Friendly Competition

[12] Neville Longbottom & The Unlikely Patchwork Trio

The next morning, Harry was excited to finally see Neville in person again. It would be really nice to have another friend around, and maybe the three of them could all hang out together.

He thought that if they could get past their mutual past, Draco and Neville might get on quite well. It wasn't as if they had nothing in common to talk about — there was plenty of overlap between Potions and Herbology, and they were both passionate about their subjects beyond just teaching them.

When he got to the Great Hall for breakfast, he noticed Draco hadn't arrived yet. Then he spotted Neville, toward the middle of the staff table, far away from where he and Draco usually sat, next to Septima on one side, and with an empty seat on the other between him and Filius. Harry only deliberated for a moment, before heading over to take the empty seat next to Neville.

"Hey, Neville!"

Neville turned and smiled at him. "Hey Harry. Saved the seat for you."

That made Harry irrationally pleased for some reason. He and Neville had already sent a few letters back and forth over the summer about looking forward to teaching together, but it was still nice.

He and Neville caught up a bit about what they'd been up to since their last letters as they ate, and at some point Saphronia flew in, only to promptly abandon Harry, since he wasn't paying her any attention, and fly over to Draco instead. Harry saw him feeding her sausages and petting her, and he shook his head at how much Draco spoilt her.

After breakfast, when he and Neville went their separate ways, Harry caught up to Draco in the corridor.

"You know, if you keep feeding Saphronia sausages like that she's going to become more sausage than bird, and then how will I get my letters delivered?" Harry teased.

Draco looked over at him and gave a half-hearted laugh. "Right."

Harry frowned. "You seem a bit...off."

Draco shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine. Just tired, is all."

"Okay," Harry said, a bit uncertainly, but decided to leave it at that.

~*~

It was a bit awkward at first, trying to put Draco and Neville together. They didn't really seem to know how to act around each other after Draco's stilted (though sincere! But also very late in coming) apologies for how he'd treated him in school.

After a week or so, however, Harry had been proven right: the commonalities in their chosen subjects smoothed the way enough for them to start getting along swimmingly, and though Harry felt a bit out of the loop sometimes when they really got to talking about the intricacies of some plants, he didn't mind so much. He preferred that they get along at least, and it was nice to just sit there and listen to them.

It was fun to watch how into it Draco got, too — the way he got a certain spark in his eyes and started talking with his hands. It was still September, so, whilst it was a bit chilly, it was still comfortable for the three of them to sit and talk outside around a small table near the greenhouses most evenings, and Harry loved to watch how the sun would set over the forest. The flickering colours would reflect off of Draco's hair as the shadows deepened, stretching impossibly long as the temperature dropped and Harry cast wordless warming charms around their little table.

And Harry found himself feeling content.

He thought to himself that he was actually pleased with the way his life was going, and wanted it to stay this way — and he thought, with an even greater surprise, that he wasn't sure he'd ever felt like that before.