The Long Time Love of Longbottom

Throughout his life, Neville had always been searching. As a child he had been searching for a way to reach out to his tortured parents. When he arrived at Hogwarts he had been searching for friends, then later on he searched for love. During his fateful fifth year at Hogwarts he searched for revenge.

The only thing he was searching for now was the incident report from last Thursday concerning the sighting of a Death Eater. He and Harry were both Aurors in the newly formed department at the Ministry. However, it was Harry that did most of the fieldwork, Neville got the paperwork. It had been seven years since the downfall of He Who Must Not Be Named, but his Death Eaters were still at large. That was the function of this new department, to find them and bring them in. Dead or alive.

Neville was shuffling the papers on his desk when a familiar face appeared in his fireplace.

"Hi, Ron."

"Hey, Neville, how are things?"

"Busy as usual. Lucius Malfoy's been spotted in Chipping Sodbury, but we think he's on the move again."

"Well, I hope you catch the slimy git. Is Harry around? Only, I need to talk to you guys."

"Sure, I'll just be a sec."

Neville found Harry speaking with Percy Weasley, Minister for Magic. He tapped Harry on the shoulder nervously and mumbled,

"Ron's in the fireplace."

"My dear youngest brother?" asked Percy as he adjusted his glasses irritably. Despite having known him in school, Percy absolutely terrified Neville. "If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times, Ministry officials are far too busy for idle chit chat." Percy had never been happy with Ron's choice of career. He had gone into business with the twins. After the owner of Zonko's retired he opened a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes shop in Hogsmeade.

Eventually they got back to the fireplace.

"Hello, Ron, what's up?" Ron blushed, his face matching his hair and the fire.

"Well, I was going to keep this quiet, but seeing as you guys are my best friends," he took a deep breath, "Hermione and I ....are getting married! This summer!" Harry couldn't congratulate Ron enough. Neville just smiled.

The ceremony was beautiful. The magic was kept to a minimum; there were those in Hermione's family who were finding it hard to come to terms with Hermione being a witch. Harry of course was the best man and his speech at the reception was great.

Neville wandered up to Hermione holding his champagne glass, just trying to feel natural. When she saw him, Hermione gave him a friendly hug. Neville's heartbeat went into overdrive.

"Oh, Neville, thank you for the lovely present. It's so good to see you after all this time!"

"You're, uh, welcome. So, er, h-how's the, um, new job going?"

"It's just wonderful. Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to give me the Transfiguration teaching job. Poor McGonagall, I don't blame her for retiring after her accident. Plus Hogwarts is close to Hogsmeade so Ron and I are going to live in the apartment above his shop."

"Oh, yeah....that's, yeah that's great," he raised his glass, "well, here's to your health and happiness." He sipped it nervously, hoping he didn't say something else so unbelievably corny.

Ron and Hermione had a wonderful send off. Lavender caught the bouquet so naturally she gave Seamus some suggestive looks. The two of them had been going out for a while. That was the way for Neville, he watched others get together, he saw others being happy. Everyone present left with feelings of great joy. All Neville had was regret.

Why hadn't he said something? What was it about her that made him so nervous, so verbally paralysed? They had always been good friends. Hermione had helped him in the past. She gave him pity, not love.

All these things and more raced through Neville's head like a Firebolt as he knocked on the door of Ron and Hermione's new house. After Hermione discovered she was pregnant she and Ron had moved into a house in Hogsmeade, turning the apartment into a storeroom for the shop. Nine months later Hermione gave birth to a little boy, which they named Donald Arthur Weasley. Ron had asked both Harry and Neville to be godfathers. Ginny was also asked to be his godmother.

Neville had been invited to a party for Donald's third birthday. The door was answered by a small boy with his father's red hair and freckles, but those eyes; those were his mother's eyes.

"Hello, Uncle Neville!" His voice always put a smile on Neville's face, especially when he called him 'Uncle Neville'. He bent down to give Donald his present, who thanked him and rushed off to show his mother.

Neville wandered into the living room to find Ron, Harry, Ginny, Ron's parents and brothers and several Hogwarts teachers, including Remus Lupin who had now set the record for lasting the longest in the Defence Against the Dark Arts job; two years. In her arms Ginny was cradling a tiny baby, barely two months old. Harry was beaming at Lily, his daughter. Ginny and Harry had gotten married shortly after Ron and Hermione.

Neville was great with kids. He held Lily in his arms and she was quite content to fall asleep in his arms. Donald showed his Uncle Neville all the presents he had. He had a Chudley Cannon's hat from Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny (he had inherited his enthusiasm for the team from his father). Uncle Fred and Uncle George had given him a huge box of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Finest Pranks (this caused some frowns from Hermione). From Grandma and Grandad Weasley he had a Weasley jumper and some fudge (he loved Grandma's fudge) and mummy and daddy bought him a toy broomstick.

Neville was afraid that Donald wouldn't like what he had got him. He'd got all these wonderful presents, Neville thought his paled in comparison. Donald ripped the paper open to find a copy of 'A Beginners Guide to Herbology'. Donald was delighted and gave his godfather a big hug. Donald loved to read, he was very bright for his age, just like his dear mother.

Death is something we all must deal with. It is as inevitable as the setting of the sun. Neville had dealt with death and worse before. He had grown up with parents that didn't know him. When they died it was a relief. Now they could finally find rest. His grandmother died during his last year at Hogwarts.

He had lived alone for most of his life. He had friends, of course. He was always welcome at Ron and Hermione's, the same went for Harry and Ginny. He'd never married but the desire was there. He was great with children, yet had none of his own.

Hermione had been old. They all were by now. Nowadays it was just a matter of time. Harry had died six months ago. The whole wizarding world mourned 'the Boy Who Lived'. Seamus and Dean passed away soon after Harry. Ron was still around, but anyone could tell he was suffering. Hermione's death had come as a surprise to him, as it did to Neville. She died peacefully in her sleep, a book laid across her chest.

Donald gave a touching eulogy, but Neville had already heard the words in his own head a thousand times over. Since her death a week ago, all Neville could think about was his feelings for Hermione and how he had never told her. He had kept his feelings buried away for countless years, but it seemed he hadn't dug deeply enough.

Neville approached Hermione's open coffin while everyone else comforted each other. He looked down at her, she was still as beautiful as the day he met her all those years ago at Hogwarts. He put a hand on the edge of the coffin. His arthritis was getting worse. A tear fell down his cheek.

"I love you, Hermione."