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Pansy leaned back into the bench seat of the train car and closed her eyes as she felt the train chugging along on the tracks, taking them back to Hogwarts after the winter holidays. She could feel the wheels of the train hit every single divet in the tracks, which kept her from falling asleep: that and the noise.
"Damn first years," she mumbled under her breath, pushing herself up from the bench and walking over to the door. Looking out the door, Pansy glanced up and down the walkway. She noticed a small group of first years popping in and out of their cabins with bright smiles beaming from their faces in one direction.
When she looked in the other direction, she noticed a distraught familiar face, peaking in his head into every cabin down the line. Soon he would be looking into her cabin. She wondered what he had managed to lose so early into their eighth year. With a smile on her face, Pansy stepped back into her cabin and collapsed onto the bench seat behind her to wait.
A few moments later, Neville Longbottom's face appeared in the door of her cabin. He was surprised to find someone he actually knew riding the train. "And here I thought I was the only eighth year still riding the Hogwarts Express back."
Pansy rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "Well, hello to you too, Longbottom. What'd you lose on the train already?"
Neville hung his head with a sigh. "Trevor's gotten loose again. I'm not sure when he hopped off of my luggage, but I haven't seen him since we pulled out of Platform 9 ¾ and he's not been in any of the cabins I've checked so far."
"How many more do you have to check?" Pansy asked, looking him up and down briefly. Ever since he had come back from her after Voldemort's attack, there was something about Longbottom that sparked an interest in her. The Parkinsons and the Longbottoms were never meant to get along, simply by their family status alone, but things were different now.
"This is my last cabin," Neville replied, smiling nervously. "You haven't happened to see a frog hopping around your cabin, have you?"
Pansy shook her head. "No, I haven't. Have you thought about checking with the other frogs on the train?"
"Other frogs?" Neville asked, furrowing his brow in confusion as he leaned up against the door of the cabin.
Pansy tossed her head back with a laugh before nodding her head slowly. She moved her feet off the bench and patted the spot next to her. "Why don't you sit here and wait with me until the Honeyduke's Express comes through and see if Trevor is hanging out with his chocolate pals?"
Neville thought about it for a moment before taking a step inside the cabin. He looked at the spot where Pansy had prompted him to sit, and then his eyes darted to the empty bench on the other side of the cabin. He had a decision to make.
There was a part of him that wanted to sit next to Pansy because, over the last few months, he had started to grow quite fond of the Slytherin. However, there was another part of him that thought it might be best to sit on the opposite side of the cabin on the empty bench. Alone. Where hands couldn't accidentally brush against the skin of the other person.
Although that may not be all that bad, Neville mused quietly to himself.
Taking a deep breath, he decided that sitting next to Pansy wouldn't be so bad. He smiled as he took a seat and leaned back against the bench seat. He interlaced his fingers together and nervously twiddled his thumbs as he sat in awkward silence.
"Nervous, Longbottom?" Pansy teased, scooting herself across the bench, closing the small space that had appeared between them when Neville sat down. She leaned her shoulder into his as she reached out and placed a hand on his arm.
"Me, nervous?" Neville gulped, feeling his heart starting to race in his chest. "Never."
He plastered a fake smile on his face as his nerves started to get the best of him. He watched as Pansy's hand began to trail from his arm to his thigh. Feeling her squeeze gently, he took a deep breath. He could feel himself getting excited, and he knew he needed to stop her before things could go too far.
He grabbed ahold of her hand and placed it back on her lap, but before he could return his hand to his own lap, Pansy interlaced her fingers with his. It appeared as though her hand was the perfect fit for his own. Neville smiled softly to himself as he squeezed her hand.
"This is nice," he whispered, leaning over to rest his head on top of Pansy's as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"It could be a lot more fun if we knew weren't going to be interrupted," Pansy teased, leaning her head back to place a gentle kiss in the crook of Neville's neck. She smiled when she felt a shiver rush over his body.
Just as Neville opened his mouth to respond, there was a knock at the door to their cabin.
"Honeyduke's Express, can I get you anything?" the lady pushing the cart asked.
Neville let go of Pansy's hand as he pushed himself up from the bench quickly. "Do you have any chocolate frogs that aren't in the package?"
The lady looked at him for a moment with a puzzled look on her face as she pointed to the tray of chocolate frogs. As Neville looked down, a smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he noticed a familiar face sitting on top boxes of chocolate frogs.
"There you are," Neville replied, reaching out to pick Trevor up off the trolley and placed him in his shirt pocket. "You really need to stop hopping away."
"Ribbit."
Neville rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, extracting a few galleons out of his pocket and gave them to the lady pushing the trolley. "I'll take two chocolate frogs."
She handed him the candies and took his money. "Anything for you, miss?"
Pansy shook her head. "No, thanks."
With a nod of her head, she pushed the trolley onto the next cabin. Neville returned to his seat, next to Pansy, and handed her a chocolate frog. Instead of leaving the space he had left the first time he sat down, he made sure that their legs thighs were pressed up next to one another.
"What's this for?" Pansy asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she took the chocolate.
"Just because," Neville replied, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Something to celebrate a new adventure beginning."
Pansy smiled and draped an arm around his neck, pulling him back toward her. Softly she pressed her lips to Neville's. She smiled as she felt him give in to the kiss and slipped her tongue into his mouth when his lips parted in a sigh.
"A new adventure, indeed," she mumbled as she pulled away from the kiss, resting her forehead against his.