Chapter Sixteen – Christmas

"Neville, your Remembrall is really getting annoying," Ron said, as he was busy packing his trunk. "Can't you remember whatever it is your supposed to remember?"

"Every single Remembrall of mine has done this," Neville said apologetically, placing his Remembrall in his trunk where it wouldn't be noticed. "You know I keep forgetting different things."

"Wouldn't it be funny if it's been the same thing you've forgotten for seven years?" Harry grinned.

"Even my memory's not that bad," Neville laughed. He closed his trunk and rechecked his pocket, confirming that Trevor was indeed inside. Though Trevor couldn't seem to stand still today.

"You done?" Harry asked to Ron.

"Gimme a minute," Ron muttered. Neville sat on his trunk, waiting for Ron to finish. It was only the three of them in the room. Dean and Seamus had already finished packing a while ago.

"I can't believe this is our last Christmas," Harry said.

"It's not our last Christmas ever, you dolt," Ron laughed. "It's just our last Christmas here. Next Christmas will be different."

"Exactly, you and Harry will be training to be Aurors, and I'll hopefully be training to be a Healer. And who knows what Hermione will be doing," Neville said.

"And Ginny and Luna will be having their last Christmas at Hogwarts," Harry said. "I'm just glad we're going to your house, Ron."

Ron nodded his head in agreement. "Fred and George wrote me, saying that someone from the Order had been over to the Burrow every day to put up wards. It'll be nice though. Even Charlie's going to be there. It's the first time all seven of us will be together in a while."

Just then, Ginny came into the room. "Will you three hurry up?" she said, her hands on her hips. "And I thought girls were the slower ones. Honestly."

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Neville and Luna walked through Diagon Alley, hand in hand on Christmas Eve. But they weren't celebrating Christmas today; they were celebrating Luna's birthday. She was now officially of age.

"I thought it would feel different," Luna said somewhat sadly. "I feel just like I did yesterday."

"Do some magic," Neville said casually.

"We can't do magic outside of Hog…oh," Luna said. "I forgot about that."

"Try something," Neville said. "It will make you feel older."

"Very well," Luna said, smiling. She took out her wand and pointed it at her head. "Capillago Secus!"

Her hair color changed to a lovely shade of lavender. A minute later, it was back to her natural dirty blonde color. Then she started staring at the sky in silence.

After almost two minutes of silence, Neville asked, "What are you doing?"

Luna looked at him with a satisfied smile on her face. "Making sure I didn't get an owl from the Ministry. You're right," she said, taking his arm. "I do feel a bit older now."

They went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, where Luna insisted that the bill be split in half, even though Neville was more than happy to pay the entire thing. Then even though it was December, and quite chilly outside, Luna wanted ice cream. So they headed to the ice cream parlor.

Luna had a cup of Sherbert, while Neville helped himself to an orange split.

"When do I get my present?" Luna said.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" Neville laughed.

"I want my present," Luna said smiling, finishing off her sherbert. "You did get me one, didn't you?"

"Birthday or Christmas first," Neville asked.

"Birthday, please," Luna said.

Neville took out two packages from the heavy winter cloak that he was wearing. He handed Luna the bigger present first. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," Luna said beaming. She opened the package and let out a small shriek of delight. "Where did you find this?"

Neville blushed from embarrassment, but he was very pleased that she liked it so much. He came to Diagon Alley yesterday to look for gifts, and in the Second Hand shop, he found an old book.

"Fantastic Beasts not Listed in Fantastic Beasts," Luna read off of the cover. "This is wonderful!" She flipped through the pages. "Here's the Blibbering Humdinger! And the Crumple-Horned Snorkkack! This has everything!"

Luna put the book down on the table and started reaching in her cloak. Then Neville grabbed his forehead, an unexpected headache overcame him.

"Are you all right?" Luna asked worriedly.

Neville was still clutching his forehead. "I'm not sure," he said honestly. This headache had been different. It was less intense, but the pain was lingering. He shook his head, as if trying to force the headache off. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Luna asked. "We could leave if you want."

"Is anyone staring?" Neville asked quietly.

"We're the only ones here," Luna whispered back. "No one's even behind the counter."

"Okay, then," Neville said. "I'm fine now." The pain was still there, but it was tolerable. Neville briefly thought that when he's a Healer, he'll be able to heal these headaches.

He handed Luna the second present, a much smaller package. Neville tapped his foot nervously; he wasn't sure how she'd react to the present.

Luna took her time unwrapping the present. She stared at the small velvet box in front of her for a moment. Finally, she opened the box and looked what was inside. She lifted the silver bracelet and looked at it carefully.

"Are these topazes?" Luna asked, looking at Neville. Neville nodded. Each link of the bracelet was held together by a different colored topaz.

"Neville, this is beautiful," Luna said softly. "Topazes have always been my favorite."

She held out her wrist, and Neville put the bracelet on. "Well, it's your birthstone," Neville said.

"Not just that," Luna said eagerly. "The topaz is an amazing gemstone. Some believe that a topaz can make the wearer invisible in an emergency. It also changes color if you're in the presense of an enemy."

"I didn't know that," Neville said. He was just pleased because Luna looked so happy. It had been a little more money than he had planned on spending. But, Neville reasoned, her Birthday present had cost less than a Galleon, because he found it at the second hand shop. So the prices averaged out.

Luna looked at the bracelet one more time and then handed Neville a present. "Your turn."

Neville picked up the present. It was small and fairly flat, but it didn't feel like a book. He tore off the wrapping paper (which was a page of the Dailey Prophet) and looked at a small leather frame. It was tiny; looking like it could fit in his pocket.

"Turn it around," Luna said. Neville did, and on the other side was a picture of Luna and Neville, taken in Africa. Neville was standing behind Luna, with his arms wrapped around her waist. They were both squinting from the bright sun, but smiling happily. The Luna in the picture turned around and kissed Neville briefly on the lips, and then turned around to face the camera, while Neville blushed.

"I remember taking this picture," Neville said. He didn't quite understand how he would be able to put this on a table to display it.

Luna stood up and knelt before him. She reached in to the inside of Neville's robe and took out his prized possession, the picture of him as a baby with his parents. Neville was about to say something, but then she put the picture in the other side of the frame.

Now the picture was protected, and would fit in his pocket. And better yet, both sides of the frame had pictures of people he loved.

"Thank you," Neville said softly, turning the frame over in his hands. "This is really great."

"I see you looking at that picture so much, I was afraid it would get ripped," Luna said. Then she added, sounding worried, "If you don't want the picture of us in the frame, you can take it out. I'll understand"

"No, I want this picture, too," Neville said quickly. "I didn't have any pictures of us before."

They chatted for a little while longer, but then it was time to go their separate ways. Luna was going to be going out to dinner with her father for her birthday, and Neville was going to be having a big Christmas Eve dinner with Gran and Uncle Algie.

The next afternoon, Neville headed to St. Mungo's with his grandmother. He had been waiting for this moment ever since he received word that his mother had spoken.

His father was still in bed, curled up in a fetal position. But his mother was sitting upright in a chair, holding a plastic cup. She looked straight at Neville and his Gran when they entered the room. She held up the cup and said, "Tea."

Neville took a deep breath, hearing his mother's voice for the first time he could ever remember. He sat next to his mother, who took a tea kettle and poured Neville a cup, also made of plastic.

"Thank you, Mum," Neville said softly, as she poured a cup for his Gran.

He took a sip, and realized that it was quite cold. But he reasoned that the Healers wouldn't want his mum to burn herself accidentally.

"Thank you, Alice, dear. This is lovely," Gran said.

Neville started telling his mum all about the last term at Hogwarts. About how well the Gryffindor quidditch team was doing to how odd it felt to be transfigured into an object. He realized that his mum wasn't really paying attention, but it still felt good to tell her these things just the same.

After two hours, Gran stood up, and announced that it was time to head home. Neville went over to his father, who hadn't moved once since Neville came in. "Happy Christmas, Dad," he said softly.

He said good-bye to his mum, and he started walking towards the door. He slowed down, waiting for his mother to stop him in her way.

"Nev…"

Neville turned around faster than he thought possible. He practically ran to his mum, who was standing there, holding a small piece of parchment. As carefully as he could, Neville put his arms around his mother and gave her a hug.

"I love you, Mum," he said softly.

She looked up at him, and handed the piece of parchment to him, which he quickly put in his pocket. "Nev…ville."

Neville felt the tears welling up in his eyes. This was what he had wanted for so long. To simply hear his mother say his name. And now he couldn't quite believe that he had heard it.

An aide came into the room then. "Alice, it's time to take a nap," the aide said to his mum. Then to Neville, "I think she's been ready to see you since she woke up. The Healers are pleased, because that means she realizes that it's Christmas."

"Thank you," Neville said softly as the aide helped his mum walk towards her bed.

He went towards the door, and gave one last wave before he left the room.

That night, after another good Christmas dinner his grandmother made, Neville sat at his desk and worked on his essays for the Healer training program application. He found himself more dedicated than ever before to making the program straight out of Hogwarts.

After filling a piece of parchment with what Neville decided was garbage, he threw down his quill, upset that he had nothing better to say about the state of Healing in today's modern world.

With a sigh, Neville took out the piece of parchment his mum gave him today, to add with the rest of the pieces he had been given over his lifetime.

The parchment had a sort of odd circle drawn on it. The bottom of the circle looked slightly rounded. Neville briefly wondered what his mother had been thinking when she drew this. On a whim, Neville turned the parchment upside down, or in this case, he actually turned it right side up.

He found himself looking at a heart. A heart that his mother had given him, after he told her he loved her.

Neville couldn't remember being so happy on Christmas in his entire life.

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A/N – All right, I know this chapter was syrupy and sweet, but trust me, Neville needs some of that in his life. Lots of not syrupy and not sweet moments ahead. Also, I have become determined to finish this story before "Half-Blood Prince" comes out. I just know that when that book comes out, my little Kerry Universe I'm so proud of will become completely out of canon. So look for quicker updates in the future. Which I'm sure won't be a problem for any of you. : )