The End

A resounding pop was heard and not a second after, Ginny Weasley appeared in the middle of an empty sitting room in the Longbottoms's residence. Normally, of course, she would have waited at the front door first before coming in. But when she found out that Neville was about to move out of his old childhood home, she found it the perfect opportunity to pay him a surprise visit. His uptight grandmother was doing some shopping at Diagon Alley anyway, so she didn't have to worry about anyone scolding her for rudely inviting herself in.

Ginny guessed that Neville would be up in his room so she dashed upstairs, careful not to let her footsteps be heard. When she reached the upper floor, however, she found herself face-to-face with a much cluttered hallway. She was too distracted formulating a reason behind what was happening to notice Neville coming out of one of the rooms carrying a heavy trunk. The loud clatter of it against the floor brought Ginny back to her senses and saw Neville standing a few feet away from her for the first time.

"Ginny," he mumbled, quite stunned to see her.

"I'm thinking I should've definitely owled first before coming, shouldn't have I?" she said, grimacing at the mess at her feet.

They both laughed before Ginny lunged forward and flung herself into Neville's arms. She felt herself being lifted from the ground and giggled when he spun her around, causing her foot to collide against a nearby box, toppling it over.

"What are you doing here?" Neville asked when he set Ginny down. "I haven't seen you in months."

"I've been really busy since I started playing for the Holyhead Harpies," Ginny started to explain, "But when I found out that my best friend was finally moving out, I just had to see you! This is a big day! Wait, you are moving today, right? I might not be able to go with you tomorrow anymore because I'll have practice by then and—"

"Relax, Gin. It's today," Neville answered as he put a calming hand on Ginny's shoulder. Looking at her, it was still quite surprising for him when he thought of everything they had been through together—from the moment he asked her to the Yule Ball to the nights they spent at the mercy of the Carrows. He could never have made it without Ginny, his best friend.

"So what are you still doing here then?" she questioned. "As it turns out, it's spring, the perfect time for cleaning!" he answered and Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well, Gran told me that she has a few plans to alter the house a bit. Says she needs the extra rooms, so I had to clean up everything before I leave. I've been sorting out all morning, actually."

"I can help," Ginny volunteered and Neville smiled appreciatively.

Soon enough, with Ginny's help, Neville finally breathed out the sigh of relief he had been holding since his grandmother gave him the order early that morning. They rewarded themselves with a nice cool bottle of pumpkin juice as they lounged at Neville's bedroom. He was looking over the things in his trunk, making sure that he was not forgetting anything.

"Won't you bring your books with you?" Ginny asked, tracing her fingers along the spines of the books on the shelf.

"I'm not sure if I'd still be needing any of them. I might just give them away. I think I've already gotten the ones I need anyway," he answered.

Ginny shrugged as she took out a random book. It was quite different from the rest, having no text on the front cover or the spine. There was a thin strip of ribbon tied into a neat knot as if to keep the book from spilling out its contents.

"Hey, Nev. What is this?" she said as she walked over to where Neville was and handed the book to him.

A sign of recognition etched over Neville's features. "That's right! I knew I was forgetting something! Thanks Gin."

"What is it then?"

Neville pushed his trunk aside to give them space to sit on the bed. "It's my mum's old diary. She loved to write about everything, see. I found it when I was ten. I was hiding from Gran that day because I accidentally broke her favourite vase with magic," he explained, giving the journal back to her so that she could look at it for herself.

Unlike Tom Riddle's diary, Ginny noticed how every yellowing page was filled with beautifully written words from top to bottom, leaving no space untouched. She ran her fingertips along the page gingerly, taking in a few passages. I was shaking—more than I care to admit—when my name was called… Dorcas was quite adamant that I go to Hogsmeade with her. She's always up to something…I knew I had seen him before. Tall and lanky, it was quite hard not to miss Frank Longbottom walking down the corridor, brandishing his prefect badge all the while. But seeing him sitting alone at the edge of the sea, his eyes closed in meditation, made him seem quite different—a little bit handsome and a little less insufferable. It almost made me forget that he once took forty points from Gryffindor just because I decided it was time to hex that wretched Rabastan Lestrange…Frank decided to pull his first infraction before he could leave Hogwarts for good. He seemed rather too excited that I was a bit frightened for him. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm was contagious so it didn't take me long enough to feel at ease. He grabbed my hand and led me to the middle of the Quidditch field. Then we lay down on our backs to get a view of the sky. I looked up at Frank. His eyes were closed and there was a smile on his face. My heart swelled with love and I knew that we were truly meant to find each other.

Curiosity dawned on Ginny when she found a faded blue flower pressed on one of the pages. "It's a forget-me-not," Neville said when he found her looking at it. "Dad used to give it to Mum all the time. She collected each one." And sure enough, there were more pages with flowers stuck on them.

"Back when I was younger, I used to think that Mum wrote it for me. So that even if she was far away, she could still tell her story to me, about her and Dad," Neville continued, closing his eyes. "I like to think that they never forgot."

Neville felt Ginny take his hand, and he smiled at her touch because though it took him years to believe, he finally understood that he was never alone.