The waiting was terrible.

More and more members started to show up, which was both a good and bad thing. Neville had definitely missed hanging out with his friends, but on the other hand, he missed his privacy. There weren't many areas where he could take a few minutes to think when everyone else was chattering around him about Harry and the DA and everything that was going on outside the Room of Requirement.

Towards the end of the school year, after weeks of sitting around, doing nothing more than playing games, gossiping and planning a million and one ways to take down the Carrows once Harry got back, Neville snapped. He was trying to figure out how they would get home and get to their families – and if it were even possible – once the summer holidays officially started, and if they'd be able to start attacking the Carrows from the privacy of their own homes. They couldn't stay in this place forever. However, it was very hard to brainstorm anything with Lavender yapping in the background about how she hadn't washed her hair in a week.

"Lavender, shut it!" he yelled, turning and yelling at his fellow Gryffindor in annoyance. She stopped speaking and looked at him in awe. No one had heard Neville raise his voice in months. He'd been trying to keep up hope, keeping everyone in high spirits for when Harry returned, that it took them all by surprise.

"I just think, with us girls being here…" she began softly.

"Look, do whatever you want. Ok? I don't OWN the room, you don't have to ask me to make changes to it, just fucking do it," he grumbled before turning back to his parchment. He angrily crossed out the most recent plan he'd come up with – riding thestrals out of Hogsmeade back into London – and he felt someone approach him and tap his shoulder.

"Mate, are you ok? Need some butterbeer? I can go get Abeforth…" it was Seamus, coming to see what was wrong. Neville realized he should be grateful, but he was more annoyed than anything.

"No, I'm fine, just make sure your little princess is well taken care of," he snapped. Seamus gently knocked him upside his head for that one, but Neville barely even flinched.

"What is WITH you, Nev? You've been this way for weeks now. You miss Hannah, don't you? I told you, we can go get her if you…"

"No, I'm fine!" Neville snapped again, crumpling up the paper and chucking it at the wall. The room instantly conjured up a wastebasket for it to bounce into.

Truth was, he wanted Hannah to come join him BADLY. He missed her so much it almost physically hurt him. But he didn't want to drag her out of school if he didn't have to. Besides, it was nice to know that she HADN'T come here yet – that meant that she was holding her own against those monsters. Hopefully that also meant that she was continuing to keep the remaining DA members' hopes alive. Finally, the Carrows weren't idiots, and he didn't want to risk them finding out where all their missing students had run off to. The more students that disappeared – well, the more they'd be motivated to find them, he reckoned.

"I'm sorry I'm so on edge, it's just…I can't stand the waiting! I feel like a sitting snitch," he said with a sigh as he sat up and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I know mate. Nothing we can do about that though, right? So let's try and…enjoy ourselves I suppose, yeah?" Seamus said, giving him a little nudge and a smile. Neville chuckled and grinned at his friend. Typical Seamus – trying to make a party out of everything.

"You're right. This is how it is in war, right?" Neville admitted. He stood up and brushed himself off before looking at Lavender, barely flinching at the fact that a bathroom had, in fact, materialized off the east end of the room.

"I'm sorry for snapping Lavender. A full bathroom is much better than a few stalls," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the two bathroom stalls the room had conjured for them, which vanished an instant later now that they didn't need to be used.

"It's ok. Wanna play some chess?" she asked with a grin. "After I shower, that is," she added with a giggle.

He shook his head. "No thanks, I think I'm going to take a nap," he said, suddenly realizing that he was exhausted from doodling on his parchment all morning. He walked over to his hammock in the corner and collapsed into it. It was amazing how comfortable it was – this room really worked wonders sometimes.

Within minutes, he had drifted off to sleep.

Neville was having a dream. A wonderful, perfect, amazing dream.

Hannah was there in the room with him. She was holding his cheek in her hand, rubbing the scar under his eye lovingly with her thumb. She looked absolutely perfect – her hair curled at the ends, her perfume hung in the air and her skin felt like silk against his cheek.

"Hannah, I missed you," he whispered. She didn't say anything, but kissed his forehead softly.

"Neville, wake up sleepyhead!" she said, although her mouth didn't move. In fact, it sounded like she was a million miles away. She pushed away the hair from his forehead and ran her fingers through it, smiling at him but still not speaking.

"I am awake," he mumbled. All he needed was a second or two and he'd sit up, pull her into his arms, and kiss her so hard they both saw stars. But he was so comfortable here in her embrace…

"Come on Nev, wake up!" she giggled, and once more, she sounded like she was in another universe. But no, she was here, this didn't seem right, why wasn't she talking?

"Neville!"

She started to fade away…

NEVILLE!

He jumped up with a start, hitting the person who was sleeping in the hammock above him. His forehead rammed right into Ernie's bum, and the Hufflepuff awoke with a loud gasp of surprise.

"Neville mate, what the hell?!"

"Sorry Ern, I…"

But Neville stopped when he realized that someone was sitting on the edge of his hammock. Someone who was laughing hysterically at the scene that had just played out in front of her. Neville was positive he was awake, the pain in his head assured him of that (damn Ernie had a bony arse) so this had to be real, it WASN'T a dream, it was really…

"Hannah…" he said breathlessly. She giggled and bit her lip before pushing his hair away from his forehead, just as she had in her dream.

"Well, good news for you is, I don't think Ernie's backside is going to leave a lasting impression on your head," she said with a wink. Ernie mumbled something in response to the insult above them, but had all but fallen back asleep as she chuckled. Neville smiled, but still wasn't able to fully believe what was happening.

"You're…but how?"

"The Carrows finally snapped," she explained with a shrug. "Threatened to kill my family, even though it was clear they were bluffing and had no idea where they'd gone into hiding. Can you believe it? MY family in hiding…regardless, it was time to disappear," she explained with a nod.

Neville nodded. "I'm so sorry about your family…" he whispered, cupping her face in his hands and he softly kissed her. He was dying to do more, a lot more, but he had to remind himself there were others in the room with them…

"It's fine…ever since my mum died, well, we've taken extra precautions. They'll be able to fend for themselves," she assured him. Neville could tell by the confidence in her voice that she wasn't worried, and that made him confident that the Abbott's would be just fine. He smiled and kissed her for real this time – kissing her long and hard, his tongue poking through her mouth as her fingers ran through his hair.

"I missed you," he said, feeling a lump rise in his throat. For once, he wasn't going to cry of sadness – these were happy tears. She smiled and pulled him into an embrace, hugging him like she was never going to let go.

"I missed you too, Neville. So, so much," she whispered into his ear. He could feel a tear falling down her cheek as it landed on his own stubbly face, and he squeezed her tighter. He was never letting go, never ever again.

That lasted all of five seconds.

"Umm, hi, I hate to break up the happy couple…" Lavender had appeared, biting her lip and looking extremely anxious. He pulled away and Hannah chuckled.

"It's fine Lavender, what's up?" she asked.

"Well, Neville, I think…something happened," she said. At first, Neville wasn't sure how to take that news…it sounded bad, until he realized she was smiling.

"What?" he asked, bolting up.

She turned and pointed to the portrait hanging on the opposite wall. In the wall, there was a young girl, smiling and waving at him. She looked excited, and Neville knew immediately what her appearance meant. That girl meant the world to Abeforth, and if he sent her, that meant only one thing.

"Hannah, I'll be right back, I've got to go do something!" he yelled in excitement. He turned, leaned down and gave her a long kiss goodbye, then turned and hurried through the portrait hole, making his way to greet a very important visitor.