Breath of Life

by ChatterChick

Summary: They were happy. They were healthy. Their lives were coming beautifully together. Follow Neville and Hannah Longbottom on their journey to start their family.

***updated version as of 04/05/15***

Chapter 6 - Isabelle Longbottom

End of June 2007

"Hannah, come on." Neville said, pulling the blankets off of her. "You need to get up."

It had been just over a week since Michael had told them that they had lost their little girl. Yesterday, they had gone back for another appointment to make sure things were still fine. Hannah had sat there numbly as Michael explained what they were going to do to ensure she and the remaining baby were safe. Apparently she was considered 'higher risk' now and Michael had scheduled more frequent appointments for the next little while.

There were also some decisions that Hannah and Neville needed to make regarding the lost twin. They could choose to have the remains of the baby vanished in the womb, have them disapparated out or give birth to her in four months with the surviving twin.

She hadn't understood most of it, the words washing over her and sounding like some foreign language. She didn't want to make any decisions, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with the options.

"You should get up, shower, maybe we could take a walk in the park together? It's nice outside."

His suggestions fell on deaf ears as Hannah curled into herself. She didn't want to get up, she wanted to be left alone so she could go back to sleep. Her arms wrapped around her stomach, and she wondered if her son knew he lost his sister.

"You need to take care of yourself," he pleaded. "For you and our child. Our son, he still needs you."

She wished he would just go away. He had been sad with her the first night, and even the days after, but Neville hadn't been as broken over it as she had. She wearily closed her eyes, hoping she would be able to fall asleep this time.

"Hannah, I'm not going to sit back and watch you do this to yourself! You're barely eating, you're not sleeping, you're not moving!" Neville finally exploded. "At the rate you're going, you're going to lose the other one and that will be entirely on you."

Her fist curled around the pillow next to her and she hurled it across the room at him. "Get out!"

xXxXx

"Go away, Neville," she growled the moment the bedroom door opened. He had disappeared some hours ago, but apparently he was checking up on her again.

"I sent Neville to check on my snargaluff tree, I thought he could use some fresh air."

Hannah froze when she heard Augusta's voice instead of Neville's. He sent his grandmother after her? How in Helga Hufflepuff's good name did he think that would help things? She didn't respond, but that didn't matter because Augusta just kept going.

"And quite honestly, I think a little fresh air could do you some good too."

The Longbottoms seemed to be of a similar mind that fresh air would solve all her problems. She could just go for a walk in one of the many parks in London, admire the pretty flowers and suddenly life wasn't all that bad. They could both go hang with some flowering baskets.

With a wave of her wand, Augusta drew open the curtains and let the summer sun shine into Hannah's dark bedroom. She hissed, feeling much like a vampire after so many days of hiding inside. Hannah pulled the duvet over her head, blocking out the harsh light.

"That's quite enough," Augusta told her. "You can behave like an adult, or I will treat you like a child, but one way or another you are going to get yourself up out of that bed and carry on with your life."

Years of being polite and trying to make a good impression on Augusta bloody Longbottom went out the window. She was done playing the polite little Hufflepuff wife. The covers flew off of Hannah as she suddenly sat up in her bed and responded in her iciest tone, "Oh, bloody hell! You do not get to come into my bedroom and tell me how I should be dealing with the death of my child! Do you really want to go there?"

The two of them stayed frozen in silence for a few moments, eyes locked on one another. Hannah felt her heart thundering in her chest, feeling something other than the dark mess of depression and grief and guilt that had been draining her for the past week. Pure anger that Neville had the gull to send his grandmother after her - the grandmother he knew hated Hannah. Even more anger that Augusta stood there acting like she knew best. The woman who had spent sixteen years grieving her own son and belittling the one he had left behind. Augusta circled the room, slowly returning to the queen sized bed that Hannah shared with Augusta's grandson.

Hannah nervously waited for the response, wondering exactly how Augusta would chew her out. The response was not what Hannah was expecting.

"Did you know Neville should have had an older sister?" Augusta mildly asked as she sat on the foot of Hannah's bed.

Her heart still hammered in her chest, but Hannah stayed quiet. She was a little curious where this was going, but terrified she was being set up for a trap.

"Frank and Alice married straight out of Hogwarts," Augusta shook her head ruefully. "I was against it at the time, they were so young. I even wore black to the wedding, my Frank had never been so angry with me. I regret that now, looking back at how little time they had together."

Any other day and Hannah might have rejoiced that at least Augusta didn't wear black to her wedding. Her grandmother-in-law had worn an acceptable set of emerald dress robes and even a festive hat with a pair of love birds for the occasion. Bitterly, Hannah wondered if Augusta learned her lesson the first time.

Augusta continued with her reminiscing, as if she didn't even notice Hannah. "And then about a year later they had little Isabelle, they called her Izzie. Such a sweet child, she took after Frank. I used to watch her in the afternoons."

Hannah hung on to Augusta's words, morbidly curious where this was going. As far as she knew, Neville never had any siblings. Or at least he never mentioned one.

"She caught the Hag's Cough during one of her checkups at the hospital." Augusta's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Some idiot didn't want to wear a bubble-head charm and infected the waiting area. She passed away within a week, it's a terrible sickness in the little ones."

Augusta's shoulders sagged and she looked older as she continued. "Alice and Frank were devastated, naturally, they adored their little girl. They buried themselves with their auror work, and I thought that would be the end of any family they'd have. Until a few years later when Alice got pregnant again. They didn't tell anyone, I didn't even know until Alice was halfway through." Augusta smiled sadly at this point in her tale. "Alice was so fearful with Neville, every sniffle or cough and she went into a panic. I told her she'd make the boy soft at that rate, not that she ever listened to me. They eventually went into hiding, but I couldn't blame them for that. They had opposed Voldemort so often, and they didn't want to risk – " Augusta's voice broke. "They were frightened someone would come after Neville."

"I can't tell you I understand how you feel, I know you're going through a hard time." Augusta petted her leg. "But you've still got to take care of yourself."

Overwhelmed, Hannah started crying, wanting her husband and his more gentle approach.

"Now I'd start with a shower and a meal," Augusta warned her as she rose from the bed. "I'll send Neville back once he's done with that tree."

Before she left, Hannah stopped her with a question.

"Does Neville know? About Isabelle?"

"No, he doesn't," Augusta admitted, "I thought it was unfair enough that he was denied his parents as a boy, I didn't have the heart to tell him he had lost a sister too."

xXxXx

Hannah was showered and sitting at their kitchen table by the time Neville came home. She had made herself a large English breakfast for supper and was silently eating it, with the copy of the Daily Prophet open next to her. A mixture of surprise and relief was on Neville's face when he walked into their flat to find her up and about.

"There's extra on the stove, or you can go see what Luke has left in the kitchen downstairs," she coolly informed him, "Unless you plan on sending my brother up after me?"

"I'm sorry you're upset, but I'm not sorry I did what I did," Neville told her as he fixed himself a plate. "You were a wreck, and it seems that Gran said something to snap you out of it."

"I suppose," she curtly responded. She was still a bit peeved that Neville sent his gran after her, although she knew he probably felt desperate if he was willing to talk to his gran about any problem concerning her.

"She does have a - er - way of getting things done." Neville offered her a small smile, the one he usually wore when trying to make her come around.

"That she certainly does," Hannah muttered. She stabbed at a few remaining hash browns. She wasn't even sure who she was angry at any more, but Augusta seemed like a good target. Wearily, she rested her head in her hand. "I don't think I'm mad at you, really, I'm just angry at everything and everyone, and I'm exhausted and just want to sleep and cry all the time, I'm such a mess and don't you dare say it's - "

"Hormones?" Neville gave a ghost of a smile.

"I will kill you, Neville," she warned as she speared a sausage with her fork. "When does it get better?"

Neville reached across to hold her hand. "Hopefully soon."

They sat in silence as they finished eating. Now that Hannah actually had something in front of her she realized she was starving.

"So what did Gran say to get you up?" Neville asked when they were done. "She wasn't too hard on you? I did ask her to be kind you know, if she wasn't -"

"I think she tried in her way," Hannah truthfully replied. "And most of it was how it's difficult to lose a child, but that I needed to continue on."

"So she told you about Isabelle then." It was a statement rather than a question.

Her mouth dropped open. "I thought you didn't know."

Neville looked tired and worn as he explained. "I found the death certificate in Mum's things when I was in seventh year. Gran doesn't know I know. Figured she might use that as a shared experience or whatever, since she doesn't like to talk about Dad."

If there was one thing Augusta didn't do, it was get emotional. Opening up to Hannah about losing Frank probably would have been too personal for her, especially if she was trying to stay in control of the situation.

"We should talk about what we're going to do now," sighed Hannah. She knew all along what she wanted to do, she just didn't want to do it.

"We don't have to make any decisions today, we've got time."

"I want to hold her, give her a proper goodbye, a name – " Hannah stopped herself. "I know some couples just vanish them, but that's not me and I don't think it's you either."

"I know love," Neville murmured, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "I'll owl Michael then. Next week?"

Hannah nodded. "And for the name, how do you - how do you feel about Isabelle Augusta Longbottom?"

There was a brief moment before Neville started to nod. His eyes watered for a moment as he said, "I think that's a beautiful name."