Neville Longbottom does not scream. Neville Longbottom will not scream. Neville Longbottom cannot scream.
He sits in class ever, single day, and he watches them lie every single day, and he burns in anger every single day when he thinks that scum like them are still okay, when his parents will never be okay again.
Detention is different. He misses scouring cauldrons and scrubbing floors and writing lines. He misses stern McGongall who's become too grim and too anxious. He misses Snape in the dungeons and Dumbledore in the Headmasters' Office, and he wishes things would be the way they used to be, the way they're supposed to be.
Carrow finally unlocks the door. She grabs him by the scruff of his neck and throws him out onto the stone floors. That's what he gets for being cheeky. That's what he gets for speaking lies. He lies on the floor, but he does not utter a sound and he wonders why his head itches so bad and he wonders why he can't get up, and his lip is bleeding but he can't bring himself to wipe the excess off. Eventually, someone, a good deal smaller than he is manages to throw his arm around their shoulder, manages to prop him to a standing position.
Ginny's got her lips pursed, and she looks pained and angry and helpless. Hannah is tearing up and dabbing at his lip, her hands fluttering unsurely by his face. He'd thank them if the world wasn't spinning beneath him.
"Oh, Neville," Hannah whispers, "You were never the reckless one."
Neville wants to tell her that she's right. He is not the reckless one, but he's never felt more like a Gryffindor in his life.
Luna greets them at the top of the stair, Seamus at her elbow and while the tall seventh year is pacing like a nervous soon-to-be father Luna stands serenely, a vague smile on her face.
"You're not burning anymore are you Neville?"
Neville laughs, because of course Luna would know about the burning resentment, because Luna always knows, and while Seamus looks exasperated and Ginny looks amused, Neville cracks a grin, feels the ache that it causes him.
"Nope, I'm done burning for the day."
He collapses and Seamus is forced to help Ginny support the weight.
Tomorrow, Neville Longbottom knows he won't scream
Marlene Mckinnon is running.
She knows they've broken in. She knows it's a trap. She knows they're trying to lure her out.
She doesn't care.
She'll be damned if anyone hurts her family, if anyone hurts her little brothers and sisters. She's being stupid and reckless and a Gryffindor and she doesn't care.
She sees the hole in the side of her home, hurtles inside where her dead brother lies in crumpled agony on the sofa.
Travers is inside and she holds up her wand. There is too many of them, she is outnumbered and she can't escape.
She watches them kill Melanie, Martin, Margaret, Max, and when Travers finally ends her suffering, there is cool exasperation in his eyes. The message is clear.
You asked for it Mckinnon.
A/N: Opinions? Reviews would be lovely? Each chapter will consist of one drabble featuring a first war scene, and a second war scene