Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

With her friends still nowhere to be seen, Maykha decided to head back to their common room and wait for them. But as the portrait of Bethany had swung open, she could already hear whispers coming from inside.

"Merlin, this looks way worse than what Hagrid gave me on my eleventh birthday."

"Hush it, Harry! But I don't understand, we followed the steps from that cookbook."

"Maybe it's how it supposed to look like?"

"Really, Neville? Then that bloody cookbook should be banned from this castle!"

Maykha immediately recognized the voice to be her friends'. It seemed like they were up to something, and with curiosity, she approached them slowly.

"Guys?"

They all shrieked when they heard her voice, making her shriek along with them.

"Maykha! Since...since when did you come back?" Harry asked, averting his eyes.

"Just now. What are you all doing there? And what on Merlin's ingrown toenail happened to all of you?" She looked at her suspicious friends who stood shoulder to shoulder, as if they were hiding whatever was on the table behind them. They all looked like a mess. Their robes looked like it was dipped in a pool of powder, their hair were tangled, and even Hermione who usually looked neat looked like she just had a fight with Pansy Parkinson. That thought gave her an idea of what might have happened to them. She could not believe they all fought against someone without her, and even Neville was involved as he looked no better than the rest of them.

"Did you get yourselves in a fight or something? Do you want me to beat someone's arse out? Is it Malfoy again?!" Maykha had already pushed her sleeves to her elbows, and drew her wand, ready to fight whoever made a mess out of her friends.

"WAIT!"

Before she could even exit the common room, they all rushed to grab her, stopping her from whatever trouble she was about to put herself into.

"Maykha, calm down! It's not what you think!" Neville said, trying to pull her back to the common room.

"Then, what happened? Why do you all looked like you've just been into a war?"

"Well, it may not be too far from a war. But it's really not what you think," Ron said.

"Just close your eyes first, and we'll show you." Harry instructed. Although hesitant, Maykha simple closed her eyes and let her friends guide her until they all pushed her down to a sofa.

"If this is a prank, I swear, you should start praying now, because not even Professor Dumbledore can help you," she threatened as she continued to close her eyes.

"Relax, it's not that bad...I think?" Neville said. She chuckled as her friend seemed to be unsure of himself as well.

"Okay, you can open your eyes!" Hermione said excitedly.

When Maykha opened her eyes, she saw a cake sitting on the table. It was hideous, and that description was still a kind one. The cake was poorly and unevenly coated with chocolate, as some parts of the cake were coated were thick icing, and others with thin with even a few patches that missed the coating.

She looked at her friends who were waiting for her reaction as they all said, "SURPRISE!" in unison, and threw their hands up.

"It's a cake," she said.

"Great job, Maykha. I'm happy that your eyes are still working well!" Ron said and rolled his eyes, "Of course it's a cake, you git! At least that was what we wanted it to look like."

Her eyes widened, "You...you made this for m-me?"

"Yes, that we did. Thus, this whole mess," Harry said, pointing at him and the others.

Maykha was quick to become overwhelmed with emotions as she started to tear up. It was her first time to have friends who cared enough to do something for her, as she remembered being always alone back in her muggle school. And the cake, as terrible as it looked like, looked so much precious in her eyes.

Neville was the one who approached the girl first when the girl started to cry. He started to panic as he thought the she did not like the surprise they prepared for her.

"Did you...did you not like the cake?" He asked as he sat beside her. But he quickly lost his balance when Maykha suddenly threw herself to him in a hug, and buried her face on the boy's chest.

"Are you k-kidding?! How could I not like this cake? I love it! I love it so much! I'm just crying because I'm too happy! You guys are such a bunch of idiots I tell you," She said in between her sniff.

As they all felt relieved to see her reaction, they all followed and hugged her as well.

"It's no fair that Neville always gets the first hug," Harry teased as he wrapped his hand around the girl.

Maykha chuckled and raised her head to look at Harry and pinched his cheek, "Aww, is my baby Harriette sulking?"

She laughed louder when she saw the boy cringed with his new nickname, "You're really bad with giving nicknames, aren't you?"

"Hey, May-may, you might want to get away from Neville now. Our poor boy is already having a hard time breathing with you on his top!" Ron said.

Maykha immediately flushed as she quickly realized the position she had with Neville. She was so overjoyed that she did not think of how awkward their position had been, with her on his top. Looking down at Neville, he had the same red face as her, and seemed like he only had the same realization just now.

She noticed how their three other friends exchanged knowing looks with each other, and she knew she had to divert their attention to something else before they start teasing her and Neville.

"T-the cake!" She blurted out. "Let's eat the cake!"

Without saying anything else, they cut the cake and divided. However, with the exception of Maykha, they all spat the cake back to their plates almost as soon at they brought it inside their mouths.

"Ugh, it's burnt!" Harry shouted, glaring at the cake.

"Burnt? I swear I ate a bloody cake batter! This is beyond undercooked!" Ron commented, as he wiped his tongue.

Hermione wiped her mouth, and looked at the cake as if it was her mortal enemy, "I'm never going to bake again, I swear on Merlin!"

"I think... I'll stick with the greenhouse, and I'll never step a foot in the kitchen again," Neville said.

Maykha, on the other hand, was just happy to eat the cake, as she jiggled her feet back and forth. She did not even care whether the cake inside her mouth was burnt or undercooked, it was enough for her that her friends worked hard for this cake.

"I don't know about you guys, but this is the best cake I've ever eaten in my entire life."