The Secret Garden

A/N: With the exception of the closing chapters of the main story this installment has caused the most self-induced pressure. I did not want to screw up Astoria. Also, I never imagined a day where I would be Googling 'movies about gardens' but here we are.

As the celebration of Neville Longbottom's birthday swirled around her Astoria Greengrass seethed. She needed today to be a good day. From the moment she awoke after a restless night of sleep with the all too familiar aches in her joints she knew all of her hopes had been shot to hell.

Her entire life had been a mix of good and bad days. Because she was still so young the good days far outweighed the bad but her condition insured that the bad ones were bad. Very, very bad.

She knew the bad days would become more frequent as she got older but she tried her best not to worry about such things. Worrying only led to more bad days and she hated bad days. And bad days when her family was around to suffer along with her were exponentially worse.

Until this wretched day the summer had been filled with only good days. She had not had to pretend she felt fine once in the last month to avoid her family's worrying eyes and questions. But, as usual, the days she hoped and needed to be good inevitably always went sideways.

She knew it was her own fault. That she had circled and highlighted this date on her mental calendar and obsessed internally on it being good for the last several weeks. The nerves and energy wasted on something she had no control over always led to causing the exact problem she was hoping to avoid. Always.

She hadn't felt this tired and out of sorts since the day after Daphne and Harry had saved the world and that had been by far her favorite bad day ever. She slept through breakfast, barely paid attention in class, and went to bed early knowing her days of having to worry about the Dark Tosser were over. It was easy to pretend she was oblivious to what had happened as she was simply too tired to be anything but casual and relaxed. She hadn't even noticed the unusual number of owls delivering letters to the Slytherin table that day. The aches and exhaustion that day were worth it.

But none of that helped her today as she stood in the corner as the happy conversations surrounded her. She knew sitting down would help...that it was the most sensible thing to do to counter her exhaustion and her throbbing ankles. But doing that when almost everyone else was standing and talking would be a quick indicator to Daphne that something was wrong and Astoria wanted to avoid that at all costs. Because if Daphne noticed she would watch her more. Then Daphne would tell her parents when they arrived and they would watch her more, causing her to feel infinitely worse.

Astoria could suffer a bit more so her sister could have a worry free day with her boyfriend...so her parents could enjoy their time celebrating with Nevile and his grandmother...so Neville could enjoy his seventeenth birthday without having to wonder why Astoria kept shooting her family dirty looks. Fatigue and aching joints were much more preferable than guilt. Better for her to suffer alone...no need to ruin everyone else's day...again.

Daphne's brief separation from Harry had greatly helped Astoria avoid her sister's detection. The last few days had been fairly comical for Astoria as she watched her sister obsessively pore over her summer assignments and information on the family business to distract herself from Harry being elsewhere. It was fascinating to see someone who seemingly valued control above all else allow herself to be so consumed with something besides ledgers, books, and future responsibilities. The Daphne she had known her whole life was still there...it was just louder...and a bit more unguarded. Harry Potter had allowed everyone else to see a bit more of what she knew was hiding in plain sight her entire life. Her Daphne.

Even today, as dignified and reserved as Daphne had been in such a public setting, she still never left Harry's side...never stopped subtly touching him in some way if she could help it. Seeing Daphne so publicly affectionate and unguarded had been the one good part of the day. It was such an odd role reversal...normally it was Daphne who was checking in on her.

But as content and relaxed as her sister was Astoria knew Daphne was still spying on her periodically and she needed to stay vigilant. She would not let her condition ruin Daphne's or anyone else's day.

Her ruminations on the best way to casually lean against the wall were interrupted by the sound of something scraping against the floor. She turned to see Neville standing next to her, chair in hand.

"What's that for?" she asked, doing her best to look confused.

"Uhh...for you. I thought you might like to sit," he answered.

Astoria seethed. Apparently Daphne had been watching and had sicced Nevile on her. "Who told you I needed to sit down?" she demanded, her voice a bit harsher than she had intended.

"Umm...you did I suppose," he replied confusedly, taken aback by her tone. "You looked a bit dead on your feet. Sorry," he mumbled as he let go of the chair and began to walk away.

Astoria cursed under her breath. Neville had been nothing but kind to her over the last few months. And it was his birthday! He above everyone didn't deserve her anger today. She'd really bolloxed this up.

She reached for his arm to stop him from walking away. "I'm sorry, Neville," she replied much more gently, resorting to the typical half truth she shared with most people. "Just feeling a bit out of sorts today," she continued as she took the proffered seat. "Thank you," she replied honestly.

"S'all right," he mumbled before walking away.

Between the reduced stress on her body and Neville's shy smile she instantly felt better.

Five minutes later Neville returned, a piece of cake and a butterbeer in hand. "Nobody asked me to bring you this so if it makes you angry feel free to yell at me," he joked as he handed them over.

"Thank you again Neville," she answered with a chuckle. She took a drink and once again felt a little bit more energized. Staying hydrated and well fed always helped with her energy level but she had been so worried about appearing tired in front of Daphne that she had ignored the need. She knew it was stupid and counterintuitive and the kind of thing she would mercilessly tease Daphne for doing but she couldn't help it.

"No problem," he answered. "Thanks for the gloves by the way," he continued, "those self cleaning charms are going to be dead useful...contamination can really mess with the plants. I swear I spend half of my time cleaning everything before moving to a new part of the greenhouse."

"You're welcome," she replied. Defence and Herbology were her favorite subjects but she knew she could not match the passion Harry had regarding the former and Nevile regarding the latter. It pleased her to see how genuinely excited Neville was about a simple pair of gloves.

"Daphne helped me work out the best charms to use," she supplied. "I could teach you what we used if you'd like."

"Really? That would be great!" he replied enthusiastically before turning more pensive. "Fair warning though...I'm rubbish at learning new spells. It might take awhile for me to catch on. It's been better this year with my new wand but I can still be a bit of a mess."

"That's not what Harry says," she countered, remembering vividly Harry's immediate and passionate defense of his housemate when Astoria had casually mentioned that most of Hogwarts still jokingly referred to him as 'the squib.'

"Yeah, well Harry tends to think the best of his friends...as brave as he is I always thought he would have been well suited for Hufflepuff," he mused.

"Based on what Harry said you learned the Patronus charm much quicker than me," she countered grudgingly.

"Harry's a really good teacher," he protested.

"Now who is impersonating a Hufflepuff? You should be so lucky to be one of us," she joked, playfully tapping his foot with her own.

"Touche," he chuckled. "Can you manage a corporeal Patronus?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied proudly. "It's a gazelle."

"Cool," he answered, "much cooler than mine."

"Well now you've got to tell me," she laughed.

"Hedgehog," he grudgingly supplied. "I think it's cool but it's a bit pathetic next to a gazelle."

"It sounds brilliant and who cares what it looks like. Daphne's is a butterfly for Merlin's sake."

"Really?" Neville replied, genuinely surprised. "I would have expected something more...I don't know...serious."

"Yeah...I was shocked," Astoria replied before taking a bite of cake. "I was honestly expecting it to come out looking like an accountant."

Neville laughed.

"You should see it around Harry though," she continued. "The way it guards him is very serious."

A few seconds of silence passed as Neville smiled pleasantly at her comment before remembering where he was. "Well, I'd better go talk to the other guests. I'll be back later with another butterbeer."

"Don't forget to bring more cake," she commanded jokingly as he began to walk away.

He stopped and turned around, giving her a mock salute. "I'll make sure it is an extra big piece...one of the corner ones with lots of frosting."

"And you said you were a slow learner," she complimented.

"Like I said," he replied warmly, "I had a good teacher."

She smiled and waved goodbye. As she finished up the cake she realized how much less bad she felt. She was still tired...still aching...but it was now manageable thanks to Neville. She realized Daphne was sneaking a glance at her and subtly wiped her nose...her standard non-verbal method of telling Daphne to stop being nosy.

She was pleased to see Daphne smile in recognition and mouthed 'I'm fine' to try and put her sister totally at ease.

'Really?' Daphne mouthed hopefully in reply.

She nodded her assurance and realized it wasn't a total lie thanks to Neville. She scanned the room and felt a tinge of annoyance when she spotted him talking to Hannah and Sue. She was looking forward to him coming back with that piece of cake.

Four hours later she was sat back in the same chair feeling unsettled for an entirely different reason. After the party had ended the Longbottoms invited her family along to join them in their standard visit to see Neville's parents on his birthday. She heard her parents and Mistress Longbottom talking quietly in the periphery but her mind was focused elsewhere.

As she thought back to seeing Neville with his parents she wondered who had it worse: Harry having his parents die when he was so young or Neville whose parents were alive in the most disheartening sense of the word. She could tell that Neville's mother had been beautiful and her father had mentioned how Frank Longbottom towered over most people when he was younger. But that couple was long gone...all that remained were pale, hollowed out versions. She decided Neville had it infinitely worse.

She scanned the room and was disappointed to see Neville still hadn't reappeared. She wasn't sure how she would manage it but she wanted to try and return the favor and hopefully help Neville feel a little less bad. Daphne and Harry had gone to the Weasleys after the hospital visit so it was up to her to help.

She was broken out of her musings by the Longbottom's house elf. "Would Miss Greengrass like something to drink?" she offered hopefully.

"I was actually wondering if you knew where Neville was?" she asked.

The elf's smile vanished as she became much more sullen. "Master Neville always goes to the greenhouse when he is sad. Hospital visits always make Master Neville sad."

"Thank you," she replied kindly. "Could I have two bottles of butterbeer?"

She found him exactly where Sophie had guessed, hunched over a greenhouse bench, his hands buried in the soil. She smiled to herself as she realized he was wearing her gift. She could tell that he knew she was there but had not looked up.

"Thought I should return the favor," she said as she placed the butterbeer next to where he was working.

"Thanks," he said before looking back down and returning to work.

Astoria took a nearby seat and sat quietly, pondering the best way she could help. She thought of how Harry seemed initially uncomfortable talking about his parents but once the floodgates were opened how much he shared...how much it seemed to help him to talk about it with others. The direct approach had always been her default strategy so she decided to take the bull by the horns as gently as possible.

"I noticed the wrappers your mum gave you...Dad told me she had a bit of a sweet tooth," she offered tentatively.

Astoria initially thought she had pushed too hard as Neville quickly looked at her in surprise before turning back to the soil.

They sat in silence for several moments before Neville began to speak, never taking his eyes off of his task.

"Gran always insists we visit them on special days...my birthday...Christmas. When I was younger I hated it...I didn't like having a fun day ruined by something so depressing. I was a bit of a brat about it if I'm being honest."

It was hard for Astoria to picture Neville being a brat about anything. She sat quietly and waited for him to continue.

"Gran used to bribe me with sweets to keep me from complaining so much," he continued. "When I took one out of my pocket I noticed Mum was watching it in my hands. You saw her...she usually doesn't really focus on anything in particular so it was a big shock. I gave it to her when Gran wasn't looking and didn't think about it again."

She watched him place a small seedling in the soil. The diminutive plant made a sound of protest, prompting Neville to remove a glove and gently rub his finger along its lone leaf. "These plants are skittish when they're this young," he explained. "It seems to help calm them when I do this. Sophie, our house elf, said Dad figured that out when he was younger."

He turned toward her and straddled the stool he was sitting on as he pulled off his other glove and placed them to the side, smiling as he watched her charms instantly dispel all the dirt that had accumulated. "That is really cool," he said as he grabbed the butterbeer and took a drink.

"Where was I?" he asked absentmindedly.

"You mentioned how you gave your mum sweets for the first time," she offered, hoping he would continue.

"Right...well next time I went as soon as she saw me she took the empty wrapper out of her pocket and gave it to me," he said as he took another drink. The nurses said they had tried to throw it away for her but she refused...like she was waiting for me to come back so she could give it to me. Since then I've always made sure to bring sweets and I've never once complained about going," he chuckled.

"The nurses had to give me a lecture at one point because I had started giving her handfuls," he laughed. "So we agreed I would limit it to three."

"Spoilsports," she lamented. "Three isn't nearly enough."

"I know, right?," he said with a smile before taking another drink. "It was nice having your family come tonight. I didn't think I'd like it but it was nice."

Astoria smiled in reply, thankful that she had been able to reciprocate at least a little bit of the help Neville had provided earlier. She thought of something else that could keep the momentum going. It wasn't the smartest move for her physically but it would be a small price to pay.

"Did you want to learn those charms now? We could cast them on the other things you use," she asked hopefully.

"Another time," he said quietly. "You still look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine," she lied automatically.

"Right, just like I was fine out here hiding with my plants," he replied. He seemed to hesitate and become nervous before speaking again.

"Maybe you could come over this weekend? We could walk into town afterward and maybe get some dinner?" he asked meekly.

"Yes," she replied immediately, feeling a surge of energy returning. "I'd really like that."

He smiled, all anxiety now gone from his expression. "Great!" he blurted before gathering himself.

"Gran usually gets fussy if I stay out here too long so we should probably head back in. If you're nice I'll fetch you some more cake."

A/N: Right now you might be thinking I'm really clever to have come up with a neat through point to both couples' relationships using cake. I honestly wish I was that clever as I hadn't realized what I had done until I was doing my proofread/edit. So sadly I'm not clever...just a big fan of cake.