Also written for the Disney Character Competition – Pumbaa

Also written for the Hunger Games Competition – "Stupid people are dangerous."

Beta'd by the lovely Michy, and mistakes left are my own.

Word Count Without A/n - 902

Safe

Eloise screamed as the spell hit her. Pain like she had never known, like nails being hammered into her body, from the very tips of her hair to her toes and everywhere in between. She didn't know how long they held the spell on her, it could have been seconds or minutes or hours, but she wished for nothing more than death, for her life to end so she no longer had to feel the pain these monsters were inflicting on her.

The spell was released as quickly as it started, but the pain remained, fading only a little. She fell to the floor as her bonds were released, collapsing in on herself as she curled into a tight ball and cried.

"Good, Mr Crabbe, very good. Outstanding, in fact. You may go," Professor Carrow cackled out, the voice of evil personified to all those who weren't Slytherin.

"Midgen, get up and out of my classroom, before I show you how painful the Cruciatus Curse can really be."

Eloise tried to make her limbs move, and slowly managed to get onto her, albeit shaky, legs. Moving as quickly as she could, she left the room, only to collapse against the wall as soon as the door closed behind her.

"Eloise?"

A voice from somewhere in the corridor had her looking around in terror, even as the rational part of her brain told her that an enemy wouldn't call out her name, especially her first name.

A young man crouched down beside her, and as her eyes focused on his face, she sighed in relief. Neville Longbottom. She hadn't seen him for a few weeks, no one had, though there had been rumours that he was behind the constant disappearance of students.

"Fuck! What have they done to you?" He asked, and she could hear the anger in his voice, even as he tried to stay calm.

"Cruciatus," she croaked out, the word hurting her as it seemed to scrape along her throat on its way to her mouth.

"Bastards," he spat, handing her a bottle of water. She drank gratefully, the cold liquid easing the tightness in her chest as it flowed down into her stomach. He laid a hand on her shoulder when she was finished, ignoring the little flinch and the accompanying apologetic look.

"Come on, we have to get you out of here before someone comes. Can you walk?"

She nodded, struggling to her feet. He wrapped a strong arm around her, half holding her up as he led her away from the corridor and up some stairs.

"Where are we going?" she asked, gasping in pain as aftershocks of the curse tracked through her body.

"Somewhere safe, where they can't do this to you again," he replied shortly, looking left to right as they moved through the corridor as quickly as she was able.

It didn't take too long before he was ushering her though a door she had never seen before, the bright light in the room making her squint her eyes as they adjusted.

People she recognised sat all around, talking in small groups, worried eyes in gaunt faces, all turning to look at her in concern.

"Parvati, Lavender, can you help her please," Neville asked, and they immediately came to her, softly mumbling words of comfort as they escorted her into a large bathroom.

They were so gentle with her as they helped her clean up, Lavender braiding her hair, as Parvati helped her get into clean, soft clothes. When she was feeling a little better, they led her to a bed close to theirs, helping her to sit down comfortably with lots of pillows to support her.

Neville sat down beside her, and the others all seemed to gather into hearing range.

"Who did this to you?" he asked gently, though the steel in his eyes remained. He had changed, she realised, from the sweet tempered boy she had known for six years.

"It was Crabbe. Professor Carrow ordered him to. Gave him an Outstanding, he did so well," she murmured, hating the pity she saw in people's eyes. She didn't want to be pitied. She didn't want to be thought of as weak.

"It's ironic that the two most stupid people in the school could suddenly be top of the class," a boy she vaguely recognised from Gryffindor spat out.

"Stupid people are dangerous, Seamus, especially now. Those two mugs will do what the teacher says and enjoy it, because they might be stupid, but they're also cruel," Neville replied. "There's nothing we can do about them right now, but we'll remember what they did to you, Eloise, and we'll pay them back for it."

She smiled despite her pain. "Thank you for saving me."

Neville nodded, and then there was activity all over the room, and Parvati and Lavender were beside her again, explaining that people were getting ready for the night shift. The ones pulling on black cloaks, with hoods, would be the ones out tonight, on the lookout for people in trouble, like she had been.

She watched in awe at the people here, all kids, just the same as her, yet they were fighting a war better than any Aurors could. Shaking her head, she allowed herself to sleep, dreams instead of nightmares filling her mind. For the first time since the first of September, she felt safe.