Wolfsbane // Neville Longbottom

Chapter 13: Christmas

His plan to celebrate Christmas with her later made getting through the following two days a whole lot easier. She was less upset about missing Christmas which already helped to make her feel less ill.

Nevertheless, when the night hit on Christmas day 2000, Cassie was in excruciating pain, crying out at the moon. As her body transformed into something that she would rather kill, her mind could think only of one thing, or rather, one person; Neville.

After spending a whole day in bed trying to recover from the full moon and then another day catching up on some grading and other work, Cassie was getting ready for her Christmas party with Neville.

She still could not get over how incredibly sweet it was of him to arrange it all. To her surprise, she wasn't even the tiniest bit upset that she had missed actual Christmas. Neville's party made missing her favourite holiday worth it.

She put on a maroon coloured dress. It had a heart-shaped neckline and long, puffy sleeves. It hugged her body and fell right over her knees. She put on a pair of black heels, ignoring that it only severed the ache in her knee. Neville had said to wear whatever she liked, but still, she wanted to dress up.

She didn't know why she wanted to leave an impression, she knew that they couldn't explore any type of relationship besides their friendship and yet she felt this need for him to fancy her the way she fancied him. Perhaps it was wrong, to keep in on a leash, but she had tried to let him off many times, he was the one holding on.

Besides, it was a Christmas party, of course, she should go all out and make herself look ten times more beautiful than usual. She put on a dainty golden necklace, a few rings and some gold earrings.

She often wore silver as a teenager, but that was impossible now. Silver made her feel sick, it burned on her skin and it made her dizzy. It reminded her that the wolf was a bigger part of her than she always thought and hoped.

She sprayed on some perfume, fixed a few of the curls she had created in her hair and then marched over to the door with a gift in her hands. Neville had visited her on Christmas day and the day after to check on her but they hadn't given each other a present yet. She wasn't even sure if they were going to but she liked giving presents so of course, she was giving him something.

Mandy had received a ton of baby clothes - they were too cute not to gift them - as well as a new set of earrings. Padma had received a new book, a new bracelet, a poster with a star map of the night when they had met, as well as a card wishing her good luck with celebrating Christmas with all the Weasleys. Hermione had received two new books, a brand new special quill she had been talking about for ages and a necklace.

For all her colleagues she had gotten a tin of freshly baked biscuits and a card. She had sent Amanda a card along with some chocolates, unsure whether or not they were on sending each other Christmas gifts level yet, but still wanting to gift something small.

Now for Neville, she had gotten him two things, both related to the thing he loved the most; Nature. She had gotten him a book about plants, one she knew he didn't have yet but wanted, and a new plant. It was a mundane plant but she thought it was absolutely adorable. It was called ceropegia woodii. She was sure he would like it too.

She walked over to his office and knocked on his door, taking a small step back right after. He swung the door open, a smile on his lips which faded for a slight second as his eyes scanned her from head to toe. His heart started beating faster, as did hers.

"Hi," she said softly, her own eyes scanning him from head to toe as well. He looked so handsome. He was dressed in a navy blue suit with a white blouse and a blue tie. His hair was done nicely, his eyes twinkled and he smelled of cologne.