Disclosure Hp belongs to JKR. The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
THC, The Houses Competition
House: Slytherin
Class: Muggle Studies
Category: Standard
Prompts: [Animal] Bees - [Character] Neville Longbottom
Title: Love and the Bees
Word Count: 2155
Trigger Warning/Disclaimer: Brief mention of rape, but no descriptions of the act.
Title: Love and the Bees
Thanks to my team for Beta my work.
Author's Note: After the Battle, they had a brief, passionate romance, making Hermione think Neville was the one. Too bad that during the Battle, an unexpected father, a Death Eater, recognized Hermione. And now, Hermione is still not sure what happened or why Neville quit seeing her. Probably she shouldn't worry; her special bees can help their love bloom again. Neville & Hermione
Going to Hogwarts -Not a Friendly Ride
Today is an unusually warm day. Magical students wait at the '9 and ¾' platform, preparing to board the train to take them to Hogwarts, to learn and train like the generations of Magical people before them. Neville Longbottom wants to forget his brief, passionate romance after the war with Hermione Granger. He hurries into the train when he sees her, hoping to avoid her.
Neville harrumphs, seeing her enter the compartment, and a bitter taste fills his mouth. She reminds him of his mother and father, recently healed thanks to the research from the ones who injured them, the Lestrange brothers. His mouth tastes even worse, considering his parents and grandmother are talking to the Lestrange family; he doesn't understand why they are friends. They might be friends, but not him, so he avoids Hermione, his newly found enemy, like father, or is it, fathers, like daughter. She is their daughter, isn't she? His mother told him several times that he is unfair to Hermione, but he knows better. Neville cannot see the resentment accumulated over the years in the driving seat, irrationally controlling his emotions and clouding his mind.
Hermione's happy to see him. After she takes off her robe and folds it, she smiles and sits next to him. "Hi, have you seen any others?" She grins, listening to the happy buzzing inside the small box with tiny holes on her lap; it is a gift for Neville.
Her Lestrange grandmother knowing how Hermione felt, gave it to her. Hermione remembers what her grandmother told her, "My dear, this is for you to give to Neville; it might help. No matter the outcome, he will like it; he loves gardening, doesn't he?" She sighs, hoping for the best, looking at him she asks, "So, have you seen the others?"
Neville takes his time before he answers. Shaking his head, he replies curtly, "No," not wanting to engage in conversation.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she finally asks, "What is your problem? You refuse to talk to me for weeks now. What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing," Neville mumbles, looking away.
"Nothing? Hmm, so why do you turn the other way when I come into a room? Let's not forget you didn't come to the parties my grandparents threw. They wanted to thank everyone's valiant contributions during this long war, and everyone else was there; we all want peace." Hermione wants to know what is going on with Neville.
"Grandparents, uh-huh, you kept them under wraps," His voice is flat .
"So, tell me, how is it my fault that I have grandparents? I didn't know about them, and so what? They are who they are. They are neither their sons nor were they Death Eaters. Are they blood supremacists? Perhaps. However, how is it that you blame me for them, nobody else does? I want to know." Hermione sits straight, no longer smiling.
"Facts are facts." Neville still looks away from her. Bloody hell, where are the others, and is this car not too warm? Why on earth is she wearing those short trousers and those bare shoulders showing her smooth skin. Neville thinks, remembering their heated kisses and touches, wanting more of the same. Though he might want more, he allows his resentment control him, "Their sons left me a virtual orphan, so your two Death Eater 'fathers' are my enemies. By the way, you never mention them."
"My mother was raped, but I didn't know about them or the rape. Now I know that they were under Bellatrix Imperius's curse when they forced my mother. My grandmother said Bellatrix perfectly knew who my mother was, though it isn't clear to me how she knew my mother. Anyway, you must know my mother is not a Muggle, which I didn't know. As you can see, I didn't know much." Hermione waits for Neville to ask questions, but he is quiet, looking out the window, chewing an imaginary hangnail.
Exasperated, Hermione sighs and continues, "You must know the story; Rodolphus said he heard a clear man's voice telling him to stop Bellatrix, to hurry before she killed me. He didn't know I was his daughter until she tried to kill me, and he saw me as if for the first time. He told me he recognized his mother all over my face and was sick thinking about the past; then his brother saw the same once my father killed Bellatrix. Whatever spell she had used to conceal my identity quit working. I had no idea about them for several weeks; when I was with you, I didn't know. After the MoM verified their claims, my fathers wanted to see me personally, before anyone else heard about it. I would have told you, but when? You refused to talk to me." She is getting angry, Neville can tell. She has lost her patience, and her hair moves around like angry snakes.
She stands in front of him and is taken aback by what she sees. Neville is not the shy little wizard from 1991 on the first ride to Hogwarts. He has grown and changed a lot during the summer. The boy looking for Trevor has long gone. Neville is a man, she thinks. He is 1.92 meters (6.2 feet) tall, with broad shoulders, shoulder-length hair carelessly yet fashionably styled, and a sensual mouth. He is not the same. Fighting in wars has a way of changing people and making them grow up very fast. She is too aware of his proximity and desperately wants others to arrive and dispel the mounting tension.
"Yes, all you said is true, but why did you have to find them a lawyer, and why do you still go to Azkaban to visit?" Neville growls. "And why did Rita Skeeter interview you so the entire Magical world would know?"
"Why hide it? Best to hear it from me. Did they not save Remus, Tonks, Colin, and Fred?" Hermione defiantly argues her points, "They tried to rescue more, and they did; thanks to them, Professor Snape is alive. So, where is he? Nobody seems to know. Ironically, Bellatrix shared the anti-venom made for Nagini's bite with them. Did you not see how they changed after Bellatrix was gone? Did you not hear Narcissa's story of Bellatrix using an old Black curse? It would seem their chosen was Narcissa, not Bellatrix. Didn't they find the cure for your parents? Many think they were victims; I believe it; I was there with Minister Shacklebolt when Bill Weasley verified it. They were under a curse for over 22 years or longer, and Bill removed it. I saw what came out of their bodies; it was monstrous." She shivers remembering.
"Stop, don't say another word. I am tired of hearing about the Lestrange brothers' lack of guilt or innocence, ha! Even my parents and grandparents said the same, joining others in making a petition to free them. Stop it right there, now!" Neville raises his voice, and Hermione hears the angry buzzing inside the box. She guesses the bees don't like his aggressive tone, and neither does she.
Hermione starts saying something when Luna comes into the car; she heard Neville's angry voice. She hugs Hermione, whispers in her ear, and they chuckle. She adds, "So Ron and Harry are not coming back; you must know why. I confess I had no idea. Have you heard how Ginny Weasley is doing? I know Tonks and Fred are back from the American Healing Center."
"Molly visits my family often, ahem, and said Ginny will need to stay longer." Hermione sees Neville's fuming but continues, "My grandparents pay for everyone's medical care. As you know, my father killed Bellatrix before she could complete the Avada Kadavera to murder me. Unfortunately, Ginny fell from her broom, trying to stop Bellatrix from killing me. She nearly died, poor Ginny."
Hermione isn't done, but Luna taps her arm and clears her throat. Hermione looks at the door and sees the Patil twins and others. Neville is about to gag, though he cannot deny all Hermione alleges is true. He hears it often enough. Her mother is friends with his parents, making it all together worse. He sees Hermione's mother way too often. He notices Luna seems unhappy with him, but he could care less because he hates the idea of Hermione's 'fathers.' He wonders, not for the first time, who else has two fathers, as if one despicable Lestrange father weren't bad enough.
Nobody indeed knows which Lestrange's brother her father is. It is related to Lestrange's magical core, It happens in that family, so many believe both brothers, Rodolphus and Rabastan, are her fathers. It is likely because Hermione calls them my fathers. Moreover, she is special, the first Lestrange witch in centuries, making the Lestrange grandparents eager to please Hermione. They want to make sure the magical world knows she is their grandchild, making Neville angrier.
They see Draco, looking distraught and angry, followed by Greg Goyle. The Lestrange brothers saved Vince. They saw him about to use the curse and disarmed him, but someone else injured him. The second they realized who Hermione was, the Lestrange brothers changed sides immediately and did what they thought she would like, saving many lives. Neville called them opportunists.
Draco stops at the door, glowering, "Granger, I have something my mother sent you." He practically throws her a wrapped package. "She says you might like to have it." He sounds bitter; maybe he is. Luna and the Patil twins are smirking, suspecting what he will say. On the wireless, they heard it from a gossip reporter related to Rita Skeeter.
"Thanks to my uncles, I mean your fathers, your whatever, my mother is leaving my father. Don't expect me to be your brother; you know what I mean." Draco speaks between clenched teeth.
The buzzing gets louder, so Luna points at the box, wanting to know what is inside? Hermione mouths, "Later."
Greg waves his hand to Hermione behind Draco's back. After the war, Hermione visited the injured ones daily at Mungo's, and they often sat with Vince and read to him. His grandparents know hers, and they have known Greg since he was a baby. But Greg isn't her friend, just an acquaintance; he is Draco's friend first, and Draco despises Hermione.
When they are gone, the witches start talking a mile a minute. Hermione says she doesn't know about Narcissa, and maybe it is only gossip. She keeps the package unopened, wondering if she should give it to Neville, but decides to wait until later. At the Gryffindor dorm, Luna tells her to make peace with Neville, and Hermione agrees, thinking her gift could change everything. Luna has said as much.
Bee-Trust
A day later, Hermione walks toward the greenhouses. Hagrid told her Neville is usually there in the afternoons. She grins, hearing the buzzing inside the box with tiny holes. Hermione is thinking about the pictures Narcissa sent her. They are from her mother when she was a student at Hogwarts. Although Hermione has recently learned much about her mother, she had no idea her mother was a student at her school for two years; or that Narcissa Black was her mother's good friend. There were pictures with several Slytherin, a couple with the Lestrange, looking happy. One that bothered Hermione, the one with her mother, looking beautiful on her formal robes, and dancing with Lucius Malfoy. A first, a smiling dark evil Lucius, having fun. He was almost pretty, like a witch, but looks aren't enough, Hermione thinks.
Surprisingly, her mother was a Ravenclaw and friends with two Black sisters, judging by the pictures of Narcissa, Andromeda and her mom. She wonders why Molly or Arthur haven't said anything after seeing her mother; she will ask them. In the pictures, her mother doesn't look much different. Now it makes sense why her mother never went near Hogwarts; and her father was the one accompanying her at the train station. She will talk to her mother, who is still mourning her Muggle husband, Hermione's older loving father. She guesses life is complicated, hers and everyone else's. But why the secrecy? There are many unanswered questions, to include who knew who Hermione was. Hermione hopes she won't find any more life-changing revelations. At least she is not related to the Malfoys; it is already bad enough.
Hermione wants happiness; she misses those unexpected, wonderful days with Neville. She trusts the bees can help because a future without Neville seems bleak. She brings the gift box to her face and whispers, "Little ones, please help me. I love him." The bees answer by buzzing happily, filling her with hope and confidence. Hermione smiles, her face lights up, and she walks faster to see the wizard she loves.
A/N More to come!
