Brave ; Neville/Ginny ; PG ; written for the ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nlgw_ficathon
Apr. 2nd, 2006 11:54 ammyficsTitle: Brave
Pairing: Neville/Ginny
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,535
Summary: Neville Longbottom was not the kind of guy to go looking for trouble. He spent most of his life trying to avoid it, if at all possible. But for some reason, trouble had this way of finding him at the most inconvenient times and in the most embarrassing ways. For as long as he could remember, his life had been a constant battle against trouble and embarrassment. So it should really be surprising to Neville that he was completely, madly, unapologetically in love with Ginny Weasley, a girl who screamed trouble from the tips of her ginger hair to the soles of her old, worn-out shoes.
Disclaimer: Me = Poor. JKR = Richer than the Queen. Note the difference.
Beta: Thanks so much,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
writermerrin! ♥
Challenge: Written for thenlgw_ficathon prompt: "Neville comes to Ginny's defense."
Neville Longbottom was not the kind of guy to go looking for trouble. He spent most of his life trying to avoid it, if at all possible. But for some reason, trouble had this way of finding him at the most inconvenient times and in the most embarrassing ways. For as long as he could remember, his life had been a constant battle against trouble and embarrassment.
So it should really be surprising to Neville that he was completely, madly, unapologetically in love with Ginny Weasley, a girl who screamed trouble from the tips of her ginger hair to the soles of her old, worn-out shoes. Not only was she Harry Potter’s sort-of girlfriend, left behind at school while he did some unknown thing for the war, but she was vivacious and pretty and all sorts of things that Neville knew he’d never be allowed to have. She deserved better than him anyway. She deserved a brave man like Harry, not someone who was mistakenly sorted into Gryffindor on a stupid hat’s whim.
Hadn’t he already had his chance with her anyway? He’d taken her to the Yule Ball and she left him for Michael Corner.
No matter what Neville’s heart wanted, his head told him the truth: Ginny Weasley was never going to want a guy like him. She’d had The Boy Who Lived. He couldn’t compete with that.
Except when he did.
Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
Ever since they came back to Hogwarts, everyone had been living a sort of half-life. The few who remained in school were constantly walking around in various states of distress, worrying about friends and family members back home fighting a war, knowing that there was nothing they could do from inside the walls. Neville felt like he was taking classes with Inferi. Their bodies were in the classrooms, but their minds were elsewhere. In Ginny’s case, so was her heart.
Very few of the Slytherins were still left at school. Many of them had left and presumably joined the Death Eaters. The ones that were left saw fit to harass the rest of the school with threats and taunts. They constantly reminded the others about the war and dropped hints that they had word that family members had been captured or killed. By early December, most people had learned to tune them out, but no matter how much some people practiced at it, they couldn’t ignore the remarks.
I had no choice but to hear
“Hey, Weasley!” Neville heard a Slytherin in Ginny’s year call after her as he left the Charms classroom and she left Transfiguration.
“What do you want, Grady?” she snapped.
Neville stopped and ducked behind a tapestry, hiding out of sight, listening.
“We heard your cub of a brother was out howling at the moon last night and Greyback finished him off.”
“Shut up.”
“Yeah, and you know your twin brothers? The Dark Lord knows about them. He’s planning on giving them a personal visit soon. And don’t think he doesn’t know where Weasel went with Potter and Granger. He’ll find them and when he does…” Grady stopped talking, presumably to let Ginny’s imagination wander at that thought.
“Shut up,” Ginny said again. From where he stood, Neville could hear the tremor in her voice.
“Awww…is the icklest Weasley gonna cry?”
“SHUT UP!” Ginny screamed, and this time Neville knew she was crying.
He couldn’t stand it. He had to do something. He gripped his wand and pushed back the tapestry and emerged into the hallway.
Professor McGonagall had already beaten him to it.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Nothing, Professor,” Grady said. “I was just comforting Miss Weasley here. Poor thing’s so worried about her family. The Dark Lord knows what blood traitors they are—“
“Go to class,” Professor McGonagall said to Grady. “And Miss Weasley, please come with me.”
Neville watched as they disappeared around the corner and loosened his grip on his wand. Somehow he felt like he had just lost his second chance with Ginny.
I am aware now
“Ginny?”
“Oh, hello, Neville.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Why?”
“I uh…I saw what happened in the hallway today. I’m sorry. You can’t listen to a word Grady says, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” she sighed, putting down her quill. “It’s just…it’s all of them, you know? My entire family, and Hermione and Harry, and it’s like…they’re everything I’ve got, you know? And I’m stuck here doing Ancient Runes homework, and it all seems so…pointless.”
“I know,” Neville sat down next to her and moved to put his arm around her shoulders before quickly jerking it back and biting his lip.
“I want to be out there,” she said. “I want to fight. I want to help. And I can’t.”
“You’re so brave,” Neville whispered.
“What?”
“You’re so brave,” he repeated. “You have the chance to stay here and be safe, and all you want is to get out there and risk your life.”
“Some things are worth it,” she smiled. It was a watery smile. The kind that meant she was about to cry, but trying not to.
“I wish I could be like you,” Neville said. “I wish I could be brave and take chances and love and want to risk it all.”
“So do it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, I just can’t.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the thing that’s worth it yet.”
Neville paused to consider that.
“Maybe,” he finally agreed.
You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
It felt like déjà vu. There was Grady again, and there was Ginny. But this time, Neville didn’t hide behind that tapestry.
“Shut up!” he yelled, walking towards Grady and gripping his wand tightly.
“What did you say to me?” Grady asked.
“I told you to shut your mouth,” Neville said, glancing at Ginny. Oh yeah. She’s worth it.
“Stupid fool,” Grady said angrily. “Don’t you know who I’ve got on my side?”
“Yeah, I do. But you need to realize who I’ve got on mine.”
“Oh yeah, who’s that? Potter? The ‘Chosen One’?” he said the last part mockingly.
“No.” Neville said, standing up a little straighter. “Her.” He pointed at Ginny.
“Oh yeah, and what’s the Weaselette going to do to me? She’s as useless as her boyfriend.”
Maybe it was the ‘useless’ part. Maybe it was the use of the word ‘boyfriend’, since they were supposedly broken up. Maybe it was just Neville finally learning what ‘Gryffindor’ meant.
The next thing he knew, he had pointed his wand at Grady’s face, there was a flash of light, and Grady was on the ground, covering his face as angry boils sprouted up.
“Don’t you talk about her like that!” he shouted. “She’s the bravest person I know! She’s worth ten of you, Grady. She’s more than you’ll ever be!”
Ginny grabbed his arm and started pulling him away, but he kept shouting until she got him around the corner and he could no longer see Grady’s face.
She studied his face for a long moment as he panted for breath. “Neville,” she finally said, voice barely a whisper, “just…don’t, okay?”
Neville wasn’t sure what she meant, but he nodded and muttered, “Okay.”
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
Ginny sat down next to him in the common room that evening. “Neville,” she said, “why did you do that today?”
“Thought that was kind of obvious,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
“Ginny…”
“Look. It’s not that I don’t get it. Because I do. It’s just…”
“I know I’m not what you want,” Neville said.
“It’s not that. It’s just…I thought I wanted something. And then I got it. And then I lost it. And do you know that I haven’t cried once over him since he broke up with me? I’ve been okay about it. I mean, he’s my friend, so I’m worried about him, but I’m not worried about him like I would worry about a boyfriend. And now, lately I’ve been feeling like maybe I want something else, something different. Something…”
“Like what?”
“Something like you.”
“Me?” Neville squeaked.
“Yeah. You.”
“Why would you want me for?” He asked, eyes wide.
“You sell yourself short,” she said simply.
That's not lip service
“I…Ginny, I…”
“It’s just…I wanted Harry for so long and when I got him, it was nothing like what I thought. What if we’re the same way? I don’t want to lose you.”
And then, Neville reached for that untapped Gryffindor courage again and said, “Only one way to find out,” before leaning over and kissing her.
“It might be hard,” she whispered, laying her head against his shoulder.
“I can deal with that.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay,” he repeated.
And no matter what she said, Neville knew it was going to work out. Because some things, like Ginny, were worth being brave for.
You've already won me over in spite of me
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
Lyrics from "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morisette because it is omgthebestNeville/Ginnysongever. *cough*
Pairing: Neville/Ginny
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,535
Summary: Neville Longbottom was not the kind of guy to go looking for trouble. He spent most of his life trying to avoid it, if at all possible. But for some reason, trouble had this way of finding him at the most inconvenient times and in the most embarrassing ways. For as long as he could remember, his life had been a constant battle against trouble and embarrassment. So it should really be surprising to Neville that he was completely, madly, unapologetically in love with Ginny Weasley, a girl who screamed trouble from the tips of her ginger hair to the soles of her old, worn-out shoes.
Disclaimer: Me = Poor. JKR = Richer than the Queen. Note the difference.
Beta: Thanks so much,
writermerrin! ♥Challenge: Written for the
nlgw_ficathon prompt: "Neville comes to Ginny's defense."Neville Longbottom was not the kind of guy to go looking for trouble. He spent most of his life trying to avoid it, if at all possible. But for some reason, trouble had this way of finding him at the most inconvenient times and in the most embarrassing ways. For as long as he could remember, his life had been a constant battle against trouble and embarrassment.
So it should really be surprising to Neville that he was completely, madly, unapologetically in love with Ginny Weasley, a girl who screamed trouble from the tips of her ginger hair to the soles of her old, worn-out shoes. Not only was she Harry Potter’s sort-of girlfriend, left behind at school while he did some unknown thing for the war, but she was vivacious and pretty and all sorts of things that Neville knew he’d never be allowed to have. She deserved better than him anyway. She deserved a brave man like Harry, not someone who was mistakenly sorted into Gryffindor on a stupid hat’s whim.
Hadn’t he already had his chance with her anyway? He’d taken her to the Yule Ball and she left him for Michael Corner.
No matter what Neville’s heart wanted, his head told him the truth: Ginny Weasley was never going to want a guy like him. She’d had The Boy Who Lived. He couldn’t compete with that.
Except when he did.
Ever since they came back to Hogwarts, everyone had been living a sort of half-life. The few who remained in school were constantly walking around in various states of distress, worrying about friends and family members back home fighting a war, knowing that there was nothing they could do from inside the walls. Neville felt like he was taking classes with Inferi. Their bodies were in the classrooms, but their minds were elsewhere. In Ginny’s case, so was her heart.
Very few of the Slytherins were still left at school. Many of them had left and presumably joined the Death Eaters. The ones that were left saw fit to harass the rest of the school with threats and taunts. They constantly reminded the others about the war and dropped hints that they had word that family members had been captured or killed. By early December, most people had learned to tune them out, but no matter how much some people practiced at it, they couldn’t ignore the remarks.
“Hey, Weasley!” Neville heard a Slytherin in Ginny’s year call after her as he left the Charms classroom and she left Transfiguration.
“What do you want, Grady?” she snapped.
Neville stopped and ducked behind a tapestry, hiding out of sight, listening.
“We heard your cub of a brother was out howling at the moon last night and Greyback finished him off.”
“Shut up.”
“Yeah, and you know your twin brothers? The Dark Lord knows about them. He’s planning on giving them a personal visit soon. And don’t think he doesn’t know where Weasel went with Potter and Granger. He’ll find them and when he does…” Grady stopped talking, presumably to let Ginny’s imagination wander at that thought.
“Shut up,” Ginny said again. From where he stood, Neville could hear the tremor in her voice.
“Awww…is the icklest Weasley gonna cry?”
“SHUT UP!” Ginny screamed, and this time Neville knew she was crying.
He couldn’t stand it. He had to do something. He gripped his wand and pushed back the tapestry and emerged into the hallway.
Professor McGonagall had already beaten him to it.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Nothing, Professor,” Grady said. “I was just comforting Miss Weasley here. Poor thing’s so worried about her family. The Dark Lord knows what blood traitors they are—“
“Go to class,” Professor McGonagall said to Grady. “And Miss Weasley, please come with me.”
Neville watched as they disappeared around the corner and loosened his grip on his wand. Somehow he felt like he had just lost his second chance with Ginny.
“Ginny?”
“Oh, hello, Neville.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. Why?”
“I uh…I saw what happened in the hallway today. I’m sorry. You can’t listen to a word Grady says, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” she sighed, putting down her quill. “It’s just…it’s all of them, you know? My entire family, and Hermione and Harry, and it’s like…they’re everything I’ve got, you know? And I’m stuck here doing Ancient Runes homework, and it all seems so…pointless.”
“I know,” Neville sat down next to her and moved to put his arm around her shoulders before quickly jerking it back and biting his lip.
“I want to be out there,” she said. “I want to fight. I want to help. And I can’t.”
“You’re so brave,” Neville whispered.
“What?”
“You’re so brave,” he repeated. “You have the chance to stay here and be safe, and all you want is to get out there and risk your life.”
“Some things are worth it,” she smiled. It was a watery smile. The kind that meant she was about to cry, but trying not to.
“I wish I could be like you,” Neville said. “I wish I could be brave and take chances and love and want to risk it all.”
“So do it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, I just can’t.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the thing that’s worth it yet.”
Neville paused to consider that.
“Maybe,” he finally agreed.
You're my best friend
It felt like déjà vu. There was Grady again, and there was Ginny. But this time, Neville didn’t hide behind that tapestry.
“Shut up!” he yelled, walking towards Grady and gripping his wand tightly.
“What did you say to me?” Grady asked.
“I told you to shut your mouth,” Neville said, glancing at Ginny. Oh yeah. She’s worth it.
“Stupid fool,” Grady said angrily. “Don’t you know who I’ve got on my side?”
“Yeah, I do. But you need to realize who I’ve got on mine.”
“Oh yeah, who’s that? Potter? The ‘Chosen One’?” he said the last part mockingly.
“No.” Neville said, standing up a little straighter. “Her.” He pointed at Ginny.
“Oh yeah, and what’s the Weaselette going to do to me? She’s as useless as her boyfriend.”
Maybe it was the ‘useless’ part. Maybe it was the use of the word ‘boyfriend’, since they were supposedly broken up. Maybe it was just Neville finally learning what ‘Gryffindor’ meant.
The next thing he knew, he had pointed his wand at Grady’s face, there was a flash of light, and Grady was on the ground, covering his face as angry boils sprouted up.
“Don’t you talk about her like that!” he shouted. “She’s the bravest person I know! She’s worth ten of you, Grady. She’s more than you’ll ever be!”
Ginny grabbed his arm and started pulling him away, but he kept shouting until she got him around the corner and he could no longer see Grady’s face.
She studied his face for a long moment as he panted for breath. “Neville,” she finally said, voice barely a whisper, “just…don’t, okay?”
Neville wasn’t sure what she meant, but he nodded and muttered, “Okay.”
Ginny sat down next to him in the common room that evening. “Neville,” she said, “why did you do that today?”
“Thought that was kind of obvious,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
“Ginny…”
“Look. It’s not that I don’t get it. Because I do. It’s just…”
“I know I’m not what you want,” Neville said.
“It’s not that. It’s just…I thought I wanted something. And then I got it. And then I lost it. And do you know that I haven’t cried once over him since he broke up with me? I’ve been okay about it. I mean, he’s my friend, so I’m worried about him, but I’m not worried about him like I would worry about a boyfriend. And now, lately I’ve been feeling like maybe I want something else, something different. Something…”
“Like what?”
“Something like you.”
“Me?” Neville squeaked.
“Yeah. You.”
“Why would you want me for?” He asked, eyes wide.
“You sell yourself short,” she said simply.
“I…Ginny, I…”
“It’s just…I wanted Harry for so long and when I got him, it was nothing like what I thought. What if we’re the same way? I don’t want to lose you.”
And then, Neville reached for that untapped Gryffindor courage again and said, “Only one way to find out,” before leaning over and kissing her.
“It might be hard,” she whispered, laying her head against his shoulder.
“I can deal with that.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay,” he repeated.
And no matter what she said, Neville knew it was going to work out. Because some things, like Ginny, were worth being brave for.
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
Lyrics from "Head Over Feet" by Alanis Morisette because it is omgthebestNeville/Ginnysongever. *cough*
