wanderlust ☆ n.longbottom

.:02:.

Daisy and Neville located a compartment and squeezed into it. They sat opposite each other, Daisy was slouched and had her feet resting beside Neville. He rustled around in his bag and brandished a herbology book, burying his nose in it immediately.

"Oh good I was hoping you would ignore me the whole journey and read your stupid book," Daisy said sarcastically.

Neville slowly closed the book, his thumb wedged between the yellowing pages to keep his place. "What would you like to talk about?"

"How much I loathe Veronica."

"You will encounter many people you don't like in your life and you can't just wrestle them-"

"I can, especially when they are bad mouthing my sister."

Neville tensed up. He was always worried when Emmeline was in the conversation. Of course he was pleased she was talking about her if it made her feel better, but waves of anxiety consumed him and his advice usually tumbled out as a bumbling mess. He just never quite knew what to say. "Don't bite your nails."

"You're not my dad," snapped Daisy, although she did stop. The duo fell into a silence and Neville resumed reading his book. Suddenly, the door slid open. It was Seamus and Dean.

"Hi," smiled Seamus. "How was your summer?"

"What do you two want?" Daisy asked. Her gaze remained fixated on the window.

"Ah Daisy, lovely to see you too. I see you're still dressing like a goth."

Daisy rolled her eyes at Seamus as the two friends shuffled into their carriage. Neville glared at her until she moved her feet off the seat so Seamus could sit down. Daisy didn't want company; she liked it just being her and Neville. That's when she felt most comfortable and she was nervous about going to Hogwarts without her sister.

"So how was your summer?" Seamus reiterated conversationally.

"It was very...warm. Very nice," Neville gulped. The summer was most certainly not nice. It was filled with arguments between Daisy and his grandmother, which led to disputes between him and Augusta. Daisy was unstable. The fifteen year old would disrespect the curfew, play her music way too loud and leave a tornado of mess wherever she went. Neville tried to make excuses for her but sometimes he just couldn't justify it.

"Not that this conversation isn't riveting but I'm going to go buy something off the trolley," Daisy said, getting to her feet.

"Can't you just wait until it comes round?" Neville asked, rolling his eyes at the girl's impatience.

"But I'm hungry now," replied Daisy firmly.

"I'll come," Dean volunteered. His eagerness to join her narked Neville, but he couldn't quite understand why.

"I can manage on my own," Daisy stated.

"Yeah, no, of course you can. I'm not one of those boys who think girls can't do things for themselves like I'm all for feminism and that. I just meant like I'm hungry too and-" Dean babbled.

"Please just be quiet," advised Daisy, exiting the compartment.

"Smooth, real smooth," Seamus chuckled once the girl was out of earshot.

"Shut up," Dean barked, scowling to hide his embarrassment. "Honestly, Neville, I'm jealous she stayed with you over summer."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neville quizzed hotly.

"This new look she has going on." He let out a low whistle.

"She's only put a bit of eyeliner on and dyed her hair," snapped Neville.

"It's the attitude as well," added Dean, practically drooling.

"She's not an object," Neville answered.

"I never said she was."

"Neville's probably just weirded out because they've been friends for so long, they'll feel like brother and sister," Seamus said.

Neville flushed red. "We're not brother and sister."

"Well obviously not," Seamus continued. "I just mean you've been friends for so long, it probably feels that way so that's why you're getting so defensive."

"There's nothing going on between you two, is there?" Dean pried. He was under the impression Neville was hiding something and Neville felt uncomfortable under Dean's analytical stare.

"No, no. We are just friends." Neville hated how that made Dean smile.

Daisy returned, a pumpkin pasty crumbling in her hands. "What are you losers talking about?"

"Just our summer," Seamus lied, bemusement twinkling in his eye as he watched Dean instantly shoot up when Daisy appeared.

"Still? I was really hoping you had found something slightly more entertaining to talk about," Daisy grumbled, slotting herself back next to Dean.

"No, still the same old boring conversation topics," Neville said. He felt uncomfortable. He hated how Dean was looking at her. Daisy ripped a section from her pasty and handed it to Neville.

"Aren't you going to offer us some?" said Seamus.

"None left," Daisy shrugged, though there was clearly half the pasty she hadn't eaten.

"Daisy and I always share our food. It's just always how it's been," Neville said, as if trying to prove a point.

"Because he always forgets to eat," added Daisy between mouthfuls. This comment made Neville's stomach erupt with butterflies. He convinced himself he hated Dean's comments because he was so protective of her due to their friendship. It wasn't the case. Neville was completely infatuated with Daisy and it made absolutely no sense why it had taken so long for him to realise.