The Marriage Law//Neville Longbottom

18

The week had gone by in a flash and we were packing to spend the night at the Burrow for Christmas eve, and Christmas morning. I put in all my presents, and then my clothes and hygiene products. I met Nev in his living room and we apparated into the Burrow. Mrs.Weasley greeted us with a wide grin and pulled us into a hug. 

"Hey, Molly," Neville smiled warmly at her.

She beamed, not giving away how much she likely hates me, "Hello you two! Everyone has been excited about your visit."

I smile awkwardly and Neville showed us where we would be sleeping tonight. We put our stuff into the room and then met everyone downstairs for dinner. Mrs. Weasley had prepared a large meal fit for royalty.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasly," I smiled kindly at her.

"Molly, dear!" She chirped at me, "Call me Molly." I nodded at her and then Molly turned her attention to Charlie, "I believe George is on his way, right Charlie?" 

I felt my face drain of all color. My appetite was lost instantly, and I suddenly had a feeling that I needed to go. I had felt like an intruder the last hour that we had been here, but to see the twin of a boy my mother murmured is too much. I am an intruder. I should be dying alone in a dark cell in Azkaban. That's what I deserve.

"That's right," Charlie nodded.

"Right then," Molly smiled. "We'll wait for him then."

Everyone chatted at the table, but I kept my eyes fixed on my lap, refusing to look up at anyone. I eventually zoned out until I heard the words I had been dreading.

"George!" I heard Arthur call out. 

My head snapped up and I looked in the direction of the voice. As if he had sensed my gaze, Georges' eyes met with mine. He looked pale and sickly thin. His eyes held a lifeless hue of brown. I dropped his gaze and looked back at my lap. I heard him walk over to the table and mutter a quiet hello to Molly. He took a seat across from me and remained silent for the majority of dinner. 

Both of us picked at our plates. The only difference was that he had no one to comfort him, at least I had Neville to hold my hand. Once dinner finished, I offered to help Molly out with the dishes. She brushed me off, but I insisted and helped her dry the dishes and clear the table.

She passed me a cup to dry and began speaking, "None of us blame you," She stated. I nearly dropped the cup, but before I had the chance to respond, she continued. "For Fred, or the old Burrow, or Sirius. None of them. You're better than them," She explains.

I feel tears prick at my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

"Thank you," I choke out, placing the cup on the counter.

We finish with the dishes and then I head up to my room with Neville. I find Harry and Ginny in our room with him. They're discussing something with wide grins.

"What's got you all smiley?" I ask.

"Nothing," Gin grins wickedly at me. "Come on Harry, we better go," She says giving me a mischievous grin. They left and then I turned to Nev.

"What was that all about?" I ask with a small chuckle. He shrugs his shoulders and then begins getting ready for bed. I follow suit and once we're both done, we crawl into bed. "Are you going to tell me yet?" I ask, but he just kissed my shoulder and responds with a happy, "Nope."

I rolled my eyes and snuggle into him, allowing sleep to take over.

The next morning was Christmas, and I was woken up by Ron and Harry throwing snowballs at us. Literal snowballs.  Obviously, this made us get up and head downstairs for breakfast. The entire Weasley family was there along with me, Nev, Mione, Harry, and Fleur.

We ate breakfast, everyone chatting happily, and then Molly used her wand to magically clean everything instead of by hand like normal. Everyone headed to the living room and crowded in around the tree. 

Everyone was gifted presents, and then we began opening them. Everyone was pleased with their gifts, I even caught George smiling.

Neville had gifted me a gorgeous necklace with a green gem on it, and it had a note written in the box.

For my El.

I smile and pulled Neville into a hug. after the excitement calmed down, Neville and I bid our goodbyes and headed to his Grandmother...

My nerves were in knots as we apparated to the house. We were at the end of the driveway and the walk to the door was excruciatingly slow. It was like every pebble was one-thousand meters. But finally, we reached the door.

Neville knocked once. Twice. Three times. There was some commotion in the house, and then the doorknob rattled, and the door opened...