Wednesday brought rain and wind as it howled against the tower. Several times Neville thought he felt the building sway as he was trying to tighten his tie. He walked out of the dorms after sharing a glare with Stephen and Oliver.
They had been blissfully quiet since the incident in the corridor with Pansy and actively avoided both of them now. Neville felt cheerful as he waited for a couple of girls to pass him. They glanced at him and smiled warmly as they passed. He smiled back and then watched as they threw glances over their shoulder. It was strange getting so much attention from girls. It was nice, but it made him uncomfortable now that he and Pansy were together. He almost wished that he did have something on his face.
Pansy stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him along with Hermione. They both smiled as he arrived.
"Good Morning, ladies." He offered as Pansy leant forward and kissed his cheek. He grinned and kissed her lips briefly before throwing a look at Hermione, who just rolled her eyes. "Did you both sleep well?" he asked as he tried to mollify the curly-haired witch.
"I've had better nights. I thought the rain was going to smash through the windows at one point." She complained.
"Were you cold?" Pansy asked Hermione "I was freezing, and my heating charms didn't touch my toes."
"Yeah, you can tell that summer is almost over,"
"Don't say that," Neville whined as they started down the stairs to breakfast. "Where are Theo and Blaise?"
"They went to the owlery, they're still trying to organise the party for after the Halloween feast next week. Apparently, they're trying to arrange something really special." Pansy rolled her eyes as they reached the bottom of the staircase.
"I wonder why that is?" Hermione asked sarcastically as she threw a look at Pansy.
"Am I missing something?" Neville asked. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Pansy interrupted.
"I think they just want to have this great party before we all have to leave and join the real world." Pansy glared at Hermione who rolled her eyes.
"Oh, right. Makes sense." Neville muttered as he watched the two girls. He would have to speak to Hermione about it when Pansy wasn't around.
They wandered towards the great hall, the smell of breakfast floating out to them. Neville's stomach growled, drawing Pansy's attention. She smirked as she glanced down at his stomach.
"Hungry?"
"Ravenous," He replied as he pulled her close. She giggled as he poked her in the side.
"Neville," She protested playfully.
He stopped just in time to see Hannah rush past them towards the dorms. She kept her head down and avoided eye contact as she scurried along the corridor.
"She's not so brave now, is she?" Hermione added as they entered into the great hall.
Neville glanced back to where Hannah had gone. Since their run-in with McGonagall, both Hannah, Stephen and Oliver had kept their distance. Since Stephen had tried to come on to Pansy, they had even kept their distance from each other. He wasn't sure whether separating them had made them more or less of a threat now. He thought on it as he followed Pansy to a spare seat with Ginny and Luna as usual.
"Morning, oldies," Ginny grinned as they sat down, "Everyone alright?"
"We were just talking about the eighth year blow out after the Halloween feast. You're both coming, aren't you?" Pansy asked as she picked up a croissant. Neville smiled as he reached for the toast, grabbing a couple of sausages and eggs as their conversation continued.
"If you can get us in, we're there!" Ginny said enthusiastically. "Have you gotten around the age line yet?"
Pansy and Hermione looked at each other and smirked.
"We might have a few ideas up our sleeves, but we've got to test them first," Hermione said as she stirred her porridge.
"I hope they keep the eighth year going," Luna added dreamily. "It would be nice to spend another year here."
"So what are you doing when you leave?" Ginny asked.
"I'm probably going to join the Aurors, Ron and Harry keep hounding me to fill in the application form," Neville frowned before taking a bite out of his toast.
"I thought you wanted to get into Herbology, Neville?" Luna asked.
"I do, but there's still so much rebuilding needed to be done. I'll maybe try and help as much as I can and then leave. You never know, I might be really good at it."
"I'm still just thinking of the uniform," Pansy said dreamily causing Hermione to choke on her Tea.
"You alright, Mione?" Neville asked.
"She's fine, she's just thinking of Ron in his perfectly pressed uniform" Pansy smirked.
"Eurgh, please don't, that's my brother!" Ginny frowned and shook her head.
"What about you, Hermione?" Pansy asked with a smug smile. "What will you do once you leave.
"I've been offered a position in the care of magical creatures department within the ministry. Mostly due to my work with S.P.E.W, I think."
"Oooh, lovely. You may yet discover the Crumple-Horned Snorkack." Luna said brightly as she leant forward to see Hermione.
"The what?" Pansy asked with a frown.
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack, It's an elusive creature that my father believes lives in Sweden. Their numbers are very limited, no one's ever seen one.
Pansy frowned in confusion for a moment. "If no one has ever seen one, how do you know that they exist?"
"Historical records and written eyewitness accounts. My father went to Sweden a couple of years ago but wasn't able to find one."
Pansy went to ask more but noticing Neville shake his head minutely, she stopped.
"Yes, I'm sure there will lots of learning curves for everyone once we leave," Hermione said diplomatically as she threw a sceptical glance at Luna.
There was a screech from the roof as the owls made their appearance.
"Oh, Post," Luna said happily.
Neville would never get bored of watching all the different coloured owls swooping in with letters and parcels. He missed seeing the great snowy owl drop down to Harry. Another casualty of war.
It was rare he ever got anything, just a weekly letter from his Gran letting him know how his plants were fairing. She didn't even update him about his parents any more as there wasn't much she could tell him. Sometimes she would send receipts through by accident and Neville quietly worried whether she was losing her marbles.
He watched happily as the others got their post. Ginny got a pack of homemade goodies which he knew instantly were from Molly, whilst Luna received a copy of the quibbler and a letter from her dad.
Hermione plucked the daily prophet from the owl's leg before putting the money in its pouch on the other and rolled her eyes at the small bouncy owl who zoomed around her head.
"Pig, just give me the letters," She said with a growl. The tiny owl dropped them, narrowly missing her porridge. He recognised Harry and Ron's handwriting instantly. He took another bite of his toast as he looked at Pansy. She smiled as she opened the first of hers.
"Draco writes and yes. It's all about Potter again."
"That's a coincidence, He's writing all about Malfoy too," Hermione smirked. "Some things will never change."
"What do they say?" Neville asked.
"Well, Harry said that they did a charity drive yesterday to promote the new Auror intake and to raise money for the war orphans. He says it was a resounding success until one of the hippogriffs got spooked and started to cause havoc. He was pushed in the way of a charging one and broke his arm, but he managed to stop it from trampling on some children, including Teddy."
"Now for Draco's take on it," Pansy said with a roll of her eyes. Neville held his hand out for the newspaper as Pansy read. "Oh Merlin, the boy has it bad!"
"Dear Pansy, I am well, and I have finally eaten my way through the chocolate wands you kindly sent. If you feel inclined to send more to your favourite friend, then please do not fight the urge. Yesterday was another Perfect Potter publicity day."
"I love the alliteration" Ginny nodded before smirking.
"I can practically hear him sighing at this point." Pansy chuckled as she moved down the letter. "Looking ridiculous in his new Auror uniform which he isn't even qualified to wear yet! The man looked like a clown, and he still hasn't done anything to calm that crow's nest he calls hair. He made sure his scar was on full display, though. So very like Potter."
"I think he looks very smart," Neville said as he held up the paper. An image of Harry warding off an angry hippogriff whilst protecting some terrified children played out on the front page. The headline read "Potter's Passionate Protection Persists."
"He really loves his alliteration, doesn't he? He's going to run out of P words soon." Ginny chuckled as she spied the picture. "He could have used Harry's Hilarious Hippogriff Hijinks."
They all laughed.
"Or Hero Harry Hustles Hippogriff," Neville offered.
"Good one Neville," Luna said as she giggled
"Very good, however back to the important matter at hand. His uniform! I can see you in and out of that uniform, I wonder what other words I can think of beginning with N?" Pansy smirked, Malfoy's letter remaining forgotten in her hands as she looked at him with her come-to-bed eyes. She leant closer and whispered "Longbottom Lover's Lacy Legs, or Neville's Naked Naughtiness Now" He blushed and smiled.
"Pansy's Perversions Persist Precariously" Hermione shot sarcastically. Pansy smirked and chuckled as she reluctantly pulled away from him.
"What else does Draco say?" Luna asked.
"Oh yes, erm." She paused as she scanned the letter again. "Here we are, Perfect Potter always manages to find the right place at the right time. And I'm sure it was his idea to get the bloody hippo-gits when he knew that I would be head journalist on this story. Stupid bloody turkey-horses, they are inherently evil and will attack without provocation."
"He would say that after his run-in with Buckbeak," Hermione said sourly.
"He then goes on to complain about him some more, says he breaks his arm on purpose just to look dashing. A small note about Ron looking semi-competent as he handles the crowds. Well, that was nice of him." Pansy chuckled.
"Someone needs to lock the two of them in a room, they'll either die together, or they'll come out married," Hermione said with a shake of her head.
"I see we are talking about our favourite snake and the famous lion?" Theo asked as he and Blaise arrived. They pushed in next to Hermione as they greeted everyone. Neville nodded before looking back down at the newspaper.
"The newspaper article seems pretty level headed towards the whole thing. He's done well to make it sound neutral." Neville added with an approving nod. "I'm impressed."
"Yeah, That's Draco. He always was good at bull-" She stopped as she looked at one of the other letters.
Neville knew from the clenched jaw and the white knuckles that she had received some bad news. Her whole posture changed as she gripped the page as though her life depended on it.
"Pansy? Are you alright?" Ginny asked as they all watched her. He noticed as her cheeks drained of colour and tears appeared in her eyes. She cleared her throat and nodded before talking.
"Please, excuse me," She muttered as she stood up and left the great hall.
Neville exchanged glances with Theo and Blaise before turning to Ginny, Luna and Hermione. They all shared a look that said they didn't know what was going on. Neville stood up to follow, forgetting his food as the dread built up in his stomach.
As he walked the infernally long stretch between where they had sat and the end of the hall, he considered all the things that the letter could have contained. But every thought he had seemed to come back to family matters. He knew that the letter must be from her family.
The corridor was empty as Neville looked both ways. He cursed under his breath as he tried running one way and then the other. Pansy had disappeared. Neville stood for a moment as he tried to figure out where she could have gone. Had she returned to the dorms or had she gone to the library? He thought the latter unlikely. He wondered whether she had gone to the greenhouses. He looked out onto the grounds and shook his head. Looking at the weather, he didn't think the greenhouses were likely either. He needed to borrow a girl. He went to turn around and almost collided with Luna.
"Luna, perfect. I need a girl." Luna smiled at him in her dreamy way.
"Of course, Neville. How can I help?"
"I need you to pop to the loo," he said without further explanation.
"Am I looking for Pansy?" She asked with a tilt to her head. He nodded. "come on then," She said as she started towards the nearest bathroom.
