FOUR YEARS IN THE LIFE OF NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM
Rating: PG Pairing: Neville/? Author's Notes: This fic is part of the 'Gardeners Delight´ Neville Fuh-Q-Fest. Challenge: 12: Neville finally pleases his family. (Koanju) + 500 words limit
Thank you to my beta Moirae!
1999
"Neville, do you know when you will finally get married?"
"Great-aunt Mirabelle, I'm only nineteen."
"You know that the Longbottoms have always married early."
Blah, blah... I don't know how often I've heard that phrase over the years. Always comparing me to everybody else, always showing that I come up short to their expectations, always showing that I'm the black sheep.
I thought finding a job as an assistant teacher at Hogwarts - and that right after leaving school - would gain their approval. But they made almost no comment about my achievements, only about my failures.
And when they couldn't find anything wrong with my career they started going on about my private life. Happy family life, indeed.
2000
"Neville, how is married life treating you?"
"Aunt Viola, I am not married. I am not even in a relationship."
"Maybe you are doing something wrong, dear?"
Great! I am getting relationship tips from my great-aunt who has never been married and makes me absolutely sick with her false concern. I wonder if that's what they all think? That it's somehow my fault? That it's because of me, because of the way I look, the way I behave, the way I am and ... not because I won't take anybody as my life partner.
I don't understand why any of my family want to push me so much. They should understand!.
2001
"Neville, old boy! Finally got lucky?"
"I'm not married yet, Uncle Algie."
"Well, don't wait too long. Wouldn't want to be in your condition forever."
My? condition! What a delicate way to refer to my virginity! After all, it's not my fault that the Longbottoms are only allowed to have one lover throughout their whole life. And I'd rather stay a virgin forever than just shag anybody and then be stuck with them forever.
I wonder why none of my relatives understand that? I would think that it would be the most important thing that I am happy but they only seem to care about telling their friends that I managed to make a good catch or congratulating me on 'getting lucky'. Stupid, self-important bastards.
2002
"And do I even want to know how you have failed the Longbottoms once again?"
"Grandmother, may I introduce my husband? Harry Potter."
Yes! This gobsmacked expression of my grandmother will stay with me forever!
Pathetic to have to show a husband before I get acceptance in my family, isn't it? I am only happy that homosexuality isn't an issue in our world, or I would have managed to disappoint them again.
I know, I would rather that they were proud of me just for who I am. But I learned long ago that life isn't fair and never perfect and so I try to be happy with what I get.
That is what Harry and I have in common and what got us talking in the first place. And now we're going to make our lives fairer and a bit more perfect - together.
End