Disclaimer= I own absolutely nothing besides the paper on which I wrote this story! All Characters belong to the imaginative J.K. Rowling.
A.N.:) I stayed up all night writing this chapter! I got started and just couldn't stop! So I really hope everyone likes it, though as Albus Dumbledore once told Hagrid "Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time."
Chapter Four:
Since the trip to London was an hour long, Neville had to leave very early with his grandmother in order to get to King's Cross-Station on time. As Great Uncle Algie was prohibited to go anywhere near Neville (unless he wanted to deal with his sister, which he did not) he wouldn't be accompanying them, to Neville's great relief. But though his wrist throbbed every time he thought of his Great Uncle, Neville couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him. Apparently, he had been greatly offended when he hadn't received a letter from Great Auntie Enid as well, and had begun to realize that the matter was quite serious. Poor Great Uncle Algie. He had really put his foot in it this time.
On the train, Neville thought of the coming year and how different Hogwarts would probably be. Things were bound to be different everywhere since the Dark Lord had risen again. It still felt like a dream, a very bad dream. But to tell the truth, that wasn't what was bothering Neville most at the moment. His grandmother had agreed to go to Diagon Alley that day and buy him his Potions ingredients but Neville would have to do without them for at least a week until he'd get them. That was considerably enough time for Snape to skin him alive. Neville shuddered at the thought of Potions class. Professor Snape hated him and terrified Neville to pieces. Though, since his newfound self-esteem, he was perhaps a bit less frightened of him, but only because he knew there were scarier things out there in the world...
Like the fact that Hannah might hate him.
That last thought lingered in Neville's mind as the train pulled to a stop and he clambered off after his grandmother. He made his way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and leaned absentmindedly against it.
Nothing. He didn't go through.
Neville mentally shook himself and leaned against the barrier again.
It wouldn't budge.
He began to panic. Why couldn't he get through the barrier? What was he going to do? He was going to miss the Hogwarts Express! He was going to miss Hannah! He was going to-
"Neville! What are you doing?" His grandmother's voice came sharply from somewhere behind him. Neville turned around and looked at her. She was standing at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. So where was he? He looked up and saw that he had been trying to pass through the barrier between platforms eight and nine this whole time! Neville blushed and smiled sheepishly before picking up his things and heading towards his grandmother.
"Honestly!" she said, "Sometimes, Neville, I don't know what goes on in that head of yours!" She leaned casually against the barrier and slid through and Neville followed suit, no problem.
Platform nine and three quarters appeared before his eyes. The Hogwarts Express, the students milling around, saying their good-byes. Neville smiled as he ran after his grandmother.
"Now, go and find a compartment and then come back and tell your old grandmother good-bye." She took out a spotted turquoise handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.
Neville set off in search of a compartment and found an empty one at the very back of the train. He deposited his trunk and bags there and went back to say good-bye.
After promising his sobbing grandmother that he would behave and try harder in Potions this year, she left, reassuring Neville that she would send him his ingredients right away. He watched her go, knowing he would miss her quite a bit. Neville sighed and turned on his to heal back to the train, and then, he saw her.
Hannah.
She was standing near the ticket-booth checking her things and Neville found that he could just gape at her, stricken for the moment by how beautiful she looked when the sun caught on her hair as she pushed it out of her eyes. He would have rushed over to her right away but for the fact that he found his feet were frozen to the floor and his heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't breathe and his stomach felt as though he had swallowed a dozen toad-shaped peppermint creams.
"Breathe Neville!" He thought, "Breathe!" Neville took a deep breath and was about to go over to her when someone else beat him to it.
A dark haired boy who Neville didn't recognize, walked over to Hannah and began talking to her. Neville watched, feeling his stomach disappear, as Hannah laughed and gave the boy one of her radiant smiles.
Instantly, Neville's insides exploded with jealousy, yet, at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty. Why was he so jealous? Hannah wasn't his girlfriend (even though he'd hoped she would be) and hadn't he suspected all along that Hannah had met someone else over the summer? His suspicions were further confirmed when the dark haired boy leaned towards Hannah and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Neville turned away and ran to the train. If he watched one more second, he was sure he'd burst into tears. However, when he reached his compartment, he found three very unwelcome people sitting there.
Malfoy Crabbe and Goyle had taken the liberty of making themselves comfortable in Neville's compartment while he had been gone.
"Hey! This was my compartment!" he protested, though quietly, as Malfoy was another one of those people who scared Neville silly.
"Yeah, was being the key word. It's ours now." Malfoy's cold drawling voice replied. Crabbe dumped Neville's luggage out into the corridor and laughed stupidly.
"Now get out of here, squib!" Malfoy laughed.
Neville could feel his eyes start to sting with tears when a voice came from behind him.
"One more word Malfoy, and you'll wish you'd never been born, or have you already forgotten how it feels to wake up after being knocked, out with mushrooms all over your hands and feet and no eyebrows?"
Neville turned around and found Harry Potter standing there, wand out, and looking at Malfoy as though he thought he were the most disgusting thing on Earth. Behind him stood his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger both looking like they were itching for Malfoy to give them a reason to point their wands at him as well.
Malfoy glared at Harry, though, for a fleeting moment, Neville was sure he saw actual fear flitting through his eyes. Apparently, Malfoy hadn't forgotten.
"Well look who's here. It's Scarface." He said through gritted teeth.
"That's it!" shouted Ron. He lunged himself at Malfoy but Harry held out an arm to stop him and Hermione grabbed the back of his T-shirt.
Harry raised his wand. "Give me a reason, Malfoy, and I will." He said with deadly determination. "You've got three seconds to get out of my sight and take your brainless gits with you. One... Two..."
Malfoy sneered at Harry before taking his bags and leaving, calling Crabbe and Goyle after him.
Harry lowered his wand and Neville looked at him with admiration. "Thanks Harry." He said gratefully.
"No problem, Neville." Harry replied.
Neville was surprised at the change in Harry's voice. He suddenly sounded so drained. Harry sighed and Neville noticed for the first time how tired he looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days, which, Neville reminded himself, was probably the case. He thought for a moment about what Harry must be going through, knowing that Voldemort was out there, alive and well and bending all of his power to find him and kill him.
Ron gave a worried glance at Harry and turned to Neville. "Listen, Neville, do you mind if we share the compartment with you?"
"What? Oh, no not at all." Neville stepped inside, "Come on in." He settled himself next to the window and watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione got comfortable.
"So, Neville," said Hermione, "what happened to your arm?"
Neville looked down at his bandaged wrist and smiled. He found he didn't mind Uncle Algie so much when comparing him to Malfoy. He launched into the whole story about how Great Uncle Algie had been thrown out and how he was constantly trying to improve Neville, though, as everyone could see, was failing spectacularly. By the end, they were all out of breath from laughing so hard, even, he was pleased to see, Harry.
After that, they plaid exploding snap for an hour, and when they got bored playing cards, Hermione curled up with a book and left them to discuss who they thought would take Oliver Wood's place as Keeper on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the nice lady with the lunch cart opened their door and asked them if they wanted anything. Neville got a bunch of Chocolate Frogs (his favorite) and everyone else got something as well. They sat there pigging out for a while until Ron got up and announced that he was going to stretch his legs, but before he left, he sent Hermione a meaningful glance and then walked out the door.
Hermione suddenly jumped up and said she was going to say hello to Lavender Brown and left quickly after him.
Neville watched her go. "What was that all about?" he asked Harry, confused.
Harry smiled conspiratorially. "Well, they think I don't know, but they're so obvious!" he snickered.
"What?" asked Neville, his eyes growing wide.
"Ron and Hermione are better friends than everyone thinks..." Harry laughed.
"Do you mean?" Neville asked, his eyes growing even wider. "Ron and Hermione?"
"Yup! Girlfriend and boyfriend." Announced Harry, clearly enjoying himself. He heaved a huge fake sigh. "They've been sneaking off everywhere together, and giving eachother all these funny looks, it's quite obvious. Besides," he added with a shrug, "I accidentally overheard one of their conversations during the summer, they went all mushy. I left before it could do me any permanent mental damage..." Harry burst out laughing.
"You seem to be taking it very well." Exclaimed Neville, surprised that Harry wasn't the least bit offended by the fact that Ron and Hermione were keeping secrets from him.
"Well, I've been waiting for this to happen since last year." Harry replied. "Honestly! Those two were made for eachother." He continued, laughing again. "Not only that, but they deserve eachother, anyone else wouldn't be able to put up with one of them for even a second!"
Neville laughed as well, but only halfheartedly. He was thinking about Hannah again and his insides were writhing with jealousy. But he didn't have time to brood, because at that moment, Fred and George Weasley burst into the compartment.
"Hello!" said George jauntily sitting down next to Neville.
"Hi." Squeaked Neville. Though Fred and George didn't scare him, they still made him very nervous, especially after that time last year when they had fed him a Canary Cream and successfully managed to turn him into a giant yellow bird.
"Listen, Harry," said Fred, plopping down next to Harry, "We need to find Ron. You know where he is?"
"Ummm, no, not exactly." Said Harry, trying and failing to keep from smirking.
George raised his eyebrows, then looked around the compartment. "Wait a minute, where's Hermione?" He looked at Fred and comprehension dawned on both of their faces.
Fred's mouth twitched into an wicked grin. "What do you think, dear brother? Do you believe ickle Ronniekins is off seizing opportunity?"
Harry snorted.
"Why, if opportunity has bushy hair and brown eyes, then you might be correct, my fellow conspirator!" replied George his mouth breaking into an identical smile.
Fred turned to Harry. "Sorry to leave so soon," he began.
"But we have places to go and people to see!" finished George. And with that, they left the compartment snickering.
Neville watched them leave apprehensively, feeling very sorry for Ron and Hermione if Fred and George were to catch them.
His thoughts turned once again to Hannah and the dark haired boy he'd seen kissing her on the cheek. He must've looked very worried because Harry asked, "Neville, what's up?"
Neville looked at Harry contemplating whether to say something or not about his predicament. He decided he preferred to keep it to himself so he replied, "Nothing, just thinking about things." Harry looked at him strangely and opened his mouth to say something but must've thought better of it because instead, he turned his gaze to the window.
They had been sitting like that for a few minutes, both boys deep in thought when the door burst open and Ron flew in with Hermione right behind them. They both looked flushed, as though they had been running.
"Hello." Ron panted, having difficulty breathing. Neville guessed that Fred and George had caught up with them. He coughed on purpose to stop himself from laughing.
Harry looked at Ron knowingly and then turned back to the window. Neville gazed at him. He really did look tired.
"Well," said Neville finally, "I think I'll go take a walk to stretch my legs as well." With that, he got up and walked out of the compartment. He needed to be alone and think right now.
As he walked down the corridor, Neville kept thinking about what he had seen on the platform earlier that day. He still couldn't believe it! And his letter to Hannah! He must have sounded like such an idiot telling her he loved her!
He was so completely lost in his own thoughts that he didn't see someone else coming down the corridor apparently lost in thought as well. They didn't notice eachother until it was too late.
"Oh, sorry!" said Neville as he scrambled to his feet.
"No, no," replied a girl's voice; "It was my fau-" she broke off seeing who she had bumped into.
Neville looked up and realized why she had stopped in mid-sentence. He was looking into the face of Hannah Abbot.
"Hannah." Neville said, blushing scarlet.
"Neville." She replied, blushing just as much as he did.
"What are you doing here?" They both asked at the same time.
Neville laughed. Hannah smiled, but then looked away embarrassed.
"I was just thinking." Said Neville looking at Hannah intently. Now that he was talking to her, he was determined to ask her why she hadn't answered any of his letters. He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her. "You?" he asked.
"I was thinking too." Hannah replied.
"Oh? What about?"
Hannah was silent for a moment. She then looked at Neville, determination in her eyes and answered in a voice that was almost a whisper, "You."
Neville didn't know what to say to this, so he simply kept on looking at his best friend.
Hannah suddenly realized that Neville's wrist was bandaged.
"Oh Neville!" she cried, "what happened to you?" She rushed forward, took his hand intently I her own and looked at it with a look of intense worry on her face, which made him hate Great Uncle Algie for making him sprain his wrist and cause Hannah to worry about anything.
"It's nothing. It's just Great Uncle Algie."
"Oh did he come to visit this summer?" she asked disapprovingly.
"I wish! Great Auntie Enid finally had the sense to kick him out of the house, the only problem being, she kicked him straight into ours." Neville chuckled and Hannah laughed a little making Neville's heart feel light. To make Hannah laugh was one of his favorite things. But it couldn't last. Neville knew he had to ask her sometime.
"Hannah," he began, "why didn't you answer any of my letters this summer?"
Hannah looked away, embarrassed again.
"Well?"
"Neville, " she said uneasily, "Neville, I couldn't."
"Why?"
"I..." her voice trailed off into silence.
Neville steadied his voice. "You met someone else. Didn't you?"
Hannah turned back to look at him, her eyes wide. "No! What gave you that idea?"
"Well," Neville said deciding to tell her about what he had seen earlier that day, "I saw you with that dark haired boy back on the platform."
To his utter surprise, Hannah laughed. "Who? Jeffery? Neville, he's my cousin! He goes to a different school and doesn't start till tomorrow so he came to see me off!" She continued giggling.
Neville had never felt so relieved in his life, but the thing was, if she hadn't met someone else over the summer, then he still didn't know why Hannah hadn't answered his letters.
"Oh. I thought..." he stopped. She knew what he'd thought. "Then really, why didn't you write me back all summer?"
Hannah stopped giggling and looked away again.
Neville felt he had committed a crime, making her stop laughing, but he needed to know.
"Neville," Hannah began, "I couldn't write to you because I was..." she swallowed, "I was scared."
Whatever Neville had been expecting, this wasn't it. "Scared? Of what?"
Hannah fixed her gaze on Neville's eyes and Neville peered into hers. "I was scared of losing you as a friend. When you wrote me and told me that you were falling in love with me, I couldn't believe it! I was so happy, but then I realized what it meant. That things would never be the same again because, Neville, I've fallen in love with you too."
Neville stood peering into her eyes. He felt he would faint. She'd fallen in love with him.
"But Neville," she continued, "I want you to know that I'm not scared anymore."
Neville suddenly realized how close they were, his hand in hers, their faces inches apart. He swallowed hard.
"Hannah I..." Neville began, as they leaned towards eachother.
"Yes?" Hannah answered breathlessly.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." She whispered back.
They leaned towards eachother and they were so close when-
"Oi! Fred! Where's Katie's compartment?"
Neville and Hannah broke apart just in time as George bounded through the corridor. He stopped abruptly when Neville and Hannah, both looking incredibly flushed.
"Sorry? Am I interrupting something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and beginning to smile in a way Neville didn't like at all.
"George wait up!" Fred bounded down the corridor after his twin. He too stopped abruptly when he spotted Neville and Hannah. "What's going on?" He glanced at George and saw his smile. "Ooohhh, I see." He said in an understanding tone. "We're interrupting something, aren't we?" He too smiled wickedly.
"No!" said Neville and Hannah at the same time.
"Yeah, right." Replied George, exchanging another glance with Fred. "Well, we'll just be going now, but don't get too cozy, we're almost at school." Neville felt himself blush furiously.
The twins walked off, sending incredibly annoying "knowing" looks towards him.
"Well that went well." Neville said sarcastically.
Hannah laughed.
He just looked at her. She loved him. He couldn't believe it! The most wonderful girl in the world loved him, Neville. Clumsy, bungling, silly Neville.
Hesitantly, Neville pushed a loose strand of hair behind Hannah's ear. She rested her cheek in his hand and looked at him adoringly. Her cheek was warm and he could feel her eyes looking straight into his soul. She knew him so well. He thought how lucky he that she was his best friend. He tilted her head up and leaned towards her again. They were only centimeters apart when the train lurched and began slowing down.
Neville made a strangled noise of frustration in his throat, and Hannah sighed. "I guess we aren't going to be given a chance today." She said.
"Yeah." Replied Neville longingly, "Just our luck."
"Oh well. We'll just have to find some time for ourselves once school starts." Hannah added sounding disappointed.
Neville looked into her eyes again and said, "I love you Hannah." He was so happy to be saying it out loud.
Hannah blushed. "I love you too Neville." She said.
The train slowed to a stop.
"I'd better go, I still have to change." Neville turned to leave but not before giving Hannah a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye."
Hannah turned to leave as well. "Good-bye."
As Neville climbed the stairs to his dormitory, much, much later, he kept thinking about what had happened on the train. He couldn't stop grinning and he felt like he was going to implode. All his worrying had been for nothing. Hannah loved him. It was the best feeling in the world.
He opened the dormitory door to find Harry teasing a very red-eared Ron Weasley. Neville didn't know what it was about for sure but he had a feeling Harry had finally let Ron know that he knew about him and Hermione. Neville didn't pay them any attention. He slipped into his pajamas and snuggled under his covers.
That night was the first goodnight's sleep Neville'd had in a long time.
A.N:) I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please r/r. I think after staying up all night writing it that I deserve at least a couple of comments. (Breaks down crying from exhaustion.)
A.N.:) I stayed up all night writing this chapter! I got started and just couldn't stop! So I really hope everyone likes it, though as Albus Dumbledore once told Hagrid "Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time."
Chapter Four:
Since the trip to London was an hour long, Neville had to leave very early with his grandmother in order to get to King's Cross-Station on time. As Great Uncle Algie was prohibited to go anywhere near Neville (unless he wanted to deal with his sister, which he did not) he wouldn't be accompanying them, to Neville's great relief. But though his wrist throbbed every time he thought of his Great Uncle, Neville couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for him. Apparently, he had been greatly offended when he hadn't received a letter from Great Auntie Enid as well, and had begun to realize that the matter was quite serious. Poor Great Uncle Algie. He had really put his foot in it this time.
On the train, Neville thought of the coming year and how different Hogwarts would probably be. Things were bound to be different everywhere since the Dark Lord had risen again. It still felt like a dream, a very bad dream. But to tell the truth, that wasn't what was bothering Neville most at the moment. His grandmother had agreed to go to Diagon Alley that day and buy him his Potions ingredients but Neville would have to do without them for at least a week until he'd get them. That was considerably enough time for Snape to skin him alive. Neville shuddered at the thought of Potions class. Professor Snape hated him and terrified Neville to pieces. Though, since his newfound self-esteem, he was perhaps a bit less frightened of him, but only because he knew there were scarier things out there in the world...
Like the fact that Hannah might hate him.
That last thought lingered in Neville's mind as the train pulled to a stop and he clambered off after his grandmother. He made his way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and leaned absentmindedly against it.
Nothing. He didn't go through.
Neville mentally shook himself and leaned against the barrier again.
It wouldn't budge.
He began to panic. Why couldn't he get through the barrier? What was he going to do? He was going to miss the Hogwarts Express! He was going to miss Hannah! He was going to-
"Neville! What are you doing?" His grandmother's voice came sharply from somewhere behind him. Neville turned around and looked at her. She was standing at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. So where was he? He looked up and saw that he had been trying to pass through the barrier between platforms eight and nine this whole time! Neville blushed and smiled sheepishly before picking up his things and heading towards his grandmother.
"Honestly!" she said, "Sometimes, Neville, I don't know what goes on in that head of yours!" She leaned casually against the barrier and slid through and Neville followed suit, no problem.
Platform nine and three quarters appeared before his eyes. The Hogwarts Express, the students milling around, saying their good-byes. Neville smiled as he ran after his grandmother.
"Now, go and find a compartment and then come back and tell your old grandmother good-bye." She took out a spotted turquoise handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.
Neville set off in search of a compartment and found an empty one at the very back of the train. He deposited his trunk and bags there and went back to say good-bye.
After promising his sobbing grandmother that he would behave and try harder in Potions this year, she left, reassuring Neville that she would send him his ingredients right away. He watched her go, knowing he would miss her quite a bit. Neville sighed and turned on his to heal back to the train, and then, he saw her.
Hannah.
She was standing near the ticket-booth checking her things and Neville found that he could just gape at her, stricken for the moment by how beautiful she looked when the sun caught on her hair as she pushed it out of her eyes. He would have rushed over to her right away but for the fact that he found his feet were frozen to the floor and his heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't breathe and his stomach felt as though he had swallowed a dozen toad-shaped peppermint creams.
"Breathe Neville!" He thought, "Breathe!" Neville took a deep breath and was about to go over to her when someone else beat him to it.
A dark haired boy who Neville didn't recognize, walked over to Hannah and began talking to her. Neville watched, feeling his stomach disappear, as Hannah laughed and gave the boy one of her radiant smiles.
Instantly, Neville's insides exploded with jealousy, yet, at the same time, he couldn't help feeling a little bit guilty. Why was he so jealous? Hannah wasn't his girlfriend (even though he'd hoped she would be) and hadn't he suspected all along that Hannah had met someone else over the summer? His suspicions were further confirmed when the dark haired boy leaned towards Hannah and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Neville turned away and ran to the train. If he watched one more second, he was sure he'd burst into tears. However, when he reached his compartment, he found three very unwelcome people sitting there.
Malfoy Crabbe and Goyle had taken the liberty of making themselves comfortable in Neville's compartment while he had been gone.
"Hey! This was my compartment!" he protested, though quietly, as Malfoy was another one of those people who scared Neville silly.
"Yeah, was being the key word. It's ours now." Malfoy's cold drawling voice replied. Crabbe dumped Neville's luggage out into the corridor and laughed stupidly.
"Now get out of here, squib!" Malfoy laughed.
Neville could feel his eyes start to sting with tears when a voice came from behind him.
"One more word Malfoy, and you'll wish you'd never been born, or have you already forgotten how it feels to wake up after being knocked, out with mushrooms all over your hands and feet and no eyebrows?"
Neville turned around and found Harry Potter standing there, wand out, and looking at Malfoy as though he thought he were the most disgusting thing on Earth. Behind him stood his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger both looking like they were itching for Malfoy to give them a reason to point their wands at him as well.
Malfoy glared at Harry, though, for a fleeting moment, Neville was sure he saw actual fear flitting through his eyes. Apparently, Malfoy hadn't forgotten.
"Well look who's here. It's Scarface." He said through gritted teeth.
"That's it!" shouted Ron. He lunged himself at Malfoy but Harry held out an arm to stop him and Hermione grabbed the back of his T-shirt.
Harry raised his wand. "Give me a reason, Malfoy, and I will." He said with deadly determination. "You've got three seconds to get out of my sight and take your brainless gits with you. One... Two..."
Malfoy sneered at Harry before taking his bags and leaving, calling Crabbe and Goyle after him.
Harry lowered his wand and Neville looked at him with admiration. "Thanks Harry." He said gratefully.
"No problem, Neville." Harry replied.
Neville was surprised at the change in Harry's voice. He suddenly sounded so drained. Harry sighed and Neville noticed for the first time how tired he looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days, which, Neville reminded himself, was probably the case. He thought for a moment about what Harry must be going through, knowing that Voldemort was out there, alive and well and bending all of his power to find him and kill him.
Ron gave a worried glance at Harry and turned to Neville. "Listen, Neville, do you mind if we share the compartment with you?"
"What? Oh, no not at all." Neville stepped inside, "Come on in." He settled himself next to the window and watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione got comfortable.
"So, Neville," said Hermione, "what happened to your arm?"
Neville looked down at his bandaged wrist and smiled. He found he didn't mind Uncle Algie so much when comparing him to Malfoy. He launched into the whole story about how Great Uncle Algie had been thrown out and how he was constantly trying to improve Neville, though, as everyone could see, was failing spectacularly. By the end, they were all out of breath from laughing so hard, even, he was pleased to see, Harry.
After that, they plaid exploding snap for an hour, and when they got bored playing cards, Hermione curled up with a book and left them to discuss who they thought would take Oliver Wood's place as Keeper on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the nice lady with the lunch cart opened their door and asked them if they wanted anything. Neville got a bunch of Chocolate Frogs (his favorite) and everyone else got something as well. They sat there pigging out for a while until Ron got up and announced that he was going to stretch his legs, but before he left, he sent Hermione a meaningful glance and then walked out the door.
Hermione suddenly jumped up and said she was going to say hello to Lavender Brown and left quickly after him.
Neville watched her go. "What was that all about?" he asked Harry, confused.
Harry smiled conspiratorially. "Well, they think I don't know, but they're so obvious!" he snickered.
"What?" asked Neville, his eyes growing wide.
"Ron and Hermione are better friends than everyone thinks..." Harry laughed.
"Do you mean?" Neville asked, his eyes growing even wider. "Ron and Hermione?"
"Yup! Girlfriend and boyfriend." Announced Harry, clearly enjoying himself. He heaved a huge fake sigh. "They've been sneaking off everywhere together, and giving eachother all these funny looks, it's quite obvious. Besides," he added with a shrug, "I accidentally overheard one of their conversations during the summer, they went all mushy. I left before it could do me any permanent mental damage..." Harry burst out laughing.
"You seem to be taking it very well." Exclaimed Neville, surprised that Harry wasn't the least bit offended by the fact that Ron and Hermione were keeping secrets from him.
"Well, I've been waiting for this to happen since last year." Harry replied. "Honestly! Those two were made for eachother." He continued, laughing again. "Not only that, but they deserve eachother, anyone else wouldn't be able to put up with one of them for even a second!"
Neville laughed as well, but only halfheartedly. He was thinking about Hannah again and his insides were writhing with jealousy. But he didn't have time to brood, because at that moment, Fred and George Weasley burst into the compartment.
"Hello!" said George jauntily sitting down next to Neville.
"Hi." Squeaked Neville. Though Fred and George didn't scare him, they still made him very nervous, especially after that time last year when they had fed him a Canary Cream and successfully managed to turn him into a giant yellow bird.
"Listen, Harry," said Fred, plopping down next to Harry, "We need to find Ron. You know where he is?"
"Ummm, no, not exactly." Said Harry, trying and failing to keep from smirking.
George raised his eyebrows, then looked around the compartment. "Wait a minute, where's Hermione?" He looked at Fred and comprehension dawned on both of their faces.
Fred's mouth twitched into an wicked grin. "What do you think, dear brother? Do you believe ickle Ronniekins is off seizing opportunity?"
Harry snorted.
"Why, if opportunity has bushy hair and brown eyes, then you might be correct, my fellow conspirator!" replied George his mouth breaking into an identical smile.
Fred turned to Harry. "Sorry to leave so soon," he began.
"But we have places to go and people to see!" finished George. And with that, they left the compartment snickering.
Neville watched them leave apprehensively, feeling very sorry for Ron and Hermione if Fred and George were to catch them.
His thoughts turned once again to Hannah and the dark haired boy he'd seen kissing her on the cheek. He must've looked very worried because Harry asked, "Neville, what's up?"
Neville looked at Harry contemplating whether to say something or not about his predicament. He decided he preferred to keep it to himself so he replied, "Nothing, just thinking about things." Harry looked at him strangely and opened his mouth to say something but must've thought better of it because instead, he turned his gaze to the window.
They had been sitting like that for a few minutes, both boys deep in thought when the door burst open and Ron flew in with Hermione right behind them. They both looked flushed, as though they had been running.
"Hello." Ron panted, having difficulty breathing. Neville guessed that Fred and George had caught up with them. He coughed on purpose to stop himself from laughing.
Harry looked at Ron knowingly and then turned back to the window. Neville gazed at him. He really did look tired.
"Well," said Neville finally, "I think I'll go take a walk to stretch my legs as well." With that, he got up and walked out of the compartment. He needed to be alone and think right now.
As he walked down the corridor, Neville kept thinking about what he had seen on the platform earlier that day. He still couldn't believe it! And his letter to Hannah! He must have sounded like such an idiot telling her he loved her!
He was so completely lost in his own thoughts that he didn't see someone else coming down the corridor apparently lost in thought as well. They didn't notice eachother until it was too late.
"Oh, sorry!" said Neville as he scrambled to his feet.
"No, no," replied a girl's voice; "It was my fau-" she broke off seeing who she had bumped into.
Neville looked up and realized why she had stopped in mid-sentence. He was looking into the face of Hannah Abbot.
"Hannah." Neville said, blushing scarlet.
"Neville." She replied, blushing just as much as he did.
"What are you doing here?" They both asked at the same time.
Neville laughed. Hannah smiled, but then looked away embarrassed.
"I was just thinking." Said Neville looking at Hannah intently. Now that he was talking to her, he was determined to ask her why she hadn't answered any of his letters. He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her. "You?" he asked.
"I was thinking too." Hannah replied.
"Oh? What about?"
Hannah was silent for a moment. She then looked at Neville, determination in her eyes and answered in a voice that was almost a whisper, "You."
Neville didn't know what to say to this, so he simply kept on looking at his best friend.
Hannah suddenly realized that Neville's wrist was bandaged.
"Oh Neville!" she cried, "what happened to you?" She rushed forward, took his hand intently I her own and looked at it with a look of intense worry on her face, which made him hate Great Uncle Algie for making him sprain his wrist and cause Hannah to worry about anything.
"It's nothing. It's just Great Uncle Algie."
"Oh did he come to visit this summer?" she asked disapprovingly.
"I wish! Great Auntie Enid finally had the sense to kick him out of the house, the only problem being, she kicked him straight into ours." Neville chuckled and Hannah laughed a little making Neville's heart feel light. To make Hannah laugh was one of his favorite things. But it couldn't last. Neville knew he had to ask her sometime.
"Hannah," he began, "why didn't you answer any of my letters this summer?"
Hannah looked away, embarrassed again.
"Well?"
"Neville, " she said uneasily, "Neville, I couldn't."
"Why?"
"I..." her voice trailed off into silence.
Neville steadied his voice. "You met someone else. Didn't you?"
Hannah turned back to look at him, her eyes wide. "No! What gave you that idea?"
"Well," Neville said deciding to tell her about what he had seen earlier that day, "I saw you with that dark haired boy back on the platform."
To his utter surprise, Hannah laughed. "Who? Jeffery? Neville, he's my cousin! He goes to a different school and doesn't start till tomorrow so he came to see me off!" She continued giggling.
Neville had never felt so relieved in his life, but the thing was, if she hadn't met someone else over the summer, then he still didn't know why Hannah hadn't answered his letters.
"Oh. I thought..." he stopped. She knew what he'd thought. "Then really, why didn't you write me back all summer?"
Hannah stopped giggling and looked away again.
Neville felt he had committed a crime, making her stop laughing, but he needed to know.
"Neville," Hannah began, "I couldn't write to you because I was..." she swallowed, "I was scared."
Whatever Neville had been expecting, this wasn't it. "Scared? Of what?"
Hannah fixed her gaze on Neville's eyes and Neville peered into hers. "I was scared of losing you as a friend. When you wrote me and told me that you were falling in love with me, I couldn't believe it! I was so happy, but then I realized what it meant. That things would never be the same again because, Neville, I've fallen in love with you too."
Neville stood peering into her eyes. He felt he would faint. She'd fallen in love with him.
"But Neville," she continued, "I want you to know that I'm not scared anymore."
Neville suddenly realized how close they were, his hand in hers, their faces inches apart. He swallowed hard.
"Hannah I..." Neville began, as they leaned towards eachother.
"Yes?" Hannah answered breathlessly.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." She whispered back.
They leaned towards eachother and they were so close when-
"Oi! Fred! Where's Katie's compartment?"
Neville and Hannah broke apart just in time as George bounded through the corridor. He stopped abruptly when Neville and Hannah, both looking incredibly flushed.
"Sorry? Am I interrupting something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and beginning to smile in a way Neville didn't like at all.
"George wait up!" Fred bounded down the corridor after his twin. He too stopped abruptly when he spotted Neville and Hannah. "What's going on?" He glanced at George and saw his smile. "Ooohhh, I see." He said in an understanding tone. "We're interrupting something, aren't we?" He too smiled wickedly.
"No!" said Neville and Hannah at the same time.
"Yeah, right." Replied George, exchanging another glance with Fred. "Well, we'll just be going now, but don't get too cozy, we're almost at school." Neville felt himself blush furiously.
The twins walked off, sending incredibly annoying "knowing" looks towards him.
"Well that went well." Neville said sarcastically.
Hannah laughed.
He just looked at her. She loved him. He couldn't believe it! The most wonderful girl in the world loved him, Neville. Clumsy, bungling, silly Neville.
Hesitantly, Neville pushed a loose strand of hair behind Hannah's ear. She rested her cheek in his hand and looked at him adoringly. Her cheek was warm and he could feel her eyes looking straight into his soul. She knew him so well. He thought how lucky he that she was his best friend. He tilted her head up and leaned towards her again. They were only centimeters apart when the train lurched and began slowing down.
Neville made a strangled noise of frustration in his throat, and Hannah sighed. "I guess we aren't going to be given a chance today." She said.
"Yeah." Replied Neville longingly, "Just our luck."
"Oh well. We'll just have to find some time for ourselves once school starts." Hannah added sounding disappointed.
Neville looked into her eyes again and said, "I love you Hannah." He was so happy to be saying it out loud.
Hannah blushed. "I love you too Neville." She said.
The train slowed to a stop.
"I'd better go, I still have to change." Neville turned to leave but not before giving Hannah a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye."
Hannah turned to leave as well. "Good-bye."
As Neville climbed the stairs to his dormitory, much, much later, he kept thinking about what had happened on the train. He couldn't stop grinning and he felt like he was going to implode. All his worrying had been for nothing. Hannah loved him. It was the best feeling in the world.
He opened the dormitory door to find Harry teasing a very red-eared Ron Weasley. Neville didn't know what it was about for sure but he had a feeling Harry had finally let Ron know that he knew about him and Hermione. Neville didn't pay them any attention. He slipped into his pajamas and snuggled under his covers.
That night was the first goodnight's sleep Neville'd had in a long time.
A.N:) I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please r/r. I think after staying up all night writing it that I deserve at least a couple of comments. (Breaks down crying from exhaustion.)
