Banana Rabbit

Neville made a mental note to remember that Hannah liked quidditch well enough; he made a follow up mental note to ask her about her favorite quidditch team at some point. He thought it was part of being a good friend asking about his friends interest, and remembering the things they enjoyed. He would have asked her during the conversation about quidditch but Ginny and Seamus took over the conversation about quidditch; Ginny having very strong opinions on the matter, and Seamus mostly wanting to see her riled up. As the night drew on, his energy seemed to drain until he eventually fell into slumber. 

The morning was quiet; with Luna and Seamus having already gone off to breakfast well he assumed they were gone to breakfast, knowing them they could have been anywhere. While Ginny was reading a letter he assumed was from her family by the way she seemed to bite her nails with each line on the parchment. “Morning, Gin,” he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and headed towards the bathroom. 

The male was used to the bathroom being empty this time of the morning, and saw no need to change in the stall. He slipped off his night shirt and pants leaving them on the floor. His hand moved into his boxers adjusting himself, with the mental reminder that Ginny and Hannah were both still close by that it would be weird to do anything this morning but adjust himself, even with the teenage hormones raging through his body. The sound of footsteps caused his hand to quickly move from his boxers grabbing his white button up. “Sorry,” he quickly told Hannah as he began buttoning his shirt up, hoping she didn’t see him do anything but slip on his shirt. “I’ll um-” he grabbed his slacks and vest from the pile on the bathroom vanity. “I’ll get out of your way and finish dressing in the stall,” he cleaned his throat. “Good morning by the way, Hannah.”

-

Hannah had been expecting a bathroom similar to the ones in the Hufflepuff dorms or even scattered through the castle. What she was not expecting was a half-naked Neville Longbottom whose chest was still glistening from a recent shower. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of him before quickly averting her gaze to provide him some semblance of privacy. “Sorry,” she said at the same time as him. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Nothing in her suspected foul play from Ginny, her mind was too busy warring between embarrassment for intruding on his privacy and enjoying what little glimpse she had gotten. 

“Er, yes, good morning,” Hannah replied awkwardly as Neville moved to give her the space. She moved over to the sink to splash some cold water on her face, to wake up, wash up, and  hopefully pull herself back together after that abysmal encounter. When she’d dated Justin back in fourth year, Hannah hadn’t even seen this much of her ex-boyfriend. Speeding through the rest of her usual morning routine, she had to give it to the room of requirement that it really did as advertised. Everything she could have needed she stored neatly in the medicine cabinet in several varieties. 

When she heard Neville leave, Hannah stalled for another ten minutes by trying something with her hair ( the wand curling technique Lavender had taught her once ) and slicking some mascara through her lashes. A clean and pressed Hufflepuff uniform appeared on the shelf behind her as soon as the thought passed through her mind that she’d only had her pajamas from the night before. Once ready and optimistically confident that Neville would have left for breakfast by now, Hannah left the bathroom to go down as well. 

The boys dorm had become a hot mess once puberty started; half of the boys didn’t have proper father figure to give them the sex talk, which led to quite a bit of confusion. The confusion was made even worse with Ron would repeat the things the twins had told them, added with the proper talk Seamus’ father had given him that Seamus had repeated to them, and the talk that Dean had repeated from his stepdad brought about more confusion then anything. There was still so much he didn’t know when it came to the physical relationship between a male and female, and some of the dynamics of everything he had heard secondhand from Ron who had heard from the twins.. But now didn’t seem like a proper time to research it. 

“Oh, I promise you that you didn’t miss much. Honestly, go find any fourth years who have just discovered kissing and that’s almost as similar to what it was like being around Ron and Lavender,” Ginny quickly added not wanting Hannah to think she missed out on something of great importance in their lives. 

When Hannah mentioned how scary it is to admit your feelings for someone, he wondered if she was sweet on someone; which made him feel like even more of an idiot for even fancying her when he knew he should be solely focusing on the problems at hand.  “Vulnerability is scary,” he  looked at Hannah, his eyes moving from the blonde to the wall. “So, do you like quidditch?” Neville questioned hoping to move the conversation away from that of teenage hormones. “I know there isn’t exactly quidditch being played this school year, but there are other avenues to keep up with when it comes to the sport.. unless you don’t like quidditch what so ever then we can talk about another interest instead.” 

-

The abrupt change of subject caught Hannah off guard. She was grateful for it on the one hand, but on the other she was left incredibly confused by what little Neville had revealed about his own feelings. “Erm, yeah, I like quidditch well enough,” Hannah replied. Aside from Hufflepuff house there wasn’t really another team she supported, unless Puddlemere United counted but that was only because it was Oliver Wood’s team and she was still nursing a strong crush on him years after he’d graduated. And then there was of course Viktor Krum, widely known to be one of the best players in the world, who Hannah also fancied after his visit during her fourth year. 

Thankfully the others in the room latched onto the subject and Hannah listened as they all talked excitedly. Eventually her eyes grew too heavy to keep open and she rested her head on a cushion as the conversation continued, not intending to fall asleep but it washing over her within minutes. The night had been eventful after being called from her dorm to clean up Neville and she was exhausted.

Neville couldn’t help but laugh when she asked about the relationship between Ron and Lavender; it had been a strange relationship to say the least. “Ron says the woodpecker move really drew her in,” he shrugged his shoulders which caused Ginny to roll her eyes. “It was all physical if you ask me. I was really worried he was going to have to write home to mum and dad about how he had to drop out of Hogwarts to support his child with his Lav.. Which I think mum would have been more upset that he was no longer a prefect than about any baby. Thankfully it fizzled out before that happened,” Ginny explained as if further information on her brother’s idiotic tendencies were needed. 

“Honestly, there’s no reason for Ron to be even viewed as a relationship expert. Just because he was the first guy to own up to losing their virginity in our dorm doesn’t mean he’s actually an expert. Like bloody hell the amount of times I’ve seen smoother moves from anyone but Ron are endless,” Seamus added. His rant only made Neville feel hot under the collar which seemed to be a common occurrence anytime someone mentioned sex. “I think Ron knows more than we think.”

“Percy knows more about girls than Ron,” Ginny added with a tone of sarcasm. “But to answer your question Hannah that was the only crazy relationship you missed. Everyone else has primarily been hanging around their usual flames,” even with the ever racing hormones it often felt like everyone had their one person who they couldn’t quite give their feelings up for. “I  feel with everything going on has everyone too scared to commit, or scared enough that they over commit.” 

-

Hannah had no idea what the woodpecker was and honestly she was too scared to ask. The possibilities alone left her cringing. Ginny’s take made a lot of sense and Hannah laughed softly at the thought of this union resulting in a child, though she found herself somewhat surprised to learn her classmates were already having sex. They were certainly of the age when one started experimenting and thankfully her mother had “the talk” with her before her passing, but to learn it was happening with people she actually knew was shocking. Her eyes lingered on Neville for several seconds as she pondered all this in relation to him but the continuation of this Ron and Lavender talk pulled her back to the group.

She snorted at Seamus’ dig against Ron’s smooth moves, that sounded like the Ron Weasley she remembered. Yet Neville was still defending him. Hannah didn’t know whether he was idolizing his friend or if Ron had blossomed into Casanova. “Sounds like I missed a wild ride,” she joked, trying to cover up her feelings of being out of the loop. 

Neville’s next comment really seemed to hit at the truth of the subject. Perhaps this had something to do with why it felt so odd for her to consider her classmates in any sort of real relationship. She had to wonder if this applied to Neville as well. Did he have a paramour he was reluctant to approach? There was certainly more pressing matters for them to attend to this year. “It is really scary, to admit your feelings for someone.” Again her eyes fell to Neville for longer than could be considered normal in typical conversation. “With everything going on,” she added, again trying to cover up for the group.

Neville had an immense belief that his friends were the most capable people in all of Britain, perhaps in all of the world. Harry, the chosen boy was the person everyone seemed to have their hope in; in fact if anyone could figure out how to get things back to normal if not better he was sure it would be Harry. Hermione was one of the nicest people he had ever met and she was brilliant as could be he knew Ron and Harry would need her wisdom during this time, both Ron and Ginny were loyal to a fault to Harry, and Ginny’s ability to lead with everything else going on was remarkable. There were many things he believed about his friends, but then there was Hannah she had shown him so much kindness this year that he was unsure of how they had ever made it with her, and her ideas that she presented them were always brilliant. 

“Hannah, I think you’d be an amazing leader-” he was going to start in on how she shouldn’t sell herself so short, and how the DA would be better with her leadership when Luna began talking to Hannah. He didn’t really view himself as a leader in any way in his mind Ginny was truly the leader, Luna when she was present was her second in command, and he was there to help in whatever way they needed. “Luna, what exactly is a nargle?” 

His question of course was met by a snicker from Seamus who got a firm punch to the shoulder from Ginny. “Once when Ron was dating Lavender, Luna pointed out the Nargles near them and Ron told Lavender that they were attracted to beauty,” Neville rambled off the story of his smooth friend and his past relationship. 

Any sort of compliment Neville may have intended for Hannah went entirely over her head as she instead grasped onto this insane relationship between Ron and Lavender that she had missed last year. “Ok, don’t take this the wrong way, but how did that happen,” she asked in an incredulous voice. “I go away for like a year and Lavender Brown starts dating Ron Weasley?” Hannah turned to look at the group for answers before being gently scolded by Luna to stay still. 

“What else did I miss out on? Did Filch and Pomfrey also make it official? Maybe Moaning Myrtle and Peeves?” Those couples seemed just as ridiculous to her, but her first question was genuine. She really did feel like so much had happened that she was still trying to catch up. Ginny’s relationship with Harry had been one of the first things she’d learned this year, but it was the smaller gossip that people tended to think was just common knowledge the made her feel out of the loop. 

Hannah found herself wondering if Neville had dated anyone, though she’d never let herself ask him that. Certainly not with several other people in the room. But she was insanely curious what his type was and if she held any of those characteristics. However if she did she knew she couldn’t read too much into it as he had made it clear in the closet that he didn’t see her in that light.

The way her hand moved to his knee caused a rush of blood to his cheeks, and if they weren’t already red before he was sure they couldn’t turn any redder. His eyes stared at her hand for longer than he should have before looking to Ginny hoping she would say something to keep his mind off the fact he was thinking about her hand staying on his knee. “The passcodes are fairly easy to guess if we’re being honest; my mum is always talking about how good Bill is at guessing the codes,” Ginny added not looking up from the game before Seamus had to make another comment.  “He forgot the passcode when it was his own last name, Hannah.”

“I actually remembered it that week,” Neville offered Hannah a smile, almost sad of the feeling of her hand leaving his knee. “I don’t think it would hurt to call it a party. Might give some hope to everyone,” he was hopeful of that the fact that it would soon as be over.  “Hannah you have a lot of really great ideas,” he told his friend, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder, which he quickly regretted out of fear that he would freak her out and moved his hand back to his lap.  “Honestly, anytime you want to take over my role go for it. I think you, Luna, and Ginny could be a powerhouse, and I’d gladly follow you three to the ends of the earth.”

Hannah recalled that Longbottom had been a recent password, she had assumed because his parents had died for the cause in the first wizarding war, and returned his smile when he corrected the room that he had in fact remembered that one. “Okay, cool. Hope would definitely be good right now.” The feeling in the castle was often reminiscent of third year with the dementors and if it weren’t for the DA or her faith in Harry Potter, Hannah would be in a major depression thinking that things were never going to get better.

Her face flushed a hot pink at Neville’s unexpected compliment and then insane comment that she could be a part of the DA leadership team. “Th-thank you,” she stammered, losing her entire train of thought when he reached over to touch her shoulder. It took several seconds for her brain to restart so she could correct him about her leadership abilities. “I’m more of an idea person, I love to give ideas, but I’m not someone people follow. Not like you... you all.” She’d been addressing Neville at first and then added onto her thought to widen the scope as she realized several other pairs of eyes in the room were on her, including Luna who had thus far been keeping to herself. As Luna took a few steps towards them Hannah’s hand moved up to subconsciously rub at the same spot Neville had just touched.

As the years would go on he would look back at this night, and a hundred more memories that he would share with Hannah over this school year, and realize he truly was an idiot. While there would be something said about the ways they both grew while they were away from Hogwarts, and one another, the lingering feeling of what if, and the fact he could have loved her for longer would be there like a ghost in every single quiet moment. But for now he didn’t know that, all he knew right now is that he was filled with anxiety of both having another incident like the one that occurred in the closet, and the fact that if he ever said that he was quite taken with her it could scare her away all together. 

He wondered if maybe she thought he was an idiot for the fact he couldn’t seem to remember a simple password. He let out a laugh trying not to show the fact he was embarrassed that he had not thought of that. “I suppose I could do that. I guess I was so worried about someone else finding it that I didn’t think to leave it there.”

“So, instead he just leaves the parchment anywhere for Draco and his goons to find,” Seamus commented with a teasing tone that left Neville’s cheeks red. “I don’t think Draco has found any of them. and I suppose if he had he wouldn’t quite know what it was for. I mean what would he do with a piece of parchment with a member of the orders name on it?” He looked from Seamus to Hannah. “What do you think? Do you think I might have put Harry in danger?” 

Neville’s fear made sense, especially with that rumor she’s heard about him and the password list misplacement several years earlier. It didn’t help that Seamus was giving Neville a hard time about it. She knew he was just teasing but the protective part of her didn’t like it when she noticed how red Neville’s cheeks were turning. “Absolutely not,” Hannah reassured him, her hand reaching out to touch him in a comforting manner. As his knee was the closest thing to her, that’s where her hand landed. “Besides, they are already know Death Eaters are probably listening, that’s why it’s all in code.”

Hannah gave his knee a small squeeze as her eyes implored him to let go of any guilt he might be feeling because he hadn’t done anything wrong. She took her hand back and tucked it under her chin, thinking hard on a new topic to switch to. “For the next broadcast we should try to get all the DA together to listen. Like a listening party, except not a party per se because right now isn’t really the time for a party... but what I mean is just having everyone come together here and listen where it’s safe.” She was rambling and she didn’t know why. Maybe it was because of the pixies fluttering around in her stomach ever since she’d briefly touched Neville.

Before Neville could respond to the fact Hannah didn’t need anything, Seamus was once again talking. “Neville, really understands the room better than anyone.. But sometimes I think he bloody forgets that it can give you anything, you just have to ask.. Like if she needed a blanket she could just ask for it,” he rambled on receiving a pinch from Ginny. “He’s being a gentlemen. Something you, and my brother know nothing about.” 

He was thankful when the attention from Seamus moved from he and Hannah to playing gobstones with Ginny; which most the time Ginny tended to win, and when she didn’t it was very clear she grew up arguing with six older brothers. However, when Hannah laid down his thoughts moved back to his small daydream he was having when she was braiding her hair, and he was wishing Seamus was once again bothering them again. 

“I’m fine. Nothing but a small wound,” or several. He offered her a smile before searching for anything in the room that wouldn’t cause him to get a rush of blood to his pants.. Of course the first thing his eyes found was Luna which wouldn’t help the situation since he seemed to have a type of pretty blondes. “Thank you again,” he cleared his throat. 

“I think Potterwatch should do a segment called three wizards describing Muggle things; and it’s the twins and your dragon brother trying to figure out what muggle items do,” Seamus began rambling again, Neville’s eyes moving back to Hannah. “I always seem to forget the password for Potterwatch. Anytime I write down the password I seem to misplace the slip of parchment. My guessing skills aren’t quite as good as others either.”

Hannah returned Neville’s smile, glad to hear that he felt fine, though she did notice how he wouldn’t hold her gaze for very long. It was odd that he’d invited her to stay but how this felt almost like he was disinterested in her at the moment. She tried to excuse it as him being tired, he’d certainly had a long night, and not focus on the sting that shot through her heart. “You’re welcome.”

Potterwatch had been a very informative show since its recent debut and Seamus’ segment suggestion had her laughing. It wasn’t a bad idea, both from a comedy standpoint and for educating the wizarding community on some ingenious muggle inventions. “I’d listen to that.” 

She wasn’t surprised by Neville’s confession, recalling that time back in their third year he’d reportedly written down all the Gryffindor passwords, lost the parchment, and then allowed Sirius Black to get in and try to kill Harry Potter. That remembrall of his didn’t seem to be much help, though she couldn’t blame that entirely on Neville as it only glowed red when he forgot something and didn’t actually tell what had been forgotten. “That sounds frustrating,” she commiserated before making a suggestion. “Maybe you could keep the parchment by your wireless.” 

“At least someone here knows fine muggle culture,” Seamus stated as he smiled over at Hannah. The talk about his beard (well lack there of) had him running his hands over the little bit of stubble that could be found on his chin. This was all leading him to believe that he would need to find a razor by the end of the school year, if not before. 

“Ginny has so many brother’s that I could join every single family gathering, and Mrs. Weasley would think I was one of hers,” Seamus explained to both Hannah and Neville as if they weren’t aware of the Weasley family dynamic. “You’re not a ginger, Seamus. I think Mrs. Weasley would know,” Neville added. “He’s square enough to fit right in with Percy, and Ronald,” Ginny smirked towards the Irish men. 

Neville’s eyes locked on Hannah, and the way her hands seemed to move so gracefully through her hair. The way his teenage mind worked it wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through her blonde hair; his mind pictured it spread against the white fabric of a pillow case while the sun shined through lace curtains, his fingers moving slowly through it. He knew his daydream would have been made obvious if it kept on, but before it could Ginny elbowed him in the side. “You look like Ron when he sees feet,” Ginny warned her friend in a whisper where the others would be able to hear her. While Neville thought Ron was one of the smoothest guys in their dorm, he knew the way she had just described him wasn’t flattering. 

“Oh, yeah. It keeps Ginny from crying over Harry,” Seamus teased as he flopped down on a cushion which received a glare from the red head. “Do you need anything?” Neville asked Hannah hoping to make her feel at home, which received a subtle but firm pinch to the back of his arm from Ginny. “And for the record Hannah you’re welcome here anytime even if we aren’t meeting.”

Hannah was enjoying this other side of Seamus, especially because he hadn’t set any fires so far this evening. Luna had been relatively quiet but she seemed to be studying something within her Quibbler which was standard for her. Then there was Neville who was being exceptionally kind to Hannah, which was saying something as she’d always considered him to be a friendly person. 

Her nose wrinkled when Ginny accused Neville of looking like Ron when he saw feet. She figured this meant Neville was put off by something as that was her typical reaction when she saw feet. Hannah wondered what caused Neville to have such an adverse reaction and there was a sinking feeling in her stomach it had something to do with her as she’d felt his eyes on her in the moments before. Self-consciously her fingers tugged on the end of one of her pigtails before Seamus reclaimed her attention with a joke about Ginny crying over Harry. If that was true she felt very bad for Ginny; it must be unspeakably hard to have her boyfriend out there fighting against You-Know-Who without knowing how he was.

She was quite content with how the evening was unfolding as she mostly sat back and laughed at Ginny and Seamus’ hilarious back and forth. “Thank you,” she told Neville with a smile. Hannah could definitely seeing herself coming here more frequently. “I don’t think I need anything right now.” Though if she was going to end up spending the rest of the night here, as it seemed the others were planning she did think so more comfortable clothes to sleep in might be welcome, but she’d see how she felt later.

Ginny and Seamus had moved onto a rousing game of gobstones and Hannah fell back onto one of the cushions before turning over to face Neville. “How are you feeling,” she asked, reaching out to almost touch the fresh wounds on his face but stopping before making contact so as to not hurt him.

 Neville nodded in reply to her thanks. “Not to speak ill of our current headmaster but even the change in professor for potions should be an improvement,” not that Slughorn didn’t have his own faults, anything seemed better than Snape. “I think you’ll do amazing, Hannah,” which he could have raved on and on about his belief in that for hours. He wondered if they hadn’t been in the middle of a war, or if she hadn’t been in such a rough place with just losing her mom if he would have fancied her; after all she was beautiful, he found her to be incredibly smart, she had amazing skills when it came to healing, she was loyal to the DA so far, she was funny, and not to mention she had amazing bedside manner.. In another life he knew he could have really fancied her in such a way, that was if she’d ever look at him in such a way as well. 

“Of course,” Neville moved over to the group as he began asking Ginny about if her mom could help fix his shirt. “If she’s not busy and all-” before Ginny could answer Seamus had moved over to Hannah.

 “You could have made the bloke look a little more handsome?” Seamus asked Hannah lightly nudging the blonde’s arm. “He looks like Fortycoats.”

“What the hell are you going on about, Seamus?” Ginny questioned snapping her head around to the others in the group. “You’re going to scare off Hannah.”

“Oh feck off; it’s a show on the telly, and he’d always say ‘be me forty coats and me fifty pocket-” the Irish wizard paused as he looked at his friends. “ just because you all didn’t have joy in childhood doesn’t mean I didn’t,” Neville wasn’t quite sure what Seamus was going on about, but it was entertaining.. Ginny didn’t think so when she followed up his statement with a “If you don’t stop i’m going to turn you over to Snape myself,” she teased with a small smirk. 

“She’s joking, of course,” Neville assured Hannah, and Luna who he wasn’t sure was even listening. “I think it’s a sibling type of banter.”

Hannah laughed at Seamus’ reference, actually knowing the show herself from summer weekends spent with her muggle cousins as a child. “No, I know that one,” she replied. “But I don’t think Neville’s quite there, maybe if he doesn’t shave for the rest of the year.” Sparse stubble dotted his chin and she tried to picture him with such an impressive beard but the thought had her double over in giggles with the Irishman. 

It felt good to joke and laugh again, both in extremely short supply this year with Snape and the Carrows stalking about the castle. “It’s all good, they remind me of my brothers,” she whispered back to Neville. 

As the others joked around, Hannah’s hands moved absentmindedly to her hair, separating it into to even section and securing the loose waves into her standard low pigtails. When she was younger her mother used to always brush her hair as she got ready for bed and tied it into this style so it wouldn’t get tangled as she slept. It was nice to see a different side of her schoolmates and as she watched them it struck her how isolating it was that people usually kept their social circles within their houses. Here she was with three Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw and she felt more like herself than she had at Hogwarts since last year. She was mostly struck with how at ease and open Neville was in this group, it was such a different side to the person she thought she’d known all these years, though given how great of a leader he’d been with the new DA she shouldn’t have been surprised. 

The thought of the afterlife was one that plagued his mind often. The biggest thing he wondered about it was what would happen to his parents in the afterlife; would they still be in the same mental state they were in now; would they still view him and one another as a stranger? Or would they be mentally restored upon death? Would they know who he was as soon as he also crossed over to the afterlife? Would they spend an eternity of time talking about everything they had missed in his life? Would he finally get to hear all their stories, and the hopes they had for him? What if he hadn’t accomplished anything they had hoped for him as soon as he was placed in their arms for the first time? The thoughts were about to get even darker when he heard Hannah’s voice again. “Well, you saved my life, Ms. Abbott.” 

Neville was afraid if he asked Hannah for too much she’d eventually get tired of his constant asking, and end up leaving the DA all together. Maybe that was bold to assume but he had those fears about almost everyone but he, Ginny, Seamus, and Luna. “Thank you, Hannah,” he replied in a whisper his cheeks turning bright red. .

Neville offered her a smile. “Thank you. You should do this full-time. You know after Hogwarts-” he paused. “A healer, not just taking care of me. Though i’m kind of clumsy I could end up in your care more than once,” he rambled on his cheeks turning a darker shade of red. “Yes, ma’am, you have my word i’ll drink my weight in water,” though with everything going on it seemed more and more unlikely to get a good’s night sleep. The male stood up from the chair slowly, grabbing his shirt into his hands hoping the groan from his lips wasn’t noticeable. “Do you want to come hang out with us?” he questioned. “I know it’s late, but Ginny is a night owl, I’m not quite sure if Luna ever sleeps, Seamus gets sad this time of night because he misses our friends-” and by friends he mostly missed Dean. “and I don’t think I can sleep yet. We’ll probably talk for a bit if you want to join. It’s okay if you don’t I know it’s late, and kind of last minute, and you have classes tomorrow.”

Hannah was moved that Neville thought she’d make a decent healer, it was a career she’d been considering this year, like she’d told him that night they were hiding from Filch. Though she’d still need to break the news to her father, which was almost enough to put her off the dream for good. “Thanks, I’d like too,” she replied. “Though being a healer is more than mending cuts and bruises, but I think with Slughorn my potions work will improve leaps and bounds and my Charms marks have improved, so maybe I will.” Helping out Madam Pomfrey had really opened her eyes up to the complexities of the job, but she was working on improving her grades so hopefully she’d get the necessary NEWTs. 

She was preparing to go back to her common room and back to bed when Neville caught her off guard with an invitation to stay. Her social life this year had been lacking and it did sound like fun, so how could she resist. “For real,” she asked hopefully, her eyes moving over to survey the rest of the group. “Yeah, I’d love to stay and hang out with you all.” With one last glance at Neville’s shirtless torso, Hannah joined him and the rest of the DA.

The second her finger jabbed into his side, he let out a groan. “Merlin!” she had a point but it didn’t ease the pain what so ever. “I suppose if I end up in the hospital wing for a week i’ll just end up succumbing to my wounds and find out what exactly is on the other side of death; it would be just my luck for that to happen. ” he rambled on.  “Luna thinks the afterlife is personal to us all, like my afterlife would be different than yours.. I also like to think we could share our afterlife with those closest to us; like Harry could share it with Ginny because they’re quite taken with each other, and Seamus and Dean because they’re best friends,” he paused wondering if maybe this wasn’t a conversation to be having with someone who recently lost their mother. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t be just going on and on about something that isn’t relevant to what’s happening right now.”

“Again i’m really sorry to bother you with this so late at night,” he added once again. Neville sat there as still and quietly as he could as she patched up his wounds. “Thank you,” he whispered. He was about to offer to walk her back to her dorm when he was bombarded with questions. “I feel kind of sore, but I know it will pass soon. Or at least I hope it will,” he at least had some confidence that it wouldn’t end up as oozy as the other ones had. “You didn’t miss anything. I think you’ve given attention to all of my wounds,” he let out a chuckle as he tried to think of the best way to answer the question; instead he closed his lips as moved his fingers against it as if he were zipping them closed. “I should probably go talk to Ginny about if her mum could send me something to help get the stains out of this shirt. I don’t want to bother house elves with something so gory.” 

As Neville rambled on about the afterlife, Hannah kept busy with the bandages, her fingers skimming over his bare chest as she worked. She had given some thought to the topic after her mother’s passing and it made sense that Neville had thought so much about this as she’d assumed his parents were deceased, but for the most part Hannah tried to not ponder it too much as her mother’s death was much more recent. So for now she just nodded politely and focused on the numerous cuts that littered his body, the pads of her fingers tracing lightly over the scars. “Well, you’re not going to die just yet. I won’t let that happen,” Hannah said with a small smile, looking up from his chest to catch his gaze. A softer version of the heat that had swept over her during their time hidden away in the broom cupboard grew as Hannah looked into his eyes. 

She couldn’t help but worry about Neville, his flagrant disregard for his own personal health and safety were putting him at more danger with the Carrows than he already was. “Don’t apologize,” she told him gently. “You can always ask me if you need something. Anything.” Hannah doubted Neville would come to her if he needed help, he seemed so damn stubborn. And if he did have someone’s help he’d probably go to one of his other, more capable friends than her. 

Sitting back, Hannah made a pile of dirty things before packing up the rest of her stolen supplies into her makeshift kit. “That’s probably a good idea,” she replied. Hannah’s family had a house elf who would have been very good at getting out such a stain, but she’d also have been uncomfortable asking Peeky to do so. She wasn’t surprised when he opted not to tell her what he’d been doing, but she was fairly disappointed to still be out of the loop. While she logically understood the reasoning, it was still a reminder that she didn’t quite fit in this year. Though if she looked at herself with the same objective view she’d see that she did fit in just fine. “Sure thing, I’ll discharge you so you can be on your way,” Hannah joked. “Please try to drink some water and get a good amount of sleep.” Though she wasn’t a properly trained healer, she knew his body needed to rest in order to heal.

Ginny was quick to get the blonde the water and the towels that she wanted. “Ron wouldn’t know the clit from the belly button,” she muttered mostly to Hannah. She wasn’t quite sure that Seamus would know that the clit wasn’t even close to the belly button, nor did she think Neville knew much about sex either thanks to their lack of sex education at Hogwarts. 

For the record Neville wasn’t even fazed by Ginny’s comment, nor would he remember it tomorrow.  He would always think that Ron knew the best about female’s when it came to their dorm; Seamus and Dean were more invested in their friendship, Harry had made Cho cry and he was almost sure that Ginny was the one who was in charge in their relationship, and Ron just seemed to have a lot more information. 

He felt tense when the trio left their side, and was almost worried what would happen to his body now that they were alone. “They could have stayed,” he blurted out. Seamus had seen him shirtless before, and he was almost ceritan that Luna wouldn’t even be phased by anything that could happen. 

When she asked why he didn’t come see her sooner he thought of numerous reasons; 1) he didn’t want to bother her, 2) he didn’t want anyone to view him as weak, 3) he was worried that he would get another fear boner.. of course none of those seemed to come out of his mouth, so he let out a strain of rambling instead. “I just knew that we’re all busy, and I didn’t even think they were that bad. Plus a small infection isn’t even that big of a deal,” of course the side effects of his cuts getting a bit infected had been wearing him thin. “I promise I’m fine, Hannah. Or at least I will be soon.” 

Neville was right, they could have stayed, but Hannah didn’t like having all those eyes on her while she worked. The added pressure was too much and it wasn’t as if his injuries were so life threatening that they needed to stand by his side in case he took his last breath. “You’re so right; they’re not that big of a deal. Until you come down with sepsis and land yourself in the hospital wing for a week.” To prove her point she jabbed her finger not so kindly into one of the partially healed gashes on his side. 

“And you’re right again. You will be fine soon, but only because you’re finally letting someone take care of you.” She let the argument drop there as she wasn’t really mad at Neville. Hannah only wanted him to care as much about his own wellbeing as she did. It took several more minutes until she was satisfied she’d patched him up satisfactorily. “There, that’ll do nicely,” Hannah said as she sat back to look over her work. “How are you feeling? Is there anything I missed? And what were you doing tonight?” She asked her questions in quick succession, hoping to catch him off guard with the last one so that he’d give her a straight answer. 

Neville hadn’t wanted to bother Hannah following his latest incident with the Carrows. Even though she had become the resident healer for the group he was still worried that things had been awkward from their closet incident. Ginny had been the one to insist that they summon Hannah, Luna had rambled on about something he hadn’t quite caught, and Seamus had made a joke that if he helped him he would end up exploding. The joke had some weight to it since prior to Hannah joining them, Seamus had tried to heal one of the other lashes he had gotten causing a small burn mark to form on his arm.. Which thankfully had healed up quickly. 

When Hannah joined the four in the room of requirement, he forced a small smile. “Hi, Hannah. Sorry to bother you so late at night; I hope you weren’t sleeping,” this long rambling caused a small slap to the back of his head from the fiery red head who he viewed as their leader. “Oh nothing, I just had a small incident,” he added which caused both Seamus and Ginny to roll their eyes. “Hardly a small incident. A small incident is when Ron fell down the stairs last Christmas after tripping on one of Charlie’s boots, this is clearly not a small incident,” Ginny told Neville sternly before looking at Hannah. “Those bloody Carrows don’t know when to stop. I have half the mind to take care of them myself,” she continued. “She’s proper anger if you can’t tell.She’s been close to writing all her brothers, including the dragon one; though I think Ginny could take down the dark lord herself. Bloody mental if you ask me, I don’t know how Harry deals with it,” the comment from Seamus received a glare from both Neville and Ginny. 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Neville assured her, hoping that he hadn’t caused too much trouble. “Ladies like scars is what Ron told him once, so I don’t think he’ll mind the scars,” Seamus added as Ginny pushed him away from the two.  “I think we’re all going to end up with a few battle scars of this year, but in the end it will be worth it. We just have to have hope that soon this will all be over.”

She had been sleeping, obviously given the hour, but she wasn’t about to tell Neville that and make him feel guilty. Hannah didn’t ask for clarification on what exactly he’d done to make the Carrows so angry. It seemed these days any small thing could set them off. The only reason that they had enough restraint to leave Neville with the ability to talk had to be because he was a pureblood. 

Hannah needed fresh water and towels to continue her work and the instant she felt this need, the room provided. “Ginny, can you pass me the bowl of water and towels from that shelf?” Seamus’ comment brought a snort out of Hannah as she worked on Neville. “Well if Ron said it, it must be true,” she replied in a snide tone, rolling her eyes. Somehow Ron Weasley had become the stud of Gryffindor house in her absence last year and she couldn’t believe how his dormmates took his word as gospel.

His face cleaned up quickly enough and now Hannah could turn her attention to his body. “Can we get some privacy please,” Hannah asked, waiting for the trio to retreat to the corner before peeling Neville’s shirt off his body. The room of requirement obliged them with a partition growing out of the floor to serve as a shield from the other’s eyes. 

With the blood and sweat soaking the garment she was skeptical even a house elf could salvage it. What she saw beneath the shirt made her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. Fresh wounds cut across several older ones, some badly healed and others looking rather foul and on the verge of contamination. “Neville,” she gasped as her eyes grew wide. The sight of what they’d done to her friend made her sick and furious. “Why didn’t you come see me sooner? I know you’re willing to put your life down for this rebellion, but if you had died from an infection? Idiot!” If he was in better condition she would have shoved him squarely in the chest. 

It was well past midnight when Hannah felt the DA galleon she’d taken to sleeping with beneath her pillow grow warm, signaling that her assistance was wanted in the room of requirement. Quickly she put on her shoes and a warmer jumper before sneaking out of her dormitory. At this time of night it wasn’t likely she’d run into anyone else, but it was always a possibility. So she crept swiftly and quietly through the halls and up the stairs, taking a shortcut they’d found a few weeks prior to get there in less than ten minutes. Clutched in her hand was the healer’s kit she’d put together herself from bits and bobbles stolen during her time spent volunteering in the hospital wing. 

Hannah had become the unofficial healer for the DA, patching up more students than she cared to count who’d seen the wrong end of the Carrow’s fists or, worse, wands. She considered herself lucky that they didn’t bat her around as much as the others. Perhaps it was her pureblood last name protecting her or the fact that they still didn’t suspect the innocent looking Hufflepuff’s involvement in Dumbledore’s Army. 

When she entered the room there was a cacophony of panicked voices; Ginny, Luna, and Seamus were all gathered around a bloodied figure that she quickly came to realize was Neville. There were open wounds on his face and she presumed body as well, judging by the red seeping through his shirt. Reddish welts covered his arms that looked like they’d turn into nasty bruises by dawn. “Neville,” she gasped as she hurried over to his side. Seamus moved over to make room for her, hand still clenched around a rag soaked with Neville’s blood, an attempt to stem the flow. “Sweet Merlin, what happened?” Hannah looked from Luna to Seamus to Ginny for answers from the group before opening up her kit to get to work. No matter what it was, it didn’t change the fact that he had wounds which needed tending. 

Neville felt more embarrassed when she asked ‘what happened’, maybe she hadn’t even realized, and now he was apologizing for something that he could have avoided talking about. He was mentally cringing at himself. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have said anything,” he mumbled. “I’m not smooth when it comes to keeping things in check with Ron is,” or like Ron claimed to be in their dorm room discussion about girls they had last year. “Or even Harry is. I mean you’d have to be confident, and keep things in check to be dating Ginny.”

Neville nodded as she went agreed that they just happened. “Again i’m really sorry,” he mumbled his cheeks as bright red as the clan of Weasleys. He didn’t want her to think he was some kind of man whore who only saw her as an object, or something to lust over; which honestly she was beautiful but he didn’t want to ruin this friendship. 

“Yeah, I mean I don’t think anything is going to make it better,” besides the obvious taking care of it when he went back to his dorm. “I’m sure he’ll be coming back soon. I mean he walks slow, but he doesn’t walk so slow that we’ll be trapped in her until sunrise.” 

The uncomfortable tension clung thick in the air as Hannah did her best to turn back around without brushing up against Neville or... it. She found his admiration of Ron’s romantic skills odd, though she’d heard somehow he dated Lavender after she’d left last year so maybe he’d matured into a smoother version of the Weasley she knew. It didn’t seem likely, but stranger things had happened. “It’s fine,” Hannah told him. At this point she just wanted to stop talking about it. 

She didn’t say anything further, unable to think of what to say after his revelation that wouldn’t make him more embarrassed. For the next few minutes she waited for any sound that Filch was returning and finally it came. The old man was grumbling incoherently to Mrs. Norris and as they came closer to their hiding spot the cat’s yowling grew louder and louder until Hannah heard a scratch at the door. Hannah stopped breathing, sure they were about to get caught. 

“No time tah check the mouse traps right now, Mrs. Norris,” Filch’s voice croaked. “Gotta get these chains to Amycus so we can set up the dungeons.” He was so gleeful at the prospect of getting to hang students from the ceilings again that he didn’t pay any attention to his cat’s attempt to uncover some rulebreakers. Thankfully she backed off as Filch kept going down the hallway and it seemed they were in the clear. When she could no longer hear them Hannah let out a long sigh of relief.  

“Okay, I think it’s safe to leave,” she told Neville, still whispering.