This story was written for the First Round of the Eighth Season of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition: Who Are You?

I'm writing as Keeper for the Pride of Portree.

Keeper prompt: The Caregiver- Goal: help others

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the world J.K. Rowling has created. It's all hers, from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts to all the people living there.

Thanks to my fantastic team for betaing!

Healers, Hot Chocolate and Broomsticks

Words: 2577

'The years since Hogwarts had been kind to us, life was quiet, easy, safe,' Hannah thought as she polished yet another glass by hand. While she could use her wand and have it done in a flash, there was something calming about polishing glasses until they shone.

"Can I get a pint of Dragon Ale, Hannah dear?" came a voice behind the counter. She turned around and smiled when she saw one of her regulars, Augustus Pye – a healer from St Mungo's.

"Oh Augustus! Nice to see you, done with work for today then?" she asked, as she lifted her wand and poured him a pint. She always looked forward to his visits. Through him, she could live out her fantasy of being a healer. It had been the plan, before seventh year.

That year had changed her plans, while she had lost no friends. She lost acquaintances and traumas built that have taken some years to get over. Now, however, she was content, even if it wasn't the most exciting job, nor what she had intended to do with her life.

"Yes yes," Augustus said, accepting the glass. "Frank and Alice are doing well too, stable at least."

"Oh good, I am glad to hear that and Neville will be too," she said with a grateful smile. "We appreciate the updates on his parents, even though we visit often, it is nice of you to let us know."

Augustus nodded and with a lift of a glass, he said, "Well, I have a book waiting for me, I will let you get on with your work." Hannah nodded and watched as the older wizard took his favourite chair by the fire.

When Tom had approached her after the war, saying that he wanted to retire, Hannah had sprung to the opportunity. It was a steady job, looking after people, hearing their troubles, and she loved it. She still did. But there was something missing. The more she listened to Augustus' stories, the more she heard her other patrons' stories. She felt like she was missing out on something bigger.

Grabbing a cloth, she left the bar and cleaned the empty tables. It was the early afternoon, soon she would have the late afternoon rush, when hungry and thirsty witches and wizards would visit her needing something to take the ease off a long day's work. So she needed the Leaky to be clean before then. With a swish of her wand, the broom in the corner came to life and started sweeping the floors, and soon the pub was spick and span, ready for the rush.

"Konnichiwa," she said, bowing to the Iharas, an elder Japanese couple, who were staying with her this week. She had taken it upon herself to learn a bit of the language when she learnt that they were visiting. They often visited at least once a year, and she looked forward to their visits. Learning about the Japanese Wizarding world, seeing pictures of their children and grandchildren. It was something she looked forward to each time.

She returned to the bar and prepared a teapot of green tea – their drink of choice – and a selection of English biscuits and levitated it over to them.

Before long, wizards and witches came in droves, and she set to work. Preparing drinks, taking food orders and delivering to the tables and most importantly, being a good listener to those who needed a sympathetic ear. Before she knew it, it was seven in the evening and her stomach rumbled. Hopefully Neville would be back soon, so they could have dinner. It was their ritual; he would return before dinner at Hogwarts, and they would have dinner together upstairs before she had to return to work.

Just as she thought about what they would have for dinner, a cloud of dust erupted from the fireplace and her husband emerged from it. He looked dishevelled and sooty, but otherwise happy. He got to work with plants every day, after all. Hannah signalled to one of the staff that she was taking her break and walked over to him. It was then that she saw the bandages. The bloody bandages wrapped around his wand hand.

"What happened?" she asked, as she reached to touch it.

"Oh, it's nothing that you can't fix for me," he said with a wink. "That Cobra Lily, I acquired, bit me."

"That's not nothing!" she said with a sigh. "Come on, upstairs with you, so I can look at it, you should have gone to Poppy, she's the healer, not me."

"You could be if you wanted to, you know," he urged. He often encouraged her to become a healer, encouraged her to follow her dreams, but she was happy, she didn't need it.

They headed upstairs. Hannah ignored his comment. She didn't want to argue with him. Being a healer was a missed dream, a forgotten dream and a dream it would stay.

They entered their place, it was small – a sitting room, a kitchen, and a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom – it was enough for them. Neville placed his bag by the door and sat down at the little table in their kitchen as Hannah pulled out an anti-venom potion and some fresh bandages.

Soon she was lost in the movements, cleaning the wound, applying the anti-venom and wrapping it in a fresh bandage. She would have to wait for the anti-venom to work before she could seal it. Her time as a Hospital Wing assistant came in handy with such an accident-prone husband. "There, almost as good as new," she said, giving him a quick peck on the lips before she set to work making dinner.

"You love healing," Neville said, examining the bandages. "I appreciate that you love your work but I know you and I how much you love to help others, why not try?"

Hannah clutched her wand mid-motion as she was preparing some chicken for their dinner. "Neville… please," she said, voice barely above a whisper.

"No, Hannah." He stood up and placed his arms around hers. "You deserve the best, I just don't want you to miss out on doing something you love."

"But I am doing something I love," she said as she continued to prepare the dinner. "I love meeting all those people, hearing about their day, listening to their troubles."

She bit her lip as she served the food onto two plates. 'Besides, who says that I can?' she thought to herself. They had been out of school for so long now. Wasn't it too late?

Neville sighed, kissed her cheek and dropped the subject. For now at least. "If you are sure, I just want you to be happy, you know that right?"

Hannah nodded and placed the plates on the table. Happy to have the subject dropped, dinner turned into a comfortable conversation about their respective days before Hannah had to return downstairs for the after dinner shift.

A week had gone by since that night, since the night that Neville had pressed her to become a Healer. She couldn't help but think back and wonder if he was right. However, fear kept her from acting. What if she failed? What if she wasn't good enough? She wasn't a Gryffindor like him, she was fine where she was. Hannah shook the thoughts from her head as she cleared the tables after serving breakfast for her guests.

There were only two staying this week, an elderly witch from the country for a spot of shopping and a quiet French wizard doing something for the Ministry. She was just about to do inventory on the bar when she heard an almighty crash come from the Diagon Alley side.

"What in the name of Merlin was that?" she asked. The cook, Agnes, who too heard the crash, peered out of the kitchen door.

Soon a loud cry came, a child's cry, and Hannah sprang to action. She rushed through the doors and sure enough, there lay an adolescent boy clutching his wrist. Beside him lay a toy broom in disarray, he must have crashed.

"Oh my dear boy! Let's get you inside and I'll have a look, shall I?" she asked. "My name is Hannah, what's your name?"

The young boy nodded and then sniffed. "I'm Miles," he said. "Can you fix my broom too?"

Hannah smiled and quickly gathered the broken toy. "It's nothing a good Mending Charm won't fix, no problem. Where are your parents?" she asked as she helped the boy into the pub.

"They went to the bookstore, they said I could play as long as I stayed near the Leaky." He sniffed and wiped his eyes with his non-injured arm.

"Okay, well if they don't come soon, I'll send Agnes after them," she said with a smile. She led him to a chair and placed the broom on the table next to them. "Now, let's look at that arm, shall we?"

From her time helping Madam Pomfrey, Hannah knew basic diagnostic spells and this came in handy as she soon discovered that Miles' wrist was broken.

"Now this will hurt for just a moment and then it will be all better, okay?" she assured him. The boy nodded. "Good boy, brave boy," she said, placing a hand on top of the boy's head before reaching for her wand.

"Brackium Emendo," she said, pointing at his wrist. With a painful snap, the wrist healed and the boy cried out. "There we go, all better," she said, rubbing his shoulder. With a quick "Reparo", the toy broomstick was good as new. "Now how about a hot chocolate while we wait for Mum and Dad?" The boy's eyes lifted as the pain lifted, his broom repaired and the promise of hot chocolate. All the previous pain was forgotten.

She stood up from where she knelt beside him and watched as he reached for the broom. She raised a hand. "Let's give the broom a rest for now," she said. "I am sure you can fly it later at home," she said with a smile when out of the corner of her eye, she saw her husband, standing there with a smug grin on his face.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked. "And careful or your face will stay like that."

Hannah shrugged. "I don't know what you are talking about," she scoffed. "He needed my help, that was all. What are you doing here, anyway? It's the middle of the day."

"Oh, I just missed my dear wife, that's all. I will support you no matter what, you know that right?" Neville said, leaning over her to kiss her forehead. "If it will make you happy, go for it." With that, he was gone, back to Hogwarts.

As she carried the tray of hot chocolate and cake over to Miles, her mind churned away. Would it be so bad? To help children like him? She placed the mug on the table in front of him, followed by the cake. She watched him take a big bite of the cake with the cheekiest grin on his face. It reminded Hannah of her days helping Madam Pomfrey. They were some of the happiest of her school days.

She enjoyed Miles' company while they waited for his parents to return. She found that he was starting Hogwarts in two years' time and that he hoped to be in Gryffindor. He became particularly interested when Hannah told him about being in the same year as Harry Potter and that her husband shared a dormitory with him.

"There you are Miles!" A brown haired witch came into the Leaky. She gave her son a concerned once over. "It worried us when we couldn't find you," she said.

Hannah stood up and smiled at them. "Miles had a bit of an accident on his broom, he broke his wrist but I fixed it for him."

Miles' father moved over and took Hannah's hand. "Thank you, thank you for looking after him. Are you a healer? It takes some skill to heal bones."

Hannah shook her head. "No, but I trained a little under Madam Pomfrey."

"Well, thanks anyway. Thank goodness you were here to help him," he said, shaking his hand once more and before she knew it, they were gone.

That night, Hannah sat in silence. She had to admit it for herself, she loved helping others. She loved healing. So what was she doing with her life?

"Hannah love?" Neville asked, shaking her shoulder to get her attention.

She shook her head to centre her focus and saw his concerned eyes.

"Sorry… what did you say?" she asked.

"I was just asking you what you were thinking about," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh…" she giggled. "I was just thinking about today… and what you said."

He looked puzzled for a moment, but then his eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, I want to try… I want to help people. I want to help kids. So I was thinking of apprenticing under Madam Pomfrey," she said, voicing for the first time her idea, her dream.

"I think that is a brilliant idea," he said, grasping her hand in his. "Whatever you want."

"But we won't be able to live here anymore… will we?" she asked.

"No, probably not. I am sure we can find someone to take over, and then we can move into my quarters at Hogwarts," he said, looking around at their small flat. "I think we will have double the room too and I think we will need it."

Hannah giggled. Over the last year or so, they had outgrown their small flat. Maybe it was time to move onto bigger and brighter things?

"Let's do it then. I will give you a letter to take to Poppy tomorrow and then I will place an advertisement in the Daily Prophet," she said as she got to work straight away. An excitement bubbled up inside her that she hadn't felt in years. Was this what it was like to follow a dream?

It was easier than she thought. Less than a month after she made her decision, Hannah stood in the Hogwarts Hospital wing in her new healer apprentice robes.

Sometimes she missed the guests at the Leaky and their stories, but now she had alternative stories to hear. Stories of children discovering magic for the first time, first loves, breakups and both academic success and failure. It was something that never grew old for her.

Now, three years on. Hannah stood as Poppy's replacement after she retired. She would miss her mentor and friend, but she also looked forward to the responsibility of the school's health. It made her wonder why she had hesitated so much. She should have listened to Neville sooner.

"Madam Longbottom!" a voice from the door called out and in stormed Miles.

"Mr Bennett, what have you done now?" she said, in a stern tone which she only half meant. She enjoyed his visits, ever since his first year when he discovered that she had come to Hogwarts. Even if the reason for the visit was usually broomstick-related.

"Oh, I fell off my broom again!" he said with a chuckle.

One thing was certain, life at Hogwarts was never dull, and she only wished she had made her mind up sooner.