Not That Different

Numbness. That seemed to be all that he ever felt these days. Tired and numb. There wasn't really room for anything else aside from fear. That was pretty much a given.

The castle that had once been filled with laughter and colour seemed to be a study in monotone. Black and white. No colour anywhere. Any laughter in the corridors was immediately muted and frankly, Neville didn't blame them. Laughter was prohibited.

It was almost like having Umbridge back again.

There was only one place where it was possible to get away from the overhanging cloud of doom. If he could have summoned the energy, he would have rolled his eyes. Overhanging cloud of doom. Hah! Melodramatic didn't seem to quite cover it somehow

It was true though, the only place where this melodramatic cloud didn't penetrate quite as thickly as everywhere else was the greenhouses. It was the best place to just go and escape. For a time, worries could just fade away as the needs of the greenhouse overtook.

This time, it was late when he left; even for his standards. Resisting the urge to wipe filthy hands on his robes (who cared if he made the banisters a little dirty anyway) he started up the first flight of stairs leading to the Gryffindor dorms.

As he climbed the second flight, he could already begin to feel the stress creeping back into his shoulder muscles. By the fourth floor, it had well and truly set in again and the worries were once again back. By the fifth floor, he was so engrossed in his latest problem that he made a mistake. A mistake that he had not committed once this year.

He stepped onto the stair and his foot just kept on going. By the time he realised, he had sunk up to his knee and nothing on earth was going to get him out of this mess without some help.

Heck.

It was just what he needed with half an hour to go before curfew. Not many people would be out and about this late and risk being caught out.

Heck.

It was hard to see the funny side of it as the Carrows didn't really need an excuse to give him another detention. He'd done so well too. He hadn't had a detention in over a week. That had to be some kind of new personal best this year. This really was laughable. He had probably had more detentions in the last month alone than in all of his previous six years.

He let out a snort of laughter and leaned back against the banister. Might as well be comfortable, he thought, and closed his eyes.

"Need a hand?" His poor tired eyes flew open. Ernie was leaning over the railing of one of the neighbouring flights of stairs. He was grinning too.

Heck.

"Don't you even think of laughing," Neville threatened.

His threat didn't just fail, it crashed and burned. It surely wasn't physically possible for a grin that large to get any bigger. It got bigger. Suspicious snorts were issuing from - somewhere. Not that it was Ernie. Ernie wouldn't.

Ernie, it transpired, would.

"Can I have a hand?" Neville asked plaintively.

His erstwhile friend manfully tried to swallow his snorts of laughter and ran down the stairs. Grabbing him by the arm, Ernie heaved and Neville's leg popped free. Thankfully the shoe stayed attached; occasionally he'd not been quite so lucky. There was nothing like having to go to a lesson without a shoe to make a person feel vulnerable. Particularly in the dungeons.

"Thanks."

Face red from a suppressed snort, Ernie nodded. The snort of laughter escaped anyway and after that there was no stopping the others. Even Neville had to admit it was a bit funny - not that much though.

Eventually they managed to stop and make a dash for their respective dorms. Reaching the Fat Lady with only a few moments to spare, he slipped inside and up to his dorm.

He smiled as he got ready for bed. It was the first time in a long while he'd felt like the old Neville.