This is a little story about Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott. I love the coupling once I got to imagine Hannah a bit more.
I have gone with J.'s info on how they ended up getting married and also on where they live. It was hard to find much on Hannah, but she is described as having two blonde pigtails so I went with that because it's a definite thing. I also knew she was I Hufflepuff so that gave a lot of the grounding for her character. I have tried to stay as cannon as possible, hope I succeeded. It is my first non-humour fic and I hope you like it!

Disclaimers: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling!

Two blonde pigtails, that's how Neville used to spot her in a crowd. He'd look for those two blonde pigtails he knew so well.

First she was his friend.

In their first Herbology lesson he met her. "It's Hannah Abbott." She'd said. "You're Neville, right? From Gryffindor?" He had nodded and blushed, Neville was shy. He didn't really make friends so easily; it was even harder with girls, like they were a different species. Hannah made it seem so easy though. She was chatty from the start, mainly with Susan, her fellow Hufflepuff, but she talked with Neville too.

Neville slowly came to enjoy being her friend. He didn't really see her out of class, because he was too embarrassed to seek her out. Every now and then he'd catch her eye and she'd shoot him a grin. She'd never fail to stop and say "Hi," Hannah liked Neville. He was a good friend.

As Neville got better at Herbology and found it to be his favourite subject he'd stat to spend more and more time in the Greenhouses, or the gardens nearby. Sometimes he'd see Hannah there, sometimes he wouldn't, but for some reason it made for a better day when he did.

She did most of the talking of course. He preferred it that way, because he never knew what to say. When he went back to his dorm before her he found himself peeking out of the window to spot those two blonde pigtails. They made him smile.

It felt good to be Hannah's friend, especially since he had so few friends.

Then she was his crush.

Neville never really saw it coming, nor could he pin the exact moment it had happened. She was just Hannah, always there.

When she joined Dumbledore's army she became a bigger part of his life then before. Neville liked his fifth year despite Umbridge and her rules. He loved the rush of excitement to be doing something to stop her, small though it was at the time.

For some of the activities he would be paired with Hannah. She would grin and give encouragement when he failed and look proud of him when he succeeded. When he went with Harry to the battle at the Department of Mysteries she had been annoyed he had not told her. She would have gone too, she said, she would have been some help. Neville realised he didn't want her to have been there. Not in so much danger.

That's what started him wondering. Was she just a friend? He might have talked to Harry, to Ron, Seamus or Dean, but they never really shared their feelings. He could have talked to Hermione, to Ginny, Susan or Luna, but he didn't know if they would share these things, be it with Hannah or others who might laugh at him. Besides, he didn't even know how he felt.

In his sixth year he liked her even more. He couldn't help talking to her when they met. He would still look for those two blonde pigtails, getting longer with each year that passed. At breakfast, lunch and dinner his eyes would follow her, and still no one knew – not even himself, not fully.

By his seventh year he was sicking up against the Carrow's, becoming more of a hero then he'd ever felt like he was before. He saw the expressions on people's faces, the glimmers of hope. They spurred him on. Sometimes he'd be almost too scared to say anything, sometimes he wanted to stay seated and avoid the pain, but then he'd fix his eyes on the two blonde pigtails, and he would stand up.

One time he came back from his "detention' with blood running down his face from a hard Carrow-style punch to find Hannah in the hallway, waiting. She had gasped. "Oh, Neville," But unlike some she hadn't tried to make him stop. She understood its importance to him. Instead she'd pulled out her wand and syphoned off the blood. Then she'd looked at him solemnly and said "The D.A are there Neville. We'll back you up." And she'd taken his hand and given it the lightest of squeezes. It had been enough. Neville soldered on.

Sometimes Hannah would object, as well as others from Dumbledore's army. She was bruised soon, as well. When Neville had to flee Hannah promised to carry on and he had watched her pigtails bob as she went off down the hall, filled with a mix of regret and pride.

When she had moved in Neville could barely kept his eyes off her as she laughed with her friends and teased him (as well as the rest) about the bathroom that had appeared for the girls.

Then, at last, Harry was back. He climbed into Ariana's portrait and the last thing he glimpsed was the two blonde pigtails. It wasn't long before the fight was starting. Neville joined a group of Hufflepuffs and ran along grinning beside Hannah as they prepared to lob mandrakes at the enemy.

The carnage was awful, the fight was rough, and then Harry gave Neville the mission, which he knew he'd carry out. The snake he'd repeat to himself get the snake. And when he was there in the thick of it the fear seemed to fall off him. He found it so much easier then before. Even when his head was on fire, with him helpless to stop it, the sorting hat burning up too, Neville felt brave. Neville felt like a Gryffindor.

He almost couldn't work out how he'd gotten free, but suddenly he was pulling the hat from his head and wrenching the sword from within. With the swiftest slice the snake's head was spinning through the air. He had done it. Before he had time to feel anything, shock or pride or... anything, the crowd was surging away, to the Great hall again. The battle around him was being overrun. He was duelling to all sides for a while. Then all seemed to clam down, the fights seemed to end.

Neville found himself by Hannah as they watched the last battle playing out in the middle of the floor. His heart racing Neville listened to Harry and Voldemort, willing his friend to win. He could feel it all winding down, their arguments tying together, the excitement building. Then the sun burst across the sky, and the ceiling. In the glow of orange he reached across, as though it was the easiest thing in the world, and took Hannah's hand. Hope burst through the air.

Next she was his girlfriend

It was after the battle had ended, when Neville was surrounded by a group of fans, Hannah was the closest, right beside him, her eyes shining with pride. She said more with that silence then anyone else's praise that day.

Finally Neville was left alone, with space to think. Hannah was nearby. She turned back to him, trying to build up the courage to say something. Neville felt a little like his older self, throat closing over. Hannah finally smiled. "You were great out there."

"So were you," he managed to say. He'd seen her use some amazing magic he hadn't known she could do. "Hannah..." he couldn't quite finish the sentence. Neville had blushed a little. "When we held hands, did you... did you want..." she had laughed as he trailed off, glad he'd brought it up, because she hadn't know for sure if he'd meant it that way.

"I do want Neville" She'd told him. Neville breathed out again. His eyes had fallen on her hair. Neville blinked at it for a few seconds.

"What?" Hannah had asked, a little self-conscious. She had reached up to touch her hair. Neville had reached up a hand and touched it too, he couldn't help it. Her hair was soft... very soft.

"Your hair's falling out," he'd told her. "I've never seem you without those two blonde pigtails." Hannah had shyly met his eye "Never?" she'd asked. When he nodded she pulled out what was left of her hair ties. Neville looked at her, seeming much older with her silky hair framing her face. "I like it," he'd whispered. Hannah smiled and threw the hair ties on the floor. "I don't think I'll be needing these..."

Finally she was his wife

Neville and Hannah had never been happier. It was strange to think back, to all that time ago, though they often did. Their lives seemed to have been gravitating towards each other without them fully realising.

In the holiday's, when he had a break from teaching at Hogwarts, he would spend days with her. On some of them he would simply sit in the Leaky Cauldron and help her serve their customers. On others they would spend the day together, just the two of them before they went to bed in the little house above the pub that served as gateway to Diagon alley.

Sometimes they would go out on family picnics, to place both in the muggle and wizarding world. They loved to look at the sky in the evening as the sun set before thy gathered their children back in to go home. Sometimes, when they were out visiting friends, their little girl seemed to be lost in the crowd, for she was terribly distractible, and forgetful, as Neville had been. But her father would search for her two blonde pigtails, and he'd find her again.

Neville smiled at his family each night, as he put their kids to bed. He was finally happy to be who he was, and happy he had met the girl with those two blonde pigtails.

Hope you liked it, the ending was a little hard to do, but I think I pulled it off okay. Please rate!