A/N:

Prompts:

Time Travel "cliche fic" that has an original spin on the trope

(word) choice

(dialogue) "Why do you have to make everything so complicated?"

The witch with the black, curly hair shrieked with laughter and pulled Neville back down into the chair. Ropes shot out from her wand and bound him in place.

"Not so fast, my dear," Neville muttered under his breath, eyes staring straight ahead.

"Not so fast, my dear," she hissed.

"We've got hours ahead of us," Neville whispered.

The man with the crazed expression grabbed Neville's hands and pulled them down and back so that his torso was taught, straining. "We've got hours ahead of us," the man cackled.

The witch pulled out her knife – her favourite knife – and ran it slowly along Neville's neck.

Small mercies; he couldn't feel it. He never could.

Eighteen year old Neville Longbottom closed his eyes and waited.

Ginny Weasley cast another Tempus charm and swore under her breath.

"He's late!" she whispered furiously to Charlie. "He's never late."

"Maybe he can't pick out a tie," Charlie said distractedly, popping another grape into his mouth.

"This isn't like him," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Something's gone wrong."

"Gone wrong?" Charlie said with a laugh. "With Neville?"

Ginny hit him.

"Ow," Charlie muttered. "Look, I'm sure you're right and something has gone wrong. But it's Neville. That 'something' is probably that he tripped over and fell in a puddle, and now he has to change his shirt. Stop worrying."

Ginny cast one final Tempus charm. She made a noise of frustration, and in a swirl of her elegant white dress, she was gone.

"See how they crack," the witch whispered, her wand trailing a path down Neville's torso.

His mouth moved along with the words, though he didn't speak. The witch didn't seem to notice.

"Soon they'll be broken forever." She threw her head back and laughed, her eyes glinting in the candle light.

Neville wondered what the time was. The ordeal was nearly over, but if his sense of time wasn't too distorted, he had the feeling he was already late.

The day was constant; the hour seemed to be the only thing that remained unpredictable.

As the minutes had ticked slowly by today, he had become more and more anxious that it would hit him while he was at the Ministry Ball. He had thought he would have to cancel on Ginny. Perhaps he would make it after all.

"How shall we finish, my dear?" the man asked with a grin.

The door slammed open. Ginny froze still in the entrance, her dress billowing around her as the cold winter air swirled through the entryway. Shock lit her face as she took in the sight of Bellatrix Lestrange and Bartemius Crouch huddled over Neville's prone body.

"Ginny," Neville croaked, his voice hoarse. "Don't worry, they'll leave soon."

"What?" Ginny hissed, her voice echoing through the room. Her eyes held a terrible light; Neville was almost fearful. "What is this? They're dead."

"Who speaks?" Bellatrix tilted her head to the side, looking around the room. Her eyes caught on Ginny, but slid over her as if she couldn't quite make out a shape. As if the room was pitch black, instead of merely dark.

"The Order has found us." Barty smirked. "Shall we finish the job?"

"Over my dead body!" Ginny roared, pulling her wand and sending ropes hurtling toward Bellatrix.

Bellatrix shrieked and leaped out of the way.

"Ginny, no!" Neville yelled, the words catching in his throat. "They won't hurt me! They're nearly done. Please, just let them leave."

"Neville Longbottom," Ginny yelled, ducking beneath a curse and sending a flurry of hexes flying at Bellatrix and Barty. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. But if you honestly think that I'm going to just let them leave, you are an absolute idiot."

Barty dived beneath the flame that shot from her wand, cannoning into Bellatrix and sending them both stumbling to the side, away from Neville.

Ginny grinned. She raised her wand and sent another curse their way.

With a hair-raising shriek, Bellatrix clutched at her chest. She held up an object that dangled there, on a necklace, and stared at it in horror. It was twisted, melted beyond repair.

There came a sound like sand falling through an hourglass, and their bodies faded away.

Ginny rushed forward and cupped Neville's face with her hands.

"Are you alright?" she asked, staring into his eyes as if searching for answers. "They may not have been hurting you physically, but emotionally... what was that?"

Neville coughed, shuddering as he looked at the place where Bellatrix and Barty had stood.

"It was a memory," he said, waving his hand so that the candles that had blown out in the wind were re-lit.

The room transformed back into a harmless, cosy living room.

Ginny waved her wand and lit a fire. She helped Neville stand, though he was shakier than normal, and together they moved to the couch.

"When I was young," Neville began, staring into the fire. "I thought I could-" he paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "I thought I could save them. I stole a time turner from the fourth floor of St Mungo's, and I went back in time."

Ginny's eyes widened, but she stayed silent.

Neville gave a humorless laugh. "But spell-damaged time turners and accidental magic don't mix. My emotions were too high, and the time turner was too unpredictable. Bellatrix stole it from me, and they've followed me every year since. A copy of her and Barty, chasing me on every anniversary of-" he stopped speaking.

Ginny reached out to hold his hand in hers. "It's alright to break down," she said quietly. "You chopped off the head of Voldemort's snake. I know you're brave. You don't have to bear this alone." She stared forward, into the fire. "I don't know how you did it," she said quietly. "All those years, hiding it from everyone. Where did you go when it happened?"

Neville shrugged. "Abandoned classrooms, my gran's shed out the back. It was alright. They never hurt me. It was just an echo after all."

Ginny shook her head. "Echoes can be just as painful."

Neville squeezed her hand.

"You know," Ginny said wryly. "I know what you were doing." She stared at him, her eyes piercing.

Neville shrunk a little under her gaze.

"You could have destroyed that time turner. You had no right to punish yourself for something you couldn't change," she said fiercely. "You bloody martyrs. Why do you have to make everything so complicated?"

"It was my choice to make," Neville said lightly.

Ginny glared at him. "There should be some rule," she said tightly. "That prevents masochists from making decisions without a third party's approval."

Neville smirked.

"So," he said after a while. "I'm late, aren't I?"

Ginny laughed. "Who wants to go to a stupid Ministry Ball anyway? Though as far as excuses go, Neville Longbottom, I can think of at least eight better ways to get out of a party."

"But I bet they don't end in being rescued by a stunningly fierce Ginevra Weasley," Neville said with a grin, before he leant in for a kiss.