The sound of an argument lured Luna's attention away from her Transfiguration essay. Slowly looking around the library until she identified the source, as if she were merely lost in the pretty landscape of her thoughts, she noticed two Hufflepuff students engaged in an escalating discussion. She frowned almost imperceptibly. Both students had used their network, which is what Daphne and Neville had started calling their string of students, before, and she knew that the Carrows were especially eager to find a reason to give them detention. Besides, the more desperate they were getting to give any detention, the flimsier the punishable offences were becoming. She cocked her head as she heard the sound of fast-approaching footsteps, trying to assess where they were coming from.
"I'd leave before something unpleasant finds you, if I were you," she calmly advised them, her voice undercutting theirs and stopping their conversation like a fire doused in water. "I think the main entrance is blocked by parandinks. You should go the other way."
They stared at her for a moment, apparently uncertain as to whether to heed her advice or assume she was daydreaming about some imaginary mythical creature, before apparently deciding that the advice was sound regardless of her intentions. They hurriedly packed up their gear and stealthily slipped between the tall rows of books on a path that seemed to be headed towards the lesser-used exit.
Good, she thought. The chances are that that way is clear. She sighed. I had hoped to continue hiding amidst exaggerated eccentricity. The way this is going, that cover's going to be blown by the end of the year, if I even survive. She continued to stare at a row of books for a few minutes for the benefit of anybody observing the scene before returning to her essay as Amycus Carrow came barrelling around the corner, his breathing heavy and laboured. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look about frantically before appearing to pull himself together.
"I heard – there was a disturbance. You – girl – Lovegood, eh? – did you see who caused the disturbance?"
She looked up at him expressionlessly, tilting her head ever so slightly. "I thought I heard some nargles flying around earlier. They can cause quite a ruckus sometimes. Perhaps it was them."
He stared at her incredulously before shaking his head. "Forgot you're barking. If you see any kids come through making any disturbances, tell them to come talk to me."
"I will," she said with a broad, innocent smile. Of course, she might add a warning onto the end of that statement, but he needn't ever know that. She watched him nod and hasten out of the library the way he had come. With a small smile of triumph, she returned to her essay.
-c-b-
"I did it," Neville said, his mind telling him how stupid his words were even as it told his mouth to say them. He would try to work out who had really dropped the dungbombs and talk to them about being more careful later. He met Alecto Carrow's eyes squarely, trying to think calming thoughts instead of focusing on his fear at the detention that he knew lay ahead. They had all managed to keep detentions to a minimum and he knew that Alecto – or Lecky, as they liked to derisively call her behind closed doors – would be dying to make up for lost opportunities.
"Detention. Now." She scanned over the students surrounding them. "Macmillan, Zabini, Goyle. You'll be assisting me."
Goyle and Blaise followed her out of the room without comment. Terrified, Ernie met Neville's eyes. He had been warned to prepare for both sides of detention, but he hadn't been roped into one yet. Neville scanned the room briefly before patting Ernie on the back and urging him to walk ahead of him.
"It'll be fine, mate," he whispered. "Act confident. Walk with Zabini – you don't want her to know you're not into this. Just make sure you say the words as if you hate me without actually hating me. And make sure you speak loudly – sometimes it's hard to hear if the person before one of us actually got me. I'll do the rest."
Nodding but still looking decidedly pale, Ernie hurried to catch up with the Slytherin in question and silently fell into step behind him. Neville followed them. He considered feigning contriteness, but figured that he might as well annoy her while he was at it by not appearing cowered by her threats.
-c-b-
Blaise had asked to go first. Neville suspected that it was to give Ernie time to adjust to the situation, but he never knew with the unfathomable half-Italian boy. It had gone against Neville's instincts not to react defensively as Zabini pointed his wand at him and said that accursed word, but he had managed. His act had continued through Ernie's stint as torturer. Goyle, however… well, Goyle he didn't need to act for.
Neville had never envisioned himself a hero, never thought he'd have what it took. He still didn't see himself as one. After all, he was only doing what he had to do to get them all through this. But he could finally see how Harry had managed to always rise to the task. You didn't do it because you hated your enemy. You didn't do it because you wanted the glory. You did it because you loved the people you were doing it for. It was this thought that Neville kept in his mind as a boy he'd known since he was eleven knowingly and purposefully tortured him. He pictured Harry, and Hermione, and Ron, and Luna, and Ginny, and his surprising Slytherin allies, and the student he'd defended, and every other student at the school who he would do his best to keep safe. He kept their faces in his mind as he screamed and writhed and tried not to wonder how much of this it had taken for his parents to crack and how much it would take for him to do so.
He began to regret his decision not to act contrite as she urged Goyle continue for longer than she had in previous detentions. He supposed that the other shifts had lasted longer, too, but he hadn't noticed them, not really, but there was nothing he could do but notice this one, because despite his mental images and his silent promises that this was helping, that this and every second like this was one more second that they had successfully survived, the pain was there and real and overwhelming and he could never last long before succumbing to its call and begging for mercy that he knew would not come.
