A Neville New Years
"Chips with that?" Neville stared at the young red-headed lady at the cash register, unable to comprehend her sentence. He squinted at the big shiny order board behind her, trying to find a picture of what a "chip" was. At last, a picture of what looked like extra thick matchsticks crossed his line of sight. He directed his vision back to the violet haired, tattooed cashier in front of him, who looked dully back, obviously not caring whether he added fries to his order or a Venomous Tentacula.
"I think the sandwich and soda will be fine, thank you." Replied Neville. The woman punched a few keys on her curious machine and asked him for what Neville assumed to be an amount of muggle money. He paid and took his meal to an empty plastic booth in the corner, near the window.
Ordinarily, Neville wouldn't have gone into a muggle hamburger restaurant when he was so short on time, but Harry had assured him that they were fast. Of course, the speed was lost since it took Neville 15 minutes to understand exactly what a Double Melt with bacon was, let alone order it.
It was New Years Eve and Neville had been invited to a Party at The Burrow, in honor of the first New Years after Voldemort's defeat. It was going to be a joyous occasion, filled with friends and laughter but Neville knew it would also be bittersweet. It was the first New years for the Weasley's without Fred, and the absence of Lupin and Tonks, Moody, Dumbledore and many others would leave their holes in the parties guest list. Neville checked is wrist watch.
"You're still early sweetheart." It's shining face assured him. "You've got plenty of time for a quick prune or garden weeding." He nodded down at his time-counting companion and took another look out the window. The light snow that cascaded from the sky covered the dark street in front with a powdery coating, like the fresh pollen that gathered on his grandmother's garden walk in the late spring. At this time last year, he would have wondered if he would ever see the snow again but now he knew better. He knew there would be no more sleepless nights caused by fear of Voldemort.
A car alarm went off in the parking lot, rousing Neville from his reflections. Well, if he was going to be early, he might as well go now. Neville left from the side entrance and walked around to the back of the restaurant. After taking a quick look around to make sure there wouldn't be a witness, he turned on the spot and with a light pop, he disappeared from the back alley, and reappeared only a few yards away from the Weasley's front porch in what felt like a bucket of cold jelly.
"I've really improved on this." He thought to himself as he pulled his feet out of the muck and walked up the front path.
Before he could give a knock on the front door, it swung open revealing a bushy haired Hermione Granger, dawning a wonderful smile that reminded Neville of freshly bloomed Bergamot flowers.
She said, "Hello Neville. How have you been?" pulling him into a tight hug, that restricted his airflow so completely that he could only squeak out a, "Fine 'My-own-ee." before she released him. "You're early you know." She said in her familiar know-it-all tone.
"Sorry. I was in England today anyway and really had nothing else to do before hand. Need any help with preparing for the party?"
"Let's go ask Mrs. Weasley." She pulled Neville by the sleeve into the house. The kitchen was bustling celebration of steam and fantastic smells that made even Neville's full stomach groan with delight. The normal wooden topped kitchen table was hidden completely beneath piles of dishes and plates of all kinds of foods, including Neville's favorite, Strawberry Trifle. Amidst the disarray, Neville could see the plump figure of Mrs. Weasley bent over the oven door, poking what looked like a whole roast pig's head. Hermione gave cough to let their presence be known.
"Oh, who do have there Hermione?" Said Mrs. Weasley, pushing her fly-away bangs out of her squinting eyes.
"It's Neville, Mrs. Weasley." Replied Neville for Hermione.
"Oh, Neville, it's good to see you. Look how tall he's grown Hermione. You know you're early?"
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley. I just thought I might come early and lend a hand."
"Oh, how thoughtful dear. Well, we could use an extra hand on moving some of the furniture in the sitting room. Ron and Charlie are in there right now and they can show you what needs done. Oh, dear!" At that moment one of the many pots that was bubbling away at Mrs. Weasley's stove caught fire and she was suddenly distracted with putting it out.
"Come on Neville, I'll show you the way." Said Hermione, again taking him by the sleeve into the adjoining room.
Apparently, Ron and Charlie were taking their duty seriously, because Neville could hear arguing from the far end of the room as they entered.
"No, no Charlie. If we put it THAT way it'll block traffic from the hall. No, this way is better."
"Ron, if you put it like that, you'll block the view of the fireplace. Why, don't we move it over here? Hello, Hermione, did you need something?" Ron turned around expectantly, and gave Neville a double take.
"Neville? Wow, you look great mate. Did you know that you're early?"
"Yes, I just thought you might need some help." Ron looked at Neville as if he were crazy, then shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure. You could settle our debate with this blasted couch for one. Should it go here...or here?"
--
Neville helped settle Ron's and Charlie's disagreement by suggesting the sofa be pushed up against the window, where it would block neither fireplace nor walking traffic. He continued to move help move the furniture until Ron and Charlie were booth satisfied with the outcome and sent him off to help Ginny and Hermione tidy the bedrooms that would house all of the guests that would be sleeping over. Neville added his small bag to what would be his, Ron's, Harry's, and George's room. Thirty minutes before the party was set to start, Mr. Weasley arrived with an armload of extra party supplies and a glum looking Percy in tow.
"He's mad that his girlfriend won't be coming." Whispered Ginny.
"Neville m'boy, is that you? Look how's he's grown Molly?" Greeted Mr. Weasley after depositing his parcels. "You know you're early?"
"I've been told." Grinned Neville, as he helped Hermione unpack the streamers that would decorate the entire house. Neville was beginning to see a trend in his New Year's greetings. He began to magic the streamers onto the doorway of the kitchen.
"Here Neville, come help me with the sitting room." Said Hermione. "You know you have changed a lot since the summer. Come to think of it, I haven't talked to you since the funeral." Hermione gave a slight cough and looked out the window. " So, what have you been up to? Harry said you got your N.E.W.T.s in Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts." Although the previous year at Hogwarts had been almost completely academic-free for Neville and his friends (Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't even go to Hogwarts their seventh year), the Hogwart's staff had, with Ministry approval, left the school open over the summer for Seventh Year students who had been unable to study for final exams. The infamous Rita Skeeter had claimed that the class' N.E.W.T.s were only honorary and that anyone would be a full to hire them, however Neville had had little trouble in finding work in the ministry.
"Yeah, I'm working as a field agent for the Department of Experimental Magic: Herbology sector. I've been studying magical plants in Greece for the past two months."
"Oh, Neville that's fantastic. That sounds like a great job."
"Yeah, I like it. In fact, I brought an album with pictures of some of my subjects. I can go get it and show you. They're really fascinating." Before Hermione could answer, Ron burst into the room.
"HERMIONE!" He bellowed. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY ROOM?!"
"Calm down Ron. I simply cleaned it and organized some of your nic-nacs, that's all."
"NIC-NACS?! THOSE ARE HANDMADE REPLICAS Of THE CHUDLEY CANNONS! THEY ARE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP THIS YEAR AND YOU HIDE THEM?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU WOMAN?!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! I'M NOT THE ONE FLIPPING OUT ABOUT SOME MINIATURE OF A SECOND RATE QUIDDITCH TEAM AM I?!"
"SECOND RATE?!" Neville decided he'd leave the two alone to argue and went to see if help was needed in the kitchen. He could see that more people had arrived from the stack of coats that sat near the door.
"Neville, dear would you mind putting those coats in the closet? George seemed to forget where the coat closet was." Neville gathered the coats and took them to the closet near the stairs. After hanging up what had to be five alligator skin jackets (in various shades of puce) Neville could here more raised voices coming from upstairs.
After trudging up to the second landing, he found George, Lee Jordan and Ginny in an argument over what looked like a broken vase that laid in pieces on the floor.
"Ginny, if we hide it, mom will never know."
"That's not the point. I can't believe you brought that stupid thing, let alone let it out of it's cage. You have to take it outside George." Neville was confused until he saw something move between Lee's folded arms. A long, hairy spider's leg poked out and waved at Neville.
"What is that thing?" Gasped Neville without thinking.
"Oh, hello Neville." Said George. "It's just a little thing Lee and I have been working on. Hey, you look great! Aren't you early though?"
"Don't change the subject George!" Said Ginny, with a tone that was very similar to Mrs. Weasley's own voice.
"Don't worry Ginny. We'll hide the broken vase and put Samuel back in his box." Assured Lee. He and George continued to climb the stairs.
"Hello Neville." Sang Ginny as she began to go back downstairs. She turned and looked back. "Hermione mentioned in passing that you have been in Greece for a bit. How do you like it?"
"Oh, it's nice. I've been researching new breeds and species of magical plants. I'm only an assistant but it's great experience. I have an album of my work, if you'd like to see?"
"Maybe later Neville. I need to see if Hermione needs help with the decorations. If you aren't busy, Bill and Charlie are setting up flares for the broomstick runway on the lawn."
"I'll check and see if they need anything." Replied Neville, following Ginny down the stairs.
--
The Party was in full swing when Neville had finally flagged down the last broomstick rider. As he returned to the house he could see the familiar faces of all his friends from Hogwarts as well as several adult faces he thought might be part of the former Order of the Phoenix. Even the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shakelbot was there, laughing as George demonstrated his newest creation, Sneezing Candles which, once lit, produced a burst of flames that would catch the nearest person on fire and give them a nasty case of the sniffles for at least an hour. Around the dining room table, Percy, Mr Weasley, Professor McGonagall and Fleur Weasley were discussing the possibilities of a ministry sponsored ball.
Moving into the sitting room, Neville found the rest of the Weasley clan watching a game of exploding snap on the coffee table, between Lee Jordan and Andromeda Tonks. Neville could see in the far corner Ron and Hermione, no longer fighting but instead engaging in a ferocious kissing match. On the floor he spotted Teddy playing with Crookshanks' ball of yarn. Just a he bent down to show Teddy how to make a Jacob's ladder, Ginny stormed into the room.
"The nerve of that boy...we go to all this trouble to make such a wonderful party and he stays outside and pouts!" She said, flopping down next to Charlie, who's eyebrows were badly singed.
"Who's pouting dear?" Said a distracted Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, just Harry. Honestly, there's no talking sense into him!" Neville was about to ask what Harry was pouting about, when a familiar airy voice said, "He must be hypnotized by a Frosted Flabbit. They get very potent in early January." Luna Lovegood sat in the corner, reading a copy of "The Quibbler". Neville noticed that she was wearing a new Butterbeer bottle cap necklace. He got up, and joined her on the sofa.
"Hello Luna. How have you been?" She turned to look at him, her face holding the same far-away expression it always did. Somehow, she always reminded Neville of Chamomile, bright and pretty, but never quite suited to anything except where it was grown.
"Hello Neville. Someone said you were early. I hope you've been keeping your ears clean."
"Uh...yes, I believe so." As usual, whenever a conversation was struck up with Luna, she always added and awkward note, even if it was a perfectly normal greeting. "Did you here I've been in Greece?"
"No, I hadn't. Father says Greece is full of Snarling Zeda's. I'd like to go there I think."
"Yes, It's uh...quite lovely. I've been working with magical plants. Would you like to see my album?"
"No thank you. Pictures of plants can cause an attack of Weevil Virus and I'm rather susceptible." She looked at him curiously, and then returned to her magazine.
"Oh, right...um...I think I'll just go get a drink." He got up and headed to the kitchen, where the ball debate had become a heated argument about House Elf rights, driven between Hermione, Percy and Hagrid. Neville decided he wasn't thirsty and headed upstairs to his bedroom.
He found his photo album in his small bag and opened it up. It was strange. So many things had changed, and yet everything was the same. George was still a prankster, Hermione and Ron were still completely hooked on each other, and the Weasley family was still as thick as an untended rose bush. They didn't even expect Neville to change. Just then, the door opened and Neville turned around on the bed to face none other than Harry Potter.
"Hullo Neville. I didn't think anyone would be in here."
"Yeah, sorry Harry, I was just looking for something." He said. Neville could tell that Harry had grown a bit, but other than that he was the same. He still had the characteristic disheveled jet black hair and the same glasses sat on his nose. However, his demeanor had changed. He seemed, darker and thinner somehow, the way the fall trees lose their leaves when winter approaches. "Is everything alright Harry?"
"Yeah...it's just...it's just that this all seems so wrong!" He flopped down on the bed opposite Neville. " We've lost so many, so many people this last year, and so many things have changed, and yet no one seems to noticed. It just, doesn't seem right to me." Harry picked up one of Ron's books from the shelf and shuffled through it, not reading a word.
"I was thinking the same thing and then I remembered what Grams told me when Uncle Algie died. 'The ones we loved would not want us to mourn forever. There does come a time, when a garden would wilt and wither, but it never stays that way. Even an untended garden will bloom in the spring.'She always explained things to me in garden terms. I suppose everyone down there is remembering what they had with what they have...if I'm making sense." Harry was looking at Neville now as if he hadn't truly seen him properly before.
"Thanks Neville. I think I a starting to understand" Harry smiled, and then looked at Neville's album.
"Hey, what's that you got there?"
"Oh, just some pictures I took in Greece. It's probably pretty boring but it's my work."
"Hey, why don't you show me?" Neville got in a better position, so he could show Harry the pictures. The first, was one of Neville, waving back at them with a potted Azalea in one arm, and a beautiful woman in the other.
"Hey, is that Athena? Wow, you were right, she is gorgeous."
"Yeah, it's funny how much muggles know about botany. Thanks for that diner tip by the way. I'm getting the hang of muggle money a little more."
"No one notices anything odd in a fast food restaurant. Hagrid took me to one and we only got a couple of looks when he ordered. Hey, what's that one there?"
"Oh that's just Lucy. You remember my Mimbulus Mimbletonia don't you?"
THE END