wanderlust ☆ n.longbottom

.:13:.

The next day, Daisy had walked in on Parvati Patil sobbing hysterically as her best friend, Lavender, tried to console her.

"Oh god, who's died now?" Daisy asked, flopping onto her bed.

"Only my entire reputation!" wailed Parvati.

"Someone has been spreading rumours about her," Lavender explained tentatively.

"Oh yeah, about her pissing herself," chuckled Daisy. "It's quite funny."

"Not for Parvati it's not!" Lavender snapped.

"Oh come on, Parvati Patil wets the bed still is quite creative for Veronica. It even rhymes and everything," said Daisy, referring to the cruel slogan Veronica was passing on.

"People are saying that about me?" Parvati said in between sniffs and hiccups.

"You're not doing a very good job at making her feel better," hissed Lavender, pulling Parvati into a hug to quieten her sobs.

"You're the one making a racket when I'm in here to relax."

Lavender's eyes were like daggers as she glared at Daisy. Daisy held up her hands in surrender. "I was joking. Listen, they'll soon forget about it and focus on someone else to make fun of."

"Really?" Parvati asked anxiously, biting her lip. Her glazed brown eyes were glistening with hope.

Daisy shrugged. "Of course. No one actually believes the rumours they start anyway. At least no one with a brain cell does."

"What if it's not exactly made up?" Lavender said. Parvati elbowed her friend fueled by the conoxion of annoyance and humiliation.

"It happened once!" Parvati immediately began defending herself.

Parvati's distraught demeanour encouraged Daisy to supress her giggles. "My point still stands, they will forget. I'm done talking about emotions now, I'm going to go find Neville." She picked herself up off the bed and waded through the dirty washing and heaps of revision notes towards the door. She stopped before disappearing to give Parvati one last note of reassurance. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Meanwhile, Neville was in the Great Hall with Harry, Ron and Hermione. He spotted Vivienne, alone at the Slytherin table, no doubt waiting for her friends. He approached her and asked her if she needed his help with the latest Herbology task.

"Do I know you?" she snarled. Neville was taken aback. Annoyance trickled across his body like pinpricks.

"I don't know what I said to upset you yesterday but I'm sorry-" Neville said.

"You've said nothing to me ever because I don't know who you are!" she repeated hotly. Her eyes didn't quite meet his.

"Is this freak bothering you?" a cold voice drawled. Neville turned and saw Veronica, Velma trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

Neville looked at the blonde, hoping she would defend him. Of course, she remained silent. "No," Neville proclaimed, his eyes still not leaving her. "I was just leaving."

"What did he want?" Veronica scoffed, seating herself opposite Vivienne.

"Nothing," Vivienne replied, a little too quickly.

After the day had concluded, Neville was a nauseous mixture of surprised and agitated. He had decided, since Daisy was preoccupied by Dean and he couldn't find Ron, Harry and Hermione, he had went to the greenhouses to tend to some of the plants. He often did this and Professor Sprout enjoyed his company and treasured his enthusiasm. The shock and confusion was caused by the unexpected appearance of Vivienne. She burst through the door, trotting over to their usual seats as though nothing had changed.

"Can we go over the meaning of-"

"Sorry, who are you?" Neville said, repeating her previous bitterness. He shocked himself with his temper, perhaps he was spending too much time with Daisy.

Her faint brows furrowed in confusion before her face flashed with recognition. "Neville, you know I can't tell them-"

"Why?" he asked. "Because I'm sick of dedicating all this time to help you. I have other things I could be doing." That was a lie. He had nothing else to do, no one else to go to. If he was honest with himself, he was glad of a reason to keep busy away from Daisy. However, the usually serene boy was bothered by the way Vivienne was treating him and felt that he needed to say something. Maybe he thought too highly of their friendship he assumed they'd established.

"I know, I'm sorry I walked out when you said those nice things about me. It's just that no one has ever said anything like that before and I panicked."

"I'm sorry I made you feel like that," Neville interjected, his face suddenly clouded with guilt.

"No, no, in a good way. It made me feel good. But that can't happen."

"Why?"

"Because I have a boyfriend."

"I called you clever not asked for your hand in marriage."

"But that's the point. Don't you see?"

"Not at all."

Vivienne sighed irritably. "You can't make me feel good. Because you're you and I'm me."

Neville continued to look puzzled.

"I'm gorgeous," Vivienne continued. "And you're you. A weird nerdy plant boy."

Neville's lips were pursed, his mind working overdrive to try and decode her criptic comments. She shattered his thoughts with another comment.

"Please will you keep helping me? I need to get a good grade in this. I want to work at St.Mungo's. They looked after my mother and I want to help people like they helped us. I need a good Herbology grade to work with the medical plants."

"I'm sorry about your mother. I hope she's okay now?"

"Well, no, she's dead. But I really think plants are the answer to cure the disease she had. I know that sounds strange but I think they have so many healing properties that get overlooked. I know I'm crazy but-"

"You're not crazy. I think it's a brilliant idea."

Vivienne's cheeks tinged a rose pink. "You really think so?"

Neville nodded enthusiastically. He darted over to his bag and brandished a text book. Seating himself next to the Slytherin, he began detailing all of the medical plants that reinforced her aspirations. The previous tension had melted away. He watched her scribble down notes, her tongue peaking out in concentration.

"Your mum would be proud," he said with a chuckle at her concentration face.

Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to fall. A headache formed from the pressure of trying to surpress the her cry. She always felt an overwhelming sense of emotion whenever she talked about her mother, so she never did. But something about Neville made her feel like it was okay to not be okay.

Without really considering this actions, he flung his arms around the girl's petite frame. She froze slightly and he pulled away. "Oh, I'm sorry, is it okay if I hug you?"

"You kind of already did," laughed Vivienne awkwardly.

"Sorry. I'm a hugger."

"I could tell."

Their eyes met and, though Neville had detached himself from the hug, they were still only inches away from each other. His breath hitched and his eyes were darting across her face, as though he was desperate to absorb every miniscule detail incase he would never be this close to her again. She inched closer towards him, making his heart pound and his body tremble. Her delicate scent of lavender filled his noise. Daisy's contrasting, signature scent of cinnamon and cigarettes fell prominent in his mind. Daisy. He pulled away.

"I should go."

"What?" Vivienne shook her head. She was too infested in the moment to fully register what he had said. Were they having a moment? Did she actually want to kiss Neville Longbottom?

"I should go. Goodnight Vivienne."

"Goodnight Neville".