Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Forty Six

The only thing that could distract Kefira from the white-haired woman was the fact that the first task was finally getting underway. The task involved using nesting mother dragons, calling the champions to retrieve the golden egg to complete the round. When the first dragon entered the area, the view was immediately blocked for Kefira as everyone was on their toes to catch a glimpse. Using Neville as support, she stood up in her seat and leaned on the boy's shoulder to get a better look. The first one up was Cedric Diggory against the Swedish Short-Snout. 

As confident he had looked in the corridors and in between classes, Kefira couldn't help but notice how nervous he looked in that moment as he entered to face the dragon. To distract the dragon, the Hufflepuff turned a rock into a dog and took off in the direction of the egg. The distraction seemed to prove effective for a short period of time until the dragon caught on to the trick. 

Neville could feel Kefira grip his shoulder as the dragon opened fire and burned the side of the boy's face. He flinched as well and placed his hand over hers to settle her down. The Hufflepuffs were calling out encouraging their housemate on as loud as they could, while the Hogwarts student body clapped their hands, yelling for him to grab the egg.

At the last minute, Cedric snatched the egg up and took off, dodging the raging dragon behind him, completing the first task.

Clapping their hands for their fellow peer, Kefira and Neville exchanged glances with one another. Both of them were thinking the same thing it seemed. Harry was much younger than the other students competing, which definitely left him at a disadvantage in the competition. They had a couple of years on him, which meant they knew more to get themselves out of harrowing situations such as facing an angry mother dragon. 

Kefira's attention focused back on the area as the second dragon was brought out, labeled as a Common Welsh Green. "Tree Doll" from Beauxbatons was up next as she came out from the tent, wearing a skirt. Kefira was questioning her choice of wear, and it certainly seemed she wasn't the only one.  She heard the white haired lady snort loudly and point out the skirt as a poor choice to go up against a dragon.

However, Tree Doll proved to be quite smart as she placed the dragon to sleep with an enchantment. The crowd remained quiet and still, for the time being, watching as she snuck around the nest to collect the egg. 

Just as she was about to reach out for it, the dragon let out a loud snore before a jet of flames shot out in the direction of the girl. Kefira's eyes widened and there were plenty of gasps to go around as the skirt was suddenly set on fire.

Tree Doll let out several cries as she took to her wand and put out of the flames, just before she was badly burned. She grabbed the egg and ran as fast as she could to escape any more hazardous snores. 

Neville had to adjust himself to be comfortable as Kefira didn't realize how much she was leaning on him.  He didn't dare to think of asking her to move and let her remain in her spot. She was leaning most against his back with her arms rests on his shoulders.

When Viktor Krum came out of the tent as the next Champion against the Chinese Fireball, Kefira clapped her hands for the Durmstrang boy, having no clue as to how it was affecting Neville in that moment. She did feel him tense beneath her, bringing her to look down at him.

"Are you alright, Nevs? I'm not putting too much weight on you, am I?"

"No, not at all," Neville quickly reassured her. "You're fine, just fine."

It was Viktor that was the problem. But it seemed he wasn't the only one who felt like that. Viktor didn't waste much time as early on he used the Conjunctivitis Curse on the dragon, blinding the poor creature. The dragon let out several loud screeches, throwing flames in several directions as it stumbled about. 

However, the worse part came as the dragon backed up and stepped on her own eggs, crushing them completely. 

The sounds of protest came from the white-haired woman as she looked fully prepared to enter the area and strangle Viktor herself.  The man beside her who resembled Ron and his brothers seemed to be holding the woman back as Viktor retrieved the egg. 

"They should have put the champions up against her!" Kefira told Neville. "Look at her, she's fierce."

"I don't think they're actually aiming for casualties, Kefi," Neville said. 

The two watched as the woman freed herself from the man's hold and pushed her way passed several workers on site. She made her way to Viktor and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt, yanking him back roughly to bring him to face her.

Viktor tried to pull away from her, but she was not letting up her grip.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere! Not until you understand the pain that you just put that dragon through-"

"I did what I had to win," Viktor answered. Kefira's eyes widened as she swore she saw smoke pouring from the woman's flared nostrils.

"You caused a new mother to destroy her eggs because you wanted to take a cheap shot at her!"

"Anora!" The man ran over and wrapped his arms around her to keep her back from Viktor. "Stop, let him go!"

"Wow," Neville swallowed before looking over at Kefira, who was surprisingly all smiles. "Uh, Kefi?"

"Screw what I said about role model, that woman is my patronus. Sorry, Viktor, but she's just..."

Before Kefira could continue fawning over the woman, Harry emerged from the tent as the final Champion. Unfortunately, the dragon he was set to go up against appeared to be the scariest of them all. 

"Leave it to Harry to go up against the most aggressive dragon," Neville said under his breath, loud enough for Kefira to hear.

"Actually, the fiercest dragon is over there, Nevs," Kefira teased pointing in the direction of the woman. "But yes, leave it to Harry to face the second most aggressive dragon."

Watching Harry go against the Hungarian Horntail proved to be the most heart racing of all. The boy managed to summon his Firebolt, giving him the advantage of being off the ground. It just seemed for the time being he neglected that the dragon was also capable of flight. As the boy was slashed on the shoulder, he decided to switch things up and used his quidditch skills to dodge the dragon.

"Go Harry!" Kefira called out, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Look at him fly!"

Despite the damage to his shoulder, Harry was the quickest to retrieve his egg, filling the Gryffindors with a sense of pride as they roared in the stands.

"He did it! He did it!" Kefira laughed happily as she jumped around before wrapping her arms around Neville. "This is great! Party in the Gryffindor Tower tonight!"