Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please exercise understanding of personal boundaries before and during reading.
Author's Note (Generic Note for the Houses Competition): All my works should be considered to be Not Epilogue Compliant and I treat everything that is not the HP books and the Hogwarts Library Collection as apocrypha (supplementary to canon but still outside of it) and treat it as such (including ignoring it unless it suits me). I also make a policy of not ignoring abusive and distasteful actions/decisions of characters and not handwaving the effects of trauma experienced by characters. If you feel that a character isn't acting like their "canon self" chances are good that it's because of one of these two things and they are merely displaying a more realistic response than they did in canon.
Author's Note(s): I just want to take this chance to say that I don't think Hermione & the Weasleys were being malicious. I think they didn't want to see the abuse, for various reasons, and therefore they just didn't. It's a sadly common thing.
Challenge/Competition Block:
Stacked with: Houses Competition (Term 3); MC4A
House: Hufflepuff
Year: 6th
Category: Standard (750 – 1500 words)
Prompt: "You didn't hear this from me, but," (speech)
Representation: Hogwarts Express; Harry Potter; Friends as Family;
Bonus Challenge(s): Second Verse (Not a Lamp); Second Verse (Nontraditional); Second Verse (Found Family); Second Verse (Mouth of Babes); Second Verse (Tomorrow's Shade)
Word Count: 1233
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Dogged
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"The more you can escape from how horrible things really are, the less it's going to bother you...and then, the worse things get." – Frank Zappa
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Harry managed to find an empty compartment easier than he expected. With the way that Hermione had been hovering since her release from the Hospital Wing, he had honestly expected that to continue on the train ride home. Hermione was a great friend, but sometimes her insistence that she knew best how to handle things got to be a bit much. Harry didn't need someone hovering around him. He didn't need to talk out his grief or whatever it was that Hermione was convinced he was feeling.
Honestly, he just wanted a few hours of quiet before he was tossed back into the prison that was Privet Drive. If he was lucky, Hermione and Ron wouldn't find him after the prefect meeting and everyone else would be content to leave him be like every other year. He might have to put up with a short visit from Malfoy and his bookends, but there really wasn't any escaping that. The guy was about as subtle as Ginny at covering up his obsession.
He was still stowing his trunk when the compartment door opened, dashing all his hopes for time alone. Harry managed to keep his groan inaudible, but it was a close thing. He pushed away the thought that he had let himself get sloppy during the school year and that the learning curve was likely to be more painful than usual because of it. Dwelling on the Dursleys never changed anything and would only ruin what time he had away from them.
"Harry? Do you have any idea why Luna told me to talk to you?"
"It's Luna," Harry replied automatically.
Neville was one of the few DA members who would understand that sentiment. Most of them would assume Luna's offhand advice was just her being loony. Far as Harry could tell, only a handful of people actually listened when Luna spoke, and even less actually understood. Harry knew that he wasn't one of those latter; he didn't understand most people even when they didn't pepper their conversation with metaphors and allusions like Luna tended to do. Acting on what he did understand had yet to steer him wrong though, so Harry was willing to accept that Luna was simply Luna and that he didn't need to understand all of what she said to know that she had reasons for everything.
Even when that reason was a particularly strong craving for pudding.
"She said that you need to leave the station without being detected so that you can escape the gilded cage," Neville said. Harry finally turned to look at the other Gryffindor. Neville spread his hands in an understated shrug. In the same tone that implied that it was both an excuse and an explanation, Neville said the only words that ultimately mattered. "It's Luna."
"Can I even do that? Change schools? …just leave?"
"Harry," Neville started. His tone was cautiously soft, like the one he used for Hagrid's misunderstood babies and the more vicious inhabitants of the greenhouses. Harry didn't appreciate what that said about how Neville was expecting him to react to whatever he was about to say but he also couldn't blame him. Harry really had been prone to lashing out at everyone this year, always spoiling for a fight. Ever since everything that had happened during the third task, his emotions had been wild, swinging from one extreme to the next without little warning. It was exhausting to him. He could only imagine how tiring it must be to those putting up with him. "Did no one tell you about how, well, anything works?"
"Now, that's not fair," Harry protested. "I know how lots of things work."
"Harry," Neville said. Harry ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. It wasn't fair to be grouchy with the blond, who really had always been gentle with him without making him feel like he was exaggerating how bad things were with the Dursleys. It would have been nice if the twins and Ron had acted the same way after they had rescued him before second year, but aside from the one conversation with their mother upon their arrival at the Burrow, none of them had brought it up again. Neville sighed, drawing Harry's attention back to him. "I'm not trying to say that you don't know things. I'm just—look, everyone is supposed to know that the mandatory schooling ends after the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s aren't required by law, just strongly recommended if you want certain jobs or specific apprenticeships. Other than the Trace holding until you're seventeen, you're free to leave as soon as you finish your fifth year."
"So I could just leave? Just transfer schools and never come back?"
"I would hate to see you go, but yeah," Neville said, a concerned expression on his round face, "and honestly, I wouldn't blame you. Gran would have strangled Dumbledore with his own beard if I had been involved in more of the situations that you've been in. She nearly did after that detention in first year. If you need a place to lay low for a bit while you get things arranged, you're welcomed to stay at Thistlewood. It's big enough that I could hide you in my suite and no one except the elves would know. Well, Gran might, because of the wards—I don't fully hold them yet, so it's a bit fuzzy how much I can keep from her. Still, you're welcomed to stay."
"Even though Dumbledore says otherwise?" Harry asked quietly. He didn't know if he wanted to know the answer, because even Mrs. Weasley and Sirius had been hesitant to go against the headmaster. Neville stepped closer, his hand outstretched like he was about the touch. Harry failed to stop the instinctive flinch that he made. His stomach roiled at the sad look that appeared in Neville's eyes as the other boy shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
"You didn't hear it from me, but," Neville said, wry grin twisting his lips, "if Dumbledore were to drop dead tomorrow, I think Gran would host a garden party. It's horribly inappropriate, but that's Gran. She'll back him until he hurts a child, and then she's like a hippogriff."
"Really, Neville? A garden party?"
"Well, she's always on about how her poor bones aren't up to an all-night gala." Neville shrugged without removing his hands from his pockets. "So tea in the Rose Garden just makes sense, doesn't it? She could invite all her friends and I can hide from their pincers in my greenhouses. Fun for the whole family!"
"Wherever did you learn such cheeky nonsense, Neville?"
"Well, I only learned from the best," Neville said, rocking on his feet as he affected an air of innocence.
"Luna," Harry stated, as both an excuse and an explanation. Neville nodded once as solemnly as he could. Harry sighed as deeply as he could manage. Then they made eye contact and burst out laughing.
The laughter kept him warm as Harry slipped into the Floo behind Neville, having successfully dodged the Order members who would have escorted him back into the Dursleys' care.
Harry knew Sirius would have approved.
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An Ending
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