Wolfsbane // Neville Longbottom

Chapter 12: Scrofungulus

"Dear Amanda,

Merlin! Of course, I remember our trip to Paris! Those late-night strolls along the Seine, the dozens of eclairs we ate, the Louvre with all the boring non-moving paintings, the Eiffel Tower (which is severely overrated) and of course your lover Jacques (could you have gone for a more stereotypical french lad?).

That trip was fantastic! A great graduation present for you, don't you think? Thank Merlin father let me go with you, I didn't get a graduation trip myself. But I won't sulk about that. Tell me, where have you and Mattheo travelled to? I can't wait to travel overseas again. Hopefully one day.

Also, about your wedding, of course I will come! I'll get back to you on that plus-one invitation if that's okay. I can't believe it! You're getting hitched! I'm so happy for you, Manda. Mattheo sounds like a great lad. I look forward to meeting him some time.

I was wondering, I have a weekend without any duties at the school in January. It's the last weekend. I know it's still a few weeks away but I was wondering if you would like to come to Hogsmeade. We can catch up over some tea at the Three Broomsticks.

Have a lovely day,

Cassie."

She tied the letter to the leg of one of the Hogwarts post owls and sent it off. She watched it soar through the sky and took a moment to breathe. This was her third letter to her sister and things were going okay so far.

They had a few nice conversations about some old memories between the two of them. Amanda told her about Mattheo and her job at the ministry. She still apologized in every letter even when Cassie had already told her it was okay.

It was nice to talk to her sister again. She had genuinely missed her. Amanda and Cassie had always been incredibly close. No matter their sisterly bickering, they loved each other through thick and thin. Well, that was until Amanda forgot to think for herself and followed their parents lead.

They were slowly rebuilding their bond and Cassie wanted to see her in real life. Letters were nice and all but seeing some face to face was much better. That way you could see their expressions, hear the way they meant certain things and understand them even without speaking.

She hoped that Amanda was being as genuine as Cassie thought that she was. What if she wasn't? What if she had built up all this hope for nothing again? She didn't want to think about that possibility.

She walked back down the staircase and over to the Potions classroom. It was mid-December and the students had very little focus left. But even so, things were going well. She was on schedule with the curriculum, very few students were struggling in her class and she felt okay again.

She and Neville were back to how they were, though whenever she heard his heart skip a beat she had to force herself to take a step back. She didn't want to hurt him or reject him but she felt like she had no choice. He deserved better. She wanted him and he wanted her but she had convinced himself that she couldn't explore whatever she felt for him.

He deserved someone like Hannah, who Cassie had noticed was obviously fancying him. She had been at Hogwarts for two and half weeks now and she was almost as close to Neville as Cassie was. She was always twirling her blonde locks around her finger whenever he spoke, whenever he made a joke she laughed incredibly loud and placed her hand on his arm in a flirty manner, and she was always asking him to hang out.

But Neville had only eyes for Cassie who tried not to notice. But Cassie had only eyes for Neville so she couldn't help but notice.

Students entered the room and Cassie flicked her wand to clean out the cauldron she had used in the previous class. It was the last class of the day; Third-Year Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They all took their seats and most of them were already lost in their own thoughts, most likely about the upcoming Christmas break.