Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

On the way to Owlery to send mail for her parents, Maykha found peace and silence as she enjoyed her time alone and away from her friends. Although, she loved being around them, she thought she needed some time for herself every once in a while.

As she reached her destination, instead of greeting her owl, Felix, a figure of a tall boy talking to him caught her attention. A color yellow was can be seen from his robe, indicating that the boy was A Hufflepuff. His back was turned from her as he continued on talking with her owl, not realizing that the owner was already around.

"Uh, excuse me," Maykha said, getting the boy's attention. It was obvious that he was startled and immediately turned to around to meet Maykha, "Have you got anything you need from my owl?"

He was tall, even taller than Neville who was tallest amongst the five of them, leading her to assume that he was older. He had a dark, brown hair, and gray eyes. Maykha could only admit to herself that the boy was rather handsome.

The boy shook his head no as he flashed an awkward smile at the girl. "O-oh no, nothing at all. I was just...I was just hanging around here, talking to the owls to help me surpass boredom."

"I see", Maykha said, giving the letter to her owl. "Bring this to mum and dad, Felix, and remember to behave while you wait for your tip! I don't want to hear any complaints from mum, you understand? Now off you go, and be safe."

The two watched the owl as he flew away from them, carrying his task and remembering every single reminder his owner told him.

Maykha was waving her hands at Felix when she heard a chuckle from the boy beside her. "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just that you sounded like a mother when you were talking to your owl earlier."

"Oh."

The boy stood infront of her and held his right hand up. "I'm Cedric. Cedric Diggory, third year Hufflepuff."

Maykha accepted his hand and beamed. "I'm Maykha Iglehart, first year Gryffindor."

"I know you, I've seen you with Potter here and there."

"I must be famous then," she said, earning another laugh from the boy.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's a surprise seeing you here alone, actually. Where are your friends?"

"Somewhere. I'm not really sure, probably sleeping in the common room or eating at the Great Hall, but knowing Ron? I guess it's the latter."

"I see", Cedric laughed. "I'll be going then or else I will be late for my next class. I don't plan on having Snape humiliate me in front of the whole class. Hope to see you more around, Maykha."

After Cedric left the Owlery, Maykha was alone again, suddenly remembering all of what happened. She knew that she wouldn't be able to do anything when the Dark Lord come and kill Harry. She knew he was much powerful that she was and she would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid.

She did not like how fear was becoming a rather familiar feeling in her chest, and it did not help how everything seemed to be out of her control. So, with a sudden need for comfort, she grasped her locket in her hands and closed her eyes.

She breathed in and and whispered her little charm...

"Sempera defendus"

...

Maykha was inside the common room, sitting on the floor with her books and parchment filled with written notes scattered around her. With their end-of-year exams coming near, it would be only a matter of time before her first year will come to an end. However, before she could bask herself in the glory of summer, she had to sit and study her lessons until late at night. Hermione and Neville were next to her, with Hermione looking as determined like always, and Neville who was already half asleep. There were also a few other students who were studying with them.

They were all startled when the door of their common room opened, only to see the Harry, Fred, George, and some of the Quidditch members entered the common room, looking all so exhausted and battered. While the others walked straight to their dorm to catch some sleep, Harry went to their direction and threw himself to the sofa behind Maykha.

"Practice?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "Wood is gonna be the death of me."

The captain of the Gryffindor's Quidditch team was notorious for his competitiveness. While this trait only proved how competent he was as a captain, it brought pain and misery to his team. Evident from Harry's frequent night training, and exhausted appearance, Maykha could only imagine the pains they had to go through with Wood being their captain. Although, his dedication paid off when the Gryffindor won back when Harry caught the snitch, it only went worse from there. Harry would often complain how he would see their captain in his dreams — nightmares, as he preferred calling it, telling them to circle around the Quidditch Pitch with their flying broom.

With the nearing End-of-year exams, and Harry's last quidditch match for the season, Maykha was glad that they could finally have the distraction from the things they were worrying about. For once, it felt like they were just students who needed to study, oblivious to the dangers that were lurking around them.

"By the way," Harry said, looking up. "Where's Ron?"

"Sleeping." All three answered. Ron had already given up studying even before he started. Unfortunately, no amount of convincing was enough to have him on his feet to study. So, instead of wasting their time on the boy who had already given up, they decided to just let him be.

Harry decided sit in the floor as well, and join his friends to study with the remaining time.

"Say," Neville said, gathering their attention, "what do you think is the significance of making a pineapple to tap dance?"