Chapter 2

Mya walked through the hospital wings door with two cupcakes in a little box. Once again Neville was buried in a book. When Mya shut the door Neville looked up.

"When you said later I didn't think you actually meant later," said Neville in shock.

"Neville, you are my best friend, of course I'm going to visit you as much as I can," said Mya. "And besides, I brought us cupcakes to munch on." He chuckled as Mya dug out the cupcakes.

"You didn't have to do this," said Neville.

"You are absolutely correct, I didn't have to do this, I just wanted too," said Mya as she smiled, Neville smiled back. The evening rolled on and Mya and Neville chatted about eachothers day until finally,

"Oh god, I have to go do homework," bursted Mya. "As joyous as it is," Mya rolled her eyes.

"Okay," said Neville. He was obviously a little disappointed.

"Yeah, but oh well, got to get it done," said Mya as she made her way to the edge of the bed, for she had been lying next to him.

"Neville?" asked Mya.

"Yes?" he replied.

"What exactically did Draco do to you?" Mya asked. Neville was silent for a moment as Mya watched him with sympathetic eyes.

"Well-well, he-he, it's really kind of stupid…" trailed Neville scratching his head.

"You can tell me Neville…" Mya encouraged.

"Well I was going back up to the Gryffindor Tower last night, and he had been coming down, for only god knows why, and he saw me." Neville's face was starting to become blank, "he had said to me 'hey Longbottom what are you doing hanging out with a mudblood.' And I was saying that you were awesome and stuff like that and he kind of snickered and shoved me down the stairs. Then I broke my leg cause I am a klutz," finished Neville looking up at Mya with despair.

"Oh my god, Neville," said Mya in her pitiful voice. He just blushed. "I'm so sorry you broke your leg because of me."

"It's really okay," responded Neville.

"No, it's not, tomorrow I'll give him a dose of his own medicine…again," said Mya now standing. She walked over to the side of the bed by Neville and bent down so she was about four inches from his face.

"You really are a sweet guy," said Mya as she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. Then she left. Neville watched her as she strode out of the wing. As the door shut he became more aware of something inside of him. It was an odd feeling, one he had never felt before; he pondered this for a few moments glancing around the room and back to the bed. He then figured it out, though there really wasn't much thinking to it that to him Mya was no longer 'just a friend.' He realized that he, in fact, loved her.

Jessie was now in the library researching aconite for her potions class. She was silently buried in her studies. When she heard,

"JESSICA!" this was no other than Jessie's best friend Rachel Thompson. (Rachel is in Ravenclaw also). Jessie turned around with shock only to see the gleaming smile of Rachel.

"Rachel, hi, how are you?" asked Jessie excitedly.

"I'm fine and how about you?"

"Oh I'm excellent. How was your summer?" asked Jessie as Rachel was taking a seat next to her. They told eachother their summer tales. The highlights, Jessie had grown her very own flower garden with plants from around the world; while Rachel's summer was spent at a camp right on the ocean. After they had talked for a while Rachel had realized the time,

"Oh," she started, "look at the time. I really should be going, so nice to see you again."

"Yep, nice to see you too," replied Jessie. And Rachel left with a quick "bye." Jessie naturally looked at the time,

"9:30 SNAP!" she shouted, throwing her hand up to her head.

"Shhh," hissed the librarian.

"Sorry," cringed Jessie. She marked her place in her books and gathered them up and brought them back to the common room. When she had gotten there she found Mya doing what need be done.

"Evening," claimed Jessie.

"Hi," responded Mya glancing up from her studies and asked, "library?"

"Yeah, I wonder what gave it away, hmm, maybe the BOOKS!" said Jessie sarcastically.

"Whatever, I'm so tired, I can't notice the obvious," said Mya turning back to her work.

"So how was Neville?" asked Jessie still standing holding her books to her chest.

"Fine," replied Mya. "You know what screw this, I'm going to bed, I have most of it done." Mya slammed her books closed, gathered them up, and strutted to the dorm.

The morning arose sooner than expected, and as usual Mya was up first. Except instead of getting ready she was doing homework.

"I need some serious help," she said to herself, "this anatomy of bowtruckles has got me stumped." Mya went to see if Jessie was up. She should have known better, it was 5:00 in the morning. Classes didn't start until 9, and breakfast wouldn't even be ready for another two an a half hours. Mya let out a long sigh. She quickly got assembled so she could hit the library. Grabbing her bag and setting the mechanical alarm clock for Jessie. She had also put a spell on it so it wouldn't stop going off until Jessie was out of bed. As she headed to the stairs, Mya was going through everything she needed to do…she had everything done but the worst one. She was going to have to research the anatomy of a bowtruckle.

"Great," she mumbled to herself.

Beep, beep, beep went the alarm in Jessie's and Mya's dorm. Jessie being herself hit the snooze only to find out she couldn't turn off the alarm. She put the pillow over her head and shoved herself further under the blankets, but the sound amplified.

"Mya you're going to pay for this," Jessie said aloud now getting frustrated. She flung herself out of the bed, "I'M UP!" she shouted and the alarm went off. Several minutes passed of Jessie slowly getting ready. She turned to the bed and looked at the clock; she chuckled, and slid back into it. Time passed, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP the alarm went off again, two minutes after Jessie had crept back in.

"Damn it all," she said as she inched back out of bed.

In the library Mya was working at a steady pace. She was probably about half way done with her anatomy when she heard a familiar voice. Not a bad voice, but a proverbial one.

"Good morning Mya," said Neville smiling.

"Hey Neville!" said Mya looking up from her piece, "Didn't expect to see you so early."

"Well, I just got released and figured I ought to return these books," said Neville holding a pile of books in his hands.

"Oh I see," said Mya grinning. There was an awkward silence between the two, until Mya broke it, "Hey do you think you could help me out with this," as she gestured to her assignment.

"Of course," answered Neville taking a seat next to Mya and placing the books on the empty table in front of him. "So what are we working on?"

"Well it's supposed to be an anatomy of a bowtruckle," said Mya biting her bottom lip, discouraged ate her work.

"Oh yes, that," said Neville. "They're rather hard to explain, but I know a great book that contains tons of information about them."

"That would be superb," said Mya somewhat relived.

"Okay, I'll get it, be right back," said Neville as he left. Mya giggled, not that anything was funny, but she just thought about Neville. He was always so helpful and even when he's in pain he's just as full of life as ever. She twiddled the pencil a little bit as she waited. Her legs were crossed and her foot was tapping the air as she kicked back.

"Got it," said Neville turning the corner of one of the many bookshelves.

"Oh good, I may finish in time now," said Mya sitting back up in her chair, eager to finish the project. Neville was turning the pages as he began to sit back down.

"Ah, here it is," said Neville as he slid the book to Mya. She was speed-reading over it to just get a general idea of what she would be using.

"Neville this is awesome," said Mya not looking up but writing notes instead.

"Told you," said Neville grinning, his hands folder on the table, just sitting, waiting for Mya.

"You know Neville, you don't have to wait for me," said Mya still not looking up. This reminded Neville of the very conversation they had last night.

"You are absolutely correct, I don't have to I just want too," said Neville in confidence. This got Mya's attention, she looked up in shock, but her shocked eased as she started beaming.

"That's so sweet Neville, sounds kinda familiar doesn't it?" asked Mya playfully. Neville just shrugged his shoulder and smirked back. Mya turned back to her work.

She's so pretty when she smiles thought Neville as he stared at Mya's working figure. His hands have moved up under his chin.

"It will only be a few more minutes," said Mya feeling bad that she was keeping him so long.

"Okay," said Neville not moving.

The few minutes passed and Mya finally said, "Done," as she crashed the book cover down. She looked up at Neville who still hadn't moved.

"See books are wonderful," said Neville as he stood.

"Yes, I must agree," replied Mya gathering everything. She and Neville proceeded to replace the books. When they got out of the library and into the hallway Neville asked,

"May I escort you to breakfast?" He was holding out his elbow for Mya.

"Why certainly, I suppose it's the least I can do for the one who saved my ass," Mya said in a hushed tone. She took his arm without second thought, and they headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

Jessie had finished getting ready. She generally doesn't take as long as she did to get ready, but today the circumstances being what they were, Mya, it was understandable. She had grabbed her sling and opened the door

"HI JESS!" shouted Rachel. Jessie jumped.

"Geese Rachel you shocked me," said Jessie clutching her chest, the recent scare just got her going.

"Oh I'm sorry Jess," said Rachel sympathetically.

"It's really okay, I just wasn't expecting you."

"Oh well that's good, I suppose."

"Yeah, so what are you doing up here anyhow?" asked Jessie.

"Oh I was just going to ask you if you'd like to go to breakfast with me," said Rachel.

"Yeah, Mya's not here so that'll be fine," said Jessie as she glanced into the room.

"Great," said Rachel. Jessie smiled and shut the door behind her and starting to walk and talk to Rachel about last night's homework.

As Neville and Mya walked they were pretty quiet. Neville was just so nervous about Mya he didn't want to say anything, so he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of her. Mya didn't seem to notice. Neville held up strong though it all, his arm as stiff as could be. Mya's arm was gently wrapped around it, calm. On their way they passed several people in their year, but they didn't get waves just looks, looks of curiosity. Neither Neville nor Mya seemed to care about the dirty looks. When they reached the massive doors Mya paused,

"Okay Neville, I think we should go in separately," she was removing her arm. Neville shot a puzzled expression, "for your own sake, I don't want you to get Malfoy in your face again."

"Oh, okay," said Neville sadly. He dropped his arm only to lift it again, "Ladies first," he gestured to the door with his hand.

"Thank you," said Mya, and she went in. The doors slowly closing in Neville's face, as he stood. He waited a few minutes then let himself in, he gradually lifted his head to look up at the ceiling and it was raining.

Pleasant he thought mockingly.