A/N: All dis belongs to JK Rowling. Don't sue me, I ship Nevannah so hard!
London, 1999
19 year old Neville Longbottom sat alone at a table inside the Leaky Cauldron, twiddling with the spoon in his tea. I should have known this would happen, of course it would happen to me, he thought sadly.
He'd finally gathered enough courage to ask out Hannah Abbott last week, who he'd had a crush on since their fifth year. She'd agreed to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron, with that sweet yet somewhat goofy and naive smile of hers. They were supposed to meet at 9 o'clock when he was done with auror training.
Yet here he was, at 9 o'clock, and Hannah Abbott was a no show. Good Godric, why do I even try to ask out girls, I must be a bloody idiot to think that goddess Hannah Abbott would actually go out with me, Neville thought to himself.
Suddenly someone opened the creaky door of the pub and stepped inside from the chilly night air, it was Ernie MacMillan, Hannah's best guy friend. "Oi, Neville!" Ernie waved, walking over to him.
Neville looked up from his tea, confused. "Er, hey Ernie, what's up-?" he asked, unable to hide the sadness in his expression at being stood up by Hannah.
Ernie sat down across from him with a solemn expression "Are you waiting for Hannah?" he asked.
Neville cocked his eyebrows "Yeah..." Does Hannah tell him every single detail of her life? he wondered to himself.
Ernie nodded "She isn't coming, she sent me to tell you that," he said.
Of course she did, that's not embarassing at all-she can't even face me herself, Neville groaned internally. "Oh, yeah I figured, considering she's already twenty minutes late," he mumbled, upset.
Ernie held up a finger "Hey there mate, cool your cauldron, she also wanted me to tell you why," he said in a calm tone.
Neville cocked his eyebrows again "Why's that Ernie?" he asked. This should be good... he thought sarcastically.
Ernie smiled sadly "It's her dad, he's been trying to cope with the loss of her mum for the past three years, finally he couldn't take it anymore, flew off the handle and checked himself into St. Mungo's. Hannah's been crying all day, only reason I saw her was because I went to visit her dad's house," he told him.
Oh Merlin, I'm such a dunce, I feel like a jerk now... Neville thought guiltily. "Oh, really? I'm sorry...I had no idea..." he mumbled awkwardly, poor Hannah.
Ernie nodded "Yeah, she didn't want you to think she completely ditched you, she just couldn't bring herself to come tonight," he explained in a sad tone. "Perhaps you can see her a different night," he added on a brighter note.
I have a better idea... "Do you have any idea where I might find her?" Neville asked.
Ernie shrugged "I dunno, she was packing up her stuff at her dad's before, but she never said where exactly she was going, I guess you could go looking for her," he said, eyeing Neville's pea soup. "Are you gonna finish that?" he asked.
Neville reached for his coat on the back of his chair. "Nah, you can have it, I want to go see if I might find Hannah," he said.
Ernie grinned "Thanks mate, and good luck...I'm sure you'll find her somewhere," he replied.
Neville got up and walked to the door, before turning around. "Ernie, do you have any idea where I should start?" he called.
Ernie shrugged "No clue, the only thing I know is she's not at their cottage in Nottingham," he called back. Both boys recieved a few odd looks from the other wizards and witches in the pub. "Thanks for the soup by the way!" he yelled as Neville left the Leaky Cauldron.
Neville buttoned his coat and crunched through the snow along the lonely London sidewalks. Little did he know, he wouldn't have to walk far. I feel like such a git, poor Hannah, of course she wouldn't just leave me like that, she's so nice, I should've known better... Neville mused as he walked.
Suddenly he came upon a bench, though it was dark, he could faintly see a girl with her face in her hands. He could hear a very faint sniffling sound, the girl on the bench was silently sobbing. And he knew undoubtedly that it was Hannah Abbott. "Hannah-?" he approached her carefully.
Hannah looked up, her tears glinted in the moonlight. "Neville-?" she asked in mild disbelief.
She looks like a goddess, the way her golden hair gleams in the moonlight, and even sad her eyes have that special glow... Neville smiled "Mind if I sit?" he asked.
Hannah wiped her eyes with her left hand, she sniffled again. "S-sure," she replied softly.
Neville sat next to her on the bench. "Hey, Ernie tracked me down at Leaky, I'm so sorry about your dad," he told her.
Hannah sniffled again "I-it just m-makes wh-what happened t-to Mum, so much, mo-more real, n-now," she stammered through shaking sobs.
Neville nodded, awkwardly patting her back. "Yeah, I bet. I'd like to say I know how you feel, but considering the state of my parents, I never got to be close to them, so I don't really know the pain," he admitted.
Hannah looked directly into Neville's concerned eyes; his hazel ones locked with her amber ones. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Neville wiped a single tear away from her face "Don't be, it's not your fault, it's not my fault, it isn't anyone's fault. What's happened, has happened, we're safe again, it's finally over. Really, truly, over," he said.
Hannah smiled, reaching into her blouse and pulling out a galleon attatched to a string around her neck. Her DA coin. "I kept this, it's special to me," she said.
Neville grinned and reached into his pants pocket "I kept mine too, always will," he said.
In the distance, the large clock tower Big Ben chimed in another hour passed. Hannah looked up, she smiled faintly. "I've always liked clock faces at night," she commented. "Not so much anymore though," she added, sadness filled her soft voice.
Neville cocked his eyebrows "Why-?" he asked curiously.
Hannah shrugged, twiddling with her DA coin necklace. "It's a reminder of time, time past, time lost, an unhappy past, an uncertain future. Time doesn't like me Neville, atleast it feels like that," she told him.
Neville reached over and tucked a loose strand of her long, blonde hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it does feel like that sometimes," he said. "But I try not to dwell on things, I used to, and all it ever brought me was misery. What's lost is lost, the past is the past, and the future may be uncertain, but maybe that's a good thing," he added.
Hannah managed a small smile "Maybe it is," she said, scooting closer to him on the bench. "I'm just in so much pain right now, and I don't know where to channel it all, I'm going insane...just like my dad," she added sadly.
Neville smiled "You tell me your story, and I'll tell you mine," he said. That sounds a bit confusing, I wonder if she knows what I mean, Neville wondered.
To his relief, Hannah knew exactly what he meant. "I never had any siblings, all I ever had was Mum and Dad my whole life, and I used to be this naive little girl with pigtails and big dreams, because I always felt so safe and I always thought that everything would always be okay," she choked up.
Neville gently nodded for her to continue "It's alright, you can talk to me," he said softly.
Hannah sniffled, she wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Then I faced the real world, this war has snapped me out of my little girl dreams. Things got dark and I got scared, and Mum and Dad were always there for me. My entire world shattered when we lost Mum, but Dad was still there. I knew that he loved me, I thought-" her voice cracked.
Neville patted her back "Go on, it's okay," he whispered.
Hannah sniffled again. "I-I thought he'd always be there for me, he'd always protect me, but now he's gone off and checked himself into St. Mungo's. Just this morning he decided to just give up on life, I had to plead him not to kill himself, we bargained that he'd go to St. Mungo's. Now I'm all alone in a very lonely world-" she choked up.
Neville nodded "Yeah?" he urged with a gentle smile.
Hannah wiped her eyes with her hand. "-I'm not that bubbly pigtailed Hufflepuff I used to be, I'm broken Neville. A mere shell of the sweet, naive girl I once was," she finished, tears fell silently down her face.
Merlin, I had no idea how much Hannah Abbott suffered inside. She always seems so nice, so happy, but it's just a mask to hide a very broken spirit. Neville mused. He awkwardly put his arm around her "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Hannah coughed into her sleeve. "Alright, now that I've spilled my soul to you, it's your turn," she said.
Neville smiled sadly "Well, let's see. I knew my parents-as they were-for about a year of my infant life, before they became permanent residents of St. Mungo's and I was shipped off to Gran's," he paused.
Hannah rested her head on his shoulder "Go ahead, I'm listening," she said.
Neville cleared his throat with a sniffle. "I'll never be able to live up to them, what they did. I was destined to be a fool. Sure, I've done a few brave things, but only because I absolutely had to. My entire family almost thought I was a squib, and throughout my life Gran would always judge me so harshly. She held my father on a pedestal, once she even told me she could barely believe I was his son, she'd always say be better, braver, tell me to find my inner Gryffindor lion strength," he choked up.
Hannah looked up at him curiously "Are you crying?" she asked gently.
Neville coughed. "It's just, she's right. I used to get so angry, but now there's no one to direct it at, now she's gone too," he finished sadly.
Hannah seemed a bit shocked "Oh Neville, I had no idea your gran passed, I'm sorry," she whispered softly.
Neville shrugged "It's already happened, there's nothing I can do about it, it's time for me to move on with my life I suppose," his voice held a heavy sadness.
Hannah enveloped him in a large bear hug. "Interesting concept, time..." she mused, looking back up at the gleaming clock face of Big Ben.
Neville nodded "It really is," he agreed. "So, if you don't mind, can I ask what happened with your dad?" he asked suddenly.
Hannah sniffled "Remember that old story? The Tale of the Three Brothers?" she asked.
Neville nodded again "Yeah, I do," he said.
Hannah continued "Well, my dad had been going insane over the idea of the lost Resurrection Stone for the past three years, and I don't know if you knew this or not-but he came to help during the Battle of Hogwarts. At the very end, he saw Harry Potter throw it from the bridge and fetched it for himself. One day while I was out, he tried to bring Mum back and it didn't go so well, he's been suffering even more, driving himself mad-" her voice caught in her throat.
Neville urged her to continue. "-and this morning I caught him with his wand pointed at his chest, I walked in just as he said 'avada'," Hannah finished, shaking.
Neville shook his head "Aw Hannah, I can only imagine," he said quietly, pulling her closer to him as she sobbed into his coat.
Hannah continued to shake with sobs. Merlin's beard, I never knew, poor sweet Hannah. Neville caressed her long blonde hair "It's amazing, how one minute someone can be perfectly fine, happy, healthy...here. Then the next minute they're gone," he mused.
Hannah looked up, tears in her eyes. "I know, that's why I hate time, it's so confusing, so aggrivating," she said.
Neville nodded "Maybe time isn't the enemy here, maybe we're just victims in a world that's suffered so greatly and is just starting to rebuild, maybe we have to rebuild too, for the better," he said.
Hannah thought for a moment "You know, I still think clock faces are beautiful in the night," she said, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her lips.
Neville grinned, lending her his arm, she took it and he helped her to her feet. "I think you're beautiful at night, and always," he said.
Hannah blushed, or perhaps she's just cold. "So what now? I mean, er, what are we doing exactly?" she asked.
Neville tucked another strand of loose blonde hair behind her ear "This," he whispered, leaning in and pressing his lips hard against hers. I'm snogging the goddess of Hufflepuff...
Hannah linked her arms around his neck, caressing his fluffy brown hair. "I-er, why-?" she asked as she broke away, smiling as she caught her breath.
Neville pulled back "Because I've always loved you Hannah," he grinned. "And you know what-?" he asked.
Hannah giggled "What?"
Neville grinned "This was the perfect time to tell you that," he said.
Hannah smiled slyly "Is that so?" she asked.
Neville kissed her again. "Come home with me will you-?" he asked mischeviously.
Hannah thought for a second "Okay, I think it's about time don't you?" she asked with a sly smile.
Neville grinned "I had a feeling you'd say that."