Reason to Be Brave (Neville/Lezar/Hannah) (R)

Already things were crazier than usual. Granted, Hannah expected that the year would be hectic with all the visiting students, but it was still overwelming. Opting to get some fresh air, she made her way to the Courtyard. Breathing in the crisp air that signalled fall was on the way, Hannah set her books down and, crossing her arms and setting them on the wall, rested her chin on them, overlooking the grounds with a relaxed sigh.

Finally, he had the time to go exploring the old castle a bit and Lezar had slipped away from his friends for a while. Hogwarts was even older than Wolfclaw which was quite fascinating, though the pretty girls fascinated him much more. Spying a young blond girl, a dark smirk appeared on his face and Lezar stepped up behind her. "Hello, girl." Lezar growled into her ear, pressing her against the wall.

Feeling someone press against her, nealy pinning her to the wall, Hannah shrugged back. "Hannah. My name's Hannah. Would you mind backing up, please?" she asked politely, though with a hint of firmness. She had been enjoying the sunshine and view so much, she hadn't even noticed anyone come up behind her. "Who are you?" she added, trying to look over her shoulder at the boy.

Lezar let his hands glide over the slender body of the girl, his hands coming to rest on her hips, slightly touching her butt. "I would mind quite a bit, hon." he said chuckling darkly before leaning in even more. "I'm going to have some fun with you now." Licking his lips, Lezar pulled her around and forced his lips on hers in a bruising kiss.

Neville had been sitting on one of the benches in the old courtyard when out of the corner of his eye he saw one of his classmates, Hanna, the pretty girl that Ian and Mio had said was interested in him. He had been quite attracted to her for a while now, but never in his life would Neville have imagined that someone like her would be interested in him.

His friends had encouraged him to talk to her, but it was so hard to work up the courage for it! But maybe just saying hello wouldn't be too hard? Neville slowly got up from his seat and was about to walk over to her when another student approached Hanna. "Damn it!" Neville quickly turned around again and sighed, sad that obviously she had found someone better already.

Hannah's skin crawled when the boy's hands drifted over her body and came to rest on her hips. As he pressed against her further, Hannah tensed and went to answer but never got the chance. Spinning around to face him, his lips crushed hers hard. Hannah stood there stunned for only a moment before her reflexes took over. Raising a hand, in one swift motion she pulled away, breaking the kiss and slapped him hard across the face. Her face hard, she glared daggers at the boy she didn't know. "Let me go," she demanded darkly.

Lezar threw back his head and laughed nastily when she slapped him. It stung a little, but nothing he wasn't used to. Any girl from Wolfclaw would have stabbed him by now, but that's why he had been looking for easy prey for once. "Nope, I don't think I will." he said, still chuckling and grabbed both her wrists, pinning them behind her body. "I like girls that fight back. Makes it all much more exciting."

Taking his bag, Neville started to walk from the courtyard, not wanting to have to watch the couple making out in front of his eyes. Before he stepped inside, he couldn't help but look back one more time and a frown appeared on his face. Neville knew that some people liked to be a bit rough with their lovers, but somehow he had a bad feeling about this. He could see Hannah's face from this position, but when she slapped the other boy Neville, knew something was going wrong here. Should he go and get a teacher? He really did not want to go against the other boy, but what if something happened while he was gone?

Taking all his courage, Neville walked over to them and pulled the guy away from Hannah. "Leave her alone." he said quietly, though with force.

A small gasp escaped Hannah when the boy pinned her wrists behind her, taking away her ability to fight him off with them. Struggling against him in an attempt to get into better position to potentially connect her knee with his manhood, he was suddenly pulled away from her. Bringing her bright eyes up to see just who came to help, her jaw went slack when the voice she heard matched the face she saw. "Neville..." she said breathlessly, in a silent thank you.

Lezar growled in anger when someone pulled him away and he glared dangerously at the boy who was standing behind him. "Piss off, little boy." he sneered and shoved him away before looking at the girl again. "I'll come right back to you, sweetheart, I just need to take care of this annoyance." he winked at her and turned back to Neville.

Neville stumbled back slightly, but stood his ground even in face of the dangerous glare the other boy shot at him. It was hard to keep eye contact with him, but he succeeded, he couldn't let Hannah down now. "I told you to leave her alone. She doesn't want you to touch her." he said again.

Lezar was slowly getting pissed off by the guy. Here he was just trying to have some fun and then this boy had to come and spoil it al for him? "Can't a guy have some entertainment here?" he drawled, throwing up his hands in anger. "You guys are no fun here, no wonder all the cool guys end up in Wolfclaw." he muttered to himself before spinning around and slapping the girl's ass. "See you later, sexy, when there are no kids around to interupt." Lezar winked at her and shouldered the other boy aside, leaving the scene.

Hannah held her breath as the boy from Wolfclaw, she assumed, turned on Neville. When he finally seemed to give up and left, not before giving her ass a good slap, she was tempted to grab her wand and shove him into the nearest tree. Instead, she looked at Neville and blushed a brilliant pink. "Thank.... Thank you, Neville," she said softly, managing a smile and holding her arms, hugging herself, to hide her shaking hands.

Neville glared at the Wolfclaw student. How dare he touch Hannah like that! Very much unlike his usual self, he was really pissed off right now and wanted nothing more than to hex the boy, but he kept his control on his emotions and turned to the Hufflepuff. "Are you alright? I am so sorry, Hannah." he said quietly and ducked his head, feeling guilty that he had not been able to step in before.

Hannah drew a somewhat shakey breath and nodded. "Yes... I'm- I'm fine," she said, clenching her teeth together to keep her chin from quivering as the reality of what could have happened cashed down around her. "You don't need to be sorry, Neville. You did nothing wrong," she told him, trying to comfort him in some way. "I'm just- I'm just gald you came when you did..." Hannah said softly, gently wiping a tear away that began to run down her cheek.

Looking up at the Hufflepuff with worried eyes, Neville could easily see how much the encounter with the other student had upset her and he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but at the same time he was afraid to make a mistake and chase her away from him. "I'm glad I came as well. I don't want anything to happen to you." he admitted softly, blushing when he realized what he had said. Why couldn't he be more like his friends? Brave and witty? Instead he always blushed like a little girl and became all awkward. When he saw her tears, Neville instinctly reached out to wipe it away with his thumb, for once not thinking about what someone else might think of it, just doing what felt right. "He won't touch you again, Hannah."

Nodding, Hannah lightly bit her bottom lip. If anyone had been the one to come to her rescue, she was glad it was Neville. She didn't mind that he was shy and reserved. He had a big heart, and that was what impressed her the most. As he reached out and wiped her tear away, his words struck her deeply. It didn't sound like just something someone said. To Hannah, it sounded like a promise. Without even thinking, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Taking a deep shuttering breath, a sense of calm washed over her as she smelled his cologne. It calmed her, and she didn't know why.

When he realized what he had been doing, Neville was about to pull his hand back again with an apology when the Hufflepuff hugged him tightly. That surprised him even more than his own actions and for a moment he was frozen in indecision of what to do, but when he felt her slender body shaking slightly against his own, Neville quickly put his arms around her and pulled her close to him. His own nervousness seemed to be pushed behind by his worry about the girl and he gently rubbed her back in circles. "It's okay now, I promise I will look out for you." he said quietly, but there was a determination behind his words that was very rare for him. When he thought of how the boy from Wolfclaw had touched Hannah, Neville felt the anger from earlier rise in him again and he tightened his hold on her.

Hannah didn't know what to expect when she hugged Neville. She just wanted to feel secure, and for some reason, being close to him this way did the trick. When she felt his arms close around her, her bright eyes grew large. Hearing his words with a touch of firmnes that marked determination in what he said, Hannah looked up at him. "You... You will?" she asked, swallowing past the knot in her throat. She had never had someone look after her before, and knowing that it was him, of all people, made her smile.

Neville looked into the girl's beautiful eyes and forgot to answer her question for a few moments as he seemed captivated by her gaze. Finally, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and nodded at her. "I will. I ..." he stuttered slightly, both her gaze and her proximity making it even harder for him to speak without stumbling over the words, but for once he did push himself to work his way through his nervousness. "I know I'm not as confident as the other guys, but ... but I will make sure that you're okay." he promised, blushing bright scarlet, but he was still proud of himself for getting it all out.

Hannah's smile only brightened at hearing him confirm what he told her only a moment earlier. His blush following his telling her how he wasn't like the other guys around Hogwarts, or in his own house, made her laugh very lightly. Reaching up, she gently touched his cheek. "As you are is perfect for me," she said softly, her smile extending to her eyes. Once she realized what she said, she dropped her hand slowly, as well as her face, her cheeks flushing a bright pink.

For some reason, seeing the Hufflepuff laugh at him, eased Neville's awkwardness and for once he did not feel like someone was making fun of him for what he had said. Her touch made his eyes go wide in shock and he thought that his cheek was on fire, tingling all over, though it was a quite pleasant feeling and he smiled down at her just as she started to speak. Her soft voice reached his ears, but Neville could not really comprehend what she was saying. Were Ian and Mio really right in that she liked him? The way she blushed would have told any other guy exactly that, but Neville still felt unsure of how to proceed. "Erm...would...would you like to go for a drink with me?" he blurted out, praying to Merlin that for once he said something right. " I ... I mean, just so I can make sure the guy won't come back?" he quickly added.

Hannah didn't know where these nerves and butterflies were coming from. She normally didn't have any problem talking to others, guys included. But, for whatever reason, Neville brought out these feelings in her. He made her shy... She liked him, she knew that for sure, but did he like her in return? It was anyone's guess, really. Bringing her face up to look at him when he offered for them to go grab a drink, a small smile spread across her face and she nodded. "That sounds nice, Neville. I'd be happy to," she answered. Whether it was to make sure the guy came back or not, Hannah didn't care. Letting him go, she picked up her books, and returned to his side. For a fleeting moment, she considered grabbing his hand, but instead opted for slipping her hand around his arm. "Ready?" she asked, sounding much more like her normal self.

Neville barely heard what her answer to his question was as his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that the sound even filled his ears enough to drone out everything else. Had he gone too far? Move too quickly? Or would she just laugh at him? His head was spinning with questions and doubts, but when finally the Hufflepuff's words registered in his brain, he breathed out in relief and a large beaming smile broke out on his face. "A-awesome!" he breathed and tried to wipe the stupid grin off his face, but did not fully succeed. While she gathered her bag, Neville quickly ran a hand through his hair to mess it up a bit, just as he had seen other guys do it when talking to girls. "Yes!" he blurted out quickly when she returned to his side and started to lead her towards the near village where they could get a drink. Neville was surprised at how comfortable he felt with having Hannah so close to him, much unlike with most other people except his closest friend, but it also gave him the confidence to actually try to spike a conversation with her. "I-erm... before this guy started to bother you, I wanted to talk to you actually." he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the ground below his feet.

Following as Neville lead the way, Hannah noticed that he had ruffled his hair, like many of the boys did, and it made her smile. He was trying to impress her, and really, it was working. Feeling his excitement at the prospect of her going with him warmed her heart as she was more than happy to spend time with him. She liked him, and it was seeming that he might feel the same. "You did? What about?" she asked him, glancing up at him before returning her eyes to the path they were walking.