Harry Potter One Shots

A Papery Kiss

Neville Longbottom wished he was in Hufflepuff. Up until seventh year, it was because he felt he didn't belong in Gryffindor. He wasn't brave, he wasn't arrogant, he had next to no confidence - how could he ever live up to the Gryffindor standard? He was much more like a Hufflepuff. Shy, friendly, and hardworking. But the year Neville turned seventeen, something happened. That something was Hannah Abbott.

Neville remembered Hannah from the Sorting way back in first year. He remembered how she had been flushed with nervousness, and he remembered her blonde pigtails. What he didn't remember was her boobs, or the way she laughed, tipping her head back and opening her red lips wide, or the look of contentment and peace she got when she was spending time with someone she cared about. He wanted to put that look on her face.

The problem was, in the middle of the war, romance wasn't the first thing on everyone's mind. Sure, couples were declaring their undying love, knowing it could be their only chance. They were using the excuse of possible death to sleep together left and right. But no one was confessing feelings for people they barely even knew. And besides, even if people were doing that, Neville wasn't brave enough to confess anything to Hannah, even how much he enjoyed a good swig of Firewhiskey on a cold, lonely day.

But love rises in the strangest of times. The day Voldemort declared war on Hogwarts, Neville felt brave. For the first time ever, he wanted to fight back, stand up for what he believed in. Or, not for the first time. He had always wanted to do that. But this time, he believed he could. He believed in himself. Neville Longbottom believed in himself. So when Harry Potter finally returned to Hogwarts, and told Neville and the rest of Dumbledore's Army that they would need to fight, Neville gave a roar of approval.

The battle was all blood, death and tears. Through it all, Neville barely held himself together. Every time he saw someone he knew dead, or injured, or fighting for their lives, he wanted to stop. He wanted to yell and scream and pull them away from death, pain and danger. But instead he kept going, because that was all he could do.

When Harry appeared suddenly behind him, Neville nearly had a heart attack.

Neville's first thought was that Harry was giving himself up. But no, Harry Potter would never do that. He knew the pain of losing a loved one. After Harry had reassured Neville that he was not handing himself over to Voldemort, the real reason why Harry had approached him was revealed.

"You know Voldemort's snake, Neville? He's got a huge snake... calls it Nagini..." Harry said, his voice rusty.

"I've heard, yeah... what about it?" Neville asked warily.

"It's got to be killed. Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they-"

The fact that Harry Potter, who was the voice of hope, who would never even consider his friends dying, had said, "Just in case" made Neville's blood run cold.

"Just in case they're - busy - and you get the chance-"

"Kill the snake?"

"Kill the snake," Harry said firmly.

Neville asked if Harry was okay, though he already knew the answer. He told the bloodstained, shaking boy in front of him, the one who Neville had always admired, that they were all fighting for him. And Harry moved on, leaving Neville with that not-so-simple request: Kill the snake.

Neville had been fighting for a long time when he saw Hannah. She was huddled between two stone statues, which were as battered and dirty as she was, clutching a wound on her arm. Rather than continuing on his way to the castle grounds to fight the giants and, from what he'd heard, Acromantula, Neville raced over to her, skidding across the stone floor, which was slippery with a trail of Hannah's blood.