I Do Not Own Harry Potter.


All Characters Appearing In This Work Are Fictitious. Any Resemblance To Real Persons, Living Or Dead Is Purely Coincidental.


Before the Epilogue.


The Courage of a Hufflepuff

It was amazing to see how fast a party could be organized when Angelina Johnson, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley were at the forefront. Even George was impressed with the preparations, it seemed the girls had outdone themselves. They had selected an old rural Muggle farmhouse located in the countryside that was far away from London and surrounded by forests. They had paid the owners to rent out the whole Farmhouse and to ensure that the muggles were not in any danger, they even cast a modified memory charm upon them that made them wish to visit some old friends in Wales and Scotland, while leaving the upkeep of the Farmhouse to their granddaughter Hermione who was currently studying at the University.

After the muggles were taken care of, Ginny summoned Kreacher and Blinky to handle the food preparation while being supervised by Molly Weasley and Andromeda Tonks, while also taking care of Baby Teddy. Ginny and Fleur took the job of decorating and enhancing the decor and rooms of the Farmhouse, this included the water system and the pool Filters.

Hermione and Luna took over the job of securing the Farmhouse against intruders and muggles. Angelina and Hannah took over the job of shopping for the beverages and the food ingredients required for the party.

Hannah having worked in her Uncle Tom's bar at the Leaky Cauldron every summer since her tenth birthday and knew all the best grocers and beverage and Wholesale Grocers and what with Angelina who had been crucial in helping in setting the budget had decided to accompany Hannah to ensure they did not go over budget.

Hannah hadalso recently started dating Neville in the weeks after Luna had broken up with him. It had been what Hannah called an accidental whirlwind romance, and although it was common knowledge amongst all the girls that Hannah Abbot had a crush on Neville Longbottom since the fourth year.

Neville like most boys was absolutely clueless about this fact until he was both figuratively and literally received a kiss from Hannah blew his socks off, although it was a funny story in hindsight Hannah didn't know what to do about it when she was first informed that Neville Longbottom was on the market once again.

Although their relationship was still new, the normally sullen and serious Hannah was now positively bubbling and brimming with confidence and happiness. Although the couple spent most of their time talking and getting to know each other and Hannah was more than happy to go slow and steady, after all they had both just come out of a relationship if there was one thing she knew Neville was definitely a keeper.

Flashback

Ginny was at Luna's housea couple of days after her birthday sitting at the kitchen table with Hermione and Luna, talking with Hannah Abbot who had come over trying to renew her friendship with Ginny. "So girls I thought that since we were all going to be spending our final year together, I thought it would be good if we got to know each other better.

I know it seems weird for me to say that after all this time, but I have been busy trying to keep my dad from falling into depression by helping him rediscover his love of Poetry and ancient Mythology. Reading and studying Great works of Homer and Virgil and reading and studying great spiritual works like The Bhagwat Gita and the Upanishads are the only things keeping him sane, the healers say that the death of my mom drove him nearly insane.

Uncle Tom hasn't been feeling so well these past few years and has been working me hard at the bar helping me learn the ropes so that I can take over the business. During the war he had been in the Order of the Phoenix and had passed on valuable information to the Order, and while he had fought in the battle of Hogwarts he had been injured in the battle and his wounds are healing very slowly.

It's been a very hectic time, but I decided that since we will all be attending Seventh year together, I thought it would be good to drop by and maybe renew our friendship and see if maybe we could hang out more often."

The three girls gladly welcomed her into their group and soon they were thick as thieves. As the conversation continued, the topic had suddenly turned to boys and while Hermione and Ginny were only happy to share that their boyfriends were indeed taking care of them and were happy with their relationship. They were surprised, although Ginny less so when Luna told them in a bit of a morose tone that she and Neville had broken up.

When asked the reason Luna had simply said that their relationship had run its course, and although she didn't regret dating Neville, she said that when they first started dating it was more about helping each other with their emotional baggage and helping each other forge a new identity for themselves after the war. However their relationship had recently become less about communication and more about fucking like Hippogriffs in Heat. Although the girls and Hannah in particular were amused by the stories Luna had told them of her and Neville's first bumbling attempts at romance, a few things suddenly fell into place for Hannah.

For the past one week Neville had been coming to Diagon almost every night and attempted to drown his sorrows in fire whisky, muttering about lost love and stupid best friends, and something about his inability to ride a broom as good as Ron or Harry.

Hannah who had been working at her Uncle Tom's bar the last few weeks had noticed Neville's sorrow but did not move to comfort him too closely even though she wanted nothing better. Because she knew that Neville and Luna were in a relationship, and if Luna's stories were to be trusted, Neville's new Nickname that the Daily Prophet had given him, The Lion of Gryffindor was true in more than one way. Besides she had just gotten out of a complicated relationship with Ernie Macmillan and was not really ready for a relationship at the moment.

However despite all this she couldn't keep the hope out of her voice when she heard Luna say that she and Neville had broken up and Neville was single again. "Are you telling me that Neville and you are no longer an Item? I thought your relationship was going great? What with the sex and everything!"

Luna grinned at Hannah and said "can you at least try not to sound so hope full and glad about it Hannah, I know you have had a crush on him since fourth year, and besides you should know better than anyone that sex is not all there is to a relationship or didn't your time with Ernie teach you that? But yes, for your information Neville and I are no longer a couple however we are still very good friends and I am not now or will I ever take offense or be jealous of the fact that you want to make a move on him, and as such you are free to lay a claim to him. Is that clear enough for you?"

Hannah blushed deep red at Luna's comments but nodded nonetheless, she had shared with the girls her two month romance with Ernie Macmillan which mostly consisted of heated sexual encounters whose only purpose served to help her forget her sorrows for a short while, Hannah had explained to her friends that after the end of the war, she and Ernie had started dating and similarly to Luna and Neville they had been good friends before hand, they had both lost family in the war and although it had started out as a friendly meeting every week with mutual friends to reminisce about the good times they had.

After some time they had gotten closer to each other and had gone on a few dates together, and much like Luna and Neville's relationship, they were there for each other as they both tried to get over their emotional baggage and as their relationship progressed they too soon found themselves in bed and although the sex was fantastic.

After a while they both realized that their relationship had run its course and when Ernie had to travel to Scotland to help in the family business for a few weeks, they decided it would be best if they separated and went their separate ways instead of trying a long distance relationship, which they knew would never work.

Hermione smiled and said "Go get him Hannah, I know you like him but try not to hurt him and maybe seeing as you have both come out of a complicated relationship…" she lookedat Luna apologetically who merely shook her hand as if to say don't worry about it "maybe it would be best to take it slow at first."

Ginny snorted "Ha, I don't think you're the best person to give advice on how to take it slow Hermione, I have lost count of the amount of times I have caught you and Ron with each other's hands inside each other's clothes. Merlin knows how many times Harry and I have seen your Fanny or your bits out in the open, I mean I don't swing that way you understand, and I know that Harry doesn't view you in that light but I have to say I get what my brother sees in you and if I did swing that way by any chance it wouldn't take much to convince me to get in bed with you."

Hermione blushed red and sputtered while Luna who's lucid interval had finished, spoke up as well and looking at Ginny said "while I can't speak for Hermione, having not had the pleasure of seeing her out of her clothes, I have however had the pleasure of seeing Harry and you out of your clothes often enough to have developed a liking for Harry's fanny and although I am not attracted to girls even I must admit that your breasts are much more firmer than mines not to mention one cup larger. I can see why Harry is attracted to you did you know he has a mole on the lower right side of his Buttocks?"

Ginny who had long gotten used to Luna's brand of sense of humor laughed loudly and said "I am afraid Harry is mine and mine alone to ravish and molest as I see fit, you can't have him, although I must agree with you on the account of Harry having a fine ass."

Hannah who had also gotten used to Ginny's and Luna's sexual innuendo jokes was laughing so hard her stomach was hurting. Eventually they all settled down and moved on to other topics both serious and varied.

For the next two weeks after that Hannah had tried many ways to get Neville's attention but it seemed that when it came to romantic overtures, Neville was as dense as a block of cement. But it wasn't until Hannah overheard a couple of girls talking about how handsome Neville was and that they were contemplating making a move on him that Hannah decided to go for broke and go for the direct approach, besides she figured if it worked for Hermione it could work for her, it wasn't like she wasn't good looking herself. After fifth year she had really come into her figure, so much so that her mother had taught her to dress conservatively so as to downplay and demure some of her more obvious assets. However as a barmaid she had to dress more casually, with a deep breath she drew her Hufflepuff Courage and sat down next to Neville Longbottom. Tonight he seemed more sober and was sticking to Butter beer instead of fire whisky.

Neville seemed to be Morose but not sad, and he recognized Hannah when she sat down next to him which Hannah took as a good sign. After the normal greetings, Hannah spoke without preamble and said "Neville I have something I want to say to you. I have had a crush on you since fourth year, and I know you have just broken up with Luna and you might not be ready for a new one yet, but I just wanted to say that I am very interested in getting to know you better, and would really like to go out with you sometime."

However instead of replying Neville just looked more confused and said something along the lines of "Huh, I don't get it, what are you trying to say Hannah? I like you too, you're a good person."

Hannah muttered something in Welsh under her breath and said "Oh for Heaven's sake, how dense can you be Neville Longbottom, here maybe this will clear this up for you." Grabbing him by the shirt collar she kissed him full on the lips with all the passion she could muster.

Neville was so surprised by this gesture that for a brief moment before kissing Hannah back. He lost control of his magic momentarily as both his shoes and socks went flying off his feet. After that kiss Neville finally understood what Hannah was trying to say.

A few minutes later

Hannah stayed quiet while Neville spoke, after the brief kiss Neville had regained the ability to speak coherently and used it to good effect. "Hannah, I am really flattered that you think this way about me and while I did enjoy and reciprocate the kiss, to be honest I am not sure how I feel about you, right now I am not in an emotional state to have a steady girlfriend or even a relationship and I don't think you are either since you just broke up with Ernie, but I will say this I do like you a lot as well, but I really don't want to hurt you, especially since we have both recently recovered from a breakup, so how about we take it slow and see where this relationship goes?"

Hannah thought about Neville's words and nodded and said "I am glad you said that and I am happy to take this relationship as slow as you like. So why don't we spend some time getting to know each other and setting some ground rules in this relationship."

End Flashback

Hannah was brought out of her thoughts by Angelina who said "Wipe that smirk off you face Hannah, we have a lot of work to do and unfortunately none of us have time to shrug off our responsibilities for a quick shag with our boyfriends. Besides isn't the whole point of organizing this party an opportunity to get to know each other. Now stop those dirty thoughts running through your head and get your wand ready. We are almost near the Apparition point.

Hannah blushed crimson and said indignantly "Come on Angelina, you know very well that Neville and I are not having sex yet. And for your information Neville is a very sweet man, and has not once forced me into any kind of situation I am uncomfortable with. Just because George and yourself are acting like Hippogriffs in Heat does not mean that others have to do so as well."

Angelina was grinning like a Cheshire cat, it had taken her almost all morning to get under Hannah's skin and finally get her to relax and act normal, while she was on very good terms with Hermione and Luna, but she still had a hard time warming up with herself and Ginny. Part of it Angelina knew was because of Hannah's own level of comfort and her own, but she wanted to speed the process along.

Angelina retorted back and said "oh come on Hannah, don't act like you're a little virgin girl who has no idea about the first thing about sex. From what I hear you and Ernie had your share of screaming sessions in the past, and as for Neville, he might be a sweet guy and everything but just remember, the papers have nicknamed him the Lion of Gryffindor for a reason.

And if what Luna says is true, he is a real swordsman in bed. And as for George and me what you call Being Hippogriffs in heat, I call Therapeutic Healing.

Remember Hannah, you are not the only one who lost big this year. You are not the only one hurting and grieving. We all are, the only difference is that we are dealing with it in different ways.

You say you want our company and want to be our friend, and then you have to realize that we are a team, we have and we will continue to do so each and every day. All for one and one for all, that is how we roll and that is what it means to be friends.

Hannah momentarily lost her temper and said " I am well aware of that Angelina, thank you and I have the scars to prove it, however while it is true I wish to be your friends, there are a few lines that I am not comfortable with crossing as of yet and my personal life is one of them.

Your right neither Neville nor I are virgins and we have both had our share of emotional baggage and we dealt with it in different ways. However what I want with Neville is what Harry has with Ginny, what Hermione has with Ron and what you have with George.

However because of my previous experience I want to go slow and just because I am not willing to sleep with Neville at this time does not make me a prude, and because Neville does not pressure me to cross my limits does not mean he is an idiot or a fool.

Quite the contrary that means he is a gentleman and a smart and caring man and its those very same qualities that attract ted me to him. So don't presume to know me Angelina. I may not be a Gryffindor like you, but I am a Hufflepuff and I know how to defend what is mine."

Angelina smiled and said "Bravo Hannah, that is exactly what we wanted to know, Neville is a dear friend and we wanted to make sure the person who loves him, is also able to defend him, Congratulations Hannah, you really got spirit, for a Hufflepuff that is."

Hannah smiled and said "I had a feeling something like that would be the case, and I am glad to hear that you believe in me, now how about we get back to planning this party, and make it the best party ever?"