Written for Round 1 of Hermione Grangers' Personal Library Challenge in Hermione's Haven on FB
Music: Sunrise by Nora Jones, The Garden by Kari Jobe
"He stepped down, trying not to look at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking." - Anna Karenina
Neville watched the sun rise over the hills surrounding Hogwarts. The quiet of sunrise was his favorite time of day. It was his time to reflect and get his mind together. "Hello, love," he whispered, turning to wrap his wife in his arms.
"How did you know I was here?" she asked as she buried her head in the crook of his neck. "I didn't make a sound when I opened the door."
"I always know where you are." Neville placed a kiss on the top of her curly hair. "I have felt you walk in every room for years. You are the sun on my darkest day."
"This all started on our darkest day." She kissed his jaw. "I need to get breakfast ready. You have classes to teach in an hour."
"Yes, dear," Neville whispered as he let his mind drift back to what his wife still only referred to as their 'darkest day.'
Smoke and groans rose up from the rubble around him. The battle was finally over and it was time to see how much they had lost in their victory. He had surprised himself with the voice he had found standing up to Voldemort in the destroyed courtyard of the castle. He had felt the beginning of his awareness of her that day.
The warmth that he felt every time she was in the room with him continued to grow. They finished their final year of school and went their separate ways. She continued to date Ron and he found Hannah. A hug and a kiss on the cheek was the standard greeting at reunions.
But, he always knew where she was. It was like waiting for the sun to rise, he could feel the heat build as she moved closer to him. He felt drawn to her more and more. Eventually, Hannah told him to choose between her or the feeling he seemed to be chasing.
The owl he dreaded came soon after Hannah asked him to choose. His father had finally lost his battle and his mother was fading. He felt her walk in the room before he saw her. "Neville, I'm sorry," her voice whispered in his ear. "He spoke before he passed."
"Neville looked down at his hands. "What did he say?"
"I'll be waiting." The compassion in her voice broke the dam that had been holding back years of grief for Neville. "We knew he was gone when he let go of her hand."
"It is what he always said when he left," Neville let the tears run down his cheeks. "Mione, how much longer do I have with her? When can I see her?"
"Neville, she won't know you are there." Hermione hated this part of being a healer. "I can try to get you in soon. What do you need?"
"Mum. I need to be with her." Neville felt lost as he looked at the walls of the waiting room, not seeing anything but his parents' faces.
"I'll go see what I can do," Hermione spoke quietly as she tried to find a way to let Neville see his mother. Being a healer at St. Mungo's was not always an easy job.
The room felt cold when she left. Neville wrapped his arms around his body and tried to get warm. Gran was gone, Dad was gone, and Mum was fading. He was alone. What was he doing here?
He felt her warmth fill the room as she got closer to the room he in which he was hiding. "Neville, she is waiting for you. She hasn't got much longer."
The next few hours passed in cold and quiet solitude. Neville sat by his mother's bed and waited for her to join his father. He held her hand and told her about his teaching position and his greenhouses. He talked until his voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper. Then, he waited. Sitting in a dark room with only the sound of his mother's shallow breathing, he waited.
"Good night, sweet one," Neville picked his head up off the bed as he felt fingers in his hair. His mother's hand fell from his hair and her chest stilled. He was alone.
He felt her before he saw her. Neville stood up from his mother's bedside as he felt the sun rise in her room. Stepping off the platform that held his mother's bed, Neville pulled Hermione into his body, broken sobs filling the silence. "Don't leave me. You are my sun on my darkest day."
Neville continued to watch the sunrise over the horizon. He could feel her standing in the doorway at the far end of the parapet. "Come inside, love," Hermione's voice drifted up from the otter playing at his feet. His wife's patronus was almost as warm as her presence. "Breakfast is getting cold."
Stepping down from his perch on the castle wall, Neville walked toward the warmth that called to his soul. With her, he would never be cold and alone again.