Apologies for the delay in new material-- I had a minor personal crisis which kept me from focusing on my writing. I'll try to do better now. Thank you to everyone who has sent feedback so far-- it is greatly appreciated.

Part Six

Storytime became a regular fixture in the Longbottom household, a closer to each day. There was much less sleeping on the floor, as Neville generally herded the sleepier children off to bed before they could conk out, but in spirit it remained much the same.

He could still hear crying at night, but it tended not to last quite as long. There were even a few evenings where Neville would look up from his reading to find a small body burrowing into the opposite corner of the couch. So far, none of the children had opted to talk to him, even when he tried to start the conversation, but he liked it far better to have them sleeping dry-eyed near him rather than crying alone.

As August turned into September, school began, and Neville found his daily activity dramatically reduced. Mornings were hectic, as he tried to make sure nine children all had their separate possessions ready for the day, but once he sent them on their way, the older children leading the younger, it was only him and Aurora left for hours. She was surprisingly agreeable and often did not mind follow him on his vegetable tending, especially if he gave her some berries to eat while she "helped" him. On rainy days, they stayed inside and listened to the wireless. Trevor took a liking to the girl, and Neville sometimes found himself making up stories for her about the toad's various adventures.

Much to Neville's surprise, his friends back at school occasionally wrote to him. Harry and Ron tended to just add postscripts onto other people's letters, but Hermione and Ginny wrote him notes filled with the going-ons at Hogwarts and questions about his own life. Luna wrote him as well, detailing plants and animals he'd never heard of before and how he might best protect himself against them. Neville realized the value in these letters and often read them to the children. He told Luna this, and she wrote back that she was thrilled that he was educating future generations about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

From time to time, people even coae to visit. Percy had Ministry-required visits to make to ensure that the children are healthy and that Neville was not, say, using them to work an illegal gillyweed farm, and since the children were quite fine and Neville's plants were all well within regulations, those visits were fairly pleasant.

And then, there was Molly Weasley. She stopped by under the pretence of wanting to see how everything was going, but as soon as she saw the condition of Neville's cupboards she began questioning him. What sorts of meals did she make for those children? How much variety was there? She interrogated Neville and found his skills lacking.

And thus, the offer. Neville tried to refuse. "I couldn't ask that of you, Mrs. Weasley," he protested.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "You aren't asking! I'm offering. Actually, I'm insisting. It's for the children, really."

And how could Neville say no to that?

So, every Wednesday Mrs. Weasley came over and taught Neville to cook. He had basic skills, but didn't really know what do to with food. She gave him an old copy of Betty Caldron's Basic Cooking for Witches (someone had written on the cover, possibly in crayon 'And Wizards Who Really Should Help Around The House As Well') and they worked their way through some of the basics.

The children didn't seem to notice any difference, but Neville at least was thrilled not to be eating the same three things every day. Plus, the cooking lessons added a new aspect to his daily routine, made him take a look around him and see that he and everyone else were surviving, that even if everyone wasn't happy all the time, he was starting to see, at the very least, contentment among the children. Even Brian had mostly given up his anger and spent very little time pouting.

"Goodness," Neville said to himself, "I'm actually doing it."