Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter Ninety Three

Neville waited and waited for his grandmother to send another howler in return of the howler that Kefira had sent her, but to his surprise, he never got one. He did, however, receive a letter from his Uncle Algie who applauded him and Kefira for such a bold move and claimed that he couldn't wait to meet Kefira. That made Neville happy, because even if his grandmother wasn't a fan of Kefira, at least his uncle stood in her corner.

Kefira didn't seem to have a care in the world if people liked her or not and that was something Neville definitely admired about her. She was never one to hold back what was on her mind and while it came across as rather blunt and sometimes annoying to most, Neville wished he shared just an ounce of her boldness. He wished that he had come up with the idea to send a howler back to his grandmother or at least stand up to the people that put him down on a regular basis.

It was one of those moments where he wished he was more like her as they sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts and unfortunately, Professor Lupin was replaced by Professor Snape for the day.  If it wasn't bad enough that Neville had to suffer through Potions Class with the man, he had a double dose of anxiety and stress seeing the man dressed all in his usual black attire as they entered the classroom.

He didn't dare question anything as he took his seat beside Kefira. However, as the lesson went on, Kefira seemed to holding back and an amused grin. How she could smile in Professor Snape's presence baffled Neville but he didn't say anything to her. He kept quiet and did the work asked of them to the best of his ability.

Kefira couldn't help but smile as Professor Snape called out the page of three hundred and ninety four. It had to be a sign, he must have finished the joke book or at least read that page. Finally, after all that time, she couldn't believe it to just be a coincidence. When she looked up she met the narrowed glare of the Professor and immediately returned the gaze with a bright smile showing off all her teeth. Professor Snape turned away, completely turning his back to her, only making her giggle to herself.

At first, Severus couldn't figure as to why the girl was laughing and smiling in class, the topic they were covering was not a humorous one. Yet there she sat as if he had just told her a joke.

He suddenly froze and if it weren't for the others in the room including the obnoxious redhead he would have smacked his forehead repeatedly realizing what he had done. Remembering back to when the girl had handed him the joke book and told him to turn to the specific page. Now she probably believed that he finished the book, while instead it was in the bottom drawer of his desk collecting dust.

When he dismissed the class, he could only hope she would leave with the others. But of course, luck never seemed to be on his side as Kefira waited for the other students to pile out, she turned around to face him.

"Did you-" she began to say but he quickly cut her off.

"No."

"Oh come on, you didn't even let me finish the question." she whined.

"No." he responded again.

She grinned at him. "You did finish it, didn't you? Or at least got to that page-"

"No."

"Okay." she nodded her head. "Whatever you say, Professor Snape. Whatever you say. If you haven't read it fully through, you really should. I know there's a lot of lame jokes in it but there's some pretty good ones!"

"I do not care for joke books." He told her.

"Not even that one?"

"Not any of them."

"Now how could you possibly know that for certain? Have you read all the joke books in the world?"

"No."

"Then that means there might be one out there that you might like."

"I highly doubt it."

"Well I don't."

"Don't you have another class to go to?"

"I'm leaving. I'm leaving. Bye Professor Snape."

That evening, Kefira sat in the common room on the sofa writing a letter to her family, mainly to tell her father that she was surely convinced that Professor Snape had read the joke book. She knew that would amuse her father greatly. Neville sat beside her reading over one of his Herbology books. She glanced over from her letter at him.

"You know, you've probably read that book a million times this year. It was brand new back in September but look how worn out it is now."

"I can't help it." Neville smiled at her. "It's a good read."

"It must be, but you probably know that book by heart at least word for word."

"Oh that's not true. Every time I read it, I discover something I missed. Either I've forgotten it or I didn't know before, but it's a nice refresher to read."

Setting her letter aside, Kefira leaned into his side to peer over his shoulder at the book.

"What are you reading about now?"

"I'm just reading over the Asphodel."

"I know that one!" Kefira said excitedly. "It's used in the Wiggenweld Potion and the Draught of Living Dead!"

Dean and Seamus came down from the boy's dorm and looked to each other.

"Only they would find excitement over Herbology and Potions." Seamus said with a shake of his head.

"Well," Dean shrugged, " Herbology and Potions go hand in hand...kinda like them if you think about it."