Neville. My Neville.

Chapter 20

Neville had just put Alice to bed and came back and sat down on the couch next to me. He looked like he was in deep thought before telling me, "I wanna be a Professor at Hogwarts. I heard the herbology position just opened up and if I apply I could get the job. I don't wanna do it if you're not okay with it. I will only do it if you give me permission to." I laughed at the fact that he thought I might not be okay with it. "I'm totally fine with it, Love. But I do have one question. What happened to Professor Sprout?" Neville looked down as if trying to come up with an answer to my question. "I'm not actually sure. Thank you for letting me do this though. I'm going to send Professor McGonagall a letter in the morning." I smiled, nodded, and walked off to the bedroom to go to bed.

------------A WEEK LATER------------

Neville had applied for the position of herbology professor and we were anxiously awaiting an answer. We had the distraction of Alice, but it was still annoying to have to wait for so long. I heard an owl screech to a stop on the window sill and peck at the window. I opened the window, took the letter from the owl, and sent it on its way. The letter had the ever-so familiar, hogwarts seal on the back of it. I handed it to Neville and took Alice from him. I could tell his hands began to shake as he opened the letter. It read:

"Dear Mr.Longbottom,

To begin with, congratulations on your new daughter. I'm sure you and your wife have loved every moment with her.

I am pleased to inform you that you have earned the position of Herbology Professor here at Hogwarts. I am sure there is no one more capable of this position than you.

You will need to create a list of supplies needed for each year that will be given out to your students when they receive their Hogwarts letter. You will need to go with the other teachers at the beginning of each school year.

As I'm sure you can probably already assume, you will be able to return to your family each summer and during holidays.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall"

Neville smiled brightly as he read the letter. Once he finished, he laid the letter down on the coffee table in front of him and exclaimed, "I got the job! Love, I got the job!" I giggled at how excited he was.

He sat down as one realization hit him, he wouldn't be able to return home for any of Alice's big milestones, our anniversary, her birthday, or my birthday. He looked at me, laid his hands on my knees, and said, "Are you sure you want me to do this? I won't be here for any birthdays but mine, our anniversary, and possibly her first words or first steps."

I thought about it for a minute and thought that if he really wanted to do this, I didn't want to get in the way. "If you want to do this, I'm not going to stop you. I love you and I don't want to get in the way of anything that will make you happy." I smiled at him as I spoke. I thought about how soon he would be leaving for this job.

It is currently June. He'll be leaving in just under 2 months.

We have our anniversary in about 2 weeks and then his birthday is about a month later than another month and he's gone. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. I decided we were going to make the most of everything until he left.

Word count: 632