Author note: The first part of this chapter goes back a bit into the last chapter but from Ebony's perspective - hope it makes sense!

Some very wholesome content coming your way soon!

p.s Hope everyone managed to have a nice Christmas! (if u celebrate it)

When the two of them had eventually ventured back upstairs it was around three in the morning and the common room was deserted.

"Go on," Ebony said, nudging Neville gently towards the boy's staircase. "You're falling asleep on your feet." Neville said nothing, blushed and gave her a drowsy smile. It seemed that the amount of sugar in his system was causing him to crash. She laughed and nudged him again, "Go on, I'll see you tomorrow."

She watched his sleepy stumble up the stairs and sighed happily.

There was something about having told him, about finally having opened up if just a little bit, that made her feel relieved. Like the feeling of having a blocked nose and then having a nostril finally clear up.

Lavender and Parvarti were fast asleep when Ebony got up to the dorm, or so she assumed by the drawn hangings around the beds. Hermione was still reading, there was a soft glow seeping through the crack in her curtains.

Ebony crept over to her bed to grab her pyjamas and wash bag, and found an envelope sitting on the sheets. She frowned but grabbed it and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her as softly as she could.

She sat on the lid of the toilet and quickly tore open the letter.

Dear Ebony,

How are you doing kid? Made it back to Hogwarts in one piece?

Hope the summer wasn't too awful for you. I saw that there was an attack at the Quidditch World Cup and I only hope that you weren't anywhere near it - though my gut tells me otherwise.

I'm back up north for a bit, some business with Harry. I assume you know him, beyond the whole 'boy who lived' thing I mean, in your year I think?. He's my godson if you didn't know - yet another long story that I hope to tell you one day.

I'm in the same place as last time, if you need anything

Your favourite family outcast,

Sirius

Ebony smiled, it was nice to know he was okay. It was a bit strange though, he was the ex-not-criminal on the run, he should be looking after himself not bothering with her.

Maybe she would be able to sneak off for a bit. She liked talking to him, he understood more than anyone else ever would. She knew she should probably mention the whole, 'mass murderer is actually innocent and also my cousin' thing to Neville but she was still trying to find a good time to bring it up.

Also Harry? She wondered whether she might ask him about it but she wasn't sure what she would say other than, 'hey we are both communicating with a high-level criminal that the whole ministry is looking for, isn't that fun?'. She and Harry weren't really close anyway.

Ebony made mental note to reply to him at some point and tucked the letter into her jumper pocket only to realise it wasn't her jumper at all, she was still wearing Neville's cardigan.

She thought about going to give it back but it was late and he'd already done their nightly three pulses on their necklaces as she was walking up the stairs so was probably fast asleep.

He'd been in a weird mood near the end of their little escapade, blushing, giggling and struggling to form a sentence.

He had clearly had far too much sugar.

Ebony rolled the sleeves down over her hands and brought the soft wool to her nose. The jumper smelled like him, warm and earthy.

It was like he was hugging her when he wasn't there.

...

The following weeks were painful. Neville found himself becoming jittery around Ebony and he didn't like it. Not only that, he was sure that she was starting to notice. So, the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang was a welcome distraction for Neville.

There was also the added tension due to Harry's name coming out of the goblet. Ron and Harry weren't speaking and it made the dorm rather uncomfortable for the rest of them.

He sure that Harry hadn't put his name in the goblet, he saw that Harry really didn't enjoy the attention that he got all the time. Besides, Neville had tried to cross the line to get a closer look, because he had the terrible urge to put his hand in it, but it had thrown him about three metres backwards.

Ebony hadn't been impressed. "Fire is literally in its name and you wanted to stick your hand in it?!" He could only smile guiltily.

"It looked cool."

She rolled her eyes. "You really worry me sometimes."

So the dorm had now turned into a minefield with Seamus, Dean and Neville tiptoeing around the other two boys while they tried to stare each other to death.

He wasn't too worried though, after all, it was Ron and Harry. They couldn't be mad at each other forever.

...

Sirius looked up from the Daily Prophet that he had nicked out of a bin as a large brown owl swooped into the cave. It dropped a letter and a small napkin in his lap and flew off, clearly realising that there wasn't much worth hanging around for. Buckbeak squawked as it left the cave.

"She's not for lunch I'm afraid," he muttered at the Hippogriff. He discarded the letter at first, quickly unwrapping the small fabric parcel. It was full of bread rolls and a couple of slices of ham. He threw the meat to Buckbeak and tore a roll in half for himself. After enjoying a few moments of food in his mouth he opened the letter.

Dear Sirius,

Sorry my reply took so long!

I hope the food is enough for now, there's only some much that I can sneak into my pocket without it looking strange.

I'm alright, summer was boring as usual but fairly uneventful. However, I did discover the possibility that my mother may be having an affair with Uncle Rab, which is quite frankly disgusting.

My parents were part of the attack at the World Cup but I was only watching from the sidelines, which was more than enough for me.

I'm at Hogwarts now though so no need to worry.

I'll send more food when I can,

Ebony.

Sirius folded the letter up.

It was nice to know that Ebony was alright - well as much as she could be, he hadn't seen Bella in years but he could only imagine how much further her sanity had spiralled so he didn't want to think what she might be capable of. He was never much of a fan of Rodolphus either.

Sirius also turned his nose up at the idea of Bella sleeping with Rabastan. However much he hated Rodolphus, his brother was even more of a creep.

He yawned, stretching his arms and wincing a little when his joints popped. God, he was getting old. He transformed into Padfoot and went and curled up on the leaves and rags he had piled in the corner.

After the letter from Ebony and his chat with Harry a few weeks ago, Sirius was feeling a lot more relaxed.

That was two of his worries set aside for a while.

...

The party celebrating the first task had died down and soon it was only the group of fourth boys left in the common room. Ebony had stayed around for a bit, mainly since Neville had eaten one of Fred and George's canary creams and had spent approximately three minutes as a bird. It was rather interesting being a canary but he was glad to no longer have feathers. Hermione had dragged her upstairs about half an hour ago.

He and Seamus were leaning against the sofa, Dean was lying on the coffee table and Ron and Harry were sprawled out on the floor.

"So glad you lads aren't trying to glare each other to death anymore," Dean said, downing the rest of his butterbeer.

Ron and Harry both looked incredibly embarrassed

"Sorry about that," Ron said.

"Ah no harm done." Seamus sat up. "Now, how about truth or dare?"

The other three boys groaned.

"Can we at least do truth or truth?" Ron asked, "I'm tired."

"Fair enough," Dean said, "Neville, truth or truth?"

"Why do I always have to go first?" He whined. He really wasn't in the mood to expose himself.

"'Cause you do, now easy question-" Seamus paused then looked at Neville with a mischievous glint in his eye-"who do you fancy?"

Neville felt his face burn. Definitely not. "Can I get a different question?."

"Cmon Neville."

Neville scratched the back of his neck and looked away from them. He wasn't sure he could even get the word out of his mouth. He made a general mumble.

"What was that?"

He sighed. "Ebony." His face burned a deeper red.

The boys erupted into cheers and Seamus threw his arm around Neville's shoulder.

"Finally!"

"Nice one mate."

"He's only gone and bloody admitted it!"

Neville still couldn't believe he'd said it out loud. He buried his face in his hands.

"And how does she feel?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know," he said, "how am I supposed to know that?"

He had no idea, what was friendship and what...wasn't?

"You could ask her?"

"Don't be stupid Dean," Ron scoffed, "you don't let a girl know how you feel, it makes you look like an idiot."

"Ron, same question," Neville said, eager to divert the group's attention.

"Nah, no one for me."

"Not even Fleur Delacour?" Harry asked.

"Piss off!" Ron cried, grabbing Harry into a headlock.

"You just about wee yourself whenever she walks past!" Harry choked, trying to break free of Ron's grip.

"Liar!"

"Well cmon Seam it's your turn," Dean said, ignoring Harry and Ron's scuffle, "which lovely lady do you have your eye on?"

"Nah," Seamus said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Oh, cmon!"

"Can't bother us and not answer yourself!"

"Neville just admitted his undying love for Ebony and you're going to chicken out?" Harry cried, finally having removed Ron from his neck.

"Hold on a minute-" Neville started, now in a mild panic. He liked Ebony. He liked her a lot but did he love like love her? Oh, Merlin.

"Oh shush Nev," Ron said.

"What about Eloise Midgen?" Harry asked.

"What that Hufflepuff? Ron snorted, " Have you seen her face lately?"

"That's mean," Neville said. Eloise Midgen was nice if a little unlucky in the clear skin department.

"We're not letting you off mate."

"Tell us," Harry chanted and soon the others were joining in.

"Tell us! Tell us!"

"I'm gay." Seamus blurted the words out as if he had been holding them in for far too long.

The room fell suddenly quiet and Seamus sat looking around at his friends, tense with anticipation. Neville noticed that he looked genuinely scared for their reaction.

Harry looked like he'd been slapped in the face. Ron looked confused. Deans face seemed to lack any emotion at all.

Neville spoke first.

"Good for you Seamus," he said, offering a reassuring smile, "Thanks for trusting us."

Seamus blushed but seemed to relax a little.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "good on you."

"We don't care," Ron said, "you're still the same annoying twat."

"Thanks, Ron," Seamus laughed. They all looked towards Dean who was yet to say anything.

He stared thoughtfully at Seamus, who looked as though he was about to explode.

Then Dean smirked, "Fucking called it."

Seamus threw a pillow at his head, "Wanker."

And with that, the tension had dissipated.

"Are we the first people you've told?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Seamus said, still looking incredibly relieved, "well besides this muggle bloke I met in July."

"Ooh!"

"Oh shut up Ron!" Seamus was blushing. "We snogged a bit, nothing serious."

"What about your parents?" Dean asked, looking far more serious than the rest of them. Seamus' face faltered a little at his question.

"I think I'll tell them over summer," he said quietly, "I reckon they'll be alright with it." Neville thought he seemed to be reassuring himself more than them.

"You're still not getting out of this," Dean said, leaning back and grinning at his friend, "Tell us about this handsome muggle fella you fancy then."

"You bastard." But Seamus was beaming nonetheless.

...

...

"I'll see you later then?" Ebony asked as she and Neville exited the Great Hall after dinner.

"Yeah definitely, yeah," he replied, a little too eagerly for it to go unnoticed. He then proceeded to trip over his shoelaces and Ebony only just managed to catch him before he face planted on the stone floor.

"You okay?" Ebony frowned as she pulled him up by his arm. Neville blushed red and straightened his clothes.

"Of course," he said with a dopey smile, face still pink, "never been better." Ebony stared at him, smiling uncertainly. "See you later."

She watched him hurry off out the door and down to the greenhouses.

He'd been in a rather weird mood over the past few weeks, blushing constantly and being far more clumsy than usual. Some of the incidents could be explained away but others, like the one that had just occurred, were just strange.

She needed to ask someone about it.

...

Ebony found Ginny in an armchair by the common room window.

"Hi," she said, hopping up onto the windowsill.

"Oh hello," Ginny replied. She shut her book. "No Neville?"

"He's at Herbology club."

"I see."

"Speaking of Neville," Ebony said. "Have you noticed anything strange with him?" She was desperate to know that she wasn't just going crazy.

"No, why?"

"I don't know, he seems sort of out of it, clumsier than usual."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, today at lunch he knocked a whole jug of pumpkin juice over. "

"And that's out of the ordinary?"

"When we were leaving the hall after dinner he tripped over and wouldn't stop blushing after I helped him up. Oh, and in the library yesterday he dropped two books on his foot and couldn't form a coherent sentence for like 5 minutes."

"I haven't noticed, he's fine with me." Ginny then smirked. "Did you say anything before he dropped the books?"

Ebony looked quizzically at her friend, "I congratulated him on getting full marks on his Herbology essay."

"Ah," Ginny said, her eyes lighting up. "I think you may be the issue."

Ebony frowned. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying-" she leant back in her chair- "that our dear Neville totally has a crush on you."

"Ginny!" Ebony cried, causing nearby students to look up. Ginny just held her hands in the air.

"Deny it, go on!" She then sat back expectantly.

"Neville is my best friend," Ebony said adamantly, "nothing more."

"Yep, totally believe you."

"Boys and girls can be friends you know!"

"I do know that." Ginny looked up at her, "I also happen to know that friends don't look at each other the way he looks at you." She paused. "Or the way you look at him either."

"What?" Her face suddenly felt very hot.

Ebony really didn't know what Ginny was on about. She'd never stopped to think about the way Neville looked at her or that perhaps their affections could be a little more than friendship. Neville was nothing more than a friend. Surely?

Regardless of any feelings (which she most certainly did not have), Neville being her friend was big enough of a risk as it was, anything more and she may as well dig her own grave.

"I'm just saying."

Ginny seemed to have caused more problems than Ebony had started with.

...