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Tweak says, "Help! I deleted my recycle bin"

Hermione Granger (trustingnature) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-03-31 01:50:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2023 08, ariana silver, neville longbottom

RP: Last Minute Preparations
Characters: Neville, Ariana
Time/Date: Afternoon, August 31
Location: Greenhouse
Warnings/Rating: PGish for innuendo etc
Summary: Neville is making some last minute preparations in the greenhouse, and makes plans for a fake!date
Status: Closed, completed

The was a small part of him that knew that he had spent way too much time in these greenhouses this week. Heck, this month. Or really, who was he kidding, this year but there was another part of him that was really devoted to plants, and really wanted to make the year great for his students. Herbology usually wasn't the first subject people thought of when they picked a favourite, and while he was okay with that, he wasn't okay with it being a student's least favourite subject. He enjoyed it, and he wanted to give the new students (and the returning students, for that matter) every chance to love it too. Which is why he was still there, even on the last day before classes started, finishing up some final details.

He was dedicated. What could he say?

Even still, it wasn't like it required much of his thought to finish pruning and watering, and fixing things here or there, and his mind started to wandered to the returning dead. He'd been informed, of course, of those who'd be returning to classes again and he felt vague butterfly-esque sensations that he'd be teaching James Potter, Sirius Black, and - for that matter - Remus Lupin. Not only was it one of the strangest occurances of his life, it was also incredibly intimidating.

(Not to mention unfair. James Po- James Sirius Potter had just graduated. Clearly, the universe was playing some sort of cosmic joke on them. But he supposed that was neither here nor there)

Neville did wonder if that was the reason he had gone over his course outline for the week for the 14th time that morning, but he quickly brushed that aside. If he didn't focus too much on his worries and insecurities, he could usually make them go away. Drawing his attention back to the plants, he continued his sixth sweep of the greenhouse.

Everything had to be perfect.

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trustingnature
2010-04-04 06:20 am UTC (link)

He frowned, not 100% sure what he was agreeing to. "Exactly," he decided. "No idea. Completely clueless. Dating needs to come with an instruction manual, because I am no good at it."

He grinned as the conversation wore on, essentially proving his point for him. "You see what I mean, though. Even in jokes I'm no good at this whole 'understanding what the other person is really saying' part of it." He paused to double check under the leaves of one of the plants he was watering. "Or maybe you're just deliberately vague on purpose to mess with me."

He was thoughtful for a moment. "Lessons in Dating? Is that a serious offer Professor Silver, because I may take you up on it if it is."

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teases_muggles
2010-04-04 06:31 am UTC (link)

He was so ... completely adorable. Were women so easily turned off by a bit of naivety? "A little of column A ..." she began with a grin. But now that she knew ...

Well, maybe she'd change her tactics some. Not that she was going to ask him out, or anything ridiculous like that.

"I wouldn't mind. I could run you through a practice date, give you a demonstration of 'if a woman does this, she most likely means that' and so on," she offered. "We could head out to the Broomsticks next weekend if you were feeling up to a public venture, or I could set up something in my quarters."

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trustingnature
2010-04-04 06:45 am UTC (link)

He raised an eyebrow. Glancing down at the plants, he decided that - if this was his last sweep - he was mostly done out here for the day. He likely had some paperwork in his office that he could finish, or he could try that eating and sleeping thing, but he was pretty sure he was mostly finished in the greenhouses until tomorrow. Slipping his wand into his pocket, he turned to Ari and crossed his arms, smiling slightly.

"Are you sure you want to be seen practicing for a date with me in public?" he pointed out. "I've warned you a few times that I'm no good at this stuff, and believe me - that's not an exaggeration. Last time, there were tears."

He wasn't sure, exactly, why he was... practically boasting about it. But he'd come to accept over the years that dating was just something he was horrible at and never going to improve in. Like potions.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Really, whatever is more convenient for you. I could certainly use the guidance, but I wouldn't want to put you out."

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teases_muggles
2010-04-04 07:11 am UTC (link)

"Yours or hers?" she inquired, brows elevating.

While she had no problem, at all, being seen in public with him, inviting him up to her quarters seemed ... preferable. It would be quieter, he'd probably be more relaxed, and ... who knew where things might go?

No where, most likely, but she could keep the options open, couldn't she?

"We'll give it a shot in my room. Quieter. Less distractions. No women coming to hit on you while I'm trying to explain to you how they're hitting on you," Ari teased. "I'll even cook you something," she promised him with a wink.

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trustingnature
2010-04-04 07:16 am UTC (link)

"I... would rather not admit that," he said, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head. But his awkward smile, and the simple fact that he wasn't really the type to cause tears in others should be indicative enough of where the tears had been.

He nodded. "All right. This... weekend, did you say? Or next?" he paused, and he grinned a bit. "Is this the part where I say 'it's a date' or is that a bit premature?" His grin widened. "'It's a practice date'?"

He wondered if it was appropriate to laugh, or if he should be embarrassed that he was asking for date help. But in all honesty, he wasn't really taking it seriously. It was just an opportunity to spend some time with a friend. He was a hopeless cause when it came to dating, and while he could use the pointers, he doubted that they were going to help him any, so he was just going to have a nice meal with Ariana. There was nothing to complain about that.

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teases_muggles
2010-04-04 07:22 am UTC (link)

"Poor Neville," she said as she reached out to pat his shoulder lightly. "We'll get you all fixed up and date ready." She paused thoughtfully. "I could even throw in snogging lessons for free if you thought you'd get that far?"

Yes, all right, that was pushing a little, and it was definitely not teasing, because she would be more than happy to spend hours snogging him under the guise of teaching him how to snog.

"Next weekend. After terms started and hopefully after the kids have settled in somewhat. Saturday evening, come up to my room and I'll make you dinner and teach you how to act and react to women."

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trustingnature
2010-04-04 07:43 am UTC (link)

He very quickly turned a rather violent shade of red, his eyed widening significantly when she mentioned that she'd throw in snogging lessons for free. It was all but impossible for him to even think about jokingly replying to that. Yes, he likely needed snogging lessons - not that he hadn't attempted snogging before, but attempted was the key word there. He did open his mouth to reply, but suspected she'd likely got the amusement from the reaction that she'd been looking for and managed a grin, shaking his head more at himself than anything.

"All right. Next weekend," he agreed, finding himself really looking forward to it quite suddenly. He was tempted to go mark it on his calendar, but he knew a few students who might ask him what he had planned on that day, and he didn't really want to answer any awkward questions on the subject.

He wondered why he was so comfortable talking with Ariana about this, and determined that it was because he didn't think there was any possible chance that Ari was doing this out of any other reason than friendship. So he really didn't need to try and pretend or put on a show for her - even if she turned him into the greatest dater in the country, she'd know where he came from, and she wasn't interested. At least, that's how he viewed it.

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teases_muggles
2010-04-04 07:55 am UTC (link)

Ari did smile at his reaction. Utterly adorable. She wondered sometimes if a big part of the attraction to him was based heavily in the assumption he wouldn't cheat on her. He wouldn't screw her over. He was a genuinely nice guy, and she felt he was safe. If she ever did stop fluttering around the issue and ask him on a real date ... maybe she'd see if there was anything there.

If not ... then she'd simply spent the past few years pining after someone who didn't reciprocate her interest. Nothing lost, really. She did think about pushing a little, teasing to get confirmation whether that was a yes or no on snogging ... but she thought she'd leave it alone for now.

"So then, I'll leave you to your own devices, and see you next weekend."

Well, throughout the week as well, but ... definite that weekend.

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trustingnature
2010-04-04 08:11 am UTC (link)

"Right," Neville said with a grin. "We'll deal with the little hell-raisers, and mourn the fact that just when we thought we had seen the last of James Potter we were graced with another one, get all of our lesson plans completely worked over because the foreign students are further ahead than ours and thus need different plans because they're answering all the questions and then... I can learn how to date?"

He laughed, outright, at the ridiculousness of it when he put it like that. But his eyes were shining, and he was definitely looking forward to it.

"Right, so, next weekend," he said, with a small half salute as though he were tipping an invisible hat. She had spoken as though she were leaving, after all. It was only right to let her go on her way, even if he was enjoying himself with some human interaction at the moment.

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teases_muggles
2010-04-04 08:16 am UTC (link)

"Sounds like you've got quite the schedule lined up," she replied with a soft laugh. "Goodnight then, Neville," she offered to him before she turned to retreat.

So, all right, that hadn't gone any way she'd had planned, but she was a little intrigued to see how their fake date went. She couldn't imagine he'd be interested in pursuing it past fake date level, but she could pretend with the best of them, and it would give her some nice memories.

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