RP: The Amphibian Playdate

[rar_neville]

Date: 30 May 1998
Characters: Neville Longbottom, Eloise Midgen
Location: Hogwarts, by the lake
Status: Private
Summary: Neville and Eloise meet for lunch and to let Trevor and Marmite play.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[rar_eloise]

"Oh, Neville," Eloise whispered. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind, burying her face in his hair. She could only imagine how terrifying it had to have been. During the battle, she remembered hexes flying by her, debris falling, and the absolute terror she'd felt when the Astronomy tower had started to collapse around her. Her last thought had been of her family and she could imagine Neville, at the mercy of He Who Must Not Be Named, thinking he might die.

"You were so brave this year. And so strong. And not because you were trying to prove anything, just because you were. Because it's who you are." She let her chin drop so it rested on his shoulder.

"The Carrows wanted to kill me, I think," she said softly. "That last time? I never told you why I started writing the assignments, but it was bad. I didn't want you to feel you had to protect me like the other girls. Carrow beat me and then he sent one of the students in to torture me. He was supposed to use the Crucio for the entire detention. To be "thourough". But he let me go without doing anything. If he hadn't... I think I would have died." Or ended up like Neville's parents, although she didn't say that.

"I've never told anyone that, either," she said.

[rar_neville]

Neville leaned back into Eloise's embrace, accepting the offer of comfort. "I didn't feel strong," he murmured. "I'm surprised I didn't wet myself. I'm glad you think I am, even if I'm not sure I believe it."

He stiffened as she told about the Carrows and what they'd done to her. He'd tried to protect everyone from them when possible, taking others' detentions and beatings and cursings when he could, deflecting attention onto him, doing his best to make himself the target. He knew he couldn't succeed with everyone, but to hear El's story...

"I'm sorry," he said, wrapping his hands around her wrists and holding tight. "Who was the student who spared you?" That alone was intriguing. He certainly hadn't been spared, but by the end the only student the Carrows sent to him was usually Crabbe.

[rar_eloise]

Eloise closed her eyes for a moment, picturing Goyle's face in her mind. She'd promised him she would never tell anyone, but that was before the war was over. Neville wouldn't tell a soul. And besides that, if it helped him somehow, for him having done her a kindness, perhaps she should say something.

Neville's hands were strong around her wrists, and she snuggled closer to him.

"It was Goyle," she admitted softly. "I told him it would be a secret. That I wouldn't tell anyone so he wouldn't get into trouble for it. I'm not sure why he did it, only that he said some things that made me think maybe he was only following the Carrows orders because he had to. Because he didn't think there was any other way.

She shivered a little, remembering how she'd collapsed on the cold stone floor at his feet and how he'd raised his wand to curse her and not been able to.

[rar_neville]

Neville's eyes widened in shock when Eloise named her savior. Goyle?

He'd seen him around the school, usually walking along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but over the past school year he'd become adept at hearing whispers and rumors, sifting through them for possibilities of further acts of rebellion against the Carrows and their regime. He was hearing those same whispers now, of various students seeing him at work, actually participating in the cleanup effort.

He'd dismissed those rumors until now.

"His father is one of the Death Eaters they haven't caught yet, isn't he?" Neville asked, curious. "D'you think he's here because he wants to be, or because he feels safer here than elsewhere?"

Or he could be plotting more trouble, a voice whispered in his mind. He's the son of a known Death Eater. He can't be trusted...yet.

"If it wasn't you telling me this, I wouldn't believe it," he admitted. "I mean...Goyle!"

[rar_eloise]

"He seemed... confused," Eloise said, trying to put it into words. The whole encounter was a little blurry to her, dulled by the pain she'd been in and her fear.

"But it was him. And I don't know why he's here. I've seen him the past week here and there. He doesn't seem to be doing much but working, so I don't know." She thought about Goyle's father, wondering if the man was cruel like the Carrows, and if that had anything to do with it.

"I don't know," she repeated. It wasn't something she thought about much until now other then being grateful to him for not hurting her. It had been a mixed feeling, as she knew he'd done plenty of things to other people throughout the year.

They were silent for a time and finally, Eloise shifted slightly, puling her hands fron Neville's grip and letting them rest on his sides.

"I brought desert. If you're interested. Some little treacle tarts."

[rar_neville]

It had to difficult for her to talk about it. Neville didn't press. He didn't like talking about his own experiences and the things that had been done to him over the past year, and he wasn't about to force anyone else to talk about theirs. She was still dealing with the fallout as much as he was.

All the same, he decided it might be a good idea to keep a closer eye on Gregory Goyle.

"Treacle tarts? Really?" Straightening, he hurriedly finished the rest of his chicken sandwich. "How many?"

[rar_eloise]

A soft laugh escaped Eloise. "A half dozen. Which is three for me and three for you, not five for you and one for me. Don't think I won't be watching you."

She appreciated that he was trying to change the subject. It was very like Neville, always trying to make others feel at ease, feel better. Like her, he knew what a horrible feeling it was to live uncomfortable in your own skin.

She gave him an awkward backwards hug then turned away to dig in the picnic basket. As she did she made a horrified noise.

"MARMITE!" There, on the plate where the tarts had been were two very fat, very satisfied looking toads with smug looks on their faces.

Eloise made a disgruntled noise and shooed the toads out before reaching further into the basket for a little tin.

"Well. Lucky for us I brought more. I wasn't sure I couldn't count on you not to eat five."

[rar_neville]

Peering over Eloise's shoulder into the picnic basket, Neville sighed and picked up Trevor, looking directly into his jewelled eyes.

"What, the marshmallows weren't enough, you little thief?" he admonished. "You had to have the tarts as well?"

Trevor croaked happily, looking thoroughly unrepentant.

"It's probably a good thing toads don't have opposable thumbs," Neville said with a rueful smile, setting Trevor back onto the ground well away from the basket. Trevor waited until Marmite joined him before hopping away, a bit more slowly than before. "I doubt he'll want crickets tonight after today's feast."

He accepted the tart Eloise handed him from the opened tin and bit into it.

[rar_eloise]

"Cheeky little bastards," Eloise said, watching as Marmite and Trevor made a beeline for a burrow they'd made in the ground on other, previous occasions.

She took a bite of tart and chewed blissfully for a few moments. It was nice to sit here and just be for a little while. To let the thoughts of Megan and the war and her father go to the back of her mind. Someday, she knew, they would be there permanently. Someday it wouldn't hurt to think about them, and she'd be able to mention them and smile.

For now she was content with the sunshine that came out from behind the clouds now and then and the sweet taste of treacle on her tongue.

She looked up at the sun, peeking out from behind a cloud, then over at Neville.

"Looks like the sun's coming out."

[rar_neville]

Neville savored his second tart more slowly, letting the sweetness melt over his tongue before taking the next bite.

Sitting here by the lake, watching the wavelets lap at the shore and the toads at play, he could start to believe things might eventually return to something resembling normalcy. There was something good about looking forward to a future, rather than wondering whether or not there'd be a future with him in it.

Tipping his head back, Neville let the sun's rays fall onto his face and smiled, feeling a quiet sense of contentment that hadn't been there for a long time.

"It always does, sooner or later."