Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Sixty Four

A nice weekend of visiting Hogsmeade and enjoying the milder weather was just what the group needed to take their minds off of everything that was going on at school. With the added stress of classes and the tournament gossip, it was nice to escape and just walk around the village for the time being. Kefira invited Bisera to join the group, but the girl declined as the sudden changes in weather had left her feeling quite sick. 

"You know, even though I've showered numerous times since the potions lessons, I swear my hands still smell like armadillo bile and ginger root," Kefira said holding up her hands.

Seamus scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Ew."

"Smell them!" Kefira shoved her hands into his face causing the boy to screech as he tried to avoid it. 

"Stop that!" He said swatting at her hands as Kefira continued to try to touch him. "KNOCK IT OFF!"

Dean and Neville watched as Seamus ran with Kefira chasing him. 

"You know these two are going to keep this up until we're all over ninety, right?" Dean asked Neville.

"Oh, I really hope they don't. That's a lot of years of a lot of yelling," Neville said rubbing his forehead. "Maybe they'll grow out of it."

His tone was hopeful but as he heard Seamus scream again, he quickly doubted his statement as he and Dean exchanged looks.

"Should we go check on them?" He asked as the two had disappeared into the woods.

"Or..." Dean said placing one of his fingers up. "We can go and get some Butterbeer and wait the whole thing out."

Neville grinned. "I like that idea much better, I just hope they don't hurt each other."

"Don't worry about them, Neville, they'll be fine. They're both mental enough that I don't think they can get hurt."

Kefira had lost sight of Seamus as the boy darted off into the woods, he had stopped yelling too which made it harder for her to track him.

"Aww come on, Seamus, you're no fun!" She called out. "Alright, I promise I won't try and force you to smell my hands! I was only joking about the armadillo bile, they actually only smell like ginger root. It's kinda...kinda spicy!"

Seamus didn't come out of his hiding and she really had no idea which direction he had ventured off in. She placed her hands on her hips as she bore a wide grin on her face. She gave her head a shake before deciding to head back towards the village.

However, before she took a full step forward, she heard the sound of a twig snap behind her. She turned around slowly, just in case it was a creature. She certainly didn't want to alarm any animal while she was alone. Even though she could feel her wand resting in her pocket.

As she turned around, her eyes widened. Standing across from her and standing nearly as still as she was, was the black dog that she had fed throughout her third year.

"Well, well, well," she said in a calm tone. "Long time, no see."

The dog appeared cautious but Kefira only smiled.

"I'm afraid I don't have any food on me right now," she said to him. "Had I known that you were going to be here I would have definitely stopped in the Great Hall and lined up my robes with sandwiches for you. Roast beef is still your favorite, isn't it?"

The dog made a noise that almost resembled a chuckle before it barked at her with a wag of his tail.

"Well...now that I know you're out here, I might find myself venturing for a stroll into the woods and bring you some food. Although, you look a lot better now!" She said noting that his coat was looking a lot better and he didn't appear as thin as before. "Looks like someone else has been taking care of you since we last saw each other."

The dog let out another bark appearing to confirm her statement.

"That's a good thing!" She said. "I'm glad you're doing better and-"

Suddenly, she heard her name being called in the distance, which sounded very much like Seamus.

"I think the boy went and got himself lost...idiot," she muttered to himself. "Well, I should be going..."

She turned back to face the dog, only to find that he was gone. 

"Oh...bye," she said with a little wave at nothing before she turned around in the direction of Seamus's voice. "I'M COMING! CALM YOURSELF!"

"There you two are, I thought you both ended up getting lost out there," Dean said as he and Neville were settled with their drinks. As Kefira sat beside Neville, the boy pushed a drink that he had ordered for her over.

"Well, I didn't get lost but I can't say the same for this one," Kefira said before mouthing a thank you in Neville's direction.

"For the last time, I wasn't lost, I was just...exploring," Seamus said before looking over at Dean. "Hey, how come I don't have a drink?"

"Because you didn't order one," Dean said before taking a sip of his. Seamus made a face at the group before picking himself up to go place an order. 

"Did you get him to smell your hands?" Neville asked, unsure of why he was curious about the answer.

Kefira giggled as she picked up her drink in her hands. "Yeah, I finally got him when he tripped over a tree root. Got him right where I wanted him and made him sniff."

"You two are just..disturbing," Dean laughed. 

"It's not like they smell bad, I was lying about the armadillo bile, it really does just smell like ginger root."

"Really?" the two boys said in pure wonderment.

"Yeah, check it out for yourself," she offered her hands to them.

Dean leaned in first and suddenly made a face. "ARGH! KEFIRA, YOU'RE A LIAR!"

"Haha!" Kefira said. "I got you both...see, I told you I could get them," she told Neville.

"Yeah, you were right."

Dean glanced over at the boy, a look of betrayal on his face. "You...you were in on this?"

"She got me this morning with it," Neville confessed. "She just wanted to see if she could get you two."

"And I did!" She said placing up her drink. "Cheers to me!"