Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter Seventy Two

"So you dueled a lot?" Kefira asked as she sat in front of the portrait of Godric. She had been sitting for hours, but none of them seemed to notice the time moving on.

"I did." Godric answered.

"With your wand or your sword?"

Godric smiled. "Both."

"Nice." Kefira grinned. "I wish I knew how to sword fight."

"Well, I'm sorry that's not an offered class here...perhaps if enough students showed interest in the topic..."

"How would one go about recommended that as an elective course?" she asked.

"Very carefully."

Neville sat in the Common Room when the portrait swung open and in came Kefira with Trevor.

"There you two are." he smiled. "I figured you two would be together."

"Where have you been today?" Kefira asked. "I was looking for all of you."

"I was in the greenhouses." Neville said. "I was helping Professor Sprout."

'Oh...I don't think I looked there." she said.

"Now where have you been?" Neville asked.

"I was hanging out with Sir Godric." Kefira told him.

Neville stared at her. "S-Sir Godric?" he repeated. "How-"

"His portrait Neville." Kefira laughed. "I didn't go back in time to talk to him certainly. Although that would awesome! Could you imagine being around when the founders were alive? I bet that was a great time to be alive."

"What did you two talk about?" 

"All sorts of stuff. Mainly stories of dueling. He told me about sword fighting. Trevor and I thought it would be a great idea to talk about it becoming an elective." she mused.

"Sword fighting?" Neville's eyes widened.

"Yes! Sounds great, doesn't it?"

"Sounds dangerous."

"Dangerously exciting." Kefira corrected him. "Godric's really cool! You should go talk to him sometime. He tells some great stories, and he seemed to be a very kind soul. He was talking about he believes that everyone should have a chance to learn magic, whether they be pure-blood or muggle-born."

Neville smiled at her. 

"Plus, his hair is incredible. He has a true lion's mane." Kefira laughed.

"Like someone I know." Neville muttered to himself. "So did you end up getting into trouble with McGonagall?" 

"Nah. She just told me what they all tell me..."

"Pay attention, Kefi." The two said together. 

The two shared in laughter before Kefira caught sight of something in the boy's hand.

"What's that you got there?" she pointed out.

"Hmm?" Neville's hand quickly shoved into the pocket of his pants. "Nothing!"

"Oh come, Nevs, you don't honestly expect me to believe that, do you?"

"It's nothing really."

"If it's nothing then why are you hiding it?" Kefira asked him.

Neville frowned and with a heavy sigh removed the object from his pocket and held it out in the palm of his hand.

Kefira looked at it, before looking at him confused.

"You were hiding a candy wrapper?"

Neville stared at it for a moment. "My mum gave it to me the last time I visited her. She gives me one every time I see her." he whispered to her. 

Kefira's expression softened as she sat beside him.

"I suppose some would find it silly that I keep that, after all they are just candy wrappers..." Neville said.

"I don't think it's silly. I don't think it's silly at all." she replied. " It sounds like they mean something to your mother if she gives them to you every time you visit, Neville. Maybe this is her way of telling you that she's listening to you when you visit."

"I like to think that too." Neville said. He watched as Kefira took his hand and closed his fingers over the candy wrapper.

Severus stood at the threshold of the door waiting for his students to arrive for another potions class. Of course, the first person to arrive was the one that bothered him the most out of all the students.

"Hi Professor!" Kefira waved at him. "You're looking awfully happy today."

Severus' expression remain flat as he glanced down at her only to see that she was smiling up at him.

"Take your seat, Miss Walsh." he said looking away from her.

She went to walk to her seat but stopped once more. "Did you ever finish that joke book?"

"Take your seat!"

"Alright, alright!"

She sat down in her usual seat and Severus opened his mouth to tell her to move but she turned away from him before he could say anything. Just as he went to approach her, students began filing in and Neville took his seat happily beside Kefira.

Kefira just looked up at Neville and smiled before looking to Severus with a look, wondering if he was going to ask her to move.

Professor Snape said nothing as he got the lesson underway once all the students were in the room. He began lecturing over the Confusing Concoction. But Kefira wasn't sure which was more confusing, the concoction or the lecture.

She didn't seem to be the only one confused, but no one dared to ask a question even when Professor Snape paused in between several points, giving the opportunity to do so.

By the time the class ended, everyone appeared as though they had taken the Confusing Concoction. Even Hermione didn't appear as confident as she scrambled to jot down as many notes as she could take.

Kefira looked at Neville who seemed to be in a cloud of confusion.

"That swords fighting class doesn't sound too bad now, does it?"

Neville turned to her.

"I'd welcome a sword fight right about now."