Early morning light made his hair glow golden orange.
He was sitting in one of the long window seats in the common room, face in profile, gazing out into the new day.
He looked… peaceful.
She wandered over, wondering if she had the nerve to tell him he looked like some sort of avenging angel, with his hair like that, and the soft cotton of his t-shirt and pyjama pants moulding to the muscles that softened his lanky form.
"Hey,"
He looked up at her, and the illusion vanished, those bloodshot blue eyes very much real, and very much him. He blinked a couple of times, and shifted one leg off the seat, sitting up properly.
"There's an antiquarian bookshop," he said, very seriously, like it was absolutely the first thing they needed to discuss the morning after that final furious battle, "It's also a patisserie." He frowned, "Or it has a patisserie. I'm not sure, I've never been. Anyway, point is, it's really old books, and really fancy pastry, and it's supposed to have the biggest range of loose leaf tea, and a whole section on magic theory, and I'd like to take you there. On a date, preferably, but we can bring Harry if you're not interested in that."
She blinked at him.
"I don't think Harry's that interested in old books," she said.
"Is that a yes to a date then?"
She nodded, and he grinned at her, that lopsided grin that made her heart flip.
He patted the seat between his legs, inviting her to sit between them.
She felt her eyebrow quirk up in surprise, and couldn't stop herself smiling. So she sat, and he tucked his long arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. She leant her head against his shoulder and sighed with relief. His stubbly chin brushed her temple, and he planted a kiss there.
The first.
A little bubble of excitement appeared in her stomach.
The first of many.
She tipped her head back, searching for his lips, and they were there, and they kissed, and she was snuggling back against his shoulder and neck before she realised that that was their first proper kiss and it hadn't even been dramatic.
They hadn't even been facing each other properly.
It felt so natural she couldn't even be bothered over-thinking it, and she laced her fingers through his, held on to the bubble of excitement and happiness and gazed out the window with him.
The grounds were peaceful. Marked with the charred scars of curses and magic, scattered with debris and chunks of castle. But the morning dew had painted everything with a soft sheen of silver, and in the dawn light, and the gentle quiet stillness of outside, it looked like healing.
Someone else was up. Soft padding footsteps, and a gentle throat clearing.
"Hey Neville,"
He evicted the red and gold throw cushions from the other end of the window seat, near their feet and sat down, apparently not at all concerned about interrupting them. He was considering them, amused and thoughtful. He put the two leather-bound books he was carrying on his lap, fingers of one hand absentmindedly tracing the embossed designs of plants on the cover.
"This new?" he asked, gesturing at them.
"Uh… yeah," she could feel Ron's mild embarrassment in the heat from his neck.
Neville nodded.
"That confirms my theory then," he said, "I've had this sneaking suspicion all year that the reason I was suddenly fine was just that Harry was gone. I mean," he gave an eye roll, "The Voldemort bit of Harry, not Harry himself,"
She frowned.
"Eh?" Ron, as usual had summed it up well.
"I'd love to take credit for being fine," explained Neville, "But no-one gets over that much insecurity that quickly. It was like suddenly everything was manageable. And I was always sort of ok during the holidays. I thought it was just that I was crap at magic, but I think maybe it was more that Harry's horcrux was just messing me up, and I kinda get why. I mean, I'm…"
"Formidable?" she'd always seen that in him. Buried in there somewhere.
He blushed and beamed. Sheepish and sure.
"Yeah, I am. And I can see that now. And I can see that like, kinda that prophecy wasn't just about Harry. It could've been me. So, I guess the potential was always there for me to be… I dunno, a threat?"
"Yes, I think you're right about that," she said, "And you are formidable. You destroyed a horcrux, and frankly, with a lot less fuss than the rest of us managed,"
She felt Ron shift uncomfortably. She knew there was more to his horcrux story than he'd said. Must've been particularly bad.
Neville was grinning though, quiet self-assurance fitting neatly in with everything else about him. He was covered in scars and scratches, and he had a spell rash up one arm, but even though he was looking pleased with himself, it had a kind of… modesty? Humbleness? It reminded her of Lupin. She blinked to turn her thoughts away.
"Yeah, that was pretty satisfying,"
"Hold on though, how does this," Ron gestured awkwardly at himself, and her in his arms, "Confirm your theory about being affected by Harry's horcrux?"
"Well, if you'd been normal teenagers, spending that much time together, feeling how you do, and with that much sexual tension, you probably would've ended up snogging in the library, I'd say, fourth year at the earliest, and end of fifth at the latest?"
"But…"
He looked really amused. She felt a rush of gratitude, that he'd found himself, and that he'd been there to take charge in their absence. He just had a really kind face, and she could see a kind of gritty determination in the set of his jaw, and it occurred to her suddenly that he was now the kind of man, brilliant, considerate and gentle, that women made fools of themselves over.
"I can't help but be weirdly pleased you didn't though, because it's alarming to think what would've happened once you'd found the Room of Requirement-"
Hermione felt her face heat up. Such a typical horny teenage fantasy, and one she was mortified of having had… though Ron was making indignant noises, so it can't've just been her… and Neville seemed to be enjoying their embarrassment, because he was chuckling.
"Anyway, I um, I figured we were headed for one almighty show down and I had a few very serious chats with the Room,"
"Wait, what?" Ron sat up straighter, pulling her up too.
"You can talk to it?!" If she'd only know that years ago!
"If that's what you want, sure you can," Neville said, shrugging, "That's the whole point right? Whatever you require? You've just got to be specific,"
Heavens.
"You mean we could've asked it for a map of horcrux locations and something to destroy them with?" Ron demanded, indignant.
"We could've asked it for magic sparrows with the power to find and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes without us ever having to do anything much at all," said Neville, serious again, a dark shadow behind his eyes, "But it's never that simple. You have to be really careful about what you ask for, or you can break natural laws and the laws of magic, and unleash utter chaos. Believe me, if I could've saved… But it doesn't work quite like that. That was one of the things we talked about, when I realised the potential of the Room, and how dangerous it was for us to be using it like that,"
And she hadn't thought about that at all. Not about how the wrong request could bring the universe down on them. What if you Required a black hole?
Probably for the best it hadn't occurred to her at the time.
"Which brings me to the other thing I wanted to say…." He was drumming his fingers on the leather cover of the top book on his lap. "We have to rebuild this castle, and I kinda knew we'd probably have to, so before it got destroyed, I asked the Room what we'd need for the rebuild, because most of those magics have been lost…" He took a breath and winced. "And, um. This is where I did kind of break some laws… not disastrously, I don't think, but, um. Well, look, you've used a Time Turner before, so you know how careful you have to be."
She had indeed. Not easy.
"Neville? What did you do?"
He shrugged, a bit embarrassed.
"It's a time loop? So, I asked the Room, what if it got destroyed, was that it, could we rebuild it, and it gave me this," He passed the top book over.
It was heavy in her hands, heavier than it looked, and embossed with the words Room of Requirement and Neville Longbottom. As though… had he written it? She flipped it open, flipping through the stained, wrinkled pages that were completely empty…
"You won't be able to read it," he explained apologetically, "It was part of the deal with the room. It took me ages to work out when to go back to, like when the castle would be empty enough for me to work out how to do it, you know?"
She frowned.
"No, Neville, what are you talking about?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"The Room… shouldn't really exist. Like I said, it breaks a bunch of laws. And it turns out… it was me,"
They took this in for a second.
"Nev, mate, you're gonna have to spell it out for us,"
He winced.
"I… made the Room of Requirement. Originally. Or I guess, I will make the Room of Requirement, eventually, but in the past. But it's a closed time loop, so it's ok. Anyway, I've got to rebuild it this time, and you know, work out how to do it- it did give me a few pertinent clues, but basically, it's on me to work it out- and then once I've done it here, I can… go back…"
She swore.
"Neville, that's really dangerous. That is really, really dangerous,"
He shrugged again.
"Doesn't matter does it? Closed time loop. We know the Room existed, which means we know I go back to create it. I don't know if I'll make it back, but I do know I'll succeed, so that's something," he smiled, ruefully, "But I have to rebuild it in this time first, so I know what I'm doing,"
Mind blown.
"Do you… do you want… help?"
He shook his head.
"Nah, has to be just me. Another one of the limitations. If I ask for help the whole thing could implode. Very touchy magic in the making." He took the book back from them and paused. "So… the rest of the castle is a different story." He seemed to be weighing something up in his mind, "Look, I feel really conflicted about this, 'cause it's kind of a bombshell. You guys are good though, right? Like, committed?"
"We literally kissed for the first time five minutes before you sat down, Neville, so we haven't had that conversation yet," She tried not to feel annoyed.
"Oh," he looked disappointed, "Sorry. But you are, right?"
Talk about a pregnant pause.
"I am," said Ron finally, "This is it for me. I mean, I was trying to play it cool, and ask her on a date, see how it goes, you know, not freak her out by rushing into anything, but yeah."
Her heart hurt with beating.
It seemed important to say it.
"Me too."
"Really?" he sounded delighted. He was squeezing her closer and she felt giddy with the joy of it.
Neville rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, you both knew that anyway, didn't you,"
"Well…"
"I didn't know know, I mean..."
Sardonic was a strange look on Neville.
"Yeah, ok, love birds, whatever. Point is, tandem magic. You familiar with the concept?" the dark look had left his face now, he was back to looking quietly confident, gentle, and a little nervous.
"Yeah, it's bullshit," said Ron, "Propaganda from the ancient world, right? Egyptians claiming superpowers from cooperative magic? Never been proven."
"Right, because we have no personal experience of fairy tales coming true," Ron chuckled, and she rolled her eyes as Neville snorted. "I meant the three brothers, obviously."
"Obviously," agreed Neville, grinning. "So you see where I'm heading with this. And I think that's why that horcrux had to drive the two of you apart, stop you from working it out, because you two together are pretty unstoppable,"
She stared at him.
"Tandem magic? Is that the other book? You can't be serious! Can I see?"
He was laughing now, but holding both books out of her reach.
"Yeah, you can, but- no, wait, Hermione, calm down, look, I am going to give you this, but… ok, two things. First, it's empty,"
No!
She knew she must've looked comically disappointed, because both he and Ron were laughing at her again.
"That's why I showed you the other one first. Like I said, time loop. So, you're going to work it out, and write it down, and that's kind of the point, so start with the premise that tandem magic works, definitely, for sure, and that you will work it out, and then go from there,"
She couldn't help it. She sighed, and was rewarded with another burst of laughter from them. It felt… good. Among friends. Uncomplicated.
"Ok, fine. At least the library wasn't destroyed,"
Neville was still holding the books out of reach. He looked almost… reluctant.
"Ok, Nev, hand it over, she'll tackle you for it in a minute looking for clues,"
"I know… it's just… it feels like such a spoiler," he said, wrinkling his nose, "So you get that these books are kind of… timeless, or time-filled, or whatever. Non-chronological. Right? So it's just… Look, my bet is that it's more than just tandem magic, but it'd be more complicated the more people you involved, so there's probably a maxing out point-"
"You're just stalling now," she said, unwrapping Ron's arms from around her, wand out, flicking, and the book slipped straight out of Neville's hands and into hers.
Neville winced again, faced scrunched up waiting for some kind of reaction.
"Stop being so dramatic, Neville, it's just a…. oh," A zip of surprise and excitement, shock, and more surprise.
"Yeah, see, I told you, kind of a spoiler, huh. But you more-or-less knew already, so…"
"Knew what?" Ron peered over her shoulder, tucking her hair out of the way. "Holy shit! What the-?!" He snatched the book out of her hands, "Is that…?" he was flipping through the first few pages looking for confirmation. He landed on a picture of the two of them, an 'About the Authors' blurb full of gaps on the opposite page. "Wow. Ok, that's definitely me with glasses. Super cute haircut, by the way, Hermione," He snapped the book shut and passed it back to her.
"That's all you're going to say?" She twisted round to look at him.
He shrugged.
"Like he said, time loop. We don't need to have the conversation, it's moot. Besides, not like anyone would ever think I wasn't a Weasley, not with this hair."
"That's you reasoning?!"
Neville winced.
"Yeah… I'm gonna go inspect the damage to the Room. Let you have your first proper couple's fight in private,"
"We're not fighting," said Ron innocently, "Nothing to fight about,"
"Excuse me?"
Ron was grinning at her wickedly now.
"Come on," he said, "I can just hear the arguments for any of the other options," he put on a falsetto and mimicked her accent, "But Ron, the patriarchy!"
"Shut up," she elbowed him in the ribs, not hard, and gazed down at the embossed cover, her fingers curling around the spine, other hand tracing the lettering.
She felt so full of feeling, so fortunate... so… much. She blinked away the prickle of tears, and leaned back into Ron's arms, snuggling her head under his stubbly jaw.
The cover of this book was very different to the other one, with twists of pattern, and little symbols curling and sliding magically around the border. In the middle, Neville's 'spoiler'. She hugged it to her chest, buoyed up with the excitement of a new challenge, and the certainty of success.
Tandem Magic
A Practical Guide
by
Hermione & Ron Granger