Edited: July 5, 2012
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
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"Harry…are you alright?"
"Yeah Hermione, of course I'm alright. I practically killed my only father figure," replied Harry sarcastically while staring into the fire. It was almost like he was willing the face of his godfather to appear in the flickering heat like it once used to.
Hermione frowned and looked to Ron who just shrugged his shoulders in defeat. They were all currently sitting in the common room after another experience that could have killed them. Realizing it was a rather silly question, she rested her head on Harry's shoulder and sighed. Could life get more difficult?
Harry leaned back so that Hermione was more comfortable on the couch. Ron, who was on the other side of Hermione, grabbed her hand. He turned it over and fiddled with it for a while, bending and turning her fingers.
Thestrals, tiny old-fashioned phone booths, a legendary prophecy, and a tank full of brains all in one night. Wow. They were all able to bet everything they owned to say that no one had been through half as many things as that in their life let alone one night.
Hermione thought over these things one by one…trying to use her logic to calm her down. She was fighting fears with fact. The chances of having a life like she did were about one in a million...but it still happened. She's almost been strangled by plants, got paralyzed by a Basilisk, helped an escapee from Azkaban, assisted a fourteen year old in the Triwizard Tournament, and secretly traveled to the Ministry during school to save the previously mentioned escapee who didn't really need to be saved. She'd experienced tragedy, relief, terror, and panic in amounts far too large to be healthy. She could only imagine what would happen next year.
Ron was having very similar thoughts to Hermione's. The one that was constantly reappearing in his mind was that brains attacked him. What normal person do brains attack! That particular thought struck a nerve though and made him discover a rather funny realization…he wasn't normal…not in the least bit! He almost died playing chess, he's faced killer, talking, giant spiders, almost had his leg ripped off by a dog, asked a part veela to a ball, and flew on a thestral even though he couldn't see it! He knew for sure that he wasn't normal.
Harry's thoughts were quite different then his best friends though. Instead of imagining what he did do, he imagined what he wouldn't have been able to do without his friends. He would be dead. He realized that without Ron and Hermione or anyone else who supported him, he wouldn't have even made it past first year! Hermione saved him from Devil's Snare, Ron's car saved him from being eaten by spiders, Remus saved him from murdering Sirius when Harry had false information, his parents saved him from being killed by Voldemort in the graveyard, and the Order saved him at the Ministry. It was quite scary to think that if he had never sat next to Ron on the train or saved Hermione from a troll…he wouldn't be alive.
"What now?" Ron asked leaning over Hermione to look at Harry.
"Now? Now I think we should all get some sleep." Harry said running his hand through his hair and letting it linger over his scar.
Hermione agreed and snuggled in closer to Harry. Ron tilted his head so that it was on Hermione's shoulder with her hand still in his.
Within seconds they fell asleep thinking about how they were the one in a million. They dreamed of a better world, one that didn't constantly need saving.
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Neville grinned when he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione asleep on the couch together in the morning. He had woken up in the Hospital Wing and walked back up to the common room before Madame Pomfrey could tell him off. Sometimes that was the only way to deal with the old healer.
When he entered the familiar room, the fire was still going and he was greeted with silence. The silence was a heck of a lot better then the screams and shouted curses he had heard the night before.
Lying on the biggest couch of the space were the three people he admired most. They could have been normal kids based on their peaceful expressions. They seemed as if they had spent the night studying or playing Gobstones. People who didn't know them wouldn't guess that they had just down terribly brave acts the night before only to come out with a life lost…a very important life apparently.
Neville had just discovered that Sirius Black was innocent, and Harry's godfather at that, the night before. You can imagine that it shocked him. Harry obviously was very fond of his godfather too. The face that appeared on Harry's as Sirius fell back into the veil was one that would never leave his mind.
They looked almost too peaceful here. Surely sleep was the only time they at to themselves. And, as far as Neville knew, even that reassuring fact was being taken away from Harry due to persistent nightmares.
The only thing that ruined the peaceful image were the scars. There were a lot of them. Harry had the most obviously. He had that awful one on his forehead. It was the one that destined him to one day defeat the Dark Lord. Another rather long one was on his arm (Neville had no idea where he got his one, but he assumed Harry got it during the tournament). There were also the cruel words that had been carved into his hand. I must not tell lies. He had gotten that one from telling the absolute truth. What was the world coming to? He was also covered in many scrapes and cuts from all the time turners that had fallen on him.
Ron and Hermione had scars too. Ron's arms were lined with pinkish streaks that would surely stay for as long as he lived. This was courtesy of the brains. Several little marks dotted his fingers, perhaps those were from the rat he used to have. Neville remembered Ron often yelping in pain when that rat used to bite him. Neville hadn't seen the rat for two years. Maybe it was dead.
Hermione had the most damage from the time turners. Who knew, those might just scar too. It looked like she had been put through a shredder. Little scrapes and cuts littered her arms, face, and legs.
Yesterday they were fighting for their lives and today it almost looked like they were normal. He felt a pang of jealousy inside him when he thought about how great of friends they were, but it was over quickly. He actually wasn't surprised to see them together right now. They often never let the other leave their sights after something crazy happened. As his grandma said,
"I betcha they have wisdom beyond my years…and only at the age of 15." Then she would always shake her head in worry and continue whatever she was doing.
He knew that he saw things about the trio's friendship that no one else did. He saw their silent way of communicating; he saw how Hermione twitched funny when Harry walked into that horrible maze last year. He also saw how Ron and Hermione stood on either side of Harry whenever Umbridge had walked down the hall this year, how Hermione's eyes filled with tears when Harry's hand was out where she could see it and his scars were prominent. He saw Ron grin whenever Harry had walked into the hall last year, only to see it disappear and become a frown when he realized they were in a fight. He also saw Harry slouch ever so slightly when one of his best friends walked off to do something that didn't involve him, and he saw how Harry always turned looked them in the eyes when he needed confidence. They all needed each other for different reasons. Only best friends could act like that.
Sometimes Neville imagined have such wonderful friends who knew him like the back of their hands. He did have wonderful friends…but not like that. He had Ginny, Luna, and he even was a good friend of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It just wasn't the same.
When he saw Hermione nuzzle further into Harry and stretch her legs out on Ron's lap he smiled sadly. He knew that only best friends could save the world multiple times and come out alive.