Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Another day spent in the library searching for clues about Nicolas Flamel, only for them to find nothing about the man.

"Is he playing hide-and-seek with us?" Maykha said, clicking her fingernails against the table as she tried to scan a page from her third book, "I swear if I ever see his name, I would rip that page and have it framed on my wall."

"Great, and you'll be banned from entering library ever again," Hermione said.

"Better banned than spend another day searching for that man's name from this book. That being said, why are we looking for him again?"

"Because," Harry said, "he might give us the clue about what Snape wants from whatever Fluffy was guarding."

The mention of their professor's name brought a frown on Maykha's face, "Sure, Snape."

They were still suspecting the man of being the one who was plotting something. Sure, she understood where her friends were coming from as Professor Snape never really came across as someone who would be on the good side, but there was something they were missing while they were all focused on pointing at him as the suspect.

Ron noticed her silence, "Hey, don't tell us you still don't have any suspicions about Snape even after you had detention?"

"Well," Maykha started, "I mean, are we really certain that Snape is behind all of these?"

"No, but every clues we've gotten so far all lead to him," Harry answered.

"And who else looks the most suspicious person here in Hogwarts other than him?" Ron added that made Maykha think.

"If we're going to be suspicious, then better be suspicious of everyone. Who knows, maybe it was Professor Sprout or Professor Quirrell at that."

Neville made a face by the mention of his favourite professor's name, "I'd like to leave Professor Sprout out of this, honestly."

"And Professor Quirrell?" Ron snorted, "the man's afraid of his own shadow, for Merlin's sake. How could he even dare face a humongous three-headed dog at all?"

"I'm saying is that it's still possible," she shrugged,"The more we press on only one suspect, the more we could miss the bigger picture here."

As they decided to return all the books they had used and went on their way to their class, Maykha's thoughts wandered off to their potions professor. She had been behaved ever since her detention, and if he still carried his usual hatred for her friends, he was able to tone it down to a tolerable level. She had not particularly grown fond of him, but suspecting him just for the sake of having someone to blame or point fingers to did not sit well with her.

"You alright?" Neville asked as they walked, they trailed behind the other three.

"Yeah, sorry my mind's been here and there," she answered.

"You're worried about this whole Nicolas Flamel, aren't you?"

Maykha bit her lower lip before nodding, "Yeah."

"Honestly, me too. I have this feeling that things would go dangerously," Neville said, "I'd hate to see my friends get into trouble."

His words made her smile, "You're so kind."

"Well, I'd like to think it's normal to be kind to friends."

"Hey!" Ron suddenly shouted, "Are you two walking on an ice?!"

"Coming!" They both said at the same time making them laugh at each other.

...

"Horsey, run!"

Maykha hopped on Ron's back on their way to the Quidditch pitch to watch Harry's practice for his next match. Their captain, Wood, specifically told them that they were not allowed to go near the pitch during their training, but they figured he would not be able to do much once they were already there.

"Careful!" Neville said, as he supported Maykha with his hands on her back.

"Thanks, Nevy," she said, smiling at her friend.

"Thanks, Nevy," Ron mimicked her mockingly, "Yeah right, Neville's got a wholesome nickname while I've got a hideous one, and I'm the one suffering from your weight!"

Maykha was fast on slapping his arm by what he said, "Bad Won-won! A horse does not comment about a lady's weight!"

"This is why were banned from almost anywhere we go," Hermione said, shaking her head, but Maykha saw a smile on her lips.

"We're not banned from the library!" She said.

"Yet," said Hermione.

"At least, that's something."

As they arrived at the Quidditch Pitch, they immediately heard Wood shouting from above. Since his first game, Harry quite felt like Wood was putting pressure on him to lead the team to another victory. Though Maykha understood the older boy's thirst to win, she wished he would go easy on Harry considering he was just in his first year, and despite his raw talent, it was just recently that he discovered the sport.

They decided to head to the stand and watched the players go off on their broom. She was fascinated at how fast they could fly and how great their control were, and though Maykha liked flying, she was sure that she would not want to fly with scores tied up to her broomstick. She would like to fly with peace rather than surrounded with shouts and screams.

"He's really good, isn't he?" Ron commented on Harry as they watched him fly, "no one would've thought that he's never mounted a broom in the past ten years of his life."

"Jealous, Ronald?" Maykha teased.

Ron shot her a glare but he sighed, "Maybe a tad bit."

"It's okay, Ron. You might still be good at something else," Hermione comforted him.

"Like?"

"Well, you've got a long time ahead of you to figure it out, don't you think?"

"I think they're done," Neville said as all the members were on their way back to their changing rooms. They also decided to go after them to wait for Harry outside.

It was early December and winter was starting, with the wind blowing like a breath of ice. Maykha was not particularly fond of the cold, though she liked snow, she would have to be covered with layers of jumpers before she could even enjoy the cold without suffering any consequences after.

As the wind blew, Maykha shivered and brought her hands on her mouth to warm them with her breath. She had forgotten her mittens in her dorm, so she had to suffer from the cold.

Just then, a pair of gloves was handed over to her, and when she looked at her side to see from whom it was from, she saw Neville with his ears turning red.

"H-here...y-you can have these."

Grabbing the gloves and putting them on. She smiled as it fit perfectly on her hands, giving her the warmth that she needed.

"Thanks, Nevy."