A/N: This is for Kore-of-Myth's 100 Pairing Challenge. I claimed tables A, B and I, but I'm not going to do it table-by-table, I'm mixing it up, starting with Luna/Neville... Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Well, obviously I own the plot, but anything you do recognize is owned by JKR, so no need to sue me!
Something Nice (To Remember)
Neville entered the Leaky Cauldron, his eyes roaming over the crowd. He couldn't see his wife anywhere, so he just popped onto a random seat near the bar, and ordered a Gillywater."Hi,Neville." A distant, soft voice floated over from his left.
He turned. The first thing he saw was a pair of large, pale blue eyes with a dreamy look to them, than two radishes peeking under a patch of dirty blonde hair. He smiled, despite himself. "Hi, Luna." She flashed her usual, otherwordly smile at him before sipping her Gillywater. The barman slapped Neville's Gillywater on the black, shiny surface. He took it into his hands, looking at it intensely; not daring to look at the girl next to him for too long, afraid to- "How is Hannah?" Neville tried to smile, succeeding in merely grimacing. "She's… nice." He didn't know why he'd said that. It was just that she seemed to intend it as "What do you think about her?" rather than "How is she feeling lately?". And he was right, because she didn't seem to think the answer was odd at all: She nodded knowingly. "Yeah, Rolf is nice too. But sometimes, niceness and pity isn't exactly what you look for in a marriage, is it?" She'd done it. She'd just burst the bubble Neville had been living in for years.
"No. I love my wife." He wanted to say; "She loves me, too." But that wasn't what he said. He merely nodded. She, too, nodded, while checking her watch. "Actually I'm waiting for him, you know." He stared at her, confused. "Rolf, I mean. He'll be here in… 5 minutes. So will Hannah, I assume?" "You assume correctly." He said, not bothering to ask how she knew he was waiting for Hannah. "So we should do it quickly, eh?" He looked at her earnest expression, one that he wasn't used to see on her face. "Do what?" " This."
She'd kissed him. He couldn't believe it: she'd kissed him! Before he could realise what this meant, she pulled back. "Why are you so surprised? We've both been waiting for this for too long, don't you think?" He gaped at her: She knew?? She knew his feelings for her?? She began speaking with a childish voice: "Now we can let go of the images that prevent us from being nice to them, don't you think? Images don't matter, Neville. Neither do sounds and smells. The feeling is enough. When it becomes just too much, you can remember the feeling, and you'll feel nice again. Because now you have something nice. I do, too. And when you feel nice, you can be nice, to a person who deserves to be happy. Hannah deserves to be happy, Neville. Rolf does, too. This will make it easier. Easier for us to make them happy. Plus, when we remember, we will be happy, too."
Neville noticed that his mouth was slightly open. He shook himself inwardly, slowly closing his mouth; and nodded, barely aware of what he was doing. "Look, Hannah is here!", she said, in an overly cheerful voice. He turned, and sure enough, there stood his wife. Smiling at him. He turned back. Her seat was empty. She was gone.
He sighed, and waved over to Hannah. She popped onto the now empty seat, starting to rant and rave about cooking, chickens, and the baby. He pretended to listen, but he could almost see her dark blonde hair go lighter and longer, her dark blue eyes grow paler and larger, and if he looked hard enough, he could imagine she was wearing radish earrings. A smile started to play on the corners of his lips. He brought his fingers to his lower lip, absent-mindedly. He had something nice to remember now.
