Ever since he lost his toad during his first year at Hogwarts, Neville thought he would be the loser of the class, the nerdy kid who always forgot the common room password, who barely passed most of his classes, who always wondered how the bloody hell he had been put in Gryffindor.

But now here he was, standing up to Death Eaters and helping defeat the darkest wizard of all time.

Each year, he had had bursts of bravery, defending his friends or the Gryffindor house. Each year they had gotten bigger and better, but he never dreamed he would be a part of the final duel between Harry Potter and Voldemort.

Hogwarts was out of control with Harry gone and Snape as Headmaster. Even though the students barely saw him outside of Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they could all feel his presence lurking around the castle; from the way Voldemort's followers stalked the halls, giving out terrible punishments for absolutely no reason, to the way everyone walked and ate in silence, with always the same look of terror on their faces.

Neville couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand to see his friends suffering like this; to find refuge only in the homey environment of the Gryffindor common room. But they were getting through it. Every night they got together in the common room, most everyone staying there for the night just to know the feeling of security. Even some people from the other Houses, like Luna Lovegood and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw. The common room was packed every night, but instead of feeling crowded it felt safe and comforting to the students who stayed there.

Neville knew that Harry was doing all he could. He knew that he and the loyal ones at school were doing all they could. But he still felt anxious, like Voldemort was going to attack the school at any given moment, and Harry wouldn't be there. Neville didn't know if the rest of them could hold down the fort until he got there, not even with the help of McGonagall and the rest of the good teachers. Even if they could, Harry wouldn't be able to kill Voldemort without destroying the rest of his Horcruxes first.

Neville was the unofficial leader of the expanded Dumbledore's Army now that Harry was gone, and every night he tried to figure out a new solution to this. Every weekend in the Gryffindor common room, the Army practiced more defensive spells, but could only learn new ones by what they had heard in past classes and if they were lucky, they would find a story of a battle in one of the books in the common room, and spent hours trying to figure out the spells used by or on the attacker in the stories. They worked late into the night, sleeping in shifts so as not to appear tired in class, giving the Death Eaters an unnecessary reason to pry into the Army's studies.

It was during one of these study sessions that everyone began to feel hope for the first time.

They were all chatting quietly, sharing what small bits of information they had found with each other, when the quiet murmurs were interrupted by a tiny whisper, barely even audible.

"Neville Longbottom."

They all turned towards the fireplace and looked up, where a petite girl with long reddish-brown hair and an old-fashioned blue dress stood there, her face a mix of calmness and nervousness.

"Yes?" Neville asked, his face void of emotion.

"Come with me." The girl vanished back into the painting, and the backdrop faded back to black as the frame swept open, revealing the secret passageway behind it.

"I'll be right back," Neville said over his shoulder.

"Surely you don't want to go alone," Luna said in her delicate voice, stepping from the clump of people. "Do you want me to come with you? It could be dangerous."

"No," said Neville. "Stay here with the others. I trust you," he murmured in her ear.

The corners of Luna's mouth turned up in a half-smile. "Be safe."

Neville walked into the dark passageway. The painting closed gently behind him, leaving him in pitch darkness for a moment. "Lumos," he muttered, and the small hallway was illuminated with white light. Neville walked the rest of the way, and then pushed open the portrait on the other side of the tunnel, where it swung open to reveal a very battered Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing there.

"Guys! Hey!" Neville greeted them cheerfully. "Thank you for sending her, Mr. Dumbledore," he said, nodding to the elderly man who sat in an overstuffed armchair by a roaring fire.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed him to the end of the tunnel, where the rest of Dumbledore's Army cheered when they saw their, particularly Harry's, faces.

Their hope turned to despair in only a few short hours.

Those few moments when Hagrid came into the courtyard carrying Harry's lifeless body were some of the most saddening of Neville's life. Here was one of his closest friends, lying dead after fighting for seven ears. After all the bravery he had instilled in others. After staying strong for so long. It seemed as though all Harry's efforts had been wasted in one flash of green light. And even though Neville was holding back his own tears, he knew he had to be strong as he looked around at the tormented faces of his classmates. He looked at Mrs. Weasley, who was clawing at Mr. Weasley's arm with tears flooding down her face. He saw Ginny stagger a few feet towards the middle of the courtyard, her arm outstretched and her expression looking as if she'd just gotten a limb torn from her body. Not much farther away were Hermione and Ron, Hermione hysterically sobbing into Ron's shoulder; Ron halfheartedly holding her while his eyes stared, unfocused and dazed, at Harry's still body.

Neville knew he had to be strong for everyone. So he made that speech, that great speech about Harry. And then Harry's eyes had opened once more, and he finally knew that he was a true Gryffindor.

19 years later

Luna had just become the first witch to prove the existence of knargles, and was working alongside the ever-healthy Hagrid teaching the pupils of Care of Magical Creatures all about them. It had become everyone's favorite subject again once Luna had been added to the faculty.

Neville was the new Herbology teacher, and he couldn't be happier with his job or his wife. The Weasley and Potter kids were easily his best and favorite students, and Hogwarts seemed to be a little bit happier with Professor Sprout as the new Headmistress. Professor McGonagall was still teaching, even as old as she was, and still going strong. In a nutshell, everything was doing great, and Neville could finally remember what his Remembrall was trying to tell him all the way back in his first year: At the end of everything, good or bad, your true friends will still be there.

Okay I know that thing at the end was terrible but I needed something that said something about his friends! Review Pwease!