Who: Hannah Abbott & Neville Longbottom. When: After Dinner; 9PM. Where: Neville's Flat above the Quaffle. What: Hannah hasn't seen Neville for dinner in awhile and she's getting worried. Status: Complete. Rating: PG.
"Here you go, Pete!" Hannah placed the hot plate in front of one of the bar's regulars with a large smile and wiped her hands on her apron. She pushed her fingers behind her and untied the apron quickly, bunching it up into a ball and shoving it onto the counter before walking absentmindedly to the back of the bar. It was 9:00pm and Oliver was letting her off early since she would be there more often this week due to his Whiskey launch party. Truth be told, however, she wasn't really ready to go home to her empty flat with only the company of her cat anyways. In many ways, Hannah loved the hours she held at the bar. She was rarely alone and she liked it that way, ever since the death of her mother, Hannah had a rather difficult time being by herself.
Sighing, she poured a small glass of white wine and took an unusually big sip. She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, letting her gaze drift to the stairs that led to the flats above the bar. As she scanned each step, she began to wonder why she hadn't seen a certain tenant in a few days. Hannah wasn't exactly sure why her thoughts kept going to the young Gryffindor that lived upstairs, but Neville Longbottom's absence in his usual seat at the bar had her feeling a lot more worried than she would have anticipated.
Ever since Neville had moved into one of Oliver's flats, he had made it a habit of having dinner at the bar. Truth be told, it was one of the best parts of her day. Now that Hannah was accustomed to seeing him, she almost felt that her day lacked a little bit of sunshine when he wasn't around. While she generally liked all the regulars, there was something about Neville in particular that made her heart skip when he entered the room.
In a very impulsive decision, Hannah downed the last of her wine -- stopping in front of the toaster to push her hair out of her face once again before making her way to the stairs. She hopped up them quickly aiming for the top. Once she arrived, she skipped down the hallway until she came upoh Neville's door.
Taking a deep breath, Hannah gently knocked on the door, not exactly sure what she was doing there in the first place. "Neville? It's Hannah. Are you home?" She knocked once more before folding her hands in front of her and staring at her feet. This was stupid, wasn't it?
Neville had been stricken with a rather vicious cold. It didn't matter how many potions he guzzled, he wouldn't shake it. His tiny flat was a mess with blankets piled on the sofa and tissues all over the floor. Neville had been laying down, trying to read a book, but his head ached too much to get through more than a few pages.
At the knock on the door, Neville jumped. He'd been in pajama pants and an old tee shirt for two days straight with his hair sticking up wildly. Of course this is when Hannah would come by. "Just a minute, Hannah," he called out and hurried to his bedroom to change into a clean shirt and pajama pants. His hair couldn't be helped.
Opening the door, Neville smiled down at Hannah. She was awfully pretty. "Hi..."
The former Hufflepuff couldn't quite hear what was going on in Neville's flat, though she swore she did make out some type of response to her knock. Just when Hannah was sure that no one was coming to the door, she saw the faint shaking of the handle and heard the screech of it opening. Taken off guard by Neville's presence (but really, Hannah, you were the one that knocked on his door,) she couldn't help the soft grin that came across her features when they made eye contact. She was so used to him sitting down, that she had almost forgotten how tall he was, her eye line only coming up to his chest.
He was so large in the doorway, that she was hardly able to see into his apartment, but from the look of his disheveled hair, she could tell he hadn't left in some time. "Hi!" She said, perhaps with a bit too much enthusiasm, before she cleared her throat during the silence that followed. "I uhm- I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here." She was wondering the same thing.
"Well, I- You know. I hadn't seen you downstairs in awhile and I always look forward to it- I mean,I don't look forward to it like that- well you know, we're- You're my friend, and I guess I was just wondering if you were alright." It wasn't until she looked up from her tangent that she noticed he was in his pajamas. "Oh Helga- did I wake you? Were you sleeping? Goodness, are you ill?" Genuine concern spread across her face as she glanced him up and down once more. "Merlin, are you alright Neville?"
Standing in front of her, Neville listened as Hannah stumbled over her words and explained why she was at his door. It was sweet. She was sweet. Neville knew he didn't have a chance with her. That much was confirmed when Hannah made it clear she wasn't thinking of him like that. Still, she was sweet and nice and he liked her a great deal.
Neville couldn't help but smile at Hannah. He was certain that the little crush he harbored for the blonde was written all over his face. "I wasn't sleeping, Hannah. I've just a bit of a cold. You really noticed I wasn't around?"
It hadn't really dawned on Hannah that she had missed his presence so much until Neville was right in front of her. While she was a hugger to even the general public, her urge to embrace the bloke in front of her was much stronger than that of a person she simply liked to see at work everyday. She folded her arms across her chest and bit her lip at Neville's response. "A cold? Oh well that's good- I mean it's not good. You know, I'm just glad you're- you know- not on your death bed or anything." She was rambling. There was really no reason she should be this nervous.
Another faint blush spread across her cheeks. "Of course I noticed. It's not the same without you around." And this was true -- she found that she often waited for him to come around and when he was there, she didn't really want him to leave. Neville was very nice, sweet, not pushy or rude and in many ways he really comforted her. She liked having him around and even more-so, she liked to take care of him. "Well- do you, I mean, do you need anything? Have you been eating? I could run downstairs and bring you up some soup."
They were just standing in the doorway and it didn't occur to Neville that he should invite Hannah inside until she asked if he'd been eating. He forgot his manners all together. "Do you want to come in? It's messy, but, um. Come in?" Neville placed a hand on Hannah's shoulder and gently pulled her inside his flat. There were plants everywhere. His most special plants were kept in his home until he could afford a greenhouse of his own.
"Gran sent some food over," he said and dropped his hand, sliding it along her arm. "But, well, I guess it would be nice to have someone to talk to. I've been alone for a few days." And Hannah was someone he always liked to talk to. She made him smile whenever he saw her. "I don't want to get you sick though."
Before she really knew what was happening, Neville's hand was on her shoulder and Hannah realized that with a bar between them always, he hadn't really touched her that much. She liked it. "I don't mind messy." She said, accompanied with a slight giggle. As she entered his flat, the first thing she noticed were all the plants. It was beautiful, really. Though, she had to admit that Herbology was never really her strong suit. Maybe he'd teach her a few things once he was feeling better.
Hannah responded to the fact the Neville was eating rather absentmindedly, though if she was paying attention she'd be glad to hear that fact. "Oh good-" She was distracted by all the green and lovely colors. She had never been in his flat before, but Hannah felt rather at home all the same. It just felt very much like Neville. "This is- Neville, this is so cool!" She turned to look at him once again, unable to wipe the goofy smile off of her face. "I wish I would have known sooner, I would have come to visit." She made her way to the couch which was piled in blankets and sat down, making herself comfortable. "Oh don't worry. I work at a bar. I have an immune system like a Gringott's vault!"
She took Neville's hand and pulled him on the couch next to her, giggling at the sight of him. Scooting a little bit closer and kicking off her shoes, she folded her knees in front of her. "Your hair, Nev." Without hesitation, she began to smooth the hair on his head with both hands, not really taking into account how forward she was being. Hannah never really noticed that about herself, she just sort of did things when she felt them.
Oh. Okay. They were touching. New touching. New touching with Hannah. Neville swallowed hard as he let Hannah pull him onto his own sofa. People didn't come over much. His friends all had homes by now so he went to visit them. Heck, he didn't even have his own bathroom.
She was close. Neville wasn't nor ally close to pretty witches. Pretty witches who were HOLY GODRIC SHE WAS TOUCHING HIS HAIR. Neville felt his cheeks going red. "Uh. Uh. I um. I was sick and um. You don't have to uh."
Hannah never really had respect for personal boundaries anyway, but being this close to Neville pretty much threw all of that out the window anyway. She ignored his slight protest and continued to smooth down his hair until the result met her satisfaction. Finally, she let her hands slide down the side of his face and rest gently on his shoulders. She him the once over before nodding. "There. All better. Just as handsome as ever."
She continued to gaze at him, perhaps for too long, before pulling her hands away and blushing again. "Oh- er- sorry Neville."
Her hands were soft. There was no reason they shouldn't have been, but it still surprised Neville. Her hands were soft and gentle and he blushed harder still as they moved down his face. He hadn't shaved in a few days and was suddenly very aware of how he looked. He should have looked nicer for Hannah.
Their eyes held each other for a long few moments until Hannah finally looked away. "Why are you sorry? I'm- ummm- I'm glad you came by."
Hannah really hadn't thought out coming to see Neville, but she was glad she had. It was nice seeing him in his own element -- even if he was ill and still in his pajamas. Actually, she liked seeing him like this even better. He seemed more relaxed and comfortable and something about all the blankets around them made her want to snuggle up against his chest, er, well, maybe that would be crossing too many personal boundaries or something. She didn't really know.
"I don't know, for uhm -- dropping by on you like this." A smile spread across her face, though she still looked at her knees. "I'm glad I came too. I- well, I missed you." She looked up at him, finally, a loose piece of hair falling in front of her face. "I'm glad to know it wasn't, you know, something I did or something." In reality, Hannah hadn't done anything to make Neville stop talking to her, but she got nervous about these things. She was always afraid people would stop liking her.
"You never have to apologize for coming to see me," he said quickly. If she felt bad about her impromptu visit then Hannah might not stop by again. And even though he wasn't really dressed or cleaned up for her, Neville liked Hannah being in his flat.
As Hannah admitted that she had missed him, Neville realized he'd missed her as well. She was part of his daily routine and it hadn't occurred to Neville how much he liked that. "You could never do anything to make me not want to see you," he reassured her. There was a bit of hair in front of her face and Neville lifted his hand to brush it aside, but worried that the gesture would be too intimate. She could have a boyfriend he didn't know about. Neville quickly drop his hand and cleared his throat awkwardly.
A bright pink blush came to her cheeks when Neville brushed back her hair. Her face was hot, her mouth hung open slightly, and it wasn't until Neville cleared his throat that Hannah's jaw clenched back shut and she looked away from him quickly. For a moment she had the mind to kiss him, luckily she hadn't. She certainly didn't want to cause Neville any discomfort. She shook her head. "Oh- I'm, er, glad then."
Silence fell over them for a few moments before she got enough courage to look back at him. She smiled and glanced around his place again. "Lots of blankets. You should have built a fort. I bet that would have helped your cold." Merlin, she was so awkward.
Neville frowned a little. It wasn't that he didn't want Hannah there. In fact he rather liked having Hannah around. It was just, well, different.
At that moment, an owl arrived with a small stack of letters in brightly colored envelopes. It had been several days since the Prophet had announced he was eligible, but the post hadn't stopped yet. Neville was hearing from witches (and more than one wizard) who all wanted to take him out for a drink. It was awful. Neville felt obligated to reply to each of them and thank them for their interest. This time, though, he didn't want any letters to arrive. He didn't want Hannah to see that.
She hadn't ever remembered it being this awkward between them, but then again, this was a new situation altogether. Her eyes shifted to the window as a an owl flew in with some letters. Her stomach sank a bit, her knowing very well why he was getting so much mail. It wasn't that she didn't think Neville got letters, but this seemed to be a bit excessive.
"Wow." She said, trying to sound a bit more enthusiastic that she was feeling. "Are all of those, because of that Prophet article?" Her eyes suddenly shot open a bit wide and she covered her mouth with her hand as if she just swore in front of a child. "Oh- I mean- I didn't mean that you aren't getting letters or anything- just, that seems like a lot- oh Helga, I mean I'm sure you get letters all of the time, Neville."
Neville got up quickly and fed the owl a treat before patting it on the head. The owl hooted happily and flew out the open window. Neville gathered up the letters. A quick scan showed him they were all from witches this time around. His fingers ran over the envelopes and Neville found himself wishing that someone like Hannah sent him a letter. She was sweet. More than sweet, really. She was lovely.
"Yeah," he said. "And you're right... I didn't get a lot of attention before this." Neville thumbed through the envelopes for a moment before putting them away in a small desk covered with a sprawling orange ivy. "Uh, you know.. Hannah.. I just.. I'm pretty tired. Can you maybe come by again later? I need to read that post and then I'm going to take a nap, you know?"
Hannah watched him with the owl, shifting on the couch uncomfortably. For some reason, she felt that perhaps she didn't want to see those letters. She got an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach and part of her wished she knew what sort of things they said in them. She wondered if he wrote back or if he liked having so much attention from single witches.
"I didn't mean-" She felt bad. She would never want Neville to think that he wasn't important. Hastily, she stood up as Neville suggested she should leave. Turning red, Hannah looked at her feet trying to hide her expression by a curtain of her hair. "Oh yes- of course. I'll, er- see you soon Neville."
This was mortifying, and she wasn't even sure why. She moved slightly towards him and gave him a quick pat on the back and kiss on the cheek before pulling away. "Thanks for letting me in- I hope you feel better." Rushing toward the door a small but sad smile was on her face. "Let me know if you- you know, need anything." She opened the door and let out another barely audible "bye" before walking through the frame and shutting it quickly behind her.