InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "My Mama didn't raise no fool."

neville longbottom (offwithitshead) wrote in lockewood,
@ 2012-03-26 17:09:00

Entry tags:

ernie macmillan, neville longbottom

Who: Neville & Ernie
What: catching up!
When: Monday
Where: the bookshop
Warnings: TBD
Status: Incomplete

It was a surprisingly excellent feeling to be back in his own body again. Considering how many times recently Neville would have loved to trade in his painfully aching limbs for new ones, the relief of it was a bit of a shock. But then, he was healthier and more pain-free here than he'd been since around the beginning of the school year, and he'd grown up more than he'd realized. He didn't belong in a seven year old body anymore, and he also didn't need to keep the self-image he'd had when he was younger. That part hadn't actually changed very much at all since he'd been seven, but he didn't need to think of himself as quite so bumbling, forgetful, and generally useless anymore. As soon as he'd been returned to seventeen, he'd felt, well, capable. That was the best word for it.

And it was with a renewed confidence in himself that he'd jumped back into life in Lockewood. Solidifying his new friendship with Arabella, asking about the future that everyone had been so eager to tell him about, and now catching up with a friend. The situation with Ernie was almost the opposite of the one with Arabella; he'd never known her back home, yet since they'd been children together here, he felt that they'd grown up together. Ernie he'd known in school, but here his friend was apparently ten years older than him. He had missed quite a lot-- although, he reminded himself, he was still alive (so far as he knew) in Ernie's time, so he wouldn't necessarily miss out on it in the future. Another way in which the situation was nearly the polar opposite to his newest friendship.

He had a much better sense of direction now that he was seventeen again, thankfully, and found the bookstore without nearly as much trouble. If he'd still been seven, it would have taken him hours to get here, because of his tendency to forget, miss, or confuse the landmarks he used to navigate. He had come from work, and he had cleaned himself up, but he still reflexively brushed his hands together as if to get rid of the last of the soil and plant residue before entering the bookshop and looking around for Ernie.

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the_importance
2012-03-27 01:57 am UTC (link)

Ernie reckoned that, for some reason or another, Skeeter must have liked him. Or maybe she thought he was too insignificant to bother. Yeah, she had put him under the spell of a love potion, but that had worked out to his advantage. She hadn't turned him into a driveling toddler. And compared to some of the other jobs out there, he had it good in the bookshop. It had taken a while to sort everything out and put a system in place to give the books some semblance of organisation. But that with that task out of the way, the job was a cake walk. Other than point people in the right direction, ring them up for their purchases, and immobilize the occasional rogue book, he was left to his own devices for most of the day.

When the door jingled to signal a new customer, Ernie peered up from a parchment he was scribbling notes down on and walked over to give a proper greeting. His face lit up with a smile when he saw Neville's much younger, but no less familiar, face. "Longbottom! Glad you made it over, mate," he said, walking over and clapping the (young) man on the shoulder.

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offwithitshead
2012-03-28 12:25 am UTC (link)

Ernie seemed completely unfazed by the difference in their age, but from Neville's perspective it was... well, very strange. Not new, because he'd already seen Harry, and his parents were just barely older than him, and after having switched ages a few times himself it shouldn't have made any difference, but somehow the ten years between him and Ernie still managed to take him completely by surprise. Possibly it was because he hadn't seen Harry in a long while since arriving here in Lockewood, and their age wasn't the most surprising thing about seeing his parents. But he had just seen Ernie not very long before arriving here, and the man in front of him was so vastly different-- and yet not so different, which was almost more confusing-- that it boggled his mind.

"Hi," he said, smiling back at him. "This is-- I mean, I knew most people here were older than me, but this is still weird. I guess I'm still adjusting to this place." But anyone would feel slightly awkward in this situation, right? "You've got a nice job here, looks like."

It was kind of a mixed bag, he'd noticed. His mum didn't much like her job, and he wasn't sure his dad was the most well suited to his job either, but Neville had gotten the best job he could possibly have asked for. Working here in this quiet little shop wouldn't have been too bad either, though.

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the_importance
2012-04-01 06:19 pm UTC (link)

"Well, at least tell me I've aged well, mate," Ernie joked, trying to make light of the situation. It seemed to be the best way around these oddities that were understandably mind-boggling.

"Yeah, I'm one of the few who made it off easy as far as the job goes. No books have tried to come at my jugular yet." Ernie knocked on the wood of a bookshelf, just in case the books were eavesdropping. Never could be too careful.

Gesturing to one of the small tables with two chairs, Ernie led the way through the narrow aisles between the shelves and plonked down in a seat. "So, what has Skeeter got you doing? No offense meant, but you look kind of grubby, mate. Does she have you cleaning chimneys?"

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offwithitshead
2012-04-01 09:06 pm UTC (link)

"Of course you have," Neville said, grinning, and the joking tone did help to put him at ease. "It's been a pretty good ten years since I've seen you, then? Overall?"

He certainly hoped so. He'd gotten the sense that the future looked brighter, at least in terms of the wizarding world at large, which was a good thing. Individual futures for his friends might be different, though. It was also possible that it was Lockewood that had been treating Ernie so well, Neville reminded himself, since he had already started to feel significantly healthier since being here. But Ernie had obviously made it out of Hogwarts alive before coming here, so hopefully things had gone well for him.

"Herbology assistant," he said, looking down at himself a bit sheepishly. "Sorry, I tried to clean up before I got here, but I've never been particularly good at cleaning charms. I won't touch any of your books. It's a good job, though-- you know I've always liked plants."

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the_importance
2012-04-04 04:34 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, overall, it's been aces," he replied, smiling because it helped to see Neville look a little less tense. "I've spent the majority of my twenties traveling abroad for the Prophet. They had only just recently reeled me back in when Skeeter brought me here." Normally thinking about how she had kidnapped them all would have made his smile dim, but life was pretty good in Lockewood.

Despite the occasional Skeeter-inflicted mishap, Lockewood had a few significant redeeming qualities. No one was killing each other over blood purity. You could meet witches and wizards who should be long dead. A second chance was given to people (whether they deserved it or not). Some might have scolded him for thinking Lockewood wasn't all that bad, but he had a feeling Neville would understand. He was relieved to hear that Skeeter had taken it easy on his friend.

"Really? That's fantastic!" Ernie laughed. "Feel free to get your paws on anything you want, mate. These books need to be reminded who's in charge around here." A pointed look was shot over at the Magical Creatures shelf. Those books tended to cause most trouble. He didn't know what the authors had been thinking, giving them fangs and claws.

"So, I'm guessing someone's told you a thing or two about your future, right?" Ernie turned back to face Neville.

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