Chapter Text
Neville could not say how it had happened exactly. Everything had occurred under the very short and shocking period of 24 hours. As much as his life had seemed to stall since his eight year, time seemed to move extra-fast to catch up*.
He had taken a year to his Herbology apprenticeship, but somehow was not ready to be a teacher at Hogwarts and settle down. Even his relationship with Hannah felt like it was holding him back, so they had broken up amicably. He had had a taste of the action, and he was hooked on it. Naturally, after his apprenticeship, he had apply to the auror training program.
He had gotten his acceptance letter to the auror training program in the morning. Harry and Ron, already one year down that road, had delivered the letter in person at his Gran’s manor to celebrate the good news. After a quick chat, they’d plan to celebrate with everyone at the Leaky that same night. By 10 p.m., everyone, including himself, were drunk beyond recognition. Hermione had slurred between hiccups that she needed a roommate for the spacious flat that she rented above Flourish & Blotts, he said he’d sign and they had shaken hands on that.
So there he was, Saturday morning, 11 a.m., still a bit green and cross-eyed from the night before, signing his lease with none other than Hermione Granger.
That opportunity felt equally blessed and cursed.
On the upside, it was close enough to the Ministry that he could walk to the building for his auror training. Additionally, splitting the cost of living meant he had more money and would run out less quickly than anticipated at first, when he had planned on living by himself. Objectively, the place here was better than any flat he had visited, cleaner and newer as well.
On the downside, Neville did not know how he was supposed to survive co-living with his long-time crush without sporting a raging boner 24/7.
‘’Bastard,’’ he cursed himself under his breath. He did not foresee any future in which he could escape the situation he had put himself in. It had seemed too good to be true the previous night, and he was bitterly regretting it now that he faced the lease, quill in hand.
‘’Um? What was that?’’ Hermione was in the kitchen, making them a cup of tea, her head deep in the large cupboards. ‘’Anything wrong with the document?’’
‘’Not at all,’’ he smiled genuinely as he finished reading the last few paragraphs. It wasn’t her fault he had been stupid enough to jump on this occasion. He’d always had a solid crush on her since third year, but he’d fallen head over heels during their eight year. He’d mostly avoided thinking of her while he was dating Hannah, after all, it looked like nothing was going to happen, and they’d barely seen each other in the last year.
But now, he was a free man about to agree to a contract that oddly made him feel like he was write his soul away.
And so, Neville Longbottom signed a 12-month lease with Hermione Granger.
‘’Fantastic Neville, welcome home,’’ Hermione smiled back to him as she vanished to document to Merlin knows where. Something twisted in his stomach at her words.
Home. With Hermione.
‘’Thanks,’’ he dragged his wet hands against his jeans, then putting them in his pockets. ‘’Er, when can I move in?’’
‘’Whenever you like, here’s your key, and let me add you to the floo network and to the wards in place. I’m a bit paranoid, you see,’’ she winced.
He held the gold key in his hand, almost surprised to find it there. It was warm, almost as if it held a promise. Hermione made a quick work of the rest.
‘’I’d expect you to,’’ he offered kindly. ‘’Regardless, it’s always a good idea to have wards in place.’’
‘’I knew you’d understand,’’ she beamed at him as his heart squeezed painfully.
‘’I need a couple of days to talk to Gran and pack my stuff. Would next weekend work for you?’’
‘’Absolutely. Let me show you the room and around the place, yeah?’’
He was so freaking smitten, he’d only seen the living room and the kitchen before signing the lease. Or maybe he trusted Hermione that much to know that she would not live anywhere where she was not comfortable.
The placement was simple enough. The door and the floo opened on the living room, which was connected to the kitchen in an open-space area. Then, you would get the hallway. The first door was a magically enlarged bathroom, with a bathtub and two sinks. The second door was a linen closet, the third door was Hermione’s bedroom (full of greens and yellows, he noticed), books were every in messy piles and her desk was crumbling under a pile of parchments. The window gave on a balcony covered in magical plants. And then the last bedroom, his, was blue at the moment - he found that he didn’t mind.
It was big enough for him to have a desk and a king size bed, not to mention the considerably large closet. There was also a large window, with a view on the passing street.
‘’I see why you needed a roommate,’’ he commented. ‘’Why did you choose this place if you had no one yet?’’ He looked out the window, looking at the sky, distracted by the noise on the street below.
As she answered, he turned to face her. ‘’I was hoping for company, I guess,’’ she shrugged shyly. ‘’I’m not comfortable being by myself at the moment.’’
He understood her perfectly. Himself had pondered the positive and the negative points about living by himself. He wondered if he had yet to find a flat for himself due tot he fact that he could not wrap his head around it. Hermione had spent six years in a dorm she shared with other girls, then a year on the run with two other people in a tent, then another year in a dorm, and lastly - she had spent the last year in Australia restoring her parent’s memories, only coming back to England for the holidays.
Being by herself had to be a challenge, not to mention how safer she must’ve felt now that she shared the space with someone she knew. Neville felt the same, knowing she would be just a door ware should anything happen. Or… should she need anything.
Anything.
Neville jumped when he felt something on his ankle: Crookshanks was rubbing himself against his shins.
‘’Oh, I forgot to mention Crooks,’’ she bit her bottom lip. ‘’I hope that’s still okay?’’
Neville picked up the cat, scratching the spot between his two eyes as Crooks purred. ‘’More than,’’ he smirked to the cat. ‘’Hey Crooks, long time no see,’’ he commented.
‘’He sleeps on my bed most of the time, so he shouldn’t bother you too much. But he does like to plop in sunshine sometimes.’’
‘’He’s never bothered me.’’
‘’I’m glad,’’ Hermione smile. ‘’I have to say… I’m happy that we get to be this close again. Since the end of the war, Harry and Ron have been incredibly busy - and of course, so have I. But I’ve missed you, we used to spend so much time together at Hogwarts.’’
Neville put the cat down, and engulfed Hermione in a warm hug, taking a deep breath.
‘’I’ve missed you too.’’
He could do this. He could live with her, and be her friends. His feelings would not get in the way.
X
Oh, his feelings would definitely get in the way.
Neville stepped out of the floo, his face flushed, as he witnessed a very sleepy and somewhat underdressed Hermione making herself coffee in the kitchen.
‘’Hey Nev,’’ she yawned. ‘’Need help?’’
‘’Er, no, s’fine,’’ he mumbled, looking everywhere but at her white (almost transparent) shirt and minuscule sleeping shorts. Oh, for fuck’s sake, she looked positively edible.
‘’Okay, I have to work on that essay so I’ll be in my room for most of the morning, but let me know if you need anything, alright? I was thinking we could go to the store this afternoon, see if you needed anything like paint for your bedroom, or a bed frame,’’ she poured herself a large cup, seemingly unaware of the effect she was having on the young man. ‘’Coffee?’’
‘’Yes please,’’ he took of his shoes, the bag on this shoulder weighting a ton. ‘’I’ll just put this in my room er, ‘’ his gaze had landed on her hard nippled, poking through her shirt. ‘’I tried your undetectable extension charm, but I didn’t get the weight element so it’s super heavy,’’ he chuckled to himself.
‘’Here,’’ she extended a hand in direction of the bag, almost falling to the ground in surprise at the weight. ‘’Bloody hell Nev!’’ She exclaimed. He grinned.
Taking the wand out of her hair, curls falling down her face like a cascade until they reached the middle of her back, she proceeded to show him that part of the charm. Instantly, the bag was easier to lift. Neville’s hands itched to bury themselves in those curls. He closed his fists tightly.
‘’Thanks ‘Mione,’’ he appreciated. ‘’You’ve always been better at charms.’’
‘’Meh,’’ she shrugged. ‘’I just got more practice, is all.’’
‘’You should take the compliment, you know.’’ He teased, pushing her with his elbow.
‘’What?’’ She yawned again. Neville was starting to worry that she would fall asleep standing.
‘’I just told you that you were good at charms.’’
‘’No, you told me I was better than you, also implying that you were not good at it, which is far from the truth - it’s just a very complicated, and illegal, charm. Had you told me ‘you’re good at charms’, I would’ve said thank you.’’
She looked at him dead din the eyes, a slight grin indicated that she was just jesting.
‘’Alright,’’ he put his hands in the air to admit defeat. ‘’You’re good at charms.’’
‘’Thank you,’’ she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek, something she had gotten used to do in their sixth year. Neville had been sort of expecting it, but was still taken aback by her body that as she got close. He made sure to keep a reasonable distance so that her chest would not touch his, less he lost control and pushed her against the counter.
‘’When did you get so bloody tall?’’ She mumbled, now clutching her cup of coffee.
Neville barked a laugh as he walked down the hallway, resting his bag in the middle of the room. He came back to the kitchen to grab his cup, and sipped it, resting his weight on the counter, looking at Hermione as she placed the clean dished in the cupboards.
‘’Hopefully it’s my last growth spurt, or else you’ll need a ladder to look at me in the eyes.’’
‘’I think it’d be easier if you just scrunched down to be honest,’’ she joked as she poured her second cup. ‘’I feel like I’m going to break my neck, looking up at you,’’ she laughed brightly.
He smiled at her comment. He had definitely grown into himself: taller, broader, fitter. He liked this new version of him, but was still considerably shy about the attention - war hero and all that. ’’Another cup already?’’
‘’Yes,’’ she smiled sadly into her coffee. ‘’You’ll see that this part of my lifestyle has changed very little: a whole lot of studying, and very little sleep.’’
‘’A lot of fun to compensate, I hope?’’
‘’Mostly our Fridays are the Leaky.’’
‘’Hermione, how are you already studying if the semester is yet to start?’’ He suddenly realized.
‘’I wrote to the Professors to get a list of assignments as I’m doing two masters at once, so that I could get a head start,’’ she avoided his gaze.
Amazed, and slightly worried for her mental wellbeing, he set his cup of coffee down on the counter, waving his wand so that it cleaned itself and place itself back in the cupboard.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘’How is this even possible? Not a time turner again, I beg of you.’’
‘’No,’’ she chuckled. ‘’Like I said, less sleeping, more working.’’
‘’You, improbable witch,’’ he looking at the ceiling, letting out a long breath. ‘’Potion and what? What’s the other master?’’ He knew there was no talking her out of it once she’d set her mind to it, but he felt incredibly troubled. Where had been Harry and Ron when she had taken that decision for herself? Couldn’t they have tried to talk her out of it? One master was challenging enough. Hermione might’ve been the Brightest witch of her age, even doing two masters at once seemed almost impossible.
‘’Charms.’’
‘’Ah, this explains a lot,’’ he rubbed his three-day beard. ‘’So, we’ll both be busy this fall.’’
‘’Indeed. What’s your schedule like?’’
‘’I don’t have any idea yet, but I reckon it’ll be a bit less busy than yours.’’
Hermione nodded while also magically cleaning her cup. Neville noticed that she looked a bit pale.
‘’There is this wonderful little café down the road, and with a public library next to it. I like to go there in the evenings, when I’m not too tired. You’re welcomed to join me whenever you like.’’
‘’Thank you, that’s kind.’’ He knew she had very tight criteria when it came to inviting people to her study sessions. One did not simply sat down to study with Hermione Granger.
‘’Please note that I did not extend this invitation to Harry nor Ron. As much as I love them…’’
‘’I get it,’’ he chuckled, remembering all the time when the boys had been troublesome in Hogwarts’ library. ‘’If they come, they’ll probably ask you to write their homework anyway.’’
They laughed at the fond memories.
‘’Alright, I’ll leave you to it,’’ she rubbed her eyes tiredly then rolled her shoulders. ‘’See you later, roommate.’’
‘’See ya,’’ he grinned, watching her walk away to her bedroom, her hips swaying softly, Crookshanks following her. ‘’Roommate,’’ the word escaped his lips almost silently as reality dawned on him.
This was going to be hell on Earth.