Updated 5/23/2008 - Cookies to HeavenGoddess who corrected my French school name! Also, word changed to better reflect emotions.

A/N: Harry's mistake. (wicked grin) You'll all find out inn 27 & 28…. Of course, I had to fix an error about it last chapter – in case anyone wants to try and track it down, the mistake was made in October, not September. Very, very sorry!! (smacks forehead) And to think I messed it up in 27 and called it November and had to fix it there, too. Sheesh, I need a timeline. Wait, I already have a timeline… Bad author… (shakes head)

The General – You'll hear more about the General in the last chapter.

No Harry in this chapter either except a teensy bit at the end. (laughs wickedly and runs for cover)

Cookies for JDL45 who discerned my dastardly plot (mwa ha ha ha ha!)

Chapter 26 – Neville's Summer

Draco Malfoy came to visit Neville Longbottom on July 31. It was the first full day of Neville's adulthood and Draco was counting on Longbottom responding like the man he now was and not reject out of the hand the proposal that was going to be presented to him. Draco announced himself to the house elf that came to let him in to the manor and half a minute later was being escorted outside and to the master of the house.

Draco admired the gardens as he was led through them and towards a large greenhouse; they were different than the Malfoy gardens, more wild, but still beautiful. Longbottom obviously took very good care of them. There was a small patio in front of the greenhouse that held a small stone-top table and two chairs of white-painted ironwork. He could see Longbottom washing his hands and face in the tall thin fountain off to the side of the patio.

As he stepped onto the patio a second house-elf arrived and placed a tea set on the table before going over to Longbottom and holding out a towel.

Draco waited until the other man had finished drying his face and hands then said, "Good morning, Longbottom. I hope I'm not interrupting anything urgent."

"Good morning, Malfoy," Neville said as he returned the towel to the attending elf. "Just some harvesting, not to worry. What brings you to my estate?" He gestured Malfoy over to the table and took the opposite seat. He wondered just what Malfoy was doing here. If he was here about Harry, he was going to be awfully disappointed. He poured tea for them both.

Draco accepted the tea that was passed to him and took a polite sip before setting down the cup and pulling out a scroll from his robe pocket. He placed the pristine white scroll with its silver ribbon in front of his host.

Neville froze in shock.

Draco finally got impatient as Longbottom continued to stare speechlessly. "For Merlin's sake, Longbottom, it's not going to bite you."

Neville was startled out of his stunned astonishment and looked up at Malfoy in amazement. "That's a betrothal contract," he said.

"So it is," Draco said. "One I'd like you to seriously consider."

Neville paused for several moments before responding. This had not been expected. "Just whom do you have the right to bargain for, Malfoy?" he asked, still very much surprised.

Draco looked off to the side for a moment before turning his eyes back to Longbottom. "Pansy Parkinson," he said.

Neville stared at his guest in disbelief. "What about her father?" he asked in confusion.

Draco sneered and said, "He lost all his paternal rights to her. I saw to that."

"What did you do, Malfoy?" Neville asked, curiosity now blending with his overall astonishment at the situation.

"I initiated the Rite of Forfeit," Draco said and raised his chin defiantly.

"You didn't!" Neville's squeaked. "That was really dangerous."

Draco snorted in derision. "It wasn't dangerous at all," he refuted. "The man had positively relinquished his rights as her father. I know what all the books say; that it can take hours for magic to judge the situation and that you feel like you've been attacked by a score of bludgers afterwards. But it wasn't like that for me. The whole process took only a couple of minutes and it wasn't harsh at all. It was that unequivocal."

"Merlin," Neville breathed. He didn't want to think about what the situation must have been for a result like that but was afraid that he already knew. "Is this why you were, uh…"

"Such a prick in school?" Draco finished in amusement. "Yes, actually. I needed to watch out for Pansy, but with my father still in control of me…Well, let's just say that he often used Pansy as a guarantee of my appropriate behavior."

Neville grimaced in disgust. Merlin, Lucius was more of a bastard than he'd ever thought. "Why did you choose me?" he asked.

"I didn't," Draco said with a small smirk. "Pansy did."

"All right," Neville said agreeably, though he was now even more surprised. He couldn't remember ever talking to the girl. "Why did Pansy choose me?"

"She wrote you a letter," Draco said and pulled an envelope from his robe and set it on the table.

Neville stared at the envelope, then at Malfoy, then at the scroll. He closed his eyes a moment then opened them and snapped his fingers for a house-elf. He quietly requested a contract quill and reached for the scroll. He'd only managed to untie the scroll and start the auto-rolling feature before the house-elf returned with the quill.

"What are you doing, Longbottom?" Draco asked in confusion. "You can't possibly read that fast."

Neville had a determined expression on his face as he ignored Malfoy's question. Once the scroll finished rolling to the end, he readied the quill and quickly signed the contract.

"What are you doing, Longbottom?" Draco cried in alarm as he stood up quickly, causing the chair to skitter backwards and almost topple. "You're supposed to read it before you sign it! Even imbeciles read a betrothal contract before they sign it!"

Malfoy continued on in this vein for some time and Neville just stared at him. When Malfoy paused to take a deep breath, Neville said quietly, "If you can keep your mouth shut about something, Malfoy, I'll tell you a secret."

Draco snapped his mouth shut and stared at Longbottom sitting as calm as could be, as if he hadn't just signed a contract that would drastically affect the rest of his life. Draco took a deep breath then retrieved his chair and sat back down. He glared silently and waited for an explanation.

Neville set the betrothal contract to rolling back up the beginning then took several sips of his tea. Eventually he'd gathered his thoughts and started his story. "I don't know how it is in your family, but in the Longbottom family all the males in the direct line of succession go through a Rite of Ascension on their seventeenth birthday. During this rite, the new heir is given a vision of who his wife is to be."

Draco opened his mouth then closed it as Longbottom waved him quiet.

"That's all I knew about the rite before I went into it," Neville said. "I expected to see a picture of my wife-to-be, a snapshot from which I could identify her easily." Neville gave a short mirthless laugh. "But that wasn't what happened at all."

"What did happen?" Draco asked quietly, his curiosity piqued, despite his aggravation, at learning details about another family's ascension rite.

Neville smiled grimly. "I had a vision."

Draco stared. "A vision," he repeated.

Neville looked away and swirled his tea. "I was standing in a meadow," he said quietly. "I was about to start studying the plants when a small fox suddenly ran out of the surrounding woods and into the meadow. Somehow, I knew it was a female and that she was pretty young. She was injured but was running as fast as she could. Just moments later a big fox also ran out of the woods. Somehow, I knew that this fox was the father of the little fox. He caught the little fox and attacked her."

"Merlin," Draco whispered in a strangled tone.

Neville ignored the soft exclamation and continued. "I couldn't do anything other than watch. It was like I wasn't allowed to interfere. The big fox…well, he really hurt the little fox. And then he left. The little fox was dying and he just left. The little fox was whimpering in pain but she eventually got up the strength to let out this really plaintive howl. It was awful."

Draco grabbed his tea and took a large gulp then set the teacup back down, ignoring the rattling it made due to his shaky hands. "What then?" he whispered.

Neville continued to swirl his tea while staring out over the gardens. "Then I heard the cry of a hawk. I looked up and in the sky was a hawk coming towards the fox. The hawk dived and I was sure that he was going to kill the fox; she was weak and easy prey. But, instead, the hawk grasped the fox and carried her off. Then the scene wavered and changed."

"To what?" Draco asked breathlessly.

Neville glanced over at Malfoy and wasn't even mildly surprised at the look of horrified fascination that he saw. "I saw the hawk land in a nest and let go of the fox then quickly take off again. He came back in just a couple of minutes, carrying something in his talons that he put into the fox's mouth. Whatever it was, it made her stop dying. She was still hurt really badly, though, and I watched as the hawk continued to fetch things to give the little fox to heal her. Eventually the little fox fell asleep and the hawk watched over her. Sometimes she would whimper in her sleep, move about restlessly, and wake up frightened. The hawk would twitter and the sound would calm her down again and she would curl up into this tiny little ball and go to sleep. Then the hawk would stand watch again. Somehow, I knew that the hawk was now the guardian, the father, of the little fox."

"Was that it?" Draco asked, somewhat frightened at what else Longbottom's vision might have shown him.

Neville turned his head back to look directly at Malfoy. "No," he said. "It wavered and changed once more. I was sitting at a table, this one in fact. The hawk, the same hawk, came and dropped a betrothal contract onto the table then perched on one of the chairs."

"This one," Draco said quietly.

Neville nodded. "And then something weird happened. The vision split into two pieces and, again somehow, I was able to see and understand both perfectly at the same time. In one piece I picked up the betrothal contract and signed it immediately. The hawk had a fit. A vulture came out and saw what had happened and had a fit. Some other animals came out and also had a fit. I knew, somehow, that there were pieces in the contract that I didn't like. In fact, there were pieces that I downright hated. But, in the end, I was happy, the fox was happy, and we had a bunch of happy little pups romping around."

Draco snorted in amusement at the idea of a litter of pups romping around Pansy. Pansy absolutely detested dogs, which made it all the more amusing that her animagus form was a fox.

Neville raised his eyebrows at the response but didn't ask. "In the second piece of the vision I opened the contract and started to read it. The vulture came out and together we changed the parts that I didn't like. The hawk accepted the changes but in the end… In the end, I wasn't happy, the fox wasn't happy, and there was only one pup."

Neville looked solemnly at Malfoy and said, "So you see, Malfoy, I could either sign the contract right away, knowing that there would be pieces of it that I didn't like, but also knowing that I would have a happy marriage and a good family, or I could read the contract, change the pieces I was dissatisfied with, and have an unhappy marriage and only a single heir. I did what I had to do, Malfoy. I'd like to have long-term happiness over short-term satisfaction."

"Bloody hell, Longbottom," Draco said very softly.

Neville gave a short laugh and said, "That's what I'm trying to avoid, Malfoy."

Draco tilted his head in acknowledgement and watched as Longbottom lifted his hands to his neck to grasp a silver torc that had been hidden by his shirt then closed his eyes in concentration.

Neville pulled his hands away from the torc that denoted his station as Head of the Longbottom family and with his hands came a smaller silver torc that had been intertwined with his own. He passed it over to Malfoy and said, "Please give this to Pansy; it's the Longbottom matriarch's torc."

Draco nodded as he accepted the torc. The symbol of the Longbottom family was etched into the torc in an attractive repetitive pattern. He stood to leave; with the contract signed there was no further point in staying. "Have a pleasant day, Longbottom."

"Malfoy?" Neville called as the other man turned to leave.

Draco turned back around and said, "Yes, Longbottom?"

"Does Pansy like flowers?" Neville asked.

Draco smiled slightly and said, "No, actually, Pansy hates flowers. She likes chocolate, though."

Neville nodded thoughtfully as Malfoy once again turned to leave. The blond had only taken a couple of steps when Neville called again. "Malfoy?"

Draco sighed, stopped, turned, and said, "Yes, Longbottom?"

"What else does she like?" Neville asked curiously.

"History," Draco said. "She's a real history buff. She especially likes Greek history, including their arts and culture. And she likes to ride horses."

Neville nodded again and watched as Malfoy made it another six steps. "Malfoy?"

Draco stifled a groan and once again turned around. "What is it, Longbottom?" he asked impatiently.

Neville grinned for a moment then said seriously, "She can keep that hidden if she wants. Once she has it on, it will respond to her will to be visible or invisible. I realize that wearing it in Slytherin House next year during school might be dangerous."

Draco wouldn't show it but he was actually quite grateful to hear that. He nodded and turned to leave again, then turned back slightly and said, "Is there anything else?"

Neville shook his head with a slight smile. But as Malfoy took a few more steps he said, "Wait. There is one more thing."

Draco stopped, sighed, and hung his head. "What is it?" he asked without turning around.

"Is she safe?" Neville asked worriedly. "You know, from him."

Draco turned around and said firmly, "Yes. She's safe."

"What did he do to her, anyway?" Neville asked with a frown.

"That's for Pansy to tell you, if she wants," Draco said.

"Will her father make a fuss?" Neville asked in concern. "I can't imagine him being too happy about this match."

"No," Draco said with a vindictive smirk. "He knows that if he makes any kind of fuss about her at all that I'll simply make it public knowledge that I ripped his paternal rights from him when I was only eight years old."

"And he won't have an opportunity to hurt her at all?" Neville asked, still worried despite the reassurances. This was his fiancé, after all, and he was worried about her, even if he hadn't ever spoken to her.

"He won't touch her, Longbottom," Draco said firmly. "She lives with me. Not him. She's my daughter, after all. Not his."

Neville nodded in relief then laughed and said, "You know, Malfoy, I have to thank you. Even knowing about having this vision, I always figured I was going to be a bachelor until I was forty."

Draco smirked and said, "You still might be, Longbottom, if you don't let me get out of here."

Neville laughed and waved a hand. "Go on, Malfoy," he said. "No more questions, I promise."

So Draco turned and left.

--August 1--

Neville paced angrily in his rooms. He wasn't sure with whom he was the most angry. There were so many options, really. There was his grandmother, his uncle, his solicitor, Malfoy, Pansy, himself.

No.

No, he wasn't going to be angry. Neville stopped and took several deep breaths. It was time to let go of the anger and look at the situation logically. He was not angry with himself – as he'd told Malfoy, he'd done what he'd needed to do to secure a happy future.

Pansy? She may not have known the contents of the contract. And even if she did, the contract was still her father's, Malfoy's, responsibility. So, Malfoy.

Malfoy was a good one to be angry at. After all, he'd been the one to put in that absolutely exorbitant bride price. It was almost a quarter, a quarter!, of the Longbottom's monetary assets. It was ten times as much as he could have expected to pay had he dealt with the Head of the Parkinson family. So, why? Why such a large amount?

Granted Pansy wasn't going to be inheriting anything from the Parkinsons, but she should be receiving a comparable or better inheritance from the Malfoys with her adoption into that family. As it was, the Longbottoms were going to have to liquidate quite a bit of stock to make the payment.

Neville's thoughts stopped abruptly and he blinked in realization.

Actually, that might not be such a bad thing. With the world as they knew it heading for Armageddon, he really ought to move all the Longbottom investments out of Britain anyway. Still…

Did the Malfoys know that the world was going to implode sometime in the near future and this was their way to salvage some of that wealth? He knew some families actually put the bride price into a trust for the bride instead of keeping it. He wouldn't be surprised if the Malfoys were one of the families that followed this new tradition. After all, it wasn't as if they needed the money.

He started pacing again, more slowly this time as he thought through the possibilities.

The dowry that came with Pansy was an estate in France. There was quite a bit of land, but the manor was old and in disrepair. Given the state of the manor, practically condemned, the dowry was not an equitable trade for the bride price. But what if the bride price was used to renovate the manor? Supposedly, the manor was a favorite place for Pansy. If that was true, it would have been very likely that he would have allocated Longbottom funds for its repair anyway. So perhaps he was simply paying for everything up front instead of over several years.

He nodded to himself. Yes, those conclusions seemed likely. And that gave him ideas for little gifts for his fiancé. He'd have to see just how many house remodeling catalogs he could acquire over the next month.

Neville continued pacing. So, the financial exchange, while seemingly uneven in the extreme, was actually fairly balanced. After all, if he subtracted the amount of funds it was going to take to get that decrepit old manor livable…well, what was left was about the same as the current market value of that estate.

So that left his grandmother, his uncle, and his solicitor to be angry with. And he certainly had cause given some of the things they had said to him, about him, and about Pansy and Malfoy. He sighed gustily. He couldn't really blame them. They weren't in possession of several bits of knowledge, such as his vision and the approaching apocalypse and the semi-illicit but highly honorable activities of the Malfoys.

But the bride price wasn't the only thing they were angry with him about, or that he was angry about himself.

The contract required that he not attend L'École d'Antoinette pour Herbology Magique, the premier herbology school in Europe, the school he'd been dreaming of attending since he'd first heard of it when he was nine. He could attend any other school he wanted, but not that one. He didn't understand why Malfoy had made such a distinction, especially since it was the closest herbology school to Pansy's supposedly favorite estate.

Neville groaned and rubbed his forehead. He hoped – he really, really hoped – that Draco Malfoy had consulted with his elders about the contract and that it was they that had suggested the restriction due to some insider information they held about the school. It was the only logical explanation he could think of that such an odd restriction would have been placed.

His uncle and grandmother had jumped on the restriction as evidence of how Malfoy was already ruining Neville's future. But he wasn't so sure. After all, the contract didn't say that he couldn't become an herbologist. It didn't even state that he couldn't go to an advanced herbology school. All it said was that he couldn't go to Antoinette's. And he'd learned over the past eight/nine months that everything Malfoy did, he did with a reason. So there must be a reason for the restriction. Maybe he should ask.

Neville paused in his pacing and thought about that. Maybe he should ask. Except, of course, that he wasn't supposed to know about the Malfoy information network. But on the other hand, the restriction was right there in black and white and it wouldn't really be suspicious if he asked about it. He wondered if he'd actually get an answer if he did ask. He decided that making the attempt wouldn't hurt anything and resumed his pacing.

His family was also furious over the fact that he was required to leave the Longbottom family home and to live outside of the country. He snorted in bitter amusement as he wondered just how angry they would be when he, as Head of the family, required everyone to leave the country. He wasn't going to leave his family here to be destroyed in the coming war.

There were other things, too, that were…less than desirable. There were the requirements about how to raise any and all children he and Pansy might have. There were the requirements about getting Malfoy permission before he took a job. There were…lots of things. Most were small but some weren't. And all the details hadn't yet reached the extended family. He couldn't imagine the furor that would provoke when they finally did hear. He was going to have a couple dozen people at his throat for this.

Merlin, what a mess.

--August 7--

"Silence!" Neville said loudly and slammed his hands down onto the dinner table. In the resulting shocked silence he stood slowly and glared at everybody sitting around the dinner table.

He leaned forward on his hands and said menacingly, "There will be no more discussion about this topic in my presence. Yes, there are a number of things in the contract that appear to be detrimental to me personally or to the family in general. That's too bad. The contract is signed. There is no going back. I had my reasons for signing the contract, which, I will point out, was my right. As none of you have had the decency to ask me politely what those reasons might be, I will not be informing you, as is also my right."

Neville took a deep breath then glared his grandmother into silence as she opened her mouth. He took another deep breath and stood up fully, showing off the height he had achieved over the past year, and squared his shoulders. "There will be no attempts to circumvent the contract. There will be no counter-contracts proposed. And, most especially, there will be no gossiping about the contract outside of this family. Is that understood?"

The entire population of the table simply stared in varying degrees of shock and/or indignation.

"I said, is that understood?" Neville hissed out angrily, lacing the implied command with the magic that came with being Head of the family. Everyone present immediately nodded or gave their affirmations. "Good," he said as he swept his disgusted, narrow-eyed gaze over everyone. He snapped his fingers.

A house-elf popped in a couple feet away from Neville's chair and asked, "You's be needing Mipsy, Master Nevy?"

"Yes, Mipsy," Neville said, still glaring at his family. "I will be taking the remainder of my meal in my rooms. Please see to it."

"Mipsy being happy to, Master Nevy," the elf said as she snapped her fingers and vanished Neville's place setting from the table. A moment later she popped out.

"I am very disappointed in this family right now," Neville said scathingly. "All any of you have done is moan and complain. None of you have tried to discern why the aspects of the contract you don't like were even placed into the contract in the first place. I have and have come to some conclusions that I believe to be correct and that alleviate many of my concerns. I also wrote to both Draco and Gaius Malfoy and requested information, information that both were pleased to provide, information that has also alleviated many of my concerns, information that I won't be providing any of you because it's become obvious none of you are interested."

"In short," Neville said, still glaring, "I am pleased with the contract. There are still some minor aspects that I am leery of but, overall, I…am…pleased. This topic is closed."

After one final glare, Neville turned sharply and left the formal dining room. He strode briskly towards the sanctuary of his rooms and tried to release his anger.

"It's just a shock for them, you know," one of the portraits said.

Neville stopped and stared at the portrait of Algernon Longbottom, his five-times great-grandfather. "Pardon?"

"It's a shock for them," Algernon repeated. "Last summer you were still a boy, doing boy things, and thinking boy thoughts. When you returned from school this year, you were already a man. Your birthday was just a technicality."

"I don't understand," Neville said, his face scrunching briefly in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"They expected you to act as you always have," Algernon said. "They expected you to consult with them, as you always have, before making such a big decision. They did not expect you to be ready to make your own decisions."

"Well, that's too bad for them, isn't it?" Neville said crossly.

Algernon laughed lightly. "Yes, it is. You do have to admit, however, that signing a contract without even reading it, much less asking for legal advice, seems foolish. You truly cannot blame them for being upset."

"You don't seem upset," Neville said suspiciously, ignoring the advice for now.

"House-elves like to chatter," Algernon said with a shrug, "and there's a portrait in the kitchen."

Neville blinked. "What?" he asked in confusion at the seeming non sequitur.

"Tinky was nearby in the garden and heard your entire conversation with young Mr. Malfoy," Algernon supplied. "All the house-elves and all the portraits know your reasons for signing the contract."

"Oh," Neville said dumbly, nothing else coming to mind. He guessed he probably should have put up a privacy shield before he started talking. Well, too late now.

"I am proud of you," Algernon said with a small smile.

"You are?" Neville asked in surprise.

"Yes. As are all the other former Heads," Algernon said, still smiling. "What you did took a lot of faith and courage, two traits that have always been prized highly in our family. You will do well as Head of the family."

"I…thank you," Neville said with a blush. "I hope to live up to your expectations."

"I'm sure you will," Algernon said kindly. "Now go finish your dinner. Head you may be, but you are still a growing boy. No sense in skipping meals."

Neville nodded and ambled towards his rooms slightly befuddled but deep in thought. It was nice to have the approval of the portraits, but it was the living he needed to truly get along with. Although, how he was going to manage that when everyone was questioning his intelligence was another story…

--August 16--

Neville stumbled slightly as the portkey deposited him at his destination. He didn't even get a chance to look around before he was accosted by Hermione and her enthusiastic hug.

"Neville!" Hermione cried cheerfully. "I'm glad to see you. How was your summer?"

Neville hugged back then let go of Hermione to also briefly hug Harry. He let go of Harry then turned slightly so he could face both his friends. "I got engaged, I'm lots poorer, and my family hates me. How was your summer?" he said sarcastically.

Hermione blinked in surprise then let out a slightly bitter laugh. "I got into a huge argument with my parents, moved out, and took over the Unspeakables," she said just as sarcastically.

Neville was startled into brief laughter then turned to Harry with a wry grin. "And how was your summer, Harry?" he asked with mock sweetness.

"Um, well, I bollixed it all up and made a choice," Harry said with a slightly hysterical laugh.

"That's nice, Harry," Neville said, not missing a beat. "Why don't we all share our misadventures over tea?"

"Uh, all right," Harry said hesitantly.

"I'll go first," Neville added magnanimously.

Hermione giggled and moved to link her arms with both her friends. "The gardens are this way…"