One in the Same

Part 2

"Hey Longbottom, what are you doing out this time of night?" a familiar face called as Neville shuffled down the nearly deserted streets of quickly darkening Diagon Alley. He turned quickly to see George Weasley, who was fixing the "closed" sign on his front door. "Going to see Hannah?" he smirked. Neville tried to produce a meager laugh, but it came out as more of a grunt, as he nodded his head. Everyone knew he and Hannah were together and as far as anyone knew, they were doing perfectly well. Although George's comment made Neville a bit sick to his stomach, it was good to see a smile on George's face, even f it was a smirk. George didn't smile even a quarter as much as he used to smile.

A few moments later, Neville found himself at the back entrance of The Leaky Cauldron. Upon entering, he could hear Hannah ushering two drunken elderly wizards out the door. "Either rent a room or out the door," she said guiding them towards the door. Hearing Neville enter she called out, "Sorry we're closed for the night," before turning around and realizing it was him. "Oh," she laughed and hurried over to him. "Hello, darling," she kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, you can stay," she joked. "C'mon sit down," she grabbed his hand pulling him over to a barstool which summoning two drinks from behind the bar. "How was work today?" she sipped her drink happily.

"Oh…err…fine," Neville answered. He knew it would be hard to talk to her, but he didn't expect to have to do it while she was making small talk. "Did you go anywhere or just stay at the Ministry? Is something wrong with your drink?" She noticed that Neville had not touched his drink. He took a quick gulp choking on it. "J-just the Ministry," he answered. "Lots of paperwork."

"Oh, that sounds rather boring, I'm sorry," she gave him a sympathetic look. "Did you see Dean Thomas at all? Did you hear about his promotion?"

"Yeah I heard about it," he took another gulp of his drink. "I didn't see him though."

"I bet. That was an awfully big promotion for so quickly. Right up to the top at the Muggle Liaison Office. You know, I bet he'll be in Magical Cooperation by next year."

"Yeah," Neville really couldn't think of anything else to say. It was true. Dean had just received a pretty big promotion to head of the Muggle Liaison Office (That day Seamus Finnegan, who now worked at the Department of Magical Transportation, caught with Neville and had suggested they treat Dean to drinks that upcoming weekend.) and Neville was thrilled for him, but he just didn't want to discuss it right now. "Speaking of promotions," Hannah shifted in her seat a bit excitedly. "Tom has been talking about retiring and…." Neville took her silence as a chance to let the anticipation build up for her announcement. "If he does, he says I'll get the pub." She grabbed Neville's hands. "I'll be the new landlady of The Leaky Cauldron." A large smile broke out on her face. Neville tried to smile. This news set of an internal argument.

How could you tell her that now?

You can keep going on like this.

But she's so happy now.

She'll still be happy about being landlady.

Maybe I could wait until tomorrow…or a little while and just let her be happy.

That's what you said last time.

"Are you alright?" Hannah stared at him clearly aware that he was not as happy as one would be expected to be. "I mean don't worry. I won't need help, and if I do I'll just hire someone else. I'm not asking you to give up anything."

"Oh no I….I know that."

"Then what's wrong?" She seemed concerned sending the two drinks, her empty mug and Neville's half full one, back behind the counter. "You've been acting strange for a while now. Have I done something to upset you?"

"No, you haven't done anything," his voice trailed off. Hannah's face looked more worried with every passing second. Neville, who own hands were shaking, grabbed Hannah's gently. "Hannah…you're…you're wonderful. You're so brave and kind and beautiful. I…I think we've known for a while that we're…well we're…not going to…that someone thing's off."

"For you," she said a bit harshly pulling her hands away.

"Not just me," he tried to make it seem like the idea was hers. "It just hasn't been the same as it was when we first…" Clearly that idea wasn't working. He knew he had to take the blame for it all. "I just, I don't think it's fair for us to stay together if we…"

"I get it," Hannah interrupted him quickly swiping her hand across her face stopping an escaped tear from trickling down her cheeks. "I know. I know things haven't been the same."

"You can do much better than me anyway," he laughed.

"I'm not sure about that," she said, almost with a gentle smile. She sniffed a few times before speaking again. "Well, I should be getting up to bed. Tom won't be happy if there are still people down here," she stood up and pushed in her bar stool. Neville followed suit. "I guess this is goodbye…for now," she stared at the floor. Neville grabbed her hands again causing her to look him in the eye. "You really are a wonderful girl, any guy will be the luckiest to have you."

"Thanks." Neville gave her a quick hug.

"I'll see you soon?" he asked heading towards the back.

"I'll be here," she said. "If you ever want a drink." Neville nodded his head and walked towards the wall in the back. Before he reached the entrance to Diagon Alley, Hannah called again, "It's her isn't it?" Even though Neville wasn't looking at Hannah, he felt his cheeks redden. "It's who…"

"She's engaged you know." Hannah knew. It made Neville wonder if everybody knew.

"I know," he said to himself sadly before going back into Diagon Alley.