One

The late November air was thrown aside by the strong blow of the North wind. Already little white flakes were beginning to fall from the sky. Ginny pulled her coat tighter around her neck as she walked passed the students out for the day.

She could hear their laughter as they ran through the streets. She remembered so vividly her early visits to the town. She had been thirteen and had spent the day running from shop to shop with Leah trying to see everything. She had felt so grown up being given that responsibility.

Thinking back it was just a bit of fun. Those odd days where you could forget the trouble of schoolwork, almost forget even that there was bad in the world. You just got to hang about with your friends doing what kids do.

She missed those times. More now than ever. She felt old, which was strange really since she was only twenty eight years old. But she felt that she had been forced to grow up so young that she had gone from child to middle aged woman without hitting those early adult years.

"Sorry."

A boy who looked around fifteen bumped into her as he left The Three Broomsticks. She just smiled as she stepped inside. It was packed just like she always remembered it being. She couldn't help but grin as she looked over into the corner. That was the corner where Neville had first kissed her after their first date. Then by the bar, that was where Fred had slipped and smashed six bottles of butterbeer onto Ron's foot. This place was filled with so many memories for her.

She stopped at the bar and ordered herself a butterbeer and looked around. A girl with pink hair had climbed onto a chair and was shrieking at something on the floor. Ginny looked down and saw one of fake rat's that Fred and George had made when still alive. It was a genius invention on George's part. The rat would move in and out of chairs and then land on somebody's foot and gave a little nip. Caused so much trouble in her final year in Hogwarts.

A blue spell hit the rat and it stopped moving.

"Sit down Miss King. It's only a Weasley product."

Ginny would know that voice anywhere. She walked among the gossiping students and stopped at a table towards the back. It was the table where they had sat throughout her sixth year when trying to come up with plans on how to leave the castle and help Harry on his quest to destroy Voldemort.

"Afternoon Professor."

She lowered herself into the chair opposite one of her oldest and closest friends, Neville Longbottom. She took him in as he turned to speak to a student who was just passing. He certainly wasn't the same boy she had met back when she was eleven. No Neville had grown up tremendously. Ginny couldn't help but suspect that if his grandmother had made it through the war she would be very proud of him.

It was no secret that Neville had never been the best wizard in the world. He had been a forgetful boy who was so prone to accidents he should have had his own bed in the Hogwarts hospital wing. However that had all changed when Voldemort rose for the second time. Sure there were still occasions when he had messed up but he seemed to grow so quickly. He spent hours practising spells and charms and before they knew it he was good.

Ginny would never forget those dangerous battles they entered together. That day in her fourth year when they took on Umbridge and won. Followed by that horrible experience in the Department of Mysteries in the ministry. She knew he had been there and witnessed Sirius' death. Something that they all remained silent about.

Then the year later when they were needed in Hogwarts, he had been there. He had stood beside her and the others to try and keep everyone safe. He was a hero to her, and to most of the wizarding world. During that final battle when he was injured he had wanted to keep going. Afterwards even he hadn't let it stop him living. Sure it had ended their relationship but he got himself a muggle fashioned wheelchair and kept going.

"Earth to Ginny! You there?"

She shook her head slightly and saw that his grey eyes sparkled with amusement. Leaning over the table a little she pushed his chest feeling the muscle underneath.

"I was just thinking Neville, no need to make fun."

"Would I ever?"

Looking at him you certainly wouldn't think he would. He looked like a perfectly respectable professor. He wore a pair of dark trousers similar to the school ones, with a blue turtleneck jumper on top. His dark hair was brushed back from his face where those grey eyes shined. Yes he looked like the perfect muggle academic.

"So Neville what's happening then? That letter you sent sounded urgent."

"It was. Remember a couple of year's back I worked in the ministry."

"How can I forget that Neville it was your life? I hear that you came pretty close to a memory restoring potion."

"Yeah. Pity it didn't work out. We could have helped your mum before she … and my dad too."

They both fell silent looking into the mugs. Things had changed over the last six years that nobody really wanted to talk about. One of the worse from her point of view was that seven months after marrying Harry her mother had passed away. It had been devastating and they had all taken it badly. Then for Neville more tragedy as a year later his father had been found dead in his bed. His mother no longer spoke to anybody and had stopped eating six weeks ago. It looked like a grim outcome was ready for her too.

A bang sounded from behind them and they both turned. A girl was stood over a chair that had fallen backwards her wand at a boy's throat. Neville had moved his chair before Ginny could react.

"Miss Todd lower your wand from Mr Bacall's throat please otherwise I'll have to start handing out detentions."

"But –"

"But nothing Miss Todd."

She moved her wand and Ginny made out a low mutter as she turned away.

"My legs may not work Todd but my ears do. Ten points from Ravenclaw and a detention with me Monday night."

The look she shot towards Neville was shocking. But he had already turned his back to her and was making his way back to Ginny.

"The language on the children today. It's terrible. I would never have dreamt to speak words like that to my professors."

"But Neville you were shy and sweet. Plus Snape would have ripped you limb from limb."

They both laughed thinking about their old potions professor. A lot had changed since their time in school. Albus Dumbledore had died, Minerva McGonagall was in charge of the school and Severus Snape was drinking buddies with Harry Potter. The world really could be amazing at times.

"Gin getting back on topic now. Back when I was in the ministry I was working on extracts of two plants Herb of Jupiter and Naturina Feverfew. Both have some healing properties but neither one alone is that strong."

"Okay so what's the point of this Neville?"

"I thought that if I bred them and added a few top secret ingredients that I would have a cure for memory loss. Of course that didn't work. But I've been refining the plant for the last six years and breeding more from the original."

Ginny sat back and said nothing. Neville was wearing that far away look he got whenever the topic of shrubbery came up. She had learnt a long time ago to just let him get on with it, he'd get to the point he needed in the end.

"Gin its fantastic. They've changed their no longer the same plant they were when I started it. The healing properties have gotten stronger and stronger and well now it works."

He was grinning and Ginny looked up at him slowly.

"You mean you can cure your mum!"

"No. I can cure you!"

She felt her mouth drop as she looked at him. Cure her. There was nothing wrong with her. She was in top health. In fact she hadn't felt this good in a long time. She had gotten lazy a couple of years back and put on a lot of weight started pigging out. But she had worked long and hard to get back into good shape and she was now the picture of health.

Neville was watching her closely and finally spoke up.

"It was a very long time ago Gin that I spoke to Harry about you. It was just before you started dating, before Ron and Hermione got married. You had been putting on a brave face for so long and he was worried about you. He came and asked me about the possibility of a cure –"

"He what? He had no right to do such a thing!"

"He loves you Gin. Only wants what is best. But I told him that even back then I had a possible cure. But the thing was it wasn't very efficient. It was a short term sort of thing. A potion that could only be taken once a year otherwise it would poison you. Would take two hours to start working and just last twelve hours. I didn't think it would help you so I never mentioned it. But now however…"

"What Neville?"

"It's perfectly fine, or at least I think it is. Hermione and I have been testing it out on the sly without people noticing."

"What do mean by that?"

"Well we've been using the infructuosus curse on certain animals. A couple of dogs, a few cats, a hippogriff and a cow in a field. We knew that the spell would stop them being capable of having children so we slowly fed them the potion over two weeks. Every one of those animals has since given birth. Ginny I'm offering you the chance to have your own baby, to have Harry's baby."

Just want to remind everyone that I wrote Just Old Friends before Half Blood Prince. So sticking to the universe of Just Old Friends and Finally Potter, Dumbledore lived after the downfall of Voldemort and Snape never went traitor. Sorry if that's slightly confusing.