DRABBLE: Follow Me (Neville/Parvati)
Title: Follow Me
Pairing: Neville/Parvati (with references to Neville/Ginny, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Parvati, Neville/Hermione, and Cedric/Hermione)
Prompt: dance partners
Rating: G
Word Count: 457
Summary: At the Yule Ball, Neville and Harry switch dates for one song.
Author's Notes: I'd written this a long time ago for phil_urich, in the spirit of rarepair_shorts's Spring Wishlist Event (which has long since ended). I'd had it beta'd by peskywhistpaw and everything, but due to real life, I never got around to finishing it until now. Please forgive me phil_urich for posting this so late - and I do hope you like it. :)
All Neville knew was that Ginny no longer held his hands. He was not aware that the song had ended, for the last note he'd heard had trembled upwardly, indecisively - it had lacked the general tone of finality.
Much to his surprise, the next song - a fast, boisterous number - was already in full swing. The Weird Sisters were shouting instructions over the music: "Dance with someone other than the person you came with!"
Naturally, Neville panicked slightly. He felt comfortable with Ginny; he knew her well enough, and she didn't mind him. But he knew she'd want to dance with Harry this time, and his thoughts were confirmed when Harry placed his hands in hers.
Who else would possibly want to dance with him now?
Craning his neck, he searched desperately for Hermione, the only other conceivable option - but she had already attached herself to Cedric. Thus, Neville resigned himself to the chairs on the sideline, muttering under his breath that the song was too fast for him anyway.
He was halfway to the fruit punch bowl when Parvati approached him. "Want to dance?" she asked him kindly, but with a look on her face that indicated she was not asking him of her own volition.
"That's okay," he replied sadly, noticing that Harry and Ginny were staring at him intently from far away. "I think I'll just sit this one out."
"Come on," Parvati insisted, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the dance floor. "I'll lead."
There was no refusing her, and so Neville allowed her to steer him - rather forcefully, he might add. She was turning around so fast that he tripped over her twice, and then, deciding he might not get killed if he didn't move at all, bumped heads with her as she attempted a tricky technique.
"No, no. Here, like this," Parvati instructed him, placing his hands in the proper position and wincing as he stepped on her toes. "You're not much better than Harry," she mumbled darkly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered back, apologizing that she'd had to dance with him at all.
"No worries. We'll just dance a little slower."
And so they moved about at the tempo of a waltz, completely off-rhythym, as everyone else around them jumped and jived and stomped furiously. Parvati steered him more gently, and he was fewer in his mistakes.
It was quite nice, Neville decided, even if they were not dancing to the music.
The song ended all too soon, but it was an emphatic, unmistakable finish. Their hands slid apart as they wordlessly turned away - Parvati back to Harry, Neville back to Ginny. And as the next song gained momentum, Neville let Ginny lead him... but it just wasn't quite the same.
Pairing: Neville/Parvati (with references to Neville/Ginny, Harry/Ginny, Harry/Parvati, Neville/Hermione, and Cedric/Hermione)
Prompt: dance partners
Rating: G
Word Count: 457
Summary: At the Yule Ball, Neville and Harry switch dates for one song.
Author's Notes: I'd written this a long time ago for phil_urich, in the spirit of rarepair_shorts's Spring Wishlist Event (which has long since ended). I'd had it beta'd by peskywhistpaw and everything, but due to real life, I never got around to finishing it until now. Please forgive me phil_urich for posting this so late - and I do hope you like it. :)
All Neville knew was that Ginny no longer held his hands. He was not aware that the song had ended, for the last note he'd heard had trembled upwardly, indecisively - it had lacked the general tone of finality.
Much to his surprise, the next song - a fast, boisterous number - was already in full swing. The Weird Sisters were shouting instructions over the music: "Dance with someone other than the person you came with!"
Naturally, Neville panicked slightly. He felt comfortable with Ginny; he knew her well enough, and she didn't mind him. But he knew she'd want to dance with Harry this time, and his thoughts were confirmed when Harry placed his hands in hers.
Who else would possibly want to dance with him now?
Craning his neck, he searched desperately for Hermione, the only other conceivable option - but she had already attached herself to Cedric. Thus, Neville resigned himself to the chairs on the sideline, muttering under his breath that the song was too fast for him anyway.
He was halfway to the fruit punch bowl when Parvati approached him. "Want to dance?" she asked him kindly, but with a look on her face that indicated she was not asking him of her own volition.
"That's okay," he replied sadly, noticing that Harry and Ginny were staring at him intently from far away. "I think I'll just sit this one out."
"Come on," Parvati insisted, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the dance floor. "I'll lead."
There was no refusing her, and so Neville allowed her to steer him - rather forcefully, he might add. She was turning around so fast that he tripped over her twice, and then, deciding he might not get killed if he didn't move at all, bumped heads with her as she attempted a tricky technique.
"No, no. Here, like this," Parvati instructed him, placing his hands in the proper position and wincing as he stepped on her toes. "You're not much better than Harry," she mumbled darkly.
"I'm sorry," he whispered back, apologizing that she'd had to dance with him at all.
"No worries. We'll just dance a little slower."
And so they moved about at the tempo of a waltz, completely off-rhythym, as everyone else around them jumped and jived and stomped furiously. Parvati steered him more gently, and he was fewer in his mistakes.
It was quite nice, Neville decided, even if they were not dancing to the music.
The song ended all too soon, but it was an emphatic, unmistakable finish. Their hands slid apart as they wordlessly turned away - Parvati back to Harry, Neville back to Ginny. And as the next song gained momentum, Neville let Ginny lead him... but it just wasn't quite the same.