AN: As always I would like to thank you for all the reviews, subscribtions and favs. I'm really happy that you like my stories. I also hope, that you'll like this ff to. Enjoy!
AN2: This story (excluding the last paragraph) takes place some time before "Home is where your heart is" so it will be nice if you we'll read both stories, however they are both one- shots. Now, enjoy! :)
Special kind of love.
"God, Weasley, you look like a crap." Exclaimed Neville Longbottom towards his best friend Ginny Weasley, who sat beside him on a bench in the Great Hall. Dust was still filling the air, people were laughing or crying or just sitting silently, brooding. Dead bodies were laying on the ground, blood stained, dirty, empty. Ginny glanced one more time in the direction of her family. They were sitting at the table, with Fred's body laying in front of them like a puppet. She felt tears building up in her eyes but forced them back and looked at Neville with a little smirk on her lips.
"My my, Longbottom, you know how to compliment a woman!" She said nudging his ribs lightly. "And you look quite dashing yourself." She added sarcastically. He looked at her with concern and worry.
"How are you feeling?" He asked silently, staring at her dirty face.
"Same as I look like." She replied and sighed loudly. She was so exhausted.
"Seriously Ginny. Any major injuries?" He asked again, trying to examine her body.
"Nah, I don't think so. I may have broken arm, but we've been worse, haven't we?" She stated rubbing gently her left arm. He nodded slightly.
"Yeah, we have." He replied, still looking quizzically at her face.
"You?" She asked turning her head in his direction. He rubbed his face with his right hand.
"Ahhh... Same as you." He said weakly. "Cuts, bruises, and my head is spinning a little, but we've been worse, haven't we?" He added, smiling a little bit. She nodded in agreement. "Luna?" He asked searching the hall for her.
"She will be fine." Said Ginny. She pointed at the blond- headed figure sitting a few steps away from them talking with Dean and Seamus. "She looks... Relieved. You too. You did a great job, Neville." She said gently squeezing his left hand. He squeezed her hand back.
"We both did." He said silently "Hell, we all did. Look at all those people. Everybody was ready to give their lives in this battle." He added looking at the crowd with amazement.
"Yeah, some of them did." She said, her voice cracking a little. He looked at her. She was talking about Fred, he knew that. "To many of them. God, Neville, I thought that I'll be watching your dead body next to Harry's. How on earth have you managed to escape from this bloody hat?" She asked with wide eyes directed at him.
"I have no idea." He confessed shaking his head with disbelief. "But still, better question is, how it's possible that Harry is alive." He added. Her head snapped towards him. "Why are you still here, anyway? Shouldn't you be wherever he is, snogging him senseless right now?" He asked smirking. He was so different in her or Luna's company. He was so… natural. He was the real Neville Longbottom. Funny, witty, extremely brave.
"Killing him, you mean." She corrected him loudly. "How could he pretend that he's dead! Besides I don't even know where he is. He disappeared somewhere, with Ron and Hermione of course. I saw them leaving. Harry was under his cloak, as always." She explained with a hint of jealousy and bitterness in her voice.
"So, I think you should go and find him." He stated. She glared at him.
"How do you know I want to find him?" She asked angrily. "Crap, how do you know that he wants to be found?" She added. He rolled his eyes at her.
"Oh, please. Get over it." He exclaimed. "We both know that you're hopelessly in love with him. And we both know that he loves you as much as you love him." He stated.
"I won't be so sure about it." She mumbled silently.
"So you're blind as a bat, Weasley." He said shaking his head. "Honestly, you and Harry are really worth each other. Firstly, he hasn't seen that you still like him and would dump ever other men for him with a song on your mouth and now, you don't see he's treating you like an egg, because he's worried sick about you." He added with disbelief.
"And that's what is pissing me off. I'm not an egg and I'm not a child. I've survived nearly eight months this year at Hogwarts. I think that means something." She replied with her arms crossed at her chest. He sighed loudly.
"Ginny, we know what was going on here this year, but hell, you even haven't told you family! Harry thought you'll be safe at Hogwarts. He wanted to protect you, because he loves you. Is it that hard to understand?" He asked. She sometimes was almost as thick-headed as her brother Ron. "And how you've explained this, anyway?" He asked pointing at the long scar on her face which was starting at the end of her left eyebrow and ending somewhere under her ear. She shrugged.
"I've told them I had a detention. Once." She confessed silently.
"They'll find out soon, you know that?" He added. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I saw your father talking to McGonagall. He probably knows already." He added placing his own head at hers. They've once spent a sleepless night like that and now it just became a casual gesture.
"I know. I just don't want to be the one who will tell them. Mum would just stare at me with those sad eyes. I don't think I can handle that." She explained, silent tears were rolling down her cheeks now. She was relieved that he wasn't able to see them.
"You're too quick tempered for your own good, Ginny. And Luna. She is too intelligent and too careless. Somebody had to at least try to control you two from doing stupid things. I failed, anyway." He stated playing with her fingers.
"I don't know what you were thinking." She said shaking her head slightly. "That we will be silently watching Carrows performing cruciatous on everything what is living in the castle? Or maybe that we will be practicing it on first years?" She asked angrily a little louder that it was necessary.
"You didn't get that because you weren't casting crucio on first years…" He tried to argue with her pointing at her scar again.
"Yeah I know, just because bloody Amy thought that I'm too pretty for a blood traitor!" She exclaimed, now glaring at him with irritation.
"You shouldn't have been arrogant with them, you know that…" He tried again.
"Just stop it!" She snapped at him. "We had that conversation before. Besides, you were not better Longbottom, "you shouldn't have been arrogant with them"" She mocked his voice perfectly. "And that comes from the guy who gave a speech to Voldemort, of all the people!" She throw her arms in the air wincing a little at that sharp pain caused by her probably broken arm.
"I was just pissed off and then I saw you!…" He inhaled deeply to calm himself down. "You gave up Ginny, all of you. I had to do something." He added silently. She felt guilty. He was like a brother for her last year. She loved him in a very special way reserved only for him and Luna. Since none of her brothers or Harry, or Hermione, were at Hogwarts last year, they were her only family. The three of them were through so much together, that she doubted that something can break them. For a moment she thought that they are almost like Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"I'm sorry." She whispered barely audibly. He patted her knee gently.
"Me too." He replied. "Hey! Look who's coming!" He exclaimed. She looked in the direction he was looking. Ron and Hermione were making their way toward them as they spotted them in the crowd. They looked exhausted and thin, but also kind of… happy? Neville and Ginny instantly spotted their entwined hands and exchanged a smirk.
"I think you won the bet." Said Neville with slight smile. She chuckled silently before standing up and making her way towards Ron and Hermione. To say that Ron was shocked when his sister threw herself in his arms would be understatement, but he recovered after a moment and wrapped his arms around her.
"You bloody git!" She mumbled in his chest. Her tears won the battle again and now were pouring down her cheeks. "I was so worried about you!" She sobbed. He didn't quite knew what to do, so he just started to pat her gently on her back. She got off him and turned towards Hermione. "And you!" She pointed at her accusingly and hugged her almost as tightly as she did with Ron. Hermione's eyes were wet as well, and now both of them were crying and hugging each other. Ron patted Neville's back two times and mumbles something what sounds like "good job, mate", when the girls let go of each other.
"He's in the Gryffindor tower." Said Hermione towards Ginny. "I'm sure he would like to see you." She added reassuringly. Ginny nodded slightly. "I'm really happy about you two." She said looking at her brother and Hermione with little smile. "Take care Neville." She added kissing her friend's cheek and patting him on the shoulder. "Get some sleep." She advised him and with that turned around and started to make her way out of the Great Hall.
A few hours later, when exhausted Neville Longbottom entered the Griffindor common room, he saw his best friend cuddled with the love of her life on the sofa, soundly asleep. He smiled to himself. It looks like he to, should start live his own life from the beginning. Maybe in some time he will ask Hannah Abbot out? Right now a peaceful sleep will be a perfect beginning.
The end.