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***
A/N: Almost time for the birth, just a few little things left! And sorry for the teasing of certain names, I'm sure that's not always true :P I have heard teachers sometimes have a hard time naming their kid because they see so many kids with those names and they start to associate them with certain personalities.
There will also be an epilogue up after this. Enjoy!
Chapter 8 - Bundle of Boy
End of September 2007
Hannah snuggled into Neville's side, 1001 Magical Baby Names, propped open between the pair of them. Inside were lists of the most popular names every year for the past century, as well as infamous names like Morgana and Merlin. Many were, quite frankly, outdated or just plain odd.
"Ethelbard," Neville read out loud from a list in the forties. "Now that's a winner. Right up there with Mortlake and Catifern."
"Oh stop it." Hannah giggled. They were admittedly horrible names that would only get their kid bullied in school. That was the first rule they had agreed upon. Nothing too outlandish and nothing that could have any disastrous nicknames. Their son was already going to have to have a thicker skin with a surname like Longbottom. Hannah was sure Neville had heard every creative variation that Draco Malfoy and his pet thugs could toss at him in school. "Be serious for a moment, were there any that you liked?"
Neville shook his head, before he shut the book and tossed it onto their coffee table. "I don't think we're going to find one in here. I prefer something a little simpler than any of these."
"We could go muggle, those are more common with our generation anyway. I always liked the name Bradley," Hannah suggested. "Bradley Longbottom."
Neville immediately shook his head. "I've got two Bradleys in my classes. You don't want to name a kid that. Trust me, Bradleys are trouble."
Hannah absent-mindedly rubbed her stomach, trying to think of another boy's name she liked. It seemed that the lists and lists of names she used to dream up to name her future children simply weren't good enough now that they were actually talking about names.
"Well then, what about Jeffrey?"
"They're even worse," Neville groaned.
"What did little Jeffrey ever do to you?"
"Bradley and Jeffrey thought it was funny to nick one of my Mimbulus Mimbletonias before exams. Did you know Stinksap syrup makes you smarter? I never heard that one before. Half the OWL students stunk something awful that week."
"Oh dear," Hannah giggled. "So not Jeffrey."
Hannah picked up the next book their friends had loaned them, Modern Names for the Magical Child, and began flipping through it. 'Harry' had been listed as the number one boy's name of the decade while the top girl's name had been 'Lily'. Hannah couldn't help but wonder how much trouble those boys would get into if they were anything like their namesake.
"What if we named him after someone who did something good?" Neville suggested. "Like someone who passed away at the Battle?"
She thought of the fifty names engraved on the black marble statue that stood in Hogwart's rebuilt courtyard. She thought of all the people murdered even before the Battle of Hogwarts, for standing up against Voldemort, for having muggle blood, or for even being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The problem was deciding which of so many deserving people they would name their son after.
"I don't even know how we'd choose," Hannah murmured.
"What about a friend," Neville sounded hesitant this time. "What if we named him Justin?"
She quietly flipped to the next page, avoiding making eye contact with Neville. She liked the idea of honouring their lost loved ones with a name. But that particular name came with a lot of history to her. It didn't feel right to name her first son with Neville after her dead boyfriend.
She shook her head. "Isn't that a little weird?"
"I know how much he means to you, Hannah. It's an option, if you want it."
Her life could have gone in so many different directions, but Hannah tried not to think about what it would have been like if her boyfriend had never been killed. The past few years had been emotionally draining enough to get to this point in her pregnancy. She wanted a name with a little less baggage attached to it.
"What about Colin? He was your friend." Hannah softly suggested. "He could have been safe, but he came back the moment you sent out the message. He was so young too, not even seventeen."
Colin had been the youngest person killed that night, and Hannah could still vividly recall the tiny body that had been brought into the Great Hall during the hour-long armistice.
"Colin Thomas Longbottom," Neville tested out the name. She smiled at the inclusive of her father and grandfather's name. "We should send an owl to Dennis first, make sure it's okay with the family."
The baby moved in response, giving her a rather strong kick. Hannah cringed as she rubbed the spot, trying to get him to settle down. "I think that means he approves."
xXxXx
When Susan climbed out of the fireplace, Hannah could have wept with relief. "Oh thank Merlin you're here!"
"I came as soon as I could, how bad are they?"
The contractions had started early in the morning, and had been slowly intensifying over the course of her day. While Neville would come home in an instant if he knew, Hannah wanted someone who would be a little more calm and pragmatic about the whole ordeal. It was going to be a while before she needed to go to the hospital.
And Neville, honestly, would just be freaking out.
"A little worse than period cramps," Hannah said, "And they're getting closer together. Every twelve minutes or so?"
"Okay," Susan nodded, "You've got a while to go yet. Where's Neville?"
"He's in class - " Hannah was cut short by another contraction, wincing as her stomach felt like it had balled up into a fist.
"Labour trumps class," Susan dismissed. With that, she waved her wand and a silvery goat leapt out and hopped around the room before jumping out of the window. "Now let's see if we can make you a little comfortable while we wait, I don't think you want to go to the hospital just yet."
"He's just going to worry," Hannah protested. "Honestly, it might be better if he's distracted for a little while."
"Let him worry and fuss over you, it's his baby you're having. He doesn't get to run and hide until it's over."
Susan ran Hannah a warm bath after that, trying to make her somewhat comfortable between contractions. She sat on the toilet, just behind the closed curtain, distracting Hannah with news of her two daughters. It wasn't working so much, as Hannah closed her eyes and thought about the upcoming delivery. The excitement of finally getting to meet her son was tinged with a lot of anxiety. Everything is going to be fine, she shakily reassured herself. By this time tomorrow you'll have your son in your arms.
"We've been talking about a third, I think Ernie's hoping for a boy this time round - "
Susan was cut short by the sound of a large crack outside their window. Hannah could hear Susan move around, standing up on the toilet. She was probably looking out the small, circular window to look down at the front step. "Neville's home."
"Hannah?" She could hear her husband call out as he ran upstairs. "Is everything all right?"
"In the bathroom," Susan yelled back.
He was rather breathless when he opened the door. Hannah knew without a doubt that he had run across the large Hogwarts grounds until he made it out of the anti-apparation jinx. It was a miracle he didn't splinch himself. "I came as soon as I could - " he stopped as he caught himself. "Shouldn't we be going to the hospital?"
Susan stretched her arms over her head and cracked her shoulders, "We've got a little while to go. Why don't you go make an early supper? Pasta, I think, Hannah's going to need energy later."
The next few hours stretched on. Hannah ate a little supper, but didn't have much appetite. She tried to take a nap, but couldn't get comfortable for very long. Susan was in her element, taking control of the situation and bossing Neville around. They packed her bag for the trip to the hospital, sent out an owl to find a replacement professor for Neville, checked that the nursery was ready. Every so often, Susan would time her contractions to see how far along she was.
Around seven o'clock in the evening, the contractions finally started getting closer tonight.
Neville was in the middle of a floo-call to Michael, making plans for when they would have to leave for the hospital. He pulled his head out of the fireplace for a moment. "Michael wants to know how long the contractions are lasting and how far apart?"
Susan looked at her wrist-watch, "The last one was sixty-three seconds, and they're six minutes apart now."
There was a few seconds when Neville stuck his head back in to relay that information to Michael, before pulling his head out again.
"Michael's on his way," Neville informed them, getting up from the fireplace. "He said he'll be in the reception area when we get there."
There was a flurry of activity around her, and soon Neville was at her side with her bag for the hospital and the set of portkeys from the ministry. He wrapped an arm tightly around her, as if not to lose her while travelling. His other hand held hers, and pressed between their palms was the red key that would take them to St Mungo's.
"Are you ready?" he asked. Hannah could feel the kiss on the top of her head.
Another contraction came, more intense than the ones before. Hannah breathed in deeply, before letting it out, waiting for this one to pass. "I think so. St Mungos!"
She could feel the key magically activate in their hands. She could feel the tug before they were off to the hospital.
xXxXx
Hannah felt exhausted and sore, but also very content.
After several hours of labour, and a very exhausting hour of pushing, her baby had come screaming into their world just moments ago. She collapsed into the bed while Neville stroked her matted hair and told her how proud he was of her. "I love you, you're really wonderful, you know?"
"Mmm, love you too," Hannah tiredly agreed. The painless potion had helped, but now that it was wearing off she could feel the aches and pains from what her body just endured. She was completely drained, although the excitement kept her from dozing off just yet.
She was rather impatient as she waited to be handed her son.
Neville at least got to do the severing charm before Michael took him. Their son was to be cleaned and checked over before being handed off to be fussed over by his parents. She had been waiting what felt like forever for this moment, and these last few minutes felt impossibly long. Finally, she heard the words she had been waiting for:
"Here Neville, why don't you pass this little guy over to Mum?"
Feeling suddenly alert, Hannah managed to prop herself up so she could hold him. Neville carefully walked across the room, cradling their son as he smiled down at him, speaking soft words.
"Here he is," she cooed as Neville placed the little bundle into her arms at last. Her heart wanted to burst with joy at the sight of him. "Here's my little boy."
While she knew that Michael had examined him, Hannah wasn't content until she did her own. There were five little fingers on each hand. Five little toes on each foot. Two ears, two eyes, a nose and little bow-shaped mouth. His hair was a very fine white-blond and almost invisible on top of his head. He had two big baby blue eyes that stared up curiously at her. He had her nose, she decided, but his cheeks were round and chubby like Neville's had been in their youth.
"He looks just like his Mummy, doesn't he?" Neville softly asked. He had sat on the edge of her hospital bed, one arm around her as he watched both of them.
"I think there's a little of Daddy in him too." She gently brushed her thumb over his smooth cheeks, completely in awe.
After all the frustration and heartbreak, they finally had their baby. Tears dampened her cheeks. He was breathtakingly perfect.
Michael handed over a birth certificate, where he had signed off with the date, time and location. There were a few blank spaces, including signatures from the mother and father, and the full name.
"Does he have a name yet, or do you need some time to think about it?"
Hannah tilted her head up to catch Neville's eye. They hadn't shared the name with too many, in case they changed their minds when they finally got to see him. For the past month they had been calling him Colin more and more in private, especially once Dennis Creevey wrote them back with the family's blessing. And now that she was looking at him, she couldn't think of any other name that would suit him.
"Our son's name is Colin Thomas Longbottom," Neville proudly announced.