wanderlust ☆ n.longbottom

.:33:.

Christmas day was difficult. Daisy and Augusta tried to make it as entertaining as possible to hopefully distract Neville from the hurt he was feeling. He acted as though he was fine, but Daisy could tell he wasn't. He could tell she was just pretending too; Christmas was difficult for her without Emmeline. 

Later in the afternoon, they were all getting ready to go to St.Mungo's. Daisy offered to stay at home if he preferred, but Neville said he couldn't do it without her. They were surprised to see Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys piled into the waiting room.

Hermione flung her arms around Daisy, who remained as still as a statue. The boys exchanged awkward greetings. 

"What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Daisy asked, prising Hermione's arms off her.

"Dad got attacked," Ron answered dismally, shuffling his feet. 

"What? Is he okay?" gasped Neville, concern clouding his face.

Ron nodded. "He's fine, Harry saved him."

"You never mentioned any of this in your letter," Daisy said to Hermione.

"We were busy talking about...other stuff," Hermione replied, concealing the fact that Daisy came to her seeking help. Daisy's insides soared with an appreciation for her.

"Wait, you two write to each other?" Ron said, shocked. He couldn't think of two more different people.

"Yes," Hermione beamed proudly. "Girl talk!" She winked at Daisy as she encased her in a sideways hug. Daisy cringed but didn't pull away. 

The friends bade goodbye to each other. Neville and Daisy followed Augusta to the ward Frank and Alice were staying at. 

Their faces lit up when they saw Neville and he ran up to his parents. 

"The milkman is here!" bellowed Alice. Neville's face fell but he tried to keep his demeanor jovial. 

"Look this must be his wife," Frank said, pointing at Daisy.

"No, they aren't married yet, but they're going to get married. Probably in Greece." Alice replied.

"Will you invite us to the wedding?" Frank's eyes filled with hope. 

"Of course, we will," replied Neville. He snaked his arm around Daisy. It felt normal; them presenting like a couple. It felt like a normal escalation of their friendship. Their position froze for a while until Neville dropped his arm and charged over to the corkboard on the wall beside Alice's bed. 

"What's this?" he demanded, tearing a picture off the board. He pulled a few others down with him and they toppled to the ground. "WHAT'S THIS?" His sudden increased decibel made the whole room jump. Augusta and Daisy ran over to see the cause of his distress. A frantically moving, snarling picture of Bellatrix lay crumpled in his hand.

"They like making collages of people from the paper," the nurse spoke up.

"And you let them put a photo of her up?" said Augusta. She had a calmer voice than Neville's, but the nurse could tell she was just as angry.

Alice sheepishly took the photo from Neville. "Why are you destroying my picture? Does this lady not like milk, Mr. Milkman?"

"See, how can I say no to them? How can I explain who she is to them?" The nurse shouted back in defense. 

"I like her curly hair." Alice smiled, taking it from him.

Nevile softened. "Don't you think she looks a bit scary?"

Alice shook her sheet of mousy brown hair. "No, you can't judge people based on appearances."

Neville smiled, but it was tinged with sadness. He leaned down to pick up the other pictures, and the pin, from the floor. "Come on, I'll help you stick them back up."

Augusta and Daisy sat across the room in armchairs and observed Neville as he helped Alice hang her picture back up. 

"I don't know how you stay so calm. This must be hard for you too," Daisy spoke up.

Augusta remained silent, leaving Daisy to believe she hadn't heard her. "You're more observant than I expected you to be. I thought you were way too self-absorbed."

"When your sister dies, you do become absorbed in your own grief. But lately, I've realised everyone is suffering. Maybe even more than me. We just all have to help each other through it."

"Very mature. I'm impressed. I am sorry about your sister."

"It's okay. It would be a lot harder if you hadn't have let me stay with you."

"And to answer your question, it's really hard for me. He's my son, my boy. Everytime I walk through those doors, I hope that they know who I am. I hope it so much that I convince myself it's true. That today's the day they're suddenly cured. Today's the day that I'm going to walk through those doors and hear him say mum. Magic can solve most things. But not this. I think this is why I can be a bit..
Grumpy."

"Grumpy? You? Never!"

The duo laughed.

"I'm serious. I wasn't very nice to you. Or anyone. I'm sorry, Daisy."

"I wasn't very nice to you either. We were both too absorbed in ourselves. We should both be more observant to other people."

"I never thought I'd be taking advice from a sixteen-yearold...especially not one that dresses like that!" Augusta pursed her lips and her expression soured. But then, she erupted in laughter and Daisy joined in.

"I never thought I'd see the day. You two getting along," chuckled Neville. He was putting his coat on, signalling it was time to go. "Mum and dad are having dinner with the other patients. Then they are having a movie night."

"Sounds good," smiled Augusta, reaching up to place his arm on Neville's shoulder and leading him out the ward.

"Come again!" Frank called.

"We will!" Neville shouted.

"Merry Christmas!" Alice said.

"Hey, she remembered it was Christmas!" Neville grinned.