Harry and Neville sit peacefully on a steep riverbank. The sun setting behind them, shadows stretching lazily in front of them, a half-hearted breeze flitting the late summer leaves on the trees. An amical lull had fallen between them as they took it in turns to toss pebbles into the glistening water.

'Do you think about them? … Miss them? – your parents.'

Neville throws the stone he was holding, sighs, and picks up another. He pauses and turns it a few times with his gentle fingers.

'Yes. On and off. I miss them but I think it's good that they're gone. None of us deserved for them to live like that.'

He holds the stone still in his fist and looks up. His eyes rest across the river but at nothing in particular.

'For a long time, when I was little, I would be jealous of all the children with proper parents. I would watch them and wonder what it would be like if…'

'If…' He says again, looking down to the water. He sighs, then swallows slowly.

'Then, after we started at Hogwarts, after I met you,' He risks a brief glance at Harry. 'I started thinking… wishing…' He pauses, looks back up, worries his bottom lip between his teeth.

'I would get jealous that at least your parents were dead.'

He closes his eyes and takes some slow breaths

'I'd feel so awful, but it was so real. I could tell them anything, but it would never mean anything to them. They didn't remember any of it. They barely remembered who I was.' He opens his eyes again, 'I hated it, and I hated that I hated it. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Any of it. I suppose I'm glad that they had each other at least. Through to the end. I just hope they're happy now.'

A silence resumes between them. Slightly heavier than before. The birds have started their evening chorus but both men are too lost in thought to notice.

'Do you still have them?' Harry asks.

Neville turns to face him; brows slightly furrowed.

'The wrappers.' Harry continues.

'Oh,' Neville says, turning away, a slight smile twitching at his lips, not stopping to wonder how Harry knows about them. 'Yes. Tucked away in a box. I've thought about getting rid of them once or twice. Sometimes in anger. But I just can't. I don't know if I ever will. So, they're still there.' He briefly pauses in contemplation, 'And the DA coin.' He says with a light chuckle.

'I don't know if I ever properly thanked you for that.' He says turning with a smile 'I don't think you could ever know how much those meetings meant to me.'

'The person you need to thank is Hermione.' says Harry, smiling back, 'It was all her; the idea, the coins, pushing me up to stand in front of everyone - everything.'

'I really don't know how any of us would've made it this far without that girl.' says Neville, shaking his head lightly.

Harry let out a short chuckle. 'Yes, well, I certainly owe her my life for more than one occasion.'

'In that final year it's what kept me alive.' Neville resumes, 'The skills, the lessons, the spirit. It was hard for us all.' He looks back to Harry, 'I don't know how much Ginny has told you, but it was truly awful. It hit her hard. Harder that she probably would care to admit. She's a strong girl. Fierce, brilliant.' He catches Harry's small smile,

'I remember how gut wrenched I felt the first time I heard her crying.' He continues,

'I noticed it quite often after that. Sometimes it was about family, sometimes you - and whatever you were getting up to with Ron and Hermione. You know how she is. She'd always put on a brave face afterwards. Stand up tall and rally everyone up, kick up the next minor rebellion, just as normal.

'She did finally confide in me right before Christmas. I'd never seen her look broken like that. I don't think she had realised how much you meant to her. She really loved you.'

Harry lets out a long breath. One he hadn't realised he'd been holding, 'I used to watch her on those long evenings on the run. For hours on end. Well, on the map. I'd stare at her little dot just wishing and hoping she was safe.

'I can't thank you enough for what you did that year, what you went through.'

Another silence. Their shadows now reach nearly all the way across to the other side of the river.

'Do you? Ever think about your parents?' Neville asks after some time.

'Sometimes. I used to dream all the time, as a child, that they'd come to take me away. That we could escape together, live a normal, happy life. Maybe I'd have a few siblings, a nice garden, a cat, my own room. But them being dead, it's all I've ever known. It's just how it is, and I've always known that.

'These days, when I think of them I just hope they'd be proud of me. I get to live a life now that they never got to. And now that Ginny's…' he pauses, realising he's slipped up. Neville looks up again. 'Well, I haven't actually told anyone this yet, but Ginny's pregnant. She only found out recently'

'Oh wow, that's brilliant, Harry! Congratulations.'

'Thank you' Harry says, not quite able to keep a grin off his face. 'I think with a baby here I might feel more of a connection to them, you know?

'They were so young. It's easy to forget that sometimes. They were younger than we are now. They barely got a chance.' He pauses briefly in quiet contemplation, notes that the temperature has certainly dropped a bit since the two of them first ventured down to the bottom of the garden.

'I sometimes wonder,' he continues, his tone a little lighter now, 'If I was entirely planned. From what I know of my parents, they were very loving people, and I'm sure they both wanted to bring a family into the world but I can't help but wonder…'

'That would be something,' Neville says, 'The saviour of the wizarding world, the result of a mistakenly missed contraceptive charm. Not really meant to be.'

'Don't forget,' Harry turns pointedly, smile still on his lips, 'That that would've left you to do the dirty work.'

'Merlin, don't remind me. I dodged a hex there.

'I suppose I should really thank my lucky stars for your parents and their well timed passionately frenzied blunder'

'Hey! I may have barely met them, but that doesn't mean I want to think anywhere near the idea of my parents getting up to… to… well y'know!'

Neville just laughs.

'You can't even face the idea of your own conception, but you've managed to end up with your own baby on the way. I'll have to trust Ginny, or Merlin help the poor kid!'

'Anyway,' Harry continued, 'It wouldn't be the only time. Ginny and I have talked about having kids along the line for some time now, but to put it bluntly, we didn't quite expect it to come up so soon either. But hey, now's as good a time as any.'

He lets his mind wander for a moment.

'How's Hannah by the way?'

'Oh, she's doing well. She's been even more busy at St Mungo's recently. Some days she comes home completely knackered, but it's nice to be able to look after each other. I uh… uh…' he hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck rather bashfully, 'I asked her to marry me the other day and she said yes. We're not in any rush,' he adds quickly, 'But we're looking into moving into a new house, hopefully with a nice garden. Our poky balcony is getting a bit too small for all my plants.'

'That's really great to hear' Harry says feeling a real rush of affection for his friend.

'Yeah, I'm really happy with things at the moment. I haven't told Gran yet though. I'm a little scared that the surprise might knock her out. I'm convinced she's secretly worried that no woman would ever come near me with a bargepole. Then again, I'm in no doubt that she'll be a force to be reckoned with about a wedding, and the house, dresses, rings and, - Merlin, babies.' His face has gone a little vacant. 'When she gets started on that… Oh, I'll have to warn Hannah. She won't know what's hit her.'

'Well, if Molly was anything to go by from the second she saw that first ring on Ginny's finger, I wish you both the best of luck. I just hope she doesn't go too overboard when
she finds out about our latest news.'

'Hmmm…

'So,' Neville says after a short pause, 'it won't be long until the next hoard of Potters will be descending onto Hogwarts then.'

'Yes, I suppose so. Although, they will get somewhat of a warmup of a couple of Weasleys first. And Teddy, of course.'

'Hmmm. Teddy, a great wee kid…'

A silent, shared thought bounces between them.

'Yes, quite…'

'He's certainly got plenty of love around him.'

'Yes. We've all made sure of that.'

The birds have all finished up for the evening and the bats are beginning to make an appearance.

'Oh, I heard something the other day that made me think of you.'

'Oh yeah?' Neville says.

'McGonagall was saying that Professor Sprout has decided to call this her last year of teaching. Ready to move on and do whatever retired Herbology teachers do, I suppose. Maybe finally see if the underside of her fingernails will ever be clean again.'

Neville laughs as he looks down to his own considerably soily finger ends.

'Would you fancy it, eh? Taking on the inevitable troves of Weasley offspring, having full charge of all those greenhouses, enlightening a generation of teenagers.'

Neville turns to Harry, surprised by the idea, but finding it not to be as out of place as he might have once thought it could be.

'Hmmm, I dunno, I've never thought about it before. And I don't have any experience with kids…'

'Snape seemed to get on fine…'

They both laugh

'And I imagine, Madame Pomfrey won't be around for ever…'

'I miss that place' Harry says quietly to himself.

Neville doesn't hear. Lost in thought, he picks up his previously forgotten pebble, and lightly tosses it down to the river, all sorts of ideas swirling around in his head as he watches its splash.

A/N: Hello reader, this is my first ever go at this. I hope you enjoyed. I apologise for any issues with punctuation, grammar, or formatting. I don't have much experience with writing dialogue. I'm not quite sure why I wrote this in present tense, it just seemed to make sense to me for some of the key moments which lead to me fleshing out the initial idea. I like to think it makes it more intimate.
I know that there is a lot more that each of the characters could say about some of the deeper topics in discussion but I think that they'd take their time with this kind of stuff. What do you think?

Feel free to leave any feedback. I'd love to read what you think.