November 7th 2003
"DRINKS ALL ROUND! DRINKS ALL ROUND!" Harry Potter exclaimed loudly to the bar full of his friends who had joined him to celebrate his new engagement. "I'M GETTING MARRIED TO THE MOST WONDERFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD! DRINKS ALL ROUND ON ME!"
The Leaky Cauldron erupted with loud, exuberant cheers.
Hannah Abbot, the barmaid, while happy to see her ex-school friends enjoying themselves in the celebrations felt a little put out as she was still technically at work and a round of drinks for such a large crowd meant more work for her and less time for actually catching up with some of those she hadn't seen in quite a while.
Still, even the extra work wouldn't dull her spirits completely tonight. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were getting married! There wasn't a soul who couldn't be excited by that prospect. Plus, of course, the occasion had caused a reunion of all the remaining DA members. A complete reunion which had unfortunately not happened since the end of the war.
Here tonight, however, the whole army was present. As she poured their pints Hannah wondered if the rest of them had kept their special DA Galleons, or if they'd lost them either in war or simply just lost them as anyone can lose anything in life. Hannah kept her Galleon in a special little golden box alongside a photo of her mother and her first Hogwarts letter.
With only a couple more pints to pull, Ronald Weasley climbed up and stood upon a table in the centre of the pub. Hannah was surprised old Tom the landlord hadn't already scolded and pulled the man down himself, but she supposed it was a rather special occasion and even old Tom could make exceptions every so often.
"Speech!" A familiar Irish accent shouted, sounding slightly slurred already despite it being quite early into the night. 'Typical Seamus' Hannah thought to herself as she handed the final pint to her fellow ex-Hufflepuff Justin Finch-Fletchley.
"All right! All right!" Ron said while waving his hands to the crowd that had all turned to face him. "Where can I start? … Well, first of all, Ginny, Harry, congratulations! Harry, ever since we first met on the Hogwarts Express in 1991, over 10 years ago now mate doesn't that make you feel old?" Ron laughed. "Well, since then I've always seen you as the black-haired brother I never had, and truth be told if you hadn't proposed to Ginny? I'd be setting you up with George!"
Shouts, hoots, and laughter filled the bar as Angelina Johnson yelled out "Too late, he's taken!"
Ron continued after the noise calmed down "What I'm trying to say here is … weddings are for creating unions, creating families … and well, Harry, you've always been in our family. You and Ginny have practically always been a union. This wedding won't change a thing about any of us. And that's what makes it the best decision you two have ever made."
Ginny jumped up on the table and tackled her brother into a hug. Harry pulled them both down before saying a few words himself.
"Thanks Ron, that was brilliant." He said softly to the man beside him, he then turned to face the crowd of old Hogwarts friends. "And to everyone here tonight, I want to thank you all for being here with us, let's drink and have fun. I hope Ginny and I will be seeing all of you at the wedding." Harry punctuated the end of his short speech with a kiss on his new fiancé's cheek.
There was a round of applause before finally the pub seemed to quiet down to the more usual sounds of pub chat and catching up. Hannah found that working the bar during this kind of reunion wasn't too raw of a deal. She got to see and have quick catch-ups with most of the guests without having to move around from group to group to do so.
Many of the guests would order their drinks and talk to Hannah for a good 10 minutes before returning to their tables or being dragged away by at least one drunk Weasley. Hannah found that a lot could be said in so little as 10 minutes. From Dean and Seamus she'd learned so much about their 'American Adventure' they had taken earlier this year. From Cho Chang she had got some very interesting gossip about which some of her fellow Quiddich players' relationship dramas. And while she still kept in contact with Ernie Macmillan quite often there was always some event he was ready to proclaim dramatically and loudly when they met. Tonight Ernie seemed to be in a boastful mood as he predicted his potential promotion should be due before the month was out.
Hannah was really enjoying her chance to see everyone again. It brought back memories. Good ones.
In her fifth year, Hannah's confidence was practically in the negative numbers due to her exam anxiety. Her lack of confidence only seeming emphasised by hanging around with her fellow Hufflepuff prefect who seemed to run on pure self-confidence by comparison. The DA had given Hannah somewhere non-judgmental and fun to learn and practice her Defence spells for the upcoming OWLs. As well as being a reasonably stress-free study space it was somewhere she could meet new friends, or at least talk to those people she's been having classes with and yet she feels she knew no more than their name.
'Like Neville Longbottom … ' Hannah thought wistfully to herself.
Even when Hogwarts was at its darkest the DA was Hannah's light. She often thinks back to her time in that version of the DA. When it was no longer a study group. It was truly Dumbledore's Army. She thinks a lot about Neville Longbottom. She had always felt that she had grown quite close to Neville in the last year of war. They had quite a few things in common really, not least a passion for Herbology which often found the pair in shared quiet moments in the greenhouses, if only just for some normalcy during war. Being able to share Herbology with Neville helped Hannah survive that year.
When the war ended, however, he paired off with Luna Lovegood. A sweet coupling, so most people thought, but it didn't stop Hannah feeling like she'd been left on the shelf.
As she brought her mind back to the present, the party, she noticed that Ernie was now flamboyantly gossiping about Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones' recent outings together and how he was suspecting a new relationship in bloom.
"-I asked Justin earlier about it and he assures me that I'm reading far too close into a few luncheons but I beg to dis-"
"Ernie" Hannah interrupts Ernie, his arms stop in mid-motion
"… Yes, Hannah?"
"Speaking of relationships just reminded me, have you seen Neville and Luna around? It's just that it's getting quite late really and I haven't seen either of them at all tonight."
"Oh, of course, Luna is sitting by the Patil twins and her new beau Rolf. I do believe Neville has been sitting at the far table with Ginny and Harry for most of the night. Yes, he's quite hard to see from here but there he is!" Ernie pointed rather conspicuously towards the corner table.
Hannah followed Ernie's arm and caught a glimpse of Neville. He looked even more handsome than she remembered him, if just a tad bit lonelier. Suddenly something Ernie had just mentioned hit her.
"Rolf? Who's Rolf? There wasn't a Rolf that I can remember in the DA at all." She immediately questioned.
"Yes, yes Lovegood's new boytoy! Rolf Scammander!" Ernie seemed over-excited to discuss this "He is a few years younger than ourselves so he wouldn't have been in the DA but he's certainly making up for missing that excitement now! Every other week he's whisking Luna off with him to go and look for strange and exotic creatures. They met a year or so ago and they've been travelling ever since, hardly see them in one place for longer than a month really."
"But, wasn't Luna going out with Neville Longbottom"
"Hannah!" Ernie laughed boisterously, "That was around 5 years ago! No, no, they broke up around just before Rolf came into the picture … or was that just after? … Ooh, juicy if it is indeed the latter!" A voice called out his name in the crowd, Hannah thought it sounded like Susan. "Oh, well it appears I'm wanted elsewhere. And so I bid you adieu." Ernie practically bowed as he left his seat at the bar.
Hannah was left now, cleaning glasses behind the taps. She looked again at the far corner table to see Neville again. Thoughts ran through her head. Memories of repotting Mandrakes together, of deweeding and seed harvesting. Memories of simply just sitting together and reading about the rare plants they weren't sure they might ever be lucky enough to see. How much he would appreciate some of the Asphodel breeds I had been able to grow in the Leaky Cauldron's Beer Garden. How alone she felt when she had learned about his relationship with Luna. How alone he looked right now, now that his relationship with Luna has ended …
Tom came up behind her giving Hannah a bit of a shock when he said "Hey, it's dying down I don't need much help. Go on and have fun with your friends."
Hannah simply nodded her head and left the bar in a beeline for the corner table.
The table was by far the busiest, understandably having not only the couple of the night but also almost half of the Gryffindors from her year. With a confidence she wouldn't normally associate herself with she boldly announced her arrival with a probably-slightly-too-loud "Hi Neville!"
Neville looked up from his hands and straight into her eyes. "Hello Hannah," he smiled a soft smile that she hadn't seen in far too long, "long time no see … too long if you ask me"
They chuckled together softly at that sentiment.
"Neville, would you like to go talk somewhere? I-I actually have something to show you … thought you might appreciate it …"
"Yeah, sure, of course." He stood up from the table to follow Hannah away. As they walked through the pub they could hear what sounded like George Weasley wolf whistling, followed by what they could only assume was Ginny punching him hard in the arm.
Hannah led Neville out to the back of the pub, "We've just recently opened a beer garden, and well it's a bit cold tonight to be sitting here but I wanted to catch up with you and I thought it might be a good place to talk." She explained, "Also I can show off some of the beautiful Asphodel breeds I've been able to grow here." Grinning wide as she spoke, "I know of all people, you might appreciate them."
"We always did have Herbology together," Neville half chuckled.
The two fell into a silence as they looked at the flowers, appreciating how they reflected the light of the moon so beautifully.
Hannah was the first to speak and break their silence.
"So Harry and Ginny, eh? Getting married. Makes me feel like an old maid."
"You're not an old maid, Hannah"
"Still, it's like real adult stuff. Everyone seems to be up to real adult stuff lately. Promotions, relationships, babies! And I'm here … single and working as a bar wench!"
"Yeah well adult stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be, trust me. You enjoy your job, I'm starting to think that being an auror wasn't the path for me."
"What makes you say that?"
"Honestly?" He turned to face her, "not enough plants"
Hannah giggled
"No, seriously!" Neville continued, "Even just seeing your beer garden it hits me how much I miss Herbology. I was actually considering training to teach it, I heard a rumour that Sprout is looking out, finally retiring, and maybe … I don't know though. Everyone else says I should stick to what I've got, that I could contribute much more to society but …"
"I think it sounds wonderful, Neville!" Hannah replied enthusiastically, "I've had plenty of people, well mainly Ernie, tell me I should be aiming for more with my life but honestly you're right! I do enjoy my job and I believe that if you aren't happy with something in your life then you have the right to try and change it"
Neville looked at Hannah earnestly, "Thank you, Hannah. It means a lot to hear you think that way too."
Another silence. This time their eyes are not lost in the flora but in each other.
"It's going to be the wedding of the century."
It was Neville who broke the silence this time.
"Huh?" queried Hannah.
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, y'know, the reason everyone's at the Leaky Cauldron tonight?"
"Oh yes, I guess it could be," Hannah gave a soft giggle, "so who would you be taking to this so-called 'wedding of the century'?" She prodded further "any girlfriends? … boyfriends?"
"No, no, I'm … I'm not seeing anyone right now so … no plans for … uh … wedding dates?" Neville replied clearly flustered.
"Well I'm not going with anyone either … yet … no plans for wedding dates here … yet?"
With a loud bang the back door entrance to the pub crashed open, revealing a rather intoxicated looking George Weasley who shouted "HEY, YOU TWO! LOVEBIRDS GET IN HERE! YOU'RE MISSING RON AND SEAMUS! THEY STARTED DANCE BATTLING!" before running straight back towards the action.
From inside they could hear laughter, cheers, and shouts. They knew they should head back inside but somehow neither really wanted to leave this peacefulness the other had provided.
"We should go" Neville finally said, after what must have only been seconds but felt like minutes.
"Yeah, …. But, Neville?"
"Hannah?"
"It's been really nice seeing you again, maybe you should come around some time when its not so … noisy? It would be nice to talk, y'know, like the old days?"
"Yeah, that'd be nice"
They entered the pub once more. Both feeling a little less lonely after tonight.
/End of Chapter 1/
/thanks for reading - reviews appreciated/