This is just a story that I've written just for the heck of it. Up until now, I haven't had any title for it, so I gave it a nonsensical title just so I could post it. It has a little bearing on the story, but not really any symbolism or key aspects in it. My friends seemed to enjoy the story, so I thought I'd post it here so it'd be easier to read. Note that this is mainly for the enjoyment of my friends, so don't go on about how horrible it or the pairings within are, because I know.
Warning: This story contains slash pairings, odd pairings, multiple OC pairings, and is based in an AU. I will assume that all those who review have read and are aware of these facts.
Disclaimer: The contents of this story are not meant to infringe upon any rights or reservations held by the author or publisher of Harry Potter. No profit is reaped from the production of this story.
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With that out of the way, enjoy if if you've read this far at least.
The day wasn't even halfway over, and yet it passed all too quickly to a certain Gryffindor. Neville Longbottom sat at his desk staring absently out the window. For months now, he's been trying to get over Harry and Draco, but the loss of both of his boyhood crushes scathed him deeply.
The strident ring of a bell erupted from seemingly nowhere, and with a sigh, Neville packed up his things and headed out to the halls with the rest of his class. He turned a corner and spotted what looked like a pile of books walking down the middle of the hallway. Neville would've suspected it to be Hermione carrying them if the legs were longer or if her hair was protruding from the sides, but the carrier looked too short to be Hermione. Neville couldn't see his/her face, but the carrier piqued his interest in the slightly disturbing way Luna usually did. As Neville was about to pass him/her by, a stray foot found its way under the book-carrier, and there was a veritable avalanche of books as both the stack and carrier toppled down to the ground.
Neville heard a muffled "Oof!" and a thud as the books fell on top of whoever was carrying them. He rushed over to help as the rest of the hallway stopped and laughed. He shot a glare up to Draco who emerged from the circle pointing down at them. Neville's glare didn't let up until he saw Harry come in and take him by the hand. He gaped as he saw Harry lace his fingers with Draco's and walk away.
Returning his attention to the person next to him, Neville asked, "Are you alright there?" As he (Neville could now tell he was a he) knelt and fumbled with his books, Neville watched him swish his hair out of the way, and was stunned by the breathtakingly gorgeous guy in front of him.
He had hair as dark and black as Harry's, but a little tamer. The bangs stopped just below his eyebrows, but the rest was cut so that it covered and curled around his ears in pieces. "Y-you know, you sh-shouldn't carry that many b-books around at once. It's really dangerous", Neville continued. He was desperately trying to hide a blush burning up his face.
"Thanks", the stranger answered. He averted his eyes as he stood up. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Matt", he said with more confidence. For a moment he struggled to shift the books and then offered Neville a hand to shake.
"Woops!", Neville exclaimed as the top book slid off. He caught it mid-fall and placed it back on top of the stack. "There we go", he mumbled and smiled down at him. He was slouching, but Neville could tell that Matt was at least a few inches shorter than he was.
Matt's tanned cheeks flared up and he nodded his thanks. "Well, I'd better get a move on", he sighed. "Before I die under the strain of carrying these." He started trudging away and it took Neville a second to realize that he should probably help.
"Wait!", Neville called. Matt turned to face him, forcing many of the other students to scatter for fear of having the books topple over onto them. "D'you need any help carrying those books? I mean, I don't have any classes right now, and I'd feel like a bloody idiot if I let you fall down the staircases or something." Neville stopped as soon as he realized that he was ranting.
"Y'know, I wouldn't mind the help or the company, so if you really want to, I'd be happy to have you tag along", Matt joked. He had that sort of tone you'd expect to hear from a Weasley twin. Neville didn't mind it in the least, and was in fact turning a shade of bright pink.
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It was a very quiet and awkward climb up to the library, but Neville was just glad that he had a healthy load of books to take his mind off of conversation. Matt, on the other hand, decided to break the ice when it came to a particularly quiet and awkward point.
"So… you're a seventh year, right?", he asked. The way he asked it made you think that he already knew, but was just asking for the sake of asking.
"Yeah. It's my last year here", Neville replied wistfully, missing Hogwarts already. "How 'bout you? I'm sure you couldn't be more than a third year." Neville was really trying to loosen up, but the joke was almost painfully out of character.
"Ahem", Matt coughed as he pretended to clear his throat. "I'll have you know, I'm a fifth year, thank you very much", he scoffed in a way that reminded you almost too much of Mrs. Pince, the librarian. Matt had his nose so high up in the air that he didn't notice a body standing in his path.
"Oof!", he said and for the second time in less than an hour, he dropped his books. He squinted and rubbed his bottom as he sat on the floor.
"Excuse me?", asked the body Matt just collided with. Before them stood a person so magnificent that she nearly blinded them with her glory (you can edit that out if you want). "Oh, hi Matt", she said nonchalantly as she helped him up. "What's up?"
"Apparently not me", Matt repliedsarcasticly as he took her hand and she hefted him up. While the two of them got the books, Neville stood there awkwardly. It seemed as though he knew less and less about the school, and he'd never even met these two before today.
"Oh, Kristina, this is Neville by the way", Matt threw to her absently as he kneeled to pick up Hogwarts: A History. The two of them continued the book retrieval until Kristina patted the last book on top of the stack.
"There we go", she sighed before turning to me. "I'm Kristina, if you didn't hear Matt say before. Nice to meet ya, Nev ", she introduced herself, beaming. Neville was a little disconcerted by the nickname, but decided to take it in stride.
"Ditto", he answered simply. He still had his hands full with the books, so he didn't even attempt to shake hands.
"Neville here offered to help me up the stairs, the gentleman", interrupted Matt, breaking into the conversation. Kristina's eyebrow raised at that, and you could just tell that that she was resisting the urge to go 'Ooo'. "But I'm sure Kris would be delighted to take them off your hands. The library's just over there and I wouldn't want to trouble you further."
"And who, exactly, told you that I would carry any of your books for you?" asked Kristina indignantly. She looked like she was about to get ticked off.
"Um… I just did, so maybe you can go ahead and take these…" Matt plunked the pile he had into her arms, and took Neville's. "There we go. Thanks, Neville. I probably would've broken my neck falling down the stairs with these books." He turned to Kristina. "C'mon!"
"Alright! Jeez!", she hissed under her breath and a stream of grumbles could be heard all the way to the library.
Neville followed them for a bit just to make sure they had everything under control, but stopped as soon as they were in sight of the library. They arrived just in time to see one of the rare times where Hermione actually left the library. She smiled at Neville and started approaching him.
"Thanks again, Neville!", Matt called as the two entered the library. Mrs. Pince looked about ready to slit his throat when she heard him.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Neville as he blushed and waved. "So", she stated. "I see you've met Matt."
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Well, that's that for now. Reviews are welcome, but please only constructive criticism. Flames usually aren't nice.