Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Unable to fall asleep, Maykha slipped on her slippers and decided to head down to the common room. She had her elbows embraced and went straight to the sofa nearest to the fireplace.

She simply watched the fire as it flickered and danced. It was warm and she felt gentle, and she tried to let it hypnotize her to sleep. She raised her feet off the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed. Never in her wildest dream that she would be feeling this.

The idea of not having any sense of control over their current situation terrified her more she wanted it to. She was greatly mistaken when she thought she was ready to whatever Hogwarts would give her, she was failed to prepare herself for this kind of danger.

Sure, Cedric's pep talk made her feel a little bit better than before, but admitting her own feelings did not mean she would stop fearing for the very thing itself, especially when she knew that it targeted the likes of her.

She was scared of the fact that she is scared.

Just when she was so lost in her own thoughts, she felt someone sat next to her. Turning to her side, she saw Neville holding Trevor in his palm.

"You alright?" Neville asked, looking at her in the eyes.

She was about to lie and say she is but remembering Cedric's words, she couldn't bring herself to lie anymore. She shook her head and smiled bitterly. "I'm not."

Neville's heart ached at the view of his friend looking so fragile beside him, it was his first time seeing the girl so vulnerable. He knew Maykha has been bothered by what was happening around the school, she was surprisingly quiet that even the others noticed that.

He moved closer to his friend and wrapped his arms around Maykha's shoulder, hoping it could help ease her worries. At times like this, he could only curse himself for being a coward. If only he was braver, if only he had enough courage, then he would do anything to make Maykha feel better, even if it meant facing whatever monster it was lying in that chamber.

But he was not.

He was nothing but a coward. No matter what he did, he could never become brave, he would never become courageous and he would just be him. The Neville who knew nothing but hide behind his friends and cry. The Neville who would never become as brave as his parents. The Neville who would always be just Neville.

He jolted when he felt Maykha rested his head on his shoulder. It was as if Hermione had casted a full-body binding spell on him once again, and he was left immobile by the girl's action.

"Thanks, Neville, for being there," Maykha said with her eyes closed.

Neville was unfamiliar of having someone thankful for his very presence. It felt nice. Nice enough to make him want to protect Maykha with everything he had in him.

He opened his mouth but before he could speak something, Harry and Ron came dashing down to the common room and Hermione came a little after.

"What's this? Why is it only the two of you having a good time?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.

Harry gasped next to him, "A-are you two...dati–"

"No!", both Maykha and Neville answered at the same time, cutting Harry's sentence off and throwing him a glare.

The other three sat on the sofa across them, "You can't sleep, Maykha?" asked Hermione.

Maykha nodded, and went back on leaning on Neville's shoulder, "Yeah."

Hermione smiled bitterly, "Same."

Then there was silence, before Harry stood in the middle and broke it, "Girls, you're not alone in your battle, remember? I'm here, Ron's here and Neville too. Your battle is our battle. We'll figure something out to end this, alright?"

Maykha couldn't help but smile, she stood up and hugged Harry as tightly as she can, "Aww, my little Ha-ha isn't so little anymore," she jokingly said as she playfully pinched his cheeks.

"Stop with that bloody nickname, Maykha."

Hermione did the same and hugged the boy too and eventually, all five of them were hugging each. It was warmer than the warmth of the fireplace and Maykha felt the safest in the presence of her friends.

This might be her new favorite place now, in the arms of her friends.

...

"Uhh what are we doing here again?" Maykha asked her friends. They were currently in the library, searching for something again and here she thought they had left the 'library searching' activity behind.

"Just hush and wait for Hermione," Harry answered her and she just gave an eye roll to the boy.

Apparently, while she was having an alone time yesterday her friends came up with another theory that Malfoy was the so-called heir of the Slytherin. She could only shake her head in disbelief, how could her friends accuse someone again without any proof? The last they did that, it turned out that they were wrong, and not that she cared about Malfoy, but she could not quite grasped her mind into the idea of him being someone that important.

Hermione showed up with a book in her hands, "There it is, the Polyjuice potion–"

"Hold on"," Maykha interrupted Hermione. "I've heard about that potion. You don't mean to say we'll brew that and turn into Slytherin students and sneak into their common room, do you?"

"Well, that's exactly is our plan," Hermione said.

Maykha grinned excitedly, finally the kind of danger she liked getting herself into, "Wicked. I'm in!"