Disclaimer: All credit for characters and world belong to the genius that is J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: I fixed a whole lot before I was satisfied with writing again. I advise everyone to start from the beginning. To my faithful readers, thank you for being so awesome. I think I may need to change the rating on this story… :)

Chapter Nine: Instincts

Neville's point of view.

Early the next morning, Neville hauled himself out of bed, remembering he needed to wander down to town for some necessities. Getting himself ready, he left his room and noticed the guest room was ajar.

Peeking in, he saw Hermione still sleeping. He had thought maybe she could come along and he'd show her around, but he was disinclined to wake her up and frankly he needed time to think before he talked to her again.

He fed Chloe quickly and jotted down a quick note to Hermione that he had left and she could help herself to food. As he walked outside he noticed it was cloudy, but warm enough. A walk would be nice and as he wandered, he thought.

Her explanation for everything that happened last night was a little disconnected. Things went from horrible with Ron to being too perfect then to horrible again. People didn't change that fast, especially not Ron. He couldn't imagine why she'd said yes to marry him if she was so upset she wouldn't even apologize. Plus from what it sounded like their fighting was menial at best and Ron was a hot head, but he wasn't an idiot. Sure maybe things with them weren't ideal, but he was a male. It was unlikely to find any male, muggle or magical, that didn't have bad habits. Or any person without bad habits for that matter. Hermione knew that and she must have some herself so he couldn't figure out what the big deal was. There had to be more to the story, maybe she had just forgotten some of the details.

Also he didn't understand why everyone was mad at her. She had gotten cold feet, it happens. Sure, of course Ron would be upset, but the whole Weasley family? Harry? It just didn't make sense. There was something missing there and it was bothering him. Her story was sad, but it wasn't terribly unexpected. Twenty two was very young and even if their relationship was pure bliss it was hard to imagine anyone settling down so young after such a long war.

He had heard stories of the things those three had been through while he was at Hogwarts the 7th year. It would take awhile to get over things like that. It had taken him awhile to sort through his own experiences and he still was relatively quiet about the whole ordeal.

Entering town he set about his list of tasks. As he wandered, he bumped into Giulia.

"Hey Giules! How're you?" he asked, smiling widely.

In response she frowned and sidestepped him.

Confused, he turned around to catch up with her. Grabbing her arm, he pulled lightly in an attempt to turn her around, which she attempted to shake off, not even looking back at him.

"Giules? Giulia! Hello?" he continued, confused at her cold response. They'd argued before and she'd acted like this, but he couldn't remember fighting with her.

"What?" she snapped, her eyes flashing.

"Erm…well, I was just going to say hi. Your friends are here right? How are things with them, are they enjoying themselves? Are you enjoying yourself?" he asked, dismayed by her raised eyebrow and look of disdain.

"Yes, they're here, they're fine, I'm fine. Is that all?" she snapped, beginning to turn away again. Again, Neville caught her arm.

"What's going on," he asked bluntly, "Why are you mad at me, what did I do?"

"Nothing, you've done nothing," she replied with a little less venom in her voice, her eyes softening slowly.

"Then why are you upset with me?" he persisted, confused. He hadn't forgotten about meeting her anywhere? Or at least he didn't think he had. On the awkwardly frequent occasion he had flaked she usually just laughed at his forgetfulness, but this was her week with her friends and they hadn't planned anything, so that must not be the problem.

When she shook her head and didn't answer, he tried to sort through everything he'd said to her in the last few days and couldn't come up with anything that could be the matter.

"Giules, tell me. I dunno what I could have done…" he trailed off as her eyes flashed and turned cold again.

"Of course you don't know why I am upset. All thoughts of me have been wiped from your mind. You have better things to think about I'm sure. So tell me, how is your girlfriend? Why was she never mentioned to me? I don't hide anything from you, Neville, so why is it not okay for me to be mad at you when I find out you have hidden something from me?" she exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch as she continued.

People nearby were looking around and several women looking distinctly like tourists narrowed their eyes at him.

"Wait, what?" Neville asked, confused. What was she talking about? Girlfriends and lying? "Giulia, what are you talking about?"

"Never mind, forget I said anything," she replied coolly. Shaking her arm out of Neville's grasp, she marched off before he could even close his mouth from his surprise.

People were still staring and those women were shaking their heads in disapproval. He began to follow the direction she had headed in. Sure they bickered occasionally, but she'd never been this vehemently upset before. Or he'd never seen her this way.

Breaking into a jog, he passed through the early morning crowd trying to follow her. Sometimes it was unnerving how fast she was able to disappear and blend into the crowd.

After dodging, weaving and the disgruntled stares of annoyed passer-bys, Neville caught up with her as she turned into the alley that was a shortcut to her house and caught her arm again.

Giulia tried to yank her arm away and only ended up stumbling against his unyielding grip.

She swung around and he saw her eyes were swimming with tears and her lower lip was trembling. It was rare but on the singular occasion he'd seen her cry it had been a sure and endearing precursor.

Unable to come up with words, he pulled her into a hug and was surprised to note she was pushing him away.

"Stop it, don't touch me," she hissed, eyes narrowed as she pushed him away forcefully.

Neville rarely lost his temper at anyone other than himself, but he was so confused. What did he do to make her this upset?

"What the hell, Giules. Would you talk to me please?" he snapped right back at her as her eyes widened in hurt and than narrowed again. He had never seen her this irate.

"How dare you get angry with me when I've done nothing except be there for you and share every secret I have with you?" she spat, her eyes flickering with fury. "Here I am, innocently thinking that you tell me everything in return, but no, the mysterious Neville Longbottom is too great to confide in me that he has a girlfriend, let alone the fact that she was coming to the island."

Realization flickered and Neville couldn't help but laugh. She was talking about Hermione. She thought he was with Hermione. This thought would have left him blushing a few years ago, but now all it did was entertain him. Him and Hermione together was never going to happen. All amusement disappeared, however, as a loud crack rang through the air, followed milliseconds later by a burning in his cheek.

"How dare you laugh at me? It's like I don't even know who you are," Giulia seethed, hand still raised in air as if about to slap him again.

Neville reflexively seized her wrists to prevent her from striking him again, not even noticing that the amount of strength with which he grabbed her arms led her to stumble backward, her back pressed up against the wall of the building on one side of the alley.

As she lost her balance, he did too and he tumbled after her, trapping her between the himself and the wall.

His heart immediately started to flutter as if there was a bird trapped inside of his ribcage where his heart normally was. Her fury had left a hue of pick in her cheeks and her wide eyes glared at him, glittering with tears. Her chest was heaving with rage and he couldn't help but notice her chest straining against the thin material of her camisole.

Drawing in a breath Giulia started to yell at him again, this time in Italian. Though he didn't think he would hear her even if she was speaking English. All he could hear was the thumping of his heart and the wooshing of the blood in his ears. His shorts constricted painfully as he really looked at her for what felt like the first time.

Some of her hair had escaped it's tie and was falling into her eyes which were an alarmingly deep brown almost black, twinkling in her passionate ferocity. Her eyes were almost level with his, she stood only about two inches shorter than him. Her lips, moving quickly entranced him as she flicked her tongue out to wet them and continued yelling.

Thoughts of her tongue were the last think he noticed before an entirely new sensation overwhelmed him. They were kissing and he was fairly certain he hadn't instigated it.

He relaxed his hold on her wrists, moving his hands unconsciously to her waist where he grabbed hold, pushing her back flat against the wall as his lips moved with hers. They were so soft and full and it just felt completely indescribable as she flicked her tongue out again, this time tracing his mouth with her tongue.

A shiver ran through him and his heart sped up even faster making him positive it would stop soon. He pressed himself as close to her as he could, amazed by how natural yet unnerving it felt to feel her breasts heaving against his chest.

Instinctually, he opened his mouth as she probed gently with her tongue and felt his body go numb as she slid her tongue inside of his mouth just enough so that he could taste the spicy mint of what he assumed was her toothpaste.

He was getting lightheaded and his mental capabilities declined to the point where all he could do was keep himself upright, breathe through his nose, and try not to crush her in his fervor.

Gaining courage, he brushed his tongue back against her softly, cautiously. He had no idea what he was doing and yet at the same time this was as easy and innate as breathing.

Pushing slightly with his tongue, he tilted his head to one side opening his mouth more fully with Giulia responding by tiling her head the opposite way opening her lips slowly at his insistence.

As he slid his tongue inside her mouth, he felt the vibration of her moan against his chest. Her hands, which until this moment had been clutching his arms on her waist, snaked around his, delicately sliding into his back pockets.

Sensation of her hands on his rear made him shiver lightly until she swamped his senses when she pulled his hips to press against hers, pressing him into her in places where he wasn't quite comfortable with her knowing the extent of her effect of him.

Drawing away, he opened his eyes in wonder and uncertainty to stare at her. Giulia, smiling vaguely, opened her eyes more slowly. They were still narrowed but showing a hugely different emotion, one that he was pretty sure he had only ever heard about in the boys dormitory.

He pulled his hips away slightly in a vain attempt to conceal his more obvious thoughts, but her hands in his back pockets left him nowhere to go.

Silence spread between them and Neville had no ability to break it. All words were lost to him, gathered somewhere in his abdomen of virtually no use to his fumbling brain.

"Wow," she breathed smiling up into his eyes, marvel and something more unfamiliar shining in hers.

Neville had no idea what to say.