What a Beautiful Curse *COMPLETE*

ONE MONTH LATER:

Hermione walked through Prince Manor in search of either Neville or Severus but it appeared that both men may have been 

kidnapped by Nargles. She called and called to them but had yet to get an answer, she always knew that if Severus let 

his guard down and Neville got over his irrational fear they'd be able to become...well, UNEASY friends but friends none 

the less. What she got was something she'd never, even with warning, would have been prepared for...a bromance. It had 

started out slow enough, Neville talked with him about thier (Neville and Hermione's) friendship and showed him his 

wardrobe/garden then the next thing she knew they were having in-depth conversations about certain plants, where to find 

them, a magical plants contribution to potions and magical creatures and she was pretty sure they were planning on 

searching for some rare plants somewhere on the high seas...she only wondered if she was invited. With a frown she 

opened the wardrobe door and walked down the stairs, she opened the garden door and called for them but got no answer 

with sigh she closed the door and thought about where they could be. Neville told her very sternly not to go in to the 

garden alone and she wouldn't go against his wishes, so she'd just go back to the house and wait impatiently for them to 

return. As she walked up the stairs she vaguely wondered if she was jealous of thier friendship, in less than a month 

she and Severus would be married and off on thier honeymoon, they'd be home by June and he'd be home all day everyday, 

she was curious what kind of shananigans he and Neville would get in to then. As she got to the first floor and turned 

towards the kitchen a small explosion from the basement (and potions lab) drew her attention, she frowned and walked 

down yet another flight of stairs and leaned against the doorframe. 

*

"You are still horrible at potions" Severus said dryly "Where is your brain?" 

"On your wedding" Neville answered, as he cleared away the mess that he'd just made out of a simple Sleeping potion "Are 

you aware its only a month away and I don't have a date?"

"You will" Severus made a face as he answered showing that he was found the whole conversaion to be distasteful.

"How are you so calm?" Neville asked, Hermione who found the conversation to be very enlightening moved away from the 

doorway and in to the shadows so she could listen a little longer "You'll be married in a month"

"I don't need the reminder, Longbottom" The older man answered "I'm not calm, not really. I always assumed that people 

who were nervous or scared about thier weddings weren't really in love with the person they were marrying but that's not 

true. I love Hermione more than anything or anyone in the entire world and I'm terrified but there is no reason to 

stress her out by constantly wondering if I'm good enough, if I'll be a good husband, if I'll be as shitty a father as 

my own was because I know she wants kids...and to be perfectly honest the entire concept of having children both 

exhilerates and terrifies me...I have the chance to carry on the Prince bloodline, get to pass my intelligence on to 

someone else and get to watch them become the person/people that I wanted to be without the threat of Voldemort hanging 

over thier heads but in the same sense the thought of having the share Hermione doesn't appeal to me and having to leave 

a school full of children in the summer just to come home to house full" He made a disgusted look and shook his head 

then seemed to realize that he was ranting "Sorry for the rant" 

"It sounds like you needed it" Neville said.

"How is it that I can rant to you" Severus sighed "Hermione can rant to you but you never rant to either of us?"

"I'm not the ranting type" He answered with small laugh "But I am going to feel like a complete loser being the only one 

without a date"

"I'm sure Hermione can find you someone" Severus said as he added some more ingrediants in to his cauldron "Just ask 

her"

"She thinks I'm straight" Neville reminded him as he went over to help the older man.

"Then tell her the truth" Severus sighed "She's not going to hate you for it, she's still friends with Draco and Potter" 

While Harry and Severus were better than they used to be Hermione just loved the way he still spat his name out "And 

please...don't help" 

"Okay" Neville made a face "How can I be so good at Herbology but suck at Potions?"

"Patience" Severus answered "Something that people don't have anymore" 

*

Hermione watched them for a few minutes before quietly making her way back up the stairs and in to the back porch off of 

the kitchen and looked out at the slowly melting snow and the heavy rain. It was getting warmer but wetter it seemed but 

Spring was finally here and her dark winter had passed, she'd be a married woman in a month and next winter maybe they'd 

be discussing a family. She'd been weary that maybe they'd been moving too quickly and should have had a long engagment 

at least a year or two but Severus pointed out to her that her parents weren't getting any younger and while she had a 

window of the next fifty to sixty years to have children they didn't have the same amount of time to have grandchildren 

or see her get married and plus...he loved her, what more did she need? However, true to her helpful nature Hermione 

wanted all to be perfect before her wedding and with just one month to go she was short a bridesmaid because Luna was 

still in the hospital and she wanted to help her as much as possible. However, she'd been unable to go visit her because 

the blonde would flip out and try to attack her, claiming that Hermione killed her father and was a murderer, Severus 

was told that it wasn't the best thing for him to visit either as it may feed in to the delusion that he's in love with 

her and even Harry and Ron were banned from visiting as she thought they were murderers too. Draco had gone in once and 

came out with three long and jagged claw marks on his cheek and two bites on his arms and was then banned from visiting 

as well as it apparently wasn't healthy for her to see him. Apprently it wasn't healthy for him either. When Neville and 

Severus came up Hermione smiled at them both and walked over giving Severus a kiss and then a quick hug for the younger 

male before she leaned back.

*

"Neville" She said "I want to set you up on a blind date before my wedding, that way you can make a decision before the 

wedding"

"Hermione...I'm..." He started but she put her hand on his cheek with a soft smile that turned in to a tinkling of 

laughter.

"It doesn't matter" She told him "It never mattered to me" She stepped back "I'll write him a letter but you're going to 

have to be very open-minded and nice, he's wonderful but shy" 

"Okay" Neville smiled a little "And if he doesn't like me?"

"Then he's a moron and we don't need him" Hermione said.

"What if he decides that he doesn't like me right before the wedding and I have to go by myself?" Neville asked, real 

fear in his eyes. 

"Then we'll all take turns dancing with you" Hermione promised "I will, Harry will, Draco will, Severus will..."

"I will not" Severus said darkly from where he was looking at something he'd gotten from the muggle fridge that could 

have once been a tomato but was now a green, furry and slimy thing in a dish.

"He will" Hermione said as she threw a smile over her shoulder at him "If he wants to get laid on his honeymoon, he 

will" She squealed and Neville was caught off guard when Severus streaked over from the fridge, grabbed the younger male 

and dipped him suddenly before they were spinning off in to the hallway in an exagerrated ballroom dance that led 

towards the front of the house. Hermione was laughing and jogging behind them all three were brought up short and 

Severus nearly dropped Neville when they found Harry, Draco, Ronald, Padma, Molly and Arthur standing in the front 

hallway watching them with varying looks suprise and mirth on thier faces. 

"Where are our house-elves?" Severus whispered harshly to her as she continued to laugh "I swear to merlin they are 

getting clothes when I find them, they should have announced visitors!"

"In a good mood, Severus?" Draco asked as the others tried to hold back their amusement.

"Shut it" He snapped. 

"We came to talk about Luna" Harry said, trying as usual to smooth over any awkwardness. 

"But I'm not willing to ball room dance with you, mate" Ron added in, which opened the dam that had been holding back 

the laughter from the others. Neville was trying and failing to hold back his laughter and Hermione would have sold her 

soul to the devil to keep her own amusement at bay but couldn't help the peals of laughter that were pulled from her, he 

was taking it better than she could have hoped as he slowly turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow that only made 

her laugh harder. 

"I hate your friends" He stated which made the entire room erupt in a fresh wave of laughter. 

*

While the others were still chuckling and Hermione went to get tea and snacks with Molly from the kitchen, Severus led 

the others in to Hermione's favorite porch/sitting room (other than the one off of the kitchen) that was in the back of 

the house. As he walked by the formal sitting room where Amelia used to read before she passed he could have sworn he 

saw her sitting in the window seat watching him and laughing along with everyone else. He did a doubletake but whatever 

he thought he saw was gone by then, he was curious if she was stuck in thier realm or if she was merely visiting as he 

was sure the others did time from time. Once everyone was seated and they were just waiting for Hermione and Molly, 

Severus realized how oddly 'Gryffindor' his life had become and he frowned a little, from the look on Draco's face he'd 

read his expression correctly and was in agreement. Severus merely smiled at the blonde, a true smile one that actually 

shocked him. Severus tried to convey to Draco something that took his ages to realize and it was that he would rather 

sit in the room with Gryffindors to make Hermione happy than stay with the Slytherins and be unhappy forever.

*

"I want to know something" Hermione said, after they all had tea and were sitting around talking about Luna "How did 

Xenophilius Lovegood die?" 

"Apparent suicide" Harry answered "I saw the case file, it was after the war and while he seemed to be doing okay after 

his time spent in the dungeons at Malfoy Manor he was walking in the woods near his house, a walk he took often 

according to Luna and he just...hung himself from a tree about a hundred feet away from the tree line"

"Could he have been under the Imerious Curse?" Ron asked.

"I had been talking to Xeno every week for the entire year and a half leading up to his death" Molly said "He was fine, 

he would never have done this to himself" 

"There is something else to suggest both his suicide and Luna's apparent insanity" Padma said, they all looked at her 

"I've known Luna since before Hogwarts and I noticed, way too late apparently, that she'd been changing...silently 

screaming for help as it were"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her she already knew what the 

other woman was getting at. 

"They had to sedate her and give her a full medical exam when it became apparent that she had next to no medical 

history" Padma answered and Ron looked at his hands "They found YEARS worth of sexual abuse on her body and hidden scars 

that were never properly healed, from what they were able get from the scars and everything else they've come to the 

conclusion that she was likely being raped on a regular basis since she was eleven"

"It makes sense now" Molly said through the tears that were streaming down her face "Xeno never let her spend the night 

though we were just down the hill, never let the boys visit...though he let Ginny" The terror that filled her eyes was 

felt physically by the others in the room "What if he..."

"He wouldn't" Arthur said, clearly trying to convince himself "He wouldn't..."

"He was sick enough to rape his own daughter" Molly said around her sobs "What would have kept him away from ours?" 

"These are the pictures that were taken before his body was cut down" Harry said putting them on the coffee table and 

Severus took them after a moment before handing them to Hermione who passed them to the next person.

"He looks...happy" Hermione said.

"Almost like he was seeing something completely different than what he was doing" Severus commented. 

"Yeah" Harry shrugged "Guess he was just happy to be dying" 

"Piece of shit" Hermione hissed, Severus gently rubbed her back in soothing circles "Why is she calling ME a murderer?"

"The doctors think that she is merely jealous that you have a good life" Padma answered "You have Snape, a beautiful 

home, children at some point and a good job where you're in charge and everyone loves you...its jealousy"  

"Lucky me" Hermione mumbled. 

*

Everyone visited for three more hours and after the unpleasantness of the Luna conversation was over they focussed on 

the wedding though the strain of what could have happened to Ginny was weighing on everyone's mind very heavily and they 

all wanted the same question answered: Did he touch or rape Ginny Weasley when she was a child? Even Severus, who spent 

most of his life hating the Weasleys, was worried about the youngest one now, wondering what horrors she'd faced her one 

night at the Lovegood tower and if there was something he should have noticed. The fresh thoughts of abuse and hatred 

brought back the unwanted memories of his own abusive childhood and that made him want to climb in to a hole somewhere 

and hide away but he knew that Hermione would find that hole and drag him out to face the world, just like he'd done to 

her on many occasions. Hermione excused herself, after everyone had left, so she could take a hot bath and likely cry 

without the two men witnessing it, when she was gone and Severus heard the door to thier bedroom being shut he walked 

over slowly to where Neville was leaning against the glass door watching the rain make the snow melt away in to cold, 

muddy rivers that flowed down the slight decline and in to the woods that surround the land.

"How about that horror, huh?" Severus said, as he too looked outside at the dreary world that had unfolded before them 

and wondering briefly if they should have a magical outdoor pool put in when they have children.

"That was something" Neville agreed, eyes never leaving the outside "He looked happy though, I daresay his death was 

better than what he deserved"

"Tell me something, Neville Longbottom" Severus said, turning to look at him "What kind of man are you?"

"The kind that will do anything to protect those I love" Neville answered, his eyes locked on Severus's as he wordlessly 

answered the unasked question that was swirling in Severus's eyes "Anything"

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A/N: Here's another one. What do you think, how do you like my Neville? I love him, soft, tough and even a 

little...scary. Tell me what you think in a review, I miss all of you. 

Please Review!!!!