loverman (neville longbottom)

ch. three: there's a little dance in ya left

The Great Hall was emptier than I imagined, with only a few students left to mill about before holiday break.

I glanced around at each table, my own house table bare. Figures, as most Ravenclaws, as much as they valued school, also valued getting the hell out of school for break. My gaze shifted to the Slytherin table, where I saw a familiar hunched figure, brown hair hidden under a beanie.

"Hey Joel." I had made my way over, sitting next to him.

"Hm? Oh, hey." He looked up from a muggle-looking book he had been reading, flashing a smile. "What're you still doing here? I thought you had left already."

"Oh, mum and dad had some last minute things to attend to, so I got to stay the full last day. I just came down for a sandwich before the midterm party thing Andy is holding. Like she does." I stole a half of a sandwich off the table, biting into it.

"Nat told me she's trying to sneak in George. Heard a few others are trying to sneak in people too. And I know Andy is dating Oliver Wood so I don't get why it's a Ravenclaw only thing." Joel gave me a look, his eyebrows creasing, as I finished my sandwich.

"Have you tried just asking her? This would be her last chance to see Oliver, if they aren't already seeing each other over break."

"To be honest, I hadn't thought of that. Andy can be scary sometimes." I wiped my hands on my jeans and stood. "I'll go try. If word gets around that she says yes, see you there?"

"Course." He smiled and waved as I walked away. As scary and intimidating as Andy could be, Oliver Wood was her soft spot. It felt awful to try to use it to my advantage, but it would make less trouble for Nataley, effectively canceling out my guilt.

I was halfway up the tower, when I knocked shoulders with someone coming down.

"I'm so sorry!"
"Sorry-"

Neville Longbottom was staring at me, eyes wide with fear, which turned into relaxation when he saw it was only me.

"Sapphi, oh! It's you."

"Just me, Neville. What're you doing in Ravenclaw Tower?"

"Well, I was looking for you, actually. I wanted to talk about the essay for potions, but I couldn't find you. And...I couldn't answer the door." A part of me wilted when I heard his reasoning for his visit.

"Well, I'm here now. Actually, maybe you could help me convince my Prefect to change something while you're here!" Neville looked at me as if I had grown five heads.

"You're joking, right?"

"Not at all Longbottom, come on." I grabbed the sleeve of his dark green sweater, pulling him back up the stairs. "We just need tell Andy that Oliver would love it if the other houses could come to the end of midterms party we are having. Because that way, he could come."

"Sapphi...why are we doing this?" He stopped walking, pulling me back by the hand.

"Nat is going to try and sneak George in. I don't want there to be a bunch of chaos tonight...more than we can help." I sighed, dropping his hand. He didn't say anything else, just followed behind me once more.