Little Brave Hearts || Neville Longbottom

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

The next day after their DADA class about boggart, their classmates seemed to be talking about it still as most of their eyes pierced on her as they ate inside the Great Hall.

Most of the nasty looks came from the Slytherins, who, whenever Maykha looked at them, made gestures that would make her remember what happened inside that class. Malfoy and his friends even went as far as to bring a pocket mirror and placed it in front of her.

"Hey, what does it feel like to be scared of yourself? Can't even look at a mirror, I suppose?" Malfoy taunted. Maykha just had a good night sleep last night, making her mood beyond fantastic, and she did not want someone like Malfoy to ruin her day.

"I want to punch him," she heard Neville whisper in a low voice that she was not even sure he really said it.

"Piss off, Malfoy," Harry glared at him.

"Or what, Potter?" Malfoy snarled.

The more Malfoy and his dogs stayed near them, the more Maykha started to lose her appetite. Not wanting their presence any longer, she checked their surroundings first to see if there were any professors around and when she confirmed that there were none, she let out her wand and pointed it at him.

"I just learned a new hex, want me to try out on you?"

Malfoy flinched, perhaps he did not expect the girl to already be fine enough to threaten him.

Defeated, he hid the mirror inside his pocket, "My father will hear about this."
...

One afternoon, after his classes, Neville was sitting alone in the library as he tried to finish his Herbology homework. He wanted to finish it as soon as possible, because he knew Maykha would greatly need his notes as it was the class that the girl found herself lacking in.

He wanted to do more for the girl, not when students were still talking about her behind her back. He could not even believe he said his thoughts out loud about wanting to punch the Slytherin boy's face out of rage, because if they heard him say that, he would have probably ended up inside the Hospital Wing.

Instead of letting his thoughts wander around Malfoy, he found himself remembering the events that happened yesterday.

After their success in cheering the girl up, he had his payment collected the moment he saw Maykha smiled. It was a genuine smile, the one that he missed and preferred over the forced ones the girl had been giving them. That smile made all the burns and mess they went through worth it.

He could only laugh at the memory of the chaos they brought upon the kitchen, as even the elves had regretted allowing them in. Leave it to them to screw something as simple as baking a cake even with the existence of magic.

With the sound of someone sitting on the chair beside him, he turned his face and saw Harry, who was still drenched with sweat from his quidditch practice. He looked like he could fall with just a flick of a finger with exhaustion.

"Wood went passionate again?" Neville asked.

Harry scoffed at him, "Passionate? He's burning, that's what he is. Wood is always on fire, and I'm surprised he's not yet a mountain of ashes right now."

Neville laughed as he brought his attention back to his homework, but back at Harry again. While Neville had known magic for so long compared to Harry, his friend quickly exhibited an exceptional performance, especially with flying. It was something Neville was still trying to overcome. It only took him a touch of a broomstick to make his whole body shiver with fear with the memory of his flying accident back in their first year.

While he knew better than to dwell on that memory, he could not quite tell his own body to do as he pleased. And even with the help of his Great-uncle, that same problem lingered.

"Say, Harry. You've never flown a broomstick until our first flying lesson, have you?"

Harry shook his head, "No, why?"

"Well, I just wonder, you know...after I fell off my broom during our first year, I couldn't quite bring myself to hold a broomstick again. It had became quite a trauma on my end," Neville said, scratching the back of his head. "So, I just want to know how you quickly got used to it."

Harry leaned forward, resting his elbow on the table and placed his chin inside his hand, "It's hard describing feelings through words, considering I'm not Maykha or Hermione who are good with it. But, I think after falling for more than I can count with my fingers and toes combined, you just sort of get used to falling."

Neville scrunched his nose, thinking how painful falling multiple times sounded like. He wondered if that meant he needed to fall and get hurt over and over again before he would finally get used to flying.

"It's not that bad, I promise," Harry chuckled. "Okay how about this. Have you ever been hurt while taking care of those magical plants in Herbology?"

Neville nodded, there were occasions when he would get wounded by Spiky Bushes, or when his severing charm that were meant for the stems of the plants he was tending would cut through his skin as well.

"Well, did you stop tending plants after you got hurt?" Harry asked.

"No...?"

"Then, it's the same with flying, I guess. No matter how many times I fell from my broom, I'd always pick myself up and mount it. Just like how you would still tend plants despite getting hurt. I think, it will only be scary if you think it's not normal to get hurt, because it is normal. Besides, if I break a bone or two, Madam Pomfrey will always be there to aid me."