Astoria
"There's my baby!" I said. I put the gift on the table and knelt to hug my niece.
She giggled and opened her arms to hug me back. I kissed her round cheeks and blew a raspberry. She giggled louder.
Daphne appeared from the kitchen. "Glad you can make it. Amiee really missed you."
"Did you, baby?" I teased her.
Amiee gave me a sly smile. I can't help but kiss her again.
"Come on, we are all waiting for you." said Daphne.
Carrying Amiee in my arms I followed Daphne into her living room, which was filled with people. She took my arm and directed me towards a group of men. My eyes glided over each of their faces. There were some I recognized and others I don't.
"Hello, everyone you remember, Astoria." said Daphne. "She's the new History of Magic Professor in Hogwarts."
All of the men greeted me polity. It only took a moment for me to realize what Daphne was planning on finding me a boyfriend again.
I pulled her closer to me and whispered in her ear. "Are you serious?"
Daphne gave me an innocent look. "What? I thought it'll be good for you if you had more friends. You know, to help you with the project you're organizing for the school."
That's dirty! She knows I'll do anything for my students.
I spotted Ernie nearby and I put Amiee down. She ran to hug her father's leg. He picked her up and seated her on his shoulder.
"Who is who and what do they do?" I asked Daphne.
Daphne beamed, happy that I was cooperating. I was doing this only for my students. She lead me through the circle of men and women and introduced us. I took in the information and stored it for later. Things were going well until I noticed Daphne's body going stiff. She was staring at someone. I followed her line of vision and spotted Harry and Hermione. I left Daphne's side to greet them.
"Hey," I said and gave Hermione a hug. I turned to Harry, who had his arms opened. I took his hand and shook them. "Thanks for coming."
"Wouldn't miss it." said Hermione. She glanced at the people in the room. "There sure are a lot of Gryffindors here."
"Really?" I looked behind me. It wasn't like I knew all of them personally but if Hermione said they were in Gryffindor then they must be. "Excuse me." I went in search of Daphne. When I did, I pulled her aside to talk.
"Why are there so many Gryffindors here?" I asked her.
"They seem to be the type you fancy." she replied.
OMG!
"I always thought you'd end up with a fellow Slytherin but you never know about these things. Look at me, I'm married to a Hufflepuff."
"Just because I like one Gryffindor you go and bring me a room full of them."
"You don't date. If I didn't know you fancied Harry Potter I would have thought you resided to marrying your career. Look at yourself." she pointed at me, waving her finger up and down. "You're like a single mother with a billion children to rise."
Single mother? A billion children?
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You're a teacher. You watch over your student for seven years..."
I thought over what she said. I realized that they do sound similar but I don't think Hogwarts have a billion students. Maybe in the upper hundreds?
"I'm only doing this because I want you to be happy like I am. But if you are happy where you are, say the word. I'll stop trying to find you a boyfriend."
"I'm happy." I said.
"Are you sure?" she asked me.
She didn't believe me and was trying to make me say no.
"Yes,"
"Hm...okay."
"Are you going to keep your word?"
"I will."
She was a woman of her word. Some times. But I'll take it. When we got back to the others I saw my cousin Cho. She's talking to Harry.
"Sweets?" I heard Daphne ask me.
I looked away from the couple and saw Daphne holding a plate out to me. This takes me back to my forth year. Daphne was always next to me with a plate of sweets. After eating and eating, I got incredibly fat by the end of my forth year. My mom was quick to point it out when she saw me in the summer. She put me on a strict diet until I lost all the weight. It was a good thing Harry rarely spoke to me during my heavy years. I would have been embarrassed if he made fun of me.
"No." I told Daphne. Like she said, I'm a single mother with a billion children, actually my students, to look after. I have to take care of my health for them.
Daphne put the plate on a table.
"Attention! Attention everyone! The guests of honor are here!" said Ernie.
"Here! Here!" said Amiee imitating her father.
Everyone gathered around the door. Daphne went to stand next to Ernie. Ernie grasped the knob.
"Ready? One, two, three!" He opened the door.
Together everyone in the room said. "Congratulations!" and then it was followed with gasps of surprises as we all took in what were were seeing. Hannah had a bruise on her cheek and Neville was sporting a black eye. Both had bandages wrapped around their hands like mittens. They looked like they had been attacked and beaten.
Amiee came up to them. "Boo boos and ouchies!" she pointed.
Ernie came up to the couple and lead them to sit down on a couch. "What happened?"
"Interesting story." said Hannah.
"Yeah," said Neville. "I was waiting for the perfect moment. For us to be in the place we both love. The kitchen."
"Because you like food?" asked someone.
"Or you shag in there the most?" asked another person.
Daphne covered Amiee's ears.
"Need I remind you there are children present." said Ernie. He urged Neville and Hannah to continue.
"I was in the middle of cooking and Neville appeared. He proposed. It startled me. I screamed. Neville got startled by me and dropped the ring." said Hannah.
"It fell in the pan and I tried to find it." Neville held his bandaged hands up to show us the result of his actions.
"I asked what he was doing. When he told me it was my ring I helped him search for it." Hannah showed us her bandaged hands.
I can imagine Neville being distraught over losing his grandmother's ring and blindly searching a hot pan of food for it. Hannah must have been too excited to feel the pain. She shared with me on one occasion that she overheard him asking his grandmother for the ring while they were visiting her. She had been anticipating his proposal for days. It took him about a week to propose.
"Took ages but we found it!" she said with a big smile. She put her bandaged hand on her chest to show us the ring that was hanging on a chain around her neck.
Poor thing. She got the ring but wouldn't be able to wear it on her finger until its fully healed. That explained what happened to their hands but I wonder what caused the bruises.
"After that we realize that we need to see a healer. We got up, tripped and fell on the food we pushed out of the pan." Hannah's hand hovered over her cheek. "I hit the counter."
"Her elbow hit my eye when she fell. The rest of this," Neville motioned to himself and Hannah, "we got when we hit the floor."
The room was silent.
"At least you match." I said.
Heads turned to stare at me. What are they looking at? Neville and Hannah laughed.
"We do don't we. You never looked more beautiful." said Neville. He kissed her on her cheek that was not bruised and both of their faces turned red.
"And you've never looked more handsome." said Hannah.