Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter Fifty Seven

Neville was certain of his grandmother's answer, she wasn't going to let him go with Kefira's family for the summer. He was going to have to go home with her and just sit around waiting for some letters to come in. He looked over at where his grandmother was speaking with Kefira's father and then over at Kefira's family when suddenly Kefira shook him.

He was dragged out of his thoughts as he looked over at her.

"What?"

"I've been calling your name for the last thirty seconds, I was trying to see if you were still with us." Kefira laughed.

"Oh...s-sorry." he said.

"I'm surprised you're not as excited as I am right now!" 

"What do you mean?"

"Hello? Didn't you hear?" Kefira said. "You're spending your summer with us!"

Neville's eyes widened. "I am?"

"Come on Neville, I'm not the one who normally doesn't pay attention, not you! Yes, your grandmother just said okay."

Neville glanced up at his grandmother who was looking over at him. She didn't seem to be overly thrilled over the idea, as Neville had never spent a summer away from home, but seeing the excitement on his face was enough to reassure her that she was doing the right thing.

"This is going to be awesome!" Kefira said jumping up and down in place enough to make Augusta grow dizzy from the girl's rapid movement.

Neville had tried to picture Kefira's home when she described it many times before, but when they arrived to the household, he was surprised by how large the house actually was. Then again, he had to assume with four girls in the house that they would all need their space at one time or another. In the driveway, Kefira hopped out of the vehicle before Cardel had fully stopped the car.

"Kefi what have I told you about doing that!" Alana called after the girl.

"Oh let her go, Alana." Cardel said. "We weren't going that fast to begin with."

"That's not the point, Cardel!"

"I-"

One of Kefira's sisters, probably the oldest, Rosemary leaned into him. "If you're smart you'll get out of the car before they start bickering."

"Shouldn't I wait to bring my belongings inside?" Neville asked.

"Nah, don't worry about it." another sister reassured him. "We'll get it. Go on."

The three sisters kicked him out of the car in Kefira's direction.

"Hey Nevs.' Kefira called from where she had already climbed up the tree. The boy looked up at her.

"You couldn't wait to climb the tree, could you?"

"I've spent most of the year in bed, I needed to climb this tree." she said. "Come on up."

"Oh no." Neville immediately shook his head. "No, no."

"Don't worry, I'll help you!" she told him.

"No, Kefi. I'm not meant to climb. I was designed to remain on the ground."

She laughed. "You don't know what you're missing out on." she said before climbing down and landing beside him. "This is my favorite tree to climb because the view is incredible!"

Neville wanted to see what she was talking about, but he was far too scared of falling out of the tree to contemplate climbing it. While she had offered to help him, she was smaller than him by far and he were to fall back, well, he was certain he would crush her.

"Why don't you at least try?" she said. "And if you fall, I'll catch you."

"Kefira I'll end up crushing you." he said.

"That's okay, you can use my body to soften your fall, now come on. Try."

Cardel watched from where his daughter was encouraging the boy to climb up the tree, but the boy continued to hesitate and back away. He chuckled,  he oftened had to remind his youngest that not everyone was fond of climbing trees as she was.

Walking over, he heard Neville whisper to his daughter that he was afraid.

Kefira caught sight of her father approaching and immediately a smile spread across her face as she walked over to him. She motioned him to lower his head so she could whisper to him.

Cardel chuckled but nodded his head.

Kefira ran over and climbed up the tree swiftly before looking down to Neville as Cardel approached him.

"Here you go Neville, I'll give you a boost." Cardel said offering his hands for Neville to place his foot in. "Just put your foot in my hands and I'll get you up there."

"But-"

"And don't you worry, if you fall, I am more than capable of catching you. I promise."

The man's words seemed to settle Neville's nerves a bit more as Neville placed one of his feet in the palms of Cardel. Balancing himself by gripping onto the man's shoulder, Neville found himself hoisted up. He quickly grabbed onto the nearest branch and with the help of Kefira pulling and Cardel pushing, Neville finally balanced himself onto the branch beside Kefira.

"Yay! You did it Neville!" Kefira said clapping him on the shoulder, but suddenly grabbed him tightly as he swayed slightly. "Good job!"

Neville gave her a nervous smile until he looked out to see the view that Kefira had so often spoken about. 

It was absolutely beautiful to witness. 

He turned his head to Kefira. 

"Thank you."