Who: Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom What: The Joy of Gardening, and Radio Programmes When: 6 Wednesday, 1998 Where: Neville's family home, Nottingham
There was something strangely different about their outing today than the afternoons they sometimes spent together at school. Here they were alone, or at least without other students. Mrs. Longbottom, for she could not call her Gran as well, was exactly as Hannah had imagined her: a force of untarnished good, who Absolutely No One ought to reckon with. Hannah had the advantage on her side of already being in Neville's good graces, and tea had been pleasantly open in conversation when compared to how they had to speak at school. Gran seemed inclined to try and take out a Death Eater or two on her own, and hearing of what had happened to Hannah's mother and father had prompted her outrage. All in all it had been an enjoyable day so far, even though she felt marginally more self-conscious, somehow.
With a tea service and plants now surrounding them, Hannah and Neville sat nearby the wireless, waiting for Rusakov to come on in a few moments. Hannah was making a list of places where each of their plants would thrive the best, factoring in shade or sun, higher on a hill with rocky soil for less moisture or in a softer valley for more, and which could be planted nearby without overtaking their neighbor. "The lavender says it needs at least two feet between each plant," she said, glancing at the little two-liter plant and wondering how long it would take to grow large enough to use so much space. "Neville I think I'm going to buy a couple lavender sachets before we go back too, and that way we'll have the buds if we need them before summer. No one's going to find that suspicious, I just want my trunk to smell nice." Which sounded strangely like it didn't. "Not that it smells bad, now," amended Hannah, feeling immediately silly afterward.