Entry for Liza's F my Life Competition

Prompt: Today, I lost a bet with my grandma, and now she's coming with me on my next date. FML

Entry for Music History at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Task: Write a story in which there are no dialogue tags. Min 500 words

Entry for Sophie's Bookshop Challenge

Classics #13 The Odyssey by Homer

Prompts:

(word) Violent/Violence

(word) Mortal

(quote/dialogue) "There will be killing till the score is paid."

Entry for the July Event: The Chosen Ones at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Task: Write a story about Neville.

Extra Prompt: (genre) Humor

Entry for the Chocolate Frog Cards Club

(Silver) Neville Longbottom; Challenge: Write about Neville Longbottom.

(1125 Words)

For my Wigtown Wanderers! And thank you to Emily, who betaed this! :)

Ménage À Trois

Or: Don't Bet With Great-Aunt Enid!

Enid grinned in a very self-satisfied manner as she watched her grand nephew Neville walk up the stone path leading to her house. From his body language, she could deduce that he too had already had a look at the Quidditch section of the Daily Prophet – his shoulders were slumped and his head bowed in defeat. Oh, how she loved these moments of triumph.

She chuckled inwardly as she opened the door for Neville and saw him scowl.

"Oh Neville, don't be such a bad loser. It was a tight game, who would have thought that the Wanderers would turn it in the last minute? Oh, thank you, these flowers are lovely, my dear."

Grabbing the bouquet of garden roses from his hands, she ruffled affectionately through Neville's dark hair – something that didn't really cheer him up. In fact, he looked even more annoyed.

"About the bet... uh... you, you weren't serious about what would happen if you won, right?"

"But of course I was serious, Neville!"

Enid smirked at him as they entered the kitchen, where she searched for a vase for the bouquet.

"Aunt Enid... please, don't... It's our first date!"

Enid whipped around and waved one hand nearly violently in front of Neville's face, faking a tantrum.

"Neville! Has nobody ever taught you that gambling debts are debts of honour?! Do you remember those plants you are keeping in my greenhouse? What if there suddenly was no one to water them because I am too heartbroken by my grand nephew's dishonesty to take care of them?"

Poor Neville was taking a careful step backwards, staring at her with wide eyes.

"There will be killing until the score is paid, my dear! Don't you dare to mess with me, mere mortal!"

In the same moment Neville raised his hands defensively, Enid knew that she had won. A tiny bit of intimidation, a tiny bit of guilt-tripping, and he was dancing to her music.

"I give up, you can come with me..."

"Wonderful. Now shall we leave, we don't want to be late."

OoO

Neville doubted that he could feel worse in this moment. He saw Luna waiting outside the café they wanted to meet in, and wished he could turn around and walk away. But Enid had linked arms with him and he knew that she would prevent him from chickening out now. As they approached Luna, he blushed about the amount of surprise that showed on her face, overshadowing her dreamy expression.

"Hey Luna... uh... this…

"I'm Enid, Neville's great-aunt! I am so pleased to meet you, Luna. Now don't be so rude Neville. Greet her properly. You didn't even get her flowers!"

Enid shoved Neville towards Luna after shaking hands with the young blonde woman. Neville's face was red as a tomato as he awkwardly hugged Luna. He deeply regretted that he had made this bet with Enid, convinced that he knew more about Quidditch than her.

"Now, let's find a table, I'm craving a slice of strawberry cream pie!"

"Neville, if you had written me that you were bringing your great-aunt, I would have brought mine too."

Luna's surprise had already vanished, and Neville forced himself to laugh shortly about her remark.

Neville had really thought he'd have a disastrous date. And he also guessed that with any person other than Luna, this would have been true.

However, he once again learned that with Luna, everything was different. She was taking Enid's presence with a lot of humour, and after Neville had overcome the initial awkwardness, he found that it was not completely unpleasant to have Enid there. Whenever their conversation threatened to die, she helped him with a little rant about her neighbours, making them both laugh until their stomachs were hurting.

"Rita Skeeter, oh my, I can tell you, she is such a pain in the ass! Always throws her garden gnomes into my begonias! Last week though, I payed her back! Hexed her lawn sprinkler! You should have seen her face!"

"It is pretty rude of her to behave likes this. Gnomes are good to keep all the Tibliffs away from the vegetables!"

Also, she tended to interrupt Neville in the middle of a monologue when she felt like he wasn't being completely honest about incidents from his childhood.

"Neville, you forgot to tell her about the time you accidentally hexed the neighbours cat so it could only bark!"

Her corrections were amusing, even for him, and he was thankful that she loosened the atmosphere. Even when she dared him to tell Luna about his most embarrassing childhood stories, he couldn't be angry with her.

It really turned out to be a pleasant afternoon, and Enid didn't keep them from talking about what you normally talked about on a date. She even allowed them some privacy around the end - after Neville had paid the bill, she had went to inspect the flowers that were growing at the other end of the terrace.

"It was a nice afternoon, wasn't it?"

"Yes, I enjoyed it a lot, Neville."

Luna was smiling softly at him as they stopped on the pavement in front of the café. Her blonde hair was being blown around by the soft breeze, and he resisted the urge to push a few streaks of it behind her ear.

"Well, uh… we could meet for dinner next week, if you want."

He was nervously shifting from one foot to the other, afraid that answer might be a negative one. But Luna's smile only widened as she nodded.

"That would be wonderful. Will you bring Enid again?"

Neville chuckled and had enough courage to take her hand before looking her deeply into the eyes.

"Even though it was funny, I'd love to be alone with you for some time."

"Sure!"

For a long moment, they just stood there, their gazes locked, smiles on their lips. But then, Enid approached them, nudging Neville in the ribs.

"Now kiss her already, you damn fool!"

Releasing a half annoyed, half thankful sigh, Neville leaned forwards and pressed a gentle kiss onto Luna's cheek. He lingered for a moment, inhaling her sweet scent and giving her the opportunity to kiss him back. Still, he felt like he was stepping away way too early.

As Enid and Neville walked down the street, he thought that he was glad that she had been there. Without her help, he surely wouldn't have talked so much and so freely.

However, he still knew that he would never ever bet with her again.