"Are you sure about this, Neville?"

"Positive."

"What if they don't like me?"

"They will."

"What if I have a panic attack?"

"You won't."

"What if we wake them up?"

"They'll go back to sleep when we leave."

"What if they're having a bad day?"

"What if you just calmed down for a minute and breathe?"

Hannah Abbott took in a deep, shuddering breath and then looked at Neville, her face reddening to match the tone of strawberry in her blonde hair.

"Now let it out!" he shouted, clapping her on the back as she gasped for air, clearly still shaking. This was doing more to her nerves than the all of the hours of studying for her N.E.W.T.'s put together.

"Hannah, I wouldn't be bringing you to meet them if I didn't think it was a good idea."

"Right then."

They went up another flight of stairs and through a pair of double doors. Hannah gripped tightly to Neville's hand as they passed many closed doors where people were probably sleeping, or lying still as potatoes unable to move on their own.

A friendly looking medi-witch at the end of the corridor broke out in a dazzling smile the instant she saw them. "Neville! Come, come! They're having their lunch and they were just asking about you!"

The witch guided them through yet another pair of sealed double doors where they entered into a bright, open room with lots of windows and several beds. Neville doubted very much if his parents had been asking for him as that's always what Healer DeMent told him. He doubted whether they could even remember his name, much less say it. It was her sorry attempt at making him think they were getting better.

Ever since he was small, she had been there to tell him all the lies that his grandmother had never bothered with. How his parents would someday realize that he was their son and how proud they were of him. All he needed to do was visit as often as possible and they would come round. Of, course, it had all been a sorry attempt to make him visit more. Like he had had any control of how often Gran wanted to come see her son (which was often enough in itself). All she had managed to do was make him feel guilty every time they went more than a few days without visiting.

She guided them both to the end of the ward and past a set of dark blue curtains which he knew to be shielding his parents beds from view. They were both sitting up and eating what looked like bowls of beef stroganoff, or something else brown with thick egg noodles.

Healer DeMent spoke loudly as though the ex-Aurors were completely deaf. "Frank, Alice! Neville has stopped by to visit! Third time this week! Isn't that lovely!" She smiled encouragingly at Neville and proceeded to back out of the curtained area to give them all a bit of privacy.

Neville sat down on the end of his father's bed and patted his feet. "How are you today, Dad?" he asked.

Frank Longbottom looked at his guests and grunted, returning to his food. "That's pleasant for him," Neville assured Hannah, gesturing for her to sit in the little chair by the window. "Give me a minute and I'll introduce you."

Hannah nodded and graciously sat by the window to watch as Neville chattered about his week to his parents, neither one giving much more than the occasional grunt, moan, random hand gesture in response. Neville's mother like to tap him on the shoulder even though she had nothing to say. He seemed to be used to it because all he did was pat her hand every time, but he right on kept talking.

After about five minutes, Neville got off the bed and came to Hannah's side. She stood up and glanced at the two people in the beds in front of her.

"Mum, Dad, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Hannah Abbott. Remember when I told you all about the DA at school? Well, Hannah was a member, too. And she fought in the battle against Voldemort with me. She's brave, but she was a Hufflepuff, so she's loyal, too. I think you'll really like her." He gave Hannah a little push forward, beckoning her to say something. "They just like it when you talk," Neville explained.

Hannah cleared her throat and looked from Frank to Alice with a sad expression. How two normal and happy people had come to be in this permanent state she would never fully understand. But she followed Neville's lead and began to talk.

"It's very nice to finally meet Neville's parents," she said slowly and quietly, hesitating over what exactly she wanted to say. "I've known Neville for a long time, and I just want to tell you that your son is the bravest man I've ever met. He saved a lot of people and he never thought of his own safety in the midst of it."

Neville tried to cut her off, but she waved him away, raising her voice with new determination. "And he's modest, too. He doesn't want me to talk about him like this, but it's about time someone did." She sat down on the edge of Frank's bed right where Neville had been sitting and continued to talk. "Your son is the truest Gryffindor that Hogwarts has ever seen. He is honorable and courageous and smart. He has a way with Herbology that anyone would be jealous of. He helped to kill V-Voldemort. If you could see him now for what he truly is, you would be the proudest parents in the whole world. He's as loyal as any Hufflepuff I've ever met, wiser than half of Ravenclaw house, and more ambitious than all the Slytherins in the world. I should probably mention that he's handsome, too. I think he got that from his father." She gave Frank a good-natured smile, finding that her words were now flowing comfortably.

"Your son is one of the toughest Aurors that the Ministry currently has employed, and he's living up to your family name with the most honor that a person possibly could. I just want you to know that even though you haven't been able to care for him like you would have wanted, I always will. I'm going to be here, so you don't have to worry about him. I'll make sure he eats properly and gets plenty of rest. I love your son, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, and I just want you to know that he'll be alright."

She could feel Neville standing right beside her, and she looked up at him to see that there were tears falling down his face. He didn't have to say anything for her to know that he'd appreciated every word she said. Hannah was slightly disheartened to look back at his parents to find that Frank had drifted off to sleep. "It's okay. He just gets tired a lot, that's all," Neville said to soften the blow. "I think he really liked you."

"We're going to leave now, Mum," Neville said, grabbing Hannah's hand to pull her to her feet. "I'll come back in a few days with Gran," he promised.

As they were exiting the curtained area, he heard his mother grunt and saw that she was getting out of bed to come toward them. Hannah looked confused. "Don't worry," Neville said, "She just always has to give me a candy wrapper when I leave." Sure enough, Alice grabbed a Drooble's wrapper from the bed stand and made her way toward them, however she didn't stop at Neville. She walked right past him and up to Hannah who stuck out her hand instinctively. Alice set the wrapper in her outstretched hand, tapped Neville on the shoulder again, and then made her way back to bed.

Hannah stared down at the wrapper in her palm with wide, surprised eyes.

"You can throw that out," Neville said nonchalantly, knowing that the wrappers probably didn't mean anything to Hannah like they did to him. Hannah nodded, but as soon as he'd turned his back to her to say something to the medi-witch, she slipped the wrapper right into her pocket.

A/N: This story has particular meaning for me because I love Frank and Alice so much. Like James and Lily, I wish we had had a chance to know them as people because they were brave and daring and clearly in love. They loved Neville so much, and he often doesn't get the recognition he deserves much like his parents. I don't know what the point of this note was except to say that it is my sincere wish that somehow, (even in the state they were in), this did Frank and Alice justice. Brilliant characters deserve brilliant stories.

And Hannah deserves some recognition, too. Clearly Neville, as badass as he was, wouldn't have married her if she hadn't been wonderful.

So this fic was dedicated to Frank, Alice, and Hannah: Three under-appreciated, yet strong characters from Jo Rowling's world.

With love,

Ashley

P.S. Yes, that title was a Disney reference! I'm glad you caught that!