adventdrabbles | Dec 09: Mistakes Were Made. (F: harry potter.)

Title: Mistakes Were Made
Fandom: Harry Potter.
Pairing: Neville/Charlie
Rating: PG-13
WC: 400

Neville wasn't expecting anything special that morning. They had agreed on small gifts this year: books, sweets, maybe a new scarf. Nothing dramatic. So when he picked up the neatly wrapped box with his name written in Charlie's handwriting, he smiled without thinking.

He opened it.

Then froze.

Inside sat a small set of sex toys. Sleek. New. Expensive. Definitely nothing Neville had ever mentioned wanting. And nothing Charlie had ever hinted at buying.

Neville's throat went tight.
Oh.
These weren't for him.
Charlie must have mixed the labels. Or someone else gave them to Charlie. Someone who knew him differently. Intimately.

The thought punched Neville in the stomach so hard he couldn't breathe.

He closed the lid slowly and placed the box aside as if it might burn him. The room felt suddenly cold. He folded his hands in his lap, staring straight ahead, quiet in a way that wasn't normal for him.

Charlie came back from the kitchen carrying two mugs of tea. "You opened it already?" he said, cheerful, then paused. "Nev, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Neville shook his head. "It's fine."

"It's not fine," Charlie said, sitting beside him. "You're doing the thing where you go very still and pretend you're thinking about plants."

Neville swallowed. "It's really fine."

Charlie frowned. "Did you… not like the gift?"

Neville kept his eyes on the floor. "It wasn't for me."

"What?" Charlie set the tea down. "Neville, it *was* for you. I bought—"

"No," Neville whispered, voice cracking. "It's all-right. You don't have to explain."

Charlie stared at him, confused, then reached for the box and opened it. "Neville… what did you think this meant?"

Neville's face went red. Painfully red. He stood up. "I should— I should go for a walk."

"Neville, wait—"

Neville was already at the door, boots half-on, heart aching. Charlie moved after him, but Neville shook his head once, sharply, unable to speak.

He stepped outside into the cold morning.

Behind him, Charlie called his name.

Neville didn't turn around.

*

Inside the flat, Charlie lifted the lid of the box again, staring at the items inside, and finally noticed the small card tucked beneath them.

A card Neville had not read.

Charlie picked it up, eyes widening.

"Neville," he whispered, rushing to the door.

The card slipped from his hand.

The message on it read: "For us, when we're ready."