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Neville had returned to school alone after the weekend, looking miserable. His friends tried to rally around him but he refused to say anything.
Harry suggested that they should have another guys night in their old dorm and promised to bring the fire whiskey and butterbeers if Ron and Seamus would visit the kitchen and procure some snacks. He suggested that Dean should go with him to make sure the two boys didn't eat all the good stuff before they even got back to the dorm.
Once he was alone with Neville he got straight to the point. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No Harry, just please be gentle with Elsie when she gets here to sit her placement exams at the end of the year. I think she's going to find being here incredibly overwhelming and stressful."
"I know it's not easy to be suddenly married to someone you didn't expect," Harry said.
"It's alright for you, Hermione was your best friend. You knew her better than anyone," Neville retorted.
"Yeah but I'd never looked at her as a romantic partner. I always figured she was in love with Ron and he'd eventually get his act into gear and ask her out. She'd never looked at me like that either because she really did think she fancied Ron, or at least she was flattered that he fancied her and she thought I loved Ginny. She asked me to do the ritual with her because it failed twice with Ron and she was desperate to avoid the ministry match," Harry admitted.
"Not that desperate. Did she tell you that I asked her to do the ritual with me?" Neville said.
"Yeah, that was actually a pretty dick move Neville, but you know she'd never go back on her word like that," Harry replied frowning.
"You think that's the only reason she chose to complete the ritual with you rather than accepting me was that she'd already asked you? I told her that I loved her, that she deserved better than to marry someone who only saw her as a friend and she turned me down," Neville said.
"You fancied Hermione," Harry said. "Now that I'm with Hermione I can see that I only ever fancied Ginny, the way I feel about Hermione is so much more than I ever thought I could feel for anyone. I love her, perhaps I always did under the friendship, her friendship has always been one of the most important things in my life."
"I see that now," Neville admitted. "Hermione told me that she thought she had a better chance of the ritual working for the two of you, even if the two of you did only love each other as a friend back then."
"This marriage law is a terribly backwards way of doing things, you're already married but you still have a long way to go to build a relationship let alone a real marriage," Harry said.
Neville sighed. "Yeah, I don't know why I thought getting past the wedding would help."
"At least now you have the opportunity to get to know her without her parents and your gran around," Harry said.
"Yeah, you'd think!" Neville said pessimistically.
"You didn't? Don't tell me they were still chaperoning the two of you?" Harry asked.
"No, we were encouraged to spend most of our time with the family during the day but we had our own room together after the wedding. The problem was that it didn't do any good, she was too shy and embarrassed about sharing a bed to talk to me. And her parents were around all day every day. Her mum even dragged her off for lessons, as if it couldn't wait two days until I came back to school. I offered to help her with her studying or even just sit with her and do my homework while she had her lesson but she refused to let me," Neville complained.
"You mean her mum refused? Perhaps she's worried about how Elsie will do on her exams and wants her to be as ready as possible so she can pass her OWLs, and not embarrass her," Harry suggested.
"I don't know if she will pass, I've not seen her do much magic, her parents always did things for her when they were in the room," Neville said.
"Well you weren't allowed to do magic at their house so maybe they were just being polite, to put you on an even footing," Harry tried to make excuses. "Besides it doesn't matter if she doesn't pass her OWLs this year. McGonagall has already said she'll accept Elsie into whatever class suits her best, and it's not your fault or Elsie's if her parents haven't taught her enough magic."
"She will be embarrassed if she's in with the fifth years," Neville said.
'And you'll be embarrassed by her,' Harry thought. "We will just have to make her see that it doesn't matter, she's your wife, so she's one of us no matter what classes she's in," he said. "You will have the whole year away from her parents to get to know her as a person. Are you staying with her family for the summer or is Elsie going to come and stay with you and your Gran?"
"We haven't discussed it. I don't even know if she's chosen to share a room with me at Hogwarts or move into one of the dorms. I think it depends a bit on which year she tests into, she wouldn't want to stay with the younger girls," Neville complained.
"You'll have the dorm to yourself so there will be plenty of opportunities for privacy even if she does want to share with her classmates to get to know them better. Ron will be married and his wife will be a sixth year next year so maybe Elsie will have some classes with her though she's a Hufflepuff, and Dean's wife will be graduated, I don't know how that's going to work for them."
"Knowing my luck they'll move Dean back into the dorm," Neville grumbled.
"I don't think that they can do that, he's entitled to live with his wife, either in married accommodation here or to floo home to her each night. According to the law, Leanne will have to have a baby next year too, so they can't totally separate them.
"Wait, you said Ron's getting married? Has he received his ministry match? Who to? Do we know her?" Neville asked, distracted from his own woes.
"Eloise Midgin, fifth year Hufflepuff. They were matched by the ministry," Harry said. "Hermione knows her a little, she says she's really shy and spends a lot of time in the library on her own. Ron says she plays chess and likes quidditch, so if she likes to cook and wants to stay home with half a dozen kids she'd be a pretty good match for the sort of wife he wants, but Hermione says she thinks Eloise might want a career, she's not one of the top students in her year, but she does spend a lot of time studying. He still hates the idea of having to be married but they are at least becoming friends."
"I hope that's what she wants because that is what she will get with Ron in charge of the marriage," Neville said. "I've met her a couple of times while I was hanging out with Susan and Hannah but I don't really know her. She's awfully quiet."
"That's Hermione's concern too, she say's Eloise is incredibly shy and rarely ventures an opinion so it will be far too easy for Ron to get his own way with everything. Hermione thinks that Eloise spends too much time studying not to have some career ambitions, she's just not sure she'd be able to stand up for herself if Ron objected," Harry replied.
"I can't even get Elsie to tell me what she wants to do after her NEWTs," Neville said.
"Maybe she didn't think she'd be able to take them, it doesn't sound like her mother is a good enough or motivated enough tutor to get her that far," Harry said.
"Maybe not, I got the impression she expected to spend her whole life living with her parents and grandparents, just like her mother has. Thank goodness as the heir of Longbottom I have my own house I'm expected to live in. Though Gran lives there too, so I don't know how much better that will be," Neville replied.
"As opposed to me who doesn't own a house at all other than my Godfather's parents doxy infested hell hole, where he spent the last year of his life a virtual prisoner. I hate the place, I don't think I could ever live there, and I know Hermione's parents are happy enough to have us stay there while we're at school but I'm sure they will expect us to get our own place after graduation," Harry said lightly.
"If you hate it and it isn't a family legacy for you then you should sell it and buy a property you can make a home," Neville suggested.
"It's in the middle of muggle London, and I can't sell it to a muggle it's too infested with magical creatures like doxies and boggarts. I'd probably be better off knocking the house down and selling the land, not to mention it's hidden by a Fidelius Charm and some seriously dark family wards so I'll have to figure out how to remove them before I can do anything." Harry replied.
Neville laughed, then the others arrived back and Harry let Neville drop the subject of his marriage, starting a conversation about homework assignments, spells they'd covered and funny things that had happened in class while he'd been away. Dean and Seamus contributed gossip they'd heard from their wives, Hermione didn't gossip so Harry had nothing to add and Ron told Neville about starting to get to know his ministry match.
As they reached the bottom of their bottle of firewhiskey the boys started talking about their wives. Like last time Dean and Seamus were keen on talking about their sex lives and like last time Harry refused to contribute any details even though he did have more that he could say if he were prepared to be indiscrete he didn't want to disrespect Hermione or their relationship like that. He was pleased that it sounded like Dean and Leanne, and Seamus and Parvati were going well from the bragging the guys were doing about their sex lives and the general lack of complaining about everything else. When pushed Neville told them that sex with Elsie had so far been a bit disappointing, she didn't seem to like it which wasn't a complete surprise since even snogging embarrassed the hell out of her.
"Elsie's never been allowed to spend time alone with boys, probably never even met anyone her age to develop a crush on. I'm not trying to sound conceited but she'd have to be almost totally isolated not to recognise me. So she's awkward about everything because it's so unfamiliar and so far from her experience and she probably knows that the girls here at Hogwarts aren't so innocent and naïve which would make her feel even more insecure. Not to mention you were still under her parent's roof. Give her some time, I'm sure it will get better," Harry said earnestly.
"I hope that's all it is. I get the feeling she didn't want to marry me," Neville replied.
"To be fair, you didn't really want to marry Elsie either," Harry said. "She honestly didn't know you well enough to want to marry you, and like the rest of us probably hoped to finish school, date a bit and start a career before having to get married."
Neville picked up his pillow and swatted Harry starting an epic pillow fight which ended when Hermione came in demanding that they settle down and stop keeping everyone awake and dragged Harry out behind her when turned to leave.
"Someone's getting lucky tonight!" Seamus crowed.
"Do you really think so? She looked pretty mad to me," Neville asked as Hermione turned around to glare at the Irishman.
"Angry sex is the best!" Dean said.
"That would be why you had the hots for Ginny?" Seamus said, not quite quietly enough and Ron ended the discussion by thumping the pair of them. Just as well because Harry, Hermione and Neville didn't really want to hear what Dean had to say either.
"I'll see you in a bit Hermione, I'm going to stay here and catch up with the guys a while, it's been a long time since we've had a boys night the five of us," Harry said.
"Okay Harry, I'll see you later, try to keep the noise down though, some of the youngsters are trying to sleep," Hermione agreed.
"Okay Hermione," Harry agreed, though he doubted anyone would be in bed yet, it wasn't worth starting an argument, he kicked Ron when he went to open his mouth. "Don't argue!" he hissed at his best mate.
"You and Katie were having a good old chat the other day, did she ask you about me and Leanne?" Dean said to Harry.
"We were talking about our old Quidditch team, I asked if she'd heard from Alicia and Angelina," Harry replied.
Dean nodded understandingly. "Leanne and Katie them," he said. "Hopefully we can find a way to catch up over the summer."
"Leanne, Katie and Alicia could catch up easily enough, I don't think anyone's going to see Angelina for a few years or more," Harry replied sombrely.
"What happened to Angelina anyway?" Ron asked belligerently.
"She left the country and is a reserve chaser in one of the national league teams of her new country. Katie didn't tell me where. Apparently, it's far enough away though, she hasn't received a ministry letter so she isn't in danger of being arrested, but she can't come back without being matched up until she's married or the law is changed," Harry explained.
"She should have married Fred," Ron said belligerently.
"Fred broke up with her and was dating someone else. If she tried to marry him she'd still always remember that he didn't want to be with her," Harry reminded him. "Katie said her letter was quite upbeat about her new life. And reserve chaser on a professional quidditch team is pretty amazing."
As Harry hoped the mention of quidditch distracted him this time and he happily talked about the skills of the three Gryffindor chasers and how their replacements didn't quite measure up in spite of the fact his sister was one of them. They just didn't have the teamwork that the older three girls had had.
-o0o-
"You do realise that you gave yourself away last night?" Neville said when he and Harry were alone the next day.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Harry asked apprehensively.
"When you talked about how things would get better with me and Elsie, you were clearly talking from experience. You and Hermione have problems with sex too," Neville said.
"We did have trouble at first, not anymore" Harry corrected, blushing slightly. "Having to have sex for the ritual before we were anywhere near ready to look at each other romantically had consequences. Not to mention the pressure of having to complete the ritual without foreplay while she was still already sore down there. And then to spend Christmas with her parents a few weeks later, when the only reason they didn't throw me out of the house was that Hermione threatened to go with me, just as we'd begun to find our feet as a couple was incredibly awkward. Things are good now." He was exaggerating, but only a little, things were good in spite of the fact they hadn't had penetrative sex since the night they bonded but he didn't want anyone, Neville in particular, to know that they weren't living as a fully married couple in spite of sharing a bed every night .
"But she still tried to drag you out of our party last night and makes you finish your homework before you can go to bed and have fun? Like Seamus was teasing you?" Neville asked jokingly, accepting Harry's explanation and hopeful his marriage could also end up in a good relationship.
"Well, things are good but she's still Hermione. It's not that she tries to stop me from playing quidditch or having fun, or forces me to finish my work earlier or study more, but I know she won't come to bed until her own work is done, and it would stress her out if she knew I was struggling. She couldn't relax if she did, so I like to sit up with her. It's no hardship to have all my homework done without worrying about it at the last minute and trying to do it in a rush, and with NEWTs next year bringing my grades up now is a good thing," Harry replied smiling.
Neville laughed. "Yeah she hasn't changed much, though most of us are relieved she's turned most of her attention to you."
"She doesn't nag me to study as much as you all think she does," Harry protested.
"But it isn't like you to spend so much time studying," Neville stated.
"It would be more accurate to say it wasn't like Ron to spend any time studying that he didn't absolutely have to, and I was so desperate to hold onto my first friend that I often let him lead me astray even when I knew better, and remember that in the past I was too distracted trying to save the school to concentrate on homework," Harry corrected. "It's nice having the opportunity to concentrate on my schoolwork and I never realised classes would be so much easier if I prepared for them properly instead of just turning up and winging it."
Neville laughed. "You more than kept up with the rest of us already, I wouldn't say you needed to put more time into prepping for class."
"Perhaps not but it has made learning new spells easier, and the supplemental reading has similar spells with the same wand movements we're learning that might be more useful." Harry admitted.
-o0o-
Ron was surprised and a little hurt that Eloise looked awkward as they met up. He thought they'd managed to become friends in spite of the forced betrothal and upcoming marriage that to be honest neither of them were anywhere near ready for and now it seemed like she could barely look at him again, much less enjoy his company.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
"Mum sent me a letter, she wants me to ask you some things about the wedding. If we want to make some of the decisions?" Eloise said timidly. She knew Ron hated even thinking about the wedding.
"What decisions because you know I don't care about the flowers or colours or decorations?" Ron asked irritated.
Eloise had to pinch herself to avoid losing her temper at the total lack of interest Ron showed in any of the wedding planning, she understood his point of view completely, he wouldn't have been her choice of husband either but she was disappointed that it didn't look like they'd fall in love with each other like she'd always dreamed. "Well I thought you might care about the food," she said dryly.
"Yeah. What choices do we have to make?" Ron asked eagerly.
Eloise laughed. "Mum's given me some suggestions to choose between but before that we need to talk about bridesmaids and groomsmen. How many do you want and who do you want as your best man?"
"I dunno, how many bridesmaids do you want. They're supposed to match aren't they? I've got enough brothers for you to have as many as you want," Ron asked.
"Yes they're supposed to match. I have three girls I think I could ask, and of course I could have Hermione and Ginny if you wanted all your brothers. I guess I need to think of someone else as well if you want Harry to be your best man as well," Eloise said thoughtfully. "Mum would say I should ask my cousin, in fact if I had that many bridesmaids she'd probably insist on her being one of them," she added sighing.
"I would like to have Harry as best man," Ron said smiling. "But that's too many with all my brothers. I don't want you to have to put up with a bridesmaid you don't want. To be honest I want Harry more than any of them. Bill and Charlie won't be able to get here until a day or two before the wedding, I don't want Percy the prat to be part of my wedding and I'm not sure we should trust the twins not to prank me as I'm getting ready," Ron replied.
"So just Harry then and I'll ask Hannah," Eloise said smiling. "She has always wanted a small private wedding with just immediate family and best friends and one bridesmaid sounded ideal to her. She knew that with her mother in charge of organizing everything, the wedding would be much bigger than she wanted but having to deal with six bridesmaids before the ceremony as well would have given her nightmares. Hannah would be supportive and was surprisingly calming when she needed to be.
"That sounds fine, now what about the food?" Ron asked.
"What's your mum going to say?" Eloise asked uncertainly, once they'd written down their food choices. She'd only met Molly Weasley once but she'd also spent years listening to the woman's howlers across the great hall every time she heard something that one of her children had done that made her angry and she didn't want to face that.
"About the food? She's going to make a fuss about not being able to do the cooking and insist she could do a better job at half the cost, she probably could too but I think she'll be glad on the day not to have to spend all her time in the kitchen worrying about getting so many people fed," Ron replied.
"No silly, about asking Harry to be best man instead of having your brothers as groomsmen?" Eloise asked.
Ron sighed. "She's going to hate it. She's still telling me I shouldn't be friends with Harry because he stole my girlfriend and broke my sister's heart. But she's wrong, it wasn't Harry's fault that I couldn't bond with Hermione and I'm glad that he protected her from having to marry that Slytherin brute Higgs."
"Then maybe we shouldn't have any best man or matron of honour. I don't want there to be any fights at our wedding. I'm sure Harry will understand why you can't ask him. In fact, I'm sure he'll understand whether you explain or not, and there isn't anyone that I really want to stand with me, and Hannah certainly won't be hurt that I don't ask her, I think she'd actually be a little bit surprised by it if I did," Eloise suggested.
"I'll talk to Harry but if he really wants to, if it means something to him then I will put up with Mum's yelling and Ginny's temper," Ron said.
"Okay Ron, it's our wedding so it shouldn't really matter what our parents think. Let me know if I should ask Hannah," Eloise agreed.
-o0o-
"You know I would want you to be my best man?" Ron asked Harry.
"Yeah Ron I know," Harry replied smiling gently at his friend, understanding that he wasn't actually being asked to stand up with him and sympathising with the reason his friend felt that he couldn't actually ask. "I wouldn't want to ruin your wedding with tantrums over me though or with people stupidly fawning over the boy-who-lived instead of paying attention to you and Eloise. I understand if you want to ask one of your brothers instead."
"No, if I can't have you then I don't want a best man at all. Eloise agreed, she doesn't have a best friend like you so she doesn't care. Even if you can't stand up with me on the day, know that's your place, where you should be if I could ask," Ron said.
"Okay then, for what it's worth I'm sorry the two of you didn't get to have the wedding you wanted," Harry said.
"I guess none of us did. I'd take the bonding ritual Hermione found over all this fuss if I could be sure that it would work," Ron said sighing.
"You don't think it would?" Harry asked. "You seem well suited and I thought you really liked her?"
"I like her fine as a friend and as ministry matches go, Eloise is a pretty good match and I'm relieved it was her, but I still don't think the ritual would work with Eloise any better than it did with me and Hermione. Nothing has changed I really don't feel ready to be married and I don't want to be," Ron admitted.
"I understand that. I wouldn't give up what Hermione and I have for anything, but the idea of being an adult and responsible for providing a home and having children. I'm not sure I'm ever going to be ready for all that," Harry said sympathetically. "Hermione wanted to go to university and get a job and work for a few years before getting married so if it wasn't for this stupid law I'd have another eight or nine years to get used to the idea."
Ron literally shuddered at the thought of babies and responsibilities.
A/N: Merry Christmas.
Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.
