Neville's Garden
Though no part of the conversation was heard, the reaction observed and the subsequent events told everyone what had happened. Professor McGonagall had come down to the greenhouses during Herbology and spoke first to Professor Sprout and then they asked for Hannah. The other students watched in silence as Hannah broke down before McGonagall led her back to the castle.
Questions buzzed around professor Sprout but she snapped at them to be quiet and with the fierce reaction from her the students did.
Hannah cleaned up her section of the room quickly and sobbingly. Her father was waiting for her in Hogsmeade where they would disapparate home. With the rest of her roommates in class with the Ravenclaws, there was no one to bother her or ask her any questions. It would be nice to have someone though, someone standing beside her as she left.
She finished packing her trunk and gripped the handle, pulling it noisily down the stairs.
Neville Longbottom was happy that morning. The sun was bright and that meant it was going to be good conditions for gardening. He had just planted some new seeds and he was going to be happy to put some water on them. It wasn't that it was one of the few things that he was really good at, it was the sheer act of it. The peace that it brought him to take things slow, to watch them bloom so beautifully by his hand. To bring something bright and lovely to the world that wasn't there before. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone, well possibly Luna, she might be the only one who wouldn't make fun of him for it.
The halls were usually empty at this point of the day, so it was a bit surprising to see professor McGonagall and Hannah Abbott coming his way, especially because Hannah was dragging her trunk behind her and wiping at her eyes.
"Professor, Hannah, what's wrong?" Neville asked as they got to him.
"Mr. Longbottom, if you would please excuse us," McGonagall said.
But Hannah had other ideas, it might have been the sound of a companion voice or the appearance of a fellow member of the D.A. but she dropped the handle to her trunk and wrapped her arms around Neville's neck. Neville didn't know what to do so, he stood with his arms out to his sides.
"I... um..." Neville said.
"Professor," Hannah said in a small voice. "Could Neville take me to Hogsmeade?"
"Mr. Longbottom if you wouldn't..."
"I don't mind at all," Neville said as she let him go and he grabbed the handle to Hannah's trunk.
Hannah and Neville walked away from a distraught professor McGonagall with the only sounds coming from Hannah in the form of sobs and weeping.
"Hannah, if you don't mind telling me, I was just wondering what's wrong?" Neville asked her.
She didn't respond immediately instead, she sobbed harder, hiccuping before she could answer.
"My mother was killed by the Death Eaters last night," Hannah sobbed after a long while.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Neville said and quickly shifted to wrap his arm around her.
She sobbed into his shoulder, tears staining his jumper and causing him to swerve a little as they walked. They came to the main doors passing Filch who Neville scowled at to get him to leave them alone with his various secrecy sensors. When they were out of the courtyard and along the path to Hogsmeade, Neville didn't know what to say.
"I kind of know how you feel," Neville said.
"How?" Hannah asked him.
"You know how I live with my grandmother?"
"Yeah?"
"My parents were tortured into insanity by the Death Eaters."
"Oh my God."
"So, um... the way that I deal with it is to think about the way that I can help people that are still alive and care about them. So, I don't know if that'll help you but... I just thought."
They fell into silence again and soon Neville had brought Hannah to Hogsmeade. A sad looking man stood there waiting for her.
"Hannah," he said and embraced his daughter.
After a long hug, he stood in front of Neville and presented his hand.
"And you are?" he said.
"Longbottom, sir, Neville Longbottom," Neville said shaking it twice and letting his hand go.
"Thank you for escorting my daughter to the village."
"No problem, sir. Happy to do it."
The Abbotts looked at Neville as they took hands. Hannah was holding her father's hand while he held her trunk with his other. Her last free hand gave Neville and by extension Hogwarts one last little wave. Then they were gone with a crack.
"Where's Neville?" Ron asked as they sat down to lunch.
"I don't know, Won-Won," Lavender said.
Harry as he always did whenever Lavender said something like that, looked at his fork thinking about jabbing it into his jugular vein.
"Hermione," Ron said as she walked by. "Have you seen Neville?"
Hermione turned up her nose at him and kept walking.
"Thanks, you're loads of help," Ron said.
Neville hadn't done anything for a long time. He was sitting on a rock overlooking his garden overturning a packet of seeds in his hands.
He had continued into Hogsmeade after Hannah had left. There was a little gardening store at the far end of the village. He had gone inside without thinking and begun looking around. He usually stuck with plants that he could show to professor Sprout to impress her, things that were challenging to grow. Instead, he had bought several different kinds of flowers. Unchallenging, boring, useless flowers. He didn't know why until he thought about Hannah, her face and sadness. He remembered as a child when he would miss his parents, he would wish for someone, anyone, to tell him that it was going to be okay, to show some concern or let him know that they were thinking about him. Instead, he kept it hidden from everyone. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna all knew about it and that was it. They never mentioned it out of courtesy to him but it would be nice to just talk once about how it felt. To let someone know.
He looked at his overturned ground and opened up the packets. It was time to get to work.
Weeks passed, Neville laughed and joined in with his friends on things. He went to classes and did his homework. But above all, he tended to his garden. The blooms were becoming bigger and brighter. There was just one problem, he had never written to Hannah before, he knew her address as most in the wizarding world knew where each other lived but he had never actually exchanged a great many words with her. This was going to come completely out of left field. He didn't even know if she was still there. What would he say? What could you possibly say in this situation?
He wasn't that great with words. But he did know someone who was. He gathered his tools and started back to the castle.
Hermione Granger was staring at the multiple armed monster sitting in the armchair next to her. She had cleared her throat several times to no avail. She was too stubborn to leave because of them as she had been sitting there first. She didn't know that Lavender was shooting her furtive glances and evil looking smug smiles. She wished that her headphones worked in the castle, if she could just block out the noise.
"Hermione," Neville said as he walked in through the portrait hole.
"Oh hello, Neville," Hermione said.
"Can I talk to you for a little bit?"
"Sure."
"Um... in private... it's kind of important."
Hermione gave him a quizzical look but quickly put her book away and followed him out of the common room. That finally got Ron's attention.
"Oh my God, Neville, this place is beautiful," Hermione said.
"Thank you," Neville said.
"You did this all yourself?'
"Yes."
"Incredible. What spell did you use?"
"I didn't use any magic."
"Fantastic."
"So, anyway, I need your help."
"What's going on?"
"You know how Hannah's mother was killed?"
"Yes..."
"Well, that's who the flowers are for though I was thinking about sending some to my grandmother and giving some to you and Luna."
"That's very nice of you, but I don't understand how I could help."
"I don't know what to say to someone when their loved one has died."
"Oh, I guess I can help you with that, let me just get some parchment."
The tapping was getting persistent. Hannah rubbed at her eyes looking out the window of her room. It was then that she threw it open. A rainbow of flowers held by a fleet of birds came into her room creating a ring of color over her head. She laughed and smiled for the first time in months. It was then that one tiny owl came flying in and landed in front of her. It held out its leg and she took the piece of parchment off from it. She opened the letter and began reading.
She smiled deeply to herself as the birds deposited the flowers around her.