Neville's Story
It was late when Harry and Hermione were allowed to leave the infirmary. Ron would have to stay behind a couple of days. It felt like it had been ages since they had last been in the Gryffindor tower but that was because of everything that had happened since they left earlier in the evening. When they walked into the common room Neville Longbottom was sitting in front of the fire. He appeared to be asleep, but when they came in he sat up.
"Neville is everything ok?" asked Hermione as she took in his appearance. He seemed to be kind of nervous and anxious at the same time. He looked back at them and replied, "I've been thinking of You Know Who and his supporters for a while now, you know with Sirius Black being loose and all." When he said this Hermione and Harry exchanged a glance and had a silent conversation. Should they tell Neville that Sirius was innocent of everything the entire wizarding world thought him to be guilty of, or should they keep it to themselves. After a couple minutes of silence Neville asked, "What's going on?"
Harry looked at Hermione and finally back at Neville and told him to sit back because they were going to tell him something that was not common knowledge and it might take a while.
"Tonight, we found out something that changed how I've thought about Sirius Black. We found out that he is innocent of the charges brought against him and he was imprisoned wrongly. He was an innocent man and was fighting against Voldemort." Both Hermione and Neville did a spasm when Harry said Voldemort. Which Harry thought was weird since Hermione was raised by Muggles like he was, and she should not act like everyone else when they heard him say Voldemort. He told Neville everything that had happened that night except the role Professor Lupin played in the events. He went on to tell Neville about helping Sirius Black escape on Buckbeak, and told him he didn't know what would become of Sirius now, but Hermione, Ron and himself would do everything to get someone to listen to them.
Neville took this all in in silence. After a few minutes Hermione asked him if he was ok. "Yes, I'm thinking" he told them. Then Neville began to speak.
"Do you know why I live with my Gram?" When they both shook their heads from side to side he went on, "Right after You Know Who disappeared his followers that were the most loyal to him were out trying to find him. My parents, who were Aurors at the time, were attacked by four Death Eaters and they were brutally tortured. No one knows for sure how long the torture went on, but when they were done with my parents they were left almost dead." He stopped and looked at Harry and Hermione and they could see the anguish in his eyes. Hermione was holding a hand to her mouth as if to hold back the pain or maybe the tears or maybe what she wanted to say.
"They used one of the Unforgivable curses on them, the Crutiatus curse," he looked to see how they were taking this information then he went on, "they used it over and over again. They were trying to get my parents to tell them where You Know Who was, but they didn't know. The torture was too much for them and by the time they were seen by the Healers at St. Mungo's my Gram was told nothing could be done for them. Their minds were gone. That's why I live with my Gram." he finished.
Hermione and Harry exchanged a look of sadness between them. Hermione could feel his pain and it made her hurt too. She made a vow to herself to try to do whatever she could to help Neville out.
Hermione moved over closer to Neville and put her arms around him and said, "I am so sorry, Neville." She tried comfort him as she spoke "Are your parents still at St. Mungo's or are they living with you and your Gram?"
"They're at St. Mungo's. Before I started Hogwarts, we went to see them all the time, but since I've been here I only get to see them on breaks. I think they know who I am, but I'm not sure." He said in a small voice. "The four Death Eaters were captured and are in Azkaban. I grew up thinking Sirius Black was the one who sent them on this mission because everyone told me how he was You Know Who's right hand man, and now you tell me everything I've been thinking is wrong. I'll need some time to process this new information."
This time it was Harry that spoke up and he told Neville that he understood and up until a few hours ago he thought that Sirius Black was a murderer, but that he now knows he was wrong. He told Neville about Sirius black being his Godfather and how he wished things could have been different for him too. Both he and Neville did not get to grow up knowing their parents and it was all because of Voldemort and his followers.
Soon after this conversation the three Gryffindor's went up to their dorms to get a little sleep before they would be starting their day. Although all three of them went to bed none of them got any rest. Too much was running through each of their minds. The events of the night combined with the story told by Neville were just too much to process. As soon as the sun came up Hermione and Harry were going to talk to Professor Dumbledore about Sirius Black, but when Neville saw Harry getting up he got up also. Harry tried to explain to him where he was going, but Neville was adamant about going with them. Neville didn't know about Professor Lupin being a werewolf and for this reason Harry and Hermione didn't want to take him with them, but they couldn't get him to stay behind, so finally all three of them set off to Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Come in." Was said before they even knocked. When they went in they noticed Professor Lupin sitting in a chair in Professor Dumbledore's office. If Professor Dumbledore or Professor Lupin were surprised to see Neville with them they didn't show it. "Sit down we have a lot to discuss." Professor Dumbledore told them as they looked around.
At this time, Hermione gave a brief account of the conversation her, Harry and Neville had the previous night to bring Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin up to where they were and also by telling them this they were able to let them know nothing was said pertaining to Professor Lupin. By unspoken agreement both Hermione and Harry knew if Professor Lupin wanted anyone to know about him being a werewolf he would be the one to tell them.
Before they even started talking Professor Lupin spoke up and said that he trusted every person in the room and he wanted them to say everything and leave nothing out. "But Professor Lupin," started Hermione.
He cut her off kindly and said, "Too much has been taken from me by secrets and lies Hermione, and I want to head into this with no deceptions and my head held high". When he said this, he looked at Neville and said "Neville, they left out one piece of the story last night that I think you should be aware of. You see I am a werewolf."
At this Neville's eyes got big and round and he said "Oh." That was it- just oh.
Professor Lupin smiled and said, "That went well; now let's see what we can do for Sirius".
They spent the better part of the morning discussing what could be done. It was decided that Professor Dumbledore would try to persuade the Ministry to see reason; in the meantime it would be best if Sirius Black stayed in hiding until they knew for sure what was going on. They would let the Ministry know Peter Pettigrew was an animagus and was out free somewhere. They wouldn't tell anyone else what was going on. The students of Hogwarts were to finish the year without knowing. The only bad thing about the previous night was that someone let it out that Professor Lupin was a werewolf and while the three students and the two professors were talking Professor Dumbledore was starting to receive owls from parents wanting him to remove Professor Lupin from the school, so Professor Lupin resigned even though Professor Dumbledore asked him not to and told him he would back his decision to stay.
Ron was released from the infirmary and the remainder of the school year flew by. The three Gryffindor's had been replaced by four Gryffindor's since Neville was now seen with Harry, Ron and Hermione wherever they were. The students of Hogwarts were unaware of the reason for the hushed conversations between the four students. The weather was turning warmer. Everything appeared to resume to normal. The fifth and seventh year students were taking their OWLs and NEWTs. Ron's three older brothers would be testing this year. Percy would be taking his NEWTs and he was very stressed out and yelled at anyone who interrupted his study time. The twins, Fred and George, took the tests all in stride. It appeared that nothing could faze them. They were always in a joyful mood. When Hermione asked them if they even studied they assured her they already knew what they would be doing after they left Hogwarts so there was no reason to get all worked up about it. Hermione knew they were brilliant at Potions and Charms because they had been inventing joke items since she's known them and all of their products have been good products.
Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville got a compartment on the Hogwarts Express back to platform 9¾. Ron's younger sister, Ginny, joined them so they weren't able to have a conversation about Sirius on the train ride. They enjoyed the ride anyway. They played exploding snap and talked and bought snacks off the trolley. All too soon it was time to leave. They promised to keep in touch over the summer and went their separate ways with their families.