Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I hope that would be obvious, since I'm not J.K. Rowling.
A/N: I like the parallels between Harry and Neville. They both effectively lost their parents in the first Wizarding War. They were both raised by relatives who weren't exactly affectionate. Don't get me wrong- I think Neville's Gran meant well (unlike the Dursleys) but I get the feeling she was cold and hard-to-please when Neville was a child, and found it hard to relate to a child so different from her. They're both underdogs and get pushed around by bullies. They're often defined by who their parents were, rather than who they are. They both have a lot of expectations on them, although Harry's are larger in scale. So this is just a little musing that came from those thoughts.
"What if Harry goes up against You-Know-Who and- and he loses?"
The room, full of students eager to revive the D.A. now that they have seen what the Carrows are capable of, goes quiet. Neville doesn't know who asked the question, but she only said what everyone has been thinking.
"Harry will win. He beat V-Voldemort when he was a baby, and he fought him a few years ago and live! Of course he's going to win!" Ginny exclaims.
"But what if he doesn't?" asks a Hufflepuff Neville doesn't recognize. "If I were him, if You-Know-Who were after me like that, I'd just keep running."
Everyone has lowered their wands, stopped practicing their spells. They are looking at him. They need an answer.
Neville thinks about prophecies, and twists of fate, and how easily their roles could have been changed. How it could have been him with a scar on his forehead and a destiny to fulfill. He thinks about another boy who has grown up under the weight of too many expectations, who is seen as his father's son rather than as his own person.
"Harry won't run. That's not the kind of person he is. He's going to fight Voldemort." Even though he shouldn't have to. Even though he's just as much a kid as any of us. "And I hope he'll win. But where does it say that Harry Potter is the only one who can defeat Voldemort?" Oh, nowhere, Neville. Just a prophecy. What, did you want to be the one to fulfill it?
Ginny looks like she wants to punch him for even thinking Harry's not infallible. Luna- well, who knows with Luna? Everyone else is looking to him. When did he become a leader?
Neville takes a deep breath and thinks about twists of fate and could-have-beens. "If it's not Harry, it'll just have to be someone else."