An Unexpected Predicament

Chapter 14 - We're All a Little Mental Sometimes

'Sir, where's Neville?'

'He's in the hospital wing Potter,' Sumner said, leading him up a set of stairs, 'and he's been asking for you, it might help calm him down if he sees you.'

'What happened sir? Harry asked, trying to hide his panic.

'He freaked out in the simulation room, completely lost it,' Sumner said as they reached the hospital wing, 'he's behind that screen. I'll excuse you from afternoon classes, but don't think I've forgotten the fact you ran away, you'll receive appropriate punishment in due time.'

'Yes sir,' Harry said, rushing into the hospital wing and darting behind a screen to where Neville was lying in bed looking perfectly fine apart from the fact he was shining with sweat and shaking uncontrollably.

'Harry!'

'Hey Nev, I'm here,' Harry said softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed and let Neville grab his hand, 'Harry…she killed them…and then she tried to kill me, and the pain…it was so…it was like my skin was burning Harry, I was burning, and they were screaming and the pain…'

Harry instinctively hugged Neville as tears spilled from his friend's eyes, it seemed to help because in a couple of minutes he had stopped crying and drifted off to sleep, looking almost peaceful.

'You have a healers touch Mr. Potter,' Cora said with a smile from the side-lines, 'we spent half an hour trying to calm him down to no avail.'

Harry let out a breath and sat down in the chair by Neville's bed, 'I guess.'

'4 therapy sessions, starting tomorrow, for desertion,' Cora added as she walked away.

'Yeah,' Harry said nonchalantly, keeping his hand gripped firmly in Neville's as he looked upon his friends face. He had been terrified of losing Neville twice today, with only a month and a half left of 1st year Harry found himself hating Auror training already. Why did he have to fall in love with his Auror partner? It could have been anybody else, but no, it had to be his bloody Auror partner, Neville bloody Longbottom. And what the hell had happened in his simulation?

'Harry?'

It was late at night when Neville woke up and was lucid. Harry opened his eyes sleepily, he had been drifting between being awake and asleep for the last few hours.

'Hey Neville,' he said with a yawn, 'how you feeling?'

'Better,' Neville said honestly, 'there was nothing physically wrong with me…just mentally.'

'There's nothing mentally wrong with you,' Harry said, 'you just had a bit of breakdown, I had one too, remember?'

Neville smiled slightly, 'Trust me, mine was worse.'

'What the hell happened in there Neville?' Harry asked curiously.

Neville looked down and was silent for a moment, 'The same they did to you probably, my personal hell.'

Harry frowned, reluctant to tell Neville his personal hell had involved him. Neville continued, 'Bellatrix Lestrange tortured and killed my parents in front of me, and then she tortured me for information. I don't care how fake that room is, I felt my flesh burning Harry.'

'I know,' Harry said, ignoring the fact Neville was grasping his hand, 'trust me I know how real it feels.'

'I lost it,' Neville admitted, 'completely broke down and killed her in a fit of rage.'

'Did you fail?'

Neville nodded, 'I have to re-sit next week.'

'Well, at least you have that chance,' Harry said, looking on the brightside, 'you seem better now, you were in a right state when I came in.'

'Just wanted to check you were alive I s'pose,' he said, 'it wasn't just my parents she tortured and killed, it was my Gran too, and you,' Neville said.

Harry nodded, staying silent about his own simulation until he couldn't avoid it anymore.

'What happened in yours, Harry?'

He couldn't tell Neville a lie, so he told him the truth, 'Well I was in Malfoy Manor and I had to walk through the drawing room which was lined with people I loved, all of them dead. The smell of the rotten flesh made me throw up,' he shook his head, trying to shake the memory from it, 'then I went into the basement where Lucius Malfoy had you. He had found a way to put Voldemort's soul into your body.'

'So you had to kill me, to kill Voldemort,' Neville said.

Harry nodded, 'But I didn't…I killed Voldemort, but you were left paralyzed for life. Sumner said if I'd killed you then I'd have failed.'

'Well, at least you passed,' Neville said with a slight smile.

'I know it was fake, but if it were real would you-'

'I wouldn't resent you,' Neville assured his friend, 'it's a bit odd though, that both of our simulations centred round each other.'

'I guess it's because our main objective is to protect and cover our partner, isn't it?' Harry bluffed, but he was sure Neville saw through him.

'Yeah, true,' he said, seeming much more like himself now.

'You're going to need a shit-load of therapy now,' Harry said in amusement.

'Fuck off,' Neville said half-heartedly.

'Serves you right for slagging me off for needing therapy,' Harry chortled.

'Bloody karma,' Neville muttered.

'Don't worry, I've got four therapy meetings with Carson, you're not alone,' Harry said.

'Why do you need therapy? Did something happen in your simulation?' Neville asked curiously.

'No,' Harry said honestly, 'I deserted after it, and went to...Tracey's.'

'Ah,' Neville said with a slight smile, 'I'd have done the same, gone to Stephen's.'

Harry didn't expect the surge of jealousy that ran through him to hurt so much, but it did.

'We broke up,' Harry said, he wasn't going to pretend anymore.

Neville frowned, 'What? Why?'

Harry sighed as he tried to think of a way to tell Neville, 'I dunno, I guess we just wanted different things.'

Neville smiled a little weakly, 'Yeah, Stephen and I are kind of on that same downward spiral.'

'Really? You two seem fine,' Harry said, trying to hide the hope in his voice.

Neville shrugged, 'It's fine, but nothing more than fine. He's quite content with his boring day job, he wants me to get something similar but I don't think I'll ever be happy sitting behind a desk.'

Harry smiled, 'I know that feeling. You should talk to Stephen though, don't be a part of something that makes you unhappy.'

Neville sighed but nodded, 'I will, as soon as I get the chance.'

'Okay,' Harry said as he yawned, 'you good now?'

'Yeah, you can go to bed,' Neville said in amusement.

'Thank Merlin, tomorrows going to be busier than normal since I've got bloody therapy again,' Harry complained.

'Shouldn't have run away then,' Neville teased, 'you pay the price.'

'The price was not worth paying,' Harry joked as he got to his feet.

Neville chuckled and Harry smiled, 'See you tomorrow?'

'Hopefully, if Carson takes this 'mentally unstable' band off my wrist,' Neville said with a grin, 'thanks Harry, for earlier.'

'No problem,' Harry said with a parting smile as he left the hospital wing and entered the dark, gloomy base to make his way back to the dorm he and Neville shared.

'Is Neville okay?'

'He'll be fine,' Harry told Susan and Daphne as they ate breakfast together the following day, 'he had a bit of a mental breakdown in simulation.'

'I don't blame him if it's as bad as you say it is,' Daphne said with a sigh.

'It's worse if you have a troubled past, they have far more scope for being twisted,' Harry said bitterly.

'Mine is in about 10 minutes,' Daphne said, pushing her food around the plate, 'I'm pretty sure I know what they're going to use as fuel.'

'I won't ask,' Susan said, 'although I'm unsure what they'll use for me. Most of my family were dead before I remember them. I had a lonely upbringing, but not necessarily a painful one.'

'You fought in the war,' Harry reminded her, 'that will probably come into it.'

'I expect so,' Susan agreed.

'I'm going to make my way down there,' Daphne said as she got to her feet, 'I don't want to be late and it's not like I'm eating anyway.'

'Good luck,' Harry said, 'I'm sure you'll do great.'

Susan nodded, squeezing her friends arm briefly, 'You'll be great Daphne.'

Daphne nodded and took a deep breath, 'See you at lunch.'

As she left the dining hall someone else came in and Harry smiled when Neville sat down in the seat Daphne had just vacated, 'Look whose not mentally unstable anymore.'

Neville grinned, 'Thanks for the support mate.'

Harry laughed and Susan said, 'I'm glad you're alright Neville, we were worried about you.'

Neville smiled and said, 'Thanks Susan, I'm okay. Just glad I get to resit, is Daphne in today?'

'Yeah,' Susan said, 'then me in a couple of hours time.'

'You'll be fine, don't sound so worried,' Neville said as he tucked into some cereal, 'what's on the agenda for today?'

'Outdoor training all morning,' Harry said, 'then Herbology lab, swimming and medical exam after lunch.'

'We'll have to study tonight, won't we?' Neville asked, 'we've got that joint essay due in a week today.'

Susan nodded, 'The one about the pros and cons of Niffler tracking.'

Harry's heart fell a little as he thought of Justin, 'Yeah, we'll study after dinner, before lights out,' he agreed.

Neville nodded, frowning a little, 'Do you reckon we'll have time to go over my simulation? So the same doesn't happen again.'

'Sure,' Harry said, 'we'll make time.'

'Thanks Harry,' Neville said as Susan watched the exchange with a smile.

The outdoor training that morning was tough, it was the middle of April now and it was constantly raining. They were cold and soaking wet which made running the track harder than normal. Neville's anger was obviously driving him because he lost a few seconds on his track time, and Harry rather annoyingly maintained his time on the track and the obstacle course instead of shortening it as Neville had.

Susan disappeared halfway through training, but Daphne didn't come back. She got a break to recover then returned to class as normal after lunch. When Sumner finally said they were done Harry and Neville hauled themselves to the showers and enjoyed the heat, it was heaven compared to the last few hours. Showers had become slightly awkward for Harry since his realization because they were communal, but he just tried to forget about it and he had taken to showering with his eyes shut.

'How do you think Daph and Suse got on?' Neville asked conversationally as muddy water from all the dirt of the track and obstacle course trickled towards the drain.

'I reckon they've both passed,' Harry said, happy to keep his mind off the shower situation with small-talk.

'I dunno, they've both got some pretty heavy mental stuff that could be used against them,' Neville said.

Harry frowned as he looked at Neville, very specifically at his face and nothing else, 'What do you mean?'

'Well Susan saw her Aunt tortured and killed,' Neville said, 'I thought you knew that.'

'I knew she was killed, but I didn't know that,' Harry said, 'hows Daphne got anything bad that could be used against her? She's from a privileged Pureblood family.'

'Exactly,' Neville said darkly.

'You gonna elaborate on that?'

'Not my place,' Neville said as he turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around himself.

At lunch Harry and Neville were eager to hear how the girls had done as they sat down at their table.

'So?' Harry asked.

Susan glanced at Daphne, 'You first?'

Daphne nodded, she smiled weakly, 'Well I passed.'

'Great!' Harry said, 'well done.'

Her smile widened, 'Thanks, it was hellish though. I can't believe the things they dig up from your past to use against you.'

Nobody asked her to elaborate, and Susan said, 'I passed too, it was a torture thing. I had to not kill the person doing the torture as much as I wanted too, if I had I would have failed.'

'That was why I failed,' Neville admitted.

'79%,' Susan said, 'so only 9% over the mark.'

'72%,' Daphne admitted, 'but a pass is a pass, right?'

'Exactly,' Neville said, 'I got 41% so you've all done a lot better than me.'

'You'll pass your next attempt,' Harry said, 'I know it.'

Neville nodded, 'I know what sort of thing to expect now, I hope that will help.'

Susan nodded, 'You'll do great Neville. At the end of the day the thing that got me through was the fact I always knew in the back of my head it wasn't real.'

'You're lucky you have that,' Harry said, 'I struggled. Especially when it concerned the smell of rotten flesh…how they got it so right is worrying. I physically threw up during my simulation.'

'And the burning pain of the cruciatus curse,' Neville added as he shook his head, 'I've had it used on me in real life, it felt real.'

'It definitely felt real,' Daphne said as she shuddered, 'everything from the way he smelled and sounded felt horribly real.'

Harry frowned, 'What happened in yours Daphne?'

'Something I'd rather not talk about,' Daphne said shortly, and the others stayed silent. Harry was given a warning glance from Neville and knew that glance was telling him to shut his mouth.

Herbology lab was standard, Neville did most of the work. Swimming was the same as always, a certain amount of lengths within the time limit. At dinner Neville said he would write to Stephen tonight to arrange a meeting at the weekend. He told Daphne and Susan what Harry already knew, he was breaking up with Stephen.

After dinner Harry and Neville found themselves in the empty study hall sitting at a desk attempting to string together this essay. They had several books open in front of them and Harry was dictating the facts they had decided were relevant and providing Neville with arguments as Neville wrote it all down.

'So we've got all the pros down,' Neville said as he took a break and stretched out his fingers which were hurting from extended use of the quill, 'there are 7 there, Auror Sheppard said we at least 5 of each so we're good.'

Harry nodded, 'So at least 5 cons then…well this isn't in any of the books, but if you want to appease a Niffler you just have to give it bacon.'

Neville raised an eyebrow, 'Where'd you hear that?'

'A friend who works in the DRCMC,' Harry said, 'I tried it on the ones in that little room on basement level, they all stopped snapping and let me stroke them.'

Neville laughed, 'I'll trust you and put it in there. You're right, that can be considered to be a con if someone can get them to stop searching.'

Harry nodded, thinking back to Justin and sighing.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, just want to be done with this, I guess,' Harry said as he pulled a book towards him, 'anyway, another con is the fact that some criminals might purposefully not wear anything metal to avoid being caught by a Niffler…'

In the few hours before lights out the common room was virtually empty. Neville had gone to bed, after saying he needed to work out what he was going to say to Stephen at the weekend, and Susan was still in the study hall cramming. When Harry walked in, with a book in his hand he only saw Daphne sitting on the armchair. She was curled up with a book in front of her, but she was staring at it instead of reading it.

'Mind if I join you?'

Daphne jumped but shook her head when she realised that it was only Harry, 'Sure.'

Harry sat down on the sofa and frowned slightly, 'Daph, I hope you don't think I'm doing the wrong thing here but I'm just worried about you. I can tell your simulation hit you hard, and if you want to talk I'm pretty damn good at keeping secrets.'

Daphne smiled weakly, 'I know you are, Harry. It's just...well, you know when you think that you have put something behind you but then it just creeps up on you again and it feels like you're back to square one?'

'Yeah,' Harry said honestly, 'i know that feeling very well.'

Daphne nodded, she looked down and began to play with a thread on her jeans, 'When I was 13, I came home for the summer as I always did...but my Uncle was there. He lived in Canada, so we never saw him but he had decided he was back for the whole summer.'

Harry waited patiently as Daphne paused and took a shaky breath. Her fingers curled angrily around the thread and she pulled it out and began to twist it around her finger as she continued, 'He seemed nice enough at first, until he started coming into my room at night, using silencing charms and memory charms so I wouldn't tell my parents...'

Harry's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying, 'Oh my...Merlin. Daphne, I'm so sorry. Of course you wouldn't want to talk about something so traumatizing.'

Daphne shook her head and quickly wiped away a few angry tears, 'It's fine. I need to talk about it, you're right Harry. I just...I moved past it, or at least I thought I had but they brought it all back in that room and I knew it couldn't really be him. My Father killed him years ago, once he'd found out what he did...but everything about it felt so real.'

'I know,' Harry said, crossing the room and kneeling in front of the armchair, he took her hand, 'I know how real it all feels. But it isn't, and think of it this way Daph. As horrible and sick as it was that they forced you to live through that again, that is the worst part over. No mission, field training or real is going to be as bad as that hell. You've proven yourself now, they always say the first year is the hardest.'

Daphne nodded, she cleared her throat as she wiped her eyes again, 'Thank you Harry,' she said softly as she leant down to hug him, 'you really are a great friend.'

On Wednesday Lee and Hamish did their individual simulation tests. Lee passed his, but Hamish failed, meaning like Harry and Neville only one of them was definitely returning for 2nd year.

On Thursday Olivia and Regina did their individual simulation tests. Olivia passed and was safely guaranteed a place for 2nd year, and Regina failed and would have to resit. After dinner they were all in the study hall working on the two essays they had due in the following day when Sumner walked in and called for attention.

'Congratulations to Recruits; Potter, Greengrass, Bones, Jordan and Wood. You have all been guaranteed a place in the second year of training. However if you fail any of your written work, including your exams you will have to resit them over the summer,' Sumner informed them.

There were nods all around, 'Recruits; Longbottom, MacDougal and Davies. You will all resit your simulation tests. Longbottom, 0800 hours on Monday. MacDougal, 1000 hours on Monday. Davies, 1400 hours on Monday. Got it?'

'Yes, sir,' they all echoed.

'Good,' Sumner barked, 'Auror Carter has asked me to remind you that you have 11 exams in the two week exam period between the 17th and 28th of May. Your exam dates and times, along with room numbers will be posted in your common room by the end of the week. You've got just over a month, Auror Carter assured me you had all started revising.'

With a smirk Sumner left and mumbling broke out. They had just over a month until the exams and nobody had started revising yet. Harry groaned, 'I miss Hermione.'

Neville smirked, 'What are you going to do now you don't have someone to arrange brightly colourful revision plans for you?'

'Fail?' Harry said, making Neville laugh.

'If Hermione were here she'd have gotten me revising months ago,' Harry said as he fell onto one of the comfortable sofa's in the study hall, 'guess we ought to start, huh?'

'Probably a good idea,' Neville agreed in amusement.

On Friday evening the exam timetable was posted on the notice board of the common room and everyone crowded around it. They had 11 exams in 14 days, and unlike at Hogwarts exams could be on weekends but only in the morning. Exams had two times, morning (09.00-11.00) and afternoon (13.00-15.00).

'Herbology is first…Monday morning then we've got nothing on Tuesday,' Neville said, Harry was happy to get Herbology out of the way first, it was one of his worst subjects here.

'We have two on Wednesday though,' Susan said, 'Code Deciphering in the morning and Stealth and Tracking in the afternoon. Then we've got Muggle Relations and Anti-Muggle Charms in the afternoon on Thursday.'

'Don't forget The Psychology of the Criminal Mind on Friday afternoon,' Lee said distastefully, they all hated that class.

'Flying is on Saturday morning,' Harry said, 'at least one of the good ones is the one we have to do on a Saturday.'

'Sunday we get off, then they have been nice to us on Monday,' Olivia said, 'Poisons and Antidotes in the morning, then Potions in the afternoon. Those two go quite nicely together, I bet we'll be able to recycle some information.'

Daphne nodded, 'Tuesday off again, then Transfiguration in the Field on Wednesday afternoon.'

'Basic Healing on Thursday morning,' Regina said happily, it was one of the classes she liked.

'And then our last one is Concealment and Disguise on Friday morning,' Hamish said in his thick Scottish accent.

'Well I would say it could be worse, but I don't think it could be,' Harry said as he looked at those two weeks on paper.

'It could be,' Neville said, 'we could have two exams on all the days.'

'Good point,' Susan said.

Daphne sighed, 'Well, I'm gonna need a drink at the end of those two weeks.'

'Oh yeah,' Harry agreed.

'And we've only got a month to revise for all 11 of them,' Lee reminded them all, eliciting a groan from everyone.

When Saturday afternoon rolled around Harry found Neville getting ready to go out.

'You meeting up with Stephen?' Harry asked.

Neville nodded grimly, 'Breaking the news to him.'

'How do you think he'll take it?' Harry asked.

'He tried to curse me last time,' Neville said, 'but I'm training to be an Auror, so I doubt I'll get hurt.'

Harry chuckled, 'Do you want to go out after? We can have that talk about your simulation resit.'

Neville nodded, 'I would like that, but we aren't supposed to be seen in public together, remember?'

'I know, but we aren't going anywhere public so it's fine,' Harry said with a smile.

'Alright,' Neville agreed, 'I'll meet you in the study hall when I get back. You've given me a reason to keep this short.'

Harry smirked, 'That was the plan.'

With a chuckle Neville opened the dorm room door, 'See you later Harry.'

'Wow, what happened to your face?'

Susan rushed over to Neville the moment he arrived in the study hall, and as they both walked over to Harry and Daphne they saw why she was alarmed.

'Bloody hell,' Harry swore as he saw Neville's swollen left eye, 'did he do that to you?' he raged.

Neville nodded, 'I'm fine, don't worry about it.'

Harry got to his feet, and Neville stopped him from storming out, 'He's already apparated away Harry.'

'Coward,' Harry said, 'I'd have hit him twice as hard.'

Neville smiled slightly, 'That's nice to know, but don't worry, I really am fine.'

'Like hell you are,' Harry said, he glanced to the other end of the study hall to where the person he was looking for was sitting. He clicked his fingers and the light above the person flickered, as she looked up Harry motioned for her to come over.

'Wandless magic?' Susan asked in awe, 'before you're even 20?'

'That is hot,' Daphne agreed.

Harry grinned, 'I am quite a powerful wizard you know.'

'Hey, Harry,' Olivia said as she walked over, 'what's up?'

'Hey Liv,' Harry said, he had grown quite close to Oliver's younger sister, 'do you think you could fix Neville's face?'

Olivia gasped, 'Merlin! What happened to you?'

'I got punched,' Neville said, letting Olivia push him onto the sofa.

'Pretty hard by the looks of it,' she said, sitting down next to him and murmuring a few basic healing charms. She, along with Regina, was far better in that class than anyone else in their year.

'Nah, not that hard,' Neville objected.

Olivia chuckled, 'What did you do?'

'Broke up with someone,' Neville said honestly.

Olivia's eyes widened, 'A girl did this?'

Neville smiled a little, 'Not exactly…'

'Oh!' Olivia realised with a blush, 'sorry! I didn't know Neville.'

'It's okay,' Neville chuckled, 'it's not exactly public knowledge.'

'Oh, of course. Don't worry I won't tell anyone,' Olivia said, and they all trusted her. She was quite quiet, but hardworking and loyal, very much a Hufflepuff which was the house she had been in while at Hogwarts, unlike her older brother.

'Thanks Olivia,' Neville said genuinely as Olivia finished patching him up, 'There, that's the worse of it.'

'Thanks Liv,' Harry said to the slightly older woman, 'I'll get you tickets to the summer Ministry Ball as a thanks, as long as you promise not to take your brother.'

Olivia scoffed, 'No way! Then I wouldn't have anything to gloat to him about!' she said with a grin.

The others laughed as Olivia got back to her revision, Harry glanced at Neville, 'so he didn't take the break up well then.'

'How did you guess that?' Neville asked sarcastically.

Susan chuckled, 'Do you want to go out for a drink Nev?'

'To celebrate you being free,' Daphne added.

Neville laughed, 'I'd love to, but Harry and I have plans. He's going to try and cure me of my PTSD for my simulation resit.'

Harry nodded, 'Speaking of which we better go, if we want to get anything done before we need to be back here.'

'Where are we going?' Neville asked as he got to his feet.

'It's a surprise,' Harry smirked, 'come on.'

'Have fun,' Daphne said as they left the study hall.

'So they're both single now,' Susan said with a grin, 'does this mean we can start playing matchmaker?'

'Definitely,' Daphne grinned.

'So where are we?' Neville asked as he and Harry materialized in an alley.

'Outside my flat,' Harry said, walking out of the alley and towards his flat.

'Okay…' Neville said, following him into the building and up the stairs.

'It's private, nobody knows I own it,' Harry said, 'I thought it made sense. And the advantage of living in the wizarding quarter means we can order Chinese from Ming, his takeaway is amazing.'

'There are wizarding takeaways?' Neville asked in surprise.

'Yeah,' Harry said, 'don't you live in a wizarding quarter?'

'Nope, I live in a building full of Muggles,' Neville said as Harry unlocked the door to his loft apartment and they walked in together, 'but then I'm not loaded like you.'

Harry shrugged, 'Money isn't everything,' he said as he shut the door behind Neville, 'do you want a drink?'

'Sure,' Neville said as he sat down on Harry's sofa. Harry brought out a bottle of firewhiskey and poured two glasses.

'You even drink expensive firewhiskey,' Neville remarked.

Harry smiled a little, 'There aren't many things I like to have that are expensive, but I can't stand that cheap stuff you drink,' he admitted.

Neville shook his head in amusement, 'It all tastes the same to me. Honestly, you and Draco are perfect for each other.'

Harry snorted, 'I have better taste than Malfoy.'

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, 'And Draco's a man.'

'That too,' Harry said, making a joke out of his slip-up. He was fairly sure Neville bought it as he sat down opposite Neville and took a sip from his glass, he sighed in contentment and Neville snorted, calling him upper class git.

'Shut up,' Harry joked, 'so, let's talk.'

'You don't sound like a therapist at all,' Neville said sarcastically.

'Sorry,' Harry said, 'but that is what you wanted to do. Right?'

'Not exactly,' Neville admitted, his eyes on the ground, 'I wanted to ask you for a favour.'

'Okay…' Harry said, waiting for him to elaborate.

'I want you to use the cruciatus curse on me,' Neville said, looking up and catching Harry's eye.

Harry dropped his glass, spilling firewhiskey over the laminate floor and smashing the glass. He stared at Neville in disbelief, 'what?' he asked in an angry whisper.

'I want you to use it on me, Harry,' Neville said again, 'I need to get immune to it. Like you did with the imperius curse.'

Harry pushed himself to his feet, 'For Merlin's sake Neville! I'm your Auror partner, I'm meant to protect you, not hurt you! I don't even know if I can cast that curse!'

Neville pushed himself to his feet too, 'For fucks sake Harry! Stop being such a wimp, the great boy-who-lived can't cast the cruciatus curse? You killed Voldemort for crying out loud!'

Harry was fuming, 'How fucking stupid are you Neville? I know the pain of that curse, I could never use it on anyone I like! It has nothing to do with my magical ability, you have to really mean it to cast an unforgiveable curse!'

'Well then make yourself mean it!' Neville shouted.

'Make myself hate you enough to torture you?' Harry spat, 'I couldn't do that to anyone I love! I could never cast that curse on someone I care about! Shut the hell up about it because no amount of riling me up will ever make me hurt you! I'm not Stephen!'

Neville didn't say anything and Harry's chest was heaving as he caught his breath. He walked away from Neville towards the bar and blew out a breath. He had just inadvertently told Neville he loved him.

'You care about me?'

'You're my bloody best friend you idiot,' Harry said as he turned to face the man, 'of course I do.'

Neville chuckled, 'Only you could express your feelings through a fit of rage Harry.'

'Fuck off Neville,' Harry said half-heartedly.

Neville laughed and Harry blew out another breath of air, 'Look, do you want to know how I passed my simulation?'

Neville nodded, so Harry sat down next to him on the sofa, 'I nearly lost it. I flashbacked to Voldemort trying to kill me in 4th year, then again at the Ministry in 5th year. But I pulled myself out of it because I heard your voice in my head, saying you had faith in me.'

'Really?' Neville asked.

Harry nodded, 'So I looked at the situation logically, and I knew that the only way I could save you was by severing the locket that he was controlling you with. I killed Lucius to make him turn around then severed it at the back of your neck, because if I did it at the front and I'd cut you, then you'd have died instantly.'

'Instead I was just paralyzed,' Neville realised, and Harry nodded, 'exactly.'

'So what you're saying is keep a cool head,' Neville said.

'What I'm saying is remember I'm your partner,' Harry said as he looked at Neville, 'even when I'm not there. We're a team, we work best as a team, that's what they want. That's why they make us live together, train together, work together, one person is vulnerable, two people are formidable.'

Neville smiled slightly, 'I get you. If I struggle I should think about you, think about what you'd say or do instead of acting on instinct.'

'Pretty much,' Harry said, 'although do act on instinct, just not passion.'

Neville nodded and said genuinely, 'Thanks, Harry. Sorry for…that.'

Harry shook his head, 'Sorry for shouting at you, it's my way of reacting to shocking news.'

'I'll remember that,' Neville joked, and just like that things were back to normal between them.

'Harry!'

'Hey, Hermione,' Harry said, hugging her tightly as she ushered him into her flat, 'Ron at work?'

'No, he's at the Burrow. Fleur went into St. Mungo's, they think she might be in labour so he's waiting with the family for news. I wanted to talk to you, so I thought I'd stay here,' Hermione said.

'Why did you want to talk to me?' Harry asked as he sat down on the sofa with her.

'I talked to Justin at work, I had to find out from him that you two broke up!' Hermione exclaimed.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'He broke up with me because he thinks I have feelings for Neville.'

'So he did have a legitimate reason then,' Hermione said with a pointed look.

Harry glared at her, 'That isn't helping, it was bad enough. Justin was my first…'

'Boyfriend?' Hermione asked in amusement.

'Yeah,' Harry agreed, 'but…well, Neville's single now.'

Hermione grinned, 'Good! Go for it, tell him how you feel!'

'I can't,' Harry said, making Hermione groan, 'Harry-'

'No, Hermione,' Harry said, 'I really can't, not now. We have our final exams in less than a month, and he's doing his simulation resit tomorrow. It's crazy at the moment, I can't do that.'

'Well, after then. In the summer,' Hermione said, 'you have to tell him before you miss your chance.'

'I know,' Harry said, 'and I will, just let me do it in my own time.'

'Try and eat something Nev.'

'No, I'm not hungry.'

Susan and Daphne shared concerned glances and Harry patted Neville on the back, 'You'll do fine, and you can always have some of my food at lunch. Don't force it mate.'

'Thanks Harry,' Neville said weakly.

'Just remember what I told you,' Harry said, aware of the girls watching them, 'you know me inside-out, just think about what I'd do or say if I were with you. Trust me, it helps.'

Neville nodded and swallowed hard, 'I better get down there.'

'Want me to walk you?' Harry asked.

Neville shook his head, 'You'd be late for dueling.'

Harry scoffed as he got to his feet, 'You underestimate how fast I can run Nev, I'll walk you.'

They were silent as they walked to the simulation room, and when they did get there Harry gave Neville one last pep talk before setting off at a jog for the duelling room at the other end of the training centre. He got there in time, panting slightly as he entered the room, Susan and Daphne smirked at him, but he took no notice. He just hoped Neville would be okay this time.

That morning Harry's performance in the duelling room was as good as always, and then he tried to pay attention in his Concealment and Disguise lecture and failed.

'Recruit Potter!' Auror Emmagen barked.

'Yes, ma'am?'

'Pay attention!' She said with a glare, 'you have an exam in under a month!'

'Yes, ma'am,' Harry said, trying to stop worrying about Neville.

Then he was back in the duelling room until lunch. When the bell rang he jogged to the dining hall and bumped into Neville in a corridor on the way there.

'Nev!'

'Hey, Harry,' Neville said brightly.

'How'd you do?' Harry asked hopefully.

Neville grinned, 'I passed!'

Harry grinned back and hugged his partner in the empty corridor, 'I knew you could do it!'

Neville's grin was still wide as he said, 'It was 70%, couldn't be any higher because it was my second attempt, but I passed!'

As they walked to the dining hall, both in high spirits, Harry wondered if life could get any better. Yes, he thought to himself, if I only had the guts to tell Neville the truth….

TBC :)