I Love Plants {a Neville Longbottom story}

Christmas

Order of the Phoenix

Thankfully I hadn't seen the Weasleys before I left for Christmas holiday. I knew that their father wouldn't be killed but it didn't change how painful it had to have been for them.

"A Christmas party? I didn't know death eaters celebrated Christmas?" I exclaim. I'm on my hands and knees digging up weeds in the garden.
"Ya, I didn't know they even knew happiness beyond the deaths of mudbloods." Draco jokes. He is standing behind me. He doesn't even come near the dirt. What a pompous git. I think to myself.
"Do we really have to go?" I ask. I know the answer already. "What do you think?" He states.
"Is Astoria coming?" I ask with a smile.
"Yeah." He blushes slightly and smirks a little. I learned this year the crush he had was on Astoria Greengrass.

She was very kind and didn't think like most of the Slytherins, and pure bloods. She was very good for Draco, I was happy with his choice in a girlfriend.
"Thank Merlin." I let out a giant sigh.
"So." He says
"So?" I ask.
"Are you and Longbottom?"
"A thing?" I don't think so. Not yet at least. I pause what I'm doing for a moment and think about our kiss.
"I'm sorry Leaf. Know it's been hard." He says.
"It's easier for me... with Astoria's parents being Death eaters n all.... I can't imagine how you feel."
I look up with him with thankful eyes. Wow, Astoria really has done a number on him.

I get ready for the Christmas party. I know Narcissa won't like it but I pull a White dress on. It is Christmas after all. Just then my door flies open and shut. I turn around to see Astoria leaned against my door.
"Don't go down there, it isn't worth it." She huffs "Astoria!!!" I say running up to my new friend. I give her a huge hug. My door opens again shoving me and Astoria onto the floor still holding each other. We laugh out loud as we try to find our footing but we just end up rolling around some more like idiots. "Bloody hell, what's going on?" Draco says while shutting my door.
"You are the one that made us fall!" I yell.
"Yeah Dray how about a sorry first." Astoria chimes in.
"Well how about an apology gift?" He says while lifting up an unopened bottle of Firewhiskey in the air.
"Oh! Now the party has started." I cheer.
"Are you sure they won't miss us downstairs?" I question.
"Oh please, half of them don't even know where they are right now." Draco exclaims while popping open the bottle.

We sat in a circle on my bedroom floor laughing and drinking for hours. Astoria joked about how her sister snored so loud one night at Hogwarts, that all the girls in their dorm had to sleep in the common room that night. We reminisced about Draco and I'd childhood. I even grabbed an old photo album from under my bed to show Astoria a picture of Draco when he was 5. He was butt naked flying on a broomstick. His face was pure red and he pulled the sides of his jacket over his head to hide his embarrassment. Astoria and I couldn't breathe we were laughing so hard. She flipped through a few more pages and Draco sat there explaining who was in each photo and what we were doing. I got up and pulled my windows open to let in some crisp fresh air.

"Who is this?"
"Oh. That's uhm....." Draco says but he just looks up at me with an unreadable look on his face.

I walk over and Astoria hands me the album and I look down to see the pages I had started first year of Hogwarts. They are all pictures of Neville and I.
"That's my future husband." I say bluntly. It's not something I would normally say but we completely finished the bottle of Fire whiskey so I had a little bit of liquid confidence on my side.
"Oh really?" She says, wiggling her eyebrows at me.
"Yeah, but He is as daft as they come, so I might have to ask him myself." I say. We all three start laughing uncontrollably. This was by far the best Christmas I have ever spent at the Mansion.
I lifted up my Polaroid camera and click a photo.
It prints and I see me and Astoria smiling straight at the camera and Draco is holding her in his arms kissing her cheek. I date it and place it into the album.
"There, now we just need Neville in it next Christmas." I say.

If only that were true.