There was a time when he thought that falling in love was something meant for other people. Sure, there was that time that he went on a date with Ginny Weasley and danced the night away, but that was years ago and they never did anything together that resembled a date ever again. Besides, after the Yule ball, there wasn't another girl that actually captured Neville's attention.

And he certainly hadn't garnered anyone's interest. He hadn't blamed anyone. Who would ever fall in love with a bumbling idiot who tripped over his words and struggled to make eye contact? That wasn't exactly 'boyfriend' or 'future husband' material.

So it had come as a surprise when Hannah sidled her way up to Neville and offered to buy him a drink on a dreary evening in The Leaky Cauldron. It was unexpected, but, in time, it was precisely what he'd needed at the time. What started off as shared drinks turned into genuine conversation about life after the war, life after Hogwarts, and life – with nobody else in it.

"It's total shite, too, isn't it?" she had complained with those light eyebrows of hers knit together. "I want to tell my parents that I'm going to be running The Leaky Cauldron, but they're not here. I have friends, sure, but nobody to call my own – nobody to celebrate good news with, you know? I'm in this world and I'm just Hannah bloody Abbott."

Neville didn't quite understand exactly, since his parents were still alive in St. Mungo's Hospital. Yet, he did know how her suffering felt to a high degree. His gran had died last winter and he was still struggling to life without her. Like Hannah, he was in the world without a family of his own anymore. Mustering the courage based on this common ground, he made her an offer. "I'll celebrate with you."

Hannah smiled a big grin that opened Neville's heart in a way he couldn't ever find the words to describe it. Their classes clinked loudly, drawing the attention of my any patrons, and the rest quickly became history. From then on, it was Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott against the world.

Their engagement was a whirlwind affair that had them tying the knot soon after that fateful night in The Leaky Cauldron. Set to marry in two days, Neville had decided to make a difficult decision about the baggage he was carrying into his relationship with Hannah. Specifically, he considered what role his parents played in his life. As he stood in front of the glass window watching his parents drink tea together silently, he started to find peace in the choice that he'd made. Coming during this time was intentional. Neville needed to see them like this one last time.

"Are you sure you wish to do this, Mr. Longbottom? What you're suggesting – there's no coming back from that sort of procedure," the woman to his left pestered. Nobody on his parent's treatment team had really liked what he was asking of them. It was understandable, he supposed, since they've seen his parents at their worst. However, they could only ever see them as patients. Neville was no healer. He was no monster. He was simply their son, and he wanted to give them something they deserved – a chance at more than white padded hospital rooms that operated like prison cells.

So he had made it perfectly clear, again, that this was the remedy he'd chosen for his parents. When his gran died, their fate fell onto his shoulders. It was never that he couldn't carry the burden, only that it had become precisely that: a burden. Neville did not want to grow old with his wife, resenting his parents for something the did not choose, for something that they did not do to themselves. If there was any chance that he could give them something that was considered impossible, if he had to take the chance to find out if he could give them a better life, then Neville had braved enough darkness to make that choice.

Neville wanted to close this chapter in his life, not out of selfishness, though it could seem that way to an outsider. "I understand the repercussions, but they've been trapped in this ward for twenty years. Don't they deserve to have a go at the rest of their life like everyone else?"

The healer nodded her head, however hesitant she had been previously. Only an hour before, they'd discussed Alice and Frank Longbottom's physical health, which was great, considering all that they'd been through. Despite the fact that they did not recognize visitors that they should've known, including family, they did seem at peace with one another more often than not. On those rare occasions that they were not friendly with one another, they did not breakdown and beginning screaming. They would merely keep their distance when with one another. None of their memories were there to guide them, of course, and so they only interact based upon gut feelings they had about others, about each other. And they could never scream at one another.

"Sometimes they hold hands," the healer whispered. "It cannot be explained by medical magic. Their love must've been quite powerful."

Neville smiled. On rare occasions, his gran would tell stories about his mum and dad dancing in the night under the stars. They did everything together. He hoped day in and day out that he could give Hannah that same kind of blissful love.

"I've made arrangements for them in a cottage along the countryside near a small town in Scotland. If the procedure is successful, I will take them there immediately," Neville reiterated his intentions for the healer next to him, his eyes never leaving the sight of his parents ahead of him. Obliviating his parents may not work, but with great skill, it could be successful enough to get them established in a Muggle life that they can share. They'll never even know what they've lost, which is heartbreaking and calming all at once.

Waiting for a team of healers to get together and formulate an action plan to ensure the highest success rate was nearly unbearable. He'd cancelled his dinner plans with Hannah so that he could have this weight off of his shoulders. It was important to him that he was able to be the best husband to her that he could be, without always pondering how his life might have been if his parents were able to be a proper part of it. It would eventually take too much life from him. He wanted to give that life to Hannah.

The moon had been out for a few hours, but Neville hadn't moved to verify the exact time on a clock because he was frozen in anticipation. It was quite late when the doctor's came out to confirm that his parents were calmer than they'd been for years, and that, when he was ready to sign the paperwork releasing them into his custody, the papers were waiting for him at reception.

Hearing that was jarring, and heartbreaking, really, because he'd never thought this day would come – his parents leaving St. Mungo's Hospital for good. It was painful that they could not leave under better terms, but Neville had been right to take this risk; they would be leaving with far more than with which they had came.

Once at the cottage, the hardest part wasn't closing their bedroom door or kissing his parents' heads good-bye for the last time while they slept. It wasn't the knowledge that he would never see them again and that he had any traces of their love for him as their son erased. No, all of that was easy, because, in the end, it held them back. Neville did not want to be the reason they continued to live in a hospital surrounded by healers just looking to keep them comfortable.

Everything he'd done up until that point had been pretty easy.

Writing a new story for them is what he found to be the hardest part:

Alice and Frank,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you are pleased with your new accommodations. You must be very confused but I want you to remain calm.

A murder investigation you were running together went very wrong a few months back and you were rushed to the hospital. You had been severely injured after the perpetrator attacked you. Unfortunately, the damage was already done by the time medics and back up arrived. You have now suffered severe and irreversible amnesia. It is very possible that you'll be reading this and you won't even know with certainty that Alice and Frank are your names.

Alice and Frank Abbott, actually.

You were brilliant detective inspectors before the incident, but those days are now behind you. I have seen to it that you can spend your life in this cottage comfortably for as long as you need, since you've been forced into early retirement. You should always have everything you need, or the means to get what you need without worry.

A caretaker will come to the cottage three times per week. Her name is Gabrielle and she used to be a nurse in France. She is looking forward to helping you get your life established here. Should you ever need anything, it is my promise and guarantee that she will see to whatever you wish.

Many people will miss you, but this is the best course of action for your future.

I hope that it brings you nothing but joy.

Best wishes,

N.L.

He chose Hannah's last name for them so that they had a part of their daughter-in-law too. They would never know it, but Neville would. He would always know it, and no matter how much it hurt – it helped too.

Even though it was time for him to let go, he and Hannah would always have a connection to them.

"I love you," Neville muttered into the air, tears rolling over his cheeks. It was the last time he was ever going to say it to them. Well, at their home, hoping that his words will fill every crevice and linger for them to hear in their dreams. "I love you so much, mum and dad, and this is the only way I could show it."

Before he changed his mind about everything, Neville set fire to the paper with the address on it and apparated to his flat in Dufftown. He was getting married in eight hours and he needed to be ready to walk down the aisle to his perfect future alongside a woman who, against all odds, chose him – stuttering, muttering, fumbling, and bumbling him.

Bittersweet as everything was, Neville couldn't have been happier. The idea of marrying the love of his life… Becoming Neville and Hannah Longbottom…

It was going to be worth letting go; he knew it in his heart.

XXXXX

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this short series, your interest in this content means the world to me. In addition to my gratitude, it is my hope that you were pleased with the choices I made regarding these characters. Favorite & review if you wish, otherwise, simply coming to read this was enough. May the best come your way in all future endeavors - and may "I Love You" mean a little bit more than it did before, as you are so loved.