Author: Icy Stormz
Author email: rliaw@decaxavier.com
Category: General
Sub-Category: Humour
Rating: PG
Pairing: Neville/Luna
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OotP
Summary: Tour the Longbottom residence whilst a horrible fiend interrupts Neville's well-deserved, post-training bath. Humdinger/Neville/Luna; a light and fluffy one-shot.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author Notes: Here's a response to a challenge my friend gave me containing the N/L pairing and a rubber duck. It's short, fluffy and unbeta'd. Comments are appreciated and welcome.
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The Bathroom FloorIf you managed to find yourself in the Longbottom household, you'd hear one of two sounds. One would be Seamus' Sports Review humming on the Wizard Wireless in the kitchen, and the other would be running water, sloshing in a claw-footed tub. Of course, in order to see that it was in fact a claw-footed tub and not a mirage, you'd also see Neville Longbottom's round backside bent over its side.
By now, your journey would be really interesting and you might have had the urge to run screaming from the room or to laugh insanely at the sight.
Neville was filling his bathtub with bubbling potion, enjoying the smell of the fruity colourful bubbles. Just before he settled himself down in the bath, he spotted a stationary yellow rubber duck, sitting on the bathroom countertop. With a smile, he figured no one would be home in quite some time, thus allowing him to act as childish as his 28-year old Auror self would allow. So, picking up the duck he climbed into his warm bath.
Sighing and smiling, he reclined with his back against the tub side and watched the duck float around just as lazily as he felt. Neville closed his eyes and dropped his head over the tub side, letting his body relax. After all, he had undergone a tough training session with Harry, and Mister Potter was never one to tire easily.
He and Harry had duelled for hours before Harry managed to aim a disarming spell from behind a chair, reflecting it off the crystal chandelier in the lavish Diagon Alley Duelling Facility, sending several red jets of light skyrocketing around the room. Why any designer would put a chandelier in a duelling hall was beyond Neville's comprehension. After training, the two men had a long, late lunch in the Leaky Cauldron.
Taking handfuls of bubbles, Neville rubbed them over his body, not quite effectively washing himself. That task done, he resumed his reclining and utterly relaxed position.
He faintly heard the front door open and close, followed by a "Neville! I have returned!"
Still acting lazy he didn't bother to respond to his girlfriend.
Neville's forehead creased when he felt the oddest sensation on his legs. It felt like something was bubbling, and the bubbles were floating up and around his calves. He shook his leg to relieve himself of the feeling. There was then a steady stream of bubbles and suddenly Neville screamed – er, yelled in a manly way – and hastily jumped out of the tub.
Something had bitten his toe!
His movements had unsettled the water and the sloshing wasn't helping Neville find the biting fiend. There was no way he was going to put his hand in there to find it either.
Now, if you did happen to run screaming from the bathroom when Neville's bum was exposed, and happened to return at this moment, you'd dart away again or faint. In an attempt to look for the scoundrel, Neville was again hunched over the tub, peering into the soapy depths. There were also large bubbles sticking to his rear.
"Taking a bath?"
Neville jumped and lunged for a towel. Firmly wrapping it around his hips he turned, blushing. "I was but then something bit me."
Luna grinned. "Something bit you in the bathtub? How interesting."
She tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear and strode over to the bath, looking into the water. The bubbles had started to disappear and the bright yellow duck was bobbing on the surface of the water. "Ooh, you took a bath with my Blibbering Humdinger." She scooped the duck out of the water.
"It's a duck, Luna," Neville said sceptically.
"No it isn't. It's a model Humdinger I transfigured to look like a duck in order to take it home and study its movements. I suppose that being in its natural habitat…unleashed it," she said offhandedly. "How exciting. I'll have to try it myself."
"It bit me!" Neville cried out.
"Yes, it tends to do that. You probably looked like a worm," she said with a smile. "Well, you can't blame it for wanting to take a bit out of you anyway," Luna added thoughtfully.
Neville frowned, "Why's that?"
"You are positively scrumptious lying there in the tub with your bubbles, completely naked," Luna blushed.
He coloured as well. "Really? Well, I haven't finished bathing, and you have yet to start. How about we—
"Oh no, Neville!" She looked scandalized. "I have a Blibbering Humdinger to look after." Grinning, she flounced out of the room.
If you indeed fled the room for a second time, it'd be safe to say you'd only see Neville Longbottom dripping wet in the middle of the bathroom floor.
The End.