Neville, you're wearing a Slytherin tie
To be fair, they weren’t really trying to hide their relationship–they just didn’t go out of their way to announce it. If people noticed, then they noticed. If they didn’t, well, there was a thrill to acting right under people's noses.
They usually kept displays of affection to private nooks, forest shadows, or, more commonly, in the greenhouses where Neville spent much of his free time. Today was one of those days where herbology study turned practical, his hands guiding hers as he deadheaded spent blossoms, fingers plucking swift and sure. Neville didn’t do so with seduction in mind, but Pansy still shuddered at the nearness of his body as he reached around both sides of her in demonstration, the warmth of his chest seeping into her back.
“Are you cold?” He murmured, keeping a steady pace from one potted plant to the next.
“Quite the opposite, actually.” Even though it was just the two of them, she kept her voice soft to match. “It’s sweltering in here.”
This time, he paused for a brief moment, before continuing what he’d been doing.
“What?”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “It’s nothing.”
Standing up straight forced him to back up a step, and she turned to peer up at him through her blunt bangs. “Tell me.”
He had grown much taller over the past couple of years, so different from the quiet boy she remembered standing at the edges, yet still the same. He didn’t impose, didn’t presume. He waited and watched and acted precisely when needed. Like now.
Neville tilted his head as his warm eyes considered her, before slowly moving a hand up. She half expected him to cup her cheek in that gentle way of his she loved so much, but instead he gripped the end of her tie and pulled.
The silk slid silently loose, and she released a breathy sigh.
“I find that it helps to undo a few buttons whenever I’m in here.” He demonstrated with those nimble fingers once more, unfastening her collar. He stilled when she brought her hands up to lie on top of his.
“You are full of surprises, Neville.”
That smile of his. If anybody else witnessed the way his lips moved in that confident, delighted way that was pure Neville, they’d never leave him to his silence. Pansy would be shoved unceremoniously aside as the crowd demanded his attention. She didn’t want them to see this side of him that he saved for her.
It was after they had already packed up their belongings and headed back to the castle that she realized.
“My tie!”
“I’ve got it.”
She blushed as he wound the silk around her neck and proceeded to secure a knot. They stood in the Entrance Hall where anyone might see, but he continued to set her to rights as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Thank Salazar for second chances, shared courses, and a young man who just couldn’t let his classmate fail his favorite class. Her eyes roamed across his mussed hair, the sweat-slicked temples, the scruff of his unshaven face. Pansy never thought she’d prefer the scent of moist soil to cologne, but here she was, inhaling deeply like she couldn’t get enough.
Then her eyes dropped further and widened. Green and silver.
“Neville, you’re wearing a Slytherin tie.” Realization struck and she looked down at her own chest. Red and gold.
“Let’s go get dinner.” His warm hand engulfed her own and, with another of his sweet grins, he led her towards the Great Hall.
It was such a small thing, really, trading silk colors, but Pansy knew their joint entrance would send a message she thought she hadn’t been ready for. They had never announced their relationship, but that didn’t mean she was ashamed of him. If anything, he should be ashamed of her. As if sensing her hesitation, he paused in front of the doors, turned back to look at her, and waited.
The sight of him standing there—hair disheveled, expression caring and concerned, her tie around his neck—filled her to the brim with affection and longing. She could do this. She could be brave and trust in this seedling of a bond. With a sharp nod, she hung on tight to his strength and let him tug her through the door and into the light.