Gifts (Neville/Parvati) (5/100)
Written for 100quills
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine.
Title: Gifts
Author: lionille
Rating: G
Prompt Set: 100.2
Prompt: Years
Prompt Table: A Bracelet With Elephants
Word Count: 1,050
Summary: He must’ve been out of his mind to invite girls this year.
When he was 16 going on 17….
“Neville, we need to sort out the details of your birthday lunch. Neni needs time to make a list for market.”
Neville accepted the glass of ice water his grandmother had brought him and sat down on the lawn, running his arm over his forehead. Augusta settled into the chair beneath her favorite oak and conjured up a quill and parchment board.
“It’s a shame it practically takes a decree from the Wizengamot to get your friend Harry permission to go anywhere,” Augusta remarked. “I would like to have him visit us one of these days. Ah, well, perhaps when he’s older. But I trust Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnigan will be attending as usual?”
“Yes.”
“And those young ladies you invited, they’ve RSVP’d as well?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s still only five guests. We have plenty of room if you’d like to change your mind and have a larger gathering this year, you know. Seventeen is quite a milestone.”
“Five guests is plenty, Gran.” In fact, he was already wondering if he’d been out of his mind asking Parvati, Padma, and Lavender. Usually it was just him, Seamus, and Dean, eating unreasonable amounts of cake and spending the afternoon mucking about around the pond. He had a feeling the girls would not come dressed for anything involving frog catching or swimming, no matter his note of ‘informal’ on the cards.
“In my day,” Augusta remarked, crossing her wrists at the top of the parchment board and dangling the quill thoughtfully, “young people would host quite a bash on their seventeenths. Give themselves a chance to meet someone they might be interested in.”
“I don’t really need .. . that is, I’m sort of… already interested.” Neville was suddenly glad he still had cold water left. He drained the rest of it in one gulp, the ice rattling noisily against the glass.
Augusta sat up very straight, eyes glinting like a hawk, fingers gripping the board.. “Which one?” she demanded. “Oh, Neville, tell me it isn’t that flighty Brown girl!”
Neville felt himself start to smile. This might go all right after all. “No, ma’am. Actually, it’s not.”
~*~
The thirtieth of July dawned clear and hot. Neville overslept because of the heat. When he finally woke, he spent a few minutes trying to get used to the fact he was officially of age, even if he didn’t feel like it, and could do all sorts of things he hadn’t been able to do yesterday, not the least of which was apply for his Apparating license. But that would come later. Today he had a party to host. He could hear his grandmother and Neni bustling around in the kitchen downstairs, and hoped they weren’t going to too much trouble.
By the time he set foot in the dining room, however, he could see that they were going to a great deal of trouble indeed.
The table looked like it was set for some fancy grown-up soiree instead of the casual affair his birthdays usually were. Neville felt a bit alarmed that all that china and crystal had been set out for his humble little lunch party.
After a hasty breakfast in the kitchen, eaten at the sideboard wedged between mixing bowls full of batter and sacks of potatoes, Neville had been assigned the one job that would get him out from underfoot for a while…the floral arrangements for the table. This was also a new addition to the yearly tradition, it had certainly never been necessary before and was definitely not for the benefit of Dean or Seamus.
Yes, he was definitely out of his mind for inviting girls.
Still, he got the job done, perhaps even a little over-done. He’d gotten carried away with pruning the flowering birdberry bush out back, and he’d used every juice glass and jelly jar in the house to stuff the cuttings in. The table resembled a croquet greenway by the time Augusta came in to look at it.
“Good heavens, Neville, did you leave anything on the bushes?”
“It’s all right, Gran, they’ll actually bloom better now they’ve had a bit of a trim.”
“Yes, yes,” she waved off the herbology talk dismissively, then muttered, “If you only gave as much thought to your hair.”
Before he could point out that she herself had cut his hair a mere week ago Tuesday, Augusta was opening the front curtains. “Ah, they’re beginning to arrive!” She sounded pleased.
Neville came up to see who it was, feeling his heart quicken as he spotted a pair of twin girls walking up the long dusty path towards the house. The colors of their dresses shifted from bright pink and yellow to dusty rose and saffron as they moved in and out of the shadows of the trees. They were talking back and forth with a great deal of animation, and carrying brightly wrapped packages in their arms.
“Which one is Parvati?” Augusta asked curiously. “Can you tell from here?”
Neville could tell from anywhere. “She’s the one with the daisy in her hair,” he specified for his grandmother.
“Ah, the dreamy half of the duo.” Augusta chuckled.
“She’s not dreamy,” he said quickly, thinking his grandmother might not approve of such a quality. “She just likes flowers.”
“Well, then, she’s certainly come to the right place.” Augusta remarked dryly, with another glance at the table before they moved to the front hall.
Neville could hear light, cheerful voices floating up to the level of the porch.
“Remember to thank them for the gifts right away.”
“Gran, I’m not nine.”
“No, but you have a tendency to get tongue tied. Now stand up straight and for the love of Gryffindor keep that toad out in the yard until after lunch.”
The front bell began its stately toll. Neville thought he heard a bit of giggling from the porch as the sounds of the Warlock Overture of 1010 filled the foyer.
“As soon as I’ve met this young lady you fancy so much, I’ll be making myself scarce,” Augusta assured him, taking a simple blue hat from the rack by the door. Neville was immensely relieved that the one with the vulture on it was considered winter fashion and not summer. “Neni will be around to help if you need anything.”
Neville nodded impatiently, then opened the door before he could get scolded for leaving guests standing on the mat.
“Happy Birthday, Neville!” chimed a pair of voices in perfect unison.
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine.
Title: Gifts
Author: lionille
Rating: G
Prompt Set: 100.2
Prompt: Years
Prompt Table: A Bracelet With Elephants
Word Count: 1,050
Summary: He must’ve been out of his mind to invite girls this year.
When he was 16 going on 17….
“Neville, we need to sort out the details of your birthday lunch. Neni needs time to make a list for market.”
Neville accepted the glass of ice water his grandmother had brought him and sat down on the lawn, running his arm over his forehead. Augusta settled into the chair beneath her favorite oak and conjured up a quill and parchment board.
“It’s a shame it practically takes a decree from the Wizengamot to get your friend Harry permission to go anywhere,” Augusta remarked. “I would like to have him visit us one of these days. Ah, well, perhaps when he’s older. But I trust Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnigan will be attending as usual?”
“Yes.”
“And those young ladies you invited, they’ve RSVP’d as well?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s still only five guests. We have plenty of room if you’d like to change your mind and have a larger gathering this year, you know. Seventeen is quite a milestone.”
“Five guests is plenty, Gran.” In fact, he was already wondering if he’d been out of his mind asking Parvati, Padma, and Lavender. Usually it was just him, Seamus, and Dean, eating unreasonable amounts of cake and spending the afternoon mucking about around the pond. He had a feeling the girls would not come dressed for anything involving frog catching or swimming, no matter his note of ‘informal’ on the cards.
“In my day,” Augusta remarked, crossing her wrists at the top of the parchment board and dangling the quill thoughtfully, “young people would host quite a bash on their seventeenths. Give themselves a chance to meet someone they might be interested in.”
“I don’t really need .. . that is, I’m sort of… already interested.” Neville was suddenly glad he still had cold water left. He drained the rest of it in one gulp, the ice rattling noisily against the glass.
Augusta sat up very straight, eyes glinting like a hawk, fingers gripping the board.. “Which one?” she demanded. “Oh, Neville, tell me it isn’t that flighty Brown girl!”
Neville felt himself start to smile. This might go all right after all. “No, ma’am. Actually, it’s not.”
~*~
The thirtieth of July dawned clear and hot. Neville overslept because of the heat. When he finally woke, he spent a few minutes trying to get used to the fact he was officially of age, even if he didn’t feel like it, and could do all sorts of things he hadn’t been able to do yesterday, not the least of which was apply for his Apparating license. But that would come later. Today he had a party to host. He could hear his grandmother and Neni bustling around in the kitchen downstairs, and hoped they weren’t going to too much trouble.
By the time he set foot in the dining room, however, he could see that they were going to a great deal of trouble indeed.
The table looked like it was set for some fancy grown-up soiree instead of the casual affair his birthdays usually were. Neville felt a bit alarmed that all that china and crystal had been set out for his humble little lunch party.
After a hasty breakfast in the kitchen, eaten at the sideboard wedged between mixing bowls full of batter and sacks of potatoes, Neville had been assigned the one job that would get him out from underfoot for a while…the floral arrangements for the table. This was also a new addition to the yearly tradition, it had certainly never been necessary before and was definitely not for the benefit of Dean or Seamus.
Yes, he was definitely out of his mind for inviting girls.
Still, he got the job done, perhaps even a little over-done. He’d gotten carried away with pruning the flowering birdberry bush out back, and he’d used every juice glass and jelly jar in the house to stuff the cuttings in. The table resembled a croquet greenway by the time Augusta came in to look at it.
“Good heavens, Neville, did you leave anything on the bushes?”
“It’s all right, Gran, they’ll actually bloom better now they’ve had a bit of a trim.”
“Yes, yes,” she waved off the herbology talk dismissively, then muttered, “If you only gave as much thought to your hair.”
Before he could point out that she herself had cut his hair a mere week ago Tuesday, Augusta was opening the front curtains. “Ah, they’re beginning to arrive!” She sounded pleased.
Neville came up to see who it was, feeling his heart quicken as he spotted a pair of twin girls walking up the long dusty path towards the house. The colors of their dresses shifted from bright pink and yellow to dusty rose and saffron as they moved in and out of the shadows of the trees. They were talking back and forth with a great deal of animation, and carrying brightly wrapped packages in their arms.
“Which one is Parvati?” Augusta asked curiously. “Can you tell from here?”
Neville could tell from anywhere. “She’s the one with the daisy in her hair,” he specified for his grandmother.
“Ah, the dreamy half of the duo.” Augusta chuckled.
“She’s not dreamy,” he said quickly, thinking his grandmother might not approve of such a quality. “She just likes flowers.”
“Well, then, she’s certainly come to the right place.” Augusta remarked dryly, with another glance at the table before they moved to the front hall.
Neville could hear light, cheerful voices floating up to the level of the porch.
“Remember to thank them for the gifts right away.”
“Gran, I’m not nine.”
“No, but you have a tendency to get tongue tied. Now stand up straight and for the love of Gryffindor keep that toad out in the yard until after lunch.”
The front bell began its stately toll. Neville thought he heard a bit of giggling from the porch as the sounds of the Warlock Overture of 1010 filled the foyer.
“As soon as I’ve met this young lady you fancy so much, I’ll be making myself scarce,” Augusta assured him, taking a simple blue hat from the rack by the door. Neville was immensely relieved that the one with the vulture on it was considered winter fashion and not summer. “Neni will be around to help if you need anything.”
Neville nodded impatiently, then opened the door before he could get scolded for leaving guests standing on the mat.
“Happy Birthday, Neville!” chimed a pair of voices in perfect unison.