Chapter Two

A week has passed, The time is 12'30 a.m. Dennis is sitting by the window looking up at the starry night sky with Madge soundly sleeping on his lap. The other boys have already drifted off to sleep. The young wizard often finds it difficult to sleep. "I hope everyone is okay. I don't know what I would do if anything else happened. They've been through enough." He quietly thinks to himself. "Hngg…Dennis n-no… please stay." Neville moans in his sleep. Dennis quickly turns his head towards the sleep talking boy in embarrassment. "What the heck dreaming about?" Dennis smiles to himself as he gets up and climbs into bed, finally drifting off to sleep. 3 hours pass by. Neville wakes up with a groggy yawn and a stretch. His pocket watch reading 3'30 a.m. He thinks about his parents and the rumors about the Death Eaters that have been going around recently. He turns his gaze to Dennis' bed. He sees Dennis is tossing and turning about with a disturbed expression on his face. This causes Harry to wake up. "He's just having a bad dream Neville." Harry reassures his friend. "He's pretty nice don't you think?" "Yeah. He smells like peppermint." Neville responds. "What was that Neville?" Harry asks. "N-nothin. Good night Harry" Neville quickly chokes out to hide his compliment. The boy lays his head down on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. "Hnnng." Dennis croaks out in his sleep. –In his dream, Dennis is walking along the sidewalk of his former home. " S-Stop Help! Somebody please!" He hears a girl scream. He sees a window with dull white light shining from inside. He sees her run to the window in an attempt to open it and escape but a bony white hand grabs her from behind and drags her into the darkness. The light is gone. A silhouette of a man stands in front of the window, staring at Dennis, with glowing sinister eyes. Dennis wakes up. His heart is beating and palms sweating. Morning light shines through the window of Gryffindor tower onto the large rug in the middle of the room. "Ugh. What a shitty dream." Dennis remarks to himself. "Good Morning Dennis" Ronald greets his friend with a sleepy smile. "Night terror?" he asks "Yeah. I snacked late last night so I think that's the cause." Dennis assures himself, still thinking about the disturbing nightmare. "This bed is insane. My freaking back is killing me." He jokes "Eh, that's hardly a nuisance compared to other stuff that's been happening 'round here." says Ron. "Ron, come on! See you later Dennis, we have to be on our way!" Harry motions to Ron as they both disappear out the door.

Dennis looks over at Neville who is still soundly sleeping. "Maybe I should wake him up." mutters Dennis. He crawls out of bed and walks over to the snoozing Neville. "Hey wake up. We have to get ready." Dennis sleepily instructs. "Hmmm." Neville groans as he sits up. Dennis walks to the bathroom to freshen up. Neville gets out of bed and begins to tuck in the sheets. He rubs his eyes. He searches through his dresser for his trousers and school uniform. Dennis walks back into the room. With his back to Neville, he lays his uniform on his bed and removes his shorts. Neville notices the black and white striped briefs Dennis has on. Dennis then removes his shirt. His thin upper body contrasted to toned thighs. He slips on his shirt and sweater and buckles his trousers then bends down to retrieve his shoes underneath the bed. He glances at Neville and catches him staring.

He chuckles "Hurry and get ready. You're still in your PJ's" Dennis urges. Neville snaps out of it "S-Sorry I wasn't staring. I w-was um…I should go brush my teeth." He stammers and quickly walks out of the room with red cheeks. Dennis sits on his bed to read the notes he wrote during his potions class. He was quite gifted in potion making and kept tubes of potions in a small compartment in his school bag. He hums a tune while reading. "Oi good morning." chortles an upbeat Seamus as he walks into the room. "I heard you talking in your sleep. You good?" "Yeah I was just having a bad dream. I would tell you about it but I kind of forgot what happened." Dennis wryly says scratching his head. In truth, Dennis just doesn't feel much up to talking about his dream. The two have a chat and suddenly, Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas walk into the room and Dean picks up his textbook and walks right out of the room. He seems irritated and Ginny was frowning. "They had another fight." Seamus quietly utters. "Those two just don't fit together I tell you."

Neville walks into the room dressed in his school attire. "Oh good morning Seamus." nodded Neville. A sly smile appears on Seamus' face. "What were you going on about last night? You kept saying Dennis, Dennis, Dennis." Seamus inquires Neville as he chuckles. "I don't know what you mean. I was dreaming about the umm…dentist!" Neville weakly smiles as he hides the truth. "Ah alright. Come on guys, let's go." Seamus urges as he leaves the room. Neville looks at Dennis in worry to see if Dennis had believed his fib. Dennis smiles reassuringly "Off we go, we can't be late for our Defense Against the Dark Arts class." He motions for Neville to walk with him as they go to class. The halls are filled with students and sounds of chatter and laughter. Dennis and Neville are walking side by side having a conversation. Draco Malfoy speeds up his pace and intentionally knocks Neville's book out of his arms. "Ha-Ha! Watch where you're going Longbottom!" He cackles as he and his lackeys walk down the hallway. "Is that the guy that cut your cheek yesterday?" Dennis asks as he reaches down to pick up Neville's book for him. "Yeah, he's dreadful." Neville bashfully mutters as he tries to keep attention away from him. "Yeah, a dreadful little bitch. Ha-ha." Dennis laughs as he comfortingly pats Neville's arm. Dennis flickers his wand behind him and whispers "Alarte Ascendare" This causes Draco's bag to fly upwards spilling its contents. All the students laugh and Malfoy's face is both shocked and angry.

"You didn't have to do that but… thanks." Neville thanks Dennis with a laugh. They both arrive to their classroom. Neville's desk was behind Dennis. Dennis sat in between Luna Lovegood and Pansy Parkinson. He recognized Pansy as one of Malfoy's lackeys and Luna as a good friend of Harry's. Class was nothing much but a review on Boggarts. "Boggarts are particularly fond of hiding in dark areas such as a cupboard under the sink or underneath the bed." Professor Lupin was explaining to us, the Boggart's favorite spots and where they can often be found. Dennis looked out the window. He saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron outside walking away from Hagrid's Hut. Neville rather than paying attention to the review was looking at Dennis. His locks of dark hair curling upward at the nape of his neck, strands of cat fur scattered across his sweater.

After class, Professor Lupin rushes to gather his things to leave. There are rumors about him being told around Hogwarts. Strange rumors. Dennis collects his books and as he is about to leave, Pansy is about to flick her wand behind Neville's back in an attempt to soak him with water. Dennis moves quickly and bumps Pansy making her miss Neville and instead, soak Professor Lupin. "Ms. Parkinson! What is the meaning of this?! Detention with Mr. Filch after classes today!" Pansy was surprised by this and angrily looked around for whoever pushed her but Dennis and Neville had already left.

Dennis grabs Neville's arm and quickly walks out of the room toward the boy's lavatory. "What's up with her and Malfoy? What's their problem with you? You should be more careful you know." he asks Neville with a concerned tone. "I don't know really. It's always been this way. Thank you for helping me again. I'm so sorry I got you caught up in that mess I ju-" Dennis gives him a playful punch in the arm. "Shut up, you talk too much." Neville's eyes wide with surprise, he can't help but blush brightly. Dennis smiles and quickly walks out the lavatory but not before saying, "Don't worry about it. I'm like your shield." Neville's heart skips a beat and he can't help but hold a silly grin on his face as he exits the lavatory. Ron Weasley, having been in the bathroom the entire time, witnessed the whole exchange between the two boys through the crack in the stall.