September 3rd, 2005
Neville Longbottom bid his seventh year Herbology class a farewell and a good afternoon. The class had struggled in feeding the Venomous Tentacula, so Neville took a little time after the students had left his greenhouse to feed some of the crankier plants their Chizpurfle. Neville had suspected these particular Tentacula plants would be fussy. He had affectionately named the worst two Fang and Spitfire. They were both nasty, sassy plants that only he was capable of dealing with, though he did try to get them to behave with the students. Once Fang and Spitfire had been fed, he wondered about the greenhouse to pick up the loose Chizpurfle carapaces that littered the floor. Resembling something like a spine, the rigid bones were the only part that the plants couldn't eat. The carapaces always went directly to Slughorn's supply closet, as they were a wonderful ingredient that could be used in potion making.
It was as Neville was picking up the last carapace near the door that he noticed one of the students was lingering outside of the greenhouse. The opaque quality of the windows made it somewhat difficult to see, but it was obvious she was looking in at him, waiting. Neville stood straight and put the bag of carapaces on the table by the door.
He stepped outside of the greenhouse and looked down curiously at the short seventh year, "Is everything alright, Emily?"
He knew all of his seventh years quite well. He was ridiculously proud of Emily in particular for being in his house and the captain of the Quidditch team. She was one of the best students in the house, excelling not only in Herbology but in Charms and Transfiguration as well. Though, much like Neville himself, she lacked a bit in Potions.
However, she did not look like the confident, brilliant girl she was in that moment. Instead, Emily stood before him looking utterly distraught. She had seemed off in class, but he had thought little of it. He hadn't really been able to focus on any of the students greatly given the risk of them getting bitten and poisoned by the plants. He had been far more concerned about their safety. But now he saw just how frazzled she was: her hair was duller than usual, her eyes averted away from him, and the thread of her robe sleeves were fraying, as if she had been tugging at them for too long.
"Professor, I — I don't know who else to talk to. I don't know Professor Bones or Professor Trelawney or Sinistra well enough to talk to them. I just don't know who to turn to."
"It's alright, Emily, it's alright. Slow down a bit. Tell me what's happened."
Emily looked up at him and managed to choke out, "I'm pregnant and I have no idea what to do about it."
Neville blanched partially out of surprise and partially out of fear. He was utterly clueless when it came to pregnancy. He hadn't even met a pregnant woman before. He was completely unqualified in offering any sort of advice, "Have you seen Madame Abbott yet?"
Emily shook her head, "No. I don't know her. I was nervous to tell a stranger."
"Well, lucky for you, I know her quite well."
"You do? But she's brand new. She just started a few days ago."
"Well, I've been dating her for a few years, so yes, you can trust her. Would you like me to take you to her? She will know far more about this than I would," Neville explained gently.
Emily slowly nodded. Neville breathed a sigh of relief and lead her up to the castle to the hospital wing. Lucky for them, the wing was totally empty when they walked in. Hannah appeared from her office and smiled when she noticed Neville, but her smile faltered when she saw the frazzled girl beside him.
"How can I help?" She asked straightaway, not bothering with formalities. She could tell that there was nothing outwardly wrong with the girl. Judging just by the way the student appeared to be half mentally present, she suspected a confundus charm or mild potion poisoning.
"Why don't you tell her what's going on Emily?" Neville asked.
Hannah waited, but the witch seemed unable to look up at Hannah, let alone speak. Hannah smiled and spoke softly, "Why don't you come into my office? I can get you a cup of tea if you like. Would that be alright?"
Emily slowly nodded. Hannah turned and headed to her office to start a pot of tea just as Neville turned to leave. Emily grabbed at Neville's robe sleeve, "Can you stay with me?"
"You're sure?" He asked, surprised at how much she seemed to be relying on Neville for emotional support. He supposed it made some sense. He had known her all through her school years as the head of Gryffindor house. He had been the one to encourage her to try out for the Quidditch team, and the one teacher she was able to confide in her fifth year when her mother passed away suddenly of a heart attack. It was no small wonder why she felt comfortable with Neville in this issue, even if he hadn't a clue what to do.
He followed her into the office. Hannah sat at her desk and passed a small cup of tea to the nervous girl. Emily sat down on a large cushy chair across from Hannah. Neville shut the office door, knowing that what Emily was about to say could by no means be overheard. He leaned against the door and smiled sheepishly to his girlfriend. She didn't question his presence. She could tell his being there was a comfort to the young witch.
"So, what exactly is the trouble?" Hannah asked gently, taking a sip of her own tea.
Emily glanced at Neville. He nodded. She took a deep breath and finally looked Hannah in the eyes, "I found out I was pregnant over the summer. I didn't want it to be true, so I kept pretending it wasn't. I kept hoping I might just miscarry, because I heard that happens sometimes. But I didn't. I told my boyfriend about it, but he's not talking to me now because of it. Easy for him, now that he's graduated." Neville vaguely recalled that she had been with a seventh year Ravenclaw the year previous. "I haven't even been able to tell my friends. Professor Longbottom is the first person to know. Not even my dad knows."
"The father of your child is muggle born, isn't he?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Yeah, but why does that matter?"
"Unwanted magical children are incredibly rare, what with magical means of contraception."
Emily started to cry, "I'm such an idiot. My friends never told me anything and my dad certainly never would have either. I think they all assumed I knew."
"You're not to blame. I don't mean to sound as if I'm mocking you. I was just surprised. That's my mistake for sounding accusatory," Hannah apologized profusely. Emily sniffled and wiped a tear away, but otherwise remained silent.
"Emily?" Hannah practically whispered. The girl slowly looked up at her. "What do you want to do going forward? I'm happy to discuss options with you."
Emily glanced at Neville before looking back at Hannah, "Well, I reckon I'm … about four months along. Like I said, I just kept hoping nature would take care of it. I always heard miscarriages were most common in the first trimester. But I reckon now my odds are dried up. But I can't have a baby in school. I need to pass my exams this year. I want to be working in the Ministry soon. I can't do that if I have to drop out to have a baby. I — I always wanted kids. Just not like this. Not with him, not without someone who loves me and could help me raise it. My dad would help, but he's already got enough on his plate with his job and grandma. He can't help me raise a child right now." By now Emily was barely coherent as she started sobbing, covering her face with her hands, "I can't get rid of it. I just can't. If nature did it, that's one thing. But I can't choose to do it. I know there's nothing wrong with doing that, but I could never bring myself to do it. I don't know what to do."
Hannah's facial expression did not waver as she listened. She turned and opened a drawer of her desk and pulled out a small vial of bluish liquid. She held it out to the sobbing girl and murmured, "Drink this please."
Emily glanced up and recognized the calming draught at once. She took it with a soft thank you and quickly drank the contents of the vial. She handed Hannah back the empty vial just as her shoulders visibly relaxed and her expression softened. She wiped the tears off her face and her breathing regulated itself. She was feeling more herself already. She glanced between her professor and the school nurse, "I'm sorry. I'm — I'm not usually so hysterical."
"All things considered," Hannah said, "You can't exactly be blamed for being emotional. That and your hormones are going haywire, so it's inevitable that these outbursts are going to happen. Now, as far as what to do going forward, if you don't want to terminate the pregnancy, then you have two options: keep it or give it away to another wizarding family. Like I said, unwanted magical children are extremely rare. The baby would go to a well deserving home, to a wizarding family otherwise incapable of having children. I don't believe I have a pamphlet with me, but the European Wizarding Adoption Agency can help arrange things for you. But if you would rather keep the child, we can also try and accommodate that with your schooling. Nobody wants to see you drop out so near to the end, there are measures that could be taken to ensure your graduation. Not that it would be easy to do, but it is possible."
"I don't want to have it. I don't want the whole school to know that I got knocked up. They would all make fun of me for not using a magic contraceptive. For being so stupid as to have sex the muggle way. I don't want that kind of humiliation." Her voice remained steady and calm as she spoke her mind. She seemed to be reaching a resolve on the matter. "If there are families that want to take care of my child, I want them to have it. I can't do this baby justice. They won't see this child as a burden, they'll see it as a blessing. That's — that's what I want to do. You said there's an agency that can handle all of this?"
Hannah nodded and went on to tell her more details. As she explained to Emily that there were methods to hide her pregnancy safely from her classmates, Neville started to think intently. Something in the back of his mind had been bothering him throughout this conversation. Something about this whole situation was reminding him of something, though he was struggling to remember what. It suddenly hit them when Hannah mentioned that wizarding families seeking children to adopt are either infertile or gay. It was as if a light bulb went off over his head. He wanted to burst out with the idea, but he knew he shouldn't. He waited until the conversation reached a natural conclusion, with Emily finally relieved that there was a plan to fix her predicament. Neville quickly wrote her a note excusing her from the class she had just missed, and sent her on her way.
He headed back to Hannah's office and sat down on the edge of her desk, folding his arms across his chest. Hannah looked up at him curiously, "What are you plotting?"
"Me? Plotting?"
"Yes, you. I can see you hatching an idea. It's the same look you had when I said I wanted to become a healer. You were the one that got me this job, remember?"
"I didn't realize I had an expression devoted solely to plotting."
"Neville," Hannah said sternly, urging him to get to the point.
"Harry and Draco are on that agency's waitlist," Neville finally said.
Hannah raised an eyebrow, "Yes, but they're at the bottom of the list at best. They won't have a chance at getting that baby."
"Unless she chooses them."
"And why would she do that?"
Neville smiled, "She started school at Hogwarts just months after the battle. Her whole generation knows Harry as a hero. What sane witch wouldn't want to give her child to Harry Potter? Not to mention her most beloved teacher strongly recommended his good school friend as a valid option to raise her child. Why wouldn't she want to choose them?"
"There are other good families waiting to adopt," Hannah argued.
Neville gesticulated widely, "They said they wanted a child! If one finds its way onto my doorstep I'm going to pass it along to my friends that want it. That doesn't seem unfair to me."
Hannah did not react to his frustration. She crossed her arms and sighed, "I suppose I can't stop you from encouraging that adoption to take place. I just don't see it as entirely fair to the thousand other wizarding couples all over Europe who would happily take that baby."
"Hannah," Neville said, his tone dropping into something more gentle, "When you see our best friends holding their first child, you won't think it's unfair. Besides, you'll get to be one of the baby's aunts, since it won't have any biological ones. You, Hermione, and Ginny can all coo and aw over a newborn."
He moved away from her desk and knelt in front of her. He was so much taller than her that on his knees he was eye level with her sitting. He took her hands in his and kissed them each gently, "Do you really disapprove that much?"
She sighed and watched his movement with an unreadable expression. Her lips twitched up slightly in a crooked smirk, "I suppose I don't. I do want them to be happy, Neville. I just — I wanted you to see it from the other perspective as well."
"And that's why I love you," He murmured, "You have that uncanny ability to see all possible viewpoints. Most of the time, you ground me and help me see the reality of a situation. But I think you'll find that I'm right on this one. It's for the best that Harry takes this kid."
"That's up for Emily to decide, she might not want them to be the parents to her child."
"I know, but it's worth a try, isn't it?" He asked softly.
She sighed, "Yes. It is."
He grinned and kissed her sweetly just as the bell rang. He kissed her once more before departing to try and make it to his next class.