Neville woke up on the morning of the 9th of September feeling..... okay about himself. You could say that. Or you could say he felt, terrible. He had been avoiding Naomi. He got so nervous after what had happened just over a week ago, that he didn't want to look at her. He was scared that he would get embarrassed and do something stupid. But alas, it was a defence against the dark arts lesson and Neville would need help with it. Naomi was always a great help to Neville when it came to dada. When Neville had finally finished with his morning routine, (which was: 6:00 wake up, 6:05 have a shower, 6:15 Back school books for that day, 6:30 get dressed for school and 7:make way to the great hall) he went and sat by Fred and George on the Gryffindor table.
F & G: morning Longbottom.
N: hmm? Oh hey
Neville looked around for Naomi and saw that she was sitting with Hermione, Ron and Harry.
G: hey Neville?
N: huh? Yeah?
F: you aren't avoiding Naomi, are you?
Neville sighs and looks at Fred
N: well.... Something happened in Care of magical creatures and I'm not sure what it was.
G: well?
N: there was this moment where. I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine. It was like the whole world had just vanished around us and it was only me and her.
Just as Neville was about to eat some of his cereal, Miles came in and wrapped his arm around Neville's shoulder.
M: good morning Longbottom.
He says with a chuckle.
M: what you guys talking about then.
F & G: Neville's in love!
N: wha- am not!
Fred and George continue chanting that Neville is in love, so he pushes his plate out in front of him and puts his head down on the table. Fred and George give one last 'Neville's in love' before they jump up from the table and leave for their lesson.
M: don't worry about them, Mate.
N: I'm not. But, what if they're right. What if I am in love?
M: w- with who!?
N: Little. Naomi Little.
M: The girl you were with on the train? Dark short hair, freckles, a ca-
N: Yes, that one.......
Just as Neville was finishing his sentence, he looked up the table and saw Naomi staring straight at him. He swore he saw stars in her eyes. He was nudged out of this trance however when Miles tapped him on the shoulder whilst chuckling.
M: Neville's got a cruuush
N: oh shut up.
Neville said whilst turning a slight shade of red.
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That morning they had a double potions which went slow as ever before. Neville sat in his usual spot and Naomi sat in hers (which was half way across the classroom). Naomi usually sat next to Draco but for this particular lesson they had to pair up so she went with Lavender Brown, a fellow Gryffindor. Neville paired up with Dean Thomas and everyone else found other partners. Their task was to create a antidote for dragon pox.
L: Hey Naomi?
N: That would be me.
L: You seem to have an admirer.
She tilts her head towards Neville's cauldron and there he was. He wasn't quite staring, he was more of glancing at her every now and then. Naomi blushed a little and got distracted which caused her to spill some of the ingredients on the floor causing her to lose 15 points from Gryffindor.
L: well done
N: oh come on Lavender. You saw him staring at me!
L: Oh yeah totally, 2 seconds of staring from Longbottom and you think you're in love with him!
Naomi stays silent after this. What if she did like him. She wouldn't say she was in love with him. After all, they had only known each other for about a week. Then again Naomi did love his knack for Herbology and the way he blushes every time he saw her. But the thing she didn't understand was why he was avoiding her. If he really did like her back then why did he always find an excuse to get out of studying.
After a long morning, it was time for defence against the dark arts. Naomi had been really exited for this lesson as she was particularly good at it. She had heard some chatter around the 3rd years about a boggart. Naomi wasn't sure what her boggart was or if she even had one. You see, Naomi didn't really have any fears when growing up. Maybe her mother but a boggart can't turn into a member of your family. Can it? This was the only thing Naomi had really struggled with in DATDA. She had read up on boggarts and found out a bit about them the other week before term started but had not found out if people could not have a boggart.
When class had started, Professor Lupin made them stand around a cupboard. The cupboard itself was shaking as though something was attempting to escape. After Professor Lupin had made a statement about the boggart, he taught us all the Riddikulus spell. After that, he called Neville up to the front. He asked what Neville's greatest fear was which Neville replied with.
N: P- Professor Snape.
Remus laughed at this and said.
PL: Yes.. frightens all
Remus opened the cupboard with his wand and out crawled Professor Snape. Neville was frozen in fear as Professor Snape edged closer and closer to Neville. Remus whispered something in Neville's ear and Neville shot a spell at the boggart. As soon as the spell hit him, Professor Snape was wearing old Grandma clothes. Neville along with the rest of the class laughed at this and soon enough, it was Naomi's turn.
She stood with her 11 inch wand held out in front of her, ready to use the Riddikulus charm. The boggart that was a large jack in the box turned into a man cackling over a girl's dead body. When the man stood up and looked at Naomi, she recognised the girl to be her sister who died 6 years ago. The only thing wrong with this however was that she had had her eyes gouged out of her skull and her throat slit. As the blood from the girl got closer and closer to Naomi, the man also stepped towards her. Naomi stood there in shock and fear before finally mumbling out 'Riddikulus!'. The girl on the floor transfigured into a funny looking flower and the man turned into a weird but funny looking bee. When Naomi went back to the back of the que however, she noticed that everyone was staring at her with fear in their faces. Neville looked down at her, shocked that her boggart could be so... scary.
PL: Right, uhm. Miss Little, please speak to me after class. Right, Harry, your turn.
The whole world seemed to go blurry around Naomi as she was still in pure shock from what had happened. She felt like she might pass out. The truth is, when Naomi was only 8, a man broke into her home. He took all of their prized positions which included her 14 year old sister. Naomi hadn't thought about this for a very, very long time. Before she could pull herself back down to reality, Professor Lupin dismissed the class. He sat down with Naomi on the steps in his class and offered her some chocolate which she refused. It was strange but she thought he looked a little offended from this.
R: right, now I think we need to talk a bit about that boggart of yours, don't you?
Naomi shakes her head no.
R: as your teacher I want you to know that you can tell me anything.
N: I understand that, sir. But you don't understand this. It hasn't come to my mind for a fair number of years. You see, when I was 8 a man broke into my house. He took everything. My money, my jewellery, but most unfortunately. My sister. She was 14 at the time. A third year here at Hogwarts.
Remus sits there in shock for a number of seconds before saying
R: were you close?
N: very.
R: I understand what it is like to lose the people closest to you.
N: you've lost someone?
R: yes.... my closest of friends. I don't really enjoy talking about them though. Tends to.... get to me I suppose you could say.
N: Professor?
R: hmm?
N: Never mind.
R: you might want to hurry. You have ten minutes to get to your next lesson. Herbology I expect?
Naomi nods and then thanks Remus for his time before grabbing her books and running to her next lesson.
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Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. By the way, with trigger warnings, I put them in the description.