Disclaimer: Harry Potter is from the creative genius that is J.K. Rowling.
We are not her. This is merely a fan fiction to tide us over until book 6.
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"Let me go!" Alaire yelled as she struggled against her captor as he dragged her into what seemed to be an abandoned classroom.
"You didn't seem to mind before," a voice she recognized as Neville's said as he said letting go of her wrists. Alaire looked up at Neville. He seemed very angry but was trying to regain some control over himself. "Filch was coming! That was his cat outside. You should know that by now! Besides, I don't why you would be following me."
"I wanted to know why you've been ignoring me since Hogsmeade! I haven't been able to talk to you without anyone else around," she said as she gingerly rubbed her arms where he had grabbed her. Neville had a stronger grip than people gave him credit for.
"Thanks for saving me from Filch, but that's no reason to manhandle me." Alaire could feel the embarrassment and anger rush through Neville. It began to seep into her. She tried as hard as she could to keep his emotions from running into hers, though she was feeling the exact same way he was.
"I think you like men handling you anyway," he said accusingly. "I bloody well had my hands on your," Neville said motioning toward her, with his arms flying wildly. "Well, you bloody know where!"
"I wish I knew where in the hell you're coming from!" she said her voice taking a rough edge as she tried not to shout.
"Don't act all innocent with me. I saw you. I know. I thought I'd be so nice bringing you some honeysuckle after that little escapade in Hogsmeade, and what do I find?" Neville yelled before running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath. "I was so stupid. I even went up to the library to look up stuff about the South and muggle culture over there in America before Hogsmeade just so I would be able to talk to you." He ignored Alaire's hurt face and continued. "I found some quaint old terms in my studies. You know what you are? You are a Jezebel. It's a colorful Biblical term. Here, we just call girls like you a slag."
Neville was completely unprepared for the strong slap that cracked across his cheek. Alaire felt like someone just jabbed a knife through the middle of her stomach.
"How DARE you?" she said, nearly choking on a sob. "You don't know what happened . . ."
"You kissed Harry! You spent the whole morning flirting with me and then threw yourself at him. You're like that Rizzo girl playing two guys off one another. I guess you just wanted to string poor pathetic Neville along until you could have Prince Charming Potter. I mean, who am I compared to him? I swear the only two people that treat me like I'm worth a grain of salt in this place is Ginny and Luna. Why should I expect you to be any different? After all, you are related to a Slytherin!"
For a moment, Alaire couldn't breathe. The emotions coursing off Neville and her own pain almost overcame her.
"You jerk!" Alaire said feeling a hot tear roll down her face. "You accuse me of being some sort of . . . tease, some sort of," she paused gasping for air. "You think I would . . ." She paused again pressing a hand against her throbbing temple. "The only reason I kissed Harry is because I ate some stupid candy in some joke shop! I didn't even know what I was doing and it meant nothing! Do you hear me? Nothing! If I do decide to kiss someone, I want it to mean something, not happen because some stupid Passion Pill forced me to do it!"
Neville nursed his cheek. He knew he had gone too far. His Gran always told him to be polite to women, but his temper, for once got the better of him. Still he was hurt and here she was talking to him about a pill making her do it?
"If you think I'm going to believe the only reason you kissed Harry was because of some stupid –"
He was cut short when Alaire shoved a wrapper into his hands. Looking down at it he saw the trademark WWW on the label, and immediately felt like a fool. He looked back up at her in shock.
"Read it!"
Neville found it difficult to speak. "Weasley's Wonderful Weezes. Passion Pill . . ."
"You didn't believe us. You jumped to conclusions. You . . . You . . ." Alaire just shook her head as tears streaked down her cheeks, then turning she ran out the door.
"Bloody hell," Neville said as he took off after her. Panting he ran up the staircase toward the Gryffindor common room.
"Boy, that woman can move fast when she wants to", he thought to himself as he turned a corner where he caught a glimpse of her. Pushing himself to run a little faster, he caught up with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned her around to face him.
"Alaire, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just upset," he rambled hugging her tightly as he felt her tears soak through his shirt. "You're not a Jezebel and you're not Rizzo. But, I am an idiot."
"How could you say what you said? I thought you were my friend."
"Merlin, I didn't mean it. I was upset. I had no right . . ."
Alaire pulled back to look at him. "You had no right, that's true. Since when," Alaire interrupted herself and brought her voice down to a whisper as she brought her emotions under control and tuned Neville's out. She looked around for a more secluded place to talk. Pulling Neville into an alcove under a set of stairs, she turned to face him.
"Since when did you have the right to be jealous of anything I did?" Silently, Alaire stared at him urging him to say something, anything to indicate how he felt. She could feel it but she wanted to hear it.
Exasperated, she blurted out, "Harry and I are just friends. Close friends but just friends. Do you have a problem with that? Or do I have to choose between the two people who have been the kindest to me since I arrived? Harry is friends with Hermione and I don't see Ron trying to kill him or her."
Neville stared at a spot behind Alaire's head as he tried to respond. "Besides, I don't know why you think you have to compete with Harry anyway. Honestly, if you think you're going to start a pissing contest in which I am the prize, you'd better think again."
Alaire felt Neville's despair at this statement and let it sink in before she decided to soften the blow. "And don't think its because you wouldn't win."
Neville's head snapped up at this statement.
"I'll tell you what I've already told some other people. I like you a lot, Neville Longbottom. You're cute and you're smart in ways other people have no clue. You have a big heart and a great smile. If you just believed in yourself, none of this would have been a problem. You would have just laughed it off with the rest of us."
"I-I don't know what to say. I thought you were just . . ."
Alaire interrupted him. "Just playing around until I could get Harry."
"Yeah."
"Well, Neville, the problem with people with low self-esteem is that they think of themselves as nobodies and they can't hurt anyone by their actions because who would care what a nobody did." She paused. "That's a bad assumption for you to make, Neville. You are somebody to me and you have the power to hurt my feelings. And you did, very badly. I didn't deserve for you to not believe me or to ignore me for a week like you did."
Neville was speechless. He had never thought of his actions like in this way. Alaire was right. He had always faded into the background assuming that he didn't matter. Now here was a wonderful girl both telling him otherwise and that his actions had had horrible repercussions. He didn't know whether to smile or cry. He looked up to see Alaire looking at him waiting patiently.
"Alaire, I am sorry for thinking you were leading me on and the Harry thing."
"And?"
Neville looked at her puzzled. "And? Um. And I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner. I should have trusted you since you're my friend. You have every right to smack me again or hex me. In fact I'll give you my wand to do it," he said as he reached into his robe pocket for his wand.
"I'm not going to hex you Neville," Alaire said, with a slight smile on her mouth.
"You could. I'm a complete prat."
"No, you're not. Well, maybe you were a minute ago, but you're not now."
"All forgiven?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
He surprised Alaire by pulling her into a tight hug. They would have stayed like that too, Neville thought, if that damned cat hadn't come by after a few minutes forcing them to go inside with the rest of their housemates.
"Let me go!" Alaire yelled as she struggled against her captor as he dragged her into what seemed to be an abandoned classroom.
"You didn't seem to mind before," a voice she recognized as Neville's said as he said letting go of her wrists. Alaire looked up at Neville. He seemed very angry but was trying to regain some control over himself. "Filch was coming! That was his cat outside. You should know that by now! Besides, I don't why you would be following me."
"I wanted to know why you've been ignoring me since Hogsmeade! I haven't been able to talk to you without anyone else around," she said as she gingerly rubbed her arms where he had grabbed her. Neville had a stronger grip than people gave him credit for.
"Thanks for saving me from Filch, but that's no reason to manhandle me." Alaire could feel the embarrassment and anger rush through Neville. It began to seep into her. She tried as hard as she could to keep his emotions from running into hers, though she was feeling the exact same way he was.
"I think you like men handling you anyway," he said accusingly. "I bloody well had my hands on your," Neville said motioning toward her, with his arms flying wildly. "Well, you bloody know where!"
"I wish I knew where in the hell you're coming from!" she said her voice taking a rough edge as she tried not to shout.
"Don't act all innocent with me. I saw you. I know. I thought I'd be so nice bringing you some honeysuckle after that little escapade in Hogsmeade, and what do I find?" Neville yelled before running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath. "I was so stupid. I even went up to the library to look up stuff about the South and muggle culture over there in America before Hogsmeade just so I would be able to talk to you." He ignored Alaire's hurt face and continued. "I found some quaint old terms in my studies. You know what you are? You are a Jezebel. It's a colorful Biblical term. Here, we just call girls like you a slag."
Neville was completely unprepared for the strong slap that cracked across his cheek. Alaire felt like someone just jabbed a knife through the middle of her stomach.
"How DARE you?" she said, nearly choking on a sob. "You don't know what happened . . ."
"You kissed Harry! You spent the whole morning flirting with me and then threw yourself at him. You're like that Rizzo girl playing two guys off one another. I guess you just wanted to string poor pathetic Neville along until you could have Prince Charming Potter. I mean, who am I compared to him? I swear the only two people that treat me like I'm worth a grain of salt in this place is Ginny and Luna. Why should I expect you to be any different? After all, you are related to a Slytherin!"
For a moment, Alaire couldn't breathe. The emotions coursing off Neville and her own pain almost overcame her.
"You jerk!" Alaire said feeling a hot tear roll down her face. "You accuse me of being some sort of . . . tease, some sort of," she paused gasping for air. "You think I would . . ." She paused again pressing a hand against her throbbing temple. "The only reason I kissed Harry is because I ate some stupid candy in some joke shop! I didn't even know what I was doing and it meant nothing! Do you hear me? Nothing! If I do decide to kiss someone, I want it to mean something, not happen because some stupid Passion Pill forced me to do it!"
Neville nursed his cheek. He knew he had gone too far. His Gran always told him to be polite to women, but his temper, for once got the better of him. Still he was hurt and here she was talking to him about a pill making her do it?
"If you think I'm going to believe the only reason you kissed Harry was because of some stupid –"
He was cut short when Alaire shoved a wrapper into his hands. Looking down at it he saw the trademark WWW on the label, and immediately felt like a fool. He looked back up at her in shock.
"Read it!"
Neville found it difficult to speak. "Weasley's Wonderful Weezes. Passion Pill . . ."
"You didn't believe us. You jumped to conclusions. You . . . You . . ." Alaire just shook her head as tears streaked down her cheeks, then turning she ran out the door.
"Bloody hell," Neville said as he took off after her. Panting he ran up the staircase toward the Gryffindor common room.
"Boy, that woman can move fast when she wants to", he thought to himself as he turned a corner where he caught a glimpse of her. Pushing himself to run a little faster, he caught up with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned her around to face him.
"Alaire, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just upset," he rambled hugging her tightly as he felt her tears soak through his shirt. "You're not a Jezebel and you're not Rizzo. But, I am an idiot."
"How could you say what you said? I thought you were my friend."
"Merlin, I didn't mean it. I was upset. I had no right . . ."
Alaire pulled back to look at him. "You had no right, that's true. Since when," Alaire interrupted herself and brought her voice down to a whisper as she brought her emotions under control and tuned Neville's out. She looked around for a more secluded place to talk. Pulling Neville into an alcove under a set of stairs, she turned to face him.
"Since when did you have the right to be jealous of anything I did?" Silently, Alaire stared at him urging him to say something, anything to indicate how he felt. She could feel it but she wanted to hear it.
Exasperated, she blurted out, "Harry and I are just friends. Close friends but just friends. Do you have a problem with that? Or do I have to choose between the two people who have been the kindest to me since I arrived? Harry is friends with Hermione and I don't see Ron trying to kill him or her."
Neville stared at a spot behind Alaire's head as he tried to respond. "Besides, I don't know why you think you have to compete with Harry anyway. Honestly, if you think you're going to start a pissing contest in which I am the prize, you'd better think again."
Alaire felt Neville's despair at this statement and let it sink in before she decided to soften the blow. "And don't think its because you wouldn't win."
Neville's head snapped up at this statement.
"I'll tell you what I've already told some other people. I like you a lot, Neville Longbottom. You're cute and you're smart in ways other people have no clue. You have a big heart and a great smile. If you just believed in yourself, none of this would have been a problem. You would have just laughed it off with the rest of us."
"I-I don't know what to say. I thought you were just . . ."
Alaire interrupted him. "Just playing around until I could get Harry."
"Yeah."
"Well, Neville, the problem with people with low self-esteem is that they think of themselves as nobodies and they can't hurt anyone by their actions because who would care what a nobody did." She paused. "That's a bad assumption for you to make, Neville. You are somebody to me and you have the power to hurt my feelings. And you did, very badly. I didn't deserve for you to not believe me or to ignore me for a week like you did."
Neville was speechless. He had never thought of his actions like in this way. Alaire was right. He had always faded into the background assuming that he didn't matter. Now here was a wonderful girl both telling him otherwise and that his actions had had horrible repercussions. He didn't know whether to smile or cry. He looked up to see Alaire looking at him waiting patiently.
"Alaire, I am sorry for thinking you were leading me on and the Harry thing."
"And?"
Neville looked at her puzzled. "And? Um. And I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner. I should have trusted you since you're my friend. You have every right to smack me again or hex me. In fact I'll give you my wand to do it," he said as he reached into his robe pocket for his wand.
"I'm not going to hex you Neville," Alaire said, with a slight smile on her mouth.
"You could. I'm a complete prat."
"No, you're not. Well, maybe you were a minute ago, but you're not now."
"All forgiven?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
He surprised Alaire by pulling her into a tight hug. They would have stayed like that too, Neville thought, if that damned cat hadn't come by after a few minutes forcing them to go inside with the rest of their housemates.