Strangely Moody

The late evening light still glimmered as Rey skipped along the path. Music from the ball played in her head as she smiled her way past some of the visiting students. Despite all of the extra people at Hogwarts, the grounds were still far quieter than they would have been normally. Many went home to see family after the Yule Ball. Others hadn’t made it back yet. She allowed herself to enjoy the peaceful surroundings as she went off in search of her friend.

Turning the corner between the trees, something caught her eye. Movement just to the side of the greenhouse. She stopped and ducked behind some branches to watch. Nothing happened for a count of ten and then suddenly, there! There it was again! Someone was trying to look inside and trying not to been seen at the same time. She stepped around, moving to the next tree to get a better view. Once she caught a glimpse this time, her eyes went wide. Why would he be hiding? Why not just go inside?

Rey moved out from her hiding place and strode into the greenhouse like nothing had happened. As she opened the door, she saw the form move off quickly. Likely to skulk about another time. Looking down the rows of potted plants, Rey saw Neville at the far end, carefully pruning some shivelfig. She stifled a small giggle as she watched him stick out his tongue as he concentrated on his work.

“Did you see him,” Rey asked quietly.

Neville, to his credit, managed to only jump (very nearly out of his skin) and not make a sound. “Rey! Cripes! Why would you…see who?” He furrowed his brows, scrunching up his round face.

Rey ducked her head down apologetically. She had forgotten that he would get so focused working that he wouldn’t hear her open the door. Or close it. “Sorry, Neville. Professor Moody! He was just outside peeking in. Isn’t that odd,” she murmured.

“P-professor Moody? Why would he be peeking?” Neville put down his sheers and looked out the glass, out into the fading light. He turned back with a shrug, not seeing anyone. “Are you sure you saw him, Rey?”

She crossed her arms, giving him a look. “I know it was him. There aren’t many people that look like him, Neville.” She pushed her hood back, letting her long hair come tumbling down. Somehow, despite the cold of winter, she still managed to fill her hair with blossoms.

The sight of it made him turn away, trying to hide his blush from her, he rinsed his hands off in a washbowl. Drying them on a cloth, he turned back to her. “Okay, okay, fair enough. But still, it makes no sense.” He finished cleaning up and grabbed his coat. “Come on, let’s head back.”

“We should keep an eye, just in case, right?”

Neville gave her a nervous look. Always the Auror’s daughter, he thought to himself. “Yeah, okay.”

Two days later, Neville came running to her in the common room. Pulling her arm, he moved her off to a corner to whisper in her ear. “You gotta come with me. To the greenhouse.”

“Okay, Neville, but why are we whispering,” she whispered back, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

“You’ll see. Get your coat,” he reminded her. He turned and offered Ron a nervous smile as he walked past to sit on the couch, a box of chocolate frogs in hand. She left the room to gather it and he stood at the door, trying to look calm.

“Okay, Neville, let’s go for that walk,” Rey offered sweetly. Ron nodded farewell, chewing on his treat.

As they approached the greenhouse, Neville pointed at the footprints in the snow. “I saw those and since it snowed this morning, I knew I just missed whoever it was. So I went in and noticed that some things on Professor Sprout’s table had been moved.” They moved inside and he led her over to the table in question. “And look,” he pointed to an empty spot in the light soil stains on the table.

Rey looked at the spot and back to Neville. Her shoulders came up slightly as her face indicated that she had no idea what she was supposed to be seeing. “Something is missing?”

Neville nodded. “Professor Sprout keeps a pot with knotgrass here. It’s gone.”

“But why take that? Is it special or something?”

“It’s used in a bunch of stuff, I’m not sure? But it’s weird right?” He started replacing things, shaking his head. “You think this has anything to do with the other night?”

“But why would it? Unless maybe that’s why he was looking inside?” Rey wrinkled up her nose. “We should try to figure out what it’s used in. Do you know where to look?”

Neville nodded. “There’s a few books we could look through. I have to get some from the library though. Come with me?”

“That’s a silly question,” she smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the door.

They spent the next few hours until lunch in the library, scouring through the shelves for books on anything they could find with knotgrass in it. By the time they left, neither could see for the stacks in their hands. “Do you think they have lunch ready yet?” Neville’s stomach growled audibly. “I’m starving.”

“You’re not starving,” Rey replied with a giggle, poking his little paunch playfully, “But we can go check.” With that she turned the corner to head towards the dining hall. By some luck, lunch was ready, so they sat down to eat and began reading. Rey flipped through a book describing a variety of beverages. “Here’s something, Knotgrass Mead…” she read aloud.

“An interesting drink, bit heavy to my tastes,” came a deeper voice behind her. She snapped her head around to spy Professor Moody looking over her shoulder. “Light reading today?” His magical eye twitched as it scanned over the books stacked between the duo.

“You know Neville, Professor. He’s good at herbology, right? Well, maybe he’s just helping me out, okay?” Rey’s tendency to be a bit short when she was nervous earned her a suspicious look from the man before he walked off.

Neville, for his part, sat there with his mouth hanging open slightly. “Rey! Do you think that’s a good idea? Talkin’ to him like that?”

“Well, it’s not like I can take it back now. Come on, let’s get out of here before he comes back.” She closed the recipe book and picked up a cookie. She put it in her mouth before gathering up her stack. Neville tried to do the same, stumbled and dropped the books all over the floor. Quite a number of people turned to look, including the object of their curiosity. The boy’s face flushed as he scrambled to pick it all up and scuttled to the door.

As they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, Rey did her best to comfort him. She twirled around a few times, humming one of the songs from the dance, hoping very much to make him smile. She even did a fair job of taking one flight of stairs backwards, before falling unceremoniously on her backside at the top step. That finally broke his sulking and earned her a giggle which she returned after sticking her tongue out at him.

Once inside, they flopped down onto the couch and dug straight in. Books were shuffled back and forth, stacks changed and rearranged. A list began to form as they discovered more and more ways the plant could be used. “Mead, Polyjuice Potion, to help with nosebleeds, tea for a cough, a remedy for hemorrhoids…ewwwww.” Rey took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, falling over Neville’s lap to lay her head on a pillow. She draped her knees over his legs and closed her eyes. “How long have we been at this,” she yawned.

“Don’t…do…that,” came his echo. He shook his head rapidly, trying to clear the fog. He continued to read; he turned the page and started to read aloud, “the grassy structure of the…Rey?” He looked at her and smiled. She was fast asleep. Pulling her glasses from her fingers, he closed the arms and placed them next to her on the pillow. He didn’t manage more than a page before nodding off himself.

Not long after, a familiar face wandered into the common room. His eyes crinkled behind his round glasses as he looked at his two friends, sound asleep on the couch together. Picking up the book that had dropped from Neville’s hand, he placed it on the table and covered them with a blanket. He chuckled, pointing them out to Ron who had to quickly stifle a laugh and had to leave the room.

Hours later, they woke to the loud rap of a cane on the floor. Rey’s eyes fought to focus as she quickly grabbed her glasses and put them on her face. Neville was sitting there, head in his hands as Professor McGonagall gave them a most disapproving look. “Mister Longbottom. Miss Winchester. This is wholly inappropriate behavior for you both.” Rey scrambled into a seated position, her face growing hot. She looked up and started to speak when she saw something that made her voice vanish.

Professor Moody stood beside McGonagall, his face set with suspicion. The two youngsters said nothing and both left for their dorms. “Children…” was all the older woman could manage. She turned and picked up one of the books.

As she inspected it, Moody lifted the page with the list of possibilities and tossed it into the fire. He took a quick sip on his flask before nodding to her. “Right. Children.”