Disclaimer: Own nothing
Summary: Forgiveness is hard. Very hard. Sometimes impossible, but that doesn't mean there can't be a second chance.
Uncle Neville:
Hermione stood before her fellow Hogwarts graduate, concern clearly showing on her face. Neville looked up at her from the large couch in the Gryffindor common room, the orange flames making his face glow eerily. Hermione sucked in a breath and approached slowly.
The two of them, Harry, Ginny and several others that had graduated were invited to return for a celebration of Voldemort's defeat at Hogwarts. Many were cheering outside the castle, but for the heroes who were in the actual fray like Hermione and Neville, they had other demons to deal with right now.
"Hi, Hermione." Neville said, voice void of any emotion: no anger, no pain, no fear, no hatred. He just sounded empty. Hermione tried not to flinch. She couldn't blame him really. She, a friend of his for what had been seven years, had fallen in love with and had protected and married the woman that had made his parents insane. She knew he had all the right in the world to feel betrayed.
She slid up next to the couch and looked at him. "Neville," She started, almost unsure how she had been able to get the words out, "Listen, I-"
"Don't." Neville said quietly, "Don't. I don't want to hear an apology or anything. You did what you thought was right when you protected Lestrange…or Black or whatever she's calling herself now. I wouldn't ask you to remember every second that my parents are in St. Mungo's. You were doing something that makes you…..well you."
Hermione felt a smile form on her lips. She wanted nothing more than to hug the Longbottom heir at that moment. He was trying to understand. Against all odds and despite what Bellatrix had done to his family...he was trying.
"Thanks, Neville," Hermione said smiling, then narrowed her eyes with uncertainty, "I…know you have every right to want to take revenge, but…I need to know that you won't hurt Bellatrix. I'm so sorry to say this to you after what she did, but….."
The brown haired young man clenched his hands around the red cushions on the couch, swallowing hard. "It hurts." He spoke softly, this time pain evident in his tone and Hermione lifted her head to look at him, "It hurts so much whenever I think about mum and dad. It hurts to see them in that awful place."
Hermione lowered her head again. "I know." She mumbled, wincing, guilt overtaking her.
"But it hurts even more knowing that I can't do anything." Neville added, eyes glossy with sadness, resulting in Hermione staring at him hard, "I saw those memories that Fudge pulled out of her head just as well as everyone else did." The pureblood said, voice becoming hard, "I can't believe it. No one should go through something like that. And she was just a child."
Hermione felt her teeth bite down, jaws tightening together. "No one was supposed to see that," She all but growled out, "I promised Bellatrix I wouldn't let them take the memories and let anyone see what those bastard parents of her did, but I couldn't stop them."
Neville didn't look at Hermione, his eyes stayed focused on the fire and his face was scrunched in anger. He wanted his hatred for Bellatrix to remain part of his being. But he couldn't deny what he had seen in the dark witch's memories. It was hard to imagine anyone not going insane and torturing people after something like that. Neville recalled nearly feeling bile come out of his mouth at one particular memory that involved a teenage Bellatrix, her father and a butcher's knife being used.
He still shuddered every now and then at the thought of the torture and abuse Bellatrix and her sisters had experienced. Andromeda and Narcissa had only gotten out of it sane because they were continually protected from their parents by their big sister. Before that, he had had no idea how abusive pureblood families could be. His grandmother had always been kind to him, he had been clueless.
But there it was and Bellatrix Black had experienced the worst of it from both her parents Cygnus and Druella Black and later from Voldemort, and by that point she was trapped in a lifetime of servitude and torture for failure, or death.
It was hard to maintain hatred for someone when all you wanted to do was cry for them. He knew that the oldest Black sister hadn't wanted those memories revealed. She had been screaming and spitting that the "damned traitor" as she had called Cornelius Fudge was not to reveal her memories. He had anyway. The whole entire courtroom had fallen silent after they had seen everything. Neville was quite sure that there wasn't either a dry eye in the room or one person who didn't look sickened.
Neville, thinking on it now couldn't hold back the cynical chuckle anymore, startling his muggle-born friend into gazing at him again. "It's funny," The young wizard said, trying to keep the sob from his voice as he spoke, "I should hate her. I should want her dead. But I can't. I just can't anymore. And I hate her for that. I hate that I feel sorry for her and that every time I have a nightmare it's about those terrified sad eyes we saw in her memories when she was hiding from her father in a cabinet and was found anyway. And beaten till she was vomiting blood." The pureblood couldn't keep the tears from falling now. Droplets of water trailed down his face as he sniffled, no longer able to appear angry.
Hermione's fists squeezed together at the memory. She felt like she was going to explode whenever her mind went back to those images of Bellatrix's abuse.
"I know." She said, voice becoming strained, "I know. It's not fair. She hurt you, took away your parents, but she was already so, so damn lost…...she had been hurt so much…I'm sorry, Neville. I'm so sorry."
Neville chuckled again, wiping his tears away with the back of his right hand.
Of course she had to say she was sorry.
Because what else could she do for him?
Hermione somehow managed out, forcing her voice to become low and more controlled, "I am sorry, Neville. I always will be. And I'll always be your friend if you'll still have me. I am so sorry about your parents, Neville, but, I think you know already what will happen if you try to hurt Bellatrix."
The pureblood stared up at her, face stricken. He didn't say anything for a time before turning back to the fire. Yes, yes he did know. Hermione had made it clear to everyone that Bellatrix was under her protection. Neville didn't know when or how but somehow Hermione had fallen in love with the former Death Eater. And Neville wasn't foolish; he had seen Hermione duel and in an actual fight before. He knew that if he tried to commit any transgression against the oldest Black heir; against someone Hermione loved, he knew that the muggle-born wouldn't refrain from using the killing curse.
He wasn't fool enough to think that Hermione wouldn't do anything for Bellatrix Black.
Neville laughed again, this time with a great deal of mirth in it. He nodded.
"I know." He said, not tearing his gaze from Hermione, "And I won't try." His eyes narrowed in thought, "I can't anymore. And yes, I'd like to still be your friend." He offered a smile, and Hermione's person relaxed.
Hermione felt a huge wave of relief. Regardless of the reason, she was happy that Neville still considered her a friend. It was a fairly reasonable weight off her shoulders, as she was sure that she had crossed a monumental line with him. Bellatrix was a tender subject no matter what.
"Look," Neville began again, his grip on the cushions released, "I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive Bellatrix, and I don't know if I'll even be able to be in the same room with her for a long time, but I do trust you, Hermione." Hermione's smile widened in response. "Thank you, Neville." She said, strong, unrestrained emotion in her voice, "I know this is hard….harder than anything you've done before. And I know….I know that it's hard too to know that Luna likes being around Bellatrix as well."
Neville snorted, still staring at the fire. It was no secret that Luna and Neville were now dating. Neville finally got the courage during the battle at Hogwarts four years ago to ask Luna that if they survived, if she would want to go out on a date. Luna had told Hermione in her…own unique way the other day that she and Neville were planning their eventual wedding. This of course was something that certainly explained Neville's increase in confidence and why he seemed happier than anyone could remember seeing him in years.
This unfortunately had been unsettled by the fact that Luna had been keeping in contact with Bellatrix since Hermione had taken the Death Eater in those four years ago. Apparently they had been exchanging letters for a time and were surprisingly good friends, or at least as good of friends one could be with a deranged former Death Eater. Unsurprisingly, they were interesting to observe when they were conversing together. (Hermione still wasn't quite sure what to make of their friendship).
Neville had felt betrayed not just by Luna but by Hermione for a long time, that was until the trial and the dark witch's memories had been revealed.
Neville still sometimes, during the darkest of nights and couldn't escape the memories of the images inside Bellatrix's mind that he considered for at least thirty seconds the possibility of using the obliterating curse on himself. Anything to get those terrible pictures out of his mind.
He still felt uneasy by Luna's contact with Bellatrix, but as Hermione had once pointed out, if he didn't trust the dark witch, then he should at least trust his friends. And he did. He trusted both Hermione and Luna. With his life.
"It's alright," Neville answered, strangely surprised by how convinced his own voice sounded, "I trust you and Luna. And if being around Bellatrix makes Luna happy…..I can't really tell her what to do. And if you love her….I know," The pureblood stared up at Hermione again, eyes shining, "I know about Hydra, Mione."
Hermione sighed. She knew that it was inevitable that everyone would find out about her and Bellatrix's daughter; their little girl, their treasure. At the beginning it had only been Luna, Ginny, Fred and George, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Narcissa, Andromeda, Lucius, Draco, Tonks and Remus who had known. Bellatrix had been incredibly distrusting of Remus when he had seen Hydra, believing that one of the "Marauders" would harm her child, but Remus had proven secretive and trustworthy about Hydra. She had learned for a while now to trust Ginny and her brothers. The only ones Bellatrix didn't trust was Percy because of his stuck up nature and of course Ron. Surprisingly, Fred and George had proven that they were also trustworthy, despite their mischievous nature. But eventually, a certain couple of people (Lucius and Draco) had opened their mouths about Hermione being pregnant, and Draco had bragged off to Ron and Harry about having a new cousin. And now it looked like everyone knew.
Hermione nodded. "It was a difficult spell," She supplied, "Even more complicated than the Polyjuice potion. The pregnancy wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But yes, Bellatrix and I have a daughter now. That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. I….," Hermione hesitated for what felt like forever until she finally inhaled, taking the risk, unsure whether she was about to push her luck to breaking point, or if she was about to make their relationship closer, "Harry….he…I guess has gotten used to Bellatrix and has offered to be Hydra's godfather." Neville's eyes widened when he heard that. He had heard Ron mentioning it, but wasn't quite sure he had believed it himself.
Hermione finally gave the last bit of her proposal, knowing she was going in blind with this, "And that leads me back to what I want to ask you. Bella and I, we're going to have more children. I know the spell by heart by now, and we're going to have more…..so, what I wanted to know is…" Hermione almost couldn't get the words out, "When Bellatrix and I have another child, Neville, would you-"
"Yes." Neville said, voice almost a whisper. He spoke so quietly that Hermione wasn't even sure she had heard him. The young witch watched him carefully, wanting irrefutable evidence of what she had just heard.
"Neville?" She asked, voice sounding like she was trying to stir a vicious dog from its rest.
"Yes," The Longbottom heir repeated, tone louder as he locked eyes with his old friend's again, "Yes. If you and…and Bellatrix have another child, I'll be the girl's godfather."
Hermione felt tears threaten to fall from her eyes. She couldn't prevent a huge smile. "Neville," She said, voice now trembling, "You don't know how much this means to me." Now she was having an incredibly hard time not lunging forwards and wrapping her arms around her friend hard.
Neville hesitated a moment before asking slowly, "Can…..can I meet Hydra one day? Can I see her?"
Hermione felt tears trickle down her face as she barely was able to choke out, "Do you want to meet her now?"
Neville lifted his head, startled, questions in his eyes.
"She's here." Hermione began, clearing the quavering from her voice, "I was able to convince Bella somehow to trust Ginny and Harry with her for a few hours. She's here with them. In the hallway actually, last time I saw them. Do you want to see her?"
Neville appeared stunned for a few moments. As the shock steadily past, he nodded, dumbstruck. Hermione backed away from the couch, walking to the entrance of the Gryffindor room, gesturing for her friend to pursue. Numbly, Neville got up, following. Hermione opened the picture, revealing the gray stone columns and hallway before them. Neville spotted Harry and Ginny sitting together on the granite barrier supporting some of the columns, a small bundle enveloped in white cloth held between them as they looked down at it, smiles of adoration on both their faces.
Neville looked at Hermione. The brunette had no hint or indication of jealousy towards her friends for holding her daughter and staring at the girl as if Hydra were their own. Neville suspected that Bellatrix would have reacted quite differently (which was probably why Hermione had to have done a lot of convincing before getting the dark witch to part with their daughter, even if it was only for a few hours).
Hermione turned to Neville and smiled again, this time her turn to wipe her tears away with the back of her right hand as she nodded towards her friends and daughter, "Her name's Hydra Druella. I was rather opposed to the middle name, but Bellatrix won me over about that. Go on. You're an uncle now after all."
Neville's eyes widened again. He was an uncle. No matter who the other parent of this girl was, she was also the child of a dear friend of his who considered him like her brother. Harry and Ginny had talked about having children and so had he and Luna, but this girl was the closest he had to a niece. Once more, he felt a surge of emotion overtake him. He was an uncle.
Stumbling forwards, Neville approached Harry and Ginny. The raven haired wizard and the redheaded witch raised their heads, noticing their friend and both smiled in greeting.
"Hey, Neville." Ginny said, grinning. Neville didn't respond and slid up close to them, looking down now at the small baby his companions were holding and stared. He brought his right arm up and placed it on the bundled child, pressing the cloth down, alerting the child to his presence. The child shifted her gaze to Neville, her blue eyes glistening with curiosity as she took the sight of this new giant person in front of her.
"Hello, Hydra," Neville mumbled out, unable to take his eyes away from the child's face for even a moment, "I'm your uncle Neville."
As if somehow understanding the gargantuan creature inquiring about her, the child giggled, overjoyed and reached a tiny hand out, grabbing Neville's index finger, squeezing it as she shrieked with laughter.
The graduated Gryffindor's eyes widened and finally he tore his eyes away from Hydra and directed them towards the girl's mother who was watching them with a big smile of her own.
Neville swallowed a lump in his throat. He felt the sting of tears again. It seemed that while Bellatrix had taken his family away when he was only a baby, she now in some strange way had given him another.