neville x fem!reader who wants neville so bad but he’s so oblivious to her advances. each of them become increasingly more obvious to her intentions but the only person who doesn’t realize this is neville, and it’s driving her absolutely insane.
obvious enough - neville longbottom
summary: it seems that the only person in the entire castle who doesn't know about your feelings for neville is neville himself. your signals become increasingly more obvious, but even asking him out to hogsmeade doesn't seem to be obvious enough for him. wc: 1.9k+
You’d been convinced that after the stunt you pulled last night, Neville would finally know about your relentless crush on him. But you couldn’t be more wrong.
As per usual, Neville sat facing you in the Great Hall as he happily ate his breakfast away. Meanwhile, you felt sick. How could he not have gotten it? Understood the hints you’d thrown at him day by day, each getting increasingly obvious. God, even Harry and Ron took notice of your intentions.
You had literally spelled it out for Neville, and still, he had missed it.
It started with little hints, playing a game of ‘will Neville notice’ with Hermione. She had told you about how obvious your crush was, and after weeks of hearing you talk about the shy boy, had convinced you to do something about it. So you started with friendly flirting, your touch lingering on Neville’s for longer than necessary when passing things to each other and giving him looks just beyond innocent.
When he didn’t respond to your flirting, you upped the stakes. By a lot. You spoke about your exes to Neville more openly, then directly compared him to them. “He wasn’t very respectful of my privacy, and didn’t really give me any compliments. But I’m sure you’d never do anything like that, right Neville? You’d compliment me loads if we were dating, right?”
And when he replied with “Of course I would”, you only went further. “I know you would. You’d be a much better boyfriend than any of those boys.”
On the rare occasion that Hermione or Lavender were around to witness the flirting, they giggled behind closed fists, shooting you encouraging looks as you told Neville that he was handsome, brushing any long strands of his hair back as the orange glow of the fire reflected on his face. But still, the boy was convinced that you were just being friendly.
It all built up continuously — until yesterday. You weren’t sure you could be any more obvious than you had been last night.
It was quiet in the common room, easy conversation being exchanged between the friend group. Seamus and Ron played a competitive game of wizard’s chess, occasionally contributing the conversation you had with Lavender, Hermione and Harry. Neville was sat next to you, shoulder brushing against yours as you giggled at Lavender’s comments about Harry’s miserable attempts at a love life.
“God, Harry, you might be more clueless than Neville.” Hermione added, causing Ron and Seamus’s gaze to flicker over to the five of you. Harry scoffed. “No chance. Right y/n?”
“That would be correct.” You huffed, turning your head to glance at the boy next to you. Neville met your eyes, smiling softly. Your chest deflated as you sunk back into the pillows, swallowing thickly. Lavender shot you an empathetic look, but Harry laughed loudly, causing Neville’s eyebrows to furrow.
"I literally couldn’t be more obvious.” You complained with an exasperated roll of your eyes. "Look." You made a show of turning your entire body to face Neville, clearing your throat softly. The friend group went silent, suspense building between you. “Neville, do you want to go Hogsmeade together?”
Hermione gasped loudly, grasping Lavender’s hands tightly.
Neville nodded, smiling sweetly at you. “Yeah sure. Hey Harry, didn’t you say you needed something from the Quidditch store? Do you want to come with us?” You rolled your eyes again, falling back onto the couch as you ran your hands over your face, groaning. “I give up.” You announced, and Ron and Seamus broke into loud fits of laughter that had Neville’s face going red.
“What? What did I miss?”
Dean, who had just walked into the common room, slumped down in the empty armchair. He took one glance around, and grinned widely. “Somehow, Neville, I think you missed more than I did.”
You thought maybe Neville would realise the true nature of your words overnight. That he’d wake up with some sort of revelation. Or maybe that his dorm mates would have knocked some sense into him, yelling at him that you'd literally asked him out in front of five witnesses. But no. Neville happily chewed on his toast, laughing at the argument between Harry and Dean – something about Quidditch teams.
Hermione bumped her side with yours, asking quietly “You okay?” You nodded, looking at her with a pitiful smile. “I don’t know how he’s missing it, Hermione.” Your best friend stood up, shrugging and offering you a hand. You followed her up, holding her hand as you walked out of the great hall. Neville’s eyes flitted up, gaze following your movements.
Ron elbowed Seamus’s side, nodding his head towards Neville. Seamus instantly broke away from his conversation with his girlfriend, both of them turning to look at Neville. The small motion caught Harry and Dean’s attention. They both instantly paused their conversation to watch Neville, who glanced back, growing red at the prospect of being caught staring at you.
“Oh, Neville.” Lavender sighed, resting her cheek on Seamus’s shoulder as she slowly shook her head.
“What did I do!?”
You and Hermione trekked up to the third floor, detouring to the bathroom before transfigurations class. Your conversation died down as you swung the bathroom door open, spotting Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass talking in hushed voices. Daphne was lounging on the worn down couch across from the sinks, looking up at Pansy, who was speaking animatedly.
At the sight of you and Hermione, Pansy halted her speech, clearing her throat. “I’m sure he’ll come to his senses, Pans.” Daphne said with a low volume. Pansy shrugged, watching as you ruffled through your bag, extracting a tube of lip gloss. You applied a shiny layer of the product slowly, something the girls watched through the mirror’s reflection.
“Boy drama?” You asked with a friendly tone, and the two slytherins nodded. You mimicked the movement, smiling softly at them as you turning around, retuning the gloss to the small pocket in your bag. You sighed tiredly.
“You too?” Daphne questioned, and you rolled your eyes, nodding. “Well.” Hermione commented, and your head snapped up to glare at her. “What do you mean ‘well’?”
“I mean, is it really drama if nothing has happened?”
“Hermione, the problem is that nothing has happened because the boy is daft! I literally asked him out, and he invited Harry!” Pansy laughed loudly, slapping a hand over her mouth and apologising quietly. “I’m sorry.” She muttered, but she was still smiling.
“Wait, is this the Longbottom boy?” Daphne asked, standing up and walking over to the door. You nodded, crossing your arms over your chest as she pushed the door open. She leaned her back on it, eyebrows furrowing, and you only then became aware of the crowd building in the hallway. You should get going before being late to class.
Swinging your bag over your chest, you made your way over to the girl, walking with Pansy and Hermione. “Wait,” Started Pansy, holding a hand up as Daphne swung the door open all the way. She walked into the hallway, stopping in her tracks to turn towards you and say “I thought you and Longbottom were dating.”
“I’ve been trying to make that happen!” You complained, gesturing with your hands as you walked out of a couple of students' path, ensuring you wouldn't get bumped into. “But he won’t get the hint!”
You stepped past a group of rushing first years, freezing on the spot and wrapping a hand around Hermione’s wrist as Daphne moved out from in front of you and Pansy. Hermione gasped, eyes going wide as she took in the sight in front of her. Neville was leaning on the railing next to Ron, his face red. You moved your gaze to the ginger, and he grimaced.
Fuck.
“Hermione, we have to go.” You whispered in a panicked voice, and Hermione nodded, dragging you away from the two boys just as Neville pushed himself off the railing. “Hey, hold on!” Hermione continued pushing through the crowds of students until she led you through the doorway of the transfiguration classroom. You sighed in relief at the sight of Professor McGonagall in the otherwise empty classroom.
With her here, there was no way Neville would attempt to make contact. “Sit next to me, please sit next to me.” You begged Hermione, who immediately put her things on the seat next to yours. Neville’s seat. Professor McGonagall looked up at the two of you, who innocently smiled at her.
“Are you ladies alright?” She asked, glancing between you and Hermione with a curious expression. You nodded quickly, noticing the way she squinted her eyes at you. Professor McGonagall hummed, deciding not to comment on Hermione’s change of seat.
You silently took out your things from your bag, freezing as two pairs of rushed footsteps entered the room. The footsteps came to an abrupt stop, and you carefully observed Professor McGonagall’s face. She glanced at you once, before turning her gaze to the two students in the back of her classroom.
“Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Weasley. I assume you’ll be able to behave if you sit next to each other.”
“Sorry, Professor, do you mind if I quickly speak to y/n outside?” Your eyes went wide at Neville’s words, and you worriedly glanced towards Hermione out of the corner of your eye, who shrugged at you aimlessly. You turned your eyes towards Professor McGonagall, attempting to subtly shake your head ‘no’.
She smiled at the panicked look on your face, nodding slowly “Be sure to come back before class begins. Or you’ll get a detention.”
You laughed nervously, announcing “What’s the point of risking detention, right?” But Neville called your name once more, and the pleading tone of his voice had you slipping out of your seat, wordlessly following him out of the classroom. Ron shot you a very obvious thumbs up as you walked past him. Neville guided you to stand just outside the classroom.
“I never realised you were making a move on me.” You laughed quietly, glancing up at Neville, who looked dreadfully guilty. “I know, Neville. That’s not- I’d never be mad at you for that. I just-”
“I like you. A lot.”
Your eyes went wide, and you felt your cheeks heat up. You were painfully aware of your classmates glancing your way as they made their way into the classroom. But that didn’t matter when Neville was having this conversation with you. “You do?”
“Of course I do. You don’t know how it made me feel when you’d say that I’d be a better boyfriend than all those other boys.”
“And that wasn’t obvious enough to you, Nev!?” Neville chuckled at your provoked tone, glancing down at his dirty shoes. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled, looking up at you with rosy cheeks. “If the offer to go to Hogsmeade is still up, I’d love for us to go. Without Harry.” You froze for a moment, eyes wide before yoy giggled, cheeks aching as you nodded. You leaned forward, softly pressing your lips against Neville’s flushed cheek. His breath hitched in his throat, something you very faintly heard.
“Come on.” You mumbled, walking past him to enter the classroom once more. You raced over to your seat at the realisation that the classroom was nearly entirely full, slipping in next to Hermione just as the bell rang loudly. You didn’t turn around to see if Neville had taken his seat in time, but you heard Professor McGonagall announce “Mr. Potter, Mr. Finnigan, I’ll be waiting for you both in detention this afternoon.”
And then, a few seconds later, alongside rushed footsteps “Detention for you too, Mr. Thomas.”
