Notes: Each section of this story is told from the point of view of a specific character, even if it reads as somewhat third person it isn't an external viewpoint. So don't get confused when a section break or new chapter appears.
Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, nor any of the characters or global concepts herein. My name is not J.K. Rowling, and this is not meant as a threat to her ownership of Harry Potter.
Reader Beware: Homosexual Relationship, Open Relationship, "British" Dialogue with American Spelling.
Time: roughly 5 years after the end of the Deathly Hallows.
Place: the entry hallway of a flat in London, England.
"So, how long has Harry known?" the large, stocky, blond man with the close cropped hair asked. He was holding a letter in his hands, the letter Harry had in fact owled to him giving a date, time and location for this meeting.
"Oh, for about 3 months now," he replied. It wasn't exactly comfortable for Neville to talk about this yet with someone he barely knew. Well, to be fair, he knew enough about him to not be a stranger, but they weren't even proper acquaintances yet. And he certainly didn't want to talk about it in the entry hallway of a flat he'd just entered either.
"And your wife? What's she think about you being attracted to blokes?" he heard as they shuffled down the hall.
Neville closed his eyes, fighting back the tide of guilt that rose every time he thought about how awful he had felt telling Hannah that she wasn't enough for him because she wasn't a man. "At first she was shocked, because I had plenty of time to try things out with boys back at school but I hadn't done anything like that with anybody."
His golden brown eyes lifted to meet the blue orbs of his host, "She decided that she'd rather I be happy all around even if it meant a break between us in the future."
"So you're still married, and you still love her as your closest mate, but you aren't turned on?" the other man asked. He went over to sit in a chair and leaned back. Neville followed him in and stood in the doorway of the room. "I'm just not convinced how well things can go for us," he said after a pause. Neville must have resembled the feeling of melancholic disappointment that came over him, as he heard, "No, I don't mean it like that!"
He looked up and saw red in the cheeks of the other male, his passively neutral expression gone. "Oh, you mean about the sharing part," Neville stated with realization. He walked further inside and sat on the sofa opposite the recliner as the other man pointed to it.
"I've just come out last week haven't I? I've not been snogging blokes behind clubs or getting it off behind glory holes. The fact that I'm being set up on a date by my cousin, who I don't have a great relationship with, should show that I'm not all that comfortable with myself," he said, rambling on.
With an embarrassed look Neville was asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?" He shook his head in the affirmative, and the other man stood and headed into the kitchen. Neville heard a kettle being filled and placed on a burner in the kitchen, and he called into the kitchen during a lull in the sound, "When did you know girls weren't doing it for you?"
"I used to run with a thick crowd of bullies in school and I was the ringleader. I was expected to be a huge womanizing tosser, like half of them were or wanted to be, so I tried. I played tough and big and got a few birds to go with me right before your war, but I never felt connected to 'em and I always had a hard time doing more than pawing their chests and fannies. If I thought about their bum, it helped. Took me more than 3 years after moving out to figure out why. By then I had become a real member of society instead of a waste of space, so I tried writing Harry. Never expected him to play matchmaker, just help me figure myself out."
"I can see some of the parallels, but he had an entire school to help him figure out what made him different from muggle children. He embraced himself before he got on the Hogwarts Express. I didn't remember seeing fear or lack of confidence when I met him. Do you have any mates that know anybody like... like us?" Neville asked.
The other man came out and sat down. He shook his head and wore a sad expression. "Not that I know about. That's part of what makes a gay club so scary. I have to walk in alone and if I saw anybody who I knew, they'd know I was gay. Even if they were just there for their mate's party or to go out, they'd know I was bent because I was there alone," he said softly, unconsciously shuffling his feet and worrying the letter in his hands.
"So, you're pretty much in the same boat as me then," Neville said. "The only person I liked at all that I know who's out and out gay graduated years ahead of me. He's a Hufflepuff so we never did much together," he concluded.
"A what?" he asked.
"A Hufflepuff... oh I forgot, you know a bit about Harry and wizards but you don't know anything about Hogwarts. It's a house in the school, like um... a society or a dormitory group or..." Neville rapidly spat out, trying to explain.
"Oh, I get it. So he didn't room with your lot and that's why you never got on well?" Neville stopped yammering and nodded in reply.
"After he showed up to see me, he asked if I had done anything with anybody and I had to live down the embarrassment of saying no to that. That was when Harry told me he had a friend who could use a 'companion', but what is it you want?" he asked.
Neville smiled and said, "I want to enjoy sharing myself and being myself. Isn't that what you want?"
The other man shook his head, putting a negative response together, "Well of course, but I'm nearing 30. I don't want to just be a regular shag. I'm not afraid to be seen with you, even though I was terrified of going out to gay clubs and experimenting on my own, but I'm still not too comfortable with your magic world, and I don't know if I could ever be with a woman just to be with you," he said.
"Dudley, nobody is asking you to ever get married to my wife, and frankly she is being open about this but doesn't want to watch me naked with anybody else either," Neville replied. That brought out another stretch of silence, which Dudley finally broke with another question.
"So, do you even like tall, stocky blokes with wide shoulders and what not?" the other man asked. Dudley looked away slightly, but maintained just enough eye contact to see a reaction. Neville found it endearing that someone who had a rough physical past could be so vulnerable in such a situation as looking for love.
"I've always been attracted most to what was inside someone, but yeah. I was a short, hefty kid, and I turned out tall and skinny in the end. Having someone large enough to make me feel protected in a nice cuddle has always been part of my tame fantasies," he admitted.
Dudley smirked at that, adopted a naughty look and asked, "So what about your not so tame fantasies? I only ask cause I think you're gorgeous. I also like that you're not skinny like a twig, you've got some solidness and you're intelligent. I've always envied smart blokes but now I see it's cause it's a turn on, not just jealousy."
"I think you'll find I'm aggressively inclined in bed. Not to the point of sadomasochism but I'm a bit controlling no matter which position I'm in," he said. Dudley looked relieved at that revelation, but Neville couldn't read what the reasons why might be.
"So you want to go through with this? Going out with a man who's never had sex that counted, and who may fall hopelessly in love with you?" the other man asked.
Neville nodded, "Hannah and I are both prepared for that eventuality, and Wizarding law doesn't frown on acknowledged concubines in the least. Since it's a homosexual relationship there may be some gossip, but we can't generate any children, so society will eventually be quiet about it too."
Dudley swallowed and nodded, "So do you want to go on a proper date or make out first or what?"
Neville leaned forward and said, "I don't see why we can't do a little bit of both." he stood up and walked over to Dudley, offering his hands to the larger man. Dudley placed his hands in Neville's and let himself be pulled up out of the recliner. Neville then drew him in, placed his arms around his thick waist, and gently squeezed him as he planted a lengthy kiss on Dudley's surprised face.
The kiss was unexpected but so warm and it felt so right after years of kissing women to no great shakes. Dudley let himself slip into the allure of Neville's passionate embrace and kissed him back affectionately. The other man's hands began to roam and it was all too soon when they parted.
Dudley felt his cheeks were warm and he peered back into the light brown eyes that were only an inch below head height to him. He had never thought about it but the short but curly locks of light brown hair that parted neatly in the middle framed a cute angular face. He hadn't expected to meet someone this much like his fantasies when Harry said he had just the friend to introduce him to. Neville was everything Dudley wished he was: fit, smart, well-adjusted and confident in himself. He couldn't think of a better man to be his first everything in his search of self-discovery.
"So, where do you want to go to dinner? Diagon Alley or some place near here?" Neville asked him.
"Um... does all wizard food do weird stuff? Harry told me about living chocolate, and my tongue got blown up this one time...," Dudley trailed off, shuddering at that memory.
Neville shook his head vehemently, "Oh no. The candy is enchanted to be entertaining, it isn't really alive. And I heard about what the Weasley Twins did. I'm sorry that happened to you. Even if they thought you deserved to be pranked, that was completely inappropriate on a non-wizard. Even a squib would have been running around looking ridiculous trying to find a healer and they at least would have known where to go to get it taken care of."
Dudley just nodded and said, "Then this Diagonally place sounds fine."
Neville started to say, "It's two wor... never mind. Let's just go there. You can see for yourself." Dudley followed Neville out of his home and they got on a bus that would take them halfway across London. They walked up to a rundown shop facade and Dudley was surprised that the sign grew less dingy and actually had a picture on it when he was close enough to touch the walls.
"Whoa, Neville, what's that? It looks different now," he said.
The other man nodded and said, "This is the Leaky Cauldron, a wizard's pub. It's also the entrance to the Alley. We can always stay here and eat dinner if you prefer, or we can go on and find a full restaurant." Neville opened the door and held it for Dudley, who walked inside, not expecting a full establishment from the outside view, but seeing the groups of people scattered about the pub's interior and the welcoming lighting, that was not visible through the windows outside at all, he stumbled inside with a bit of trepidation.
"Oi, super-auror! What are you doing letting all the nice warm air out into the streets!" they heard and Dudley bustled inside quickly, to be followed by Neville and the door closing tightly. Several of the patrons looked over and raised their glasses to Neville who weakly waved back. He started and turned to Dudley as if he had just remembered something.
"So have you made up your mind? If we're eating here we should grab some seats and not stand about so much," Neville said.
Dudley blushed slightly, another new expression for him, and said, "Here is fine. It's not what I'm used to but it's probably closer than anything else." He looked around and saw a table near the window along the far wall. "Let's take this one!" he said, perhaps too excitedly in his effort to fit in, and began walking to the back. He felt Neville following him and they were in their seats before long, with Dudley looking out the window at all the people who walked past without paying any attention whatsoever to the pub or it's occupants.
"You get used to muggles..., erm people, being unable to see places like this after a while, well you will if you and I hit it off and we keep going to places like this," he said.
"So, this is Harry's cousin then?" he heard, and with a look back from the window he rested his eyes on a polite looking blonde woman.
"Dudley, this is Hannah. Hannah, Dudley Dursley," Neville said, making proper introductions. She smiled at him, but looked him up and down the same.
"Well, shall I get you two a round of butterbeers or would you like something stronger, Dudley?" she asked.
"Um... yeah a lager or whatever is fine," he was nervous but he couldn't quite place the reason for it.
"Coming right up," she replied and walked away. He thought he heard her lean in to Neville and stage whisper, "So that's your type? Reformed bad boy. I'd never have guessed." Then Neville blushed and she walked away. Suddenly after hearing that exchange, rolling the words around in his head and remembering something all at once he got an epiphany.
"That's your Hannah!" he said, leaning forward and loudly whispering the statement at Neville.
"Yes, I just introduced you to my wife. Sorry we didn't make a big to do out of it. I was sure you'd make the connection when introductions were over. Especially with how she was sizing you up," he said.
"Your wife works here in this pub?" Dudley asked, incredulously at the coincidental nature of this meeting.
Neville's brow furrowed and he admitted, "She runs the pub. We live upstairs. I didn't want to taint your choice, so I didn't mention it before. If you're uncomfortable we can eat elsewhere after a nice round or two here, but I will admit she wanted to meet you beyond the whole going out with her husband thing."
Dudley couldn't believe the significance of everything Neville was saying, "Why?"
"Well, to be honest, practically all of Harry's close friends know what his home life was like growing up, so just saying the name Dursley around most of us has this mixed up sense of regret, anger and curiosity. However, while you've had a bad reputation, most of us want to form our own opinion of you since you were a child in most of it. If we can think better of Malfoy... well that's not even on topic. In any case, Harry is somewhat ridiculously famous and you being family makes you a minor celebrity, whether famous or infamous," Neville explained at length. Hannah came back and dropped the tankards off on the table near the end and just stood by.
"Why would anybody want to meet someone so rotten? I mean I know what happened and I'm still making up for it every day," he inquired.
Hannah piped in, "The fact that you just said that would be enough reason, as people do change. When Neville first came to Hogwarts he was a timid student who bumbled through half his lessons and was picked on mercilessly by the bullies there. He graduated top of class in Herbology however after leading Dumbledore's Army and helping Harry win the Second Wizarding War."
"War hero?" Dudley asked when she had finished, and looked back at Neville. From his brief interaction he had no way to imagine that the calm, confident man who sat across from him was ever the student she described. "Your wife is pulling me leg, isn't she Neville? You're so much more sure of yourself than anybody I've ever met!"
His companion only shook his head and replied, after taking a sip from his tankard, "No, it's all true. If I'm confident now, it's because of my life experiences up until now."
"Now, with introductions and pleasantries out of the way, I've a bone to pick with you, Dudley Dursley!" Hannah said. His attention spun right round to the blonde woman and he stared, shocked at her face. "I'm only going to say this once. You treat Neville like you ought to, or I'll box your ears properly and you'll wish I meant in the muggle way."
The color leached out of Dudley's face and Neville spoke up, "Hannah! Stop threatening him. You're my wife and best friend, not my parent!"
She smiled and said, "Alright. I won't hex him if he breaks your heart, but that doesn't mean I'll let you damage my husband." She stalked away, with a laugh on her lips, and Neville looked embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry, I've had a couple of flings here and there with men under anonymity glamours just to test the waters if you will, but I never opened myself to any of them. Hannah is afraid I'll fall for you and you'll rip out my heart and that'll be that," Neville explained again.
Dudley sighed and then relaxed and smiled, "I think I get it. You're out on a date with a former bully and she doesn't want you to get hurt." Dudley took a sip of his tankard and smiled wistfully, "You're not just some slag to me, Neville. If I hurt your heart, it'll be due to a proper breakup. I'm not out to get in your pants and throw you away." The taste was a bit strange but satisfying so he began to drink normally.
Neville smiled and said, "I think that's all anyone can ask for."