Brave { Neville Longbottom}

Chapter One Hundred Seventy Five

Shocked.

Astonished.

Flabberghasted.

Bewildered.

These were just some of the few words that came to mind when Kefira thought about how she felt about the events that had taken place during the final task. However, none of them even came close to what she was truly feeling and it was safe to say that plenty of other students were feeling the exact same way. In moments after the boy cried out, the students were alarmed to see that Eleanor removed his shoes. It revealed that he wasn't wearing socks and the bottom of his feet appeared to be burned, but that didn't make sense to anyone.

They had claimed that the boy was dead but as he was lifted up, the boy was moving about and muttering things, clearly showing that he was alive. Kefira couldn't even form a coherent sentence and it seemed her peers were in the same boat as the professors continued to urge the students back to the castle.

All of them were instructed to return to their respective dorms immediately, anyone caught doing otherwise would be severely punished. But it didn't seem to be a problem as all students rushed back in order to discuss what had happened. What they all had witnessed in that small window of time. 

"I have such a headache right now," Kefira said lifting her hand to her hand as she entered the dorm with the boys. "What...what just happened? What is going on? He was dead, right? They said he was dead and now he's not dead. How is that possible?"

Unable to get her head to focus and still feeling quite nauseous, Kefira did the only thing she could think of in that moment to help herself. She sat down in the middle of the floor and buried her head into her hands.  Her head was throbbing mainly from vomiting earlier but it was also due to the massively confused state she found herself in. 

"Kefi, maybe you should head to bed," Neville suggested crouching down in front of her and waiting for her response.

"Sleep? At a time like this? No way!" She protested. "Come on, Nevs, you were there! How crazy is all of this and you're telling me to go to bed? No. I'm staying up until they give us some answer."

"Well, at least go brush your teeth," Seamus told her. "You did throw up all over the place, remember?"

Dean elbowed the boy hard in the ribs as Kefira pushed herself up using Neville's hands as assistance. She shot Seamus a glare before heading up to the dorms.

"Way to go, Seamus," Neville said looking over at him. "You couldn't let that slide just for a few more minutes?"

"No, vomit breath is gross!"

Kefira did brush her teeth and managed to change her clothes, while she was up there she found Ginny, but the girl didn't have any answers which left both of them frustrated. All she knew was that her brothers were on their Hospital Wing with Ellie to make sure that she was okay and check on Cedric.

"You think they'll manage to get in there? I don't know if they'll let them in," Kefira pointed out.

"Have you ever known Fred or George to take no as an answer?" Ginny reminded her.

"Good point."

There were no answers that were given to the students upon the next day. They claimed that Cedric was being treated for injuries at St. Mungo's  that occurred in the maze and that was it. Whenever anyone went to question what had happened they were met with the answer that the details did not concern them. 

"I need to get out of this school for a little bit," Kefira sighed to her friends. "This year...has officially topped all the other years in terms of madness. I'm all for a bit of crazy but this...this is beyond crazy for the likes of me."

"I think we all need a break from Hogwarts," Dean agreed. "Professors included. Have you thought about how you're going to tell your parents, Kefi? Because I don't even know where to begin telling my mum any of this. She's going to lose it."

"How do we even begin to explain it?" She questioned. "I'm thinking about just writing it down on a letter and leaving it on the kitchen table before I leave to spend the time with Bandile.  I mean, you guys remember how they reacted to second year when I was petrified."

"You don't think they'll take you out of the school, do you?" Neville frowned.

She bit her lower lip before thinking for a long moment. "Maybe...maybe I should write to Bandile and have him explain it to them. He's a lot better with his words than I am. Maybe he can explain it to them in a way that they'll be okay with it."

"Oh, so can you send him over to my house once he's done at  yours?" Dean asked. "I'd really appreciate it."

"I think you two are overreacting," Seamus said. "Sure it'll be a bit of a nasty shock-"

"Don't start, Seamus," Dean told him. "Just please...don't start."

"Fine then, I like Kefira's idea of writing a letter down and then hauling arse as far as possible."

"Now I really wish this was one of the summers that we were spending together," Kefira confessed to Neville. "I'm really gonna miss not hanging out with you every day, it's going to feel weird."

Neville turned slightly red as he tried to fight back the goofy smile that threatened to lock on his face. "Well, we may not be able to spend the entire summer together, but you won't be gone with Bandile the whole summer. Maybe we can...we can spend some time together after you get back?"

Kefira grinned as he turned redder. "I'd like that," she told him."But you know, in the meantime, I'm going to write to you like a mad woman and tell you everything that's going on with Bandile."

"I'll look forward to them the most," he said quietly.  "But don't worry about me while you're out there, you should spend as much time as you can with him. And just have fun. You need to have a lot of fun after this year. Especially the last couple of months."

"Me? So do you...so tell your gran to put on her fun knickers instead of her twisted ones and maybe do something crazy. Or I'll...I'll send you both a howler."

"You'd really send me a howler?"

"Of course, but if you make me send one to you, it'll far worse. I'll...like sing into yours or something. I heard from Lottie and Rosemary that it's considered a form of torture to hear me sing...so watch out."

"Alright," Neville said. "I'll make a promise with you that I'll do one exciting thing over the summer before we see each other again."

"I feel like there is a catch to this, Nevs."

"No, not a catch...just a promise that I'm making to you."

"Alright, I'll hold you to it, the next time we see each other, I expect to hear all about it. With dramatic storytelling....so dramatic that it makes Seamus look...well less dramatic."

"That's really dramatic, Kefi!"

"I know, so are you up for it? Do you promise?" She asked holding out her pinky to him.

Neville wrapped his pinky around hers with a nod.

"I promise."