Breath of Life
by ChatterChick
Summary: They were happy. They were healthy. Their lives were coming beautifully together. Follow Neville and Hannah Longbottom on their journey to start their family.
A/N: This is written for the Pregnancy Challenge/Competition over at HPFC. This is just a short prologue, the rest of the chapters should be longer.
***updated version as of 04/05/15***
Thanks to your encouragement and thoughtful reviews I've edited and hopefully made it overall a tighter and more accurate story :) Feedback is still always appreciated!
Prologue
January 2004
This couldn't be right.
Hannah stared at the clear water in her toilet bowl.
She reached for the package that the tiny vial had come in to read the instructions once more. She had done this right, hadn't she?
2 spoonfuls of potion taken with 1 2/7 cups of fluid. No alcohol.
Results should appear within an hour.
"Oh drat," she sighed.
It was disappointing, she admitted to herself. She and Neville had married nearly six months ago after what had been a wonderful three-year relationship. Pillow talk had recently turned to the family that both of them were quite eager to create. A little boy or little girl with Neville's round face and Hannah's blond curls. Or eventually both if they were lucky. Hannah had been the owner of the Leaky Cauldron for two years now and was quite confident in her role. Neville started last September as the new Herbology professor and while Hannah didn't think anyone would ever live up to dear Pomona Sprout, her husband definitely came close. They were happy. They were healthy. Their lives were coming beautifully together. It had felt like the right time. They had started trying for a baby soon after the holidays.
Hannah thought her body agreed when she missed her period. It wasn't just late; after two weeks she was sure it was not coming.
She had picked up the potion from the apothecary down the street to find out for sure. If she was pregnant, her pee would be purple until the potion was flushed out of her system. The darker the purple, the further along she was in her pregnancy. She had a thin, paper stick with the entire purple spectrum from the faintest of purple at two weeks to an almost black-purple at nine months.
Only, her pee was still clear. No baby.
Neville knocked on the door. "Hannah? Is everything alright?"
She could hear the growing concern through her husband's voice. This was the third time this hour she had gone to the washroom. Maybe she should have realized it the first time she had gone with no results. Only, she had convinced herself that the potion just hadn't gone through yet. She and Neville sat at their supper table in their private quarters above the Leaky drinking glass after glass of water.
"I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute."
She flushed the toilet and washed her hands before heading out of the master bathroom to where Neville was waiting for her.
He nervously ran his hand through his hair. "So?"
"I'm not pregnant." She offered Neville a small smile. "I think I just got a little over excited."
"We both did," he agreed. Neville stepped forward to take both of her hands in his. "You only just stopped taking the contraceptive potion, this might take some time."
She felt hopeful. Not everyone got pregnant on the first try, she was sure she would be soon enough. And of course taking some time was not a bad thing. They could have a lot of fun in the meantime. She said as much, and Neville's dark brown eyes gleamed as he bent down to kiss her. She breathed in deeply as she eagerly accepted her husband's kiss. Neville always smelt wonderful, the benefit of spending so much time outdoors with the earth and the plants.
"Now, do you have some time tonight or are you too busy grading essays?" She playfully unbuttoned his work robes. He was wearing the nice grey ones with moss green detailing today.
Neville walked backwards into their bedroom, leading her towards their bed. "Oh, I think I can give my lovely wife some time."
