Taking a break (open)

Neville sighed in relief when he stepped out of the castle and into the sunlight. The past week had been both exciting and terrifying for the young Gryffindor and he really needed some time and space to put his thoughts in order.

That's why he was heading towards the black lake right now, as the place seemed like peaceful enough to rest there for a bit. He stopped under a large tree which stood right by the edge of the lake and sat down with his back to it.

Above him, the clouds were not doing a good job at covering the sun, so it was warming his skin nicely. Neville sighed again and thought back to last week's lessons. Most of them had been very interesting...no, actually all of them had been interesting, he had just been too scared to hear much of Porfessor Snape's lecture. And Professor Carrow also looked quite scary, although his first lesson was quite nice. Still, the thought that he would have to face a real dragon next week was quite frightening for the young boy.

Closing his eyes, Neville leaned back against the tree and prayed that his parents wouldn't be disappointed in him.

Mio frowned in confusion when he looked out of the window in the hallway of the seventh floor. He had been on his way back to the common room to get some homework done, but now that he saw one of his house mates sitting all by his own outside by the lake, Mio turned on his heels and made his way down the stairs and out of the castle.

From afar, he could already see that Neville seemed to be upset about something and he got slightly worried what might have happened to the other boy. Although Mio did not have much to do with Neville so far, he was still a Gryffindor and if another needed some support he would always be there to give it freely.

"Hey Neville..." he said calmly and sat down next to the other boy.

Neville jumped slightly when he heard a voice call out his name and looked around with a confused expression on his face. He turned and looked up at his fellow Gryffindor who was sitting down beside him. "Hello Endymion." he said quietly. The other boy was usually hanging out with David and some students from other houses, so Neville did not yet have the chance to speak much with him.

Mio grinned at the other boy. "I was just passing when I saw you sitting here all by yourself looking gloomy." he said and let his gaze glide over Neville's face. He still looked a bit out of it and Mio's curiousity was spiked. Something was bothering the boy and he was going to find out what.
"Did something happen?" he asked softly. "You can talk to me, you know?"

Neville sighed and turned his blue eyes back to the dark water of the lake, while his thought went back to what he had been pondering before. Did he really want to talk about what was bothering him, especially with Snape's son of all people?
"I'm just thinking about stuff..." he said quietly. Mio would probably think he was just a whiney boy anyway.

Mio sighed and flopped down into the grass, looking up into the bright blue sky. That the other boy didn't want to open up to him wasn't a big surprise, seeing that they had never talked to each other before today, but he was still not detered from his quest.
"I see..." he just said and flashed a friendly smile at the other lion. "So how do you like it here so far?" Mio hoped to strike a relatively safe subject.

Perfect! Just the question he had been waiting for, Neville thought and wiggled on his seat in unease. He looked down at the other boy who was now laying in the grass as if he didn't have a care in the world. But then again, he probably hadn't. Unlike himself, Mio had already made friends and didn't always have to be on his own all the time.
Gathering the small ounce of courage he possessed, Neville spoke out. "I am really happy to have been sorted into Gryffindor, though I really don't understand why. I don't think I am brave at all." He averted his eyes, feeling slightly sad that he was so unlike his parents.

Mio looked up at Neville, a thoughtful frown on his face. Why did they boy seem so upset if he was glad to be sorted into Gryffindor? He himself had been immensely happy to have been sorted into that house and he knew that he fit best in Gryffindor.
"If the sorting hat put you in our house, then he will have had his reasons, Neville." Mio told the other boy.

Neville snorted softly. "The sorting hat didn't say much to me." he said, still confused about that. "He just mentioned that he remembered my parents and that he will put me in Gryffindor because I had some growing to do...whatever he meant by that."
Neville didn't even know why he was telling Mio all that, but somehow it felt good just to talk to someone.

Mio laughed out loud and shook his head, amused by the other boy's confusion. "Damn it, mate, if that's what the hat said to you, then why are you even worried about anything?" he asked, still chuckling. To him it was quite obvious why Neville had been sorted into their house and he could't understand why it upset the other so.

"What...?" Neville looked slightly shocked when the other Gryffindor started laughing and felt his courage to talk receeding again. He turned away from Mio and looked back towards the lake. Somehow, he didn't know how to deal with the teasing of other people. "I'm worried because my parents were both in Gryffindor and both of them were very brave and became aurors." he told Mio defensively.

"Hey!..." Mio sat up quickly and raised his hands in a defensive manner to let the other boy know he hadn't meant any harm by his words. "What I mean is, that the hat obviously thinks that you fit well in Gryffindor, but that you need to grow into that role." he explained himself.

Neville blushed in embarrassment when he realised that Mio had not been mocking him at all and he bowed his head. "Sorry... I didn't understand what you mean." he admitted softly. "I'm just scared that I will be a disappointment to my family."

Realizing that the other boy was quite insecure of himself and that it probably would not be the best approach to tease him, Mio leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands while he calmly gazed at Neville. "You know, when I came here, I also was really worried about being placed in the right house and making my parents proud of me." he said truthfully. "But I realized that the sorting hat must know what he is doing, right? So if he says that you belong to Gryffindor, then you do. You just need some time to grow into it, okay?"

Neville had a slightly forlorn expression on his face as he listened to the other boy. He did understand what Mio was trying to tell him, but he still felt so lost and misplaced in Gryffindor where all the other boys were always up to something or another and had made many friends, while he was only scared and worrying about everything.
"What if he did make a mistake, though? What if he thought of my parents and just concluded that I would fit Gryffindor?" Neville asked, looking hopelessly at Mio, as if the other boy held all the answers to his questions.

Mio sighed and shook his head. Obviously the other boy head somehow put it into his head that he did not deserve to be in Gryffindor. "Look, Neville. The sorting hat has been sorting people since the beginnings of Hogwarts itself. Do you really believe that he would make such a decision lightly? When so much depends on it?" he asked Neville, dark eyes boring into blue ones.

"I know... I gues you're right." he said slowly. In his head, Neville knew that the sorting hat would not make a mistake, but in his heart? "I just feel I would have better belonged in Hufflepuff." he admitted quietly.

Mio felt like banging his head against the tree, as he really was not the most patient of people and arguing about something so fruitless, but he somehow felt like he needed to build up his house mate a bit. Stupid Gryffindor stubborness, he could hear his father say in his head.
"You might have fit in Hufflepuff as well. But what would have happened then, huh?" he asked the other lion. "Think, Neville! You would have just accepted your fate and stayed the quiet, shy boy that you are, but you have so much more potential and the sorting hat recognized that!" Mio was actually getting a bit worked up about this subject. "You need to view it as a challenge. Just take one step after another and you will grow into the role you are supposed to have."

Neville had to admit to be quite taken aback with the forcefulness of Mio's answer. It was like the other Gryffindor was insulted on his part and wanted to drive down the point to him, and Neville had to admit to being very grateful.
Now that he thought about it, the sorting hat's words of him needing to grow, made much more sense. Maybe he truely did need some growing up to do before he could actually become brave and show his courage.
"Thank you, Mio." he said, looking at the other boy with grateful blue eyes.

Mio beamed, glad that the other boy seemed to be coming around slowly and he clapped his on his shoulder in a friendly manner. "There you go, Neville! Stop putting preasure on yourself and just enjoy being at Hogwarts. Don't you just love it here?" he asked him excitedly.

Neville laughed lightly and felt much more at ease than he had since school had started. He really had to start looking at the brighter side of life and Hogwarts held so many interesting secrets for him. "Yes, it is. I really love Herbology." he said shyly. Most students considered it to be a boring subject, but Neville liked to work with plants. it was soothing and he had a confidence there which he lacked in everything else.

Mio grinned at Neville and relaxed back into the grass. "I really like Astronomy and care of magical creatures." he told the other boy. Astronomy because he loved to watch the stars and CoMC because he was fascinated with these dangerous beings, like dragons and lethifolds.

"Not potions?" Neville gasped out before he could stop himself. He blushed scarlet red and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry..." he mumbled, hoping the other boy would not be mad at him. He was slowly opening up to Mio and would really like to mayben even become friends with him.

.

"Oh Merlin, no!" Mio exclaimed laughing loudly. His father might be a potions master, but he had absolutely no interest in the subject. "I mean, of course my father already taught me a few things and tricks, but brewing potions is definitely not something I enjoy" he told Neville, still chuckling.