Harry Potter and the Next Generation

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

She gave the letter to Evangeline, her snowy white owl and gave it the instructions, “Give this to Teddy, please.” As she was heading out of the Owelry, Professor Longbottom was heading in.

“Hullo, Victoire,” Neville said, thinking how much things had changed. When he was a student he was Mr. Longbottom, and now he was Professor Longbottom. Though, he was thinking of how he was calling Victoire by her given name, instead of calling her Miss Weasley.

“Hello, Professor,” she said with a sweet smile. You could see that bit of Veela blood in her veins every time she smiled. “How are you?” she asked.

“Things could always be worse, couldn't they?” he laughed, seeming to be in better spirits than he actually was.

“That's true,” she said, and left the Owelry, left Neville alone with a letter to his wife, Hannah.

When he was at Hogwarts, he almost didn't know who Hannah was. She was just a random Hufflepuff. They didn't run in the same circles. Hannah had never been in the D.A. Or hung around Harry Potter or his roommates. Neville had been in love with Luna Lovegood from the end of fourth year to the present date. The only problem was that he was married, and she was married, and he had done The Terrible Thing, and now he was miserable.

The Terrible Thing he did was letting Luna go. He had told her he didn't deserve her. She was a free spirit that needed to be set free from the cage Neville thought he had trapped her in. Luna thought Neville no longer loved her; he thought he was holding her back. They both cried. Luna is now better off than Neville. He still cries himself to sleep at night at school pretty often. Every day, he wishes he had had the balls to have gotten her back when he had the chance. He lost that chance when he did not object to her marriage to Rolf Scammander. The priest had said, “Are there any reasons these two should not be wed?” Yet he had not done anything. She even looked at him when the priest said that. It took every bit of himself not to stand up and shout out, but he had thought she was in love. He could sstill always tell her, right? He could say, “Luna, I'm madly in love with you, but I let you marry that man Rolf because I thought you were in love. Luna, let's right what was wronged too long ago. Let us fix this—change our lives for the better.”

But he couldn't. He couldn't because of Hillary, his angel. Every time he looks at those beautiful eyes, that adorable smile, he loves Hannah again. HE lives through this for his love for Hillary. He could not ruin her life with a divorce and a stepmother. She deserved a happy, whole family. He felt he owed that to her. Neville did not hate his wife, he just was not in love with her the way he was still infatuated by Luna.

Neville wanted to get down and scream at the top of his lungs, let out all this pent-up aggression. He felt that the walls of the Owelry were going to crumble in on him, and that they should. Though, before he could betray his angst to the world, Albus walked in with his friend Scorpius Malfoy. Neville found his composure and greeted the students.

“Hello, boys,” Professor Longbottom said. It was so strange seeing these two together. It was just like seeing Harry with Draco being friends. It seemed unnatural, strange, bizzarre. But they were not Harry and Draco, they were Albus and Scorpius.

“Hello, professor,” they said together. Albus sensed that something was wrong, but he didn't say anything.

Upon hearing his voice, Neville's owl flew down from the rafters to greet his master. It landed on his shoulder. Good thing it was a small owl.

“Here, give this to Hannah,” he said, handing the owl his letter. “I'll see you later, boys.” He said and departed.

“Bye, Professor,” Albus said.

“He's so nice,” Scorpius said to Al, “I don't see what my dad had against him.”

Albus had an idea why but didn't say anything. He knew well enough that Neville struggled in school, and still struggled with some every-day magic. Instead, they called down their owls and sent off their letters.

“What did you say in your letter?” Albus asked.

“Nothing special. Just that school's nice. Things like that.” Scorp said. “Why?”

“I was just wondering if you mentioned anything about us being friends.” Al admitted. “I didn't say anything because I was trying to calm them down about me being in Slytherin.”

“I didn't.” Scorpius said. The two of them walked in silence—out of exhaustion from the school day. Then a great idea hit Scorp.

“Al! I just had a brilliant idea!” He stopped in his tracks. “We shouldn't tell our parents that we're friends—not yet. But we should ask to go to one of our houses over the Christmas holiday.”

“I dunno, Scorp...” Al thought about it. “To be honest, I'm a little afraid of your dad...”

“Then it doesn't have to be my house, what about yours? Your family's nice, no matter what aweful things my Dad says,” Scorp said.

“Thanks,” Al said. “I just hope they wouldn't seem removed and rude to you.”

“Well, who cares? Being with friends and family is the best part. And if Rosie's there that's good, too.” Scorp said.

Al noticed Scorpius was making this about himself. He wondered... “Scorp,” Albus asked, “do you not want to go home for the holiday?” He stopped in front of the entranceway to the Slytherin common room. Scorp's face flushed.

“You can be honest with me, I don't mind.” Al said.

Scorp's gaze was focused on the floor. “Yeah.” He admitted.

“That's okay, I understand.” Albus said. He walked into the common room. Scorpius followed.

“How could you? Your family is great,” Scorpius protested.

“Well, I understand because my dad never wanted to go home to my Great Aunt and Great Uncle.” Al said. He understood why, too. He'd met his Great Aunt and Great Uncle once before at the Dursley's house. His father and Dudley were on pretty good terms, so their families would sometimes spend time together over holiday. But the older Dursleys held a kind of contempt for Harry and his family.

Scorp still didn't believe Albus could relate, but didn't say anything more about it. “I'm going to bed.” he said.

Across the common room, Tomoka spotted Al and beckoned him over, while his friend went back to their dormitory to catch some “z”s.