Chapter 42: The Promise Ring

                                    

                                          
Neville's head whipped in my direction, frantically grabbing his wand and pulling his grandmother behind me.
"NEV... IT'S ME!" I shouted, running over to him.
"STUPEFY!" Neville shrieked, causing me to fall backwards. 
I hit the pavement with a harsh thud that heavily scratched one of my legs and arms. Groaning in anguish, I recollected myself. Neville hesitantly approached me with his wand drawn. I quickly realized that I shouldn't have done that since I didn't look like how he last saw me: blonde hair... not as pale... and gray eyes.
"I would have expected to see you in an Azkaban cell by now...." Neville seethed, standing above me with his wand drawn.
"NEVILLE, DAMMIT, IT'S ME!" I shouted, "IT'S DAWN!"
Neville cocked his head, his voice shook with anger, "Is this some joke to you? Using your niece against me..."
"Nev... I'm serious," I assured, holding out the hand with my promise ring on it, "It's me... The Daily Prophet lied, I'm alive!"
Neville's face softened, gawking at the ring, but his wand didn't drop. He was having a hard time believing that it was me... I understood why. I wasn't going to give up though, I kept the ring insight as I slowly stood up.
Neville gulped, looking at me again, "If you're her... and really her... what was our first date?"
"Look, Nev... I know what you're thinking, I'm not her-" I hesitated.
"WHAT WAS OUR FIRST DATE?" Neville shouted, cutting me off and shoving his wand closer to my face.
"Officially, it was the Black Lake where we first kissed..." I panicked, cowering on the ground again, "Unofficially, it was the Slytherin vs Gryffindor game where George and Harry jumped Draco..."
Slowly, Neville dropped his wand as his face softened even more. Tears grew in the corners of his eyes, meaning that I had broken through his defenses... but he still looked extremely confused. And instead of greeting me, he covered his mouth and returned to where his grandmother was standing. While he did this, I stood up, dusting myself off, before I approached the two.
"Is that her?" Neville's grandmother asked quietly.
Neville nodded, "Could you... erm... give us a couple of minutes..."
His grandmother narrowed her eyes at me, shoving a fork into her grandson's hands, "The portkey expires in ten minutes... If you're not back by then, you'll walk."
Sighing deeply, Neville nodded and hugged his grandmother goodbye before she disapparated from Diagon Alley. It was apparent that his gran was not fond of me... I assumed from the looks she gave me. Like I feared, she mistook me for Bellatrix Lestrange, and sadly so did Neville. Silence filled the alley as Neville and I stared at each other; neither of us knew what to say.
"I honestly thought you were dramatic about how strict she was..." I joked, trying to ease the awkward tension, "But if the portkey expires, I'm sure that the twin's have a Floo Network in their flat that you could use..."
Silence grew in the alley again as Neville bit his lip, refusing to respond. And after a while, he broke eye contact, lowering his head and shoving his hands into his pockets. He was still trying to process everything... I sensed it. And again, to try and ease some of the tension, I approached him with a smile.
"So... erm, new wand?" I beamed, wrapping my arms around him for a hug and reaching in for a kiss.
Neville moved his head, dodging the kiss and refusing to hug me back. Furrowing my eyebrows confusedly, I hesitantly backed away... both confused and hurt. I knew that he was still processing the fact that I was alive, but I thought that he would've at least... you know... kissed me back.