"...I never needed anything more…" - Taylor Swift, "august"; folklore
AN: I own nothing but my OC(s); I do not agree with JK Rowling's harmful beliefs. Of course this is inspired by Taylor Swift's song, "august".
For The Hope Of It All
Two teenagers sat underneath a giant oak in late August , the girl, Octavia, was resting her head on the boy/s, Neville's, lap, while he read a herbology book aloud. This allowed her to think about the last school year while panicking about the one approaching in a few short days. She couldn't help but worry about how the other students and some of the teachers will treat her once she's back at Hogwarts, and she couldn't help but curse that June night. Briefly looking up at the boy above her, Octavia wished she pushed him and his friends harder to stay and try reaching Sirius again; afterall she knew Grimmauld Place to be thanks to the stories her mother had told her, which she can confirm to be true when her Aunt Andromeda had told the same stories- only from her point of view of course. With Voldemort's return official and her father in Azkaban everything back home went downhill, Death Eaters were living in her home and the older members of her family were hiding something from her and her younger sister, Lynx.
"Are you even listening?" Neville asked, breaking Octavia out of her thoughts.
Sitting up, the blonde girl gave him a sheepish smile. "No, sorry. I promise to listen this time."
"You said that last time." He mentioned, placing the book in his bag. "What's wrong?"
"Everything if I'm being honest. I'm actually surprised my mother let me out of the manor, especially here of all places. She hasn't been herself since that night."
"Doesn't one of your sisters live here? Fawn? Maybe that's why she allowed it."
Octavia shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but she wouldn't let us see Fawn before, I mean it could've been that he was preventing her from letting us. Mother has always been more kind to us, she didn't even want to send Fawn away.. Broke poor Lynx's heart to have her twin separated from her."
Neville moved like he was about to apologize for what had happened, but stopped himself, he wasn't sorry for what had happened that night, besides the death of who he later learned was Sirius Black. He knew he would do it all over again, only wishing they had gotten Bellatrix Lestrange as well. Only thing he wished he could change was his relationship with the girl next to him, he loved her and wished to be more than friends but ever since that night they barely spoke, he was shocked when an owl from her arrived this morning asking him to meet her here.
Remembering that owl Neville asked her. "What did you want to talk about?"
Octavia snapped back out her thoughts and sighed. "Just wondering if you still want to be my friend, afterall you were my first friend I made at Hogwarts and no one else is going to want to be mine when we go back."
"Of course I still want you as my friend, my best friend! You're the only one who lets me talk your ear off about plants! Not even Luna allows that, she says I'm distracting her when she's trying to find one of her creatures." He leaned over and hugged her. "You're also nothing like your family."
Sighing, the sandy haired boy placed a small kiss on Octavia's forehead. "I love you so much, Ava."
She pulled away and eyed him. "Really? As a friend or…?" The younger girl was now even more anxious than before.
"Is 'or' okay?"
Smiling, Octavia nodded her head and leaned back into him. "It's perfectly fine, we're young, you know my fifteenth birthday isn't until October. I'll wait for your final answer until then." Letting go, she reached into his bag and took the book back out, handing it to him. "I really promise to listen this time, you can even quiz me just to be sure."
"You know, I just might. I've been thinking about being a professor after I graduate." Neville admitted, leaning back on the oak tree, making room for Octavia.
She moved to lean against his side, placing his arm around her. "I'm sure you'll be an amazing professor one day."
Laying her head on his shoulder, she allowed his voice to calm her nerves about the upcoming school year. Octavia Malfoy found herself living for the hope of her and Neville Longbottom surviving whatever life threw at them and making it out together. With that in mind she snuggled closer to the older boy, answering every question he threw at her, even getting some wrong on purpose, just to hear him go on about plants, spending more of the late summer afternoon with him.
"August slipped away into a moment in time" - Taylor Swift; "august"; folklore
Thank you so much for reading if you made it this far! This is my first time writing in years so any feedback would be appreciated, just please don't be too rude :) Again I own nothing but my OCs and I do not support JK's beliefs. Trans rights are human rights & I fully support those who are trans, nb, or anywhere under the umbrella 3
