Chapter 8: Mayhem

July 22, 2007

Bella sat near the edge of a small pond, sporting a perfectly horrific white beard and wishing the nightmare would end. Neville had warned her that some of the Weasley progeny were rather mischievous, but she never expected the adorable six-year-old named Fred to be the wielder of mayhem.

She'd been busy admiring the chaotic splendor of the house and meeting people she'd only ever read about in the library at Hogwarts. So when George and Angelina's little boy offered her an innocent looking sweet she hardly gave it a second thought. It wasn't until the beard began to tickle her arms and Ron burst out laughing that Bella realized something was amiss, and she fled the house without looking back.

"Bella!" Neville's voice echoed around the other side of the house, and she buried her face in her arms.

As she was sitting there in front of a large tree, the sound of something scratching around in the dirt beside her caused her to put all embarrassment aside for the moment. She peeked out above her arms, and to her immense surprise, a grubby potato with a face burst out of the ground.

"Holy crow!" She jumped up. "What are you – some kind of yam?"

To her further astonishment, the potato creature climbed out of the hole and mimicked her vocal tones with sarcastic grunts.

"What the..." Bella leaned in to get a closer look when the creature reached up, yanked her beard and began chuckling like a tiny child who had gotten ahold of too much helium.

"Ouch! You—!" Angry tears began to stream into her beard, and it only fueled her rage. Swinging her leg as hard as she could she tried to kick the horrid beast, but he ducked behind the tree and Bella ended up kicking a thick root instead.

Limping away from the horrible, little potato man, Bella collapsed by the edge of the garden and began to sob.

Several seconds passed, and she heard rustling near the garden. She realized the footfalls were too heavy to be the tiny monster from earlier and knew it could only be one person. "Bella?" Neville approached her with worry in his voice.

"Don't look at me!" she wailed miserably into her hands.

She heard a heavy exhale, then felt a familiar warmth at her side as he took a seat beside her in the grass.

"It's alright, Bella, we've all been victim to that same sweet at least once. Freddy didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Bella lifted her eyes but kept everything else below her nose hidden and muffled. "But did a dwarf pop out of the ground, and pull on your beard, and start laughing at you?"

Neville chuckled. "Looks like you had a run in with a garden gnome. They're nearly as bad as George and his brood in there." He motioned inside lightheartedly. Then he pulled a similar looking sweet from his pocket. "This is the antidote...if you're interested."

Oh she was definitely interested. Reaching out with one hand, she snatched the candy and popped it into her mouth. The beard immediately began to shrink, and to Bella's overwhelming relief the snowy growth of hair vanished altogether.

"Thank goodness," she murmured, lifting her head when she was certain all the extra hair was gone. "I'll make sure to be more careful about accepting candy from children from now on."

He laughed softly, "And I'll make sure our next date is in far less devious company."

"Date?" Bella froze as his words registered. "This was...a date?"

"Well, ah, it doesn't have to be. I mean, Hermione said...but you don't, of course not if you don't want to—" He was clearly flustered, and Bella couldn't help but smile at this unexpected side of Neville.

"I don't mind if this is a date." It was nearly dusk outside, and she was grateful he couldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks. "I mean, I'd like if it was."

"Great," he said with relief. "Though you have to admit, it's a pretty terrible first one. Are you sure you want it to count?"

"Eh," she shrugged, "what's a first date without growing a beard and getting teased by a midget, potato man?"

Neville laughed softly. "You know, you're pretty amazing, Bella."

She noticed his eyes flicker toward her lips, and Bella felt her heartbeat thump heavily. He began to lean toward her...

SCREAAAAACK!

She jumped half out of her skin. "What in the heck was that?"

A giant tawny owl flew toward them, landing on Neville's forearm.

"That'll be the post." Neville detached the parchment and looked it over as the owl took off into the night sky. "It's for you," he added brightly. He then passed the note over, and she unrolled it carefully.

Bella Swan,

Stop by tomorrow at your convenience.

G. Ollivander

"I think the wands are ready," she beamed. "Ollivander wants me to stop by tomorrow!"

To her confusion, Neville actually seemed a bit disappointed.

"It has to be tomorrow?" he scowled slightly.

"I'm guessing you're going to be busy?" she frowned.

"I have to accompany Professor McGonagall while she interviews a few candidates for Potions Master."

Bella gasped, "Professor Burke hasn't recovered?"

"He has no memory of anything at all."

"Oh my gosh. I feel terrible." Bella's power had actually caused someone to lose every memory they'd ever had. What if a wand only made her more dangerous? What if...

"It serves him right," Neville unwittingly interrupted her inner turmoil. "Burke was only supposed to modify your memories of that one day, but that git tried to erase everything." He clenched his fist. "What you managed that night, it was to protect yourself, Bella...and no one can fault you that."

She felt her cheeks burn beneath the smattering of clouds and starlight. "So you think I should still try to get a wand?"

"Absolutely." There was no hesitation, and Bella felt pacified.

"Well, I do have to figure out how to floo sooner or later..."

Neville peered back to the house. "I'd be willing to bet that someone in there would take you."

"Yeah...I'm not sure about that." After being royally pranked by a mere child of six, Bella wasn't sure she would ever be able to fully place her trust in a Weasley...or any child for that matter.

No, Bella was sure she could do this on her own.