Thorn | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 14: It Felt So Good

Briar swallowed hard as she pushed against the doors into the library. She felt her palms get a little sweaty for no reason, so she rubbed them against the sides of her robes while she scanned the occupied tables.

Her eyes caught on a shaggy mop of brown hair at a table on the other side of the library, and she pushed forward with a small smile. She felt confused by the fluttering in her stomach that started when she neared him. Why was she nervous? She had tutors dozens of times before, and she doubted such a sweet boy would judge her for not being great at Herbology. He certainly wouldn't make fun of her for it like Malfoy would.

When Briar stepped up to the table Neville was at, he looked up at her with wide eyes. He opened and closed his mouth before he finally murmured, "Uh, hi, Briar. Did you find me okay?"

A wide smile threatened to break out on her face, but she restrained it into a small one. She greeted, "Hi. Thanks for agreeing to tutor me. I can really use the help."

Briar set her bag on the table and settled into the chair beside Neville. He just smiled shyly at her and sighed, "I don't mind. What do you need help with?"

"Everything. None of it makes any sense to me, and I'm awful both on the written exams and in the greenhouse. I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong," Briar complained as she watched Neville's face to see his reactions. She wondered if he would look down on her for doing so poorly at the subject he excelled at.

Instead, he just had a faint smile as he listened to her. After she finished this lament, he offered, "Professor Sprout said we could use the greenhouse whenever we need to for tutoring. We could go there now, and I could see if I notice anything straight away in how you interact with them...uh, only if you want, of course."

Briar smiled and nodded. "That sounds great, Neville. Thank you."

His cheeks tinted to a pink at Briar's words, but he bent over to grab his bag before Briar could get a good look at them. She wasn't sure what made the shy boy blush, but she suddenly began worrying that she was making him uncomfortable. Her heart sunk at the thought that he could feel frightened of her simply because she was a Slytherin.

The two of them moved towards the greenhouses without another word, but Briar had started to feel increasingly disheartened at the way he wouldn't meet her eyes.

Briar blinked rapidly to hold in any emotions threatening to show themselves.

Stuff, bottle, repress.

That was what she knew to do when she felt her emotions flare up and try to get the best of her. Acknowledging her need to do this now, she furrowed her eyebrows and wondered why she was having such an emotional reaction to her classmate's inaccurate perception of her. It didn't matter what Neville thought of her. She didn't need anyone else's approval because she knew who she really was.

The silent walk had given Briar the space to think, but she still was unable to understand why this had made her so upset. Neville started to say something to her since they reached the greenhouse, but she was far away and caught up in her own thoughts. If a boy as sweet as Neville Longbottom was afraid of her, maybe she really was doing something wrong.

Neville was staring at her with a rapidly opening and closing mouth since he was unsure what to say. He could tell that Briar was distressed about something, but he couldn't tell what. When she looked at him with her features cold and neutral, he murmured, "Um, are you okay?"

Briar just stiffly nodded and stepped towards one of the plants, not wanting to endure that uncomfortable conversation longer than she had to. She began to reach towards the plant, but it shivered and drooped in response. Briar's shoulders slumped. She sighed, "That always happens to me."