Professor Neville Longbottom

Chapter 15: Muddy

'Maybe I want to go out with you ,' I said, avoiding all eye contact. This would actually solve a lot of problem, Chris would hopefully be left alone by our friends, and most importantly everyone would stop speculating that I went around seducing Professors.

'No, you want to go out with a Professor. I refuse to be some girl's arm candy,' Damon said, glaring at me.

'I know,' I sighed, before giving him a wicked smile. 'You want to be some guy's arm candy.'

He opened his mouth, sucked in a breath of air and then a look of horror flickered across his face.

'I wonder how Amy would react if she knew about what Derek and you were really in during your extra practices before they became official?' I asked him.

'He is very loyal, he broke things off as soon as they mentioned becoming exclusive,' he said, his jaw clenching as his hands curled into fists.

'Not at first, I know you guys did carry on a bit but then he grew attached to her and left you in the dust for his morals,' I said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

'Shut up,' he snapped, shoving my hand away from him.

'Look, I won't breathe a word as long as you don't tell anyone about my crush on Professor Longbottom,' I said.

'Um...' he said, looking at something over my shoulder. If he tried to escape before agreeing to these terms I would be very screwed. So far it seemed that Derek and him were the only ones to truly figure out what was going on beyond the rumours. These rumours were finally coming to a stop and I didn't need him adding gasoline.

'Is that a yes or no?' I asked, as he continued to look over his shoulder. He started to mouth out some words so stomped on his foot, taking a quick look over my shoulder to empty space.

'I will not tell him of your crush,' he muttered, suddenly walking off.

'Thank you,' I called out after him. 'That includes the rest of the student body right?'

x oxo x

I arrived at detention early after dinner a few nights later to find Neville and Luna in the corner, having a heated discussion in hushed tones much like the last few nights. Scratch that, Luna was smiling while Neville looked like a vein was about to burst on the top of his forehead. In fact his whole face had turned a funny shade of red as he was making wild gestures rather than using actual words.

'Do you have a fever?' I asked the near silent room. The reaction was instant, Neville leaping up so fast that he slipped over and took a pot with him that landed on his head. Its contents spilling down his already dirt- smudged face to create a rather large mess as Luna smirked down at him from her position on a stool. I would find the whole thing adorable if I wasn't already on edge myself, with him acting all weird around me and refusing to be alone with me in the same room. Luna had been present the last few nights and her calming energy was one of the only reason I hadn't fully lost my mind yet and demanded to know what was wrong. Besides the usual.

'I told you Neville, you can't fight something like this. Its fate,' Luna said with a smile as she walked out of the greenhouse, handing me a multicoloured quill.

'Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time,' I said, stepping over the broken pot to get the broom. He still seemed pretty dazed as he slowly got up, the pot still intact rolling across the floor and spilling soil everywhere.

'What are you doing?' he asked from behind me. Whipping around I found he had already gotten out his wand and was using some spell to clean up the mess. I watched him, with the an unreadable look on his face, as he fixed the pot and righted everything clearly avoiding looking at me. After a pause I put my bag on a desk, and started walking toward the cleaning gear that happened to be by the left side of his desk. I had been tasked with cleaning the classroom by Luna the last few times, which took a lot of elbow grease but you could almost see the original colour of some of the chairs in this room.

'Blair?' he asked, suddenly looking up at me as I walked past him. As soon as our eyes made contact he looked away, his eyes buzzing around the room for a moment before landing on his shoes. Up close to him I was able to see a clean face again, all except that dirt smudge on his cheek that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face. To be honest it was so cute and I was feeling so awkward that I had to stop myself from giggling. Clearly the dessert that I had before had gone straight to my head as I did not giggle. Except maybe over him apparently.

'I might of been day dreaming slightly,' I lied, offering him a smile. He didn't return it.

'Tonight you will be cleaning down the work benches by hand, without magic. The equipment is over there and I will be grading papers at the front of the class to keep an eye on you,' he mumbled, walking to desk up there that was spotless and had various paper and quills scattered across it. Looking at the bucket of water and cleaning material, if you could even call it that, then the workbenches I had to hold back a groan. I wasn't even finished with the chairs.

'Don't you trust me to be alone in the classroom with some soapy water?' I asked, picking up the rag and dropping it back into the bucket. The idea of a full hour of awkward silence alone in a classroom with him made me highly uncomfortable.

'Of course I do,' he said, ducking his head and shuffling around some parchment.

'So what are you marking?' I asked, plopping down on a stool by the front of the class. If I was going to convince everyone that there was nothing between us then I was going to have to get us past this weird stage.

'Blair,' he sighed, rubbing his face. 'Start cleaning.'

I picked up the rag again and began the task of wiping down the tables, or a table. Every few minutes Neville would shift, causing me to look up as a reflex to see what was going on. As time went by and I had nearly finished this one singular table I found myself really wanting to wipe the dirt off his cheek. It would be a casualty in my war against dirt.

'Done,' I yelled, throwing cloth down in triumph. I began a little victory dance while packing up the dirty cleaning equipment.

'Damn,' Neville said, glaring at the watch on his wrist.

'What?' I asked, looking at the time. It was nearly ten o'clock.

'You were meant to be here for the one hour and head back up at eight thirty at the very latest,' he said, running a hand through his hair as he looked out the window.

'Why?' I asked. 'Detentions with you do tend to drag on much longer.'

'So that you could get back to your dorm in time for curfew. Besides all that it would of been awkward,' he said, getting up and handing my bag to me.

'Why would it be awkward? Is it because I wanted to wipe of the dirt smudge of your face?' I asked, poking it.

'No, because it has come to my attention that- I have dirt on my face?' he demanded suddenly, wiping his sleeve across his forehead.

'Yeah, you still do,' I said, a small smile on my face forming.

'How long?' he asked, grabbing an unused rag and wiping it all over his face.

'Since I got here,' I said as I watched in amazement the rag smudging even more dirt on his face.

'Why didn't you tell me?' he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It seemed like he had some kind of internal conflict occurring under his mop of hair. More than usual when dealing with me anyway.

'Blair,' he said after I hadn't replied for a while.

'Professor?' I ask.

'I need to get you back to school where we can find someone to escort you back to your dorm,' he said, grabbing a coat from off the back of his chair before grabbing a lantern with a shaky hand. 'You cannot under any circumstances, stay here again.'

'Are you okay?' I ask, finding this behaviour strange, even for me.

'Hurry up,' he says, grabbing my arm when I didn't budge from my spot. What did I do to make him so upset?

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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Quick edit 21/06/16