sassy bad girl hannah (habbott) wrote in caged, @ 2013-08-23 00:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-08, [ log ], hannah abbott, neville longbottom |
WHO: Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom
WHEN: August 22nd, 1997, after lunchtime.
WHERE: Diagon Alley
SUMMARY: Hannah and Neville feed the Wandless
RATING: PG
STATUS: Completed Log
She was walking through Diagon Alley with a mournful expression. If her tortoise hadn't been looking sick the past few days there was nothing that could have drawn her out of the house. After her talk with Ernie, Hannah had still struggled to come to terms with the fact that Justin was one of the many who had been taken by the Ministry. But where? There were wandless all around, but she hadn't seen Justin among them. Had he gotten sick? Was he ill without her there to tend to him? As she moved down the lane she kept her eyes out for her dear friend, but those dark curls of his were nowhere to be found. First she went to the Magical Menagerie to get some medicine for Aesop. She stayed longer than necessary among the animals, their squaking and shrieking giving her some comfort as it was difficult to think of anything, much less something terrifying, with the sound of so many animals. She thanked the lady at the counter for the medicine and headed toward Hegemone's Hedges. She needed to pick up a few things for her garden at home, but she was really interested in finding some special treats for Aesop. As she found her way down the street her eyes still lingered over the Wandless. She wanted to do something. It wasn't illegal to help the Wandless, was it? Perhaps she'd buy some food for them and give that away. They had to be starving. With that goal in mind, she stepped into Hedges and started looking over the grasses. She was looking for dandelion greens especially. Gran had wanted to bring Neville to Diagon Alley, but he'd put his foot down. It said a lot about how much things had changed that it had worked, that he was alone with a list of things she'd insisted he needed. Of course, he'd barely glanced at the list. Instead he'd holed himself up in Hegemone's Hedges and bothered the shopkeeper with pointless questions about the sort of plants that would thrive in a dorm setting. Not that Neville actually needed the answers, but he liked talking about plants and he secretly liked when the shopkeeper was wrong, though he never corrected them. He'd narrowed his decision down to two different plants -- a part of him wanted to just buy them both, but he had a feeling Gran wouldn't approve of him spending his allowance so frivolously -- when he noticed a familiar head of blonde hair by the grasses. "Hannah," he said, walking up behind her and looking more in his element than he had at her party a few days ago. She glanced up to see Neville walking toward her. She tried to offer him a smile but it faltered and so she looked down at the grass again. Justin. He was missing. No, not by the Ministry's standpoint. They knew exactly where he was. But she didn't, and that was what made everything so awful. "Do you know where the dandelion greens are?" she asked him. "Aesop--that's my tortoise--He's been sick and I wanted to get him something a little special. He loves those…" She had a feeling Neville knew where everything in the shop was, what with him being so interested in plants. Hannah knew that soon she'd need to come back here to get what she needed for school. But it wouldn't have surprised her to know that Neville had gotten a personalized list from Professor Sprout herself. After all, everyone knew he was her favourite student. "And, um, how are you?" Instead of moving to the greens section for Hannah's dandelion greens, Neville stayed put and quietly regarded her for a moment. She looked miserable and for what he figured was good reason. Neville had seen the list of at-large Muggle-borns in the Daily Prophet that morning. He'd seen that Justin Finch-Fletchley's name was missing from the list, which meant he was probably in Azkaban with the other Muggle-borns who'd made the mistake of going into the Ministry for registration. He kept his face impassive, though. "I'm all right and I'll get you those greens in a second," he said finally, head tilted to one side. "But how're you?" "Thanks," she said. She looked down at the parcel that held Aesop's medicine and studied the brown twine instead of looking back at Neville for a long moment. "I'm…" She didn't know whether she should lie or not. Neville wasn't a close friend, but she knew that he stood against the regime. And he was good friends with Hermione, he had to have known the fear that she was one of those caught up by the Muggle-born registration act. "Oh, I'm rubbish," she finally said as she looked up at him. "But I'm glad you're alright." She chewed on her lip. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm fine. Fine." She ducked her head down again, brows puckering. Neville shrugged. "You don't have to be sorry," he said. "I asked. And it's only me." He shrugged again. He thought about reaching out and touching her. Maybe her arm her hand. But like Hannah, he knew they weren't close friends. They just happened to go to the same school and had spent timing the DA together. And he knew the friendships he'd made there had been more important to him than the others. So he didn't touch her and shoved his hands in his pockets instead. "No?" she said, looking up at him. Her eyes were a little squinty, but they weren't tearful. She was strong enough for that at least. She looked around and it didn't seem that anyone was listening in on them. So she took a step closer to Neville so that there wasn't much space between them. "Justin… He's not on the run," she told him. After all, Justin had been a member of Dumbledore's Army. Surely Neville knew him enough to care about his fate. "He's in… I think he's in Azkaban. I've been looking among the Wandless since they started appearing and I've never seen him. He must be in Azkaban." Her mouth and throat went dry with the admission. She'd only shared it with her father and Ernie so far. Not even Susan had heard from Hannah on the subject, although she knew that they would talk about it as soon as they could talk away from the Ministry spying on them. For a brief moment, Neville thought about fourth year and the time he'd asked Hannah the Yule Ball. She'd stepped so close to him that he could smell her perfume over the smell of plants and soil and he thought about how he'd have felt if he was still that boy. But he wasn't. Hannah had a boyfriend now and Neville's mind was mostly preoccupied with other things. Then, she told him her worries about Justin and he wasn't thinking about fourth year any more. He frowned and dragged one of his hands out of his pocket to clasp her shoulder. "Don't lose hope yet," he murmured, stepping in a little closer. "Azkaban is bad, but Justin's tougher than he seems. People have --" He stopped, struggling with his words because the people he was going to mention were the people that put his parents in St Mungo's. "People've gotten out of there before." She wasn't expecting his touch, but she didn't shrink from it. She looked at him right in the eyes as he spoke, and kept them trained on his even as she spoke instead of glancing back down at the package. "He is really tough," Hannah said with a bit of hope. "He is. People sometimes think that he isn't, but he is brave, too. He just… Oh, Justin always thinks that nothing can touch him. That's how he got frozen by the basilisk and now he's gotten himself in Azkaban. He should have talked to Ernie or me. We would have set him straight. But you know how some people are, they just think they have all the answers even when they don't." She gave Neville a weak smile. "They have. Maybe he can. Maybe they all can." If only they had their wands. The corners of Neville's mouth lifted and he gave Hannah's shoulder a quick squeeze before letting go of her shoulder, stuffing his hand back in his pocket. "Yeah," he said, a little more enthusiasm in his voice. "And I mean, if there's a place where thinking nothing can touch you would come in handy, it's Azkaban." He tried not to think back to third year, when there'd been dementors all over the castle. He couldn't remember a single person who didn't buckle under the weight of them except the Slytherins, but he wasn't about to point that out. "Thanks, Neville," Hannah said. Even if her fears weren't assuaged, it was nice to speak of Justin with someone who seemed to care. She gave Neville another weak smile. "You're right." She kept looking at him, remembering the boy that he'd been. "Um, would you mind showing me the dandelion grass? I don't want to forget it." She looked around the store again and leaned in to Neville again. "After this I'm going to go feed the Wandless. You haven't heard that that's illegal, have you? I'm going to do it anyway," she said stubbornly. "I just want to know how secretive I have to be." "Well. I don't think it's illegal," he said, taking a few backward steps towards the greens. He plucked a brown paper bag from a nearby stack and handed it to Hannah. "You've just got to be careful around them. They've lost everything. They're desperate." He'd heard the interview with Sullivan Burke on the wireless and, while he didn't put much stock in Burke, it had still gotten him thinking. "Someone ought to feed them, though. I'll help, if you want." He jangled the coins in his pocket. Hannah cradled the packages against her chest and gave Neville a careful nod. "Good," she said. "And I can be careful." She was glad at the idea of someone to help her, especially just in case someone tried to snatch her wand. She was a giving person, but she wasn't that giving. She paid for her purchase and waited for Neville to complete his. She wasn't in any great hurry. Her father didn't need her for anything and it was still hours to go before she needed to start dinner for the two of them. Perhaps if this went well she'd make some more nutritious food for the Wandless when she returned to Diagon Alley instead of bread, cheese, and an apple or so which she expected that she would be able to purchase for them. It might not be the best food, but it would still a hurting stomach and perhaps soothe a weary soul for a moment or two. It didn't take too long for them to gather a store of food. Hannah was easy with her money, even a bit irresponsibly, but she was so determined to be helpful that she wasn't really thinking straight. She'd explain to her father but she felt confident that he would understand and approve when he knew what she'd spent the money on. "Thanks for coming with me." "Of course," Neville said. He'd made arrangements to fetch his plants once he and Hannah were done feeding the Wandless so he was carrying the bulk of the food purchases. He hadn't spent quite as much as Hannah, but he'd insisted she let him pitch in a little and then he'd insisted again on carrying most of it. It made more sense anyway, with one of them carrying the food and the other passing it out, especially considering how many Wandless there were and how desperate they'd gotten. It made him nervous, walking into the crush of people, but he kept his shoulders straight and his face blank. It was nice having someone else at her side now that they were among so many people. She knelt down at the side of one of the men who was sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, his head on his knees. "Excuse me, sir," she said gently. "Would you like something to eat?" She reached up to take an apple from Neville's arms full of food. He opened his eyes and gave her a confused look. He stared at her for so long Hannah wondered if he were deaf or if he simply had gone mad through the treatment he'd had. But he hadn't been here for too long, had he? He couldn't have gone mad in such short time. "An apple?" she tried. "And we have some bread and cheese. It's not much but--" "I'll take it," said the man. And true to his word he took the apple. Hannah stood to get the rest from Neville, and a smile was on her face where the frown had been when she'd first seen him. She knelt back down in order to give the man the rest of the food. Just this small gesture had her feeling far better about the situation. They walked around offering food, and when the load was half what it had been Hannah stretched out her arms to take it. "You should pass some out," she said. "I don't mind carrying." "That's all right," Neville said, shaking his head. "You're better at it." He gave her a smile and tilted his arms away from her. He didn't want to be forced to add that he was mostly rubbish at interacting with people and that he was content to watch her gloom dissipate as she helped people, but he'd admit it if he had to. He nodded her onward, though, and hoped that would suffice. "Well, if you're sure," Hannah said. She didn't need much coaxing, and before too long they were nearing the end of the pile. But others seemed to see them, and register that they were running out, and instead of waiting for the pair to come to them, they started rushing Hannah and Neville. It wasn't a violent rush, but it was a rush all the same. "I'm sorry," Hannah said quickly. "I don't have enough, I--" she glanced quickly at Neville. "We'll share the best we can, please." Without hesitating, Neville positioned himself between Hannah and the rush of people. He calmly handed out the rest of their food, uselessly repeating things Hannah had said even though the food was disappearing from his arms faster than he could speak. He was reduced to saying things like, "All right, here," by the time he was left with a dwindling bag of apples, but he made sure he shielded Hannah with his body the whole time. Once his arms were empty, he turned and wrapped one around Hannah, leading them out of the crowd as quickly as he could and trying not to engage any of them. He'd known there was a possibility of something like that happened, but it hadn't soured the experience for him and he hoped it hadn't soured Hannah's either. But he kept his arm around Hannah and walked briskly until he'd put a considerable distance between them and the Wandless. Then he finally released her and took several steps back. "Are you all right?" he asked, one hand shoved back in his pocket and the other clutching trash from their adventure. She wasn't expecting him to do that, to get in the way of the people. She wasn't prepared to let him do that, and tried to get around him before she realized that he was trying to be gallant. And besides, she really didn't want to have to give out the last of the food and turn people away. As soon as he had his arm around her she followed him out where the Wandless didn't gather. Her heart was still beating fast, but like Neville, the experience hadn't been soured for her. If anything, it strengthened her resolution to come back again. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said a bit breathlessly. "That got a bit wild for a moment there, didn't it? I'm glad you came with me." "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, me too." He was starting to feel a little embarrassed, though. He'd touched Hannah a lot more than he'd intended and they weren't really those sort of friends, he didn't think. "But I'm glad we did it." His touching hadn't bothered her at all. She was an affectionate person by nature and she didn't think twice about people touching her unless they were mean or nasty. She hadn't minded the dirty Wandless touching her as they brushed her hands in thankfulness for what she and Neville had offered. "I'm going to do it again," she said. "In a few days, I guess. I'll make some sandwiches instead. Those will be easier to hand out and I can make loads of them." "That'd be really nice of you," was all Neville had to say to that. He dimly thought about offering to help Hannah or to remind her not to go alone, but he was still too flustered from everything to make sense. "Listen, I'd better go," he said after checking the pocketwatch his Gran had given him for his recent birthday. It had been his dad's, of course. "But um, I'm glad I ran into you." "Me too," Hannah said. He'd helped her forget, for at least a half hour, that Justin was in Azkaban. And even if it hadn't been for too long, it had been refreshing and allowed her to feel something other than sorrow for that time. "I guess I'll see you soon, since Hogwarts is definitely re-opening. So take care, Neville." She waved at him and started walking away, but then she realized he still had her parcels. "Oops, sorry about that," she said. "I have a tortoise in sore need of some care. He would be most aggravated with me if I left his medicine at home. He needs to be in top shape when we board the Hogwarts Express." She took the parcels from him, gave him a nod, and aparated away. |