To Love and Be Loved
This one's for Hannah (Princess of Frobscottle), simply because she has the same name as Neville's wife, and because I'd be nothing but a bored pile of mush without my favourite David Tennant loving, spotty shoe wearing, Stephan Fry bashing, mattress surfing cousin. Love you lots. :3 Frobscottle for life!
Neville and Hannah are twelve when they first meet, two shy, plump-faced kids offering to help Professor Sprout with the mandrakes.
They fall easily into conversation about classes and whether or not Professor Lockhart is a troll in disguise, and soon there's nothing but mint gum flavoured laughter between them. During the day they are just another set of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, two hardworking students who don't seem to fit in anywhere else. At night they are saviours, helping the Herebology teacher to revive the Petrified one screaming plant at a time.
Neville thinks it's the first time he's ever saved anything, including his own skin.
--
At fifteen they meet again, and Neville feels faint when he sees how much Hannah has changed. Her hair, one flat and dank, now graces the tips of her shoulders in delicate curls; her eyes sparkle with newfound life and vitality.
Hannah Abbott has become pretty.
He watches her like a hawk, inwardly blaming his lack of concentration for his erratic spell work at DA meetings. There's other people, of course – Luna Lovegood isn't quite as annoying or as loony as Neville makes her out to be – but Hannah is always there, seeming to shout out "see how much I've changed" with just her posture and her smooth face.
"Doesn't it amaze you how much we value something that doesn't even talk?" she asks one day in Herebology as she deftly twists the stem of a flower.
"I guess. But they're only important because we make them important. If we didn't care about them, nobody would."
Maybe that's why he likes Herebology so much: the plants are a metaphor for his life.
"I know," she says, gazing at him with murky brown eyes and a shy smile that are a lot more dangerous than they come across. "I know exactly what you mean."
Bathed in the pink glow of the sunset with a philosophical grin on her face, Neville thinks that Hannah has never been more beautiful.
--
Somewhere around the end of sixth year, Luna becomes the interlude between periods of loneliness, and he loves her, he really does. He loves her because when he's with her, he is not lost; instead, he is somebody, and that means the world to Neville.
"You're a lot more wonderful than you give yourself credit for, Neville. Beauty is skin deep, and you don't let anyone see what's on the inside."
"Thanks Luna," he replies. "Even though I'm not entirely sure that was a compliment…"
She smiles in return, and they fall about in fits of disjointed laughter that don't quite fit who they are. They've outgrown each other now.
Along the way, Neville may have lost himself, but now he's found the will to change.
He finds himself watching Hannah again.
--
If fifth year was the turning point, than seventh year is the catalyst. The DA throws itself into battles it cannot win, emerging alive through pure luck alone. In this war, houses have dissipated completely: everyone is as brave as a lion, as wise as an eagle, as loyal as a badger and as cunning as a snake.
Hannah and Neville find themselves fighting side by side, two seventeen year olds with everything to die for and even more reasons to live.
"I love you," Hannah whispers as they separate during that final battle. "Good luck." He knows it means nothing, because she's said it to every soldier – he still can't wrap his head around that word, not even now – who's wandered past, but his heart still skips a mandatory beat.
He loved her, that he knew, but Neville Longbottom was never going to fight his wards on someone else's behalf. If there was one thing Luna had taught him, it was stay true to yourself, and right now the battle was more important than Hannah.
With that, Neville sprinted off to the greenhouses, knowing that he had the power to help produce a world in which he and Hannah might one day be happy.
--
They collide after the war is over, a passionate fray of blood, sweat and tears; they are two weary soldiers with nowhere to seek refuge but each other, and in the heat of the moment, Neville knows: he's proved himself, now he's free to be loved by everyone else.
I am hopeless, yes. :) I'm sorry, but I've been going back to school and getting ready for my trip to Japan, so I haven't had a lot of time to write. When I do, HPFC is owning my soul, so here's another story for them. It was written as a part of my pop culture challenge, where I used the prompts "The Power of One", "Pretty in Pink" and "Lost". They're very thinly veiled, but still recognisable. Anyway, I'd love a review, and another big shout out Hannah. Love you Bobblehead, "quack quack".