Just Neville

By. Delilah Song

Words: 1013

Pairings: onesided NL/GW


"Neville!" exclaimed Ginny, running down the stairs of her dorm. She was dressed in merely a black tank top and a pair of worn out sweatpants that were rolled up to rest on her ankles. Neville looked up from his charms book, his face flushing slightly. Luckily there were few people in the common room.

"Ginny? What do you need?" Neville asked, he glanced at the wall clock, "Don't you have a date with Harry in an hour?"

"Yes! That's the thing, I need your help?" Ginny said, staring at him eagerly.

"With… what?" Neville asked, folding down one of the pages and looking at her expectantly.

"You know what guys like, I mean – you are a guy. And you might know what Harry likes, 'because you live in the same dorm with him and have known him for like 5 years. I mean, I do too, I mean I don't live with him or anything, but we get to go to hogmede tonight, and I figured that I-"

"Ginny…?" Neville cut her off.

"Can you help me find something to wear?" she asked.

"Me?" Neville asked, "Gin- I can't even get to your dorm, remember."

"I'll help!" She said, come on!" She grabbed his arm and started dragging him up the stairs- two at a time. They didn't turn to a slide until Ginny passed each step, so she had to literally drag him up at some points.

"So… this is the girl's dorm?" Neville said, "It's nice."

"Yeah, whatever, come on!" Ginny said, pulling him over to her wardrobe eagerly. She opened the big wood doors, and then stared at him expectantly.

"Well, you have 3 student uniforms…" Neville said, trailing off.

"Neville!" Ginny exclaimed in protest.

"Ginny, all of the outfits in here are ones you've worn before, right?"

"Well, yeah… but, do guys notice that?" Ginny asked in a worried tone, fingering a pink skirt worriedly, there was a slight pause, and then she realized what she'd said, "Oh! Neville, I mean-"

"Would Harry notice? Probably not." Admitted Neville, sidestepping the earlier comment, "But you would, right?" There was another pause, and Neville suddenly grabbed something from the closet, "What's this?" He asked, holding up the giant amber-yellow t-shirt.

"Hey!" Squeaked Ginny, snatching it from him, "That's an old shirt Charlie gave me when he first left for Romania." She told him. Neville stared at it, his mind fluttering quickly.

"Would you mind if I… altered it a bit?" he asked with a smile.

"You think you can make this," she held it up to demonstrate, "Into something wearable?"

"I know I can." Neville told her firmly, "Go shower." He said, waving her off, and taking out his wand.

When Ginny came out, about 25minutes later, her hair was washed and dried, and her whole self squeaky clean. She was also in only an old terry cloth robe, but Neville just flushed, and ignored it.

"Here you are ma'am." He said, grinning proudly. He held up the hanger that her 'Charlie' shirt had hung. In its place was a dress, it had a square collar, and long sleeves, that were slightly puffy at the shoulders. The Dress hung down to a bit below her knee level, as had the large shirt. Ginny gasped.

"Neville!" she exclaimed.

"Do you hate it?" he asked worriedly, "I mean, I was sure you might be upset with me cutting up your brother's shirt, but I-" she gave him a giant hug, and knocked the wind out of him.

"Oh my God Neville, it's amazing!" she said happily, picking up the dress by the hanger and skipping back into the bathroom. Neville smiled slightly to himself, and sat on her bed, lying back so his head was on her pillow. He smelled apples and cinnamon, and immediately forced his body in an upright position.

Another 15 minutes later, Ginny came out of the bathroom. Her hair was up in a slightly curly ponytail, a few curls framing her face. She had put on makeup too, and she smiled at him, "How does it look?" she asked, spinning around nervously.

"Amazing." He said honestly. She looked at him and grinned widely.

"Neville, we should so double date!" she exclaimed, "There's a girl named Rebecca, and she's so nice, I'm sure you too would get along great, and I-"

"No Ginny, I'm fine." She frowned at him.

"Neville, are you sure, I-"

"It's all good Ginny." He assured her, "Have fun on your date."

"Neville-" she called, but he was already sliding down the stairwell.


About half an hour later, Neville walked into The Three Broomsticks. What he saw there shocked him. It was Ginny, sitting alone, frowning into her Butterbeer.

"Ginny?" he asked, walking over to where the girl sat. He didn't see Harry there at all. She looked up, a hopeful look on her face; it vanished when she saw that it was him.

"Oh. Hey Neville." She said, giving him a small smile.

"Where's Harry?" he asked, looking around as though the boy-who-lived would pop out from behind a plant.

"He's not here." She said softly, "He cancelled."

"Oh…" Neville said, not sure what to do. He sat down across from her, "its okay- he had stuff to do."

"Yeah, I guess saving the world trumps spending time with his girlfriend, right?"

"Oh, Ginny." Neville said.

A long, awkward silence ensued, and Neville cleared his throat awkwardly, "Well- I'm hungry. Let's eat?" as if by magic, Rosemerta appeared at his elbow, causing him to jump awkwardly.

"What can I get you two?" she asked kindly.

"How about…" Neville said trailing off, "A plate of chips and 2 grilled cheese sandwiches?"

"Alright." The woman said, writing it down.

"And two Pumpkin Juices please." Neville added.

"Coming up!"

"Thanks Neville." Ginny said with a smile, "You always know just what to do." Neville flushed a bright red, "You're the best friend a girl could ask for!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"Yeah." Neville said, giving her a small smile, "You too Gin."