Chapter 14: The Most Magical Thing

(Still Neville's Birthday!)

"So do you think it's really haunted?" Bella peered at an old house along the outskirts of Hogsmeade known as the Shrieking Shack.

"Nah," Neville shook his head. "Harry swears it's not. Never really found out how he knows that exactly, but his word is good enough for me."

Bella agreed, partly due to the fact that Harry really did come off as a trustworthy guy but also because Bella had no desire to go near the shack...just in case. Neville brushed his thumb over her fingers, which were currently entwined with his, and she felt a rush of heat flood her face. They'd had a long, pleasant lunch at the Three Broomsticks, but neither of them voiced any hint of wanting to return to Hogwarts quite yet. She just wanted to stay with him a little longer...

"Are you all right? You've been a bit distant." He interrupted her thoughts with the depth of his gaze.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Though perhaps she felt a little flustered...and upset that Edward had to show up and ruin Neville's birthday. "I guess seeing you-know-who just threw me off a little bit."

To Bella's complete astonishment he abruptly burst out with a mixture of laughter and coughing. She must have missed some great joke. How was anything about today's events funny?

"Bella," Neville cleared his throat seriously after several seconds. "Did you know, nearly the entire wizarding world referred to Voldemort as You-Know-Who?"

Her eyes widened. "No! Oh my gosh..." Of course he would have found it funny. To his ears it must have sounded like she was calling Edward Cullen a notorious dark wizard! But the more she imagined it the more humorous the idea became.

Brooding, teenaged, vigilante, Emo-Edward...an all powerful Dark Lord…

She snorted at the hilarity. It probably shouldn't have been as funny as it seemed in that moment. Voldemort was a mass-murdering, completely evil being, and Edward was just an overly emotional, perpetually adolescent, immature immortal. The irony struck her. Voldemort had sought immortality his entire life, but fate saw fit to grant it to someone so starkly different...and arguably undeserving.

"I guess seeing someone from my past threw me off," she finally corrected herself with a still-amused smirk.

Neville appraised her thoughtfully. "Well, let's get your mind off of him then."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A tickling charm."

"Tickling, are you kidding?" Bella's mouth fell open. Being with Neville in Hogsmeade she liked; holding hands while they walked along the trees she liked...Tickling she did not like.

"Just hear me out," Neville approached her with a curious look in his eye.

"You shouldn't have to teach anything on your birthday, Neville." She countered.

"And you need to cheer up," he said pointedly.

It was true. She had been a bit mopey since they ran into Edward, but tickling could hardly solve that. "It doesn't matter. I don't feel like being tickled right n—"

"Rictusempra!" he cut her off with a mischievous grin. Unfortunately for him the spell did nothing, and Bella turned toward him with mock indignance.

"You jerk!" She swatted at him playfully. "What if that had worked?"

He continued laughing and managed to grab Bella's flailing hands until they were entwined tightly in his fingers. "I'm sorry, Bella," he chuckled softly.

She wriggled out of his grasp and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, birthday or no birthday, I am going to get you back."

He grinned, throwing his arms out to the side. "Fair enough, I deserve it. Show me your best wandwork."

Without warning she leapt on him and began tickling his sides the muggle way. "If you're going to tickle someone, you should do it right!"

Neville nearly fell over from the ambush. "Is that so?" he wheezed between laughs. Then he caught Bella's wrists in one hand and began tickling her with equal fervor.

"AH!" Bella squealed, tumbling back with her handsome assailant into a thick tree trunk. "Stop it, please!"

He exhaled one last deep chuckle and leaned into her gently. "Alright, I'll stop."

Her breath fluttered as she realized the position they were in. Neville rested his head against her temple, turned slightly so that the warm air from his mouth tickled its way from the top of her ear to the base of her neck.

She tilted her head until his lips skimmed her cheekbone. The air around them felt heavy, and she could feel Neville's chest rising against her shoulder.

What had they been doing that led to this? Oh yeah...tickling. Bella loved tickling...was there ever a time when she hadn't? Her thoughts were growing hazy, and all she could feel was the wave of heat from Neville's body, caressing and rolling over her skin. She continued to turn until she tasted his breath on her tongue, and a shaky exhale left her lips. A deep, rumbling growl issued from within Neville's throat, and finally he closed the painstaking distance with a kiss that made Bella's chest thrum with dizzying excitement.

Neville released her hands so he could pull her closer, and she took the opportunity to lightly drag her nails up his back until they found the base of his neck. She'd never seen Neville like this – so vulnerable and open…Daring to take the initiative, she teased the tip of her tongue across his bottom lip. To her surprise he let out a guttural moan and pressed her fully against the tree, their bodies curving into the other's like ocean waves melting into the heat of a sandy shore.

The kiss grew in intensity, and she had to clutch his shoulders to keep steady. Kissing Neville Longbottom was the most magical thing Bella had felt since she'd discovered the wizarding world, and suddenly every complication, every doubt, vanished without a trace.

This was where Bella belonged, and this was where she would stay.