Ch. 7: Breaking a Rule
I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty's not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart
~Undisclosed Desires by Muse
AN: I usually don't put these at the beginning, so you know it's serious when I do.
Not a single review for my birthday. Thanks a lot. I at least expected to get the same number as usual, two. You guys really don't have the time to type yay can't wait for next chapter? That took me all of two seconds. You really are heartless.
I'm not updating unless I get some reviews. That's the way it goes. Four, to make up for last chapter. I usually don't do that, but this whole lack of review deal makes me very, very sad. So when you reach the last word, review the damn thing. Or else, all you people who favorite it every freaking day won't get another chapter. Sorry. That's the way it goes.
Four reviews.
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I would often call Maggie on the floo during the two years she spent patrolling the Canadian-USA border, but a lot of the time, she was simply too busy- or on patrol- to talk. Other times, I would call, and no one would be there to explain the absence at all.
It was fine, really… I wasn't torn up with worry for her or anything like that.
I actually had been worsened by the constant worry. As the time moved on, my hair got longer due to not having the urge to cut it, I was scruffy all the time- not because she found it as sexy as she did, but because I kept forgetting to shave (it bothered me a lot to have it that scruffy, and unless there was a chance we would 'get busy', why bother, and there wasn't a chance,) and I lost a lot of weight. At one time in my life, I would have been happy with the last bit- my face was noticeably thinner, and I needed to get new trousers- but when I got together with Maggie…
It isn't so much as she said she liked that I was, quote-on-quote, 'cuddly,' but that I had a raised self-esteem and didn't see why I needed to be as skinny as the other guys.
So I lost weight because there would be days when I just didn't eat, not because I was trying to. And everyone could tell it was from the former- there is a noticeable difference between someone who's lost weight on purpose (healthier, unless they have an eating disorder or something,) and someone who's been doing so out of neglect (they're tired, sickly, and pale- just as I was.)
I also had circles under my eyes and would often find my hand shaking of its own accord. I didn't sleep much, either.
I was sitting in the living room of the flat, a coffee in my hands, warming them up. I hadn't bothered to light the fireplace, though it would have only taken a flick of my wand.
"Hey Neville," Seamus nodded at me as he left the flat to go to work at the Ministry. I nodded, not really looking at him as I continued to stare off into nothing.
"What's up?" he asked, doubling back, "Oh, sorry, that's a dumb question."
I shrugged, still silent, "I'm terrified."
"How long?"
"Three days," I whispered hoarsely.
"If she were dead," Seamus started encouragingly.
"Yeah, well, she could be seriously injured, couldn't she?" I snapped, before sighing and rubbing my forehead, "Don't you have work?"
"Don't you?" Seamus retorted, raising his eyebrow.
"I… yeah," I sighed again and stood up to go put on my lap robes.
I found that more and more during work I was just going through the motions, not really putting in my best effort, though still helping out with the experiments and researching different properties of plants. My heart wasn't in it any more, not because I didn't love the plants, but that something was distracting me in the back of my head. An oval shaped face with teal eyes and brown hair that kept falling in front of her face.
I always wanted to clip up that hair so I could better look into both of those eyes.
Some days, it was different. Some days, the plants provided a benevolent distraction, and I would get so swept up in the amazingness of each leaf and each miraculous stem that I would almost forget that lingering presence in the back of my head- just for one precious moment.
That day, it was merely monotonous, and I went home feeling more stressed than ever. I collapsed in front of the fire and threw floo powder into it, thinking of how fruitless this latest floo would be.
I thought for a moment, and decided for a change to call her dad. I found myself staring into her empty, rather dusty, bedroom. I sighed and looked over at the open door with a frown on my face. I could hear the wails of a child and this confused me greatly.
I frowned as Mr. Johnson walked past the room, holding a baby slightly over the age of one. He doubled back when he saw me and his face seemed to pale greatly.
"… Neville?" he asked in shock, walking into the room. The baby in his arms was playing with a stuffed toad animal. He looked a lot like Maggie.
"Hi Mr. Johnson, I'm really sorry for bothering you," I swallowed, "I just… I needed to talk to someone about Maggie and how long it's been since she's contacted anyone…"
"Right," Mr. Johnson answered breathlessly, "Just… give me a moment. Um… watch him, won't you?" he asked, putting the child in front of me. The baby looked up at me with very wide eyes, blinking curiously.
"Why d'you have him?" I asked, equally curious.
"He's... my cousin's kid," Mr. Johnson hesitated slightly, making me confused, "His twin is in the other room. I promised I'd babysit. Um… his name is Nate. I'll be back in a moment."
I watched him go in confusion and turned back to the kid. Nate was playing with his frog. He couldn't have been much older than one year.
" 'Ello Nate," I greeted cheerfully. The boy looked up at me, frowned, and looked back at the frog.
"What's the name of your frog there?" I asked, knowing full well he probably wouldn't be able to respond.
He looked back to me, then to the frog, and muttered, "Da."
I raised an eyebrow, "Da? You named your frog 'Da'?"
He looked at me again and said, more firmly, "Da."
"Alright then," I smiled slightly. Who was I to begrudge a child the name of their toad? Especially a child that was so strikingly like Maggie.
What struck me as strange with that, however, is that Maggie's father had always asserted that she looked almost exactly like her mum, except her mum had had dark red hair, and before she had bonded with Thailus Maggie had the same bright green eyes. Thanks to Thailus' blue coloring, her eyes had changed slightly to be a mix between the blue and the green, aka teal.
So why would someone related only to her father's side of the family look exactly like her, and therefore, her mum?
Perhaps he had meant "my wife's cousin's kid"… but as far as Maggie knew, her mum had no relatives- or at least, none she ever mentioned. Or maybe he was Elena's daughter, and Mr. Johnson was embarrassed? That could be it. I hardly ever saw Elena anymore.
Couldn't be mine and Maggie's, she'd have told me, I thought fleetingly, before firmly reiterating the point in my head, definitely would have told me.
He played with the frog contentedly, a smile on his face.
"Why'd you name him 'Da'?" I asked curiously. However, Nate was too young to understand, so he simply looked at me with a frown on his face.
"Da," he responded, though with a large grin on his face. When Mr. Johnson came back in, he declared once again, "Da!"
"Yes, well," Mr. Johnson seemed to splutter for a moment, "I'll take him away, shall I?"
"Ok," I shrugged, and reached out an arm to gently pat the kid on the head. For some reason, I didn't want to stop- I wanted to hug him, kiss him on the top of the head. It was the strangest feeling, like that I felt for the plants I cared for the longest and the most, but stronger.
Mr. Johnson picked him up and walked out of the room, but Nate wouldn't stop looking over his shoulder at me.
When Mr. Johnson came back, he briefly looked at the dresser next to Maggie's bed, where there were two picture frames.
"What are those of, Mr. Johnson?" I asked curiously.
He brought them over. One was of me and Maggie, my arms around her waist and hers around my neck, not looking at the camera but our foreheads pressed together. The other was of an identical copy of Maggie, except with red hair and green eyes- her mum- with her arms around two people very familiar to me. One was Albus Dumbledore, and he, like Maggie's mum, was laughing. The other was Severus Snape, who was sneering most of the time but occasionally his face would break into a reluctant smile, especially when the figure of Maggie's mum would look over at him.
"That's her mum, isn't it?" I asked softly.
"Yes," Mr. Johnson paused, "She became very close to Dumbledore and Snape when in Britain. When Melinda died I originally was going to put the picture in storage, but Maggie asked to have it. I suppose she misses Snape."
"Yeah," my memories flickered back to our occasional conversations about the man, whom she spoke of like a father or a fond uncle, "She does."
"Well," he set the frames down on the floor, where the figures continued their movement undeterred, "What's up, Neville?"
"I just…" I sighed, breathing deeply, "I am terrified about Maggie, and… no one back home understands very much. I wanted… I knew you would be equally worried."
"Yes," he paused, "I am very, very worried. I have not heard from her in three days."
"Nor have I," I sighed, relieved that he hadn't heard anything bad but terrified that he hadn't heard anything good, "And it's agonizing."
"Extremely," Mr. Johnson paused, "But I am used to it."
"Why?" I asked softly, curious again.
"Melinda had a very dangerous job, son," Mr. Johnson sighed, "Extraordinarily. The UK during your war wasn't even the most dangerous environment she had been sent into- during the Japanese Wizard-Goblin war of 1984, she was imprisoned for a full seven months with very little sustenance, no contact to the outside world, and occasional torture. Every time she left, especially when she left for a country in a known state of war, I'd fear that she wouldn't come back. And I loved Melinda, deeply- every day without her is a terrible one for me."
"I'm sorry, sir," I whispered, filled with newfound respect and camaraderie with the man.
"It wasn't like what you and Maggie have, though," Mr. Johnson said thoughtfully, "I could fall in love again, if I so choose, and so could she. Our souls are not as bound as you two."
"Doesn't seem to matter, though. Your wife loved you till she died," I shrugged.
"Yes," but Mr. Johnson was frowning now, seemingly deep in thought, a dark look in his eyes.
"How did you get through it?" I asked softly.
"By finding something to distract me, mainly," Mr. Johnson paused, "My apothecary business, my kids."
I thought of my plants woefully, "But what if it no longer distracts you?"
"Prayer works," Mr. Johnson murmured softly, "Prayer, and friends and family."
I nodded and muttered, "Thanks, Mr. Johnson."
"Call me Nathaniel," he smiled slightly, "If I hear anything from Maggie I'll be sure to let you know."
"Thanks," I smiled in return and left the fireplace, sighing to myself.
More weeks went by. I heard from Maggie sometimes- she was OK- but in the main, it was quiet. Professor Sprout was on her last year and Professor McGonagall came up to me personally to ask if I'd fill her position in the next year and be head of Gryffindor House, which I accepted gladly. Perhaps, students and implanting my love of Herbology would provide a needed distraction. Furthermore, Professor McGonagall was retiring, leaving the school's headship under the care of Professor Flitwick.
In the middle of the winter, I found myself debating whether or not to finally call Maggie on the floo that day. Seamus and Dean had gone out to the local pub to try and meet some girls, both having gotten sick of singlehood. I would go forward to the floo, thinking that it had been a day and that was long enough, only to double back, remembering that there had been a large group of Unionists trying to sneak over yesterday, and though the situation was "under control," she was extremely busy. But then I'd remind myself that it had been a day and double back again, and continued to second-guess myself for a full thirty minutes.
Finally I gritted my teeth and threw powder into the grate, unable to wait any longer.
I found myself staring at a completely empty living room. I frowned, and called out, "Hello?"
Kylie came running through the living room, not even looking in my direction, her red hair flying everywhere and her wand out. She doubled back, obviously having seen me out of the corner of her eye, and breathlessly said, "I'm so sorry Neville but we were just ambushed and I need to go and fight, Maggie'll be here as soon as we've stopped them!" And she ran away out of vision.
I watched her go, terrified, unwilling to leave but unable to just sit there. I fidgeted, squirmed, sighed, and begged to be free. I could hear shouts, explosions, and screams from far off and it was driving me mental. I found myself pulling out of the fireplace more and more, to crane my neck and try and catch a glimpse of the outside world, but the windows were small and hard to see through. Eventually, everything but my legs were out of the fireplace and I was standing on my hands, trying to crane for a look but only seeing bright flashes of red, gold, and green light.
A loud scream coursed through the air and chilled me to the bone. It sounded much too familiar for me, a reminder of terrible times, of standing helpless in the Great Hall, of desperation, of clawing at my insides to get to her, to realizations like rampaging Hippogriffs, to utter hopelessness.
I jumped out of the fireplace, unwilling to be caught like that again, unwilling to sit and do nothing for a second time in my life when I heard that scream. I pulled out my wand and my hand, fearfully recalling my few hand-magic lessons, and sprinted through the living room and out the distant door.
It was chaotic. Spells were flying everywhere like a muggle light show, and roars were shouting above my head as dragons - so many dragons! – flew into each other and fought. Fire spluttered everywhere, crackling in the air. I watched in amazement, unnoticed by the door to the log cabin in my cardigan and jeans. My eyes widened as Richard, still loathsome in my eyes, ran forward to a person I had never seen before and raised his hand up and wand up, and suddenly dirt came up like a wave of water and soared over his head and rolled down, sweeping away the person and blasting about the clearing, streams of dirt blowing about. I ducked back into the cabin and came back out, watching in amazement still. Kylie was actually surfing on a wave of the dirt, her feet on two large boulders that were being carted in the stream.
I looked around wildly, careful to not shoot any curses and alert my presence. I finally saw what I was looking for: a girl with vivid hair, dyed a brilliant shade of indigo, was standing over a girl shaking on the ground. A girl with dark brown, black highlighted hair.
"STUPEFY!" I screamed, and a jet of red light burst forth from my wand and hit the indigo-haired girl squarely in the chest as I ran forward after the light. She fell to the ground in a crumpled heap and, as curses started coming towards me, I was forced to ignore Maggie and block the curses, shooting my own and spinning around in a circle to cover everyone.
Kylie was battling with two wizards at once, one with shaggy black hair in front of his eyes, the other with blonde hair neatly combed back. I ran forward, thinking of Seamus, and began to help her, shooting curses about angrily.
The one with shaggy black hair was picked up by a huge (and I mean, larger than Thailus hugged,) black dragon as the blonde one crumpled under a stunner. I spun about to see Maggie up and about, looking incredibly confused, and fighting another witch, this time with hair blonder than a Malfoy's. Kylie only had time to open her mouth at my presence in shock before I ran forward and stunned the witch, turning back to fend off an attacker as I stood back-to-back against Maggie. I let out a sigh involuntarily at the feeling of her next to me, even though it was reverse of what I eagerly wished for.
"Wait, what- NEVILLE?" she shrieked, fighting a new opponent and unable to turn and confront me properly.
"Yell at me in a moment," I responded, battling two new opponents at once.
Curses flew back and forth and I could feel the light woosh past me every time one missed. I shot a stunner that narrowly missed the man with the shaggy black hair, who looked at me with the strangest expression of anger.
"COME ON," he shouted, and the ginormous black dragon swooped down and picked him up. This happened over and over again as every Unionist was rescued by their dragon, while Maggie's squad fought to keep some of them down. But, all too soon, the only dragons left were six conscious ones and three ones crumpled to the ground. But there were three witches standing and two wizards besides myself.
"RICHARD!" Kylie screamed, running forward to him crumpled on the ground, clearly unable to stop herself, though Maggie opened her mouth in protest. I couldn't help it, she was distracting me- my eyes were torn from the remains of the battle to examine her. She had scars and burns on her hands and her jumper had some tears in it. Her jeans were covered in dirt and her hair was wild and tangled. Her trainers were coming loose at the uppers and there was a cut in her lips.
Besides Richard, the indigo-haired witch was on the ground, as well as a small indigo-colored dragon. Also, a middle-aged witch and a twenty-something wizard were crumpled to the ground, with a brick red dragon and a periwinkle wyvern collapsed nearby.
A bright orange dragon walked forward and pressed her snout to Richard, over whom Kylie was sobbing. Leslie walked up to Kylie, her black hair even more messy than Maggie's, and tried to calm her down. Ezra and Pill were trying to bring the unconscious bodies over to their dragons, and Maggie was looking at me with her mouth open.
"How… how… how…" she stammered, tears forming in her eyes.
"Oi, Neville," Ezra called out, "Mind helpin' me out here?"
"Coming!" I shouted back, taking Maggie's hand and walking over to help Ezra put various containment charms over the three unconscious people and three dragons, as Pill did much the same. Maggie was still watching me with her mouth open.
"Maggie, if you aren't going to help out, go sit down or calm Kylie down," Pill shouted from where he was restraining the indigo dragon, "Stop bein' a lump!"
She did stop being a lump, but she didn't do anything that could be considered productive to anyone but me: she ran up behind me as I worked and threw her arms around my waist, sobbing into my back. I turned around and pulled her softly into my arms, breathing freely for the first time in years.
"Um… Maggie…" I heard someone stammer nervously, but Kylie (it was very obviously Kylie,) hissed, "Leave her alone, you insensitive twat."
I rubbed her back calmly and kissed the top of her head, forced into another flashback of her sobbing in my arms as I ran off and into hiding, away from the Carrows. But this time, I wasn't going to run away- not yet.
A long while passed before her sobs quieted, and everyone by that time had gone inside. I didn't move, still holding her tightly to me, unwilling to really let go. Her hands were clutching to my shoulder blades and her face was pressed directly over my heart.
"Nev," she mumbled hoarsely, "Nev, did they let you back in? Are we free? Nev?"
I swallowed, realizing that I was about to deeply disappoint her, and muttered, "No, I just… snuck in."
She pulled back from me with a shock and my entire being protested from the removal. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me forcefully.
"Neville, how could you?" she cried, "We are going to get into so much trouble!"
"No," I whispered, "That doesn't matter."
"Yes. It does!"
"It didn't matter, how about that?" my voice was hoarse, "It didn't matter, nor doesn't, whenever I hear you scream like that."
Maggie looked up at me, having buried her face in my arm before, her eyes slightly wide as she stared at me, "Ne-"
"Every time- whether you're in the dungeon at Hogwarts, or in the clearing at Voldemort's feet, or here- every time, nothing else, no rules, no people, nothing matters. Nothing," I closed my eyes tightly as I felt flashbacks zoom through my head: her writhing at the ground near me, unreachable, untouchable, unsaveable; the sound of her so far away beneath my feet as everything blurred away in front of me; a flash of light in a classroom as a teacher I loathed attacked a girl I didn't know and yet, my reaction to the idea of her being tortured was so deep, so soul-shaking, that I was confused beyond measure; and, briefly, glimpses of a woman with a kind round face, blurred in a child memory, transforming into a stretched, wrinkled face with wispy hair as a cackle fills my ears…
I felt her lips press to the base of my neck and I looked down to see her looking at me with her eyes filled with emotion, "I'm sorry, Neville."
"Why are you sorry?" I asked quietly.
"I'm sorry, I should've… I should have realized," she mumbled and kissed my jawline, "I understand."
I just wrapped my arms tightly around her and buried my face in her hair. A ghost of a cackling voice and a scream I would never hear again still filled my ears.
I had never remembered the moment after I was five until I heard Maggie screaming down in the dungeons- not even when the dementors had come on the train was the memory shaken loose. I had done a good job as a child in blocking it completely from my mind and all I could remember when a dementor glided past was my mum's screams.
But when I heard Maggie's screams, I remembered it all.
"But you have to go now," Maggie mumbled firmly into my chest, "You have to. We're so close to the end, Nev…"
(We weren't even halfway done.)
"I can't," I muttered in response, "Not yet."
"But…" she mumbled hoarsely.
"No," I hissed, pulling her head up to look at me, her teal eyes piercing into my soul, "Not. Yet."
"Wha…" she gasped as I kissed her fiercely, holding her to me and entangling my fingers in her messy hair. I could feel her hands pressed against the back of my neck and I reached around to put my hand on the small of her back, pressing her more firmly to me. She let out a small sound, so small that no one else would have been able to hear it, but it drove me wild.
I pulled her up into my arms so her feet would leave the ground and she shrieked in surprise as I lifted her over my back, making sure to squeeze her bum as I walked over to the trees.
"NEVILLE RICHARD LONGBOTTOM!" Maggie screamed in my ear, making me chuckle, "LEMME DOWN!"
"Alrighty then," I answered cheerfully, setting her down next to a large tree. Before she could do or say anything, I pinned her up against the tree, trapping her hands under my own against the trunk and above her head. I looked down at her, hunger filling my being at the sight of her. She was ragged looking, as if I had already had my way with her more than once. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and I shifted closer to her, a small growl leaving my throat.
"Neville…" she whispered hoarsely, her voice breathless.
I leaned down (always a challenge, she was a full head below me,) and captured her lips in mine, pressing firmly to her against the tree. I could feel her hips lean into me and I growled loudly, pressing as close to her as I could and wrapping my arms tightly around her. She scooted up with her back on the tree and wrapped her legs tightly around my hips, her hands burying in my longer hair and everything lit on fire. I ground myself up against her and her grip on the back of my neck tightened. Knowing the view of the cabin to this area, I shifted around and we fell onto the forest floor.
The sun had passed directly over our heads and was now setting by the time we finally collapsed, exhausted, our breathing slowing down in contentment. Her hair was now a bush as she stretched her arm across my stomach, sighing contentedly. I gently stroked her sides, my eyes closed, my face pressed in her neck.
"You're bloody brilliant, you know that right?" she purred quietly, her lips on my stomach.
"You might have told me once or twice," I answered nonchalantly, a grin forming on my face. I felt her take my head from her neck and kiss me again, sighing in unison. I ran my tongue along the cut in her lip and she shivered slightly in my arms. She climbed and settled on me, her curves interlocking with me, making me groan happily. I opened my eyes to see her face inches from mine and I reached around with my hands to gently rest on her buttocks, making her grin lopsidedly. The sun shown behind her through the trees, and this made her look like she had some sort of halo.
"Well," I commented curiously, "Now I know what they mean by calling a girl an angel."
Maggie frowned, turned to look behind her, and smiled a little with understanding.
"So," I continued quietly, "When d'you think I should leave?"
"I don't want you to," she mumbled, now clearly upset, making me feel horrible.
"I don't want to," I asserted, "That's not what I meant! I mean… You're always so worried about this."
"I am worried," she acknowledged, "I just don't want to give a shit right now."
"Eventually they'll figure it out. You don't think one of your teammates will report it?" I asked, worried.
"If they do they know I'll kill them," Maggie snorted, "But soon. Soon you should…" her voice broke and she buried her face in my neck. I sighed and kissed her hair.
"I'll stay for dinner, if you'll have me," I asked quietly, "Then I'll go."
She beamed, her face breaking into the largest smile I had seen since before Mr. Fernandez had announced our upcoming separation. It still sent my heart doing these weird backflips.
"OK, yeah, I'd like you to do that," she grinned, "Yeah! You helped us. You saved my life again," she smiled and pressed her nose to mine, "We can spare some foodstuffs."
I laughed and stood up, helping her get dressed with a sly grin on my face. She rolled her eyes but didn't seem to mind when I refused to stop holding her.
"You know, I haven't had time to magic my hair into its usual form…" she commented lightly as I buried my nose in it and drunk in its smell, "It probably is disgusting."
"Don't care," I responded belligerently, "You could be covered in mud for all I care."
She laughed, "Picturing a bikini mud wrestling contest are you?"
"That's just for blokes who aren't lucky enough to see their bird lookin' like the day she was born," I rolled my eyes. Maggie entered a fit of giggles that made me grin.
"I'd forgotten you used to say that to make fun of me," she explained. I grinned wider and hoisted her up into a large hug, holding her tightly.
"We're so close," I mumbled, "So close to this whole deal being done."
"And then, every day will be like this," she sighed happily, "Every day, with you, happy."
I took her hand and pictured everything, staring into her eyes. I dressed her into a white dress and then undressed her. Babies upon babies passed in front of my eyes, bouncing in our laps and then growing older, dressing in Hogwarts robes and getting sorted. We were sitting on a bench, our hair wispy and grey not from torture but from old age, playing wizard chess and teasing each other.
"Always," I mumbled softly and kissed her. She traced her fingertips along my cheek and then ran forward, still holding onto my hand and thus dragging me forward with her. I let out a laugh as we ran back to the cabin, her giggling in that way that made me blush. She had never giggled, not once, before having gotten close to me, she says- and I believed it.
I changed something in her, and it thrilled me. I didn't have any clue what, but it made her giggle.
We entered the cabin where everyone was lounging in the living room, like I often found them doing when I flooed. They all looked up at our entrance and Kylie immediately burst out laughing.
"You two," she giggled, "You should see yourselves."
I felt my face flush and I looked down, observing Maggie's tangled hair. I thought it was unbelievably sexy, but perhaps that was because of the way it had gotten to be that way.
"You could have alerted a billion Unionists to where we were you know," Ezra commented offhandedly, though grinning.
"Huh?" Maggie asked breathlessly. I was about to whisper in her ear, knowing full well what they were on about, but that Richard bloke beat me to it.
"Lemme give you a replay," he had a sly grin on his face but his eyes were narrowed and dark, "Oh, oh, ohhhhhh Neville, oh Neville!"
Maggie's face colored the brightest red I had seen out of the Weasley family and I felt heat rise to my own cheeks. Everyone laughed at this and Kylie stood up.
"Staying for dinner?" she asked calmly, a kind smile on her face. I nodded and we all filed into the kitchen next door, and Pill (who was good at transfiguration) conjured up another chair out of thin air, which I sat in with a thanking nod.
Ezra brought out a plate filled with spaghetti and a bowl with meatballs, as both Maggie and he didn't eat the meatballs (being vegetarians.) Everyone took plates and started eating heartily, obviously famished after the battle outside. I was hungry too, having not eaten for a while again (I kept forgetting to eat,) but Maggie kept distracting me with her foot rubbing up and down my leg (probably payback for all the times I've distracted her.)
"Dude, Neville, eat more," she finally interjected, rather slyly, and everyone looked at us from their personal conversations, "You look so much thinner than the last time I saw you."
My face flushed slightly as I heaved more spaghetti into my mouth.
"Actually, I've only really seen your face, and I've noticed it too," Kylie commented, "What's been up? You look skinnier than the pictures Maggie has of you but pictures are never kind for weight."
"No, I've always been chubby," I paused thoughtfully.
"Cuddly. The word, Neville, is cuddly," Maggie had a fond smile on her face that boosted my self-esteem.
"But I guess… I've been really… preoccupied, lately," I muttered softly, "So I haven't been… eating on much of a regular schedule."
Maggie's eyes narrowed, "You're forgetting to eat? Because you're worried about me?"
"That's the non-nice way of putting it, yes," I rolled my eyes.
"Stop that," Maggie finished, looking upset, "You definitely do not look the most healthy you've ever been."
I raised my eyebrows at her and nodded, knowing in my heart that she was right.
"Look, would you two stop eye-screwing each other?" I heard Richard demand.
"Oh, like you do with everything that has two x chromosomes?" Leslie snapped back.
Everyone started laughing and I tore my gaze from Maggie's teal eyes, breathing slightly irregularly.
"So, you two are so freaking badass…" Pill started. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.
"Badass?" I smirked slightly.
"Oh come on," he shrugged, "Maggie is often the last one standing when we're fighting, and when you came in today you could handle multiple dragon riders at once without being a rider yourself and with rudimentary hand magic skills."
"Fine," I rolled my eyes. Over the years since the final battle at Hogwarts, I had learned to not argue when someone called me a warrior or a 'badass.' Harry said this was wise.
"Anywho, so since you two are such badasses, care to share what happened to you during the British Magical Civil War?" Pill asked, a grin on his face.
"Uhm…" I looked at Maggie out the corner of her eye again. When sharing the story of what happened that crazy year, I often found it was impossible to not share what happened to Maggie, seeing as it had led to so much else and affected almost everything I did when she was in danger. She frowned slightly.
"Oh, I can tell you," Kylie grinned, "You only had to ask."
"Wait, you told Kylie everything? You haven't even told your family?" I turned full on to Maggie, who looked shocked.
"No, I didn't, so how did you find out?" she asked, a growl entering her voice, which was strange for her towards Kylie.
"I asked Seamus, because you've always been so evasive Maggie, and I was curious, I admit. Anywho, I told him if he didn't think he should tell he didn't have to tell me, but he did," Kylie frowned, "I won't tell them all if you don't want me to."
"You can," Maggie murmured softly. I jumped slightly in my seat and looked at her in amazement.
"Really?" I asked her just as softly. She looked up at me and nodded and I couldn't help but touch her cheek.
"Again, eye-screwing…" Richard groaned.
"Oh grow up," Kylie snapped, "They haven't been together for years now. I know you'll never understand because you'll never be lucky enough to have a girl fall for you, but just try to stretch your one brain cell far enough to comprehend that they love each other."
Silence pervaded over the formerly lively and happy table. Pill looked incredibly uncomfortable but Ezra had a small smirk on his face. Leslie was grinning.
Kylie then entered the story, from when Maggie came walking up to the castle (I still smile whenever I picture her, in her muggle garb and pissed-off demeanor, coming up and telling us all off. I'd like to say I loved her from that moment, but that's a lie. What is true is that I felt bad for blowing her off and being rude to her, and I did want to get to know her past angry arguments and snappy comments) to her revealing Hand Magic and Dragon Riding before someone interrupted.
"Wait a moment," Pill said, "Didn't you get in trouble? You broke the Inter-Americas Statute of Hand Magic Secrecy and the Inter-Asia-America Statute of Dragon Riding Secrecy!"
"Yeah," Maggie sighed, looking depressed, "That's why I'm here right now. Because I did so much for the UK later on in the war… you'll find out… and because I didn't reveal the secret when… again, spoilers… they didn't incarcerate me for five years but instead mandated me to a year at the Academy and three on the UDRA."
"So you're leaving in a year?" Richard snapped. Maggie looked up.
"Yes," she responded firmly, "I need to start my life for real. And Kingsley, the Minister of Magic, wants me to start a UKDRA."
I squeezed her shoulder in gratitude and she smiled at me.
Kylie went back into the story, and when she reached the torture by the Carrows Maggie seized up next to me. I could only imagine how much pain this brought her; perhaps she had blocked the memory from her mind or just managed to not think about it since leaving the UK. Everyone did the usual reaction to the awfulness, but I was more concerned with calming Maggie down, rubbing her arms and shoulders lovingly.
"I'd always wondered how you got all those scars," Ezra commented lightly.
Kylie continued with her story and managed to make it to the end without further interruptions. Everyone looked to be mildly abashed and speechless.
"Jesus, you cut off the snake's head?" Pill asked in awe. I shrugged and Maggie grinned at me.
"Well… yeah…" I smiled slightly and everyone started chattering in awe over what we had done. Maggie was beaming slightly and her hand squeezed my knee.
The dinner finished up with chattering and happy discussion of many things besides the War, and I could tell something had happened within Maggie at the revelation: she was more at ease, even more warm towards her teammates before she had been before.
As we started a plate of biscuits, Leslie asked, "So, are you guys going to go and get married, or are you not going to bother since it doesn't matter much?"
Maggie wordlessly held up her hand with her engagement ring and Kylie grinned widely, "Of course. I could have told you that Les."
"Not to mention, she wears that thing everywhere, I've always wondered but when she introduced Neville to us I thought 'duh,'" Ezra chuckled.
"How soon after she goes back?" Richard asked, but his tone was cold rather than genial. I raised my eyebrows in confusion.
"As soon as possible. Honestly, since he's here I'd just go and get it done now so we could have a claim to them not separating us anymore, but he wants it to be 'special' and 'meaningful' since the rest of our relationship has been so unconventional," Maggie grinned cheekily at me.
"Look, is it a crime that I want something to celebrate us? Or to make it all official? For Gran? Or that I want to see you in a beautiful white dress?" I grinned back in equal cheek.
"Nope," Maggie bit her lip to fight the smile.
"And you guys are all invited, of course," Maggie beamed at them all, even Richard, "I've been through a bunch with ya'll and I'm sure we'll go through much more before I'm allowed back in the UK. I expect you to be there."
"Of course!" all but Richard answered. He merely nodded. I wondered, briefly, if we had another Seamus on our hands, but waved it off. Richard was just a sleazeball who wanted to be with every girl he saw, and was disappointed this was one hill he couldn't mount.
When I found myself back by the fireplace, there were no tears in either of our eyes. Her hands were balanced neatly on the back of my neck and her nose was pressed to mine as I gently held her shoulders.
"Love you," she sighed happily.
"I love you too," I grinned, kissing her lightly, "This was brilliant."
"It was that," Maggie murmured, "Just what I needed, I was getting depressed."
"Me too. Hence the no eating," I admitted, "But I'll be better now, I promise. Unless you want me to stay like this?"
"I want you to do whatever you want to do," Maggie shook her head, "I love you either way. You look sexy either way and you are still cuddly like this, though more due to cuddling rather than softness."
I grinned lopsidedly and kissed her again, "Anyway, it was definitely beneficial. I won't… I won't come through again for no reason or just because I can, but if I hear you in trouble I'll save you. Deal?"
"Deal," she beamed, "Maybe you'll have to save me again."
"I hope so, on the condition that I can," I chuckled and kissed her nose, "Well, I'll call you tomorrow I suppose."
"I expect nothing less," her eyes met mine and I made sure to imprint the image in my brain for future reference, before capturing her lips in mine and holding her tightly to me. She curled into me and we were entangled in each other for a good, long snog before I pulled away fully and walked back to the fire, holding to her hand before disappearing through it.
I would only see her face for a few more months before I lost her completely, until she came back in 2008. Only a few more months.
AN: Review condition still stands. Don't think that someone else will review. Because you can't count on that.
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