Homework in the Hallway
Harry chased the little rubber ball, grabbing it before it could hit the floor a second time. He threw down and watched it bounce off the stone floor and then the wall before leaping after it again.
Thock-thock. Thock-thock.
It was almost meditative, the steady beat of the little rubber ball and the scuffling of Harry’s boots.
Except for the times Harry missed and had to jump over Neville in pursuit of his toy when it pinged towards the other end of the hall.
Thock-thock-”Dammit!”-Thockthockthock-scuffle-and WHOOSH! went all of Neville’s parchments.
“Harry!”
“Sorry!”
Harry would have been a much better Seeker than a Beater. In that position his small size would have been a blessing rather than a hindrance but Harry didn’t want to be a Seeker; to the confused relief of Cedric. And then when Harry had very casually passed over his brand spanking new Nimbus 2001, because “no one needs three brooms and you’ll get the best use from it right?”, Cedric had nearly swallowed his tongue.
Harry tossed away brooms that cost a small fortune, but got downright pissy if someone borrowed one of his pencils. Such an odd boy that one. He’d given away almost all of his Christmas presents in fact, to Professor Sprout to do with as she pleased. As far as Neville knew she in turn had donated it all to charity. He wondered what Blaize thought of that.
Shuffling his parchments back into a tidy stack, Neville looked up to find Harry inches away from his face. “GAH!”
“Play with me!”
“Before or after my heart attack?”
“Neeeeeev,” Harry whined. The little rubber ball, about the size of a snitch, was waved under Neville’s nose. “It’s Thursday! Do your homework later! You’ll have all weekend!”
“With you around? Hardly.” Neville planted a hand against Harry’s chest and shoved him away. “If I get most of it done now, then I won’t be trying to argue with you later when you want to run off into the forest.”
Harry whined again but let himself be pushed away. He rolled back up to his feet and threw the ball.
“You’re lucky I even agreed to come here!” Neville shouted after him. “It’s cold!” Transfigurations were getting hard this year, McGonagall wanting to know the specifics of each item they were using and the specifics of the item that it was supposed to become. It was dull and frustrating.
And it was too quiet.
He looked up again and glared at Harry who had just slipped a hand into Neville’s satchel.
“...I’m hungry.”
“You’re irritating. Front pocket.”
Harry grinned as he found the napkin of soft rolls and cheese. “Ok, I’ll leave you alone for a while. Promise.” He traced an X over his heart before trotting off.
Neville used the next fifteen minutes or so to the best of his abilities, trying to get down a rough outline for his essay before Harry inevitably came back to harass him some more. It was only a couple inches, that was just a handful of sentences short and to the point and-
Neville looked up in time to point his quill at Harry threateningly, the boy caught mid-crouch in preparation for a tackle.
“No. I’m not done.”
Pouting, Harry abandoned his plan and crawled forward to lay across Neville’s shins. “But I’m bored! Let’s go do something. Let’s go flying and give more people panic attacks.” His new ‘surfing broom’ had been a big hit, and while Harry hadn’t exactly been banned from using it, he wasn’t supposed to test it without a teacher nearby.
“After I finish this. I just need another couple of lines..” Neville pulled his Transfiguration book out from under Harry’s head. “Then I swear I’ll help you give the Professors even more gray hairs.”
Harry made a rude sound to show his reluctant agreement, and then refused to move. He coaxed Mimi out of his hair and they hissed at each other as Neville’s legs went numb but found the answer he needed on why certain rabbits made for better slippers than others. The tamer the rabbit the easier to transfigure which did make sense, no one wanted slippers that would bite your toes off.
“But that’s an awesome idea!”
Unless you were Harry.