Opposites

The first weekend arrived, a relief to Neville, whom teaching had taken its toil on. Now, for this short, two-day period, Neville could do what he pleased. In this case, that was to go outside and read a book in peace.

Neville was sitting on a stone bench in Hogwarts' courtyard, reading a book about a rare, newly discovered species of magical plant. His blue eyes ran over the pages, slowly but surely. He had gotten to the third chapter when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped a bit, naturally, and swiveled around to see who was there. It was Paige. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she was holding a book of her own. "Mind if I join you, Professor?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course not," he laughed, patting the space beside him. She sat down and Neville noticed she was reading the same book as him. "Ah, we're reading the same book."

She chuckled at the coincidence. "Yes. I find it rather fascinating. I wish we would get some here."

He hadn't been paying attention. "Get some what?"

"Yorblton Fig Trees."

"Oh! Yes, yes, we should."

"Have you gotten to their magical uses?"

"No...not yet. I'm not a fast reader."

"Oh," she replied, going back to her book. She was already halfway through.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from outside the courtyard walls. Neville jumped out of his seat and ran over to it, for it was in his job requirements to do so. He peeked around the corner and saw a pile of girls who had somehow managed to tackle a rouge owl, knocking over a few of their peers in the process. "Jessie," snapped one. Neville recognized them all as sixth years from his Gryffindor/Ravenclaw class. He especially recognized Jessie Flynn, the ambitious Gryffindor girl who dreamed of marrying Harry Potter. The brown haired girl continued, she was the Ravenclaw who had written through much of their Herbology class. "How many times have I told you to keep this stupid owl under control?"

"I'm sorry," Jessie replied in a whining voice. "but Bailey is just insane."

"You're insane," inserted a blonde-haired Ravenclaw.

The bobbed haired girl who had sat beside Jessie in the class was rolling on the ground laughing. She obviously thought it all to be a joke. "Ivor," whinnied Jessie, "stop laughing!"

"I..." she giggled, "...I can't help it! You all look like loons."

"Well..." Jessie started, but she was cut off by Neville.

"So, what just happened?" he asked.

"Well," said Ivor, who was obviously the outgoing one of the group, "Jessie's owl Bailey has no brain, well...she has one, because all animals have brains. Well, she has one but he doesn't use it for anything productive. But anyway, she was flying towards the Whomping Willow, and we knew she would surely fly into it, so, we had to stop it."

"By tackling it?" Neville questioned.

"Yes..." replied Ivor as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "but Bethany here thought we should just let it die."

"I did not!" the brown haired girl protested.

"Psh, yeah right," replied the blonde Ravenclaw.

"Shut up Evie," snapped Bethany, a sneer on her face.

Neville decided to leave the bickering girls. He never did like dealing with them and he wasn't going to start now. He walked back over to his bench, where Paige was still reading, unaffected by the noise. He looked at her a bit, she was beautiful and so serene, in fact, and he'd never seen her do anything funny or crazy or outgoing. She was just sort of there, almost like a China doll. With this thought, he walked back into the castle, confused and wondering what life was all about.

------

Sunday, Neville stayed in his room. He read a little and slept a little. Unfortunately, this made him become terribly bored. He decided to write a letter to Luna Lovegood, who was off looking for some Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in Eastern Europe. She had been a good friend to him while they were at Hogwarts and he didn't think she had heard about his new teaching position yet either.

After writing his letter, he took it up to the tower to get an owl. In the tower, he spotted Jessie, who was attempting to give her owl a pep talk.

He kindly ignored her and tied his letter to the leg of a gray barn owl, which gladly flew away, happy to do something for a change.

By this time, it was lunch and Neville walked slowly to the Great Hall to get some food. He wasn't that hungry, since he had barely moved all day he certainly hadn't worked up an appetite.

He sat down at the teachers table beside Hermione, who was a chipper as ever. "So, how are you today, Hermione?" Neville asked, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, I'm grand," she replied energetically, just as Neville had predicted she would. "Teaching has filled me with even more of a love for knowledge."

Neville didn't know that was possible. Hermione was already the smartest person he knew, and had assumed she already had a very passionate love for knowledge. Oh well. Someone had once told him, "The boundaries of love are endless." He wasn't sure who had told him that though.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked him.

"Great," Neville replied, putting on a smile to humor her. He was doing okay he supposed, but certainly not great.

"That's wonderful. I just love teaching. I think the kids liked me too. I barely gave them anything at all. I just assigned them a two-roll essay on the principals of Transfiguration. I of course, expect more out of the older students."

"Yes, yes, of course," Neville agreed half-heartedly. He was sure the kids were cursing Hermione for giving such a big assignment in the first week, but it wasn't his problem. He knew they would have huge assignments for the rest of the year, knowing Hermione.

Neville ate the rest of his meal without saying anything. He thought instead. He thought about the meals he had had in the Great Hall. All the laughs and stories he had shared with his small group of friends, forcing out the memories of all the bodies that had laid there after the battle.

Neville got up at the end of the meal and decided to go outside to the lake with his book. He didn't have anything better to do. As he was walking towards the lake, Philip Robinson stopped him. "Hello, sir," said the boy.

"Hello, Philip," replied Neville.

"I was wondering what your thoughts are about Quidditch."

"I really don't have any."

"You don't play?"

"No, I was never good on a broomstick," stated Neville, his mind going back to first year where Draco Malfoy had stolen his Rememberall.

"Do you watch it, sir?"

"On occasion..."

"Will you be watching the games this school year?"

"I suppose so..."

"Well, then, the first match is Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin. I hope you will root for Ravenclaw."

"I'm a teacher, Philip; I only root for my house. I stay neutral all other time," he said, smiling. The boy reminded him of Oliver Wood.

"All right, sir," smiled Philip, knowing that Professor Longbottom would be pulling for Ravenclaw, even if it was on the inside.

He finally made it to the lake, only to find that the squid was acting up and splashing everyone who dared come near the Black Lake.

Unfortunately, Neville didn't know this until he had sat down.

Needless to say, a very wet Neville trudged up to the castle a few minutes later.

McGonagall happened to be at the door. "Mister Longbottom. Why are you wet?"

"Squid."

"Why didn't you dry yourself?"

"Forgot my wand."

"Oh goodness," she sighed, taking out her wand and muttering a spell. Neville was dry within moments. "Please don't forget your wand next time you go out of the castle. You never know what kind of things you'll find out there."

"I will, Headmistress," he replied in a small voice. He then turned and walked back up to his room, where he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling in a sort of meditation. He didn't think about anything, so nothing bothered him. The rest of the day went smoothly after this.