"Warm Night at Hogwarts"
Chapter 16
"Uncertainties"
A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to post, but I have my reasons. It's rather short and I hope that you enjoy it. There is still a lot more to come, I just don't know how long it will take to post them. I've already started on the next installment, but you know me, I can make it last quite a while. But hopefully you won't have to wait too long. Enjoy.
Uncertainties
Without thought Harry dove in front of and covered Ron. Instead of being hit by the green light, he heard it pop overhead. It was followed by several other short pops. When it became silent in the room again, Harry looked up. He was surprised to see Neville Longbottom standing in the doorway looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry mates; I didn't mean to scare you." Neville stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. It was quite obvious that visiting hours were over and before either of the boys could ask, Neville answered the question that was playing in their eyes. "I saw Ron's mum in the hall and asked her if I could come see you guys. I was here…" He let the sentence trail off, looking at the floor.
Harry and Ron looked at each other, both wondering why Neville was at the hospital, but neither wanted to venture a guess. With the chubby boy fidgeting in the corner, Harry had to venture a guess. "Is your gram ill?"
Neville shook his head, letting the redness in his cheeks increase, keeping his eyes on the floor. He shuffled from his left to right foot, letting his weight shift from side to side. Never quite knowing what to say, he decided that sometimes the best things to say were nothing at all. When he finally allowed himself to look up, he noticed something new. There was something on Harry's hand. As soon as Neville realized what it was, his hand flew to cover his mouth. "Oh Merlin," he exclaimed, "I'm interrupting. I'm so sorry mates." He started to back away to the door.
Harry jumped up as quickly as he could and extended his arm. "No Neville. Stop." He looked down at the bed and let a slow smile come to his lips. "I think it's time someone should know. Ron just proposed to me." He let his sentence fade off into the silence of the room.
Neville stopped and stared, open-mouthed at his raven haired friend. He let his gaze travel to the bed, then back to Harry. "You… You did say yes didn't you?" Neville asked uncertainly.
"Well, he really didn't say anything at all, yet. He was probably going to and then you came busting in here with your fireworks." It was obvious that Ron was poking at Neville, but he didn't realize how much he was hurting his friend.
The boy looked at the two in front of him and slowly brought his hand up to wipe the tear away. "I'm so sorry guys. I had no clue." He turned and was out the door before anyone could stop him. When he was halfway down the corridor, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Without looking around, Neville let his shoulders slump and squinted his eyes. He was always mucking things up, but he wouldn't let it happen anymore. Tonight would be the last night that Neville Longbottom interrupted anything else. "Harry…" He felt himself being turned around and embraced. He felt the stinging behind his eyes and knew that he wouldn't be able to stop the tears from coming. "I'm…"
"I know mate. I know you're sorry. You didn't know. No one knew. I didn't know. It's ok. Come back to the room, I have something I want to show you."
Neville stood and shook his head. "I can't. I have ruined the perfect moment for you and Ron. I can't deal with that. I mean, I know I've messed up a lot of things before, but I shouldn't have called on you two. I should have given you your privacy. I should have asked before I came. I should have done a lot of things that I haven't done over the years. I'm sorry Harry."
Harry Potter stepped back from his friend. In all the years he'd known Neville he had never heard him apologize like this. He felt something deeper was going on, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Neville needed some kind of help, but he didn't know what kind or even if he could offer it to his friend, but he had to try something. His fellow mates in Gryffindor were his family for so long. It didn't matter that he had a grandmother now, or that his godfather was presumed dead, or that his new fiancé was laying in a hospital bed several rooms back. All that mattered was the emotionally frail boy in front of him. After searching his brain, all Harry could come up with to say was "Don't do anything stupid Neville. If you must go, I understand, but for Merlin's sake, don't do anything you'd end up regretting."
Neville turned around and walked briskly to the doors. For the beginning of the summer months, London was rather cold, the wind screaming through the trees. Every once and a while, an owl could be spotted flying low, with a letter attached to its leg. He needed to get to the Leaky Cauldron so he could pass through and get to Diagon Alley. He needed a couple of things in order to finish off what he had started.