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Hey Guys! I know it's been a while but here's the next installment of Botched! ^_^ whoo!!
Thanks to my awesome beta QianYun for her rad beta skillz haha! Seriously…my grammar sucks
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I really like reviews ( _) haha I hope you keep reading and the next chapter is already on its way! ^____________^
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Chapter 4 : Misunderstandings
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"E'ffin Fairy!"
"Mudblood!" Draco sneered at the passing sixth year.
"Draco!"
"He called me a fairy! They're disgusting!" Draco made a rude gesture to the Hufflepuff before glaring at Ron. "How would you react?"
"To muggles… fairy is another word for poof," Ron sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Oh." Draco smirked. "Thank you then!" He shouted at the Hufflepuff with another rude gesture.
Ron sighed again before grabbing Draco's hand and making their way over to where Harry, Hermione and Neville were under the tree by the lake. Neville was lying in the snow blissfully.
"He's sure happy." Ron laughed, looking at Neville as the teen started humming.
"Oh, you would be too if you had hot flashes…" Hermione looked down at Neville shivering in the snow. "Neville, please get up! You're going to get sick."
"Feels too nice," the sandy-haired teen mumbled, but his robes were starting to get soggy so he sighed and got up out of the snow. "Better?"
"Did you know muggles call poofs fairies?" Draco looked at Hermione before realizing who he was asking… then turned to Harry who was giving the blond an amused look. Draco huffed and took Ron's scarf from him before wrapping it around himself.
"They have a lot of words for poofs," Harry looked at his hand, counting. "None I would ever repeat in good company of course."
"You'll tell me later?" Draco smirked.
"ACHOO!" Neville sniffed and wiped his nose before looking up at everyone's startled expression. "Whuut?"
"I am not hearing about this later… I wasn't here." Draco turned and started to head back towards the castle, still with Ron's scarf.
"I'm starting to like him… sort of." Harry laughed and nudged Ron.
"Neville, inside now." Hermione grabbed the teen's arm as he sniffed. "I told you that you were going to catch a cold."
"Don't make me go see Pomfrey again." Neville moaned as the girl dragged him inside. "I just got back to the dorms again! She'll try to keep me overnight."
"Start taking care of yourself." Hermione sniffed at him unapologetically. "I mean honestly, Neville… you're what? 15-16 weeks along now?" She huffed.
"I'm still not showing anything." He patted his stomach, almost expecting it to have grown right then.
"For some people, when it's their first pregnancy…" Hermione took on her lecturing tone before waving her wand over her and Neville, drying them off. "They don't show until much later. That doesn't mean the baby isn't developing."
"Okay, okay…" He sniffed again and looked over at Harry and Ron, who were watching them, amused.
"You do realize that she kinda said that like he was going to have another one," Harry looked over at Ron.
"I did catch that, mate." Ron looked at Neville expectantly, but Hermione huffed loudly.
"It's not that bad." Neville looked at his stomach again but then sighed, "If you don't count the morning sickness, dizzy spells, vitamins, food cravings, hot flashes, cold flashes, spending most of your time in the hospital… and oh yeah! Mood swings!"
"Psh. Walk in the park." Ron scoffed, Hermione sniffed dismissively.
"It'll all be worth it." She smiled warmly and grabbed his arm, dragging him down the hall.
"I'll bet you a knut that he realizes she's taking him to the hospital wing and books for it." Ron mumbled over to the black-haired teen beside him.
"I bet Pomfrey sees them coming and helps wrestle him into bed again." Harry grinned widely as they followed the two teens.
XXX
"Krum wants to know how the lily is doing," Hermione said while she knocked on the doorframe to see Neville lying on his back in bed with his arms over his eyes.
"Draw a bloody picture." Neville moaned, pointing at the lily that had grown even more.
Hermione sighed and walked into the room, but not before giving one more look at the new sign on their door.
'Room of Sin' in Draco Malfoy's handwriting.
"Are you going to be able to make it to Potions?" Hermione sat on the side of his bed and started drawing a picture of the plant.
Neville sighed and looked at her. "Yeah… Sorry, I just got another headache." He smiled apologetically and got off the bed to get his stuff together. He really didn't want Snape to think that there was anything wrong. He sighed as he thought about how they hadn't had a decent moment alone since his Gran had suddenly showed up.
She still hadn't written him and his Uncle never mentioned her in his letters.
"Your Gran will come around." Neville looked at Hermione, surprised.
She smiled softly, "You've been getting that look on you a lot more recently."
"Sorry, I know… It's just…" he ran a hand through his hair before putting a hand on his stomach. He stopped. "I'm either gaining weight or I think I might be growing soon…"
"Really!" She jumped off the bed and looked at Neville eagerly. "Oh wow, how exciting!"
"I'm not having it yet." Neville looked at her, amused. She blushed and then went back to her drawing.
"C'mon, we're going to be late." He grabbed his bag and opened the door for her before giving a look at the plant and leaving the room. It had gotten too big and Snape had decided he didn't want it anywhere near any potion Neville was going to make.
He wondered if he could get the teacher alone after class today.
"You're thinking about snogging someone." He became flustered at the amused voice beside him and turned to see Draco. "I can tell- I'm used to seeing it." He nodded his head at Ron, who was covering up his slightly swollen bottom lip.
He blushed furiously.
"Neville, dear," this voice definitely caught the teen off guard and he looked to his other side to see that Pansy had shoved Hermione away, "I just wanted to say you're doing something pretty amazing."
He stared at her in shock and looked at Hermione who just shrugged.
"I mean, if it were me I would have… you know… poof! Gone!"
"Okay, enough of you." Malfoy put an arm protectively around the smaller teen and shooed Pansy away as she laughed awkwardly. "Sorry about that."
"Did she really just …" Hermione came up, looking at Pansy's back with shock.
"You should've heard the girls earlier in the common room." Draco smirked, "What they were saying about what they would do if they were in Neville's shoes… makes Pansy look like a kitten."
She looked at the blonde, obviously disbelieving what he was saying.
"Wire hanger," was all he said and she paled, looking at him in shock, but the blond nodded a little, clearly amused at her reaction. "That's all I'm telling you."
"What's that mean?" Neville looked up at the blond, a little worried, "I don't get it."
"It's alright, Neville!" Hermione forced a smile and he decided that it was probably better that he didn't know.
Suddenly, Draco pulled away from Neville and he looked over at the blond with surprise before the door to the Potions dungeon opened and revealed Snape standing there, slightly scowling at them. "Hurry up."
"For the next month, all of you will be trying your hand at brewing wolfsbane potion." Snape's voice filled the room as they all widened their eyes. "It's very advanced and difficult to make, but if you can get it close, you should have no problem with your NEWTs."
The class started murmuring to themselves.
"And before you ask, no, I am not going to subject Professor Lupin to your potions because I really don't think any of you are going to get that close to it." He snorted, watching the class look down a little dejectedly. "You know the drill."
He waved his wand, the instructions appeared on the board and the doors to the more expensive ingredients opened up for them to use.
"Wolfsbane? He's gone nutters." Ron groaned and went to get the ingredients as Neville copied down the instructions just in case Snape decided to erase them later right when they would probably need them. He looked up at the professor, who was now grading papers at his desk, and he let his eyes trail over to his hands. Those long pale hands that had been so cold the last time he touched them… He wondered idly if they would be warm again.
A piece of paper hit him on the nose and he jumped back, startled, before looking at the blond across the room who worded with his lips, 'Stop thinking that. Gross.'.
He blushed and looked at Ron who had a handful of supplies. "Draco's definitely gotten comfortable with everyone, I think." He smiled as the red-head blushed but then nodded.
"I wasn't really worried about that."
Neville raised an eyebrow at that but before he could comment, Snape coughed and he turned to his notes.
Class was gong surprising well and both Ron and Neville watched their potion turn a color slightly different than Harry and Hermione's. They both grinned brightly at each other and started double checking everything. There was a chance they could get this close to right!
Neville decided to let Ron do the potion while he just read the directions; he didn't want to chance it. The bell rang and everyone started putting their stuff together. Ron grabbed the cauldron and went to put it up, and Neville laughed slightly as he watched him let Draco up the ladder first.
"Ready for lunch? I know I am- I'm starving!" He turned to see Harry and Hermione already waiting for them… with Pansy who was looking a little surprised herself.
"I want to talk to Professor Snape first, I'll meet you there." He blushed slightly as Pansy grinned mischievously at him.
He waited for the classroom to empty out and he watched Snape answer a few questions from anyone who asked, but then he was at his desk again looking at his papers. He took a deep breath and walked up to the desk, waiting for the older man to acknowledge he was there. His eyes traced the features of the older man; he looked tired, but Neville flushed when his eyes reached the lips.
"Mr. Longbottom." He jumped and looked up to see that the coal black eyes were staring at him. He looked around and saw the room was empty.
"I-I just wanted to..." he looked to the ground and ran a hand through his hair, "We haven't had a chance to talk in a while…"
"What did you want to talk about?" The voice was calm and Neville looked up at him a little surprised. He didn't know… there was a lot to talk about! The whole bloody world was finding out that he was pregnant with Snape's kid; he couldn't get the man out of his mind and maybe… he…
He moved around the desk so that he was standing over the older man, who had turned his chair so he could look at him. "I like you." He hoped he said it with authority, but he knew his face had turned bright crimson. He looked into the black eyes in front of him, wanting a reaction.
"No, you don't." Snape sighed, running a hand through his long black hair. "You think you do… but you don't."
"I think I can tell for myself." Neville glared down at the man, suddenly pissed. "I like you."
Black eyes met his again and Neville found himself trying to calm down. He wasn't really angry at Snape, it was just…
"You're emotional and it's…" The man made a movement with his hand before he stopped himself suddenly, but Neville caught it.
"You think I like you because of the kid?" He whispered it, watching the man, but Snape gave a short nod before sighing. "I'm sorry, but last time I checked, babies don't take over their mother's body like some kind of leech," he hissed, feeling himself grow angry again.
"That's not what I…"
"Oh, I know what you are trying to say," sniffed Neville angrily, "You've been avoiding me, haven't you? You think I'm confused…"
"No, I-" but the teen didn't let Snape finish as he leaned down and pressed his lips against the older man's. He placed a hand on the black-haired man's neck and licked his lips, wanting to push the kiss deeper, but there were arms on his shoulder pushing him back.
Snape looked slightly flustered and Neville felt an odd sense of satisfaction in that. "It's just the baby talking…"
"You're an idiot!" The sandy-haired teen flushed but backed away from the older man as he put a hand over his stomach. He didn't want to look at the older man, he was angry at him, upset at him. He cursed mentally as he felt his eyes warm up.
"I don't mean to…"
"No? Apparently I can't think for myself anymore." Neville snorted angrily, still not looking at the older man and he hated the way his body leaned back into the two hands that had grabbed his shoulder.
Suddenly the door burst open and in stumbled two figures laughing against each other and whispering hushly. Neville glared at Professor Lupin and whichever Weasley twin it was.
"Oh! Sorry…we…" The two people separated instantly when they saw the other two people in the room.
"My baby hates all of you right now!" Neville threw his arms in the air and grabbed his bag. Lupin and the twin both jumped away from the door as he went through it. He turned to glare one more time at Snape, who seemed surprised. "You're a bloody idiot!" And with that, he slammed the door behind him and walked as fast as he could away from the dungeons. When he finally got far enough, he leaned against the closest wall and wiped his eyes.
XXX
"What's wrong?" Hermione had just walked into the common room to see Harry, Dean and Ron moping around. "Did you guys find Neville?" She had been worried when the teen never showed up for lunch and she had gone to check the dungeons, but only found Snape furiously pacing around.
"He's up there but…" Dean looked over at Harry and Hermione noticed the other teen had a black eye. "He's not very happy right now."
"Do you know what happened?" Ron looked up at her. "Did you find Snape?"
"He isn't very happy right now either." She bit her lip; they must have gotten into a fight. "I couldn't get near him. Ron, you think you could get Draco to figure out what's up? He could probably get it out of him."
"Sure, why not." The tall red-head stretched and stood up. He made his way to the opening portrait hole and gasped.
They all turned to see George Weasley smiling sheepishly at them. Hermione noted at how his hair was messy and his lips were red. She didn't think he had a girlfriend….
"George! What's wrong?" Ron obviously did not notice the twin's appearance and took his appearance for as bad news.
"You're adopted." George looked at Ron seriously before grinning. "A little bird told me something about you…"
Ron flushed red.
"So it's true," George grinned mischievously at his younger brother who was now mumbling something. "You and Malfoy?"
"Yeah." Ron nodded and then noted that Fred wasn't there. He paled slightly. "Got to go… check something." And they watched him zoom past his older brother and the hole closed behind him.
"What was that?" Harry looked at George, confused.
"He probably thinks Fred is bothering Malfoy," George grinned, looking back.
"Is he?" Hermione looked at him questioningly.
"No! He's in London right now. Didn't feel like stopping him though." George grinned again before looking around. "Where's Neville?"
Hermione was taken aback by this and eyed him warily. He gave her a sheepish look and her eyes widened. "What happened? Why is he upset?"
George opened his mouth to say something but seemed to think against it. He scratched his head and looked up at the boy's dorms. "I think we might have interrupted something."
"We? I thought you said Fred was in London?" Dean looked at the taller teen quizzically. George blushed but didn't say anything and instead started heading toward the dorms.
"Watch out for his right fist!" Harry pointed at his eye and George flinched slightly but continued.
"Does he have a girlfriend here?" Hermione whispered over at Harry who looked at her and shook his head.
"No, I think he would tell us if he did." Harry got up. "We should get to Transfigurations anyway."
XXX
"Leave me alone." Neville sniffed at the door at the knock. "My baby doesn't want to be bothered right now." He stated bitterly, but turned when the door opened anyway. He saw the Weasley twin.
"You the same one?" He asked, eyeing the ginger.
"George and yeah." George nodded as he closed the door behind him. "Thought we should talk."
"I don't want to talk." Neville mumbled and turned away from the red-head.
"Okay, well…" George walked over slowly and then sat on the edge of Neville's bed, looking around the dorm. "I do. I guess you noticed that Remus and I are…"
Neville sniffed but nodded. He had realized it after he had kicked everyone out of the room. He had been surprised at first but then realized that there were stranger things going on at the school. "I haven't told anyone if that's what you're worried about…"
"No, it isn't. You were really upset and I felt bad." George answered honestly and then lay in the bed beside the teen. "So you're pregnant?"
"You're sleeping with a werewolf."
"Ha." George grinned, looking at the canopy above the bed. He looked over at the teen and felt a wave of sympathy. "If it makes you feel any better, I think Snape made a potion explode earlier today."
"It doesn't." Neville mumbled. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah." George chuckled lightly and sighed. "I've never been good at any of this…better than Fred of course, but you know…" He lifted his arm and waved it lightly in the air. "Want to chat?"
Neville couldn't help but grin. There was always a strange sort of charisma about the twins. He huffed and rolled over to face him. "Snape thinks the baby is controlling me." He snorted bitterly.
"HA!" George laughed but then noticed the look on the younger teen's face. "You're not serious… are you?"
"Well, he obviously thinks there's no other reason for me to like him." He moved to lie on his back and stared up at the canopy. A sudden thought hit him, "You think it's because of the age difference?"
"Honestly?" The ginger looked over at him, "Yeah… probably. Remus had the same problem."
"How did you two... you know?" Neville blushed and looked at his hands.
George opened his mouth but then closed it, blushing. "Want my version or Fred's? His is shorter…"
"His then." Neville watched the ginger expectantly.
"Well, the way he tells it, I was taken with Lupin but he thought I was too young so I… got him drunk. Slept with him. Then in the morning when he woke up, I told him he had to take responsibility. That's the way Fred says anyway."
"So probably pretty close to the truth." Neville laughed.
"There were go." George sat up and patted Neville on the shoulder. "That got a smile."
Neville blushed and sat up as well. "Sorry about… you know…"
"You're pregnant." George exclaimed as if it explained everything. "So what's your story?"
"Well I haven't got him yet, have I?" Neville gave the red-head an annoyed look before laughing slightly. "You mean this?" He waved his hand over his stomach and George nodded.
"Well…" Neville looked down at his stomach- it was getting a little pudgier; he wondered idly if he had been thinking that he would have grown over night. "It was a potion's accident."
"There has to be more story to it than that." George scoffed but then noticed the teen had started shaking slightly. "You don't have to…"
"If I tell you this, you can't repeat it to anyone." Neville put his hands over his face. How much could he tell him? "I was doused with this love potion that had been mixed with some other things… and- and…" There was a hand on his shoulder and he looked over at George, who was looking at him worriedly.
"I liked him before it happened though." Neville was glad that he hadn't started crying. "I was just coming to terms with, you know, liking blokes… and I realized that I liked him a whole bloody lot."
"He never knew though?" The ginger was rubbing circles on Neville's back and he remembered that it was the same thing Ron would do to him when he was upset.
"I never thought of actually acting on it," Neville answered honestly, "with the war and all and then this… and…"
"If there is one thing my parents believe, it's how love works in mysterious ways." George grinned slightly. "I'll admit I haven't even told them about Remus and me… even though I know they'll accept him with open arms."
"They all too eagerly accepted me and Malfoy." Neville laughed. "Fred knows too, I'm guessing."
"Of course." George gave Neville a look that said it was a ridiculous thought to think his twin wouldn't know something about him. "So when are you going to tell the bloke?"
"I did." Neville frowned at the memory. "That's what started this mess…"
"Ah." George nodded frowning a bit. "Git."
"Ha…" Neville felt his lips twitch up a bit. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, thanks for this, but…"
"Knew I was no good." George moaned pathetically and put an arm over his face, flinging himself down on the bed. "Complete rubbish…"
"No! It was… thanks." Neville laughed slightly. "See? I'm smiling?" He struggled to keep it up. "I just need to think. I'm going to go down to the greenhouses…"
"I'll walk with you; I haven't been around the school yet." The twin hopped out of the bed and waited for Neville at the door.
They made their way around and Neville decided to show the twin some of the changes that had been made. The destroyed passageways and where Peeves had decided to make changes of his own. They laughed at they caught some now-flustered Hufflepuffs snogging in the passage behind the gargoyle on the third floor.
"Never changes, this place." George laughed but suddenly there was a loud rumble and the castle shook slightly. They stopped, looking at the stairs towards the dungeons…
"You don't think…" George stared at the entrance.
"No…" Neville shook his head, but they both instantly took off down the stairs. They passed several Slytherins who seemed to have decided that they shouldn't be near the dungeons, and the reason became clear as they turned into the hallway to see smoke coming from the Potion's classroom and two very familiar voices yelling.
"LIKE YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TALK!"
"STUPID. IGNORANT!"
"Expelliarmus!"
They ran quickly into the room, pulling out their wands. The first thing he saw was Draco covered in black soot pointing his wand as he caught two that had been flying in the air. Ron was sitting on the ground beside him, also covered in the black powder, he seemed startled. Both of them seemed unharmed, but there was a loud bang and he followed their gazes to the middle of the room where Lupin was picking himself up of the floor with blood coming from his nose.
He glanced at the other side of the room to see Snape, his eyes wild as he stared at the werewolf. A strange manic look that Neville had never seen before was on his face. There was blood coming from his mouth and the teen noticed small rips in his robes.
"Draco took away their wands away and then they just…" Neville's head snapped to look at Ron who was still watching the two professors. "The explosion was a potion that I guess… got too hot or something…"
"You have no right!" He turned back to see Lupin hit Snape across the face, but the black-haired man tackled him. There were fists and then the men were cursing at each other loudly.
Neville had never seen anything like it before.
"Oi!" George seemed to have collected himself and was running over to the two men. "What's going on here?"
But none of them gave any notice that they heard him and suddenly Snape was thrown against some of the shelves, knocking down rows of glass containers. He didn't know what had come over him, but he ran over to the older man who slumped against the wall but was trying to get up. Lupin was making his way over to the man with a wild look of his own; he didn't seem to notice George yelling at him.
But Snape had gotten up again, glaring furiously at the light-haired man. "You don't understand!" And they were hitting each other again, ripping at each other's robes. He saw the blood coming down on the black-haired man's face from his hairline and Neville didn't realize he was moving until he was already near them. He heard someone shout at him but he ignored it.
Lupin had managed to push the Potions Master off of him and Neville immediately grabbed the man and shoved him against the wall again, ignoring the sound of glass breaking around him. But arms had grabbed him and suddenly his back was against the wall and he hissed in pain, but his eyes widened as he stared up at Snape.
The man was breathing hard, glaring at him with utmost hatred; he had his arm raised into a fist and it looked like he was about to hit him. He waited for the impact, but kept his eyes on the older man. He started trembling under the glare… he couldn't take it.
But Snape had gasped and his eyes widened. Neville watched the hand lower and then Snape was covering his face with his hands. The teen noticed the older man was trembling and as if almost by instinct, he placed his hands over the older man's.
"WHAT THE HELL, REMUS?!" Neville kept his eyes on Snape while he heard George yelling. Snape was taking deep breaths and then he froze. The sandy-haired teen immediately pulled his hands away, not wanting to cross the line but one of Snape's hands caught one of his own. Neville froze.
"Why are you…?" The voice seemed strained and coal black eyes were looking at hazel ones. But instead of answering the unfinished question, Neville picked his wand off of the ground – he had dropped it when he grabbed Snape – and started mumbling the basic healing spells he knew over the small cuts the older man had gained.
The black-haired man stayed still, watching the teen work. Neville bit his lip trying to keep himself together but as he lifted his wand at a cut above the other man's eye, their eyes met and he felt himself crumbling. He moved his arm up and wiped the blood away with his sleeve but then there was a gentle warm hand on the side of his face.
"I…" But Neville shook his head, not wanting the other man to continue, he didn't want to know. He didn't want Snape to speak. If he spoke, he would just get angry again. If he spoke, they would have to talk and their talks never ended well. But then the older man grabbed his wand hand and Neville stopped, not knowing what to do. He bit his lip again and Snape pulled his arm forward and then placed an all too gentle kiss on the younger man's wrist.
Neville started shaking. Why? Why? Why? He felt his knees wanting to buckle underneath him. Why did everything have to be so confusing? Why did Snape have to be so stinking hard to understand? He must have voiced the last question because the older man's expression pained slightly.
"I'm not…" But Snape seemed to think over what he was about to say and stopped. Neville shook his head, not wanting to hear excuses or whatever the other man wanted to say. But his wrist had been released and before he could pull away, there were suddenly two warm hands on his head, pulling him forward.
He gasped when lips met his and realized he had closed his eyes. He didn't want to open them, afraid it would stop. He grabbed onto the taller man's robes in front of him, realizing once again he must have dropped his wand. He felt a tongue against his lips and opened his mouth slightly as Snape deepened the kiss. He tasted like pumpkin juice, mint, and copper from the blood and Neville realized that he didn't care at all, but it ended too soon as the older man pulled away and the teen bit his lip, still not wanting to open his eyes.
He opened them slowly but turned his gaze down to the floor and realized they were standing on broken glass and potion ingredients.
There was a soft cough.
Neville snapped his head to look over at the other occupants at the room. Ron was blushing uncomfortably and seemed to be trying to find something else to watch in the room. The ginger's eyes fell on his brother who was tending to Lupin's wounds with a strange tenderness. Though George also seemed to be lecturing the older man who was mumbling replies and looked up over at them.
Draco was watching them with a blank expression before sighing. He ran a pale hand through his blonde hair that was covered in soot. The teen then waved his wand and started cleaning the dungeon.
"Are you…" Neville looked at Snape, who seemed slightly worried and was looking Neville over before he placed one of his hands gently against the teen's back. Neville realized he was worried because he had thrown him against the wall earlier. He nodded and was about to say he was alright, but hissed when the man pressed against an apparently tender area.
Snape frowned.
"If you expect me to go to Pomfrey, you're coming with me." Neville whispered, glaring at the older man and trying his best not to focus on his lips.
XXX
"I really don't think I need this many pillows." Neville was looking at his bed that now had a large quantity of pillows. He eyed it warily and tried to think of who would tell the house elves he needed this many. Then he wondered if multiple people had told them so they just gave him a lot.
The last reason seemed to be the most plausible.
"Nonsense, my mum told me that you're going to want pillows after you start showing." Ron grinned as he passed Neville, but not before patting the teen's small belly with his hand. "So you don't get that many back problems… and stuff…"
Neville checked Ron onto his list of one of the people that did it as he narrowed his eyes at the teen. "But most pregnant women have breasts and stuff to deal with." Ron flushed.
"Please don't tell me you're growing breasts." Harry snorted as he came into the room, followed by Dean who stopped to gape at the pillows on Neville's bed.
"How come you get so many?" He sniffed; obviously feeling mistreated by not getting any more pillows and went to flop on his bed.
"No, I'm not growing breasts." Neville looked down to check just in case. He would have to ask Poppy about it later. He had seen her so much this year that she had told him they should be on first name basis by now. He looked at his swelling belly; it hadn't gotten that big but it was getting obvious now. "And the pillows… Never mind you want some?" He threw a few of them at the black kid and hit him in the face with one.
"Ow!"
"Haha." Neville laughed before mumbling an apology and then sighed. "Dang, I'm hungry again… You think I could get something to eat before class?"
"You need to start carrying a buffet with you," Ron snorted playfully, "instead of that plant."
Neville looked over at the Praegnan Lily on his bedside table. It was still a small plant but he didn't think that it was known for its size or anything. It now had two buds and seemed to be in perfect health. He had been in correspondence with Victor Krum about it since he had gotten the first letter and the Bulgarian Seeker seemed really interested in the fact that a pregnant… man was growing the plant.
He hadn't gotten an answer from his last letter but he shrugged, knowing Krum was a professional Quidditch player and would also probably be writing letters to Hermione. He sprinkled some water on it from a cup he had beside it.
"This is a rare plant." He picked it up and put it in his pocket that he had recently enchanted to make sure the flower never fell over or was affected by what was going on outside of the pocket. He had to ask Hermione for some help on that, but he thought he did a pretty good job himself.
"Snape's going to get mad when he hears you've been sneaking that plant into class." Harry got his bags together for their classes and gave Neville an amused look.
"I'll come with you to get something to eat before class." Ron got out of his bed and grabbed his bag. "I'm feeling a bit peachy myself."
"This is a dream come true for Ron." Dean laughed, "Now he has someone to go with him to the kitchens. You sure you're not pregnant?"
"Maybe Draco slipped something into one of your drinks." Harry and Dean started laughing as Ron flushed and left the room but Neville noticed the ginger put a hand over his stomach. He raised an eyebrow before following the teen out of the room and out of the common room.
"Everything all right?" Neville was about to switch which shoulder his bag was on but it was suddenly pulled out of his hands and he looked up to see Draco Malfoy smirk at him before pulling it over his shoulder with his own bag.
"Just hungry." Neville answered the blond before looking over at Ron who was blushing and giving Draco a sidelong glance.
"Of course." Draco snorted. "You should just get a house elf here to bring you food. You could probably get Pomfrey to assign you one. Then again, she would probably just want you to move into the hospital wing which is closer to the kitchens anyway."
"Which I refuse." Neville huffed. "It's ridiculous!"
"Not really." Ron shrugged, turning to them. "My mum says that you're going to want to stop walking around so much the later on you are. And if you do move around, not to do it for long periods of time and stuff…"
"Really?" Neville sighed, "Maybe it'll be different for me."
"Always a chance of that." Draco nodded curtly before suddenly pulling Neville into an empty classroom.
"Wha?!" Neville watched Ron shut the door, he shrugged at Neville sheepishly. "What's this about?"
"Two days ago." Draco sat the smaller teen down into one of the chairs before pulling one up for himself. Neville thought about the incident with Lupin and Snape. No one had brought it up afterwards so he had thought they decided to pretend it never happened. He looked at them waiting for them to explain, but neither of them looked like they were going to.
"Is this because of George and Lupin?" Neville asked hesitantly at Ron who shook his head but blushed. Ron had noticed how tender George had been treating Remus' wounds and it seemed the ginger had realized it immediately. Ron had swore to not tell anyone about it but then wondered why George felt the need to keep it a secret when their parents had already accepted Draco.
From what Neville could tell- George still hadn't given him an answer that Ron liked.
"Then what is this abou-"
"Okay." Draco seemed suddenly very nervous and he ran a hand through his hair, messing up the blond locks. "Ron and I had come into the room before the fight had started…"
Neville watched the blond; they were going to tell him how the fight started? It didn't give him a good feeling that they felt that he needed to know… he wondered what could have been said.
He tried to ignore the feeling of dread that came over him.
"Well, they were glaring at each other." Ron pulled up a chair to sit beside Draco when it seemed like the blond didn't want to continue. Neville hadn't seen Draco have an expression like that since…
"Listen, well…" Ron seemed uncomfortable and he didn't meet Neville's gaze. "They were talking about you because apparently you and Snape had gotten in a fight… and while they were arguing, they said some things about…"
Neville didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say, whatever they had heard about him… His mind raced, but when he thought about what Snape knew and what Lupin knew… there could only be one thing…
"Did Snape rape you?" It was Draco looking a little pale and Neville wondered how long this had been eating at the blond. He could feel himself start to feel a bit sick. How was he supposed to answer that? He opened his mouth to respond but closed it. How could he explain it?
He looked at the two of them, but shifted his gaze to his hands on his lap.
"Oh god…" It was Ron this time and he looked up to see the ginger looked pale too, obviously taking the lack of response for the worse. "That's just…"
"Wait!" Neville looked at them frantically. "You two don't know everything!"
"How can you still-"
"Shut up!" Neville interrupted Ron and stood up. He needed to do something. He walked past them and started pacing. His mind was racing… he looked over at Draco and the expression on the blonde's face made his heart ache. They needed to know everything.
"I'm going to tell you… everything." Neville took a deep breath. "Don't interrupt me and please don't come up with any assumptions until I'm done." He looked at Ron who nodded reluctantly.
"I've liked Snape for a while." He started running a hand through his hair. "You need to know that, I was starting to like him when I realized I like blokes. He never knew and with everything that happened, I figured it was just some weird feeling of mine that would fade but it hasn't. All of this happened on the night I was supposed to have that detention."
"On the way down, some Ravenclaws dropped a potion on me from the stairs. It was an accident, but it was a love potion that they were mixing with some other things. A strong love potion. I went to detention anyway, figuring that he would know what kind of potion it was, but when he come over to help me wash it off. He got too close and apparently the fumes had hypnotizing attributes and… I had fallen. He had no control over himself!" Neville clenched his fists.
"The second he came to, he was ready to resign and be sent to Azkaban, but I couldn't allow it. It wasn't his fault! Even all of the Professors knew there was no way he could have stopped himself no matter how much he wanted to…" He realized that he was crying and he leaned against a desk. "And I still like him so much. It wasn't his fault and I understand that but I… I figured that after that, there really was no chance but then he was treating me so different… and then this…" He waved a hand over his stomach.
"You two might think I'm crazy or sick, but I still like him and I think he might like me too. If not now, maybe later but…"
"He likes you." Neville looked at Draco, surprised; Ron was looking stunned as well. "I've never seen him like that before. He hates himself for liking you so much."
Neville bit back a sob and put his hands over his eyes. "He raped me because I wasn't conscious for it but I can tell you that I probably would have accepted the affections if I hadn't hit my head."
Ron still looked a little pale and his expression was one he usually had when he was playing a difficult game of chess.
They stayed in silence for a while, ignoring the bell that rang for class. Neville pulled himself together and wiped his eyes. "Please don't think any worse of us…" He sniffed but couldn't bring himself to look at the two seated teens.
"You are the biggest Gryffindor I've ever met." Suddenly Draco was walking the short distance between them and he pulled the smaller teen into an embrace. "You're a complete fool. You're stubborn to an unhealthy extent… and even after all that, you still kept the baby." Neville stood stunned, looking at the ceiling. "What would you have done if there was no chance for you two?"
"Kept it anyway." Neville barked a small laugh. "Try and snog him whenever he wasn't paying attention."
"You're still coming over for the break, right?" Neville looked over at Ron, who shifted on his feet uncomfortably. The Weasleys had asked Neville if he would stay with them for the holidays since he still hadn't gotten a letter from his Gran yet. Draco was going for the holidays as well… the teen hadn't been back to the Malfoy manor since the war had ended.
"Of course." Neville grinned as Draco let him go. He wiped his face again and took a deep breath. "Listen, guys, I would really…"
"Don't worry." Ron grinned sheepishly. "We won't say a word to anyone."
"Thanks." The sandy-haired teen sat against the desk again.
"I'll have a few words to say to good ole Snape though." Draco looked slightly annoyed. "I don't care if I have to wrestle him like Professor Lupin; he needs to know some things."
"Please don't fight." Neville sighed, but at that moment his stomach growled loudly. He blushed furiously.
"Ron!" Draco looked at the ginger with disgust as the red-head gaped at him, blushing furiously. "Always food with you! I would hate to think about how we're going to live later with having to support that appetite of yours." The blond looked at him, bored, before grabbing Neville's hand, "Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving."
Neville laughed and didn't feel like pointing out the fact that Draco had just suggested that he and Ron were going to be together for a long time yet.
Ron walked behind them, his face a bright crimson. "You eat just as much as I do!"
XXX
"Will you come with me to St. Mungo's?" Neville looked over at the older man who was holding his hand. Madame Pomfrey was doing another check up before he left for break. This seemed to have surprised the black-haired man.
"To visit your parents?" The voice was soft, but Neville couldn't tell what the man was thinking. He nodded his head.
"I usually go with my Gran but…" He looked down at his stomach that had gotten even bigger. "Plus it would be nice to have someone with me just in case she's there."
"If she hurts you… you'll be in a hospital anyway." Coal black eyes seemed to be trying to calculate him.
"I want you to meet them…" Neville mumbled, looking away from the older man. Their relationship hadn't really moved anywhere, but he was glad to have the man kiss him every once in a while, or attend while Poppy checked him out.
"Okay." He looked up in surprise and smiled brightly. It meant a lot to him to be able to take the older man to meet his parents. Plus he hadn't seen them in so long. He pulled in his hand that was holding the other man's and kissed the warm pale fingers.
"Thank you."
"I'll be coming to the Burrow as well." Neville couldn't help but gape at that, Snape's lips twitched slightly. "Not for the whole holiday but I will be there on Christmas. I'm afraid if I don't Mrs. Weasley would send me a howler."
"She would." Neville nodded, still surprised but incredibly lightened by the news. "But can I still kiss you in their company?"
Snape made a grunting noise to show that he wouldn't approve of such behavior but since he didn't actually say anything Neville made a note to try it. If anything, if could give him some sport.
"Everything looks alright, dears." Neville grabbed his shirt and laughed as Snape glared at the nurse for calling him dear. She smirked slightly at the older man before looking at the teen. "Now if anything happens, you know I'll be here, but I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will know how to help you if you need anything."
"I'm sure." Snape smirked curtly and waited for the teen to get his robes on.
Poppy gave the man a calculating look before handing Neville an envelope. "This has your vitamins, some instructions just in case and maybe some things you could do…" She looked over at Snape with a small frown before smiling down at Neville, "to make things easier.
"Okay, thanks." Neville took it and finished buttoning his robe. "But I doubt there's going to be anything to worry about," He smiled, "It usually takes nine months."
She snorted at him incredulously before she began to put up her supplies.
"When did you want to go?" Neville turned back to the emotionless man and gave him a confused expression. "To see your parents." Snape sighed.
"Oh!" Neville put a hand to his mouth trying to think of the best time. "Could we go tomorrow before the feast? It'll be more convenient for the both of us I think."
"Very well, meet me at the entrance to the Great Hall at three." Snape nodded and opened the door for the boy so that they could leave the infirmary. He closed the door behind him and glanced around the hallway before stopping the teen with a touch and placing a small kiss on his forehead. "I'll be honored to meet your parents."
XXX
It was the first time Neville had needed to apparate since the summer and he felt a little nauseous during it. Snape assured him several times that as long as he concentrated that he wouldn't splinch the baby behind and the older man even offered to side-along but the teen blushed and said he could do it.
It took him a bit longer to regain his balance than it normally would. He passed the nurses' station, already knowing where his parents would be and the people who recognized him greeted him as usual, but he swore that most of them did double takes as he passed him.
Snape walked behind him quietly, not mentioning anything, though Neville did notice the man made him feel a bit calmer about seeing his parents in his condition, and it also seemed that no one was going to question his condition with the older man leering behind him.
"I should have cut my hair." Neville pulled at his sandy curls. He had been letting his hair grow out so he could put it in a pony tail and not have to worry about it as much. He looked at the door into his parent's room hesitantly.
"You look fine." Snape didn't mock him or have any sense of sarcasm in his voice and Neville looked back up at the older man. He bit his lip but turned back to the doors and walked in.
He had to admit he was a little surprised that his Gran wasn't there. He had honestly been expecting her hat and all ready to take him home. He walked over to his parents' beds and saw that both of them were playing with toys on their beds. They stopped for a moment to look up at him but then went back to their toys.
"Mum…Dad…" Neville smiled at them. "Sorry I haven't been visiting you lately. As you can see, there's been a lot going on at my end." He put a hand over his stomach and his mother looked over to his stomach and smiled at him, but then switched the toys she had been playing with. His breath hitched slightly but then there were hands on his shoulders.
"This is Professor Severus Snape; he works at Hogwarts and teaches Potions." Neville kept talking to them. "There's no hope for me, but he seems to get it alright." He smiled slightly as the hands twitched slightly.
"Has Gran visited you lately?" He fumbled with a block on the end of his father's bed. "I haven't spoken to her in a while, but I'm sure she's been here. Next time, maybe we can come together again." He ignored his shaky voice. "I promise to visit more when I have my kid, you'll be the first to meet him, I swear, and he'll know his grandparents. You're going to be Gran's now." He laughed slightly at this and watched his parents play for a while.
One of the hands left his shoulder, but he felt the warm fingers grab his hand shortly after. He looked up at the black-haired man. "We can go now." Snape didn't argue and they left the ward still holding hands. Neville stopped to talk to the head nurse and she didn't once ask about his condition and he smiled at her gratefully as she assured him that his parents were in good health and had even started letting some people play with them on good days.
It wasn't until they had left the hospital and Neville had let Snape side-along him back to the gates of Hogwarts that he started crying. But Snape didn't say anything and they talked about his parents and the older man told Neville what he had heard of them since he had never met them before, and the teen told him about stuff they did before that other people had told him about.
Like how for his first birthday his mother had tried to make a stuffed cat that looked more like a slug, but how he had carried it around with him until his Great-uncle Algie's Thrombulus Flourinian vine had eaten it one day when he left outside.
Snape wondered aloud how Neville survived in an environment like that when he was such a klutz, but the teen ignored it and they made it back to the Great Hall just in time for the feast before the break.
Neville felt lighter than he had in a long time.
XXX
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