Disclaimer: All original characters, situations and plot ideas belong to JK Rowling. I make no profit from this.

Warning: This story is rated M for sexual situations and scenes, language, and darker themes later in the story.

A/N: Thanks Guest Amber for your review. :D


A Riven Heart

Chapter 7

July 30th, 2006

The Burrow was literally shaking from the loud bass amplified by magic. The band George Weasley hired was going to bring down the damn house.

Neville remembered vividly Ginny and Harry reassuring him that, no, his birthday party wasn't going to be too crowded. Just family, close friends, and maybe a co-worker or two. No, nothing major was planned, just Mrs. Weasley cooking dinner and maybe a few drinks would be passed around. No, of course we aren't going to do anything crazy.

What a load of utter dragon dung. Of course he should've known better. When he showed up for his own birthday party in a nice set of dress robes and a bottle of wine for Mrs. Weasley, he was instead greeted by a wild party in full swing.

Neville stopped counting party guests at 100. There was a rock band and an area set up out in the back for dancing. There was a chocolate fountain where chocolate frogs lounged and jumped out at anyone who walked by. There were enchanted streamers and confetti that followed people around when they reached what George determined was optimal party cheer. Mrs. Weasley had charmed a champagne bottle to pour endless amounts of the fizzy drink and Ron was begging her to teach him how so he could do the firewhiskey bottle as well.

Hermione had a pleasant alcoholic induced blush and at one point, threw off her shoes and started dancing wildly with Draco Malfoy of all people. When the song ended with a loud guitar strum, she threw her arms around the tall Auror and kissed the hell out of him much to the surprise of everyone, including Draco. But then everyone cheered.

Neville went from party guest to party guest, hugging and shaking hands. He won an intense round of exploding snap, in which everyone then did a shot. He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and danced with Ginny and Luna. Hermione and Draco had tried to sneak off for a bit of inappropriate behavior in the tool shed only to find Mister and Misses Weasley already occupying the space and doing things neither of the younger couple would ever do.

Garden gnomes were running for their lives and the ghoul in the attic was groaning that they all needed to settle down.

It was a few hours later when, feeling tipsy and giggly, Neville was pushed up on the stage between songs and the crowd demanded he make a speech.

"Alright – alright!" He said, standing up straight and looking out over the crowd. He drained his drink to cheers and said, "You all want me to do a speech when you know I'm absolute garbage at this kind of thing! Well then... it's my birthday and I want to thank everyone for coming, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley for hosting, and Harry and Ginny Potter for setting this 'Little Shindig' up." He turned towards his friends and continued. "Just family and a few friends huh?" Everyone started laughing and cheering again, clapping Harry and Ginny on their backs. "I can't imagine what you're going to do for Harry's birthday if you put this together for mine." More cheering and Harry's face got impossibly redder.

"In the spirit of drunken birthdays, because yes I am very drunk," Luna let out a loud 'woo' at his admission. "I think we should celebrate with a little tune... yes I am referring to the great birthday song of 2003, I believe a little drunken singing is in order!" He turned his grin to his closest friends, cheers and laughter erupting from the people who had been there. They pushed Harry, Ron, George, Draco, and Percy up onto the stage with Neville. Though they were all objecting, they were smiling too.

Lacking any coordination, because they were all truly hammered, they all grabbed each other around the shoulders and started singing, half of them starting on the wrong verse. Laughing they had to start over, but then it was really magical.

July 31st, 2006

His Gran was right, it was going to be a long, long day. He recalled through a foggy haze when his grandmother left the party last night, patting him on the head and telling him how very proud she was. Then in that stern voice she expertly wielded said, "Don't you dare drink too much tonight. Birthday or no, you still have responsibilities to tend to in the morning."

Well try telling that to any one of those damn Weasley's! He thought with a yawn then a smile. His 26th birthday had been the best of his life. Even if he woke up late and realized he didn't have any thing to take for his hangover. He vaguely remembered getting off the stage after his drunken birthday song and the group of them stumbling back into the Burrow, laughing and making a mess. Gods we are all idiots...

Thankfully, this particular Monday was fairly mellow. He caught up on some paper work and laughed at a few gag memos some of his co workers sent him, already praising his birthday party as the best of the year. He loved being an Auror, but when everything was straightened up and paper worked filed, he longed to be in his greenhouses tending to delicate petals and furthering his knowledge of all things plants.

Instead of de-flooding the mail room on level 3, which happens every Monday without fail, he could been tending to his lovely Charmed Lisianthus, especially now they he knew how interested Pansy was in it for her potion. He didn't even think twice about letting her use it.

Completely lost in thought about a certain Green-Winged Orchid he was trying to nurse back to health, Neville missed the moment his partner staggered into their office. Looking thoroughly tumbled and wearing the clothes he'd probably worn to the party yesterday, Draco Malfoy looked a right mess.

"Oi!" He cried out, stubbing his toe on the corner of his desk. "Who the fuck moved that there?"

"Malfoy, you put a Permanent Sticking Charm on it so Harry and Ron would quit moving it to random places. Like the girl's bathroom. On the 5th floor. Right next to the tampon -"

"OKAY LONGBOTTOM, SHUT UP ALREADY! I KNOW!" He spat and flopped into his chair angrily.

"You did ask!"

"That doesn't mean I wanted an answer," Draco gave Neville a very pointed look, one that told Neville he needed to shut up. "The question is called rhetorical. Get with it, Longbottom."

"Get with what, exactly? I might be a little lost since I was actually here on time, and therefore didn't get any sleep."

Draco's mouth parted slightly and his eyebrows scrunched up, giving him the appearance of a madman. "Does it really look like I got even a minuscule amount of sleep, Longbottom?"

"Obviously, more than I did."

"I had a witch to entertain, certainly no time for sleep last night."

"You took Hermione home with you then?" Neville asked, barely containing a smile. Those two had been flirting relentlessly for months now, completely denying each others attraction.

"I wouldn't kiss and tell, why are we gossiping like girls? But of course I took her home with me."

Snorting, Neville turned back to the parchment he was supposed to be filling out and not thinking about his greenhouse. Several minutes went by without any conversation, and they worked in the companionable silence that had taken a few years to set in place. When Neville had first became an Auror, he had hoped to work with Harry and Ron. They were the ones who got him into the program to begin with. But when his Supervisor, Idiot McGee (real name Samuel McGee) paired him up with Draco Malfoy, Neville just about quit on the spot. Harry had just looked confused and Ron had made gagging sounds at the news.

But after a few years of harsh words and insults, throwing fists around a few times, and numerous Order meetings, Malfoy had become one of Neville's best friends. Not that either of them would ever admit to it, though.

"Hey I wanted to ask," Neville began. "Do you remember Pansy Parkinson?"

Whatever Malfoy expected from him, it wasn't that question. The blonde dropped his quill and swiveled in his chair so fast he almost fell over. "Of course I do. We dated briefly in school, but we were friends for a long time. Haven't talked to her in ages. Why? Did she pop up in a search?"

"No no, nothing like that. I had a date with her on Saturday."

Mouth dropping, eyes going wide, Malfoy looked nothing short of completely surprised. "You're messing!"

Neville just shook his head. "I'm seeing her again on Saturday. Any advice?"

"Bloody Baron's soggy pants. Does anyone else know?"

"I told most the guys at dinner on Saturday."

"Oh man I knew I should've gone."

"Ya I think Ron almost threw up."

"Aww don't tease me, Longbottom. So they didn't take it well, I guess? Damn Gryffindors."

"You got that right, it was kind of a nightmare. They will come around though, I mean, you're still here..."

SMACK.

A note hit Neville in the face right at that moment and he took a second to look at it with the annoyance he felt. Then he unfolded it and read it aloud, "'MAIL ROOM ON LEVEL 3 FLOODING, PLEASE HEAD TO LEVEL 3 TO BEGIN FLOOD RELIEF', damn. It's early today. Want me to get it?" He stood up and tucked his wand gently into his robes.

"Fuck yeah. I'm pretty sure it's Melody Crews who keeps flooding the damn room. Every time I show up to help she's all over me, whispering some kinky shit into my ear. She knows The Idiot always sends one of us to do the clean up."

"Why don't you take her up on her offer then?" Neville shot a grin his way.

"You know damn well why Longbottom! That is one crazy witch I won't even deal with. Remember when she was obsessing over the Weasel?" Draco's face contorted with horror as if he was reliving the memory. "She poisoned 20 chocolate frogs with a bad batch of Lust Potion #9, and laid them out for him to find. He ate ALL of them in one sitting and had to be rushed to St. Mungos. No, thank you. You can definitely go deal with that one. You think the moron would've learned better by now."

Neville just laughed, making his way out of the office. "Don't forget you're buying lunch today. You can fill me in on everything you know about Slytherin's."

He arrived at the Level 3 Mail Room and immediately spotted Melody Crews sulking around, holding her robes up trying to keep them from getting wet. She looked thoroughly disappointed when Neville showed up instead of Malfoy, but helped nonetheless. The room was soaked, water a foot deep in some places. He saw helpless memo's drowning, the edges of the paper flapping helplessly in the water.

"Longbottom." She said when they were finished.

"Crews." He returned.

"Where's that prat of a partner you got?" She asked as she cast a drying spell on her socks.

"I hope he's actually finishing up paper work or doing anything productive back in the office. Why don't you go check up on him, I know he said he had something he wanted to ask you. Something about, what was it? Getting tea on Friday? I'm not sure." Neville smiled at Melody when her face lit up and she ran for the lifts.

He wasn't sure if Draco would kill him, or Hermione. But he suddenly felt a lot better.