Crouched low in one of the densest greenhouses on his property, Neville Longbottom breathed in deeply.
"Feel the sap here?" asked his favourite Professor, smiling as he hurriedly nodded to answer. "Good, this is the main process, now look closely," she instructed, leaning back to show him the thick sack behind a leaf.
Hunching to look over her shoulder once more, he watched how her nimble fingers worked their way through the sack, showing him the anatomies of the plant that produced some of the strongest antidotes known to magic.
Truthfully though, he already knew all of that. Throughout the summer, he'd already progressed up to the NEWT levels of Herbology, and if he had to write the exam tomorrow, he'll be sure to get at least an Exceeds Expectations. So, this exercise here today wasn't exactly for his education.
His eyes followed her drenched hands and how the wet sleeve of her blouse tightened slightly around her elbows as she showed him how to extract the sap into a conjured inert wooden bottle. His heart thundering in his chest, he took in how her partially naked shoulders pulled together to apply sufficient pressure to the plant, causing the neckline of her blouse to droop lower until her large, perky golden mounds were available for his eyes to feast upon without hindrance.
Busy in her explanation, Neville was thankful that she never noticed how close his mouth was to her collarbone; an inch lower and his lips would be upon her skin, and he just couldn't imagine beyond that before losing himself to the fantasy and ending up embarrassing and chasing her away for good.
"Is this how we know we should stop?" he asked a question to make sure she knew that he was paying attention.
The Professor beamed at him and he swelled with pride. She launched into an explanation and he settled himself for relishing one of the only opportunities he'll ever get to be so close to her.
His eyes wandered higher, over to her neck to see how the little dark brown curls were dancing around her earlobe as she talked and discreetly, he breathed in deeply to take in her scent. She was so beautiful.
"Tea is ready!" called a voice that made him jerk his head back and hurriedly move a little bit away from her so that it didn't appear inappropriate.
A minute later, his mother was standing at the door, beckoning for them to join her in partaking some tea and light snacks.
"We'll be right there, mum," he called back, wishing she could've waited a few more hours at the very least.
But it was not to be and their time had come to an end.
A few minutes later, the Professor was greeting her with enthusiasm. "Alice, the Snargaluff Pods are coming along nicely! I think they'll be ready to produce by Halloween at the very best."
"It was all my Neville's work, Pomona," Alice said as Neville ducked his head, blushing, as both ladies began to shower him with more praise on his skills and dedication to see the plant to harvest.
"I think I need to wash my hands and face before I'm capable of eating anything," Professor Sprout said laughing and Alice nodded.
"Of course. Neville will show you the way," she replied.
"This way, Professor," Neville grasped at the chance to be alone with her once more, for whatever few minutes he could have at least.
As he guided her to one of the guest bathrooms, he wished there was a way for him to talk to her as someone more than a mere student.
But alas, he didn't know how to talk to girls his own age, let alone his Professor who was forty-four and much more no-nonsense than someone like Susan or Hannah.
The worst part was, he didn't even know if he had any friends he could ask for help with this.
Did he really have anyone he could trust with this big of a secret and help him with his stupid social anxiety?
He didn't know.
~~ .
His feet traversed the labyrinth of the Auror offices as his eyes searched diligently for the one person he'd been meaning to find ever since he'd come to know that he was here.
He was about to make up his mind to ask someone when he saw Harry Potter walk out of a door on the other side of the floor and he ran.
"Harry!" he called and a pair of glowing emerald green orbs came to rest upon him.
"Hey Harry," he said again but this time, he offered his hand which his Slytherin classmate met into a firm hold.
"How are you Neville?" the genial tone surprised him but he didn't let it dissuade him from his intentions, even a little. He guessed he should've expected that since Harry did look different.
The first thing he noticed was that Harry didn't remove his gaze from him at all, looking at him as if studying him. Neville averted his eyes and then cleared his throat, putting on a smile.
"I'm well, thank you," he began. "I wanted to thank you for saving my father's life that day of the Quidditch finals. I can't ever repay you for that."
His throat closed in on himself as he realized how weird he sounded. He had to forcefully keep himself from looking away as Harry stared at him knowingly.
"It's fine, mate," he said, surprising him once again with how easy-going he was, "You would've done the same for me."
Neville nodded vigorously. "Of course. You don't even have to ask that."
"Then there's no debt between us. Not when we are friends." Harry said firmly.
"We are?" Neville blurted out and then winced, blushing.
"Of course," Harry said confidently, as if it was so natural, "At least, I was hoping we could be friends."
Neville could find no way to deny that simple and benign request so he clasped his hand once more. "Thanks. I'd like that too."
Harry smiled. It was quite a genuine smile, one that he'd never expected to receive from Harry Potter of all people.
"Now, are you in a hurry or can we go catch up somewhere? I was hoping you know your way around here and there is some place in this building where we could sit and have tea or something."
Neville couldn't help but grin at how natural it felt to talk to him now. It was almost as if they had been friends forever. "I know the Wizengamot lounge. It's where the Lords and Ladies relax in between back to back sessions."
"Awesome," Harry smirked. "Lead the way."
"By the way," Neville said as he took them both into the lift and pressed the button, "I hear congratulations are in order? Your father is going to be the Deputy Minister."
Harry shrugged. "Thanks, but it's not finalized yet."
Neville nodded before launching into a topic about the upcoming school year.