Snow quickly blanketed England as mid-November rolled around. Up until this time I had successfully dodged any red hair male that I came into contact with. Since Ginny told her family, word had spread among the gingers and they all seemed to give me the same indignant glare from wherever they were standing.

I was packing up my things for the day at the Ministry when a balding red haired man came into my office. "Neville Longbottom?" He asked as a question, but we both knew the answer.

"Yes sir?" I asked, quickly standing up as a sign of respect. The man quickly waved me off and signaled for us to sit.

"Arthur is fine. Arthur Weasley." He pronounced, as if his hair and complexion were not a dead giveaway. "I was a friend of your parents when they were in the Order. Fine fighters they were…" Mr. Weasley's voice trailed off like an unfinished thought. He shifted uneasily in the chair across from me and rested his chin on his palm. "Ginny told Molly that you two went to visit your parents."

Mr. Weasley was unreadable with his vacant expressions. I couldn't tell what he was getting at, or if he was just really bad at making conversation. "Yes sir- I mean, Mr. Weasley, I did take Ginny to meet my parents. Ever since then we have been taking trips every other week. You see, my mum is very fond of Ginny…"

"Ah. Yes, Ginny is a very likable person." Mr. Weasley turned to the other edge of the chair and crossed his legs. He tapped lightly on his mouth as if to choose his next words more carefully, "Molly also told me that Ginny plans to move in with you."

There was a reoccurring theme with the way that Mr. Weasley spoke. So I tried as best as I could to point out his flaws. "Mr. Weasley… I don't mean to be rude, but you keep saying that Mrs. Weasley has been telling you things… have you spoken to Ginny at all since she told you?"

Mr. Weasley almost scowled at me; his face was far redder than his hair. "How did you-"

"Ginny talks to me." I answered plainly, "We talk about everything. She's really torn up that you haven't spoken to her and have even gone so far as to avoid her."

He stood up out of his chair and looked directly at me. "I love my daughter. I will love her until the day that I die. I just cannot idly watch and see her get hurt. Are you listening Longbottom, because I am only going to say this once." His voice had risen to a volume that I had reserved for people who were painfully almost deaf or for my worst enemies. "Ginny is one of the most precious things that I hold dear to my heart. One only has his family in life, so I intend to keep mine close. In these next few months you will be making a lot of decisions that will affect the lives of many. I warn you to choose the best option available for you in the long run." Mr. Weasley let out a sigh and recomposed himself, "Neville. I want what is best for my daughter and my future grandchild. What I am saying is, if you do not plan to stay forever, then do not make plans to do so. If you make the commitment to my daughter, then you will be forever bound. You will stay by her side at every moment. You will not miss your child's first Quidditch match or their first spelling bee or anything of the sort. If you move in with my daughter, I expect to see you around for the rest of my life."

Mr. Weasley stared at me for a few moments. I gestured him to sit back down and I stood. "Mr. Weasley. From a young age I was taught that family is the most important thing. My parents were tortured to insanity and have been kept at St. Mungo's for over 20 years. I was raised by a verbally abusive Grandmother who would constantly remind me that I was not successful in living up to what my parents were. I begged the Sorting Hat to set me in Hufflepuff just so that I had an excuse. Growing up I progressively found my inner strength and finally made my Gran proud. While my Gran may be harsh and borderline abusive, she is the one family member I have left that can remember me. It may not look like it from the exterior, but I know how important family is. Believe me, if I had a family as big and close as yours, I would be giving me the exact same speech."

Mr. Weasley sat as far back as he could in the chair across from me. It still was undetermined whether this was a good or a bad sign. His straightened back loosened and his posture sank. "Well Neville…" he paused for what I assumed to be dramatic effect, "Molly and I would be honored to welcome you into our family, if you choose to do so."

"Mr. Weasley, are you proposing to me?" He let out an unhindered laugh and stood back up, motioning for me to come toward him. As I did I realized the false security that he had put me under and he wrapped his arms around me… only it was just a hug... Mr. Weasley was hugging me. I tried my best to act natural, but it just came off as an awkward, tense moment between two people.

"You take care now," he patted me on the back and straightened his robes, "and send Ginny my love." With only those words he left my office with a smile and a nod.

With her dad's love and permission, I was ready to go home to Ginny who had been waiting for me and I didn't want to keep her waiting any longer. I finished packing my things and left my office. Once I went through the fireplace I apparated a few blocks away from my flat.

Then I cheerily corrected myself, a few blocks away from Ginny's and my flat. Today had turned out a lot better than I had anticipated it to be. As this thought came to my mind, I was suddenly proved wrong and grabbed by shirt into a lonely alley. I groped for my wand, but it had already been snatched from my possession. My hands were cuffed behind my back and I was forced to the ground. My face met with the hot tar and it seemed to melt like ice cream on a hot day.

I tried to scream, but a murmur of Silencio and my efforts were lost.

"What should we do with him?"

The man hissed, "let's do what we had planned boys."

Then from what I could remember, everything went black.

Ron

Ginny was frantic. Everyone was out looking for Neville, since he had not come home after work in the afternoon. It was midnight and we had all split up into pairs searching for him. George and I had volunteered together since both Hermione and Ginny were staying at the respective apartments in case he showed up there. "When we find him, I'm gonna kill him." I mumbled. Walking down the eerie streets of London at midnight with no direction was not one of my favorite past times.

After about two hours of searching we were ready to give up. We headed back toward Ginny's apartment with our heads hung low.

"You don't think he ran did you? You know, after dad talked to him?" George mused.

"I doubt it. He would be more of an idiot to run than he would be to-" an ear shattering crash came from down the alley. George and I gave each other wary glances and he went down first. "Lumos" George muttered, his wand giving off a ray of light. Walking down further we saw an empty trash can spilt over sideways. When I tried to pick it up, I could see exactly what had caused the trash can to crash. Neville lay on the ground, nearly in a paralyzed state. His eye lids were struggling to stay open as his hand reached out to us. Without thinking I ordered to George, "You get his right, I'll get his left and we'll carry him back to the apartment."

George looked in awe at Neville, he started pestering him with questions, but Neville couldn't speak. George lifted the curse and Neville let out an audible sigh. He managed to say a feeble, "thanks", but he couldn't utter anything else.

We rushed Neville down the street and up all four flights of stairs in his building. George and I burst into the room with Neville sluggishly holding onto us. Ginny let out an ear shattering cry when she first saw him, and almost fell to the floor at the sight of him. In the light, Neville looked more hideous than he ever had before. His face and hair were covered in dried blood and his bottom lip was torn open. His clothes were badly tattered and he refused to move his left leg. George and I carefully set him on the couch and let Ginny take over the healing. George started calling numbers, but my eyes remained glued to the scene that was Ginny and Neville.

Ginny scrambled through her emergency bag and found a small vile of Essence of Dittany. Just by using little droplets, Neville's open wounds started to heal. My sister kept on whispering to Neville, telling him to stay strong and that everything would be alright. I had never seen my sister concentrate so hard in my life. Once she had used all the Dittany her body relaxed and she grabbed for the wet washcloth on the table. Her hands were gentle as she handled Neville with the utmost care. "I'm so sorry Neville. I'm so sorry." Neville gave a smirk and muffled, "Why? That I have my own personal healer to take care of me? I'm not sorry. I think I'm the luckiest guy."

I could not tell if the feeling inside my stomach was warm and fuzzy or onset nausea.

Ginny kissed Neville on his cheek, since his bottom lip had not fully healed. "I'm just glad you're safe."

I coughed once to remind everyone of my presence. The sick man looked up at me and said, "I know what you're thinking, and its okay. You can ask me a few questions."

A long swing of red hair flipped in the other direction and Ginny's face stared up at mine. "I hope you're going to make a full report out of this. Whoever did this needs to face the consequences."

"They took my wand and tied my hands behind my back," Neville's voice broke, "It felt like I was being mugged, but I don't know if they really stole from me. Other than the fact that they took my wand I don't have any reason to believe they were wizards."

"And they struck you in the afternoon?"

"Late afternoon," Neville corrected, "I had come home from work later than usual."

"Do you remember what they looked like?" George inquired, holding his hand over the phone.

"I didn't really get a look at them," Neville pouted glumly, "they were wearing black and I think there were at least three if not four of them."

"Can you describe your attack?" I asked, but caught a blazing look from Ginny.

"Don't answer that Neville," she shushed, "Are you trying to traumatize him?!"

"Did they say anything that might be useful to us in our investigation?"

Neville lay on the couch for a long time and his eyes were rapid, trying to remember anything that would be of use… "it was a planned attack. That was one of the last things I remember them saying. One bloke said 'what do we do' and then the one in charge said 'what we planned'…" Neville's voice trailed off as he caught Ginny's eye. I could tell he didn't want to hurt Ginny more than he already had.

"And we know they used a spell on you so at least one of them had to be a wizard," George chimed in.

"Whoever they are, they're cowards." Ginny said flatly, dabbing Neville's face another time and moving over to his leg. "I'd like to give them more than a piece of my mind."

"Ginny, you just take care of Neville and leave the Auror business to the professionals." Ginny's glare was enough to slice through a stale loaf of bread. She would have retaliated with a smart remark, but she looked back to Neville and said, "I'm just glad that he didn't run off."

Neville gave a smirk, "you can't get me to run that easy."

He then tried to turn on his side, but gave an immense jerk in his leg, wincing while holding onto it. Ginny rushed toward his leg to see what the matter was and it looked broken. She nervously looked at him, "I don't know if I can do that spell."

"I'll call Hermione. She has a way with fixing things." George said, leaving toward the kitchen.

I almost felt as though I was spying on an intimate moment between two people. Ginny was frantically trying to find something to help Neville with the pain, but after a few moments, Neville grabbed Ginny's hand and just stared into her eyes. He let her know that he was alright and that he knew she was doing all she could to help him.

I guess I could get used to the idea of my sister being a Longbottom. As long as I could tease her for at least a year about her last name.

George came back into the room and announced that Hermione was on her way.

Within seconds Hermione was in the room and already commanding Ginny on what to do. I liked when she was bossy. "You look terrible Neville." Hermione said, looking from his face to his leg.

"I always try to impress company," he smiled, but winced when Hermione tried to move his leg.

"Definitely broken." She said matter-of-factly. "Brace yourself Neville, this might hurt."

"Don't judge if I scream like a little girl then," he said.

You could hear the crack from the bones going back into their original places. Neville clenched his jaw and held onto Ginny's hand tighter. Everyone cringed at the sound and Neville let out only a whine of pain. "Thanks Hermione. Always a charmer."

I tried not to look on him with pity, but it was hard to not see the clear pain he was in. He turned to me and said, "Thank you and thank George. Without you, I would still be on the street." He croaked. Ginny immediately got up and poured Neville a glass of water. She put in a bendy straw so that he wouldn't have to sit up. Ginny then rested her back on the end of the couch.

Hermione caught the hint that George and I had clearly been missing, "Well, I think we better go. We'll let everyone know that you're alright so that Ginny doesn't have to make a million phone calls. You both need your rest. Your leg is pretty much healed, but I wouldn't put too much pressure on it for a while. I can bring you something in the morning to help you move around."

Ginny turned around to look at us and there was a hint of fear in her eyes. "Are we going to be safe here? I mean, they knew Neville's way home, you would think they would know where he lives. What if they come in? Neville doesn't have a wand…"

"I'll stay Gin," George said, "If it would make you feel better, I will stay."

Ginny

It wasn't like I wanted my older brother to chaperone us, but it was a better alternative than to have us be alone. Neville slept on the couch and George took the floor by the kitchen after he put some protective charms around the apartment.

I took the bed and received little to no sleep. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes I saw Neville lying on the street in a pool of blood. I decided to roll out of bed at four and go into the kitchen. Neville and George were both still passed out in the living room. It made me feel better to see Neville sleeping, watching his chest go up and down.

I grabbed a cup of orange juice and just stood in the kitchen doorway, watching his chest go up and down and up again. Apparently I had made too much noise because Neville whispered, "Ginny?"

"Shhhh," I hushed him, coming closer to the couch, "you need to sleep."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't help but think that I'm putting our family in danger. I couldn't live with myself if I lost-"

"You did nothing to do this and you couldn't have prevented it. I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense. You need to know that I care about you too much to let you push me away." I grabbed onto his hand and he gave a feeble smile. "I love you too much."

Neville smiled even wider and looked toward me know. I looked at him and said, "I didn't scare you away now did I?"

"You're going to have to do a lot more than say I love you to scare me off Weasley." He grinned, leaning into my ear, "because I love you too."

I couldn't help but kiss his forehead and smile. He laughed quietly and held onto my hand tighter, "You have no idea how lucky I feel to have you in my life Ginny."

(A/N: 5/24/14- Really long time no read! Hopefully someone will read this and enjoy it :) please review?)