Cultivating Lavender
***WARNING: DH SPOILERS***
Challenge Fifteen: Deathly Hallows Missing Scenes
Title: Cultivating Lavender
Author: closetravenclaw
Wizard/Witch: Neville Longbottom/Lavender Brown
Rating/Warnings: G/PG
Genre: Romance
Word count: 1,014
DH Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Missing Mirror
Summary: Neville finds his courage, in more ways than one.
Neville surveyed the room from his hammock, his loneliness an almost distant memory. The abundance of color and vibrant tapestries lent a cheerful tone that belied the real purpose of his surroundings.
Absently fingering a long cut along his face, Neville thought about the past two weeks-he never would have thought that he had the courage to stand up for himself, much less take charge of Dumbledore’s Army and have others seeking him out for answers and support. Two weeks… Fourteen days… An eternity, he thought. He knew no more today about what Harry was doing, or the war with Voldemort, than he had two weeks previous, but he did know that he was no longer alone, and that he and Dumbledore’s Army would be prepared to fight when the battle advanced on Hogwarts. Neville just wished that he knew where Harry was. Everyday, he assured his fellow refugees that Harry would come, but it was getting harder and harder as each day passed to keep that reassuring smile on his face as he said it.
The room was settling in for the night. Food had been brought in from the Hog’s Head-something similar to a pot pie, but folded so that it could be eaten by hand, the contents a mystery, and better left that way. The last few stragglers-Seamus, Terry Boot, and Ernie Macmillan-were still eating and listening to the wireless for any news. Lavender, Parvati, and Padma were in their shared alcove whispering and giggling. Lavender looked up and caught Neville’s eye; he began to earnestly examine the knots in his hammock. When he no longer felt her gaze, he stood. Keeping to the wall, he made his way to the nearest bookcase. He was always one of the first to tuck in at night, but the last to actually sleep. Sometimes reading helped his mind settle down after a long day, and other times, it kept his mind racing until the early morning dew had condensed on the one window that the Room of Requirement had given them. As he made his way to another bookcase, he had the sensation of being stared at again. He took a quick glance in Lavender’s direction and found Parvati and Padma looking straight at him. Hastily rounding the bookcase, he ran into someone.
“Excuse me,” he said, turning to find himself looking straight into Lavender’s eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry Lavender.” Neville blushed. “I was just looking for this book on, um… ” He absently reached for the closest book. “… Grindylows.”
Grindylows? Neville thought as he stood there staring at the book. There is really no way to start a conversation with Lavender about Grindylows. Divination, yes-Bunnies, yes-Grindylows, no.
Lavender was looking at him expectantly. Think, he told himself, but all that came out of his mouth was, “Goodnight Lavender.”
He berated himself as he walked away. Why did it always have to be so difficult? With Ginny, it had been easy; they were friends, she had asked him to the Yule Ball, and he still remembered it as one of the best nights of his life.
As he rounded the bookcase, heading back to his hammock, he heard a squeal from behind him. Lavender had taken on the pallor of Sir Nicholas and was pointing at the place where Neville had just removed his bedtime tome. Neville rushed back to Lavender’s side. Looking in the vacant space, Neville saw the object of Lavender’s trepidation-a rather large, rust-colored spider scurrying on its hairy legs between the remaining books and making an odd clicking sound.
Lavender clung to Neville’s arm, making small, unintelligible squeaking noises. Neville, being less knowledgeable about arachnids than he was about plants was not sure what species of spider he was dealing with. Still, unwilling to harm the spider as spiders benefited plant life, he Summoned an empty butterbeer bottle from the table, enlarged the opening, and scooped the spider inside. Not until he made the top impenetrable, a spell he knew well from collecting Herbology samples, did Lavender release her vise-like grip on his arm.
“Thank you,” she said, the color returning to her cheeks.
The clicking of the spider was amplified in the glass bottle, so Neville decided to place it just on the other side of the doorway that led to the Hog’s Head. Thinking that the long stone hallway would be the best place to release the spider after he examined it more closely the next day, he carefully placed the bottle in the corner. Lavender had followed and was watching him thoughtfully.
Lavender was not sure when she had first noticed Neville as anything other than “Longbottom.” They had attended classes together for over six years, but this year, he was different. He walked taller, spoke up more, took charge, and she had taken notice of him.
All of her previous attempts at flirting with Neville had sent him retreating into the nearest book. She knew the shy glances and small talk could continue for months-and she was afraid that they didn’t have months-if she didn’t so something bold.
They were alone in the doorway.
“Neville.” There was a slight rise to the intonation of her voice.
Words failed him again, but no words were needed. Lavender closed the distance between them and kissed him on the cheek, softly, fully pressing her lips to his skin, breathing him in. As the kiss broke, she brushed the hair out of his face with her fingertips, watching his eyes darken. His hands went to her hair, initially playing with the ends, then moving up to tangle it its length as he found his courage. At last, he placed his lips to Lavender’s-a slow, lingering kiss that would heat her soul for days.
An almost imperceptible noise in the hallway startled them. A faint hint of light down the long tunnel was growing brighter as the brass lamps sprung to life along the corridor towards them; Ariana came into view.
She smiled at Neville. “Harry Potter is here!”
Author's Notes: Thank you to harmony_bites and zeegrindylows for reading over the first half of this and inspiring me to write more and for coming up with the title.
Proof-reader: seaislewitch