The Marriage Law//Neville Longbottom

19

"Neville!" an old lady with grey and balding hear with ratty, stitched clothing, opens the door. She flings her arms up and embraces Nev. Once she pulled away, leaving a blush on Nevilles' cheeks, she acknowledges me. A tight nod, "Hello."

I smile as warmly as I can at her, "Hello," I jut my hand out in front of her. "It's lovely to meet you." She eyes my hand cautiously as if it's a trap, and finally takes it in hers, giving it a weak shake.

The old woman welcomes us into her home. We kick off our shoes and leave them at the door. She leads us to a tiny living room, which is separated from the kitchen by a thin wall with a large archway. 

I smile as I see pictures of young Neville filling the walls. My smile falters when I see one of Neville, his parents, and his nan together. I try to hide my guilt and force my smile in place again. I'm so wrapped up in the pictures, that I didn't notice Nev leave until his nan touches my shoulder.

"He was a cute child, wasn't he?" She smiles fondly at the particular picture I had been avoiding since I had noticed it. "He looks so much like his father," and we both frown in unison.

I try to steer the topic away from his parents and smile, "I always noticed him in our years at Hogwarts," I tell her. It's something I've never really told anyone, I don't even think Neville knows. When I look over at the woman I see a look of surprise which only urges me to continue. "He was this adorable dork who was always forgetting things and losing his toad, and he loved herbology. Just watching him from afar all those years gave me a sense of relief from my family," I tell her. 

She frowns and I see her eyes search mine, trying to detect a lie, but when she doesn't she smiles and places a hand on my arm. "Neville spoke highly of you, even before you had apologized for your parents," She tells me. "He said you were gorgeous and quiet and so unlike what he was expecting. He found you approachable but never acted on it — granted I warned him not to meddle with snakes, especially the Lestrange's." 

I smile at her and blink back tears, "You should be proud of him; the man he's become. He never once blamed me, even when everyone — even myself — did. He's gentle and caring, really the most perfect man I could've been gifted. I'm lucky; for the law," I tell her.

She raises an eyebrow at me, "Why are you lucky for the law?" She questions me guardedly.

"I would have never had the chance to fall in love with him," I tell her simply. It's the honest truth. I've never uttered a word of loving Neville, but I know it's true. 

"You love him?" She asks me with a large grin.

"Of course," I respond. Because it's always been him.

The frail woman takes my hand lightly into hers and smiles at me, "Welcome to the family, Ascella." She gives my hand a light squeeze and then drops it. The woman walks away, wandering into the kitchen, and I am then left alone. Soon enough, Neville is standing beside me, pulling me into a hug.

"You love me?" He asks. My eyes widen and shoot up to his. I'm not met with the distance I was expecting, or anything negative, but only by welcoming green eyes, glinting with hope.

"I love you," I breathe, leaning into his chest and inhaling his scent.

He smiles down at me and then plants a soft kiss on the top of my head, "I love you too."

We had never said it like this. Obviously, we had expressed love. Mentioned it in passing, or said small things like we're falling in love. But never this direct. I smile into his chest and nearly cry. I'm probably the happiest person alive right now. Like seriously, I am literally glowing. I pull away from him and place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

When we turn around, we find Nev's Grandma grinning like a kid in a candy store, and we both flush with embarrassment. She pulls us into her kitchen and feeds us even more food, despite our protests about already being stuffed from the Weasley's.

The food, albeit, was amazing. However, I'm probably not going to be able to eat for a month. After we cleaned up our lunch, we exchanged presents. Truthfully, I was shocked his nan had even bought me anything. First, I'm a Lestrange, and second, I know she isn't the picture of wealth.

I gave her my gift to her, a set of ruby earrings and a ring with a ruby that is enchanted to glow whenever Nev thinks about her. She loved it so much and nearly started crying when I explained to her how it works. Neville's hand gifted his grandmother a small plant, I assume her favorite.

The woman urged me to open my present from her first, so I did. I opened up the gift bag and pulled the wrapping out to find a small velvet box. It looked like an antique, so I lifted it carefully and opened it as kindly as I could as not to disturb the velvet. I see and gorgeous pearl necklace with matching pearl earrings. I look up at the woman, prepared to thank her, but she speaks first.

"They were my mothers, she gifted them to me, and me to Alice. It's your turn now," She smiles warmly up at me.

I swipe away a tear that I hadn't noticed and close the box carefully. I then get up and pull Nevilles' nan into a hug. "Thank you," I tell her before pulling away.

Neville opens his next, and it's a plant that I don't know the name of and a handwritten note. He reads it and silently folds it, stuffing it into his pocket. I see him make eye contact with his nan and he only nods at her. The look is intense and scares the shit out of me. What was on that note? Despite my question, I say nothing and we spend the rest of the day with his nan.

Around eleven that night, we decide to head back to Neville's apartment. We wished his nan goodbye and apparated back. When we landed at his home I smiled at him and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I can't wait to be your wife," I grin goofily up at him, placing another kiss on his lips.

"I can't wait to be your husband," He counters me, kissing me back.

~~~

A/N:

Okay, legit Wattpad was not letting me post. I have no idea why, it just kept saying "Oops! Something went wrong." every time. I tried for about a week and then gave up, deciding to let it sit for a bit, and then I basically just forgot about it because of finals and everything. I remembered today and finally,  I hope it posts. If you're reading this they YAY!!! Sorry about the wait yall.