Flowers and Notes

Flowers and Notes

Neville adored Ginny Weasley. Unfortunately, she was going out with Dean Thomas. And then she wasn't, but before Neville could make his move, she was suddenly going out with Terry Boot instead. And Ron was furious, so Neville spent much of his time helping Harry and Hermione keep him from strangling Terry when they were in the same room.

And, of course, there was always her unspoken crush on Harry. Neville knew that the moment Harry realized he was in love with Ginny, she would come running, and that would be that. Neville had no chance.

But that didn't mean he was ready to give up. And he was done being the nice, supportive friend. After all, girls didn't date friends. And nice boys finished last. Neville knew that well enough. True, he'd had his chance once before, during the Yule Ball in his fourth year, but at the time, he'd had such a crush on Hermione, that he had let Ginny slip away, and she had begun dating Michael almost immediately after. So it was time to let her know exactly what she was missing.

First, he began to leave her flowers. One slipped into her bag when she left it in the common room. Another placed where she usually sat at the Gryffindor table. A third hidden next to her broom in the broom shed shortly before practice one October morning. Unfortunately, Ginny thought that they all were from Terry, and while Terry wasn't a Slytherin, he was a Ravenclaw, and knew when to misrepresent events to his own advantage.

So Neville decided to try another approach. He began to leave Ginny notes. In places that only Gryffindors could leave them. The first read: "Eyes of deepest chocolate, that burn hotter than the flames of her hair." All Ginny's friends giggled over the note, while she looked appraisingly at each of the boys in the common room, still somehow managing to miss Neville's fond gaze.

The second read: "She holds my heart in her milk-white hands." This time, Ginny became more calculating. She approached Dean, and asked him flat-out if he were the one sending the notes, but Dean snorted and denied any connection to them. This lead to a blazing row in the middle of the common room, in which Ginny insisted that Dean had simply never gotten over her, and Dean suggesting that she stop using every boy at Hogwarts as a substitute for Harry. At this, Harry flushed red, then growled at them both to grow up, and stormed from the room.

So Neville didn't send another note. After all, he didn't want to cause an all-out war in the common room. So what could he do? There was only one thing for it. He'd just have to show her. Ron'd kill him, but if he could just get her attention, it would be worth it.

Still, Neville couldn't help but be nervous. I mean, it wasn't every day that you told the love of your life how you felt about her. And in front of her brother, no less. Hopefully Harry wouldn't take it as a sign that he should finally decide to let Ginny know his feelings for her.

That evening, Neville approached Ginny, who was sitting in a corner with her friends and glaring across the room at Dean, as he pointedly ignored her. It took several minutes before Ginny even noticed he was there. She looked up at him, startled. "Yes, Neville, was there something you needed?"

Neville tried to speak, but all that came out was a squeak. He cleared his throat, then tried again. "Yes. I was wondering, Ginny, if I could talk to you for a bit?"

"Of course, Neville," she smiled. "You, unlike some, are a perfect gentleman all the time," she said as she glared across the room at Dean.

He cleared his throat again, flushing. "Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about that..."

Ginny looked up at him, surprised. "What? Do you know why he was doing it, Neville?"

Neville shook his head. "No, um...He wasn't..." his voice trailed off. How was he supposed to tell the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts that he was behind her misery?

"Wasn't what, Neville?"

"Um, well, you see..." He blushed again and looked at his feet.

"Yes?"

"I...kidndofsentthenotesnotDean."

"What was that about Dean?" She looked completely puzzled now.

"He didn't do it."

She glared over at the dark-skinned boy, who was pointedly ignoring her. "Neville, I appreciate that Dean is your friend, and you're just trying to help him out, but you don't have to make excuses for him."

"I'm not, I just..."

Ginny waited for him to continue, but Neville just stood there, staring at the floor and growing redder by the moment. "Neville, what is it?"

"I um...I sent the notes," he said in barely more than a whisper.

But this time, Ginny caught it, and her eyes flew wide. "You sent them?" She stood, and looked at the boy in front of her. He'd changed so much in the last two years. Practicing in the DA and spending more time with Harry, Ron and Hermione had helped change him. He was no longer the chubby boy who had asked her to the Yule Ball. An invitation she had only accepted in hopes of getting closer to another boy. But as she looked at Neville, she realized that perhaps she had missed something. He was not slender, but he wasn't chubby either. His blonde hair was slightly wavy, and often hung in his face, concealing surprisingly bright sapphire eyes. Where had this boy come from, and what had he done with the old Neville that she thought she had known so well? "The flowers, too?"

He nodded, his eyes still downcast.

"Neville, look at me."

He looked up at her warily, certain that this was it. She would laugh at him, or tell him that she was sorry, but she didn't see him that way. He pulled his shoulders back. Well, if he had to hear it, at least he could face it with all the Gryffindor bravery that the last few years had shown him he had.

She smiled at him, then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "No one has ever done anything so sweet for me before, Neville."

He smiled at the compliment, then waited for the axe to fall.

She held out her hand. "Maybe we should go up to the Astronomy Tower and discuss it?"

Neville felt his chest fill with something. He'd never felt quite this light in his life. Like he was walking on air. Before he could stop it, he was grinning. "Yeah." He took her hand, and together the two walked out of the common room, unaware of Ron's growling threats behind them, and Hermione and Harry's restraining hand on their friend's shoulder as Harry stared after them, grinning.

Fin