Softly smiling at the girl, Harry greeted her, "Hello Hannah."
"Hello Harry," she grinned. Then she turned to Neville and Harry could see the blush develop a bit more. She quietly said, "Neville."
That Neville was also blushing a little was not, when Harry surreptitiously eyed her, lost on the older woman who'd watched the whole thing. The slight cocking of an eyebrow, even when trying to get her own blush under control, was obvious when he closely watched her for her reaction.
'Yup,' he thought with glee. 'She's figured it out.'
Now he just had to talk to Frank about it and hope he'd speak with Alice. That was one talk he did not want to have with his godmother.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
While Harry, Hermione and Susan were visiting Hannah and her mother - her father, Eugene, was at work - Andi was meeting with Remus at St Mungo's. She called him in only half an hour earlier through the same method Harry used, 'house elf express' mail.
At that time, Remus was in a private room off one of the wards. He had no idea Sirius was paying for the room and treatment, though greatly reduced in pricing, and likely never would.
Andi was standing holding a large vial while Remus had removed his shoes and was lying down on the single bed in the room.
He asked, "How long will this take, Healer Tonks?"
"I've little idea," she immediately replied. "However, a similar neutralising potion was given to two others and it took just over two hours for them to come around again. Your lycanthropy may shorten or lengthen that time; we don't know."
Once he appeared comfortable, Andi stepped forward and offered the vial. "All at once, Mister Lupin."
Remus accepted it, looked to her to see if he could detect any hint of dishonesty on her face and immediately felt ashamed with himself for thinking such. The woman had, after all, put considerable effort into helping him.
With a snort of self-amusement he 'toasted' her with the vial and declared, "Cheers!" And downed it one big gulp.
While Andi looked back at him in amusement, she accepted the offered empty vial back and watched as he laid back. A few moments later he was asleep.
As soon as he was asleep, she brought out a dicta-quill and parchment, set them up and began running diagnostic tests over him.
While monitoring she began to speak for the purpose of the written record. "Patient Remus John Lupin, known as Patient X11, has now taken experimental potion xp2385. As expected he was asleep in moments. Monitoring charms show he immediately fell into REM state. Heartbeat steady at 65 beats per minute. Breathing deep and regular.
"Potion now dispersing throughout the body but, as expected, focussing mainly on the brain; specifically the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex. Potion is also moving into the fatty tissues of the body as expected for attacking an alchemical-based compound. And now also moving into the prefrontal cortex..."
Andi stayed with Remus and kept a close eye on her monitoring charms. Counter-acting the effects of alchemical-based potions, mainly because of the dearth of qualified Alchemists these days, was an area of expertise she was quite happy to study. She knew there would be articles for her to write in the future for both potions and healing journals. She was not a Slytherin for nothing.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After visiting longer than expected with Hannah and the Abbotts, with Neville and Hannah choosing to spend a lot of their time close to one another, as pre-warned Susan decided to stay and have lunch with the Abbotts while the other three visiting teens, together with the escorting aurors, returned to the Granger residence.
As they were walking from the Doghouse back up the backyard to the house, Hermione said to Neville, "If you wanted to stay with Hannah and Susan at the Abbotts, we wouldn't have minded, Neville."
Though grateful, Neville shook his head and replied, "No, Dad has me tasked with ensuring the adults of the Alliance are informed he will be calling a proper meeting of the allied Houses soon after Christmas. As Heir, it's my duty to ensure I do that."
Just before they stepped inside, Harry allowed Hermione to precede them as he corralled Neville for a moment.
As the blonde-haired boy looked at him with a calm but quizzical expression, Harry got right to the point. "How long have you been head over heels for Hannah?"
Neville gaped back in shock for a moment before he blushed and stammered, "Ummm... Errr―"
"It's alright, Neville," Harry was quick to assure his friend. "I don't think anyone else but me and Missus Abbott know that yet."
This time the boy's blush turned into a blanche. "Sh-she... knows?"
"I was watching her face, today," he replied with a soft smile. "I could tell the moment she figured it out."
Neville seemed to shrink on himself for a moment and nodded.
Harry grinned even more, though. "Neville, you should also know that Missus Abbott only figured it out by seeing the reaction in Hannah; not you. For your information, Heir Longbottom, Miss Hannah Abbott's feelings for you are pretty much the same as yours are for her."
Again, Neville stared back in shock.
Harry chuckled and said, "Don't be so surprised, Neville. Hannah's smitten with you. And I think it's something you need to come clean about with your parents."
This time Neville looked worried, but he still hadn't said anything either way.
Again chuckling, Harry said, "They're not going to tell you off for it. Hannah's a good catch! That she's also the daughter of an allied House is going to go a long way towards them being fully supportive of you and her developing a relationship.
"Now; suck it up, Gryffindor! Let's go in and have lunch. We're expected at the Greengrasses' at 1.00pm."
Though Neville at first was worried, Harry reminding him of his Gryffindor roots had the boy 'man up' and nod his head back.
Harry then led the two of them inside for lunch.
However, when he tried to head to the kitchen to cook, Dobby popped in and said, "Too late, Master Harry, Sir."
"Damn it!"
Hermione laughed.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After waking from the neutralising potion given to him by Andi, Remus was 'spitting chips'.
It was only after he'd finally wound down from cursing and swearing at what Dumbledore had done to him - which took a good ten minutes - that Sirius finally entered the room to check on his friend.
Remus immediately snarled at him, "What are we going to do to that goat raping, white whiskered, arse licking, excuse for a manipulative old prick?"
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