Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Thirty Three

"It's days like this that we are reminded that Seamus really isn't that smart." 

Dean and Neville were standing in the Common Room, shortly after Seamus had sprinted off to the boy's dorm foolishly. It seemed the boy had completely neglected the fact that while boys were unable to enter the girl's dorm, girls were more than capable of climbing the stairs to the boy's dorm.

Seamus was unable to hide for long when Kefira found him, and got him for claiming that Neville was hurt when the boy was fine. Neville had been left in the Common Room, completely unharmed and not in Kefira's plan of pain. Dean reentered the Common Room, rubbing his sore arm after she had taken him down before they reached the stairs. 

When she returned from the boy's dorm, she clapped her hands together and looked to Neville. The boy became pale in the face, as he tried to prepare for what was about to come to him. He hadn't told Kefira that wasn't hurt, making him an accomplice to Seamus' plan. However, while he didn't like the fact that they had lied to her, he was certainly glad that she was no longer sulking in bed.

Even if she was about to punch him in the face.

"Are you alright, Neville?"

In anticipation of her fist, Neville had squeezed his eyes shut, preparing to endure the paint. But as Kefira addressed him in a soft tone, he came confused, opening his eyes once more.

"Huh?"

'I asked if you were alright. I know what Seamus said, but you are okay...with the earlier things that happened in class and all?"

Neville was caught completely off guard as he looked at her, he was waiting for a harsh response, but instead she was just concerned about him. 

"I'm fine." He told her.

"I'm not!" Seamus' voice sounded from the boy's dorm.

"No one asked you, Finnigan!" Kefira roared back at him. 

Dean decided to leave Kefira and Neville alone, and venture up to the boy's dorm, to actually see what Kefira had made of Seamus after hunting him down. 

"I should be the one asking if you're alright," Neville said shuffling awkwardly in place. "I know you were really upset earlier. I didn't expect you to pull your wand on Professor Moody. Well, I don't think any of us were expecting it."

"I didn't think it was right for him to put anyone under the Imperius curse. There's something off about him. Professor Lupin taught us a great deal without subjecting us to the three Unforgivable Curses.'

"But Professor Dumbledore said that we were behind-"

"He's also the same man that hired Professor Lockhart, I'm pretty sure that man doesn't make the best judgement calls all the time, Nevs."

She sat down on the sofa and placed her chin in the palm of her hand with a loud grumbling noise.

"Call me a control freak or whatever, but I don't like the idea of being placed under anyone's control, not even for the sake of a lesson. Also, why wouldn't he teach us the appropriate defense? It's like being told to brew a potion without any instruction, you have no idea what you're doing and it's just going to blow up in your face."

Neville walked over and sat beside her. "I think Professor Moody's teachings aren't traditional by any means, but I think he means well in his own way. After all, he's an Auror, not a real professor."

Kefira gave him a look, about to retort to Neville's excuse of Moody being an auror, but she decided against it. She focused her attention forward, staring into the flames of the fire. Professor Moody's teachings didn't feel right to Kefira, which meant that she was going to be putting up a big battle that year. One much bigger than the constant one she was fighting with Professor Snape.

She sighed to herself quietly.

"Merlin, help me." 

Professor Snape seemed to be growing bitterer by the second as the year pressed on.  With the arrival of the other schools adding enough chaos to the school, the fourth years were becoming slightly overwhelmed with the sudden increase of their workload. Professor McGonagall had explained that they were preparing the students for next years O.W.L.s but Kefira didn't even want to think of that at the moment.

Professor Snape had told all of them to study up antidotes, while making what sounded like a hint that he would be trying to poison one of them to see if their antidote worked. That was enough to rattle Neville's nerves and get Kefira's blood boiling. 

She reassured Neville that Professor Snape didn't have the nerve to do such a thing, however, she had said it a little too loud, allowing the potions master to hear her.

Severus was not quick to forget how Kefira had acted the other day when he caught her out of class, and he certainly wasn't going to allow her to speak about him in such ways. As everyone filed out of the dungeon classroom after class ended, she was asked to stay behind. She remained close to the doorway, itching to leave but he ordered her to sit down.

"Take your seat."

She remained standing for a few extra moments, not bothering to look at him before walking over and taking her seat again. But she still refused to look at him. 

"Your behavior as of late-" He began but she was quick to cut him off.

"Has been a step above yours." She countered.

"I will not tolerate this amount of disrespect and type of behavior."

"I'm only picking up on it from the prime example." She looked up directly at him.  There was no fear on her expression as she held his gaze, but there was the same anger in her eyes that she had unleashed on him before. 

Such a unique kind of anger that he had only witnessed once before by someone else, because it wasn't just anger, it was disappointment.

He went to speak again, but he was interrupted by Dumbledore appearing in the entrance of the classroom.

"May I have a word?" The man said eyeing the two.

Severus clenched down his jaw for a minute. 

"Yes, Miss Walsh was just leaving."