Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of these characters. That belongs to JKR, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, etc.
Chapter Thirteen
The door of the library swung open and shut, distracting him from his work. He quickly looked up to see Harry Potter enter the library, seemingly searching for someone there. Neville Longbottom might not have been the cleverest wizard at Hogwarts by a long shot, but he knew perfectly well that Harry was looking for Hermione.
Thinking of Hermione automatically made him look at her. She was still deeply engrossed in her History of Magic essay that was already several feet longer that it need be. Hermione had been fuming when she first came into the library, ostensibly to help him with his homework, though she hid it well. Only someone who knew each and every one of Hermione's moods would be able to tell just how angry she was. Neville wasn't known at Hogwarts for his brilliant memory, but when it came to Hermione, he somehow managed to remember everything about her. She had calmed down over time, her work helping her to regain her focus and calm in this instance. He only had to glance at her essay to tell the difference in her moods. The handwriting at the beginning was quicker and less graceful than was her norm, while her handwriting now was very neat and precise.
It's not fair, he thought to himself as Harry caught sight of them and started to head their way. And it wasn't fair. It had been him who had noticed Hermione first of all the boys at Hogwarts; he liked her even when no one else had. Yet he was the last wizard who she would have thought of in a romantic manner. If life were fair, he would at least have had a chance with her. After all, he was her very first friend at Hogwarts. The others had thought her annoying and had called her a bookworm (and some of them still did), not recognizing the kindness that lay beneath her sometimes blunt manner. He had not hung around Hermione simply because he needed her help, though without her help he would have never made it through his first year, but because she was the only one who seemed to care about him, to think of him as more than just the slow boy. His yearmates – they tended still only to think of him when he was in trouble, especially when the Slytherins had caused that trouble. Hermione was never like that though. She even looked out for him when she became friends with Harry and Ron – and that was something he had not expected of anyone.
So when the Yule Ball had been announced during their fourth year, Neville knew that he wanted to go with Hermione. Fortunately, his gram had not only allowed him to stay there for the holidays, she required him to stay there and be in attendance at the ball with a suitable date so that he would uphold the family name. The only thing was – he had asked Hermione too late. Some other wizard had asked her first and she had agreed. He had consoled himself for awhile with the thought that Hermione would have said yes if he had been the first to ask but as it was, he couldn't expect her to break her promise to that unnamed wizard. Then came the Yule Ball and he had to see her, floating in on the arm of Viktor Krum.
That was when Neville knew that he was never in the running. He never had a chance, no matter that she was the only girl that he had really paid attention to. It was a sad love, he supposed, the poor slow boy latching onto the only girl who had ever smiled at him. He should have never been surprised at the way his story had turned out, considering how the rest of his life was. Of course, the girl he liked was surrounded by wizards brighter and more powerful than he. Of course, those wizards one by one saw her charms – and set about doing something about it. Of course, things hadn't turned out how he had wanted them to.
Of them all, Neville had thought the best of Viktor Krum when it came to Hermione. Yes, Krum might be a bit too old for her but then Hermione acted older than she actually was. And at least Krum saw straight off just how good Hermione was, something that no one aside from Neville had done. As for Hermione's closest friends, thinking of either of them with Hermione was a bit frustrating. Though Ron had been the first of the two to see that Hermione was a girl, Neville didn't think he was right for Hermione. He didn't think Hermione would be happy with him, for Ron didn't think of Hermione enough – and thought too often on how he could improve her. Ron didn't accept Hermione like he did and it drove Neville mad to think that Hermione might pick Ron despite the fact they always argued.
As for the idea of Harry with Hermione – when Neville first heard about the rumors of them being together, he didn't know what to think. On one hand, he liked Harry perfectly well. Harry was nice and didn't have an ego like Neville thought the Boy Who Lived would. When it came to Hermione, Harry would probably be the better match for her, as he never argued with Hermione like Ron did and he seemed to respect her more, even though she was know-it-all bookworm at times. But Harry had been rather oblivious to Hermione at times. He noticed once during fourth year that Hermione was a witch and a witch who was more than just slightly pretty but after that – there was nothing. Privately, Neville wondered at times if Harry wasn't paying attention to that aspect of Hermione because he didn't know how to deal with it. But that didn't matter in the end. What did matter was that out of all the wizards that surrounded her, Hermione always paid the most attention to Harry. It wasn't him, Ron, or Krum – it was Harry, always and ever, that was foremost on her mind.
Neville knew when Hermione was thinking of Harry. She would bite
her lip, her jaw would clench, and she would just looked worried and rather
. . . harried, in a way she never looked when Harry was fine. Neville
knew all her moods, he had committed them painstakingly to memory, and
there were so many that were connected to Harry. He might not like
it if Harry didn't pay attention to Hermione the way she deserved but if
it made Hermione happy . . . then he'd have to live with her choice for
he loved her and could do naught else. He had thought for a time
that Harry would never wake up and deal with his feelings about Hermione.
He had thought for a time that Hermione would give Ron a chance, when ignored
by Harry, just like she did with Krum . . . and just like with Krum, that
relationship would fail. Then he might stand a chance and if she
ever gave him that chance, he knew he would succeed. He had not failed
once while Hermione was at his side and if she agreed to give him a chance
at her heart, he knew he wouldn't let himself fail at that.
That dream started to die the moment he saw Harry come through that
door, and now that Harry was at their table, that dream was almost dead.
"Hi Hermione, hi Neville," Harry said by way of greeting.
Hermione looked up sharply at him. "Harry!" she hissed. "Be quiet. You're going to get us kicked out."
"Oh . . . sorry about that," Harry apologized. He took the seat right next to Hermione. "Can I talk to you right now? It's very important."
Harry looked as if he were frightened of Hermione. Neville shook his head quickly. That couldn't be the case. Harry had nothing to fear from Hermione and everyone knew it. However, his shaking his head like that attracted the attention of both Harry and Hermione.
"Um . . . I'd really like to talk to you alone Hermione," Harry started. "So if Neville doesn't mind . . ."
"Neville, would you mind leaving us alone for a bit?" Hermione asked him directly. "I'm sorry. I promise to help you later—"
"It's fine." Neville got up and started collecting his books.
"I ought to try and do this assignment on my own first anyway." With
that, he walked out of the library and left his dream behind.
Author's note: As always, I would love to know what you thought of this chapter – and so I'd very much appreciate it if you could leave a review. Thanks!
Brian: So I updated chapter thirteen early. This of course means that I feel free now to take my time with the next chapter. ^__^
Also thanks goes out to Milkyway and M-3342 for their
reviews of the last chapter. I really appreciated them both. ^_^
