Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Six

Kefira enjoyed Herbology the most out of all her classes, and it wasn't due to the academics of it. She liked Professor Sprout and did enjoy being around the plants, but it certainly wasn't her strongest class, but it was a class that Neville excelled at. In the greenhouse, Neville always seemed to have a smile on his face and he was much more confident as he knew exactly what he was talking about.  The boy could go on for hours talking about one plant and Kefira could never find herself growing bored listening. The more excited he became about the topic, the faster he would talk in a much louder voice than the one he normally spoke in.

Neville had found his calling with plants which made Kefira happy that he found happiness in one of their classes, since the others didn't seem to work out in the boy's favor all the time. 

Especially Potions.

The girl hadn't spoken with Professor Snape since the incident in Diagon Alley where she ran away from him and her father dismissed him from the Walsh home. She had seen him several times in the corridors, but moved quickly to avoid him. As much as Potions was her strongest subject, Kefira had begun to hate the class due to the fact of Professor Snape being so cruel.

She knew the man carried some deep pain that he didn't wish to reveal and she could respect that. However, she could not respect a man who took his pain out on the innocent. As long as Snape continued to be mean towards Neville, she wouldn't allow herself to be friendly towards the Professor. In her mind, he was nothing more than a bully. No different from the children that had picked on her when she was younger and excluded her from playing.

He just had more power and abused his position to spread his pain to others. 

"I was beginning to wonder if Professor Sprout was still teaching the class or if you were." Kefira teased Neville as they left the Greenhouse to head to lunch before Care for Magical Creatures class. 

Neville blushed. "Do you think I was talking too much?" He asked her nervously.

"No, of course not!" She laughed. "Far from it. I thought it was great! Everyone knows you're a genius when it comes to that class."

The boy grinned proudly before looking down at the ground as they walked towards the castle. 

"And the great thing, Seamus didn't blow anything up this class. Although, I swear everyone was expecting it. Did you see Hermione flinch when he stood up too fast? I about fell off my stool-"

"Kefi, you did fall off your stool." Neville chuckled.

"Yes but that was for totally different reasons. I just can't sit still on those things for long. My bum gets sore and my legs are dangling, so my toes start to tingle before they go numb."

Neville smiled as Kefira rambled on about the stool in the classroom before he took her hand again to stop her from walking on. She immediately looked down at their hands as she froze mid step. She turned to look back at him with a curious look.

"What?"

"We don't have to go get lunch." Neville told her.

"We don't?"

"No, unless you want to." He said. "If you're hungry we can go to the Great Hall, but if not, we can always walk around so you can stretch your legs a bit. "

"You...you'd be okay with that?" Kefira asked him.

"Yes, that's why I offered it." He smiled. 

She grinned in return and nodded her head. "Let's go."

While Neville sat at the base of the tree reading to him quietly, the smile never faded from his face as he listened to Kefira talking to herself as she climbed above him.  At one point, he noticed that it had become very quiet, which was highly unusual in Kefira's presence. Closing his book over, he looked up and saw that Kefira was no longer in the tree above him.

"Kefi?" He sat up in a panic before standing up to his feet quickly.

"Hey Nevs, check it out!"

He looked around to find her in another tree a little ways away.

"How...how did you... How did you get all the way over there?"

"I climbed, duh." She snorted before picking a flower and jumping down from the lowest branch of the tree. She walked over to him and extended her hand out that held the flower offering it to Neville. 'I think it's the last one of the season.."

Neville looked at the white flower in her hand before looking up to the other trees that were already naked. 

"It seems so."

"Here take it." She offered it again.

"Are you sure?" He asked. She nodded her head. "I know how much you like them and if gets cold tonight, this little guy isn't going to make it anyways."

He took the flower gently from her and thanked her before asking her to sit with him. 

Kefira agreed and decided to share a few stories with him as they past the time, like the story of how Lottie got stuck in a tire swing when she was much younger. Neville laughed and listened to every word as she made facial expressions and wild hand movements to go along with the story.

"The tire swing was never quite the same after that." She finished.

"I bet." Neville replied. "We should get going to class though, it'll be starting soon."

"Wanna race?" She asked him suddenly.

"Er..I-"

"Just kidding. Come on."

When they arrived among their other classmates for the lesson about Blast-Ended Skrewts, Kefira eyed the strange creatures with a small smile on her face.

"They look like wicked lobsters!" She said brightly scaring Dean who wasn't aware that she was standing beside him. 

"When did you get here...you know what never mind." Dean said with a smile and a shake of his head. "I like your flower by the way."

Kefira looked at him in confusion. 'What are you talking about? What flower?"

"The one in your hair." 

Lifting her hand to her hand, she suddenly felt her fingertips brush against the soft petals of the flower that was actually in her hair without her knowledge.

She looked over in the direction of Neville, to see that his hands were empty but he wouldn't look over in her direction as he tried to conceal his smile.