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Word Count: 553
Auction Prompt: Day 28, Auction 3: Scabior
Finally Making Sense
Euan sat on the park bench, his foot tapping against the floor impatiently. He checked his watch, and realised that there was maybe three minute left to wait.
Longbottom was always exactly on time, never early, never late.
Euan was always waiting for him, eager for the touch of his soulmate in a way that Neville never seemed to be.
But then, Neville had other people to touch, didn't he?
He wasn't alone like Euan.
He had friends and family, a life outside of his soulmate that Euan couldn't touch.
A crack of apparition sounded, and Euan looked up to see Neville already striding towards him.
Sometimes, they sat on the bench holding hands. Other times, when it was really warm and they were wearing t-shirts, they linked arms and walked through the park.
Today, Neville was wearing a thick jumper to protect against the wind, so Euan figured it would be a sitting down day.
Only to be surprised.
Neville didn't join him on the bench. Instead, he held his hand out to Euan and gently tugged him from the bench and started walking towards the gate.
"Where are we going?" Euan asked, though he allowed himself to be tugged along, most of his attention focused on the warmth coming from their joined hands rather than their planned destination.
"It's a bit chilly to be sitting outside, isn't it?" Neville asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought we could go to a cafe or something. There's a shopping precinct just outside the park."
Euan nodded, and fifteen minutes later, they were seated on slightly uncomfortable dining chairs in a chintzy cafe that had red and white checkerboard tablecloths and fake flowers on the tables.
"This feels weird," Euan admitted, when the waitress had been to take their order.
Neville snorted. "We're soulmates. I suppose sharing a hot drink on a cold afternoon should feel natural, shouldn't it?"
Euan shrugged. "I don't know. I never expected to find my soulmate once I'd left Hogwarts."
Sighing, Neville nodded. "I know. I know it's… weird. But… I guess we've got to make the best of it, right?"
"Even though I'm a wanted man," Euan pointed out because he was and there was no escaping that.
He hadn't been a Death Eater—he wasn't marked at least—but being a snatcher had been almost as bad, in the eyes of the law.
"I have Harry working on that," Neville admitted softly, and Euan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You deserve to be punished," Neville replied with a sigh. "But Harry thinks he'll be able to get you a house arrest, instead of Azkaban, providing I take responsibility for you."
"You… you're willing to do that for me?" Euan asked, eyes wide.
Neville's lips tilted up slightly and he looked at their joined hands on the table. "We're soulmates, for better or worse. That's how it works, right?"
Euan didn't know how he'd gotten so lucky; there was no way he deserved Neville, no way a Scabior should be attached to a Longbottom, and yet, here they were.
"I… thank you."
Neville just nodded, and then smiled up at the waitress who'd brought their drinks.
Scabior stared at the steam coming up from their hot chocolates, and he thought that maybe, his life was about to finally start making sense.
