loses a gift in one day? Neville buried his face in his hands. What was he going to do? Luna would find out that he was too stupid to keep track of her thoughtful present, and then she'd hate him. And he would deserve it. But hiding it would be wrong, he would have to tell her.
xxx
"Alright, it looks like we're all here. I thought that today we'd do something a little different from usual." Harry addressed the assembled DA members. "Dark wizards have a lot of different kinds of magic to use against us, so I want to make sure that we're considering all the different branches of magic. I thought it would be nice to start with Herbology. It's an area of magic that I'm not very familiar with, so I've asked our Herbology expert to teach us all a little bit about what to look out for. Neville, could you come up here?"
Neville felt the blood rush out of his face as Harry waved him forward. His feet moved automatically and he soon found himself standing in front of the rest of the DA members.
"Don't worry, Neville. You're going to do great," Harry whispered to him. Some of the blood returned to Neville's face, but he could feel his hands shaking.
"Uh- Um- H-Hello everyone. I-I-I'm here to talk to you about plants," Neville heard himself mumbling and tried to raise his voice. "There are many dangerous plants that… um… exist. But there are some that are- that are used more commonly by users of the Dark Arts."
Neville glanced up from his notes and was surprised to see the other members of the DA listening to him with their full attention. A few people even had quills and parchment out and were ready to take notes. His voice grew more confident and he launched into the lecture.
xxx
"That was really interesting, Neville! Could you tell me the name of that author you mentioned? The one who wrote about different historical uses of common plants? It sounds fascinating." Hermione's eyes burned with excitement at the thought of a new book.
The meeting was over and the students were beginning to disperse. Despite stuttering and stammering his way through most of the talk, they had all listened to him politely. There had even been several insightful questions asked, and not just by Hermione, that he had answered to the best of his ability. Neville wasn't sure, but he felt like it had gone… well? Absolutely terrifying, of course, but also… well?
Neville spotted a blonde head moving towards the exit. The bottom dropped out of his stomach as he remembered what he still needed to do.
"I'll lend it to you tonight, Hermione. I have a copy in my room. I need to go talk to Luna right now though so…" His voice trailed off as he started to edge away.
"Great, I'll see you later," Hermione replied.
Neville caught up to Luna in the corridor outside.
"Hey um, Luna? I have something I need to tell you."
"No problem, Neville. Let's go into this classroom, we don't want to be seen standing outside the meeting room, right?"
"Oh, right." Neville followed her into the room. It was one of the dusty, unused classrooms with mismatched chairs and desks scattered around.
"Your talk was very nice Neville. I was surprised you didn't mention Bluntering Blenterines, though."
Neville was too nervous to engage with that comment. He felt his face heating up, as he tried to summon the courage to tell Luna the truth. "Um… Luna… You see, the thing is… Um… You know that p-present you gave me yesterday? I-I've sort of um… I lostit and I don't know whereitcouldbe." His words came out in a jumble.
"The bracelet fell off already?" Luna replied in a surprised tone.
Now Neville's face was really burning with shame. He couldn't bring himself to look at Luna. "I'm so sorry! It really meant a lot to me but-but I'm so stupid and forgetful and I'm such a bad friend that—" He broke off as tears started to run down his face and he had to suppress a sob.
"Oh no, Neville! It's supposed to do that!" Luna approached him and put her hand on his arm comfortingly. "Don't cry, Neville. It's not your fault. I should have told you, only… Well, I didn't think it would happen so soon! You're so lucky!"
Neville stared at her in confusion. "Wh-What?"
"They're called Love Bracelets. They have a spell on them that makes them fall off when you come into contact with someone you have a connection with. Do you know who it might be?"
"Uhhh, well, I don't remember when it fell off if that's what you mean…"
"Well, think about who you've come into contact with today! These things are never for certain, but this means there's a good chance that you and the other person could build something great together! I'm so happy for you, Neville!" She hugged him.
Neville was so shocked that he just stood there, trying to process what he'd heard. Finally, his voice squeaked out, "Come into contact with? What does that mean, Luna?"
"Physical contact, specifically. So, all you have to do is think about who you've touched today and you'll know who it is!" She released him and stepped back, her face shining with happiness. "I want you to tell me all about it when you figure it out! I've got to run now. It's getting pretty late. Bye, Neville!"
Neville watched her float from the room, his feet rooted to the ground. Contact— with whom had he come into contact today? He tried to remember everything he'd done, but his mind was racing with the implications of Luna's words. A connection. He had a connection with someone. Could that mean that this person… liked him too? Someone that he had seen today, someone that he had touched today…
Neville's thoughts ground to a halt when he realized that Luna had been right again, it was getting late. He needed to get back to the tower first, and then he could think about this some more. He left the disused classroom, walking past the entrance to the Room of Requirement. He hadn't gotten far when he heard footsteps behind him. A voice called out, "Neville, is that you? I thought I saw you leave a while ago."
Neville turned around. Harry was walking towards him, smiling. He must have stayed behind after everyone else left to tidy up. Neville smiled back.
"I wanted to thank you for giving that lecture today. It was really good! I know you mentioned having more plants that you could talk about, maybe we could plan out a few more lessons? If you're interested?"
"Yeah, I think I could do that," Neville replied, face flushing a little at the thought of talking in front of everyone again.
"Oh! By the way, before I forget again, I have something." Harry dug through his bag. "You dropped it this morning in the bathroom and I meant to return it to you earlier."
Neville looked down at Harry's outstretched hand. He was holding a small piece of cord, intricately woven. The memory of a friendly pat on the shoulder came rushing back. It was accompanied by a vision of windswept hair, and the smell of mud and grass and the musky scent of his Quidditch robes. In his stomach, he felt the whooshing sensation of stepping on a trick stair. He reached out to take back the bracelet.
"Thanks, Harry."
"Oh, no problem Neville."
The boys walked back to Gryffindor tower together.