Neville pushed open the large wooden doors that guarded the headmaster's office, stepping into what he quickly realized was an empty room. "Professor Dumbledore?" he called out somewhat hesitantly. The only reaction he got was from Fawkes, who took a moment to gaze at him curiously before returning to preening his feathers. Neville walked further into the room, resigned to having to wait until the professor returned from wherever he had gone. He nervously shifted from foot to foot, eyes scanning the shelves that littered the room for lack of anything better to do.
His wandering gaze was stopped abruptly when one of the objects on a shelf moved. He nearly jumped in surprise, only to relax when he realized that it was only the Sorting Hat. He went back to inspecting the room, but found that he kept returning to stare at the hat. He looked around furtively, making sure the room was empty. Before he knew what was happening, he snatched the hat up and put it on his head, obscuring himself in blackness as the brim fell over his eyes.
"I know for a fact that a year hasn't gone by since the last sorting," an old, familiar voice said in his head.
"N-no, it hasn't," Neville agreed.
"Ahh, I see, the Longbottom boy. Gryffindor, as I recall, though it was quite the fight to get you to see it my way. I still don't regret my choice, you know. I won't change my mind, if that's why you put me on."
"That's not it. I..." Neville swallowed, finding his mouth suddenly dry "It's just... You can see everything that's inside my head, right? All of my memories, and everything?"
"Of course I can, I- oh, I see what you're thinking. I believe I can help. Just this once, mind you. Close your eyes, and I'll see what I can do."
Neville shut his eyes against the darkness of the inside of the Hat and waited. After a few minutes of nothing but silence, his vision was suddenly filled with a memory he never knew he had.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
He was smaller than he could ever remember being, laying on his back in a brightly painted room that he knew to be his own, a mobile he doesn't remember having hanging above his head. Though he's seeing through his own eyes, he can't control the rest of himself, and he feels himself begin to cry.
Soft footsteps echo outside of his range of vision, and suddenly a pair of familiar eyes are hovering over him, within them a spark that he's never seen before.
"Shh, hey Nev, it's okay," the man says, his dad says, picking him up and cradling him close to his chest. He starts humming a tune that Neville had only heard in his dreams, rocking him back and forth. Neville feels himself relax, his cries softening until they eventually stop. "There you go!" his dad exclaims, lifting him up high in the air and making faces until Neville starts giggling uncontrollably.
"Is everything alright in here?" a female voice asks, and suddenly Neville is turned with his dad to face the doorway, where his mum is standing. She's smiling like he's never seen her smile before, with a warmth in her expression that he has only ever wished to see.
"We're okay. Just having a little bit of fun, right Nev?" his dad asks him, tickling him and making him giggle once more. His mum walks over to join them, waving her fingers in front of Neville's face in a hello, and he grabs one in his chubby hand. She laughs, and it's the prettiest sound he's ever heard.
"How's mummy's little boy today?" his mum asks him, waving her trapped finger from side to side almost like a sort of handshake.
"Mummy's boy? He's definitely a daddy's boy, aren't you, Nev?" his dad asks, mock affronted. He reaches his hand around just enough so that Neville can take one of his fingers in his other hand, and starts waving it around in the opposite direction that his mum is.
Neville looks back at him, his attention diverted once again, and smiles. "Da!"
His parents both freeze, staring at him first, then each other, as wide smiles spread across their faces.
"He said his first word! He said his first word, and it was 'da'!" His father is practically shouting, pride oozing from his voice as he twirls Neville around, making him squeal in joy.
"Oh Neville, you're such a smart little boy!" His mum gushes, watching the pair as her smile gets impossibly wider.
"Smart? He's brilliant! You just wait until he gets older, our boy's going to be so amazing-"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
All of a sudden Neville felt himself being forcefully pulled out of the memory only to find that he couldn't quite breathe. He started gasping in air, and it took him a moment to realize the Hat was speaking.
"That's it, just take some deep breaths now. I'm sorry, lad, but I had to pull you out. You were becoming to withdrawn into your mind- you stopped breathing."
Neville couldn't say anything, still trying to get his breathing under control. Once he felt he was mostly back to normal, he responded. "D-did you see that? They were so happy. So… so alive. And they were so proud of me, too..." Against his will, Neville felt tears start to collect at the corners of his eyes.
"They love you very much, that's for certain. You're a lot like them, you know. They'd be proud to know the young man you've grown into."
Neville took a moment to collect himself, then smiled. "Thank you. For that, for everything, just- thank you."
"It's not a problem. Just remember that this was a one time deal. It doesn't do anyone any good to live more in the past than the present, as nice as it may sometimes seem."
"I… I know. I'm just glad to have gotten what I did. I didn't have any memory of what they were like… Before. To have seen anything means the world to me."
"I understand, Mr. Longbottom. Now, I see that another student told you that Professor Dumbledore wished to speak with you, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Well I'm sorry to say, but I believe they were playing a trick on you. Professor Dumbledore is away on business and isn't due back until later tonight."
"I..." Neville sighed. "I'm actually not surprised, to be honest."
"You'd best be getting back to your previous engagements," the Hat said. "Here's something to remember for next time: Professor Dumbledore will always send a note if he wishes to speak with you, so make sure that you're given one next time before you head all the way over here."
" Thank you, Mr. Hat, that's good to know. Well, um, have a nice evening."
"You too, Mr. Longbottom."
Neville carefully took the hat off of his head and placed it back on its shelf. As he made his way back through the doors he came in through, he thought that his step seemed to be lighter, almost as if a weight he never knew he had been carrying had been lifted off of his shoulders.