Courage {Neville Longbottom} (ON HOLD)

Chapter Sixty Three

After receiving what appeared to be bad news during the Welcoming Feast, the dinner ended and the students were to return to their dorms for the evening. Kefira, despite being full, didn't find herself to be tired at all and with the first year girls getting settled upstairs, she decided to hang around the Common Room for a bit. Neville didn't even need to ask to join her, but did so anyways, before she invited him to settle in the armchair with her. After they adjusted, Kefira sat in his lap, resting her chin on his shoulder until he looked down at her.

"I know you're not happy about the events of tonight," he said to her quietly. He wasn't exactly jumping for joy either. Just when he thought Defence Against the Dark Arts was becoming his strongest subject outside of Herbology, he found himself with yet another obstacle. The frown on Kefira's face spoke volumes as she didn't have anything to say or if she did, it wasn't going to be pretty. 

"I guess my thoughts were just confirmed that Dumbledore is completely senile," Kefira muttered, " once again, he puts his students in a position where they can't grow. It was bad enough that we had to suffer through potions with Professor Snape but now Defence Against the Dark Arts, why is it so difficult for this man to choose a stable person to teach? He found Lupin, you mean to tell me he can't find someone along those lines again?"

She let out a growl before she shook her head, causing her curls to fall into her face. After a second or so, she blew a stray curl away as Neville did his best to conceal his amused smile. While Kefira had voiced her frustrations with Dumbledore and his hiring numerous times before, deep down, Neville still liked to believe that Dumbledore had a reasoning behind everything he did, even if others didn't agree with it.

But he didn't want Kefira upset either, especially not so early in the year, classes had yet to begin. With the memories of Umbridge still fresh in the minds of many of the students, Neville wanted the year to start off on a better foot for everyone. So far, it didn't look like it would go as he planned. However, the least he could do was comfort Kefira so that perhaps the next day could start off on a better note. Things hadn't gone fantastically with Professor Slughorn on the train ride, but first impressions weren't everything in Neville's mind, perhaps the professor would redeem himself. And if Professor Snape couldn't do his job properly, Neville knew he could turn to his friends for any help as they had done in the D.A. the last term. 

"Well, we don't have to think about that until tomorrow, for now, we can just relax, right? We don't even have our timetables yet, no sense in thinking about classes right now."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed, " well if I'm not thinking about classes, I suppose I should think about quidditch. Angelina is gone, so I think I'm off the hook for playing this year."

"You mean...you don't want to continue playing?" Neville said, his voice carried disappointment bringing her to look over at him again. She figured it had just been a short term deal, considering he probably wanted her to stay busy to stay out of trouble with Umbridge. She didn't think that he planned on her staying on the team after the fact, but apparently, she was wrong.

"Do you want me to continue playing?" She asked him in return. 

"Well, I...if you don't want to...that's perfectly fine, I just thought that...I..." He continued to turn red in the face as her smile grew. She waited for him to finish but he just continued to ramble on and on with no clear answer.

"So," Kefira finally cut him off, " do you like watching me play or do you just like how I look in the uniform?"

He nearly choked on the breath he was inhaling as the question had caught him off guard but it left her to laugh until he answered in a stronger voice.