Chapter five: Two minutes to go…
Previously:
'Will you all just be quiet!' Hermione cried out in a vain act of desperation to grasp everyone's attention. And Grasp everyone one's attention she did.
Including the attention of the two people hidden in a dark nook, which the four had incidentally failed to notice until now. And surprisingly enough it wasn't Ron and Pansy.
It was the gasp and screams of fright that gave away the two people.
But still, they couldn't be fully seen, Harry noticed. He wondered who they were, perhaps a cheeky couple, sneaking away from classes or enjoying a spare.
The thought made him look at the girl next to him. Her hair was a complete mess, wild and untameable as usual; little ringlet's, luscious curls and loose waves cascaded mid way down the girls back -it was so effortless. It was so boundless. He just wanted to run his hands though it.
But he didn't; he refrained, contenting himself with briefly tucking a stand behind her ear before entangling her hand with his, causing the girl to beam up at him.
But no; Harry could not let himself get distracted by the girl next to him –he had something to prove, and he was going to prove it. If only she would stop drawing those circles on his hand with her thumb, if only she would stop placing delicate kisses on his neck as they lingered behind the investigation. If only she would stop being the most irresistible thing that had been placed on the metaphorical platter in front of him.
She was more seductive than a bag of assorted Lindt chocolates on a night in, she was more refreshing than a Zooper Dooper on a 40 degree day, and she was more heartening than a Butterbeer. She was, essentially, everything that Harry had ever needed or wanted in that one moment.
But he had to focus. He had to be a spy. And he had to find out who the couple in the corner were. It didn't last very long.
Harry found himself blinking, not just once, but twice, which turned into thrice as he still failed to take in the couple before him. It just couldn't be. It was an act against nature itself.
For Neville Longbottom didn't have a girlfriend. And there was no way he could possibly have a Slytherin one at that. Yet, somehow, standing in front of him was evidence to the contrary. And it was quite compelling evidence. He briefly wondered if it would scar him for life.
Who would have guessed that Neville and Astoria Greengrass had it going on?
'Gahhh' Harry finally called out in delayed shock whilst reaching to cover his eyes with his arms, 'my eyes! They're burning! Neville! No, no, no, no! Neville… girl… no shirt… my eyes!'
Everyone one just turned around to look at him in shock, before Hermione let out a laugh or two at his behaviour and rolled her eyes before commenting; 'Geesh harry, after sharing a dorm with the guy for six years you'd think you'd have gotten used to seeing the guy without his shirt on'
'But it's Neville! And he's with a girl! And he has no shirt' Harry looked at her, begging to see the logic in his whines.
'Way to spot the obvious' Lavender muttered under her breath.
He looked around at them all, from the amused Hermione by his side, to the loved-up Draco and Lavender who watched him with identical looks of exasperation as they cuddled close to one another, until finally, his eyes came to rest on the newest couple.
They stood on the edge of the group; the girl had her head buried into the crook of Neville's neck, as his arms were wrapped securely, possessively around her frame. And some how, despite Harry's outburst, both seemed at ease in the awkward situation. And by the upward twitch of Neville's lips one might even think he found Harry's speech, like Hermione, rather amusing.
After he had looked at each and every one of them Harry began to speak. He spoke slowly, passionately –trying desperately to impress upon them what he was on about.
'You see, this isn't just about finding someone in a deserted corridor snogging their girlfriend,' he paused to create emphasis as he looked around at them, 'this' he continued valiantly, 'is about much more than that. This is about what makes Neville the Neville Longbottom we know. This is about the symbol he is, and what he stands for, for all of us-'
'You mean that up until now all we used to be able to say "well at least I'm doing better than Longbottom" but now we can't?' Draco interrupted.
Harry shot him a dark look before carrying on '-No, it's not about that. Its about the fact that Neville has been the rock, the base of goodness and innocence, he has been Neville the Incorruptible!'
Everyone just looked at him with raised eyebrows.
'Harry –' Hermione began, light mockery in her voice as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, 'there comes a time in one's life when things change, as we grow older, we can start to have feelings-'
'-Yes, Hermione, I'll well aware of the cycle of life-' Harry interrupted tersely, causing the girl to roll her eyes at his myopia to her teasing.
'Well then perhaps you should remember that when you see Neville and Astoria making out,' Lavender pointed out 'after all, it's only them building their relationship before they decide to, or not to, create some little witches and wizards together.'
The girl's statement caused Hermione to suppress a chuckle smile at Harry's startled expression to Lavender's frank telling of relationship evolution.
'But aren't we getting a bit sidetracked here?' Draco announced.
'That we are!' Harry cried as he leaped forward, seemingly eager to leave the topic of Neville's burgeoning love life, and any further consequences it might lead to. 'Come on you two!' He called with a new found bravado, 'Join us! We're off to get these two,' he gestured towards Draco and Lavender, 'married.'
'Ooooh! So you two are finally getting hitched then?' Astoria asked excitedly, 'Gosh Draco, you could have at least hinted it was this serious…'
Harry's ear's pricked up at her words, it was strange he thought, odd even, the way she talked, what she was saying; it didn't seem quite right. It didn't quite add up, for it was as if she was talking about Draco and Lavender as although they had been going out for over a year now, but if that had been happening, surely he would have heard about it?
Yet, for some strange reason, it didn't seem odd to him they were getting married. It seemed perfectly natural. And he couldn't quite figure out why.
'Oh hey, did you guys hear about the prank Colin, Ginny and Luna planned for Snape?' Neville asked Harry and Hermione as they all started along the tunnel to Hogsmead, interrupting Harry's own train of thought.
'What? No! Ginny's doing a prank… that ought to be dangerous' Harry chuckled as he replied, 'hmm,' he began to muse 'it's probably something she thought up whilst working at Fred and Georges over the summer, their influence must really be making it's mark. What was it?'
Hermione rolled her eyes at him, 'Honestly Harry, can you really believe it's that? Ginny's always had a mind for that kind of thing, and I was working there over the summer and you don't see me pulling pranks on Snape, do you?'
She allowed Harry to give a nod of acquiescence before continuing, 'anyway, it's probably just some of their hair care stuff –give him pink dreadlocks or something.'
'Well,' Neville started, 'actually it's-' but he Never got finish what he was saying, he never got to tell them what the prank was, because they had finally arrived at the Honeydukes trapdoor.
'Okay, well, what happens now?' Astoria addressed Harry and Draco.
Harry smiled; the question had been just the cue he needed to turn his "spy-mode" back on, after Hermione had so effectively disarmed it.
'Now,' he said, 'we go to the Hogshead, I'll send a Patronous ahead of us to let Aberforth know what's going on'
'But why would we want to go to the Hogshead, isn't that place a bit dodgy? And who is Aberforth?' Draco questioned, bewilderment laced through his tone.
'Well, first of all, Aberforth is the bartender there, and not many people know this, but, he has a marriage licence. Oh, and he's Dumbledore's brother.' Harry replied with an air of smugness.
'Well,' Neville said, clapping his hands together, 'it sounds like a plan, should we get going then? Good work Harry!'
'See,' Harry told Hermione as he grabbed her hand to head towards the Hogshead, 'Neville likes my "spy-mode". He even said it was good!'
Hermione just rolled her eyes.
A/N:
Okay, well, after I finally managed to finish exams at exactly 2.15 on the 16th I have finally managed to finish this chapter!
So I hope you enjoyed it! I really tried to give this one more direction, and add/be more specific about the plot direction, so cancel21, thanks for catching me on that :) and I would love to know if this one seems to address more of that side of things.
And sorry to write a really long author's note, but just in case anyone is wondering:
Zooper Dooper's are like those icy poles you get in the clear plastic tubes, They're usually near jelly and ice cream cones in the supermarket. I thought I'd better say what they were, as I'm not sure how international they are. But I assume there would be an equivalent. In fact I only found out what they were called last summer, so good on you if you knew straight off :)
And "Neville the Incorruptible" wormed its way into my brain after having the history exam, from Robespierre.
And so yeah, after 190 words, I'd like to say a big thanks to those who reviewed/commented on the last chapter; flamingshadowgirl, MySisterThinksI'mCrazy, cancel21, nzgurliedilemma, Lily Witchcraft, XedwardismyromeoX, dennisud, andGandalf the Grey-Edelwiess :) continually hearing from many of you is continually awesome, and makes it so much easier to write :)