Work Text:
Now
Neville heard Fred’s voice through the double doors, loud and commanding. He took a breath, knowing the spotlight would soon be upon him once again. This time, though, he welcomed it. The nerves that usually accompanied facing a crowd were nowhere to be seen. He had been born for this moment, everything about this night was good, and lovely, and right.
Fred’s voice sang out once again. “And now, it is my very distinct pleasure –” Neville squeezed the hand of the witch on his right – “to introduce for the very first time –” She grinned back at him, his whole world contained in that smile – “Mr. and Mrs. Neville and Ginny Longbottom!”
The crowd went wild as two attendants pushed open the doors, allowing Neville and his bride – his bride! – to glide into the reception hall, hand in hand. The room was resplendent in reds and greens, Poinsettias and evergreens everywhere, white roses accenting the space. The room was enveloped in warmth. When they had started planning over a year ago, Ginny had very matter-of-factly declared their wedding would be during Yule, and she had executed her vision beautifully. The days around Christmas had always been important to them, and what better symbol of their love than the winter solstice, the very celebration of light returning after darkest nights.
Lights flashed and blurred around them, a sea of people standing along the path to the dance floor to get a glimpse of the newly married couple as they took center stage. They floated past their friends and family, Ginny stopping to kiss her mother’s cheek, and took their place on the dance floor. Neville raised their entwined hands up for the room to see, his smile setting up a permanent residence on his face. The soft music started and he took her hand in his, placing the other on the small of her back, and suddenly, in his mind he was fourteen again, hands shaking as he reached for her, for the first dance they ever shared together.
1994
Neville waited at the bottom of the steps to the girl’s wing in Gryffindor tower. The dress robes he had on felt too tight. He felt unnatural in them, like he was posing as someone else entirely.
As the minutes ticked by and he watched other couples scurry out of the common room for the festivities, his anxiety grew. She was having second thoughts, surely. She must have changed her mind, she wouldn't want to spend the whole night with him. She was probably up there right now, fretting over how to let him down easy. She always was so kind, it wouldn’t surprise him if she had said yes out of pity.
He was working himself up into a proper anxiety attack, pacing back and forth in short bursts. Just as he resolved to bolt back up to his dorm, footsteps sounded on the stairs, and there she was.
He lost his breath at the sight of her. She was wearing a simple dress, blue so light it was almost white. It fell just past her knees, flowing around her like the cloudless days she favored, her hair around her like sunlight. She stopped on the bottom stair, and gestured to herself with a flourish.
“What do you think, Neville? Not half bad considering what I had to start with.” She grinned at him, but as the seconds passed without him responding, her gaze turned confused, then nervous. “Neville? You in there? Is there a hideous stain on me that I’ve missed?”
Neville shook himself out of his stunned silence and closed the few steps between them, taking her hand. On the step, she stood level with him. He looked into her eyes, and with a confidence he had never felt before, said “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She blushed deeply, and he kissed her hand. Then, he pulled her towards him and twirled her out the door, anxieties quieted by the witch at his side.
When the first slow song of the night started to play, Neville looked uncertainly at the seats at the side of the room. They had been on their feet since the start of the ball, so it would be completely natural for Ginny to want to take a moment to rest her feet. He turned to tell her as much when she pulled on his left hand. “Don’t you dare think of leaving this dance floor!” she laughed. “You promised me, we’d dance until they kicked us out. Every song, Neville. You promised.”
He hesitated for just a moment before turning back towards her, taking her right hand in his, moving her left to his shoulder. She placed her hands in their positions with an easy grace, like she’d practiced the movement hundreds of times, like she was made to hold and be held. Slowly, trembling, he placed his left hand on her waist. She leaned into him, steadying him, and looked at him to lead. It was the first time anyone had looked at him like that, like she expected him to know what to do, and trusted him to guide her. How many times had she saved him tonight, without even realizing? He began to move, and they flowed together so seamlessly he thought maybe this was what he had been born to do. As the dance continued, she rested her head against his shoulder, looping both arms around him. He held her close, thinking this is all he would ever want for the rest of his life. To care for Ginny Weasley and to be cared for in return.
Now
They had done a proper waltz for a few turns, large sweeping movements to capture the beauty of the dress Ginny had chosen, but now, his wife rested her head against his shoulder, looping her arms around him in a now familiar embrace. Other couples took to the floor around him, some nudging them encouragingly as they swept by, but Neville was still lost in the feel of her. He held on to her tightly, breathing her in. He relived a decade of holding her in his arms, through uncertainty, through pain, through hope. He saw decades more, a lifetime of being near her, of caring for Ginny Weasley and being cared for in return.
He turned his head to whisper in her ear, “I love you, Ginny Longbottom.”
He felt her smile against his neck, and she kissed it before whispering back, “and I you, husband. For all time, I love you.”