They keep their relationship quiet. Other people may notice them hanging around each other but no one knows they are dating. After their first kiss, they established they were dating between giggles and kisses. She felt like a giddy teenager who is having her first love, which is kind of true. It was not her first love but she is a giddy teenager and so is he. She is trying to go with the flow and just enjoy her time with him but she does worry about the future. Would this last after their time at Hogwarts? Or would the spell of their relationship be broken once they graduate? That is a problem for them in the future but she is already worried about it. She is sure that Draco should also be worried about that. He has to be or he isn’t thinking straight. She wants to protect herself from hurt but it is a bit too late for that because she is already falling for Neville.
She is also concerned about what her parents will think about her relationship. Besides the fact that she isn’t with Draco, she isn’t sure how they will feel about Neville. She really likes him but what if they don’t?
She decides to get out of her own head and enjoy her relationship with her wonderful boyfriend Neville. He is the sweetest and it is basically what it was before but with the added layer of dating. They still studied together, they still worked in the greenhouse together and they still walked to meals together. But the added layer of dating adds a lot more physical touch which her touch-starved body loves. It also adds little kisses when they are out of sight of peering eyes and the occasional make-out session in the back of the library which leads to panting and staring into each other's eyes in adoration. She feels cared for, adored, and loved when she is with him. He takes it slow with her and she loves that. Everything in her life has always been rushed and this feels like it is going at a pace she is happily going at.
Neville often pulls her into alcoves and kisses her hard. He shows his affection with small touches and semibold kisses that people could possibly see and she loves it. She loves how he is getting more confident with her. He can kiss her and she will melt under him.
He brings her back to the Gryffindor Common Room one night after dinner while everyone else goes to watch a quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. He sneaks her into the common room while the fat lady watches with careful eyes. She seems hesitant to let her in but once she sees Neville holding her hand, she happily opens the portrait. Instead of just hanging out in the common room like she thought they would because no one was around. He leans down and whispers in her ear “Do you wanna just go up to my room?” She smiles and they head up. She is a mess of nerves. Are they going to go farther than cuddling? Are they ready for this? She is obviously no virgin but is she ready to have sex with him? She is attracted to him and has thought about it before but it seems like they are going from 20 to 100 and that is way too fast for this relationship. They enter his dorm and she is basically vibrating with nerves. She has never been this nervous about being in a boy's dorm before. He leads her to his bed and climbs in under the covers. She thinks to herself, “That's strange”, usually the boys she has sex with do it on top of the covers to not get her perfume on their sheets or so that they could just kick her out afterward. She climbs into the bed from the other side. This is different than usual and she is nervous. She is out of her element and scared. He notices and pulls her into his arms. “Hey, what's wrong,” He says. “I’m just a little nervous,” she says. “About cuddling in my bed?” He replies, a bit confused. Oh my god, she feels like a fool. Of course, he just wants to cuddle. He would never go that far that fast without talking to her. “Did you think that….” He doesn’t finish his sentence. She blushes heavily and nods ashamed that her mind only would associate being in a bed with a boy with sex. He grabs her chin gently and turns her face to look at him. “I would never do anything like that without talking to you first, I just thought we could cuddle in a bed for once instead of on a library couch” She laughs and lifts her face to kiss him before saying “This is much more comfortable than a couch, thank you” She settles against his chest as his arms wrap around her. Her body thrums with his touch and she glows as she feels his large hands against the bare skin of her waist. She shivers with his touch and buries herself farther into his chest. She feels at home in his arms and he sighs in satisfaction. He pulls her in closer as she drifts off to sleep. She feels him whisper something against her head right before her consciousness is lost to sleep but can’t hear what he says. They fall asleep content in each other's arms.
She wakes up and it is dark outside. There are footsteps outside the door and she jumps up to close the curtains around his bed.
Her heart is beating loudly and she is holding her breath as she hears them walking around the room. She doesn’t want people to know yet. She isn’t ready for people’s opinions and judgments. She is sure that they might peek in the curtains to check on Neville since he wasn’t at the quidditch game and see her lying there with him. Her body is frozen in fear and Neville shifts next to her. She presses her lips to his to keep him quiet and he moans quietly into her mouth. She smiles against his lips and she feels him do the same. She feels him freeze against her when he hears the other boys outside their secluded bed. He pulls her tight against his chest and kisses the top of her head. With that, she knows he will sneak her out without anyone noticing once everyone is asleep.
2 hours later, after making sure everyone is asleep, he peeks out the curtains and deems it safe to leave. He pulls her up and leads her out of the Gryffindor common room. She thought that he would just kiss her goodbye after they were out and then head back inside. She is already risking being caught after curfew. He instead starts walking and pulls her along whispering “Gotta make sure you get back safe”. As they are walking, she thinks to herself “Maybe this is what love is”. He kisses her gently when they get to the dungeons and she pulls him down to rest her forehead against his for a moment. She is trying to show her feelings even though she can’t say them at that moment. She kisses him quickly before she smiles and heads inside the common room. She quietly hopes that he makes it back safely and without getting caught. She gets into bed and has trouble going to sleep. She misses his body against hers and his arms around her.
She is falling in love and she isn’t as scared as she thought she would be.