The Deal I Made With Theodore Nott - NL x TN

34

•Theo's POV•
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Hanging out with Neville and his mates felt like being a kid again.

Was this how I'm supposed to feel normally?

Sure I had Blaise, Pansy, Vincent, Gregory, and Draco growing up. But it wasn't the same.
We were raised to stop being kids, raised to listen to orders and put on a face. We barely had moments like this. This feeling of being free of judgement and discipline.

Free to smile and laugh.

I couldn't remember the last time I felt free, maybe I've never felt like this before.

Taking in the moment was definitely a mistake during a snowball fight, because I indeed did get knocked in the face by a forceful throw from Ginny Weasley herself. I thought I was scared of Dove, but Ginny's quidditch player skills made her a force to be reckoned with.

"REVENGE!" She yelled as she ran away looking for her next victim.

"Are you alright." Neville chuckled, looking down at me sprawled out on the snow.

"No, I'll be suffering a migraine for the rest of my life. That witch somehow just caused permanent damage with soft snow." I complained.

Neville laughed, rolling his eyes at my dramatics.
"I dunno, I thought I saw her slip a few stones in her snow before rolling it."

I looked up at him with a shocked face.

"Or- you are just acting like a baby, a real wimp." He joked.

"Yep, that's me." I said as reached my hand up towards him. He grabbed it expecting to help me up but I instead pulled him down into the snow with me.
"How dare you!" I laughed as we rolled in the white powder.

"How dare you! I'm going to be freezing now!" He complained. I looked down at him, his messy hair and rosy face was too irresistible. I leaned down, kissing him passionately and he kissed back with equal enthusiasm.

Dean coughed to grab our attention and we both looked up towards him with giggles. The fear of someone seeing not even a factor in my mind.
"We are going into town for lunch now." He said with a knowing smile.

"Alright!" Neville said cheerfully, swiftly lifting himself off the ground and running towards Ginny and Seamus.

Dean offered his hand out to me to help me up.
"For the record I didn't like you at first." He said to me as he tugged me to my feet.

"For the record, I didn't like myself at first either." I replied. We both looked towards Neville whom was now in a head lock from Seamus while Ginny jumped on Finnigan's back. All of them wearing large smiles and laughing hysterically.

"You didn't let me finish, but I appreciate the self awareness." Dean chuckled, we both walked side by side towards the rest of the group but we kept our pace slow. Dean looked slightly troubled.
"Neville's the best of us. We all lean on him and he doesn't get much back in return, not that he would even expect anything. He seems like he has it all figured out from the outside but inside he's still hurting, still cautious."

Everyone knew about Neville's parents. The ministry made too huge of a deal about them for anyone to forget. It wasn't something I really talked to him about, I figured it was something he'd open up about when he was ready.
But he never did.

"Neville's always been brave, I'd never question that. Open, on the other hand, not so much.
Until you-"

I stared at Dean in surprise.

"He stepped away from his normal routine, he speaks up for himself, he played bloody quidditch for God sake!"

"That was Ritchie that inspired that." I corrected him. Who's God?

Dean laughed loudly at my statement.
"Oh yeah? So why didn't he ask any one of us for quidditch lessons eh? He's best mates with the youngest seeker in Hogwarts history. He wouldn't have ever done it if it weren't for you."

I smiled fondly at the idea of Neville choosing me, really choosing me.

"What I mean to say is, if this all ends- when- this all ends, make sure it's not going to crush him any more than it has to. You really love him, I see that now. You're a good bloke Theodore Nott, so don't ruin choosing to be selfish for him, he deserves it. He deserves to be happy. If this ends badly he might not ever open up again." Dean finished requesting.

I'd never thought too hard about how much I was hurting Neville, not because I didn't feel guilty but because I felt too much guilt. It weighed on me but I was too selfish to see how it could really effect him. In my delusional brain I figured he'd end up hating me and move on like nothing ever happened, but that's not the case. It never could be.

He already had the fear of people leaving him weighing over him since he was a year old, and here I was adding too it. My own commitment issues blinding me from seeing it sooner.

I was careless when it came to caring about people. I built up my walls and when it came to people walking out on me I barely felt a thing.

Neville was the opposite, he cared deeply and with his whole self. He was loyal to a fault and he held the ones that mattered most close to him.

Dean put a comforting hand on my shoulder causing me to look to him once again.
"I don't mean to sprinkle doubt in your brain, I just wanted you to know."

"Thank you Dean, I appreciate it. Especially because you mean so much to him." I replied.

"Him and Seamus are like the brothers I never had." Dean stated, this caused me to let out a involuntary snort that made his head snap to me.
"What?"

"Well, it just seems odd calling Seamus your brother." I noted, trying my hardest not to laugh out loud.

"I don't know what you mean." Dean huffed, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at me.