Chapter Three
Disclaimer:I don't own any part of Harry is just for fun.
Here we are,chapter shoutouts to Psycho8 for the review and favorite and BlueAlseides for the favorite!You guys rock!
He found himself in the exact place he knew he'd end up in: The room they'd used for the DA last year. There it was, exactly the same. The Dark Detectors, the books, the tables, the mirror. He wondererd why the Room of Requirement had displayed this room to him, as oppose to any other. Couldn't he have just gotten a whole new room that would've served its purpose just as good as this one? All he'd asked for was a place to hide from Snape. He realized that he was panting, and immediately found a chair at a table. He sat down to gather his breath and his thoughts. When had Neville heard Snape use that voice before? Certainly not to him. Snape had been incredibly horrible to Neville, but it never seemed like Snape was mad about it. Certainly not enough to use that voice. It was almost like Snape had taken pleasure in tormenting Neville all those years. But then...Who had received the pleasure of getting that voice before? And it didn't feel like it had occurred merely once. It felt Neville had heard it used multiple times...but always aimed at the same person...
Harry! Of course, it was Harry! The one person Snape had to hate more than Neville had always been Harry, for whatever strange reason. All Neville knew was that Snape had hated Harry with a burning passion before Harry had said anything to Snape. If Neville recalled correctly, Snape had used that tone of voice with Harry on their very first day of Potions. But not just then. He'd used that voice whenever Harry...rebelled against Snape. So, what Neville just did, was he actually...rebelling?
Neville decided not to think about it, because this new concept made his brain hurt. Instead, he stood up and began to walk around the room. Yes, everything was exactly the same as when they'd last been there. It was all just as it had been for DA lessons. The table Neville had just been sitting at, he realized with a jolt, was the exact one Padma had used the Reductor curse on. That one had been so powerful it had turned the table leg to dust. Neville smiled at this memory. Now this, this was what he'd imagined Hogwarts as. A place with cool and fun magic. A place where you formed fantastic, magical memories with...
With friends. And Neville realized then that Luna had been right on that first day back on the train; the DA truly had been like having friends. They'd all spent time together, and now Neville had amazing memories of this place. He walked around the room some more, gazing at the familiar surroundings. When he reached the mirror, however, he stopped.
It was the same glass as always, with the same frame. But there was something...different about it. Then Neville noticed the clippings around the mirror. There was still the picture of the Order from before, still the same old ones about jinxes and amazing feats over dark forces. But there was one extra one. It was about Neville's parents. He began to read.
ESTEEMED AURORS FRANK AND ALICE LONGBOTOM DEFEATED BY THE DARK LORD
Many people in the Wizarding Community have always known of the famous aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom. Due to the fact that You-Know-Who recently faced his down-fall because of his meeting with the now famous Harry Potter, nobody expected there to be any more attacks by his followers. But recent events now tell us that nothing less should be expected.
This past weekend, Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured into insanity by Death Eaters. The leader of the Death Eaters was Bellatrix Lestrange. One of the others was Bartemius Crouch Jr., son of Bartemius Crouch sr., current Minister of Magic. The technique used to torture the Longbottoms was the Cruciatus Curse, arguably the most painful of all three Forgivable Curses, including the Killing Curse, which leads to a short, painful death. Many view the Longbottoms' condition as worse than death, therefore proving the Cruciatus Curse to be the most savage known to Wizardkind. The Longbottoms now reside in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
Many are wondering how and why these events occurred. The how is easy; it was a lack of security due to a sense of security that You-Know-Who was truly gone. This is quite understandable, though. No one ever imagined this would occur, directly after You-Know-Who's downfall. This is why this event has caused such an uproar among wizards and witches everywhere. It seems everybody knew, or at least knew of the Longbottoms, in some way. Everybody is asking the central question of why this incident happened. The Death Eaters in question wanted to know You-Know-Who's whereabouts, and thought the Longbottoms knew something because of their long, esteemed history in being aurors. They believed the Longbottoms had something to do with You-Know-Who's descend of power. It is unknown for certain whether or not the Longbottoms did know where You-Know-Who is, but it is highly unlikely. The Longbottoms told You-Know-Who's followers that they were unaware of where You-Know-Who was, but the Death Eaters did not listen, convinced the Longbottoms knew something. They continued to use the Cruciatus Curse on them to the point where the Longbottoms were rendered no longer valuable to the Death Eaters' purpose.
Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardy, has agreed to comment on the event. "It is utterly disgusting," he says in a bitter tone, "how such an atrocity could occur just when people all over are finally thinking they are safe. These riots are for good reason. People are not just angry that two aurors suffer this fate."He continues in a softer, more heartbroken tone, "They are furious that Frank and Alice Longbottom suffer this tragic fate."
The Longbottoms also have a son, Neville Frank Longbottom. The boy will now live with his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, mother of Frank Longbottom. When asked to give a statement on the arrangement or overall situation, Mrs. Longbottom refused, saying it was "too difficult," then blowing into a handkerchief.
When asked about the child, Dumbledore said, "This boy has experienced so much he cannot yet understand, and he will not be able to understand the full repercussions this day has had on his life for a very, very long time. No one will. He will have wisdom beyond his years, and he will have to be very brave to go on with life after this...incident. I imagine he will often visit his parents, including on holidays after he begins attending Hogwarts."When asked how Dumbledore was sure the boy would get in, was sure his magical ability was not weakened because of this event, he responded, "No one has ever question whether or not Harry Potter will attend Hogwarts. It is true that Neville's situation will be most likely harder for him to deal with, due to the fact that he will actually have to see his parents regularly. But I'm sure he will deal with the situation admirably. I'm sure his magical abilities will not be infractured in the least because of these events, and if they are, then it will only be because of his own thoughts and emotions, not his actual level of talent."We then asked Dumbledore how he thought the boy would deal with the situation."He will most likely break down when he finally understands what has occrued. Then when will shut it out most of the time, only letting it surface when he can't avoid it. One of two things will happen. He will either show incredible talent at a very young age, and a strong desire for vengeance. Or, he will stumble up often, almost as though he fears the world. Though he will grow into this vengeance at one point. It will most likely be ignited when he meets Bellatrix Lestrange, the leader of the Death Eaters who committed this crime against his parents. And he will do great things. Truly remarkable." We took note of the fact that he had said "when" and not "if" when referring to the boy meeting Lestrange. We asked him how he could be certain this would occur. He told us that, "It will. It will because it has to."
No one can be sure what will come of this incident, or what will become of the boy. The hearing is on September 8. We will have full coverage of the event. A record of the Longbottoms' life until now can be found on page 4.
Neville stared at the article for a long time. He realized his knees had gone weak. He quickly went back to his chair, his head pounding and his heart aching. The article had been so analytical of the "situation", the "incident." How could it? It had spoken of the day that had altered the course of Neville's whole life, set his destiny, whatever it was, in stone. And it had spoken of it all as if it was some boring report due for the next class! Of course, Neville knew that newspaper articles were nothing but reports, but would it kill them to show a little emotion, a little heart? Neville was shaking from head to toe, partly out of rage, partly out of fear, partly out of a grief and longing that he'd only gotten from the Mirror of Erised that one night, and partly from an unknown source. It was a feeling he'd never felt before, that he couldn't identify. He decided to not think about it, because thinking hurt too much.
He walked back over to the mirror, and began to look at all the different articles. He was searching for page 4 of that issue of the Prophet. But it was nowhere to be seen. He yelled in fury and went back over to the article. It featured a picture of his parents before the "incident," then one after, when they first began to live in St. Mungo's. The pale, white faces with glassy eyes he had to see every holiday, the faces that were his parents...
He ripped the article down from the mirror. He didn't want anybody else to ever see it. It was private, for his own eyes, even though all of the people who had picked up the paper that day had most definitely seen it on the front page. He walked over to his bag, which he had set down next to his cushion, crumpled the article up, and threw it into the depths of the bag. Not only did he not want anyone else to see it, he never wanted to see it again.
Wisdom beyond his years. That was what Dumbledore had said. Had he really meant it, or had he simply been saying it for the press? No, something about the way Neville knew Dumbledore had said it clearly showed he had meant it. Besides, Dumbledore never said anything he didn't 100% mean from the heart. Neville blinked back the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes.
Would that day haunt him for the rest of his life? A day he couldn't even remember. He couldn't even remember the faces of his parents before "the accident."All he could ever see when he thought of his parents was what he saw in St. Mungo's. But he also felt a certain warmth, a warmth he knew had always been there. He remembered it from that time before "the incident," even though he could never bring up a face to go with it. All he had were photographs and gum wrappers ,and those were nothing compared to memories. He barely even had pictures because Gran had cut out all their faces from the ones before the day that had changed their lives forever. Neville had no idea why. But he had caught some one day when he was up in the attic, a few that Gran had missed, and he kept them in the corner of his trunk, hidden away from the world, everyone else, including himself. He almost never took them out, unless he was feeling so thoroughly depressed that only illusions could help. For some reason, Snape had never been able to bring Neville down that far. He couldn't touch him there. But in the fourth year, yes, the book imposter Moody had given him about Herbology and being told Professor Sprout thought he was good at it had helped him some after being so tortured, but it was really taking out the pictures all alone in the boys' dormitories and gazing at them, pretending the people in them were still with him, in the same world as him instead of their own confused one. As for the gum wrappers...He kept them in his pocket all day, and at night made sure he hadn't dropped one. He was extremely careful with them. If there was one thing he never forgot, it was those wrappers. However, even though they filled a spot in his pocket, they could never fill the gaping hole in his heart.
Suddenly, quite suddenly, he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around and saw, of all people, Luna emerging from the door. "Oh, hi, Neville," she said confusedly. She seemed to be wondering why he was here just as much as he was wondering why she was here.
"Hi, Luna," he said. His palms were suddenly very moist, and he was having trouble swallowing.
"What are you doing here?"she asked.
"Um, well, um. I was just...er..." he looked over at the bookcases on the walls and thought fast. "I was just looking up a charm. Yeah, I needed to know the proper way to turn vinegar into wine. When I asked for a room that had a book that would tell me that, it showed me this room."He hoped she would not notice that he was nowhere near the bookcases. If she did, he hoped that she would simply assume he had just arrived at the room or was getting ready to leave.
"Ah, yes, there are a lot of useful books here, aren't there?"she asked in her dreamy voice as she strolled over to the bookcases."Which one told you about the charm?"So she had assumed he was getting ready to go. Good. But now he had to tell her which book he used. Not good.
He walked over and stood next to her at the bookcases, surveying the many titles. None of the ones he recalled from the fifth year would tell a simple charm; they had all been filled with countercurses and counterjinxes and had been designed for the teaching of Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, as he looked over the books, seeing the same ones from the fifth year, his eyes stumbled upon a different one: Any & All Charms Needed for Common Household Events & Parties. Surely that would have something on turning vinegar into wine. But why was it there? It definitely had not been there in the fifth year. Then he remembered that the room showed whatever the user required at that moment, hence the name. "I used that one," he said, pointing at the charms book.
She read the title aloud,"Any & All Charms Needed for Common Household Events & Parties. Funny," she said as she turned away from the book and looked at Neville, "I don't remember that book being here during DA lessons."
Neville felt himself go red. What could he say? Then it came to him. He had already answered this question in his own mind."Well, I asked the room for a room that had a book that would show me the charm, and it showed me this room. I guess it added the book to this room for me."
"I guess," Luna said."But I wonder why it didn't just show you a different room that already had the book in it?"
Neville had to think fast on his feet."Well, maybe the book didn't exist before. Maybe it created it or fetched it or whatever this room does just for me. Then it simply added it to this room rather than creating a whole new one," he said inventively. It was worth a shot, right?
"Yes, I think you're right about that," Luna responded, resigning her argument. Neville was relieved; he was running out of excuses and creative responses.
"So, why'd you come here?"he asked.
"Oh, I asked for a place to practice a spell," Luna replied. "This was the room it showed me. I guess it's being lazy today, not wanting to create new rooms."She had a twinkle in her eye that said she was making a joke, rather than being 100% literal for once. Neville was amazed.
"What spell?" he inquired.
"Oh, not a big one. Just the Reductor Curse. It's part of the fifth year curriculum, actually. But you wouldn't know that because none of us learned anything in Defense Against the Dark Arts last year."
"Right," Neville grunted. He still despised Umbridge."Didn't everybody learn that in the DA, though, last year?"
"Well, yes, but I've gotten a bit rusty over the summer. You know, we've just gotten back to school and all. I just need a little practice," she said, her big eyes looking at him kindly.
"Right. So, um, what don't you get about it?"
"Well that's just the thing. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong. Could you watch me then tell me what I need to fix?"
"Sure," he said."Give it a go."
She took a deep breath, took aim at the same table leg Padma had vaporized last year, and shouted, "Reducto!"The table leg stood there, rigid as ever, unwilling to budge. Luna looked sheepishly over at Neville and said, "So, what's the matter with it?"He knew what the problem was at once, and knew exactly the right way to fix it.
"Well, you're using your arm too much. Some spells, you really wanna' use your arm a lot and get aggressive with it. But others, like this one, you wanna' use your wrist more. So here," he crossed over to her and gently took her wrist."Now try it."She was looking at him, a bit startled. He then realized that he had his arms around her and was reaching down her arm to her wrist. But he didn't want to seem awkward about it, and he certainly didn't want it to seem like he was making a move or anything; this was completely accidental. He decided to pretend that he had not noticed what he was doing, though he could feel the heat rising in his face, and said, "Go for it."
She nodded briskly, still looking a bit shy, and said in a loud, but a bit less firm, voice, "Reducto!"The table leg disintegrated. "I did it! I did it!" she shrieked, still in Neville's arms, though appearing more natural. "I actually did it!"
"Fantastic! Great job!" he said. She looked so happy, so exuberant. Then suddenly, she froze, and they locked eyes. Neville was still holding her wrist in the exact same way as before. And, before Neville could think of what was happening, they kissed.
He couldn't think of what was happening or how it had happened. All he knew was that all his nerves were on end, though numbed at the same time. A pleasant, peaceful feeling had swept over him, and the everything was frozen: Time, life, the world. Nothing happened for those blissful few moments. It was as though the earth had stopped spinning, though at the same time, everything was spinning extraordinarily fast. Neville had no idea what was going on, what he was feeling, he only knew that this was one of the best moments of his life-
And then it was over. They pulled away. He looked at her. She looked stunned. Whether it was at him, herself, the kiss, Neville did not know. All he knew was that he could feel the color rising in his face, though he had no clue why. His heart was telling him that he needed to stay and talk to her, and he wanted to; this could be the start of the best thing in Neville's life. But then his mind came in and began to interfere, saying that it was best to get out fast, before things got any worse. And so he stumbled over to his bag, collected his things, and said awkwardly, "So, um, 'see you around." And before she could respond, he practically ran from the room, stumbling out the door and making a beeline for the Fat Lady.
The password suddenly came to him, though Neville could not think why. Maybe it was because his brain was on the highest alert it had ever been, his senses sharp and alert. He shouted, "Dilligrout!"at the portrait, who looked rather snippy at being yelled at, but Neville did not care. He ran past the chaos that was the common room, where a set of Fred's and George's fireworks had been set off, and hurled himself up the boys' dormitories staircase, through the door of his year's room, and into his bed. He pulled the curtains around himself and buried his face in his pillow, breathing slowly and trying to collect his thoughts. When he finally regained control over himself and his mind was running on more than instinct, more like real logic, he turned over on the bed.
All right, stay calm, the logical part of his mind told him. But the other part was saying, You just kissed Luna Lovegood, the girl you've been crazy about for a year now, and you're saying 'Stay calm?' I don't think so, buddy! He had no idea what he was feeling right now. All he knew was that everything was a blur and that his mind was racing at about 10,000 miles a second. He decided to tell his mind to just stop thinking, which didn't really work, but was a bit of improvement. He pulled back his curtains and blew out his candle, which he had forgotten to do that morning so it had burned down to a tiny wax stub, the last part just barely glowing. Then he pulled his curtains back, and, just as he was drifting asleep, smiled. He realized that, at that moment, he could've produced the world's best patronus.