These must be my favorite chapter so far, hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Neville opened the red velvet curtains of his dormitory and let the first light of the day enter; a soft light illuminated the walls of the room and spread across his face. He didn't feel like moving so he snuggled contently down into the mattress and took a deep breath. There were no words to describe the feeling of serenity and peace that overtook him; the contentment stole over him in waves making him smile broadly.

It had been months that he felt that happy, so he let the feeling rise within his soul, in fear that he wouldn't feel that way again.

The reason of his happiness was quite simple, he had achieved something, he had arranged a D.A meeting, and despite his fears of no one showing up, people not only showed up but joined the organization. He wasn't standing idly, he was fighting, he was resisting. If only his mom could see him this way, fighting against the dark forces exactly like she did…

Neville sighed heavily and shoved the thoughts deep inside his head, not wanting to ruin a perfect day.

He flipped his legs over the edge of the bed and quickly stood up, he glanced around in search of Seamus, but the room was empty. Neville quickly took a shower and brushed his teeth, put his clothes on and brushed his hair. After he finished getting ready he left the dormitory and made his way towards the first class of the day, Defense against Dark Arts.

Seamus was already sitting in his seat, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil sitting in front of him, quietly whispering things to each other. They seemed engaged to their conversation and didn't see him entering the class and sitting next to Seamus.

Carrow soon entered the classroom and headed towards his seat, Neville saw him holding something inside his hands but he couldn't make out what. After several minutes of complete silence Amycus slowly opened his hand and Neville saw a small spider crawling inside his palm. He heard Lavender gasping loudly understanding what was about to happen in front of their eyes; Amycus would torture the poor creature, forcing everyone to witness the pain that he willingly caused.

Neville pushed his head inside his hands, not wanting to see what was about to happen, he wanted to go back to his room and snuggle down into the warm and comforting mattress. He saw Crabbe and Goyle out of his corner eye, the two boys were eager to cast the curse but Carrow seemed to have a different plan this time.

"Not this time Goyle! This time we're having a Gryffindor casting the curse, I think that they should experience the pleasure of torturing, don't you think so?" Carrow looked around the classroom and cruelly smiled at the shocked expressions written on the students faces.

"Who should I choose? Who should I choose?" Amycus titled his head towards various directions, pretending to be thinking but the smile that graced his features revealed that he already had chosen "hmm Longbottom how about you?"

Neville looked up hypnotized, he knew this would happen but when it actually happened he was thrown for a moment, he opened his mouth and closed it, struggling to find the right words, his mouth felt dry and sticky and his body went numb, he wanted to say something, to react somehow but he couldn't. He was paralyzed.

He saw Lavender gasping again, her mouth was wide open and her eyes reflected her inner feelings, surprise, shock, sadness, and something else that he couldn't quite understand.

"Sir why don't you let Crabbe?" Neville looked at Lavender as if not acknowledging the words coming out of her mouth, her eyes found his for a second and he saw pain shine inside them. Lavender's eyes switched back to Crabbe who was looking more eager than ever. "Sir, if he is willing to…!" Her words were silenced by Amycu's laughter that filled the classroom.

"You want me to have Crabbe torture the spider Mrs. Brown? I thought you didn't want anyone to torture the poor, poor creature" Amycu's face didn't show up any sadness or remorse only pure amusement "Did you hear that Crabbe, Mrs. Brown here wants you to torture the spider"

Neville studied Lavender's eyes again, he could see an inner battle taking place in their depths. Lavender was struggling with herself, she didn't want the spider to be tortured, but most of all she didn't want Neville to do it.

His thoughts started spiraling out of control and the room soon spiraled too, he felt dizziness and sickness wash upon him. Neville tried to open his mouth again but his lips seemed glued together. Deep inside his head, he heard a voice, it was a whisper but it grew louder and louder. It was his grandma's voice; he would recognize it any day.

"Your parents would be disappointed, young boy"

The phrase kept playing inside his head, again and again, he shook his head trying to clear his mind, what was he doing?

He looked around again, he wasn't sitting on his seat anymore, he was standing in front of a desk with the spider placed on it. He didn't recall himself standing up, he had no idea how he ended up there. He shook his head again, desperately trying to clear his mind.

Suddenly the realization hit him, Seamus had interfered, he had told Carrow that he would do it instead of Neville but he didn't want Seamus to do such a thing.

And there he was standing in front of the little spider, holding his wand, his hand shaking and his mind screaming not to do it. He opened his lips; his voice was hoarse and strangled as he forced the singular word come out: "Crucio"

The creature's body started shaking and moving from one side to another, Neville looked mesmerized at the image that his eyes were sending to his brain, wishing that it wasn't true, wishing that he didn't cast the same spell that drove his parents into insanity.

He took a sharp breath and went back to his seat, he heard Lavender sobbing and her eyes bore into his soul, forcing him to shake uncontrollably.

The class ended soon and he dashed towards his Transfiguration class, avoiding the piercing stares of his classmates, he must have walked slower than he thought because when he entered the classroom the class had already started. McGonagall glanced at him and approached him.

"Longbottom you are late, take this" McGonagall extended her hand and gave him a long piece of parchment; he took it and thanked her. "You are dismissed; go back to your dormitory." Her tone of voice wasn´t brisk, crisp or stern; it was low and anxious; her eyes pleaded him to follow her advice. He didn't need to be told twice; he left the classroom and headed towards his bedroom.

His legs seemed to carry him without any instruction from his brain, which had gone completely blank. He lay upon the soft bed of his dormitory, where he longed to be during the class, but the softness and warmness of the bed didn't calm his soul. Neville yawned and stretched, he tried closing his eyes, desperately wanting to sleep, to rest. The moment his eyes closed, sleep took over him and his tensed muscles relaxed.

He was inside the classroom again, Seamus was standing next to him looking at something, he followed his gaze and his eyes laid on a desk, the spider wasn't there anymore, it was replaced with a man and a woman, their eyes were pleading him not to do it, but Neville raised his hand and cursed them. Their bodies started shaking and he heard his mother screaming, he was torturing his mom and dad.

Neville's eyes shot open, the scream wasn't his mother's, it was his, he had a nightmare again!

Draco quickly stood up and put his school robes on, he glanced at the watch and realized that he had not slept nearly as long as he hoped, he went to the shower and showered, letting the warm water relax his body. Draco put his robes back on and made his way towards the dormitory, it was empty as everyone was having lunch at the Great Hall. He started walking, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors, pacing outside the castle had became a habit for him over the last month, a habit he enjoyed.

He stood out on the grounds, relieved to be away of the people that were constantly staring at him. Draco never received so much attention, suddenly the whole school seemed to be interested in his whereabouts, students would stare at him and start whispering to each other, some of them didn't even make the effort to whisper, they loudly talked about his family and him. Most of them were either Gryffindors or Slytherins. He expected the hatred of the Gryffindors but he never expected his housemates to gossip about him. Most of them had parents inside the Deatheater circles and knew all about his family they knew that the Dark Lord was disappointed by his failure and they were mocking him about it. He wasn't inspiring fear inside their souls anymore and no one wanted to hear about his adventures, not that he had any to tell. He felt like a social outcast, and he wasn't one to feel that way. He was Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy house, he didn't like being out casted or gossiped, he didn't like yearning for their approval.

He thought of his past and the actions of his family, what made them loose their social status? Was it his father's failure in his second year? Was it his failure the year before? How did things change that much?

He glanced at the lake and stopped the process of his unpleasant thoughts, not wanting to think more about it, he was Draco Malfoy and things would look up for him…

Draco heard people approaching and quickly cast a disillusionment charm on him, camouflaging himself for privacy and left the place he was standing at. He entered the castle again and headed undisturbed towards the steps, he walked and walked not really caring for his sore feet. A familiar scenery appeared in front of his eyes and Draco stopped for a second, glancing at the view that the tower provided. He was at the astronomy tower, he didn't know when he ended up walking towards that place, or why he went there. An uneasy feeling rose inside his stomach.

Draco averted his gaze from the beautiful scenery and thought of the year before and the events that changed his life forever. The closet and his desperate need to fix it, his father's letters pressing him to take care of the problem, his mother's letters and her constant worry of his health, the tears inside Myrtle's bathroom, tears he was ashamed of, Dumbledore falling from the Astronomy Tower like a puppet doll.

Dumbledore falling from the Astronomy Tower like a puppet doll, dead but not by his hand, dead by Snape's hand, that was the event that changed his life forever. He cursed himself and his inability to perform the curse, it was all he had to do, kill the headmaster and gain the Dark Lord's appreciation again, for him, for his family.

His mind drifted back to the events that took place earlier, Carrow wanted them to practice the cruciatus curse again and for a moment Draco thought that he would be called. Fortunately he wasn't called, because if he did, he wasn't sure that he could pull it off, the spider didn't harm him in any way, and he never used the curse before. Would he be able to use it? He was unable to use the killing curse, would he curse the spider? Longbottom did, Draco thought, Neville Longbottom the stupid, incapable Gryffindor…

He was Draco Malfoy of course he would pull it off; it would be easy for him.

Lavender sat down and closed her eyes, she was alone at her dormitory but she didn't mind, she wanted to spend some minutes of her own.

She felt a weight pressing on her stomach, making her feel uncomfortable, she knew that it wasn't due to the lack of food; she had a proper meal during lunch time. She thought of the events that took place inside the Defense against Dark Arts classroom and felt the weight grow, not only she had allowed a poor defenseless creature to be tortured but she had also suggested the person to torture it. How could she be that cruel?

It wasn't the first time she saw a creature being tortured in front of her own eyes, it had happened back at her forth year when Professor Moody was their teacher, but he was only demonstrating the curse, he wasn't asking them to use it, she hated the idea back then, she had sobbed quietly and wished that it ended. What changed this time, why was she so cruel, so apathetic?

What was the motivation behind her action? She couldn't lie to herself; she knew full well why she suggested it. Carrow wanted Neville to use the curse, Neville the quite, shy guy she knew for so many years, Neville who had gone to the ministry with Ron and Harry. She knew that it was intended, that Carrow choose Neville for a reason and she couldn't stand it.

Lavender knew that if she had the choice she would have done the same thing again, for anyone, not only Neville, for Parvati, for Seamus, for anyone…

She knew that it was her only choice, to beg for Neville to be spared, she hated the idea of suggesting such a horrible thing but it was the only way out. If Crabbe cursed the spider, Neville wouldn't have to do it. No one had to be forced to do such a cruel thing.

She brought her legs closer to her upper body and hugged them, sobbing quietly, not feeling ashamed for the tears that were running down her face, soaking her blonde hair. She had a good reason to cry about, she had done something she never thought herself capable of.

After searching the web for hours, I found out that Colin Creevey and his brother didn't actually go to school during the death eaters regime, Colin sneaked back at school after being called by Neville's D.A coins. So there's not going to be any Colin scenes, except if you want me to write by his point of view.

I know that you'll wonder, why did Neville torture the spider and didn't rebel against it? The answer is quite simple, one day he had to torture and that day was this one, and if you closely read the chapter you'll see that he felt lost, paralyzed. Let's not forget that he is still a teenager…

There's a bit of Lavender in this chapter, hope you like it!

Review and tell me what you think!

P.S Sprinter1988, asked me how much darkness while I allow into this, It's going to be much darker than the first chapters, and yes I will write about Luna being kidnapped at the train and Ginny having to stay at home after the Easter Holidays.