-THE REUNION - CLASS OF 98'
CHAPTER 4 : Shopping
Neville Longbottom hadn't stopped working that day, not even for lunch. The shop was busy and his assistant had flooed in sick, which made things difficult. But truth be told, he wasn't so upset with that. Working actually made him stop thinking of the invitation for the class reunion he had received earlier, in the morning.
His life was very comfortable, very predictable and very safe. That's how he liked it. He had a shop in Diagon Alley, where he sold herbs and plants to be used in potions and the like, he grew his own products and it was very fulfilling. It was enough to fill his mind with excuses not to be in a relationship. Too much work and no time to socialize, which was easier to do than to face his fear of dating. He wasn't really afraid, but shy, and that had always been in the way, since his days at Hogwarts.
Hogwarts... he had decided to decline the invitation for the reunion. It seemed like the sensible thing to do. He had no date and no intention to go looking for one in such short notice. What would he do in a party where all his former classmates would be parading with their spouses or significant others, and talking about their exciting careers?
But the main reason for it all was something he had been avoiding to think for a long time. Ginny's rejection. She was the cause for his withdrawal from the dating world. After they had graduated, he gathered all the courage in him and told her how he felt. It didn't matter how much he had anticipated a possible rejection, he wasn't at all prepared for the blow and embarrassment that hit him when she said no. The possibility of facing her again wasn't very enticing.
Pushing back his thoughts, he waited for the last customer to leave, put the closed sign on and locked the door. He climbed the stairs in the back to the flat he had over the shop. It was a comfortable bachelor pad, the furniture was dark and masculine, but there was an edge to them. It somehow matched his love for plants and nature. The dark green curtains, in contrast to the earthy tones of the chairs, worked really well with the different kinds of plants he had throughout the flat. While he kept the Green House in the back of the shop, with a huge variety of every species, he liked to have his favorites close to him in the flat.
He started unbuttoning his work robe, heading for his bedroom, when he heard the flare of the flames in the fireplace. He momentarily panicked, thinking something was wrong with his grandmother. She never flooed him this late and apart from her, he couldn't think of anyone else who would.
He rushed back to the living room where he was surprised to see Hermione Granger's head in the midst of the green flames. She looked exactly as he remembered, but there was a hint of anxiety in her eyes.
"Hermione?" he asked.
"Hello Neville... uh... how's life?"
He somehow had a feeling she hadn't flooed him just to catch up on the good times. "Uh... good... you?"
"Oh, pretty good... busy, but that's good, I've always liked that..." She was avoiding meeting his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, me too, the shop's been very busy," he said.
"That's great, hmm.... oh, I might as well go straight to the point!" she said nervously.
Longbottom tensed a bit, not knowing what was coming.
"Have you received the invitation for the reunion?" she asked.
"Oh, I did, yes," he answered.
"Great, do you have a date?"
"No, but... " He was going to tell her that he wasn't going but she cut him off.
"Neither do I, so I want to make a deal with you... can I come in?"
"Sure." He stepped back to allow her room to come through the fireplace.
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Hermione stumbled in, taking hold of Neville's arm and after dusting herself off, she took a seat in one of the leather chairs near a huge purple flower that looked more like a cabbage in a fancy vase. She looked around, taking in the place and felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of leafy strange plants Neville had in his flat. It looked almost like they were on a garden with furniture in it. For a moment it felt like she was back at Hogwarts in one of Professor's Sprout's classes.
"You see Neville, I believe you don't want to go to that party and face everyone without a date, right?" Without waiting for an answer she continued, "How about we go together, as a couple, we can pretend we've been dating for a while and that way, both of us can survive the thing without having to explain why we think work is more important than dating."
She took a deep breath and waited for his answer. She didn't usually talk that fast but the situation was nervewracking. It was not every day that she invited a guy to a party. Before he could answer, she felt a pull on her hair and yelled alarmed, to find a lock of her hair inside the cabbage looking plant.
"That's Ok, she won't hurt you, Daisy likes to chew on hair. It's just her way to be friendly. She must like you, it usually takes her a few hours to that to a new person," he said with a smile.
Hermione looked terrified at the purple thing chewing her hair. "Daisy?"
"Yeah, she's very rare, there are probably only ten of these in the whole country," he said, pulling Hermione's hair out of the thing's mouth.
Hermione moved to another chair wiping the purple goo left in her hair. "Honestly, Neville, it's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend!"
"What do you mean?" he asked puzzled.
"Never mind, so what do you think? Do we have a deal?"
He thought for a moment and seemed to be debating on something. Hermione wondered if he was afraid to face Ginny after what had happened at the end of their seventh year. It was after all, one more reason for them to go as a couple. They both had their own battles to fight and they couldn't do it without each other's help.
He finally nodded. "Deal."
They shook hands and started working on the story they would tell at the party.
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The next day at work, Hermione was feeling more confident about the prospect of going back to Hogwarts and seeing everyone. She even had an appointment in a hair salon . Fixing it up nicely wasn't impossible, she had done it before in her fourth year, but it was very complicated and it took hours. And time was something she could not afford these days, so the best choice was to leave it to a professional.
She had completed her reports of the day and was taking it to her supervisor in the second floor when a cloud of dust flew on her feet. She looked up to see the the annoyed face of the man holding a cleaning broom.
"You should look where you sweep that thing, Lucius, and you missed a spot," she said pointing at the floor.
After the war, Lucius Malfoy had been sentenced to life in Azkaban, but spent all his money on the best wizarding lawyers, who finally got him an appeal and he was granted with a conditional pardon, working for the Minister as a Janitor, without the use of magic. Their fortune was gone, so the Ministry paid him enough to give support to his family.
He sneered at her and moved away, sweeping lazily to the other side of the room. The once so elegant posture was replaced by slumped shoulders, draped in second hand working robes. His silvery hair had lost its shine and looked unkempt, tide up in a loose ponytail.
Hermione shook her head at how he had thrown his life and money away. She had no idea of what had happened to Draco, but then again, she never really bothered to ask. As she climbed the stairs to the second floor, she wondered if Draco would have the guts to show up at the reunion after all that had happened.
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Snape was glad that Diagon Alley wasn't as crowded as normal that day. He would hate to be seen shopping for clothes. It wasn't that he didn't buy clothes, he usually had them done in the same fashion and color by his tailor. But he was forced to agree with Minerva, after her constant nagging, that he needed proper evening clothes. There wasn't much time to get new clothes done before the party, so he was left with the tedious task of shopping.
If he was going to endure the evening with his former students, he wouldn't be called a greasy git or an overgrown bat this time. Even if it was for one night, he would leave them speechless.
He quickly entered a big clothing shop he always passed by when doing his usual shopping for Potion's ingredients and books. He looked for the male section, and in seconds was busy gathering party robes and trousers. He found a dark purple silk shirt and walked back, lifting it in front of him to take a better look. That's when he accidentally bumped into someone. He turned to find Hermione Granger holding a pile of gowns in her hands.
She looked almost the same, wild hair, inquisitive eyes, and unflattering clothes. He noticed her cheeks were lightly flushed, and judging by the heat on his own, he knew he must be showing his embarrassment too. There was awkward silence in which neither of them could help breaking their eye contact.
He knew she was there, probably for the same reason he was, and found himself imagining how would her, now more mature body, look in those dresses. With the realization of his thoughts, he cleared his throat and decided to move on.
"Have a good day, Miss Granger."
"You too, Professor."
They both went in opposite directions and he was wishing this encounter had never happened.
Snape cursed himself for coming to Diagon Alley. He knew Hogsmeade would have been a lot more low profile, but he had changed plans at the last minute. Brushing that off, he finished his shopping. Having found the perfect attire, he apparated back to Hogsmeade where he had lunch at the Three Broomsticks and went back to Hogwarts at the end of the afternoon.
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.....The music had turned into some muggle noise he couldn't recognize and he couldn't decide what was more annoying, that or Luna's singing "Weasley is our king" incessantly by his side.
At some point he couldn't take it anymore and went for a walk around the Great Hall. All the house tables and benches had been replaced by small round tables on the sides, leaving room enough for a dance floor. It looked like the way it was arranged at the Yule Ball.
The Head Table was gone, and a little stage had been set up, closed with velvet curtains. There were so many people it was almost impossible to walk. There were so many familiar faces, although they seemed out of place somehow... probably the fact they were the faces of children he knew so well, turned into adults like him.
Someone grabbed his hand and pulled him to a corner. He focused his eyes on the person and was surprised to find it was Miss Granger.
"There's something wrong with the ... " She was cut by screams and the lights were out. All the floating candles had been blown off and they were in complete darkness.
He held tight on Hermione's arm and tried to get closer to the wall, trying to find the side exit. He didn't know how long they had been sliding near the wall, when they bumped somewhere, falling flat on the floor.
He fell on top of her and she reached for his face, her slender fingers touching his lips. Snaking one hand around his neck, she pulled him into a kiss. He couldn't see her face, but he could sense her expression, the want in her eyes. Before he could control himself, he delved deep into the kiss; the sweet taste of her mouth invading his. His hands were feeling the curves he was never able to see behind her school robes. He closed his eyes as their kiss progressed and she started arching her body toward him. Slowly he realized that all the screams and noise in the Great Hall had been turned into utter silence. He opened his eyes to find that the candles were again lit. He took in his surroundings.
In the dark, they had stumbled on the stage and the curtains had been opened.
Hermione looked at him, terrified, as all the faces stared at them in front of all the staff members and his ex-students. To his horror, when he looked down, he saw his clothes had disappeared.
Dumbledore stood at the front of the audience, his blue eyes twinkling madly. "It's like I always say, my boy, when in doubt, keep your eyes open!"
He immediately rolled off Hermione and fell backwards on the floor... of his bedroom.
He wiped the streak of sweat from his forehead and got up. That was absolutely the worst nightmare of his life... even the ones about being tortured by Voldemort were better and less embarrassing.
As he lay in his bed trying to go back to sleep, he wondered what on earth had made him have such a dream, and with Granger of all people.
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A/N : I wanna thank vizzy-vicky-lou, Parody-of-an-Angel (i'm glad you liked the way I wrote Luna!), foxxy-chicca911 and angelusdream for the kind reviews :-)
