Wild Strawberries and Sunflowers
The sun warmed the back of Hannah's neck as she knelt amongst the roses, pruning the early blooms. Spring had finally arrived, and the flowers, eager for sunlight and warmth after the longer winter, had blossomed en masse.
She snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye toward the man sitting in one of the many pavilions of the Royal Gardens. He was tall and broad, and even from a distance she could see the muscles he'd earned from years of handling swords and battle axes, like many of the men in the Gryffindor Castle.
Despite this, he always sat in her gardens peacefully, smiling into the sunlight like a sunflower unfurling it's petals. He never caused trouble, merely greeted her with a nod each day he entered, and slipped away silently when he'd had his fill.
Hannah occasionally found herself inclined to feed and water him to see if he would take root. She quite liked the idea of it, her very own handsome knight standing vigil over the gardens.
Today, however, something was wrong.
His face was buried in his palms, his shoulders slumped. As Hannah tended to her gardens, she slowly drew closer, humming to herself.
The daisies and the other wild flowers hardly needed attending, but Hannah cared for them all the same. As she made her way through their patch, she collected the few strawberries that had grown plump and juicy, filling the wicker basket next to her.
"Kind sir," she began when she drew close enough, and her handsome gentleman startled at the sound, and leapt to his feet.
"My lady," he answered, a grand title for a gardener such as she, "I beg your pardon for intruding."
Hannah snorted. "Intruding upon my plants and I? Never fear, your intrusion is permitted - welcomed, even."
His face, which had been lined with worry and darkness, brightened at her words.
"You are too kind," he said demurely.
Hannah smiled, and tilted the basket toward him. "Would you like a strawberry?" she asked. "I suppose they're really meant for the King's kitchens, but I won't tell if you don't."
A strange smile grew on the knight's face. "I promise not to tell," he said, and took a strawberry. His smile widened as he ate it, and the delight that Hannah normally saw in his eyes began to creep back in.
"What seems to be bothering you, my lord?" Hannah dared to ask. "Your temperament is not normally so melancholy."
The knight retook his seat, and patted the bench next to him. Hannah joined him, and offered him another strawberry in thanks.
"I doubt myself," the knight confessed. "I feel like so much rests upon my shoulders sometimes, but no matter what I do, it's never enough."
He sighed, staring at the ground. "How are people supposed believe in me, if I can't believe in myself?"
Hannah scoffed. "Don't be foolish, now." She took one of his hands in her own. "I believe in what I can see," she said, gazing at him intently, and stroked a finger along his cheekbone, just below his eye, "what I can touch -" she twined their fingers together "- and what I can feel."
She tightened her grip, "Which means I believe in you. And if I believe in you, I can't be the only one, I promise you that."
The knight stared at her with a indecipherable expression upon his face, and Hannah suddenly realised she'd been unspeakably forward.
"Please excuse my impertinence," she murmured, and tried to withdraw her hands.
"No!" the knight said, and refused to release her. "Thank you, my lady. You speak honest and true, and for that I am grateful."
Hannah blushed, and averted her eyes to the gardens so as not to meet his bold gaze.
"My lady gardener," the knight continued, "I must offer you my compliments. Every day I seek refuge in your gardens, and every day they bring me joy." He brushed a kiss over her knuckles.
Hannah felt as if she might be glowing. "My lord, my gardens enjoy your presence."
"And you?"
"And me," Hannah admitted.
The knight smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."
They sat in peace for a moment, but like the seasons and the wind, all things must move on and change.
A courtier rushed toward them, hugging their finery close as if to stop any contamination from the outdoors.
"Your Highness!" he cried. "Come quick - the Head of House Slytherin has passed, and there is talk of civil war across the realms of Hogwarts!"
The knight, Hannah began to realise with growing horror, wasn't actually a knight at all.
King Neville of House Gryffindor stood tall beside her. She'd only ever seen him at a distance before, on the day of his coronation. Normally the nobles kept to themselves, and well out of the gardens.
"I'll meet you in the War Room shortly," he advised the courtier, who turned and hurried away.
"Your Highness!" Hannah stuttered. "I'm so sorry-"
King Neville drew her close, and kissed her cheek. He withdrew with a shy smile - so different to the regal man she'd heard ruled House Gryffindor with an iron fist.
But she'd heard tales of his compassion, too.
"Please don't apologise to me," King Neville said. "Truly, it should be I who apologises to you. It would have been polite to have introduced myself when I first visited the gardens, but I merely wished to enjoy your presence without the the throne coming between us. My lady, please, I beg you, tell me your name."
"Hannah," she answered. "Formerly of Hufflepuff, but I moved here as a child."
"For that I am glad," he said. "Else I might never have met you."
"Me too," Hannah answered, heart fluttering in her chest.
"I must go," King Neville said, and he kissed her for a third time, on the cheek previously untouched. "Will you be here when I return?"
"Where else would I be?" Hannah asked with a delighted smile. "My gardens are your gardens, after all."
Word Count: 1009
Auction 16. (Song) As Long As You Love Me - Backstreet Boys
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GGE for Truebeliever831 who requested Neville/Hannah Royalty AU "I believe in what I can see, what I can touch, what I can feel; which means I believe in you."