Tea with Neville turned out to be an informative hour. Hermione recounted what happened on the lake, or at least what she thought had happened. Really, she hadn't seen very much. There was a possibility Goyle had exaggerated or even outright lied about what he saw, but why would he? He had been so obviously shaken when he came out of the water, and there was no denying the welt she'd seen across his back. There was no denying the way he'd looked in those swim trunks either, but she wasn't going to dwell on that.

Neville and Hermione exchanged theories on the sudden squid infestation while the tea seeped. Discreetly wiping the rim of her slightly dusty teacup, Hermione decided to ask Neville if he knew anymore about the man Gregory Clemente they'd once known as the boy Gregory Goyle.

"Actually, I do know a little about him. You remember how after the war, everything was so mad, and I ended up working with the Aurors for a few months?"

Hermione nodded, leaning back in the wooden chair that was stuffed into a corner of Neville's office. She hadn't worked with the Aurors after the war, but many had, especially during that period of reconstruction. Ron and Harry still worked there, but then, they had always wanted to make a career in the Auror Department.

"At first, we just focused on finding as many Death Eaters and Dark Wizards as we could. Goyle was one of the first we found, probably because he didn't run. I wasn't part of the team that brought him in, but from what I heard, he didn't put up a fight at all. Just in shock, I guess. His mother didn't run either and ended up not being charged with much, just some relatively minor things like consorting with Death Eaters. She didn't have the Mark, and I think she had been estranged from her husband for a few years at that point.

They found his dad a few days later, in a car park in, um, Blackpool, I think? He was given some pretty serious charges. He had been smuggling dark objects for Voldemort and serving as an agent for foreign werewolves coming into the country. He definitely didn't go without a fight. Harry said he almost tore a crater half the size of a quidditch pitch out of the car park before they could Stun him. I doubt he'll be released from Azkaban for at least 30 years."

"What about Goyle? Gregory, I mean. Why isn't he still there? "

"Now that I'm not sure about. I have an idea that he maybe ratted on some of his old friends and got a lighter sentence for it, but you'd have to ask Ron to be sure."

"Interesting. Maybe I will. He certainly seemed very different. I didn't recognize him at all at first. Made a bit of a fool of myself before he told me who he was. Do you know what he's been up to since Azkaban?"

" No, I don't. I guess he's just been working. I haven't heard anything else about him. In fact, I would have thought he'd leave and go abroad. How did you end up working with him? "

"Oh it just happened like that. I imagine I'll probably keep working with him until we get this sorted out."

"Good luck with that. If he gives you any trouble, let Ron know. Are you still doing a lot of work with SPEW? I thought you had turned it over for the most part. "

"I have, but I like to keep involved. Today didn't really go as planned. I had thought it would be a straightforward rogue squid scenario and wrapped up in a day, but that's not how it's looking now."

"You mean you didn't just come all the way up here to see me?" Neville teased. "And I'm not sure how a 'rogue squid scenario' could be straightforward."

Hermione laughed, "I think I would have jumped at any excuse to come up here for a day."

"So you're doing this for SPEW, working at the Ministry, and planning a wedding?" Neville quirked his eyebrows at her.

"It's not as much as it sounds, but it is nice to get away for today."

"Not as much as it sounds? I think it sounds like more than it sounds! Hermione, don't overwork yourself. The war's over, you have a career, you're getting married. You've made it to the other side."

Hermione didn't reply but instead spun her spoon around her cup.

" I just like to keep busy. I've never not been busy!"

"I know, but I think you should slow down a little, enjoy the moment a little more. "

"Maybe after the wedding."

"Sorry to be all therapist on you, 'Mione. I'll keep my wand out of your cauldron."

"No, it's ok. I'll think about what you've said." She took a sip of tea and set her cup back down.

"Now tell me what's new in your life! Anything going on? "

"Hmm, well let's see... Oh, I didn't tell you about my parents, did I?"

"No! You haven't! Is everything ok?"

"Everything is fine. Great, actually. It's only just been in the past fortnight, but I decided to move them from St. Mungo's. "

"Really? Where to? "

"Gran found this little cottage in West Sussex and hired a healer witch to look after them. There's a wizarding hospital nearby if there are any emergencies, but so far, it seems like the sunshine and the change of environment has really helped them. "

"Neville, that's great! I'm so happy for you! What made you decide to move?"

"St Mungo's was great, and there's really nowhere better to go in terms of healing, but they don't need healing, you know? They just need to be somewhere restful. Gran's getting on a bit, too, and visiting them so much at St Mungo's was just exhausting. She's planning to move down to Sussex, as soon as she finds somewhere she likes that's close enough to them. Retiring to the country, I guess. I've been down there as much as I can, getting the cottage set up and everything ready. "

"Well, I'm very, very happy to hear this. They're lucky to have a son like you."

Conversation had moved back around to talking about his classes when Neville glanced at a clock on the wall and gave a mock grimace.

"Speaking of, looks like it's time for class. So sorry I have to run, Hermione. I've really enjoyed catching up with you." Neville set down his cup and gathered a few sheets of parchment together.

Hermione rose.

"Yes, sorry to keep you for so long! We should see if we can get together some other time, before the wedding. Maybe dinner out with the old group one night? If we can coordinate our schedules, that is."

"Sounds good. Send me an owl later." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek on his way to the door then paused in the doorway.

"I meant what I said earlier about taking things slowly. If I learned nothing else from the war, it's that we've got to appreciate times like this while we can."

Hermione nodded. "I'll think about what you said. And thank you, Neville. Say hello to Luna for me."

"See you soon, 'Mione."

And with a quick smile, he was gone.

While cleaning up and putting away Neville's tea things, Hermione's thoughts turned back to what had happened on the lake today. Considering the way Goyle, Clemente now! she corrected herself, had acted, she was beginning to have doubts that he would be able to handle it, despite what he had said.

Clemente had said he would talk to the Headmistress straight away, but maybe it would be a good idea if she made a few recommendations. It was outside her capacity as a SPEW representative, but this was a somewhat unprecedented case. As far as anyone knew, giant squids were an exceedingly rare species, possibly endangered. Their reclusiveness made it difficult to know. Most likely, the one at Hogwarts simply had the misfortune of being too large to exit the loch the same way it had come in, presumably when younger and smaller. And if that was the case, maybe these other squids were coming in the same way. If so, why now?

Hermione highly doubted that Clemente had thought of any of this. She'd better talk to Minerva herself. That decided, she shut Neville's office door behind her and set out to take care of things the right way – her way.