Disclaimer: I don't own anything that's recognizable!
A/N: For the 'My Other Half' challenge on HPFC! I hope it's good enough, lol. This was So Hard. But I managed to do it, somehow.
Heavier Things Remain
She's always known that he'd be something special.
:-:
The first time that she even becomes aware of his existence is on the third day of school at the beginning of her second year. She's rushing to Herbology because she knows that if she's late Sprout's going to kill her and if she sends a note to Astoria's parents she's going to die.
Astoria really isn't watching where's she going and then, out of nowhere, something hits her and sends her flying backwards to the ground. She hears groaning from in front of her and sees the Longbottom boy on the ground. Obviously he was the one who ran into her.
When he sees who she is his eyes widen. "I'm so sorry," he says, scrambling to get all of his things in order by shoving everything into his bag where she knows that they're just going to all come flying out again as soon he gets going. "It's just I have Potions next and if I'm late I'm going to be in so much trouble." Astoria can tell that he's terrified of Snape and rightly so, because so is she even though he's her head of house.
"Here, let me help you," she tells him, handing him a few sheets of parchment and a frog. "I've got to go now," she says alarmed, noticing that Professor Sprout is about to close the door to the greenhouse and she's got to get there now.
"Thanks," he mutters and both of them end up dashing in opposite directions.
:-:
That night by the warmth of the common room she asks her sister about him. "Longbottom? You don't mean Neville Longbottom, do you?" Daphne laughs at that, throwing her dark hair behind her shoulder as she glances to see if Theodore Nott notices her laughter. He doesn't.
"That's him!" Astoria squeaks, thinking of his round face. He might not be handsome in the way that her sister might favor, but he's still cute and she can feel the beginnings of a crush growing. She knows that he's a pureblood, which is another point in the game for her affections. When she sees her sister raise an eyebrow Astoria corrects herself. "I mean, yes, him. He's in your year, after all. You have to know something about him." She's happy that she sounds cool, almost like she doesn't care even though she desperately does.
"Well-" Daphne begins, but before she can finish the thought Draco Malfoy cuts in.
"You don't mean Longbottom, do you? That blithering idiot, Astoria he's not even worth your time. Don't tell me that you've got a crush on him." And then Draco laughs long and loud. It's a crueler sound than her sister's laughter because it's not a surprised sound, it's a malicious one.
In that moment Astoria wishes that his last name wasn't Malfoy because otherwise he'd be getting a kick to that place where the sun doesn't shine, but as it is he's rather high up and her mother would kill her if she managed to offend none other than the son of Lucius Malfoy.
Daphne sniffs, evidently thinking the same thing as her sister. "What do you care, Draco? He's pure blood, he's rich, and I'm sure that he's perfectly nice, unlike some people that I could mention."
"Yeah, and he's also got the brain of a troll." Behind him Crabbe and Goyle laugh, as if they themselves don't have strangely small brains
"At least he's got brain," Astoria defends him, not exactly knowing his intelligence but not caring because at least he's better than Draco Malfoy, who has to be the biggest git that she's ever had the misfortune of talking to.
"Exactly, sister dear." Daphne places a hand on Astoria's shoulder and sends a glare Draco's way. "If you want to like him you can, okay?"
Both of the sisters ignore Draco's roars of laughter.
:-:
The whole rest of her second year Astoria watches him in the Great Hall to see what he's like. He talks to everyone that he comes in contact with him, but she finds that he ends up spending more time by himself than not. He doesn't seem to have a best friend the way that Ron Weasley has Harry Potter or Daphne has Pansy Parkinson.
That makes her sad for him, but it also kind of excites her because neither does she, so maybe they could spend time together. But Astoria's only twelve and she's still shy of the opposite sex so the closest that she ever comes to talking to him is sitting near him in the library.
By the time that summer comes around she's convinced that she's, as Daphne would say, 'over him' and spends the whole summer fancying one of Theo's older brothers.
But of course that all goes down the drain as soon as she catches a glimpse of him on the Hogwarts Express and she's got a crush like an over hormonal twelve year old all over again, even though she's thirteen now, thank you very much.
Then, on the day of the second task, he runs into her again, making her fall just one more time. Astoria tries to ignore the double meaning there.
"We have a nasty habit of running into each other," she says smoothly, brushing off any dirt that might have gotten on her robes and fluttering her eyelashes the way that Daphne had taught her that summer.
"Heh, yeah," he replies, grabbing the book that he had been reading instead of watching where he was going, clearly uncomfortable. Astoria can't get a clear view of the title but she notices that it has something to do with water plants or something.
"So," Astoria says brightly, trying to drag out the conversation and watches as he nearly jumps out of his skin. Clearly he thought that she wouldn't keep trying to talk to him and ignore him. "Are you going to come watch the second task?"
Thankfully she doesn't have her Harry Potter Stinks badge with her because she figures that he wouldn't take too kindly to her wearing it, the two of them being friends and all. "Um, yes, probably. It should be interesting to see what it is, anyway."
"I've heard that it has something to do with the merpeople in the lake, but I'm not really sure that it's true or anything." Pansy Parkinson isn't exactly the most reliable source of gossip, but it's better than nothing.
"Yeah, Harry said something like that." There was an awkward pause in which Astoria had to use all of her good breeding to end.
"So, do you want to come watch the second task with me?" Astoria checks her genuine leather watch and says, "It starts in about fifteen minutes and all of the good seats are going to be taken if we don't go soon."
Astoria can't help but think that the shock on his face is really, really cute. His face goes all red as he stammers out an, "S-sure," even though he sounds anything but.
"Okay." They beginning walking to the stands which have been set up around the lake and Astoria can't help but think that maybe Pansy was right about the merpeople after all. Her sister catches sight of her and motions to an empty seat beside her but Astoria shakes her head and glances at Neville so that her sister can see. Her sister grins and nods.
Neville doesn't notice the exchange.
"Who do you think is going to win?"
"I bet that Cedric will get back first," Neville says pleasantly, "but Harry will win," he adds, loyally defending his friend until the end.
"Oh." Astoria gives up trying to talk to him and they sit in silence for the rest of the task.
He ends up being right.
:-:
"Ria," Daphne snaps, catching Astoria gazing at Neville across the crowded Great Hall, "please do not tell me that you're still mooning over Neville Longbottom."
"Don't call me Ria!" Astoria protests her baby name, hoping to keep Daphne's mind off of her horribly drawn out crush on 'that Longbottom boy' as Daphne had taken to calling him after the incident at the Ministry, "And besides, I am not mooning over him. Really, I'm not."
Daphne just looks at her, not believing a single thing that her younger sister says. "You are and it's pathetic, especially because he got all of those people sent to Azkaban."
"That wasn't his fault! It's theirs for not being able to get out of there fast enough." Both girls glance at Draco Malfoy, who was playing with his food, and then away. "That was really brave of him, to battle Death Eaters like that. He could have run away, but he didn't." Astoria admired his courage, which was something that she knew that she herself was sorely lacking in that department.
"Just watch who you say that to when you're around them. Please, I don't' want you to get hurt because of just a crush."
What Astoria doesn't tell her sister is that it really isn't just a crush, because she's been in love with the boy for two years now. Her sister should know how that feels with Theo, after all, but Astoria decides not to tell her sister everything.
Not this time.
:-:
Her bag makes a loud noise as she plops it down on the table. She sees Madam Pince give her the stink eye, but Astoria just ignores her, the boy in front of her's shocked face is all she's worried about at this point.
"Hello," she tells him, smiling brightly. He can't even articulate a response. "I need your help with something."
"I'm really bad at most things," Neville admits, keeping his eyes at the table in front of him. Astoria wonders if he's like this around all girls of if it's just her.
"But I hear that you're really good at Herbology. And I'm just dreadful. Everyone said that you were the person to come to for help, so…" she trails off, smiling inwardly. She makes just fine grades in that class but she really did hear that Neville was good at Herbology and she knows that the fastest way to get to a guy is through flattery.
As it is, though, his chest puffs up. "What is it that you need help with?"
Sparing the parchment that she had scribbled upon a dramatic glance she looks up into his eyes and notices that they're really pretty. "All of it."
So he helps her and she doesn't really pay attention but she watches the way that he talks, so sure of what he's saying, and even though she knows that the poor boy is prone to humiliating himself one day, if he ever gains enough confidence, he's going to be able to speak to large crowds easily.
Then that Lovegood girl ruins it all. Luna, Astoria suddenly remember her name, Loony Luna Lovegood, floats up to the table that they're both sitting at. "Hello Neville," the blonde girl sighs dreamily. She's standing far too close to Neville for Astoria's liking. "Astoria." Astoria doesn't respond.
"Neville, did you know that you've got nargles around you? I find that they're always rather attracted to you…" she trails off, leaving Neville's eyebrows at an alarming height. She brushes the invisible nargles off of Neville's head, sending an spike of jealousy through Astoria. But he seemed almost frightened of Loony so that brought some comfort.
As soon as she drifts off again Astoria raises an eyebrow. "You two are friends..." she trails off, leaving space for Neville to fill in the gaps.
"Yeah, we are," Neville says, almost defensively. He doesn't like people making fun of his friends. "She fought at the Minstry with me." And then he clamped his mouth shut, perhaps remembering who she is and how, after all, she is a Slytherin whose family friends he had probably sent to Azkaban.
"What was that like?"
"Terrifying," he answers and then he smiles back shyly at her whenever she lets her grin saturate her face.
:-:
After that they almost become friends, except not really because Astoria still has to resort to pretending that she's an absolute idiot when it comes to Herbology even though she isn't, just to get him to talk to her. But really, it's worth it, so in the end it's okay. Or something.
But then all of a sudden the war comes and at the Slytherin common room it's either Us or Them and Neville is a firm part of the Them side. Daphne ends up being the one to tell her to end her feelings for him. "You just... can't, Astoria. I'm sorry."
"Why not? Why does the whole world have to be against me, against us? My parents hardly had anything to do with the war, but we're still paying the price for it." Astoria wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her her robes. It's just not fair, but in war nothing is ever fair. Everyone in the common room had learned that the hard way. Part of being a pureblood is the responsibilty and the honor that goes with it.
Daphne, for once, seems at a loss for words. "It's just the way life is for us, Ria. You have to put your obligations before everything, even love." Daphne pats her sister's arm and then walks away, off to find Theo.
:-:
Astoria's sixth year at Hogwarts is hell both physically and emotionally. The only thing that she can do is watch, even though she never really wants to do anything to help out anyway. She's too frightened, too unprepared, and she can't be like Neville. She just can't.
So she watches, which is the only thing that she feels like she can do. She watches as Dumbledore's Army tries, and fails, to start an underground rebellion of the students, how the dare to defy the Carrows. She watches and Ginny and Luna- People her age! In her year!- make a difference that she knows that she herself never could. She watches as the Carrows force them down, how they use Unforgivables on students and how the exclude Slytherins, herself included, from punishments and actually make them the punishers.
But most of all Astoria watches as Neville grows into the man that she always knew he could be. Brave, and fierce, and loyal all of the things that she knew where there underneath all of the diminished self confidence and insecurity.
It's horrifying, really, what war can do to people, how it can shape and mold them into something that they weren't before. Most of the time that change is for the worst (Astoria herself), but sometimes it's for the better (Neville).
She always knew that he was going to be something special.
A/N: As you can probably tell I couldn't find a place to end this. And I'm sorry about that, but it's my first completed challenge ever so, and I actually ended up loving the pairing. I might just have to do it again some time. :)