“I remember when we used to do this as students” Neville hums as he kisses Hannah gently - they’re in the greenhouses, in their old favourite spot, and Hannah is giggling when they break up.
“I remember when we used to get caught by Pomona, and she’d just scoff and murmur something about being young and in love. Not so young anymore, though, are we? Just in love.” She muses happily - Hannah’s dropping Neville back at work, it’s early monday morning and Alice is being taken to her primary school by her grandparents, something she’s been buzzing about since she found out.
“Just hopelessly in love with the weird girl from all my Herbology classes who knows all the answers.” He nods with a smirk, one of his hands on her bump. “Are you going to be okay to get home after you do this demonstration? I can come with you, you know. Send me a patronus as soon as you get home,”
“Oi, I was only weird because.. Well, you actually have a valid point there, but you seem to enjoy my weirdness.” Hannah retorted, and then softened “I’ll be fine, love, but if it calms you any, I’ll send a little mandrake into your classroom and embarrass you by telling you how much I love you in front of all your first years.”
“You act as if they don’t already know who the pictures are on my desk.” Neville hums and then steps back “C’mon, let’s go before the bell goes and they start properly swarming.” He jokes, walking with her into his little office. Neville gestures for her to take his armchair and she does, admiring the photos on the desk.
“Nev, you never told me you had these on your desk.” She hums quietly, taking the wooden frame into her hands and admiring the photo. It’s their marriage, except it’s not the picture you’d expect. Normally people had them at the altar, or cutting the cake. But no, Neville had their first dance - it was to Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, and you could practically hear Neville singing to her in one of the most horrific renditions there had ever been even though it was only whispered to her.
The next one she picked up was Alice’s sixth birthday, when she was obsessed with fairies. The picture was of them laughing as Hannah and Alice delicately applied glitter to Neville’s cheeks, making a massive mess. Hannah remembered it as one of her patronus memories, along with the wedding one.
“Sometimes, when I have a really bad day, I sit here and look at you two. Even teenage us, really, but there’s nothing that makes me happier than where we are now. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that on the weekends I’ll go home to the most amazing wife and herbologist in the world, and the most wonderful daughter and storyteller I’ve ever had the honor of helping to bring into the world.” Neville explained, kissing her forehead and then hearing the bell go. “Well, time to face the ankle biters. Need help up?”
“Go get them in, Neville, I’m not your grandmother, I don’t need a stairlift. Give it a few months and maybe.” Hannah laughed softly, her hands brushing over the dainty necklace hung on a chain around her neck for whenever she did gardening. She stood up and pulled on her gardening apron, giving herself a little time before walking into the classroom, right next to Neville.
“Right, brilliant timing, Hannah.” Neville smiled, refraining from wrapping a gentle arm around her and announcing very proudly to the whole class that yes that was his wife and yes she was carrying their child. No, he had a class to teach. “Class, this is Hannah, she’s one of the world’s leading herbologists, and the only person known to the wizarding community who has parented a mandrake and taught it sign language and how to convey emotion.”
In all truth, Neville fucking hated Tatiana the Mandrake. Atleast, that’s the image he conveyed, but on nights that the damn thing was ill and Hannah was pregnant and needed sleep like air, he stayed up with it and embraced it as if it were a child - just like Hannah did. Now that Tatiana was fully grown and able to go about it’s own business with little help from Hannah, it and Neville had formed a fond friendship, at the very least a mutual adoration for Hannah.
Neville looked over at Hannah, who was explaining what to do with the mandrakes and how to handle them - much gentler than Sprout had explained it, Neville thought - and couldnt help himself from getting a little lost in her face. The decades they’d spent together had been kind to her, the smile lines on her face slightly premature but charming.
“So, I’m sure Professor Longbottom has some sort of Risk Assessment to fill out, so it’s over to him!” Hannah announced cheerily, the headphones that he’d gotten her for christmas already around her neck - they were dragon-hide, possibly the safest pair ever made.
“Right, so, as Hannah explained, we’re going to be re-potting mandrakes. Best pot gets five house points. If either of us see anyone harming the mandrakes, expect a detention and an assignment including analysis of a section out of one of Hannah’s books on mandrakes - I warn you, most of the words in it are over seven letters long and I know quite a few of you have no interest in reading your timetable, let alone a book about wrinkly plant babies.”
“I’ve never felt more complimented.” Hannah commented dryly, making a few of the students chuckle as she shot him a look, and then looked back at the class “My books are incredibly boring if you’re not interested, though, that is a fair point. Anyway, I’m sure none of you have intent to hurt the mandrakes, right? Good.”
“I own all of your books, you numpty.” Neville narked back “They’re just not exactly targeted at eleven-year-olds. Anyway, yes. Keep your earmuffs on until I signal, otherwise you will be in the same position as I was when I did this lesson with my own teacher.”
“Fainted right away. Had to be carted away to the hospital wing. It was quite funny, actually, but I wouldn’t wish that on any of you, so make sure your placement is correct.” Hannah commented, making Neville chuckle.
“Right, are we all ready?” Neville asked, ignoring the little ‘he’s so in love’ he heard from little Maddie Persson, who was incredibly snarky but well-meaning. She didn’t strike him as dissimilar from how Hannah was as a first year.
The class nodded unanimously, and he signaled for the earmuffs to go on. Hannah slipped hers on and he followed, watching her gloved hands carefully. Mimicking her every move, he demonstrated with her. There were a few dodgy pottings, but it was nothing violent, and Hannah stayed and sorted them all out anyway.
It came to break and his love was gone. Worry began to consume him as the clock in the corner ticked - that was, until, a happy little mandrake threw itself onto his desk.
“Hi, love. I’m home safe. Hope this isn’t in the middle of a class, I wouldn’t wanna disrupt. I’ll see you soon, write to me. I love you.” Announced the mandrake, though instead of coming out with the usual mandrake grunts that Tatiana made quite happily, it sounded exactly like Hannah. Her voice soothed him slightly, enough to close his eyes and dream for a second before jumping and conjuring a patronus to tell her that he loved her too.
“Professor Longbottom?” Called a familiar voice from the door, and Neville was scared to death that they’d heard his wife’s message. For what reason, he didn’t know. Breach of privacy, maybe.
“Come in, Dahlia.” Dahlia Ipswear was one of his most dedicated students, and often came to him to request access to the restricted part of the library or looking for answers to particularly confusing questions that he asked Hannah about when he got home.
“So, I was talking to Hannah Abbott - she’s mega cool by the way, please bring her to more lessons - and I noticed in class that you seemed really in love with her. Like, Edward Lupin, Victorie Weasley, kind of love. I asked her about her home life, and she told me all about her husband and her daughter. You probably already know, but she’s just really in love with her husband, and I don’t want you to get really upset and then go on leave and leave us with the world’s shittest herbology teacher, Professor Potter.” The young girl rambled considerately, giving him a kind smile after she’d finished and caught her breath.
“What exactly did Hannah say about her husband, Dahlia? Be brutally honest.” Neville asked, keeping a surprisingly strong facade.
“Oh, everything. It was quite sweet, really. She told me about their house together, and their daughter. Apparently her husband went to school with her, like you did. When I say in love, though, like her eyes kind of glossed over when she started talking about him, the way yours did when she was speaking. Did you listen to anything she said, by the way? Oh! And she said that her husband pretends to hate her mandrake but secretly looks after it when she’s unable to, and that she’s been in love with him since their first kiss. Sorry sir.” She added the last sentence on with a bit of a sad hum. “Why do you ask?”
“Dahlia, I’m going to show you three pictures, and you’re going to tell me what you see. If that’s alright. I promise it’s nothing weird.” Neville smiled, turning the frames around when she nodded. “What do you see, Dhalia? Tell me, and then I’ll tell you.”
“Well, I see you in your hogwarts uniform, and Hannah in hers… and then a woman in a weddi- Oh! You’re Hannah’s husband! Aw, that’s cute. Your daughter’s cute. Well, now that I know you’re married to the coolest woman in the world, I feel kind of stupid.” Dahlia huffed, taking one of the pictures in her hands gently and then putting it back. “Do you think she’d bring in the mandrake one day? I really want to look after one, and I have no idea how to start.”
“Normally you start with a baby mandrake plant, and shower it in understanding and affection. They like being held in blankets. I’ll ask Hannah to write a little something up, but with the baby, she’s not going to be apparating or flooing for a while.” Neville explained with a smile “Thank you for concern, though, it means a lot. I hope you’ll be taking Herbology for your O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S, but if not, I understand.”
“I hate literally everything else, sir. See you next lesson, anyway, good luck with the family and stuff.” And with that, the girl was satisfied, and Neville had a story to tell on date night.