One Shot: Secrets
Title: Secrets
Characters: Neville/Parvati
For: HP Pairings
Rating: G
Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Humor/Comedy
Warnings: Tickling.
Word Count: 635
Summary: Neville has a secret, Parvati is curious.
Notes: My mum "makes" me do this too. I felt a little O. Henryish writing this.
Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me and I make no money off of them, etc.
Secrets
“What are you writing?” asked Parvati as she sat down beside Neville. It didn’t look like homework or a letter home or a to-do list. Parvati was curious - Neville had been working on this all afternoon, ignoring everything else around him.
Neville looked up, startled. He wasn’t trying to be secretive, he just didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing. He supposed that made it a secret then. Parvati was a good friend, but he didn’t need her help with this.
“It’s nothing,” Neville lied, as he covered the parchment with his hands. He felt like an idiot, Parvati was no fool, and even a fool could see through his obvious lie and childlike concealment of the paper in question.
Parvati rolled her eyes. Neville wasn’t much of a liar; it was a good thing he didn’t do it often. “Fine, keep your secrets,” she said dramatically as she dropped down on the couch next to him. He could act all tightlipped, but she was not going to make it easy for him.
Neville tried glaring at her, but she only laughed. Alright, if she wanted to be nosy, so be it. She wasn’t going to learn anything. “How was your day?” he asked, deflecting.
“It was fine, Neville. How was yours?” Not thrown off by his indiscreet change of subjects, she refused to back off, “do anything interesting, anything clandestine perhaps?”
“Why yes, Parvati, I’ve imported some dragon’s blood and am writing a letter to my dealers. We need to get this illegal substance out on the streets.” Parvati laughed, and Neville chuckled despite himself.
“My, my, the quiet, shy Neville, is the notorious dragon’s blood thief. The mob boss who bartered his soul so that he could never be caught. Good move, Neville, they’ll never suspect you!” Parvati poked him in the side.
Neville was very ticklish, and he slapped her hand away before she found out. Unfortunately, Parvati had a sister and was very perceptive to these sorts of things. Grinning wicked, she taunted, “ticklish, Neville? Oh, this won’t do.”
Neville tried to escape when Parvati advanced on him fingers at the ready, but she tackled him before he could. Laughing hysterically, she tickled him until tears were running down his cheeks. She refused to stop until he fell off the couch onto the floor. Wiping tears from her own eyes, she saw her opportunity.
Grabbing the paper from underneath a book where he had so deftly hidden it, she got up from the couch and ran to the other side of the room. Seeing her opening the sheet, Neville got up and yelled, “no Parvati, please don’t read it!”
Parvati just laughed and said, “no more secrets, Neville. Let’s see now, what’s this? ‘A new broom, some sweaters, another Rememberall, a few books.... What is this, Neville?”
Defeated, Neville sighed as he snatched the list back. “It’s a list for Gram. She makes me write a Christmas list every year.
She gets very upset if I don’t.” Parvati stared, astonished. Very quickly, she regained her senses and began to laugh. Neville looked forlorn and said, “don’t laugh, Parvati. You know how she is.”
Between the bursts of laughter, she managed to get out, “a Christmas list, Neville? Here I was starting to think I should worry! Don’t worry, dear boy, your secret’s safe with me.”
Neville rolled his eyes, but was smiling anyways. He tossed the list back on the coffee table and patted Parvati on the back until she stopped laughing.
When she was finished, they grabbed their coats. All this fun had made them both hungry. As Neville locked the door, Parvati asked one more question, “a new broom, Neville, really?”
“Oh come on, I was going to write the stuff for you and the kids next.”