Chapter 52

Ron idly wondered what Hermione was doing as Dean dumped another stack of paperwork on his desk. It was a pretty standard day in the Auror Office — mountains and mountains of paperwork and very limited time spent doing anything interesting.

The fact that there was so much work to do when they barely left the room was baffling to Ron, but he didn't complain. If he didn't have that to do, then he'd have nothing to do at all.

He loved the days they got to go out to places, follow up on reports and on the odd occasions actually deal with Dark magic, but days like today were definitely not as exciting, and he knew that the others felt it too. Even the senior Aurors who'd been there during the time of Voldemort needed something more exciting than paperwork.

"Why can't you do that one?" Ron asked Dean, watching him walk back to his own desk on the other side of the office. Having been a year behind in his training compared to Harry, Ron and Neville, Dean had joined the ranks only a few months prior. But he was good, Ron reasoned. Perhaps not as apt at the physical spell casting side of things (though he had been part of the DA, so he was still very good), but Dean was an incredibly organised person and someone who seemed to like every minute of this job — even these ones. He was also a great motivational speaker in the office, which had been a great asset this year for everyone.

And not to mention that for Ron, being in the office with three of his four old friends gave him a good sense of nostalgia. He liked going to work every day, seeing them all, laughing, joking. Harry, Neville and Dean seemed to make the slow days go more quickly, and then he got to go home in the evening and see Hermione and spend the rest of his time with her.

It was a good deal, Ron thought. One he wouldn't change for anything.

"Because that one is for you," Dean said, sitting back behind his desk.

"Says who?" Ron asked.

"Says Robards," Dean replied.

Ron sighed. Robards, the Head Auror. He couldn't argue with that. Not that Robards was ever in the office to be the Head Auror. He dropped by once or twice — maybe three times if they were lucky — a week to give any instructions, and then vanished again, apparently tasked with more important things than sitting around and hoping that maybe something would happen.

And even then, if it was deemed something the others could do, he'd send them out and stay in his personal office.

"Cheer up," Dean said, grinning. "You only have a small pile in comparison to Neville's."

Ron glanced two desks over to Neville's empty one. Dean did have a point. Neville's work had been piling up over the course of a few days, his absence from work a growing mystery amongst the other Aurors. Only Robards seemed to know of his whereabouts, and when asked, had told them it was a personal matter.

Ron couldn't help but feel a little concerned for Neville, and knew that Harry — and Hermione when he'd told her — felt the same way. Hermione had contemplated sending an owl to him to find out if he and his grandmother were okay, but Ron didn't know if she'd gotten around to it.

He had always considered Neville a friend, but these days he was one of Ron's closest. They spent a lot of time outside of work together, and it was very disconcerting not knowing what was going on with him.

Neville had been one of the hardest workers since accepting his place in the training program only months after the war. Ron wondered if the pressure of it all had become too much. Maybe Neville needed a break, or maybe he was just on holiday with Hannah.

But Dean, who saw Seamus a lot more than Ron or Harry did, said Seamus had seen Hannah at work every day this week.

"He said she seems perfectly normal," he'd told Ron and Harry yesterday morning. "Doesn't look concerned or upset or anything like that."

It was weird, but Ron knew that if there was anything wrong with Neville, then they'd find out eventually.

Ron looked to his other side, where Harry's desk also stood empty. Harry's pile wasn't quite as big as Ron's, but he was slightly better at getting through the work than Ron was anyway.

Harry was at lunch and would be due back in about fifteen minutes, giving Ron a chance to stretch his legs.

Ron pulled off the work Dean had just dumped on his desk and began scribbling some things down on it, not really sure what he was writing. Now that his mind was back on Neville, he found it hard to concentrate on other things. Where was Neville? What could keep him away for so long that even his girlfriend didn't appear to be worried about him?

Ron was just filling out a report for something they'd done in the beginning of the week when Harry returned from his break.

"Your turn," Harry said, plonking into his desk. "And if you're lucky, you might just catch Hermione in the last fifteen minutes. She's a little distracted, though."

"What's new?" Ron asked, climbing to his feet. "What is it this time?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Harry said. "But she's keen to see you. All but made me cut my break short so you could catch her."

Ron left the Auror Office, his mind now on Hermione and what she was so desperate to see him about. It must have been something to do with Ron, otherwise she would have told Harry if she'd seen him first.

He climbed into the lift that was heading to the lunch room, wishing it would go faster. It was becoming less and less frequent that their breaks aligned. With some of her laws now being passed, Hermione was quickly becoming someone in the Magical Creatures department who was of high demand. Even the experienced employees hadn't had things get through as quickly or as successfully as she, and they all sought her advice or wanted to speak to her about one thing or another.

On the times that Ron did get to see her, she was often approached by ten other people. And Hermione being Hermione, she didn't have the ability to ignore them or tell them to go away. But she did instruct them to leave a memo on her desk and she would get back to them when she could.

"You're wasted in the Magical Creatures department," he'd said to her a few weeks back over a rare lunch break together after the fifth person in the space of five minutes had come to her with a problem.

"It's important," she'd argued, though her voice had taken on an air of exhaustion.

"I know, but you're better than that now," he'd said. "You can do more."

"I like what I do."

And Ron had left it at that, because the truth was she did like her job. Loved it, in fact. It still didn't stop him from thinking her talents were wasted in an area where she could no longer make much of a difference. She'd done all that she could there, gotten through everything she wanted.

The lift opened and Ron walked quickly down the corridor leading to the lunch room. To his relief, he found Hermione by a table against the far wall, her head down and scanning some notes.

"Hey," he said, coming to sit opposite her. "It's a miracle, I actually get to see you."

She barely looked up as she said, "You see me every day."

"Yes, but not here." He watched her. She was reading something very intently, a frown on her face. "What?" he asked.

Now she did look up at him, concern in her expression. "It's Neville," she said. "I just got a reply from him. He said he wants to see you at one today. That he'll be in the office then."

"What?" Ron asked, blinking. "Today?"

Hermione nodded, passing him the letter. "I sent him an owl yesterday and he's replied. Read it for yourself. I don't think anything's wrong."

Ron looked over the letter, taking in bits and pieces that stood out to him.

… I've been doing some organising…

… I've been at Hogwarts, seeing McGonagall…

… Can't wait until I can finally tell you all…

"Well," Ron said, setting the letter on the table, "at least it's not bad and he's alright."

"Why so secretive, though?" Hermione asked. "Why does he have to tell us in person?"

"I don't know, Hermione," Ron said, suddenly smiling. Neville was okay, and that was what mattered. "I suppose he doesn't have to share his entire life with you." He reached across the table to take her hand, and she let him, despite them being in a work environment. "How much longer do you have?"

Hermione glanced up to the wall where a ginormous clock sat. "Three minutes." She looked back to Ron, smiling, her hand still in his. "Sorry. It just confused me."

"And intrigued you," Ron added. "We now have two minutes left, so how has your day been?"

"Busy." Hermione sighed. "This is the first break I've had all week, and I am taking every single minute of it. We are being swamped with so much work."

"You and me both," Ron said. "Dean just dumped a whole lot of paperwork on my desk just a moment ago. It's tough when there aren't enough Dark wizards out there to chase after every day."

Hermione's expression shifted to one of sympathy. "You haven't been out today?"

"Pretty much office-bound all week," Ron said. "Standard week."

She smiled. "I suppose we should be grateful for that fact."

"Huh, yeah, I should be," Ron agreed. "Once a week actually getting to use magic other than to seal another completed report would be nice, though. I don't know where all the paperwork comes from when we don't do anything. But it's every little discrepancy that needs to be filed. No matter how small."

Hermione gave him another quick smile and then jumped to her feet, pulling her hand away in the process. "I've got to go. I probably won't have the chance to catch up with Neville, but please let me know what he has to say. I do hope he's alright."

"He said he can't wait to tell us," Ron said, indicating the letter still on the table. "He's fine. Maybe he and Hannah secretly got married. Maybe they're having a baby."

"I'll see you tonight," Hermione said, and she was gone, disappearing through the door of the lunch room.

Ron sighed, picking up Neville's letter again and reading it one more time. What had Neville acting so secretive? And why was he at Hogwarts?

He spent the rest of his lunch break on his own, which had become the norm recently. Before, if Hermione wasn't around, then Harry would be. But the more experienced they became as Aurors, the more capable they were of doing things on their own, which meant they were needed in the office. That put them on separate breaks.

When he returned, Neville was already sitting at his desk, though dressed in regular clothing. He had a huge grin plastered across his face. Harry and Dean and a few of the other Aurors were hovering around him.

"Finally," Dean said, turning to Ron the moment he stepped into the office. "Nev wouldn't say anything until you returned. Said it was important we were all here to hear it."

"Glad you're alright, Neville," Ron said with a nod. "We were starting to get worried."

"Sorry for leaving you all in the dark this week," Neville said. "But I did send Hermione an owl — she owl'd me first, asking if I was alright, but I really couldn't say in a letter…" He looked around the room. "Is Hermione not coming?"

"She had to go back to work," Ron said. "But she asked me to pass on your news. Sounds exciting."

Neville nodded. "I have something to tell you all." And for the first time, his smile vanished. His cheerful nature had turned into something sullen, like he suddenly looked sad. "It's good, but it's also kind of bad."

"The bad news first," Dean said.

Neville nodded again. "The bad news is… well, I've resigned as an Auror as of the end of next week."

"What?" Ron's, Harry's and Dean's voices echoed throughout the office. Those who weren't nearby looked up, curiously.

"What are you doing that for?" Harry asked, sounding astounded that someone would want to leave the Aurors.

"Your letter to Hermione said you couldn't wait to tell us," Ron said. The news also shocked him and he was certain that when he told Hermione she would be just as shocked to hear it. Neville had been more dedicated than anyone, really pushing and challenging himself in every area of this job. He valued it more, Ron was sure, than the others combined. So why was he resigning? He was a perfectly capable Auror and an even better friend to have around.

"I've been offered another job," Neville continued.

"Unless it's Minister for Magic, Nev, I'm not hearing it," Ron said. "You belong here. What job is better than here?"

"A few weeks ago, McGonagall sent me an owl to tell me that Professor Sprout has retired suddenly from her teaching post at Hogwarts. She apparently wants to see more of the world as she's getting on in years."

"Wow," Harry said. "I never really thought about some of our old professors… retiring."

"Yeah. Well, anyway… she obviously now needs a new Herbology professor, and she wrote to me… asking if I wanted to be it."

"A professor?" Ron asked, his mouth slightly open. "But… Neville…" Neville, a professor? The idea was… odd. Neville had definitely grown in confidence over the years, but Hogwarts hadn't been kind to him for the most part. He'd struggled in most subjects (except Herbology, granted) and had been a nervous wreck and highly intimidated by all of the teachers. Him now working alongside them didn't seem the most appropriate thing.

Neville nodded. "I've accepted. I had to think about it, obviously, because I really do enjoy working here, but… I think teaching may be more for me. Well, not so much teaching, but Herbology."

"You're a good Auror, mate," Ron said.

Neville shrugged. "Not as good as you guys — and don't deny it — but I know a lot about Herbology and magical plants, and I think I could definitely teach it to a bunch of kids."

"I assume Robards and Kingsley know of this?" Harry said, his expression neutral, his tone flat.

"They were the first I told when I made the decision," Neville said. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier. It just… it had to be all sorted. School starts in a month, so I've had very little time. Sprout, thankfully, has left all her past plans and equipment, so it's just a matter of settling in. I've been to see the living spaces, and me and Hannah have been moving some of my stuff in. She obviously can't come with me during term, but… she's okay with it."

"Wow, Nev, this is huge." Dean pulled up a chair and sat in it. "And here we were thinking the worst of you. Like something terrible had happened…"

Neville grinned. "There's one more thing…"

The others all listened, bracing, waiting for whatever else he was going to tell them, as if this news wasn't big enough.

"Not this year, and probably not next either, but McGonagall has told me that she hopes that within the next five years, I will become Head of Gryffindor House."

"Woah," Harry said. "That's amazing."

"Yeah. At first I said no to that, but she said I was the best option — the only option, really. There aren't many ex-Gryffindors teaching at Hogwarts, apart from her. And she doesn't want to do two jobs. But she will until I find my feet with teaching."

"A professor…" Ron said, trying to wrap his head around this new information. "Are you sure you want to spend every day at that place again? Dealing with all the kids, the detentions…"

Neville smiled. "Maybe one day I'll be teaching your kids. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Terrifying, more than anything," Ron said. "They'll be referring to you as Professor Longbottom. There's a strange thought."

Neville's smile grew. "That's something I'll have to get used to, I guess. But McGonagall has been really supportive. She said she would understand if I wanted to stay as an Auror, as it's such a prestigious job in wizarding society. But teaching is really important, too."

"Got to teach all those future Healers all the right plants to use," Ron said. "So they can save us sorry Aurors when we get ourselves almost killed."

"Yeah…" Neville looked between them all. "I will miss you all, coming in every day, but I know this is the right move for me. It feels right."

"Then we're happy for you," Harry said. "Good luck."

"So your last day's next week?" Dean said. "We'll have to throw you a farewell. Who's got the biggest place? That's you, right, Ron?"

"Yeah, not happening," Ron said.

"All good. We can go out," Dean said.

"Thanks," Neville said. He eyed Dean warily. "But something small. Nothing —"

"Nothing like my marriage celebration," Ron said.

Neville nodded.

Dean laughed.

After that, they all returned to their desk and jobs, while Neville gathered up some of his things and placed them into a box on the floor beside his desk.

Ron watched, sharing a look with Harry every so often, who just shrugged. It was going to be strange not having Neville around. He'd become a staple in their lives since joining the Aurors with them, and to go each day without seeing him was going to be something new to get used to.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Neville said, having shrunk the box so he could fit it into his pocket. "I'm still an Auror for seven more days."

Ron waved goodbye and then looked down at the pile of work that hadn't gotten any smaller over the course of his day. And it wasn't going to. He simply couldn't think about anything else right now.

"You don't think we could get off early, do you?" he asked Harry.

"Three hours early?" Harry asked. "Good luck."

Ron sighed, twirling a quill in his hand. "Do you think he really will be teaching our own kids in the future?"

"Depends when that happens," Harry said, his eyes scanning a document and not looking at Ron. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What? No. Was just… thinking."

"Well, if it's something he sticks out for a while, then, yeah, he probably will be."

Ron smiled, thoughtful. "Well, at least we know they'd have one decent professor there." And he touched his quill to the report, finally beginning to write.

Sunday, November 28 is the day that this story has been up for 1 whole year! 52 chapters! Thank you once again for all of your support reviews, follows, favourites, and everything else. I've received lots of messages from so many of you here and through DM and IG and elsewhere and I love receiving them! Thank you so much!