Nothing so Sweet
A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first Harry Potter fic in centuries and the first of the kind that I actually write in English. I simply loved the idea of Neville and Hannah together specially because it sounded so absurd and since I don't read HP fics anymore I have absolutely no idea if people actually like them together or not since everyone was so keen on having him and Luna as a couple and Hannah and Ernie were kinda like the most obvious thing ever, right? I bet nobody saw this one coming. So, anyway, I actually work the idea of shippers in this fic since the main plot is about how much everyone always believed Hannah would be with Ernie forever and how that didn't quite work out for her. So, yeah, first chapter is quite boring but I guess all first chapters are. I have this written up to the seventh chapter, I guess and it might last like 15, I'm not sure yet. Either way, please read and review just so I know there are fans of the couple out there!
P.S.: I'm sorry if speech is a little "americanized" or something. I've been reading the Twilight series...a lot. So, anyway, help me with any grammar and spelling mistakes, will ya? I'd love you to.
Chapter 1: Meeting Sprout
"Good moo- oorning!" The voice that sang loudly filled the room, the woman in lime green opened all the windows and drapes.
"Susan, I'm so going to hex you." The body laid on the bed said, turning around to cover its head with the sheets.
"Hannah Abbott!" The other pulled the covers at once and sat on the corner of the bed with her hands on her hips:
"You're getting up now! I've planned a whole day of shopping in Hogsmeade for the both of us!"
"Susan…" Hannah raised half her body with her eyes still closed and her hair pointing to sixteen different directions. "We're literally next to Diagon Alley. Why bother going all the way to Hogsmeade just for shopping?" Susan stood up swiftly and looked at her friend's state with a hint of indignation:
"Hannah, you've been in this bed for weeks now! And if I'm not wrong, you were the one who insisted on us going to Hogsmeade in the first place! You want to buy a house there, remember? Or do you actually intend on spending the rest of your days living here at the Leaky Cauldron?"
Hannah opened one of her eyes and saw the blurry image of her bedroom alongside with the red and green spots that she deduced were Susan:
"Well, you have to agree that at least I'd save me the inconvenience of leaving home for work every morning." She smirked.
Susan Bones rolled her eyes and started to move around the room impatiently, shaking her wand:
"Look at your state! There are firewhisky bottles everywhere; your hair looks like garbage and besides all that, Tom mentioned that you have barely eaten anything in days!" Hannah said something like "That old man gossips like a bloody sixteen year old. I'm taking it from his paycheck" under her breath while she stared at her own image on the mirror next to her bed. She did look like a mess, she concluded easily, but that wasn't enough to make her want to get up at eight o'clock in the morning. "Even your reflex is looking at you with pity in its eyes!" Susan continued putting herself between her friend and the mirror:
"I wonder how you would be if it were you who had been dumped instead, because if that's your condition after discarding somebody then I don't want to see you after a guy breaks up with you."
Hannah threw Susan a fuming glare and reeled towards the bathroom:
"It's too early to start making jokes, Sus. And you know just as much as I do that it's a lot more complicated than that!" She slammed the door behind her and soon the sound of water filling the bathtub was heard.
"All I know" Susan yelled to bathroom door. "Is that I'll be downstairs waiting for you so we can have breakfast together. And if you're not there in half an hour I'll personally make sure that all your shoes become troll food. Do you understand?" There was no answer from the bathroom. "Good! I'll be waiting!" And, with a loud "pop", she vanished from the room.
--
"Lunch at the Three Broomsticks?" Susan said all smiles. Each step in Hogsmeade seemed to bring back new memories from their time in Hogwarts.
"Sure, I simply love to sponsor my business rivals. What should we do next? Drop a few pints at the Hog's Head?"
"Could you control your enthusiasm?" Susan said rolling her eyes. "Everybody's noticing how excited you are to be here."
Hannah scowled at her friend but followed her towards the bar. They both had pink cheeks and shallow breathing from all the walking so the comfortable seats at the Three Broomsticks seemed more and more attractive.
Hannah's first assumption was that everything looked exactly the same, maybe a little empty without all the students that used to hang out there, but that was all. Even Madam Rosmerta didn't seem to have gotten any older in the last nine years. Susan, on the other hand, apparently had spotted something even more familiar sitting at one of the tables:
"Professor Sprout!" She shouted and ran towards the chubby lady who looked at them with tearful eyes.
"Bones!" The woman stood up and was now holding Susan very tightly; she raised her eyes to the other girl. "Abbott! Come here, girl! Oh Gosh, look at you two! Sit down, please, sit down! This is sure a day to remember!" She gestured for them to sit in the empty chairs next to hers. "Oh my, oh my!" She was taking deep breaths while trying to wipe small sparkling tears from the corners of her eyes. Hannah and Susan were smiling from ear to ear.
"Er…Professor Sprout?" A tall figure wearing cobalt blue robes was standing next to the wooden table holding two mugs of butterbeer, looking shy and clumsy. "Should I order two more of these?"
"Aye, Neville!" Professor Sprout seemed to be slowly remembering what she was doing there before she met them. "Of course you should, lad! And Merlin's beard, please, call me Pomona! We're equals now!" While Neville made his way through the small crowd that was at the bar for lunch, whispering a thousand apologies, Susan asked:
"Equals? Could it possibly mean that Neville Longbottom is actually one of Hogwarts teachers now?"
"Exactly." Said Sprout with a voice filled with pride.
"Wow. Who would ever guess, right?" The woman leaned her body to the front, trying to get a better look of her old schoolmate, maybe trying to imagine him in class.
"I just hope he doesn't get anyone killed." Hannah commented. The other women looked at her. "I mean, no offense, he's a war hero and everything but let's face it. He was never quite the example of skillful." They giggled.
"But anyway, what's Professor Longbottom teaching, uh?" Susan asked.
"Potions." Sprout said with a very serious look on her face. The whole table burst with loud laughter. Hannah covered her mouth with her hands and Susan held her belly like it was throbbing. They were wheezing and tears rolled down their faces.
"You made the potions joke again, didn't you?" Neville was back with the butterbeers and he sounded a little bored, like someone who had heard the same thing a thousand times. He sat next to Sprout:
"It…works…every…time." She said breathless from all the glee and the young man rolled his eyes, resigned.
"No, no, now, seriously; what are you teaching, Longbottom?" Susan inquired, trying to recompose herself. Hannah looked like she was having a small seizure next to her friend. Neville smiled modestly:
"I was called to replace one of the biggest professors to ever step on Hogwarts' grounds." He said staring at the woman next to him with eyes full of awe.
"Are you mocking me?" Hannah stopped laughing at once and her eyes went back and forth from Neville to her old teacher. Susan's smile reduced a little.
"Are you retiring, Professor?"
"But of course I am! It's about time I start moving on with my life. Besides, Neville here is the most qualified person to replace me!" She beamed even more when her eyes met his. "He spent four years traveling around the word studying all kinds of magical plants and herbs. And, as if it wasn't enough, he insisted on spending this last year at Hogwarts with me as an intern, learning all about the job."
Neville looked pretty shy all the time while Sprout spoke, his forehead was crimson colored and he seemed much caught up in whatever was inside his mug. Hannah thought the whole thing to be very embarrassing.
"But who's the next head of Hufflepuff?"
"Well, I'm not sure about that yet; it all depends on Minerva's choice, but if it was on me, I'd probably go for Owen Cauldwell, our new Muggle Studies teacher but she might think he's too young. Although I do think he's perfect for the part."
There was a break in which everyone chewed a lot and no words were said. After a while, Sprout started:
"Well, now you know what Neville and I are going to do of our lives, but what about the two of you?"
"I work for the Ministry. Judicial area, nothing big yet, but I hope to be as great as my aunt someday." Hannah heard Susan's voice say.
"And you'll be, my dear, I'm sure you will. What about you, Hannah?" The teacher's eyes positioned themselves on her face and she looked away. She mumbled something with her mouth full.
"Sorry, dear, I didn't really get that."
"I bought the Leaky Cauldron. It's mine now."
Everyone, except for Susan, looked at her with puzzled expressions:
"It's not that big of a deal, really. Long story short; I made a few changes let the whole thing a little neater and a lot less creepy. It's just a charming inn with a nice pub, I guess. Besides, I'm allowed to spend my days wandering by the Diagon Alley; it's great fun." Professor Sprout's face lightened up with joy after hearing the last sentences.
"Oh, Hannah! That's exactly what Neville needed!" Neville choked on his jacket potatoes. "We've been talking about how he needs to go to London shopping for new clothes for about three months now. But you know how men are, don't you? They can't do anything by themselves! And don't let me start on this one, ha! He took six months to even talk to Rosmerta without staring at his own shoes! The fact that he ordered us a meal today is a miracle, I tell you!"
"Honestly, Professor…Pomona, "He corrected as soon as she glared at him "I seriously doubt that Abbott would ever enjoy wasting her time with me while I shop for clothes and parchment…"Hannah thought Longbottom looked like he could just try to drown himself in his butterbeer now.
"Don't be silly, Neville! Hannah would love to help. It'd be great for her to actually have something to do! Poor girl has been so bored lately! Company is all she needs. Well, that and maybe some of Fortescue's ice cream. Promise me you'll pay her some, will you?"
"I…I promise." Neville mumbled, startled. He looked for a definitive answer on Hannah's face. The thin lips answered him with a small smile:
"It's alright, Longbottom, I'd love to help." She carved her nails on Susan's tight under the table. "Is next Friday good for you?"