Hey Longbottom!

"Hey Longbottom!"

Neville hated that sentence, he flinched every time he heard it.
He sighed as his classmate left after pushing his books off his table.
Neville Longbottom wasn't dumb, he knew he could stand up for himself, he was just to scared to do so alone.
It didn't affect him as much as before though, he had great friends, he was friend with Harry Potter for gods sake! 

He just wished he could make himself more friends, or at least acquaintances, but no, he was never good at this socialising thing.
So he grabbed his books off the floor and said goodbye to Professor Sprout before heading to the great hall. As usual, he looked down as he was passing by some Slytherins.

"Hey Longbottom!" 

He didn't stop, just tightened his grip on his books when they laughed and walked faster. 

Once he was finally seated, he began to eat, he was just starting when he heard someone sit in front of him and felt a body collapse next to him on the bench. 

"Hey Longbottom!"

He gulped nervously as he startled but was quickly grinning when he recognised Ron and Harry. 

"What, did you see Sir Nicolas again?" Asked the ginger as he stuffed his mouth with food, which was already full. "You look terrified." 

Neville opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by another body sliding up next to him. 

"How about you finish chewing before you talk?" Hermione Granger said, her face expressing nothing but disgust. "You've got food on your cheek by the way." She added, flipping through "Hogwarts : A History" .

Ron whipped his cheek with his sleeve, but only spread it, making it worse. 

As Hermione started her daily lecture about how to eat properly, Luna Lovegood entered the room. 

Those last few weeks, Neville has found himself thinking about the blonde a more lot than he should. She was weird. But not the Neville kind of weird, she wasn't awkward or insecure, she was plain weird. She was seeing things, telling stories, talking about creatures Hermione didn't know, and well if Hermione didn't know them, how to be sure they even existed?

She was wearing her strange glasses again, looking everywhere with a smile on her face. It took a few seconds but Neville frowned as he realised she wasn't wearing any shoes, a pink and a blue sock on each feet.

She was kind of fascinating. 

His eyes were fixed on the girl when he felt a little slap on the back of his head and heard his name being called again.

"Have you got troubles remembering things again?" The question came from Hermione but as he rubbed the back of his head Neville knew Ron was the one who slapped him. 

"Don't tell me you lost your Remembrall!" Ron sighed. "Not again!" 

"I didn't lost it!" Neville cried weakly, picking up his fork again. "I just.." He played with his food as he looked down. "I just don't remember where I put it, that's all.." He was expecting a snarky remark from the boy sitting next to him but instead he heard a much kinder voice. 

"I heard Malfoy bragging about how he hid your Remembrall after Snape's class, but I think it might be at Hagrid's now." Luna declared as she was sitting down next to Harry.

She wasn't really acknowledging anyone but Neville, she was talking like they were the only two persons present in the room. He liked that.

"Is he still bothering you?" Harry asked, worried, bringing Neville's attention back to his friends. 

All eyes were on Neville and he did his best to avoid them all, but eventually he sighed and gave up. 

"He's not bothering me that much.. it's nothing." He shrugged and smiled nervously, praying they wouldn't make a big deal out of it. He saw how the tree of them exchanged looks, having a silent conversation above his head.

He looked up and saw Luna smile at him, which immediately made him smile too.

"Well, if it get any worse,you have to tell us, right Neville?" Harry said as they were all watching him again. 

"Yeah.. " he nodded slowly, fidgeting with his fork. "I promise." He timidly added when he realised it wasn't enough.

"Great. Let's go now, we're going to be late." Harry said as they were all standing up, getting ready to go back to class. 

Neville nodded and stood up before tripping on nothing but his feet, his cheeks turning pink.

Later that day, as he was observing plants in Professor Sprout's classroom, he heard it again. 

"Hey Longbottom!"

Only this time it was Luna, and she was holding his Remembrall in her hand, smiling up at him.

He decided right there and then that he kind of liked hearing it if it came from her.