Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Eight

Neville sat on the plane once he boarded along with the Walsh family, and he seemed to be alright for the most part, until a woman across the way seemed to be in a panicky state while her family tried to calm her down.

"Why is she so upset?" he questioned. Rosemary leaned across the aisle towards the younger two that preoccupied the window seats. 

"It's because some people have a fear of heights and also don't enjoy the feeling of take off..."

"What do you feel during take off?" Neville asked looking to Kefira.

"Oh it's great!" she said. "The plane just goes super fast down the runway and then you feel the front start to lift off the ground...next thing you know you're just soaring through the air."

The Walsh sisters watched as Neville's face dropped as he looked out the window. But Kefira didn't seem to take notice of the fearful look planted on his face and in his eyes as she continued to explain the take off using dramatic hand and arm gestures.

They tried to signal the red head to stop talking or at least change the subject but she didn't seem to notice them either. Rosemary clapped her hands over her face while Lottie and Nellie shook their heads.

"Alright, alright," Cardel's voice rang out from the seats in front of Kefira and Neville. He turned around in his seat and looked at the young ones. "Calm down Kefira, you're going to end up passing out from all the excitement before we even take off.'

"That might not be a bad thing." Alana said holding her head.

Kefira grinned. "Sorry."

Cardel gave her a wink before sitting back down in his seat leaving Kefira to turn to Neville, finally noticing his face.

"Aww Nevs, I didn't scare you, did I?"

"I uh..no.." Neville shook his head quickly, but his eyes focused on the window looking outside. 

"Relax Neville, nothing bad happens on these flights. It's like once in a blue moon that something malfunctions on the runway and something bad happens. "

"That..that did not make me feel better, Kefi." Neville admitted her.

"Yeah I can see how that wasn't very reassuring." she said touching her hand to her chin before shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well! We'll be fine."

To distract Neville's nerves, Kefira decided to entertain him silly jokes but when she ran out of them, she turned her attention to bothering her sisters. Grabbing one of the little pamphlets that rested in the pocket of the seats, she tore the pamphlet up into small paper balls and occasionally would throw them at her sisters pinging them on the head.

It became incredibly hard for the two to conceal their smiles and laughter as Rosemary became incredibly irritated first but couldn't figure out what was hitting her in the head as many of them got caught up in her hair.

Unable to control herself any longer, Kefira burst into giggles giving herself away instantly.

"Kefi!" Rosemary growled from across the way.

"Girls behave! All of you!" Alana said, the fear of the plane clearly adding to the woman's stress. "Kefira..that means you above everyone."

Kefira leaned back in her seat with a smile. "Sorry, Mum."

Suddenly, Cardel turned in his seat and hit Kefira square in the forehead with a small paper ball. She laughed while Alana scolded her husband, but she knew there was no use in wasting her breath.

"We're going to get kicked off the plane." she said.

Fortunately, the Walsh family was not kicked off the plane, but during take off, Kefira instantly could feel Neville's anxiety skyrocket as the plane began picking up speed. His hands gripped the arms of the chair tightly.

"Hey," she called to Neville quietly. "Look at me, Nevs."

He turned his head to face her and looked down to see her holding out her hand to him. "Go on, take my hand."

"No, I don't want to hurt you-"

"Oh stop it Nev..come on." she offered her hand again. Biting the inside of his cheek, he grabbed onto her left hand and squeezed the living hell out of it.  Kefira suppressed a whimper never realizing how physically strong Neville was until that moment.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked nervously.

"Nope." she replied quickly. She tried to focus her mind on something as she ignored the pain.

"You wouldn't happen to have any gecko blood in you right?" she asked him.

"What? No. Why?"

"No reason." she said, choosing not to disclose the fact that she knew geckos were known for their death grips.

Eventually after the plane left the ground and reached a comfortable altitude, Neville's grip loosened but he didn't let go of her hands. Kefira was just thankful that she was able to feel her fingers again.

"So, what is your father going to photograph this time?" Neville faced her as stretched out slightly.

"I dunno, I'm sure he's going to get some shots in the bushveld. But he said his job wanted pictures of the big five." Kefira said.

"The big five?"

"You know, elephant, rhino,leopard and buffalo."

"Kefira that's only four?"

"Well, he has enough pictures of a lion." she said roaring playfully at him.

"Are we going to get really close to the animals?"

"Only as close as you're comfortable getting, Neville. " she told him as she leaned her head against his shoulder with a small yawn.

"Are you tired?" 

"Nah."

While Kefira said she wasn't tired, Neville watched as fifteen minutes she drifted off to sleep.He felt her fingers twitch slightly as she must have entered a dream. He gave it a gentle squeeze before closing his own eyes.

"Remember when Kefira was a baby and just couldn't sleep through the night unless we put her in the car and drover her around forever?" Cardel asked Alana.

"Yes." Alana chuckled. "Why?"

"Apparently, we should have just bought a plane." Cardel said pointing over his shoulder.

Alana peeked between their seats to find Kefira and Neville asleep.

"I don't think it's the plane, Cardel."