Thank you to DaQiao17 for beta reading for me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from that series.

As expected, it was a lot more difficult avoiding Neville once term had resumed. Although with the return of most of the students made it easier to hide between lessons, during lessons it wasn't so easy. Especially during Herbology lessons where moving might make Neville think I don't like him at all, which is what I definitely don't want.

I had put off deciding whether to sit next to Neville in Herbology for the simple reason that I couldn't. As my hand mechanically fed me, my mind pondered over my two options:
Option one: I sit next to him and pray that I don't say or do anything foolish, which in my state of mind could happen rather easily and if he sees that something is up he may ask which may end up with me accidentally confessing, and that whole scenario terrified me, as my mind could think of no positive reactions to that recently.

Ernie said something to me. I nodded, he walked away.

Or option two: I sit next to Ernie and Hannah to (hopefully) speed up my moving on process, but by doing this Neville will defiantly see that something is up, and think that I don't like him – or something along those lines – also, deep down, I knew that I didn't want to get over him.

I sighed and looked up from my half-empty bowl of now cold chicken soup, gazing around, I saw that the Great Hall was almost empty, with the last few stragglers hurrying their food and dashing off to their lessons. I finally came to a conclusion: I think way too much.

My two options were still bouncing back and forth in my mind like a ping pong ball all the way down to the greenhouse, and upon opening the door I realised that my inner battle had been in vain. I mumbled an apology to Professor Sprout as I stumbled into the last remaining seat; next to Neville. Half of me inwardly cheered as the other groaned.

Throughout the lesson I tried to keep myself to myself, which became increasingly difficult the more Neville tried to make hushed conversation with me. Eventually, he stopped try seeing that his efforts were just going to waste with my grunts and one word answers. My stomach scrunched at the pained look across his face as he started to dejectedly take notes on the lesson. Towards the end of the lesson a scrap piece of parchment plopped in front of me, reading:

Had enough of your depressed attitude. While everyone is at dinner we are talking. No excuses.

E.

I looked up at Ernie who had a determined look upon his face. Suddenly I didn't want this lesson to end. As soon as the bell rang, signifying the end of the lesson, I shot out of my seat and down to the Hufflepuff common room. I dumped my bag on my bed and began to pace, and hopefully sort my thoughts out before going out to meet Ernie.

I sat on the floor playing with Minnie in front of the fire, as the rest of my house wondered to the Great Hall for their dinner. I saw Hannah, Susan and Justin shoot me a worried look before exiting, and then Ernie joined me on the honey coloured rug. He stared at the fire as I kept my eyes locked on Minnie. I didn't know what to say, so I waited for him to make the first move. The silence between us was tense. Every now and then Ernie would open his mouth as if to say something, but then it would close suddenly, deciding on the best way to approach this conversation. "So what's going on?" He said.
"I- er- I don't really know." I said, still refusing to look up from Minnie.
"So, what do you know?"
"Well, I know I like him, but I'm confused about what he thinks of me. I mean he thanks me for standing up for him a couple of weeks after it happened, so surely that means he was thinking about the situation- or me- for that long, right?"
"Well sure, though—"
"—unless it was meaningless to him, and he only just remembered then. And when I saw him in the corridor after meeting Justin, he lent me his cloak because I was cold, and he invited me to Slug's party, which he obviously wouldn't do if he didn't like me!"
"I guess, but—"
"And then at the party when Luna said that she thought we looked cute together, he laughed! Sure it sounded like a nervous laugh, but it still hurt! It was as if he was laughing at the very idea of me and him being a couple." I paused, looked down at Minnie before sighing: "It hurt."
"You think way too much," Ernie said, leaning against the chair next to him, "give your poor brain a rest!"He then stood "Oh well, let's go then!"
"Go where?" I asked confused as he walked towards the door.
"To the Great Hall for dinner," He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "if we're lucky there may be some pud left."
"So you're not going to help me?"
"No." He said simply before walking out.
I jumped to my feet, placed Minnie on my shoulder before running after him. "Why not? You're supposed to be my best friend!"
"But you know I'll probably make it worse."

I stopped. Is he really that worried about making it worse? Or is it an excuse to get food? His mind is always on his stomach, but looking back, Ernie's never been good with relationships and feeling, whether they are his or others. I came to the conclusion that he was probably nominated to get out of me what was wrong, and if he couldn't deal with it, report back to the girls. Yeah, that's probably it. I then caught up with him as we chatted merrily to dinner.

Ernie looked at Liz as she caught up with him. She looked a lot more cheerful, he didn't know why though, he didn't really do anything. Maybe she realised something as they were talking, or maybe it was when she stopped for a moment outside of the common room. Either way, he was glad that she was happy again.

Or was she really happy? Although throughout dinner Liz was all smiles and laughter, Ernie noticed that her eyes would wander off and a haze of sadness would shadow her eyes, until she caught herself and returned, grinning, into the conversation. One of these times he followed her gaze, though he guessed where it was pointing. His suspicions were confirmed when a certain awkward Gryffindor entered his line of sight. Ernie inwardly sighed; he's going to have to tell the girls, they're sure to have ways to help her move on. He was about to turn back to his apple crumble when he noticed Neville look at Liz with a slight blush adorning his cheeks. Could he possibly... Noticing Ernie, Neville turn quickly back to his own dessert, dropping his spoon in the process with a dark flush covering his face. Yep, I'm certain Neville has a thing for Liz.

But why was she so sad? Thinking over their last conversation, about what was really upsetting her seemed to be that she didn't know how he felt about her. Well after seeing Neville's reaction to being spotted he definitely likes her, why can't Liz see that? He scooped a mouthful of his pudding into his mouth. Yuck! It was cold! Liz's habit of thinking too much is definitely wearing off on him. The last thought he had on the subject before he fully joined back into the conversation was this: He was going to find out what happened between Neville and Liz, and if Liz wouldn't tell him, he'd have to find out from elsewhere.

Liz was looking a lot more cheerful of late, even though she still had her moments where her eyes would gloss over and she would stare pensively at whatever was in front of her. It had now been three days, Ernie was walking to the library to return a book. He sees a familiar group of Gryffindors ahead of him. After a short debate in his head, Ernie decides that he should go straight to the source of what he's sure is Liz's problem. "Hey Neville," He said falling into step with him, "Do you mind if we have a word? Privately." He added indicating towards Seamus and Dean who were with him.
Neville looked towards Seamus and Dean, and opened his mouth to speak, but Dean beat him to it; "Don't worry, we're gone." As he walks over to Ginny and gives her a peck on the lips, as Seamus follows and starts a conversation with Ginny's friends.

Once they were far enough Ernie started: "As I'm sure you are aware a certain mutual friend of ours has been acting a little off recently."
Neville thought momentarily before mumbling "Elizabeth."
"Correct! You see, she's been acting down ever since that little party you took her to. Now, I'm sure this is over a complete misunderstanding, but I think—"
"—that I should leave her alone?" Neville interrupted, "Not a chance! I've liked her for too long, and I'm not going to give up that easily!"
"I hoped you were going to say that," Ernie smirked.
"No way! I'm not just about to – hang on, what!"
"I know Lizzy will kill me for saying this, but there's no way she'll confess first -you're more likely to see Professor Snape in a ball gown- and to be honest you two are moving along far too slowly for my liking, but she likes you. Like, like you like you, not just friends like you. So if you want anything to happen between you two, you're going to have to make the first move and tell her flat out, or forever hold your peace."

Neville just stood there blinking. Is this for real? It has to be way too good to be true, though Ernie seems earnest in what he's saying, so maybe he does like her, either way, he's going to have to confess first! Can he do that? Will his Gryffindor bravery shine through? But what if it is a joke? What if—His negative thoughts were cut short by a piece of parchment being thrust at him.
"This is her timetable. If you want to talk to her tomorrow, I suggest between defence against the dark arts and charms, as they are relatively close to each other so, she has slightly more time. Though if you want more time to talk to her you could try Wednesday afternoon, she always has a free then, after her potions lesson. But apart from this, I am not helping you anymore!"
With that, Ernie turned and left, leaving Neville with Lizzy's timetable and his thoughts. Well, what has he got to lose? Neville looked down at the piece of paper and saw something scribbled on the back of it.
If you hurt her, I will hurt you.
He gulped and carried on to the library, not wanting to think what a protective friend like Ernie would do to him.