Wolfsbane // Neville Longbottom

Chapter 22: L-Word

TW Blood and mention of death

The joy surrounding the birth of Mandy's babies was bound to end. It lasted a good while though. The day after Mandy had given birth, Neville and Cassie had gone over and they had both gotten to hold the babies, giggling about how Elena's hair turned from pink to blue to red to orange and back to pink.

Mandy had sent a bunch of short letters with updates and even pictures the last two weeks. Cassie was insanely happy to hear how well it was going besides the sleepless nights and many stinky diapers.

But of course, near the end of the month, it was time for the full moon and Cassie felt sick, irritated and tired.

She sat at her desk, trying to grade a few papers though it was hard as her head was aching so bad that her vision was blurry. She put her quill down and looked at the picture frame on her desk. The one picture of her and her three best friends was now joined by two more picture frames.

One picture was that of the twins, Elena and Irene, peacefully sleeping in their cribs. The other one was a picture of her and Neville which Mandy had secretly taken of them in their garden during their visit last weekend.

They had been checking out one of the rose bushes in Mandy and Ernest's garden. Neville had one arm around Cassie's waist and his other arm moved repeatedly from his side to point at one of the flowers. Cassie had both her arms wrapped around Neville and was resting her head against his chest, nodding at something he had said at that very moment.

She loved it. Neville looked so happy in the picture and she did too. She felt so happy with him. He made her feel as if she floating, as if she was the most beautiful person ever, as if she was the only one that mattered.

Today however it was hard to feel that joy properly.

She cleaned up her desk and then drank the Wolfsbane potion, cringing at the utterly disgusting taste. She wished that there was a way to make it taste better but she knew that experimenting with this very potion was way too dangerous.

She cleaned up the cup and then went to lay down in her bed, pulling the blankets up over her head. She hated full moons. Every single month she had to go through it again. Twelve times a year didn't sound like much but still, it was twelve too many.

A little after dinner she heard someone come into her office. She knew it was Neville, she could smell him. He smelled like soil, vanilla and his cologne.  She turned on her side, facing the door and looked at him as he walked in. There was a calm smile on his lips and a plate filled with food in his hands.

"Hi," he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Do you want to eat something? I brought some plain toast, I know other smells can make you nauseous today but I still think you should eat something," he explained. She nodded and sat up, taking the plate from him. She took a bite and looked at him. He seemed worried.

"I will need to leave soon. Guess Poppy will be here in a bit. You don't have to wait with me," she told him. He shook his head and placed his hand on her knee. He was always so gentle with her, especially on days like these.

"Actually, if it's okay with you, of course, I will walk you to the shack today. And tomorrow I will pick you up too. I talked to Poppy about it and she said it was a good idea, actually. She doesn't mind waking you in the morning but we do think it's best for her as well that I help you walk back. She just doesn't know how much longer she can properly support you on the walk back, you know?" he suggested. She nodded.