His only warning was her brown eyes glancing up to the treacherous sprig above. The clumsy Gryffindor's eyes likewise flicked up to the white of the berries against the forest green leaves. His only thought was, "With a better fertilizer, there would have been more berries," when he felt hands on his shoulders and a warm wetness against his lips.
Neville smelled of the earth and the exotic aromas of experimental flowers and plants from the advanced Herbology greenhouse. He tasted of apples and cloves and the spicy taint of cinnamon, which complimented Ginny's balmy butterbeer breath. She had never intended to deepen the kiss. That just happened after her curious tongue had darted over his parting lips. His hands moved to her waist, her fingers tightened on his shoulders. Teasing tongues tasted, tested, toyed, and tantalized.
They were left standing and staring at one another uncomfortably in the middle of a full room where quiet tittering turned vaguely malicious as the shock spilled over into vulgar amusement. Neville's face instantly fell into a practiced incredulity that spoke words he no longer bothered to utter, "Why is it always me?"
The look turned Ginny's stomach sour and her eyes pled with him briefly not to do what he did, which was to turn away coarsely and escape to the sanctuary of his room. Her arms folded as she turned her head down with a grimace as the mocking cackles at Neville's expense commenced. "Happy Christmas," she murmured miserably. Longingly she reveled in the lavish taste of, and somberly relived the personal magic of the only kiss she'd ever really ifelt/i.
His first kiss, and it had been not only in public and its fair share of humiliating, but it was also the equivalent of a Yuletide dare. Betrayed by foliage and one of the few girls that he had previously felt comfortable around, Neville slammed the door shut on the resounding peals of laughter and drew the curtains around his bed after diving into it. Holding the choking sobs at bay, he pulled Trevor from his pocket, who stared back blankly at him. "Happy Christmas," he murmured miserably. Desperately he tried not to think of the tenderness of her embrace and the mad moment where for the first time at Hogwarts, he felt at home.