InsaneJournal

Hannah had only asked Neville to the dance on a dare, but, as the date had drawn closer, she found that she was looking forward to the occasion more and more. She didn't have the money to buy a new dress, but her outfit from the year before worked just as well. She felt, well, pretty, and that was always a good way to start the night.

Spellbound had opened the night with a set of songs, and Hannah had been at the front of the crowd to listen, cheer, and generally enthusiastically support them. When they came off the stage, she practically skipped over to greet Neville. "You were fantastic!"


Neville, for his part had been a little nervous. He was excited, of course (!), but he'd fancied Hannah quite a bit when he was younger, but had mostly resigned himself to the fact that they were just friends. That was fine- he just liked to see her happy. When she'd asked him to the ball, he had been surprised, but pleased. He'd walked with her to the ball, but hadn't been able to spend a lot of time with her yet because of Spellbound's performance. They'd performed well, and he certainly couldn't complain about the audience reaction.

Making his way offstage, he smiled a little sheepishly as Hannah skipped over. He reached over to hug her, briefly, then released her. "Thanks," he replied, cheeks flushing faintly. "I'm glad it went well! But I'm sorry I haven't been able to be much of a date yet- I'll make it up to you starting now!"


It always surprised Hannah that Neville didn't realize how good he was. She understood being humble, of course, but at the same time… Returning the hug, Hannah smiled as she stepped back and moved to Neville's side. "You took me to a wonderful concert," she replied, playfully, "I'd say that's a great date, so far!" A pause, then, "Are you hungry or thirsty at all? Or- well, I think the other band will be on, soon, if you'd like to dance?" Hannah glanced up to Neville, and found that her cheeks were flushing, too. "Or if you need to rest, after that set…?"


"Does it count when I'm the one singing, though?" Neville asked curiously. "I could go for some water, though. Or something to drink. I'm not very hungry. Are you?" He offered Hannah an arm, taking a moment to keep track of where everything was before turning to lead her toward one of the tables where the drinks were. "But yeah- dancing sounds great!"


"I don't see why it wouldn't," Hannah insisted, tucking her hand in with Neville's arm and falling into step beside him. Someday, someday, he would realize how good the band was- until then, she'd just have to keep on reminding him!

"No, I'm not terribly hungry. It's mostly sweets here tonight, besides." Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, no, unless you actually wanted a proper meal. But no one else seemed to be complaining about it, so Hannah knew better than to start. At the drink table, she reached for a glass of water- handing the first one to Neville, then taking one for herself. "To being spellbound," she offered a playful toast before clinking their glasses together.


"Fair enough," Neville replied with a laugh. resting his free hand over hers for a moment. He nodded. "Well, I'm sure we can ask the house elves for more food later, if it's something you'd like!" He thanked her as she handed him a glass and he smiled, touching his glass to hers at her toast. "Aye aye!" He took a sip, then smiled. "Are you sure you're enjoying yourself? We'll dance here in a minute, but is there anything else I can do in the meantime?"


"You can relax," Hannah replied, playfully- though her cheeks flushed a bit at the words, after the fact. She hadn't meant to scold him, not really- but she also didn't want him thinking that she wasn't enjoying herself! "But- I mean- it's really amazing that you were asked to play at Hogwarts, for all of us! You've come a long way from little jam sessions in the Hufflepuff common room."


"Alright, alright," Neville grumbled playfully, but smiled, cheeks flushing. "It is, isn't it? Merlin, I never thought we'd be so popular. I'm just pleased that everybody likes our music, and that the guys are willing to keep doing this with me." He took another sip, then glanced toward the dance floor. "Are you up for a dance?"


"Why wouldn't they be willing?" It was a facetious question, really- Hannah couldn't imagine why they might call it quits, not when they were doing so well! And when Neville offered a dance, she brightened at the offer- even if they'd already talked about it, well, it was exciting! "Always!" Setting her drink aside, Hannah grabbed up Neville's hand and tugged him toward where the other couples were dancing. "Come on!"


"I don't know. We hadn't really talked a whole lot about how long we want to keep doing this. And if they don't want to go into music professionally, I'm not going to make them do it." He smiled as she brightened- he couldn't quite help himself- and set his own drink down, turning to follow her toward the dance floor. He was glad, at least, that his time with the band had led him to work on his dance skills a little more and he wasn't quite as awkward as he used to be. Still, Neville hoped he didn't embarrass himself or- worse- Hannah as he started to dance with her.