Order Only : Private message to Alice and Frank Longbottom

[alt_pomona]

That was a more pleasant and also more challenging hour than I'd anticipated. You might have seen your Neville write earlier. He came to me asking how to best tend the cutting you sent him, Alice, dear.

Hawthorne's a fair bit trickier than some, but he and I had a good chat about it and I showed him a few of the methods to keep it stable until he gets back to Augusta's and can plant it properly, and what to watch for. Naturally, I did not push at his story that it came from "a gardening friend".

There were a few times he quite had to stop talking for a minute or two, as the talk turned Hannah. Thankfully, having one's hands in dirt does give one an excuse or two for that kind of thing. It's clear he cared more than a little for her - he's taking it near as hard as her yearmates.

And so I did something I'd not have done for many. We're having a gathering - just the House - to remember her tomorrow night, and I invited him. Quite startled him, I think, when he realised. I do hope the sett will understand, but I think they will, and turning him away seemed quite the wrong thing indeed.

He offered, then, to come in and spend time tomorrow afternoon helping me finish tidying and clearing some space. So if there's anything you'd like me to have an eye or ear toward, I'll have a bit more time with him then.

Comments

[alt_alice]

I want so badly to tell him, Pomona. I want to tell him how many people he's got looking out for him, and why we couldn't be there for him.

I will someday soon. I just wish it was sooner sometimes.

But yes, I'm sure you did just fine with him, and that even though he doesn't know how much of an ally he has with you, he does know that you care for him. And are keeping an eye out for him. And that matters so very much.

[alt_pomona]

It truly is a pleasure, in his case. Not just for your sake and Frank's, but for his own. You can be most proud of him. For that matter, Evelyn, too, though I see a bit less of her.

[alt_alice]

We are very proud of them both.

I worry sometimes about our Evelyn. She has fewer friends, and is a little quieter and more tightly wound than Neville (which is quite an accomplishment). She came in during an especially difficult time, you know, so soon after the news story broke about Frank and me.

But I can tell that she's more confident about her thoughts when she writes me than when she started, and I think she's growing into herself quite nicely all things considered.

And Neville, well, I woke up one day and he'd become a young man over night. A very serious, very sweet young man who has a solid head on his shoulders, and goodness, I could just talk on and on about the both of them. Typical mum.

[alt_pomona]

It's always a pleasure to hear, dear. Truly. And it's only the mums and dads who talk about their children purely in terms of what they can get for them that I dislike.

And I do think you're right, that your Evelyn is coming out of her shell a little more this year. She's one of those that perhaps takes a little more time to grow into herself, but you and I know those are some of the strongest in the end.