Chapter 51 ~ A Day Out.

 Maxine woke with an internal warmth she had never experienced before - a kind of comfort that filled her body and made her feel joy throughout. There were quite a few reasons behind this; one - she was back home in her old attic and her old bed. Two - it was almost Christmas and was surrounded by friends and family. Three - The night before had been brilliant, Stefan and Rose fitting in well with the crowd and the evening filled with fun and banter - proving Theon was not going to get in the way of hers and Stefan's relationship. For now.

She wasn't going to think about Theon - he had to stay off her mind for the duration of the holidays - but she did think about Stefan. True, he had been fun and charming the night before, joining in with all the hilarious antics of the Potters and their guests - and that was the strange thing. He had seemed almost to happy. And Maxine had caught him staring at her continually through the duration of the evening. When she'd asked him why, he had simply grinned and said nothing. Maxine, sitting up in bed, shrugged to herself. Perhaps it was a good thing. Perhaps, after the long period of unrest between them, he was simply changing like their friendship was.

Maxine looked over at Rose, who was still asleep with her face buried in the pillow. Four beds had been set up in her long attic, lined up on one side. To the right of her slept Rose, and then to her left lay Lily and her friend Nina. Lily, however, appeared to be absent....and looking over at Nina's bed, Maxine realised both were gone - meaning that any minute the pair would bound in again to fetch Rose and her. Maxine grinned, knowing exactly how it worked, and slipped out of bed and grabbing her clothes before making her way to the bathroom. It was from there, just finishing putting on her clothes, that she heard the heavy thundering of footsteps on the stairs and a second later the sound of her door being thrown open. This was followed by a loud groan from Rose as she opened the bathroom door, and Maxine entered her bedroom to find Rose stripped of her duvet by two impatient and energetic eleven year olds; Nina holding the bed cover aloft and Lily telling a groaning Rose that she 'had to get up and hurrry up about it'. Maxine chuckled to herself, placing her pyjamas on her bed behind them and saying humorously. 

"Lily, please give Rose back her duvet." The pair turned and Maxine laughed as Rose raised her head sleepily. "It's half eight, she usually sleeps in a bit longer."

"Yeah but Mum told us to get you up quickly 'cause we're going to the alley and we have to get there in time to see Uncle Neville." Lily protested. "It's the only way to get her to move."

"Wait - we're seeing Neville?" Maxine questioned her little sister, diverted off the topic of her friend's wake up call. 

Lily shrugged. "You are - he asked to see you. The rest of us are just gonna go shopping in the alley." She tugged a pillow out of Rose's grasp. "But - we need - to hurry!" Lily claimed the pillow and victory and Rose curled up into a tighter ball on the bare bed.

Maxine, happy to find she had a surprise meeting with Neville, also wanted her friend up, and after a pause as she registered what was going on and felt excitement for seeing her herbology mentor again, strode forward with purpose and took her friend's arm. "Come on, Rose - on this occasion you have to get up." 

Rose raised her head and sighed. "Oh ok." She sat up. "But give me time, please. And bear in mind that as soon as I've fully woken up, I'm going to make you pay for your wake up call." Rose pulled a face of mock aggression at the two girls, who giggled mischievously.

"Ah, but that's if you can catch us." Said Lily, face dimpling cheekily. 

Rose laughed. "You'll see, I will." There wa a pause as the girls watched her stand and Maxine looked on, amused. Rose, grabbing her clothes, then advanced, Nina and Lily unsure whether to run. Nearer to the, Rose stopped, eyed the, then said; "Well? Aren't you going to start running?"

At once the pair scampered away, laughing as they thundered back down the stairs. Rose chcukled as she watched them go, then turned to Maxine with a grin.

"Your sister's gonna have me run off my feet this holiday."

She grinned back. "Don't pretend you don't like it."

Rose laughed. "I wasn't. She and her friend are really fun. I had no idea what I was missing out on with no siblings."

Maxine chuckled, pulling her boots on. "You're only seeing the cute, 'let's make everyone adore me' side of Lily. She's fine in small doses, but really, she is a mini tornado in a temper and you wouldn't like to be around her twenty-four seven."

Rose shrugged, grinning. "I suppose you're right - still, she is awesome." Rose headed for the doorway carrying her clothes. "Anyway, I'm off to the bathroom. I get the gist we need to hurry."

Maxine laughed. "Yes, we do. Go on." She turned her attention off her friend and onto her shoes, which she were loosely lacing up. There was a moment of silence and then she heard some movement and looked up to see Stefan at her door, leaning on the frame.

"Morning, Max." He waited as she stood up. "Apparently we're going to Diagon Alley today?"

She nodded, checking herself down before coming to the doorway. "Yup. I'm going to see a friend of mine, Neville Longbottom, as well."

"Wait - was he the one who led to you meet Nick and Monroe?" Stefan asked, creasing his brow.

"Yeah - he was serving them in his herbology shop and I was visiting when they came." She passed the door and began to climb down the stairs, Stefan following suit. "He also used to teach at Hogwarts - you may remember him."

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, he was the herbology teacher in my first year. Seemed like a really nice guy." 

She smiled. "He is - despite mine and his family histories, he's very close to me." They turned a corner on the stairs. "Helped me through some difficult times."

"But - he doesn't know?" Stefan asked warily.

Maxine shook her head. "No. Neville's not that sort of person to be singled in that sort of thing. Plus, he would have told me." She looked at Theon. "Still, you wanna come with me to see him?" 

Stefan raised his eyebrows humorously in answer as they came off the stairs and approached the dining room. "That goes unsaid."

*   *   *   *

"Here we are." Maxine came to a halt outside the little shop with it's small windows and Tudor design; 'Continental Plants; Rare and Unique' written in gothic lettering over the front window and door. She turned and smiled at her parents. 

"You gonna say hi to Neville?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "We'll come when we've done our last-minute Christmas shopping."

"Yeah, we'll come and say hi when we're finished in flourish and blotts." Ginny comfirmed before turning to go. "See ya soon."

"Bye!" She and Stefan called before turning back round. They were on their own now - Rose involving herself with Lily, Alnus and their friends as much as possible so as to feed her growing addiction to sibling banter. She was in Weasley Wizard Wheezes at the moment, most likely spending her money on Lily and Nina, and James was at the sports shop with his friend, Josh, having left the party as soon as possible and glaring at Maxine as he did so. So yes, she and Stefan were visiting Neville alone - perfect, in Maxine's mind. She wanted to introduce her friend to him as well as talk herbology without being bored, so Stefan was the perfect accompaniment. 

She turned to him. "Shall we go in then?" She gestured at the shop.

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, sure." With a smile, he followed her as they approached and entered the warm building, nothing having changed since Maixnes last visit, which made her sigh th pleasure as the familiarity of the place returned. And there was Neville - stood at the desk with a mask on and pliers in his hands. He looked up as they enter, smiling and withdrawing from the blue-leafed plant he had been working on.

"Maxie!" He embraced her, careful to avoid impaling her with the pliers. "It's so nice to see you again!" Pulling out of the hug, he saw Stefan and smiled at him in a friendly manner. "And who have we here?"

"This is my friend, Stefan Burkhardt. Stefan, this is Neville - Neville Longbottom." Maxine said swiftly, presenting her friend.

"Pleased to meet you." Stefan shook Neville's hand, smiling warmly.

Neville grinned back. "And you're her best friend, I take it? Same age? I must have taught you at one point."

Stefan nodded. "Yup. And yeah, I think you taught me in my first year."

Neville smiled, then turned and moved to stand behind the desk and inspect the blue-leafed plant again. "Like Herbology?"

Stefan shrugged. "Maxine's got me more into it." Maxine grinned at him and he returned the same gesture before coming forward to take a closer look at the plant. "What's that your pruning?"

Maxine followed suit, taking a step closer to the shrub, and before Neville could answer, said in a tone of both excitement and disbelief; "Hang on - that's not a Mirtax plant, is it?"

Neville looked up and grinned at her. "It is. Found it growing in the snow near John O'Groats."

Maxine looked at the plant with wonder. Eversince she'd come across it in a herbology book at the age of ten, she'd wanted own one of the things. They were incredinly rare and difficult to care for - seemingly ordinary at first with dark, kingfisher blue leaves and a single violet-white flower like that of a water lily that grew at the end of the lone stem. But, in fact, if you triggered a nerve in the heart of the flower using careful precision, it would mate asexually and create a pearl of crystal snow that was brittle and cold to the touch but could be used in several chilling and stimulating potions.

"A what?" Stefan questioned, lost. "What's a Mirtax plant?"

Maxine turned to him. "They're a very rare kind of plant that seem ordinary but can actually create an icy, pearl-like crystal that's used in potions. But to make the plant create the pearl, you have to trigger a nerve in the heart of its flower that's really hard to reach." She looked at Neville suddenly in relisation. "Wait - have you triggered the nerve?"

Neville nodded, grinning. "In fact, I did a few days, meaning...."

"Meaning that the flower could open any minute and the frozen pearl will have been created!" Finished Maxine with excitement, looking back at the plant with an eager smile. 

Stefan turned to she herbologist. "That is one cool plant."

Neville laughed. "We've always thought so. Maxine's always wanted one - I always used to call it a 'Max' plant because of her obsession."

She laughed good naturedly. "You always loved them too." She turned away from the plant and looked at Neville. "Is there any way we can speed it up?"

Stefan laughed. "Ever the patient one, Max." He said teasingly, Maxine pulling a face in reply.

"We can actually." Neville said with a grin. "I have this special cooling jet that quickens the process." He looked at Maxine with an exited glint in his eye. "Want me to fetch it?"

"Of course." She said with a laugh before turning back to the plant wistfully. "I really want to see the pearl." 

"I'll go and get it." Neville answered with a wink the turned to head to the back. He pause,d however, when he reached the door - oh Stefan - could you just get some spare newspaper out of that draw? The second one down? We need something to put the coolers on."

Stefan nodded and Neville smiled gratefully. "Thanks." He opened the door, slipping into the back afte saying; "I'll just be a minute."

Maxine nodded, still inspecting the plant and looking over the closed up violet-White flower that presumably held the pearl. She felt a thrill again, excited to experience the occasion. She had been wanting to see and witness the birth of one in the flesh for several years and couldn't wait. It sounded lame, but she loved the idea of it and of course adored any form of herbology.

She heard Stefan open the draw in the background and heard him ruffle the old papers that were presumably housed in there. Maxine was in the middle of wondering how far back the copies of The Daily Prophet stored by Neville fan back when she noticed that Stefan had stopped and stood up, holding a piece of parchment that was definitely not part of an old newspaper. She stood up properly, intrigued and slightly alarmed as she realised his face was clenched and white.

"Stefan, what is it?" She approached him, coming round to behind the counter. "What is that."

Stefan turned his eyes, which were alarmingly wide, to look at her, and gulped. "I - er - Max..." His voice trailed off and she became increasingly confused as he swallowed again. "Max - you need to see this." He handed it to her carefully, as if the piece of parchment was a bomb. Well, it might well have been.

The page did not contain any writing - only a drawing. A monstrous drawing on a humanoid image of a hexenbiest - Maixne recognised it from when Adalind had woged. She looked at it with horro,thoughts flooding in as she realised what it meant. Neville...Nevillle...

"I know." Maxine and Stefan jerked their heads up to see the herbologist clutching the cooling vent, face regretful. "But I swear, I'm on your side."

Maxine backed away instinctually, barely forming the words for her answer. "You...you...you know? You've know all this time....all this time I've been seeing you..." Looking up at his face, she knew her predicament was rights.

Neville placed the cooling jet on the surface. "Yes." He said with admittance. "I did know...I tried to help. But Incouldnt tell you about it, for your own safety."

Stefan looked hard at Neville. "You knew Maxine all her life and you never told her?"

"I brought Nick here." He spoke urgently, ignoring Stefan's comment, simply looking at Maxine. "Maxie, I'm sorry - if I'd have been able to, I would have."

She looked up, still trying to get over the shock. Neville Longbottom, a many she'd know all of her life, trusted all of her life...knew about the Wesen world. Suddenly, surpinsgly, she felt joy. Neville knew, he knew! She could speak to him naturally, keep no secrets from it. Her eyes were bright as she answered him. "I - I'm glad." The confessed, surprising both Neville and Stefan before making the first smile. She looked at him with clear eyes. "How long have you know?"

"About the Wesen world?" Neville questioned. "My mother and father knew and so did my grandmother. They were linked to the resistance."

"So...you're saying you've known about it all your life?" Questioned Stefan, trying to get a grip on things.

"Yes." Neville nodded, looking at Maxine with guilt. "I couldn't tell you, though - I was in contact with Nick at the time and he knew that you were involved in these matters....I was forbidden from telling you, from explaining it to you."

"By 'these matters' - do you mean the whole us betting hunted by the royals." Maxine asked, watching him closely.

"Us?" He looked at Stefan, only just realising that the boy hadn't questioned the conversation. "What? You mean..."

"I'm the other one." Stefan explained grimly. "We're both being hunted by the royals. Or rather, they're trying to hunt us."

Maxine nodded. "We've been fine so far, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"My god..." Neville laughed in disbelief after the slight pause that followed Maxine's comment. "I never thought Id be having this conversation with you, Maxine."

Maxine smiled fondly and suddenly moved forward to hug him. "As I said, I'm glad." She told him, pulling out of the embrace. It's so much easier without having to keep secrets."

Neville smiled, then looked at Stefan. "And you...you're a Grimm as well." He chuckled in amazement. "How on earth did you two end up fording out about each other." 

Maxie  and Stefan exchanged glances. "Well-"

Maxine began, but never finished - at that moment the shop bell rang and Harry and Ginny entered, Maxine shutting her mouth and putting on a fake smile as soon as they did so. Stefan and Neville did the same, and the two simply advanced to greet Neville.

"Hey pal - how're you?"

"Been to Scotland, I hear."

As e parents greeted their friend and things went back to normal, Maxine and Stefan exchanged subtle glances, both expressing their feelings on the matter. It was such a new development that Maxine felt her double check herself. Neville....Neville new about Grimms and Wesen and was involved in the resistance. A warm feeling spread throughout her as she thought this, realising how much having another close friend know truly what she was and what she entailed made her happy. She smiled, rembering her surprise. She doubted she'd ever receive that level a shock again. 

And she'd thought she'd have a dull Christmas.