I walk into my research greenhouse at McGregor's . . . my heart drops down to my knees. "Bloody hell! What happened?" I draw my wand and start to look around, careful not to touch anything. Then I find the bits of . . . Oh God, who was in here when this happened? I take off running, barely getting outside the greenhouse before I throw up.

Today's the day I finally move Hannah and me the rest of the way into the Longbottom Manor.  It felt so cold without Gran . . . but now I have Hannah to make it a warm place.  I needed a bit of help to get it all moved in.  I wanted Harry and Ron to help too, but being new Aurors doesn't leave them with much time.   

So that leaves Hannah's friends Justin and Ernie..  The three of us wizards can handle it.  And I made sure I have plenty of beer on hand for afterwards.    I got them all owled.  They should be here soon.

My Love,

  I hope you have a wonderful day. I want to talk to you.  We've both been so busy and when we are home all we want to do is . . . well, act like newlyweds.  Not that that's a bad thing, but we haven't been talking much.  Some things came up while I was talking to my step-mother the other day, and I realized we have much still to talk about.  I’ve had both Charlie and Justin remind me this week that you and I need to talk. Maybe if we met for lunch or something, we could just talk—you know, avoiding PDA? Owl me. I will gladly move my appointments to another day if you want to owl in sick.

Hannah

While Hannah's been off taking her tests or revising this week, I've been preparing for our wedding. I'm not sure if she remembers, but she promised that we'd be married as soon as she finished. Well, she finished today, and I'm sure she did brilliantly. That means we can be married…and the sooner the better, I think.

I'm walking out into the back garden, my mind on the projects I need to work on: the new varieties of House Plants, pollinating the dancing daffodils, writing the next chapter in my book… I turn and look over my shoulder to see Hannah, her hair plaited, sitting at a table by the house, quill moving over parchment, books surrounding her. I wave and she smiles and waves back before returning to her work.

I turn back to the greenhouse, stopping along the way to prune a few dead blooms from the flutterby bush-- 
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The bridal couple dances and the members of the wedding party dance.  I look at Hannah.  "Would you feel like dancing with me?  Even though I'm likely to step on your toes?"

She smiles.  "I don't believe you'd step on my toes,  but I'd want to dance with you even if you did."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," I laugh, then pull her onto the dance floor.  I hold her close and she puts her head on my shoulder as she dances with me.

"Hannah?" I say, trailing my hand up her naked back. I love the way her skin feels. I love the way she looks when she's like this, after we've made love, with her hair tousled, lips full, cheeks rosy. Her head is nestled on my chest; she fits perfectly.

"Mmmm?" she says drowsily, snuggling closer.

I tighten my arms around her and try again. "Hannah, I've something I need to tell you," I say, and something in my voice must tell her that I'm serious.

"What is it, Neville?" she asks, lifting her head up so she can look me in the eye.

Damn. Now I have to tell her. I've been intending to say something ever since I sent that letter to her father, but never could figure out how to bring it up. Oh, well. Nothing for it, now, I think, so I just blurt it all out in one breath. "Isentanowltoyourfatherandtoldhimhowupsetyouwereaboutthewayhewastreatingyou."

"Pardon me? You wrote to Daddy? Is that what you said?" She looks at me sleepily. "Why did you write to Daddy?"

"I just saw how upset all of this has made you, and I wanted to help, so I wrote a letter and sent it to him. I...erm...I was a little forceful," I say sheepishly.

"Done," I say, leaning the shovel against the greenhouse wall and stranding to stretch my back. Finally. Three and a half metric tonnes of dragon dung is a lot of shite to shovel. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Even with magic and four helpers, it's backbreaking work, but we managed to move the dung from Charlie's reserve -- former reserve, I mean -- and split it between the nursery and the greenhouse at the Manor. I use my forearm to wipe the sweat off my brow, and wrinkle my nose at the smell, both from the dung and from me. Definitely have to shower before I get near Hannah, I think, but I've got a little more work to do before that can happen.

I'm sitting in my office at the Manor, trying to work on one of the projects Mr McGregor--Euan (and isn't that an odd thought, to call my boss by his first name)-- has given me. He really liked my House Plants, and he wants me to see what other similar kinds of plants I can develop. I'm relatively close with some of the lupines (they have small wolves heads, obviously), and I'm trying to tame the SnapDragons. They're a bit tempermental.

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This is ridiculous. Have you noticed I say that a lot? I do, but it's only because it's true. I'm being stupid, again. I only hope Hannah hasn't noticed that I'm acting strange. Maybe I've been able to hide it...

It's just that there are some things...some important things...that we need to do. And I've been putting it all off, in the hopes that things will get easier.

And they haven't.

So I'm taking Hannah to meet my parents.

Today.