Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Forty Five

Kefira didn't know what to do about Neville, because she knew if she approached him with her normal blunt approach that he would probably just become upset or fluster and she definitely didn't want to do that to him. She wanted answers but she had to figure out how to go about it. Rather than making a scene, Kefira decided to spend the majority of her time with Bisera and Ginny. But when it came to the morning of the first task, she found herself wide awake very early in the morning. Long before Ginny and Bisera were due to wake up and be around. She headed downstairs to the Gryffindor Common Room and found Neville awake.

Several ideas ran through her mind, one involved slowly making her way back upstairs, another involved crawling on the floor quietly around the sofa until she made her way to the portrait and running out. The second one sounded like much more of a challenge, so naturally she went with that one. Sinking down to the floor, she began crawling on the floor, and made her way, halfway past the sofa, when she heard Neville call to her.

"Kefi, what are you doing?" She came to a halt, her hand still in the air before she slowly placed it down.

"Um...just...the floor seemed uneven from where I was standing on the stairs, so I was just making sure that it was even."

She gave the floor several firm pats, before looking up at him. "And it's quite even. I think I just need to get my eyes checked or something."

To avoid further embarrassment, Kefira pushed herself up and adjust her shirt. She gave the boy a couple of glances as he was kneeling on the sofa, leaning over the back of it, looking right at her.

"So how are you?" She asked rubbing her arm and avoiding direct eye contact. It seemed the tables had turned for the moment as Kefira was coming across shy and unsure of herself.

Neville couldn't help but wonder if he had caught Kefira off guard in one of her "adventures" or if she was truly trying to avoid him. Normally, she was the one to make direct eye contact and initiate the conversation, but that morning, she looked all kinds of uncomfortable. Lately, he noticed that they weren't spending much time together, and when they did, they were in the company of their friends not leaving them to talk much to each other directly. He thought about blaming himself for acting weird around her which caused her to act weird with him in response.

"Do you want to come sit with me?" He offered.

"Do you want me to?" She questioned.

He nodded his head, hoping silently that she wouldn't reject him. But he was able to breathe again as Kefira smiled and then walked over to sit beside him.However, even though there were smiles involved, it still remained quiet between them for a minute.

The two kept looking at each other and whenever they made eye contact they would look away quickly. It went back and forth for a short while before Kefira turned her entire body to face him.

"Are you ready to watch the first task?" Kefira asked him. 

"Yes," Neville said in relief, glad that she was talking. "But I'm not really sure what to expect."

"That's what makes it so exciting! I'm hoping it's just something mind blowing, but at the same time I'm hoping it's not that bad because I don't want the champions to get hurt....ah who am I kidding, I just need some action!"

"I'm sure you'll get plenty of action, Kefira, but I hope the champions stay safe too."

"Yeah...' Suddenly, Kefira's blunt nature kicked into overdrive deciding to get to the bottom of the problem. "You're not mad at me, are you, Neville?"

"What? Mad at you?" His eyes widened. "No, why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know but I felt like you were, I felt like I did something wrong." She said. "I mean, I do plenty on things wrong in a day so it's not like it was far fetch."

"No, I'm not mad at you, Kefi. I kinda thought that you were bothered by me and...it looks like we were both just being silly right?"

Neville wasn't about to confess that he was feeling jealous that Kefira was spending a decent amount of time around the Durmstrang students. He didn't want  Kefira to think he was being mental or possessive. She was allowed to hang out with whoever she wanted, but he just wished she preferred hanging out with him over others.

"Hey, um...do you mind if I borrow one of your jumpers when we head outside?" She asked him.

An overwhelming sense of happiness swelled inside Neville's chest, but he kept a calm composure and nodded his head.

"Of course you can."

He would much rather her wear one of his jumpers than one of the ugly Durmstrang robes.

The students were gathered around outside, awaiting for the task to start. Upon arrival, it didn't take long for the students and onlookers to see that the first task was in fact dragons. The creatures let out angry screeches and the smell of constant smoke was in the air. Kefira was beyond excited, except she was faced with one little problem.

Kefira, was struggling to see among all the students, due to her lack of height. She glared down at her legs. 

"Why? Why now? You couldn't grow just a little bit right now. You can go back to usual afterwards!"

"Are you talking to your legs?" Neville asked her.

"Uh...yes." She looked away as she adjust his jumper and then strained on the tips of toes.

Neville watched her trying to get a better view, but as she struggled, her attention was grabbed by something else.

"Hey Nevs, check it out!" She said pointing in a direction. He followed to where she was pointing in the direction of a woman with bright white hair, standing near the stands.

"I love her hair! I need to meet her and talk to her!"

"Kefira, there are dragons and you're focused on that woman's hair?" 

"Uh yeah, it's white! It looks like marshmallow fluff or a cloud...I want to touch it!"

Judging my the fiery look on the woman's face as she observed the area where the dragons would be, she did not look amused or in a good mood.

"I would advise against that, Kefira. She looks angrier than the dragons."

"I think I just found my new role model or my spirit animal...or both. Yes, both sounds good."