Seven and a Half Years Later: Home for the Holidays
Title: Seven and a Half Years Later: Home for the Holidays
Author: kanedax
Spoilers: Deathly Hallows, Previous Chapters
Rating: PG for mild language and innuendo
Characters: Neville Longbottom, Uriela Clavis (OC), Aurora Sinestra, others
Summary: Neville gets ready for holiday
Notes: These characters were inspired by JK Rowling, but are my original characters. All others belong to JK Rowling.
Please don't be mad. ;)
Rose Edith / Previous Chapters / Your Last Chance
”Homenum Revelio.”
The tip of Neville Longbottom’s wand remained dark as he pointed it into the spare classroom. Just to be safe, however, he made one last quick rotation.
Still dark.
“Okay then,” he mumbled and, sticking his wand in the front pocket of his robe, put a small X through the room’s location on the map he had attached to his clipboard. Double-checking to make sure this was the last room in this particular area, he turned around and headed back to the main hall.
“Did you find the ruffian, my good man?”
“No, Sir Cadogan,” said Professor Longbottom, “there were no ruffians down that hallway.”
Cadogan’s white mustache bristled beneath his helmet. “You should check again, boy,” he trumpeted. “There was some black-caped villain who went down that hall!”
“Are you sure it was this hall?” Neville sighed. “And not any of the other five hallways that you warned me about during the sweep?”
“How dare you speak to me in such a manner?” the aged knight hollered as he followed Neville down the hall, leaping from painting to painting as he tried to pull his overly-large sword from its scabbard. “No one accuses to Sir Cadogan of trickery! I challenge you, you fiend, you dog, you… you…”
“Sir Cadogan!” came a voice from Neville’s right as he reached an intersection. He turned to see a middle-aged woman in a black star-spangled robe running toward him. “Sir Cadogan, we need your help!”
“Gasp!” Cadogan gasped, “a fair maiden in need?”
“Indeed!” said Aurora Sinestra, in obvious terror. “There is a suspicious-looking man in the dungeon! See to it that he is authorized to be there, and not some miscreant come to terrify the entire school!” Neville’s eyebrow raised as Sinestra theatrically touched her forehead with the back of her hand.
“A villain?” Cadogan howled. “Have at thee, cur!” At that, he ran into the next painting, and the painting after that, until his clanking armor was only a distant echo.
“A miscreant in the dungeon?” asked Neville skeptically.
“Professor Alcahest,” said Professor Sinestra, dropping the damsel in distress act.
“What’s he doing?”
“Nothing,” replied Sinestra as she and Neville walked down the hall. “Just sitting in his office, sorting out potions, making sure nothing’s going to explode while he’s gone.”
“And you sent Cadogan after him?”
“Well, I had to do something,” said Sinestra. “Cadogan loves to try to be helpful. He was bothering me for a good fifteen minutes before I sent him off.”
“Sent him to me, thanks,” said Neville flatly. “I think I’m his favorite target.”
“Everyone’s his favorite target. He sees all of the professors wandering the halls at once, he instantly assumes that there’s something suspicious going on.”
“Well, I think he likes me most of all,” said Neville. “I doubt he’s ever forgiven me for getting him fired in my third year.”
“Fired?” asked Aurora. “From… oh, the password thing? With Sirius Black? I forgot that was you.”
“Yeah,” Neville said, his face turning pink. “Yeah, it was me.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Aurora. “Cadogan has the attention span of a pickled herring. I doubt he even remembers your name. And you’ve changed enough that you’re hardly recognizable from when I had you in my Astronomy classes.”
“Less baby fat, more scar tissue?” Neville asked, rubbing his cheek.
“I was leaning toward the former, but I suppose the latter’s got something to do with it.” Professor Sinestra lifted her own clipboard and studied it. “You’re done with this hall?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Two more left in this wing, then we should be finished.” He lifted his wand and conjured a large drapery over the mouth of the hall he had just searched. “Duro!” he said loudly, and the drape turned solid.
“We’d better hurry,” said Aurora, “or we’re going to miss the train.”
“You’re on second shift, too?”
“Yes,” she replied. “It’s you, me, Septima, Uriela, and Calamus leaving today. Rolanda, Jana, Albert, and Evelyn leave when we come back.”
“I didn’t get a very good look at the sign-up sheet,” Neville admitted. “I just made sure I got there before all the other Christmas spaces were filled.” He thought again about what he had heard. “Wait, Alcahest is here for another week? Why is he going through his potions already?”
“That’s Albert for you,” said Aurora. “Cut once, measure twice, just like a good Potions professor should be. Well, we’ll split it up,” she said, drawing lines on her map. “Hogwarts Express leaves in an hour, we should be able to get it done by then.”
“You know what?” said Neville, glancing around the hall. “I’ll take both of them. You go on ahead.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m only going to Hogsmeade,” said Neville. “You need to be on the train, I don’t.”
Aurora looked at him uncertainly.
“Go!” Neville insisted. “I’ll be fine.”
“Thanks,” said Aurora with a smile that cracked through twenty years. “Happy Christmas, see you when you get back.”
“Happy Christmas!” Neville called back as Professor Sinestra hurried around the corner toward the Astronomy Tower. After she disappeared Neville sighed, took another look at his map, and walked down the hall toward the next side hall.
“Need some company?” came a voice from behind him, and Neville turned around.
She looks like Meg White with glasses, doesn’t she? Neville had once heard a Muggle-born student whisper to another when Uriela Clavis walked by them. Neville had no idea who Meg White was, and had made a mental note to ask Harry or Hermione in case it was some Muggle celebrity.
Either way, she wasn’t your typical Hogwarts professor, and definitely not the sort you would see teaching Ancient Runes. Short, chin-length black hair streaked with purple, black horn-rimmed glasses that would come off as creepy and outdated on Madam Pince, yet somehow suited her well. Her attire, which alternated between Muggle jeans and shirts, like she was wearing now (Green with white Japanese lettering), and wizarding robes that she wore for feasts or other special school occasions, would make the average wizard guess she was Muggle-born herself.
Neville knew better.
But no matter what she wore, she did look nice.
Wait, what? Stop thinking that!
Why not? It’s true!
Look, you’re taken! Stop looking!
What’s the harm in looking?
You’re inner monologuing. Men don’t inner monologue about a woman unless they’re interested.
And?
And you’re not. You have a girlfriend. You have Luna. So stop thinking about Uri like that.
Alright, alright…
“Are you okay?” Uriela asked as she approached.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Neville, shaking his head. “Are the students gone already?”
“Most of them,” said Uriela as she and Neville continued down the hall. “There were a few stragglers, but Hagrid told Calamus and I that he and Filch could care the rest of them.”
“How many are staying behind?”
“About a dozen.”
“A dozen…” Neville thought aloud. “A dozen students in half of a school being watched by four professors.”
“Eight,” Uriela corrected. “Filius and Tiberius are staying both weeks, and Hagrid’s not leaving his hut for more than a night or two. The Forbidden Forest is the only area that can’t be guarded with spells, so he gets to keep his eye open, especially with the grounds being free territory over holiday. Plus all of the ghosts, portraits, and statues will be keeping their eyes open for trouble-makers.”
“Didn’t they give Binns authority to dock points and give detentions, too?” Neville asked as they reached the next hallway.
“He’s always had the authority, but do you think he’ll even leave his office?”
“You have a point,” said Neville, pulling out his wand. “So who’s the eighth this week? Homenum Revelio!”
Much to both Neville and Uriela’s surprise, the tip of Neville’s wand lit up.
“Well, look at that,” Neville said with a smirk. “We have ruffians after all.”
“Excuse me?” asked Uriela with an arched eyebrow.
“Never mind,” Neville chuckled. “Come on.” The two walked down the hall, stopping at each door to see if Neville’s wand burned any brighter.
“So you’re all packed?” Neville asked.
“As much as I need to be. You?”
“About the same. Herbology teaching means that you keep your nice clothes at home. I always thought Pomona was just unkempt. But it comes with the territory.”
“I’ve been meaning to offer a Scourgify before you left,” said Uriela. “You still got muck all over you.”
“It likes to stick in the cracks and crevices, yeah,” said Neville. “Magic dirt, what are you going to do?”
“So do you have any plans?” she asked. “For your week off?”
“Not much,” he said. “Christmas with Gran. Visiting my parents. I’m getting together with the Potters and the Weasleys at some point. I get to see Rose for the first time, and we’re looking to do some kind of party since I won’t be around for New Year’s.”
“Rose…” said Uriela. “That’s Ron and Hermione’s, right?”
“Yeah. Rose is a Weasley, James is a Potter.”
“I’m trying to keep them all straight,” said Uriela. “But they just keep coming, especially if you start add in Percy’s and Bill’s.”
“And get this,” said Neville. “Ginny’s pregnant again.”
“You’re joking!” said Uriela. “James is only, what, two? I’m surprised they’re starting another one already.”
“Actually, he’s two in February,” said Neville. “But, yeah, Harry just wrote me about it when we were figuring out our plans to get together. Ginny’s less than a month in. And he said that the baby might even be in the same year as Rose when they get to Hogwarts, since the Healers are giving a due date near the end of August.”
“Wow,” said Uriela. “He’s going to be the baby of the class, isn’t he?”
“He or she,” said Neville. “Right now I think they’re just calling it lump. But lump’ll probably be the youngest in its class unless it holds into September.”
“So according to Filius’s book,” said Uriela, “Ron and Hermione have the oldest student in the class of… ummm…”
“2017,” Neville finished. “She beat out Scorpius Malfoy by about two hours.”
“And Harry and Ginny will have the youngest.”
“Right now they’re the odds-on favorite.”
“That should make for some interesting family gatherings.”
Neville shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, really. Hermione was the oldest in our class. Harry and I were the youngest, about a day apart from each other. Didn’t affect us at all. It’s not like Rose is going to have a head start.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” said Uriela. “How about Luna? You seeing her?”
“Well, I was going to,” he said. “But she had to make a last-minute trip to India. She and Xeno are off hunting some Flail-Headed Fliggerhigg, and she won’t be back until after we start back up again.”
“Well that stinks.”
“Yeah, it does,” Neville sighed. “But there’s really nothing I can do about it, I guess. Part of the trials of dating a world traveler.”
“Yeah…” Uriela said quietly, and the two continued down the hall in silence.
“So what’s your schedule looking like?” Neville asked eventually. “Should I see what Percy and Penelope are doing? Maybe let them know you’re interested in getting together with them?”
“Well…”
“You are interested, right?” Neville asked. “You keep asking me about them.”
“Actually,” Uriela said quietly. “I don’t think I’m leaving.”
“What?” Neville stopped in his tracks.
“I think I’m going to stay for holiday,” she replied. “For both weeks.”
“Why?”
Uriela shrugged. “Just not a big Christmas girl, I suppose. Besides, I prefer New Year’s parties, anyway.”
“Then why didn’t you sign up to leave for the second weekend instead of the first?”
“Okay, fine, I’m a bad liar,” Uriela sighed. “I just… it’s stupid.”
“It’s about your parents, isn’t it?”
“Or lack thereof,” she said, leaning against the wall. “My aunt and uncle have never really gotten along with me. Kind of makes Christmas a chore; has been ever since they took me in when I was three. Almost like they see my Mum and Dad in me, and hate me for it.”
Uriela never spoke of her past very often with Neville. Or with anyone. What she told him was pieced together over the years. Uriela’s father was a high-ranking member of the Wizengamot during the first war. The Clavises had been approached by two Death Eaters near the end, who attempted to blackmail the couple. After the couple rejected the threat, they were murdered. Uriela, an only child (although she hinted that her mother was expecting another at the time) was sent to live with her aunt and uncle, her last surviving relatives, who had never really gotten along with her parents in the first place.
After they were arrested for the torture of Neville’s parents, Priori Incantatem revealed that Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange had also murdered Gabriel and Galvah Clavis. His rational mind told him that this connection between his family and Uriela’s was the reason why he continued to show interest in her, and not because of any romantic intent.
His irrational mind told him to shut the hell up.
“I know,” Uriela continued. “It’s stupid to think that way about my aunt and uncle.”
“No, not really,” said Neville with a small smile. “Sounds like a few other people I know.”
“Anyway, I think I’d be happier here,” she sighed. “Food’s better. It’ll be nice and quiet with only a few students running around. I won’t have to deal with unruly relatives that I’d have to deal with if I went… if I went to my aunt and uncle’s house.”
In all of the occasions that Uriela spoke about her relatives, Neville had never once heard her refer to the house she grew up in as home.
Harry couldn’t remember his parents beyond vague dreams and Legilimency attacks. Neville could still see his parents whenever he wanted, but could not remember what they were like before they were… before. But Uriela had lost her parents to the Death Eaters late enough in her life where she still remembered who they had been, could still remember them in her life.
Neville couldn’t decide if that would make things easier or harder than what he and Harry had gone through.
As Neville and Uriela approached the last room in the hall, the tip of his wand grew brighter.
“Bingo,” Neville muttered. “They’re in here.”
Whoever they were, they seemed to realize that they were cornered. Neville heard a rustling noise behind the door, along with two muffled voices. Five seconds later, the door was thrown open, and two students stood in front of them, one boy and one girl.
“Hello, Professor,” the boy said quickly. “Um, Professors.”
“Hello, Jennett. Vane,” said Neville, trying to put on his best authority voice. “You do remember that Professor Ogden stated at dinner last night that these halls were off-limits for the next two weeks?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah,” said Jacob Jennett. “You see, I um… I lost…”
“He lost his telescope,” Lucia Vane said quickly. “He lost his telescope down here, and I… I was helping him find it.”
Neville’s eyebrow shot up skeptically. He took a quick glance at Uriela, who was covering her smiling mouth with her hand.
“Your telescope,” Neville said. “Did you find it okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I found it,” said Jennett.
“Invisible telescope, is it?”
“What?”
“You’re not holding anything.”
“Oh…”
“And the search for invisible telescopes involve getting Miss Vane’s lipstick all over your face?”
Jennett’s face turned even redder than it was when he first opened the door. Still not as dark as the lipstick, though, Neville thought.
“So do you want to tell me again what you were doing up here?” Neville continued.
“And if you’re afraid of heights?” Uriela added, completely unable to suppress her grin.
“What?” Jennett asked, staring dumbly at Uriela.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
“No?”
“Well, your zipper is.”
Jennett eyes shot down to his pants. His face looking like it was ready to melt off of his skull.
“Look, Professors,” Lucia pleaded as Jacob zipped up his fly. “It’s Christmas holiday, and I’m not going to see him for two weeks. You know how it is, don’t you?”
Deciding that it would be nicer to not comment on the fact that Lucia Vane’s blouse was hastily and woefully misbuttoned, he instead flipped back the map on his clipboard and ran his quill down the list.
“Mister Jennett’s signed up to stay over the holiday,” he noted. “And you’re not?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“And you do realize that the Hogwarts Express leaves for King’s Cross in the next…” he pulled out his pocketwatch, “forty-five minutes?”
“It doesn’t leave for over two hours!” Jennett gasped.
“Apparently your watch is very slow,” said Neville.
“Bloody hell…”
“No wonder he keeps missing Runes class,” Uriela interjected.
“I would assume seventh-years like yourselves would know and obey the rules,” said Neville.
Lucia’s face had gone from beet red to completely pale. “Oh, God,” she moaned. “You’re not going to hold me for detention, are you?”
“It’s tempting,” said Neville. “But I don’t think I would want to keep your sister from hearing about any of your exploits. Five points from Gryffindor,” he pointed to Lucia. “And five points from Hufflepuff,” pointing at Jacob. “I would say fifteen, but I figure this lesson in abject humiliation is worth at least ten points, wouldn’t you, Professor Clavis?”
“You’re letting them off light,” said Uriela, turning back to the students. She pulled out her wand. “Scourgify!” Smears of lipstick disappeared from the both students’ faces. “Happy Christmas.”
“You’d better hurry or you’ll miss the train,” said Neville. “If Filch or anyone else gives you any bother for running in the hall, tell them I gave you permission just this once.”
“Thank you, sir!” said Lucia, as she and Jacob ran off.
“God, you’re too easy,” Uriela chuckled, shaking her head.
“That’s what she said,” Neville replied, and Uriela laughed again as he pulled his wand back out. “Homenum Revelio!”
He made a quick circle around the hall, but his wand remained dark.
“Well, that’s that,” he said, pocketing it again. “One more hall, and we should be done. And I’m not easy. It’s Christmas, I figured that’s their present.”
“They already got their present,” Uriela said. “Honestly, I almost lost it when she pulled out that telescope line.”
“Yeah, I think she found his telescope just fine,” Neville laughed as he conjured the drape and cast the Duro spell, closing off the hallway to students for the extent of the holiday.
“The less I think about the students having a better romantic life than me,” Uriela sighed, “the easier it is to go on working in this place.”
“It is one of the harder parts of working here, yeah,” said Neville as the two walked toward their final hallway.
“At least you have it easier than most of us,” said Uriela. “You have Luna waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me, yeah,” said Neville. “But the waiting’s the hardest part. Knowing that there is someone out there for me, but I can barely see her. And there’s always that thought in my mind, every time she leaves, that asks ‘Is she going to come back alone?’”
“Do you regret it?”
“Me and Luna?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Do you regret being with her? Making that choice?”
Neville paused. “No,” he said. “We love each other. We may not have the best of situations, may never have the best of situations, but we’re fine with what we have.”
And yet there was that hesitation before you answered the question.
Two glowing figures floated in Neville and Uriela’s direction.
“Happy Christmas, Professors!”
“Happy Christmas, Nick,” said Neville to the Gryffindor ghost as he tilted his nearly severed head like he was doffing a hat. His companion, the Grey Lady, merely nodded in acknowledgement of the living pair as they passed.
“Off to check hallway five, are you?”
“Yeah, last one on my list,” said Neville. “You didn’t happen to see anyone when you passed, did you?”
“Well, I saw Miss Vane and Master Jennett pass by us in a dreadful hurry,” said Nick. “But they were going back to the main hall. Hallway five was quiet.”
“Well, I have to check it either way,” said Neville. “Thanks for the help, though, Nick.”
“Any time I can be of assistance, Professor Longbottom,” said Nearly Headless Nick as he and Helena Ravenclaw continued on toward wherever Hogwarts ghosts went.
As they continued down the hall, Neville glanced over at Uriela, who hadn’t spoken during the entire conversation with the ghosts. Had, in fact, been staring at the floor.
“Are you alright?” Neville asked.
“What?” Uriela said quietly.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine. Just lost in my thoughts, I guess.”
“Happens to the best of us,” said Neville. The two continued in silence for a few minutes, until Neville decided to speak out.
“Look, Uri,” he said. “Why don’t you stay with me for Christmas?”
Uriela stopped. “With you?”
“Sure, why not?” Neville said. “I have a spare bedroom in my flat. You can have Christmas dinner with me and Gran, come to the get-together at the Potters. We could see Percy and Penelope, you can say hi to Fabian.”
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on,” said Neville. “Who knows how long this holiday schedule’s going to last? For all we know Tiberius might decide it’s a horrible idea, and then we’ll never get out of here for Christmas again.”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea, Neville…”
“Why not?” said Neville, putting his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll hang out in Hogsmeade, maybe a day or two in London after we’re done at Grimmauld Place. We’ll make a week of it, it’ll be great!”
“I shouldn’t…” said Uriela. “I really shouldn’t…”
Neville heard a note of distress creeping into her voice. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
And Uriela Clavis was kissing him.
And, much to the surprise of Neville Longbottom’s rational mind, he was kissing her back.
Stop it, he thought. Stop it, you’re not with her, you’re with Luna.
I don’t care, he responded as she wrapped her arms around him. Uri’s here. Luna’s not. I love them both. Shouldn’t that mean something?
Neville, you idiot, stop…
“Students, if you could please… oh!”
Neville and Uriela broke from their kiss and turned to see Professor Flitwick standing ten feet away. Neville could see that he was fully prepared to rebuke two students for snogging in the hallway, but this was as much a surprise to him as it was to Neville.
“I’m sorry,” he said, obviously flustered. “Terribly sorry.” He turned and waddled away.
Uriela and Neville looked at each other, the shock of the moment still on their faces.
“I’m sorry,” Uriela whispered. “I’m sorry, that was stupid…”
“Uri…”
“Now you see why I can’t?” she cried. “God, I keep thinking about you, and I know you’re with Luna, and I keep asking myself ‘Why is he still with her? He and I are so good together and, God, I’m right here!’ And I don’t know if I could be alone with you for a week without doing something even dumber than what I’ve already done.”
“Uri, please calm down…”
Uriela was almost shaking, tears pouring down her cheeks. “God, I’ve ruined everything. I should go before you decide you never want to talk to me again…”
“You haven’t ruined anything,” Neville said calmly. “Please calm down. Sit down.”
He took her by the arm and guided her to a nearby marble bench. She sat down, and he sat beside her. He knew he should say something, but he didn’t know where to begin. He felt like Uriela looked. His emotions were just too messed up…
“Do you love her?” Uriela asked.
“I do,” Neville said quietly.
“Then that’s all I need to know.”
“No, it’s not,” said Neville searching for the right words. “It’s… it’s complicated.”
“It’s not complicated,” she replied. “You love Luna. You don’t love me. I have a hopeless crush, and I have to get over it.”
“It’s not hopeless,” Neville said before he realized what he was saying. “I love her. But I… I won’t lie to you. I care about you. A lot. I’ve thought about us. About you and I.”
“You have?”
Neville nodded.
“But you’re still with Luna.”
“I am.”
Because you’re afraid to end it, he thought. Afraid to hurt Luna.
Stop it.
But you can’t live in a relationship like this. So you’re still with her until she finds someone else. Because then you know she won’t be hurt. Because you can’t do it yourself. You’re too easy.
“Then that’s good,” Uriela said, sniffing. “You should be with who you love. Even if you’re not… you know… with her with her.”
“Yeah,” Neville said, trying his best to mask the doubt in his voice.
“Just…” Neville felt her hand close around his as she spoke. “Just know that I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere. If… you decide you…”
“I’ll keep you in mind.”
“And you’re not mad at me?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Still friends?”
Neville gave her a small smile. “The offer to stay at my place for the week still stands.”
“Are you sure?”
“What, do you think I’m going to let you mope around the castle for a week?” He put his arm around her. “If it helps, the guest bedroom locks from the outside.”
Uriela snorted reluctant laughter, and put her head on his shoulder. “You’re too easy, you know that?”
“Yeah,” Neville said with a sigh. “Yeah, I am.”
But that doesn’t mean that my life’s not getting any harder.
Rose Edith / Previous Chapters / Your Last Chance