Chapter 14: Innovations

Neville was awoken to someone shaking him.

"Wha- what? I'm up…I'm up," he mumbled, sitting up and putting his glasses on.

It was Harry.

"Where were you last night? Snape was pretty pissed that you didn't show up. Actually, pissed doesn't even begin to describe it…"

"I just didn't feel like going," he replied hoarsely.

"Well, I hope you plan on working up a better excuse than that once Snape finds you…"

Neville scoffed and fell back onto his bed.

"C'mon, get dressed. Everyone else is already at breakfast."

"M'not hungry…" muttered Neville, pulling his pillow over his head and turning over.

"Alright, suit yourself."

Once he heard Harry's footsteps retreat he slowly sat up and groaned.

He felt like shit and his throat was killing him. It was burning just as horribly as it had last night. He got up, grabbed a clean uniform and entered the washroom for a shower.

'Go on, look in the mirror you coward! You know you want to look and see how fat you still are! I bet you've added another chin! A few more rolls!'

It took all of his willpower to keep from looking in the mirror because he knew that if he did then he wouldn't be able to look away.

Neville made his way to his uncle's office. He figured that since he didn't visit him last night that he'd visit with him before their session.

The door was open so Neville walked in and sat down.

"Good morning, Neville. How are you this morn- oh, you don't look so good."

Neville smirked.

"Don't feel so great either," he croaked.

Francis frowned.

"You sound terrible…"

"I know," he replied and winced.

His throat had never bothered him this badly before at least never to the point to where it hurt to simply even speak.

"Would you like some tea? Maybe that'll help."

Neville nodded and accepted a cup.

"So, how was quidditch practice?"

Neville gave his uncle a thumbs up with his free hand while he slowly sipped his tea.

"If you don't feel like having a session today we can skip it…you should probably go see Madame Pomfrey and get some rest."

Neville shook his head.

"No," he whispered. "I uh, can't miss any more sessions…"

Francis' eyebrows rose.

"Can't miss anymore? Oh dear…"

"I've only missed one. I skipped Snape's session last night and from what Harry told me this morning he's not happy about it…"

"Neville, this is so very crucial for you, you realize this right? I understand that you don't want to do this and that it's a lot to handle but you've got to take this seriously."

Francis sighed.

"Would you like me to have a word with Severus?"

Neville shook his head again.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"No…" replied Neville, as he began massaging his raw throat.

"There is a meeting today with the order after lunch and Dumbledore would like you and Harry both to attend. Your presence isn't required but it would be nice for you both to know what's going on…so just think about it."

Neville nodded.

Harry arrived a few minutes later and Francis wasted no time getting into their session.

------

Neville was immediately drawn to Ginny's fiery red ponytail hanging over the couch.

He sat down next to her and noticed that she looked very upset.

"Hey," she greeted him trying to hide whatever it was that was troubling her. "I love the plant you gave me. I put it right by my bed…did you know it glows? It's like my own personal night light. It's so cool."

Neville grinned.

"How are you?" he asked softly, trying not to strain his already damaged voice.

"I've been better," she answered honestly.

Neville frowned.

"You certainly look like you've been better. What's wrong?"

"Oh Neville! You sound awful!"

"Don't worry about me…" he replied sheepishly. "I'll be fine."

"Would you like me to make you some tea? Have you seen Madame Pomfrey?"

"No thank you and no I haven't."

Ginny sighed.

"So I finally gave Dean a chance to apologize…so now we're talking and everything but I just can't let go of what he said. I'm still just so angry and for him it's as if nothing happened and I just can't get over it as easily as he can. Also, now that we are talking again he's back to his old self…the only time he's ever civil is if I'm angry with him…I can forgive him but I'll never forget what he said."

She spoke in a calm manner but her body language told a different story. Her hands were shaking slightly and she was tapping her foot incessantly.

She looked as if she had just rolled out of bed. Her hair was pulled back in a disheveled ponytail and she had slight traces of bags under her tired eyes.

Neville still thought she was beautiful. In fact, he didn't think there was anything that could ever make her not be beautiful. She was perfect in every way.

Ginny bit her lip and gazed at him curiously.

"Sometimes I wonder why I keep wasting my time on him but then I feel guilty for thinking like that because I love him and I know he loves me…"

Neville could tell that Ginny was really struggling with a large conflict within herself and he reached out to grab her hand but quickly pulled away, hoping she hadn't noticed. She stared down at her hands and waited for Neville to speak.

"Oh I hate boring you with all of this Neville."

"You aren't boring me Ginny."

"Yeah right."

"I assure you…if you were boring me there are plenty of other things I could be doing. For one, I could be finishing Henchul Raven's rather fascinating novel on the one thousand and one ways for me to improve my garden or two; I could actually be putting those one thousand and one ways to use in my garden…"

Ginny giggled.

"Hey, that is quite fun for me…but I'd still rather listen to you supposedly bore me."

Ginny smiled.

It was the first time she had smiled all day.

Neville always knew how to cheer her up.

About a half hour later Dean came in and eyed them suspiciously before asking Ginny if he could talk to her alone.

"I'll see you later, okay Neville?"

"See you."

Neville looked down at his pocket watch.

11:20.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to eat anything for lunch because of his throat so he decided that he could use this time to work out at the fitness center.

As soon as he reached the fitness center he was disappointed to find that there were others using it as well. There were a couple of people in the pool and quite a few more in the weight room. Neville sucked it up and entered the locker room.

Since swimming was absolutely out of the question he decided on a run.

He threw on an old t-shirt and a pair of sweats and got on a treadmill.

"Neville! It's nice to see that another one of our players actually uses the fitness center."

Neville turned around to see Parvati pedaling on a bike behind him.

"Hello Parvati. Yeah, this is really nice…I was here a couple of days ago and snuck in last year but it looks like they've added a bit more to it."

She got off the bike and got on a treadmill next to Neville.

They both started off with a light jog and continued to chat.

"So…" began Parvati in a tone that suggested she was about to spill the latest gossip.

"I know someone who happens to like you."

"Me?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Oh, phft…okay."

"Fine but don't come asking me later on who it is because I won't tell you."

"I don't plan on it," he croaked.

Parvati turned to stare at him for as long as she could before she had to turn back and watch what she was doing.

"You mean you honestly don't care?"

By now Neville had sped up to an actual run and Parvati was struggling to keep up.

"It's Lavender!" she exclaimed out of breath.

"Lavender?" he questioned.

"Yes…I wasn't supposed to tell you…"

Neville thought about this for a moment.

Lavender Brown liked him? The same Lavender Brown that would have never given him the time of day as little as a year ago?

"So…" prodded Parvati. "Do you like her?"

"Dunno…"

"What do you mean you don't know? Either you do or you don't?"

Eventually Parvati gave up as she was unable to neither talk to him nor keep up.

She stopped the machine and gasped for breath.

"How can you still be going?" She exclaimed. "I feel like I'm going to die!"

Neville hadn't heard her.

She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned towards her, slowing the machine down.

"It's lunch time," she informed him.

Neville sped back up.

"I can't eat until I get rid of this sore throat! The only thing that helps is tea!" He replied quickly.

Luckily Parvati didn't have the energy to question him.

"Alright, see you later then," she called.

"Bye!"

His chest and lungs were beginning to burn and his knees felt about ready to give out but he kept running. The burn was excruciating but at the same time it felt good. This meant that he was burning calories and fat.

He ran for another twenty minutes and finally decided that he had had enough. He desperately chugged the rest of his water and stepped off the treadmill. He must have stepped off too fast because the next thing he knew he was on the ground.

"Oy!"

Neville could hear someone running over to him.

He found himself staring up at quite a muscular seventh year Ravenclaw whose name was Timothy Brenner. He had long blonde hair and bright green eyes.

All of the girls fawned over him.

"Wotcher- easy, easy-"

He had effortlessly lifted Neville to his feet and helped him over to the locker room where he sat him down on a bench.

Timothy watched him for a few moments.

"Neville isn't it?"

Neville gawked up at him in shock.

"Yes…"

How in the world did Timothy Brenner know his name?

"Yeah, I think we had Herbology together in our fifth year," stated Timothy.

"Oh…"

Neville blushed.

He felt rude for not being able to remember but he didn't want to just sit there like an idiot so he glanced up at him and nodded.

"Yeah," confirmed Neville.

"So…think you're going to be okay? Do you need me to take you to the hospital wing?"

"No thanks…I'll be fine."

"Well, you need to be more careful…you're lucky I was here…"

Neville thanked him once more and assured him he had recovered.

As soon as Timothy left Neville searched the fitness center and found that other than himself it was empty, just the way he liked it.

He peeled off his drenched work out clothes and got in the shower.

Once he stepped out he wrapped himself in a towel and there were the mirrors all around him- taunting him, scrutinizing him.

'Go on fatty! It's about time you had a good look at yourself!'

Slowly he pulled the towel down to his waist and walked up to the mirror in front of him.

He first began by pinching the skin of his various chins and then moved down to the flab on his stomach. He sighed and turned to the side as if that would somehow make him look thinner, which it didn't.

He couldn't see any difference from the last time he had been in here.

'You are so disgusting. You ought to be ashamed at how you've let yourself go. You've got to try harder! You aren't going to get any thinner by stuffing your face as much as you do! You aren't trying hard enough, squib!'

He walked over to the scale and cautiously stepped on.

He took a deep breath before moving the weights.

One hundred and fifty-five pounds.

How had this been possible? This couldn't be right.

Neville stepped off and then back on again but it read the same.

According to the scale he had lost three pounds since he last weighed himself but he didn't think he looked any thinner. Whatever the reason Neville opted to go with the scale and although it still seemed like a lot of weight all that mattered was that the numbers had gone down. His mood was instantly uplifted.

He quickly threw on his clothes and left with a genuine smile on his face.

------

Neville met up with Harry after his work out and they both decided to attend the meeting with the order. They found Francis and followed him outside of Hogwarts' gates and were whisked away to number 12 Grimmauld place.

When they arrived they followed Francis inside and down the hall to what looked to be a dining hall. There was a large rectangular table where Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody and Fred and George Weasley all sat.

Francis walked in and took a seat next to Mad-Eye, Harry immediately went and embraced his godfather and Neville hung back, suddenly feeling very shy.

"Oy, Neville…that you mate?"

Neville looked up and saw that one of the Weasley twins had called out to him.

Neville walked over to them and smiled timidly.

"You got glasses!" George observed.

"Yeah and lost like half of your body weight!" Fred added.

Neville blushed furiously and sat down next to Fred, hoping that if he sat no one else would notice him and the comments would end.

Boy was he ever wrong.

"Neville Longbottom? C'mon now, don't be a stranger! Let us get a look at ya!"

Sirius Black was waving him over from the other end of the table.

His blush deepened as he stood up and walked over to Sirius and held out his hand which Sirius took and shook firmly.

"My you're a handsome lad…just like Frank was…oh and of course just like Francis is," Sirius added, playfully punching Francis on the arm. "Although, you've got your mother's face…hardly recognized you. You've gotten so tall."

"T-thank you," Neville mumbled.

"Where'd the rest of you go boy?" Mad-Eye shouted at him suddenly from a few chairs down. "There was more of you the last time I saw you!"

It was official once again. Neville wanted to die.

By now his face was probably as red as Fred and George's hair.

"Oh leave the boy alone, Moody! I think he's been embarrassed enough for one day! Haven't you kiddo?" Tonks asked him with a wink.

Neville gave her a tiny smile and began thanking her endlessly in his head.

"How are you doing Neville?" asked Remus quietly, his dark eyes studying the boy carefully.

"Fine professor."

"I'm not your professor anymore Neville. Please call me Remus," he replied kindly.

Neville nodded and sat down next to his uncle.

They all continued chatting while they waited on Dumbledore to arrive. About five minutes later there was still no sign of Dumbledore but Snape had just walked in looking miserable and irritated as usual.

His eyes immediately locked onto Neville's and his face twisted with rage.

"Longbottom…" he drawled. "A word now."

Everyone stopped talking and watched as Neville got up and stumbled over to Snape who grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out of the room.

Francis immediately stood up to follow them but Sirius pulled him back down.

"Wait," Sirius began. "If they are gone for more than five minutes then someone will go see what's going on."

------

Snape dragged Neville into a tiny study down the hall, threw him in a chair and slammed the door.

"You better start explaining now!"

"I-I'm really sorry P-Professor Sna-"

"I don't believe I asked for an apology! Explain yourself!"

Neville sucked in a deep breath.

He hadn't even had time to prepare a good let alone believable lie so for a brief moment he considered telling a slight fabrication of the truth.

No, Snape didn't deserve the truth he decided.

"Well, you see I uh…well, if you want the truth I don't have an excuse."

Snape raised a single eyebrow in suspicion and then leaned down; placing both hands on the chair's arm rests and brought his face to Neville's.

"That's not good enough!"

"Okay, if you want to know I was in the greenhouse," he muttered hoarsely.

Neville cringed as a stabbing pain ripped through his throat with each word he spoke.

He was beginning to lose his voice again.

Snape's face twisted with disgust.

"I will ask again…what pray tell was more important than our scheduled session?"

"Er, n-nothing…I was in the greenhouse and just lost track of time again."

"Why do I feel as though I don't believe you Longbottom?"

"I-I don't know sir."

"Well I'll tell you why…you're lying! Now tell me the truth!"

"I'm not lying! I lost track of time-"

"Oh you're lying Longbottom! You're a liar!"

"N-no…look I'm sorry it won't happen again I promise."

"A horrible one at that…" Snape continued with his black eyes narrowed menacingly. "Just like your father."

Neville's blood boiled at the tone in which Snape mentioned his dad.

Snape stood up and began pacing around the room.

"I suggest you start speaking Longbottom unless you'd like me to begin taking points away for each additional lie!"

"Alright," murmured Neville in defeat. "I was sick…"

"Sick?" Snape echoed, his tone less severe. "So if I were to speak with Madame Pomfrey once we return to Hogwarts she would confirm your claim?"

"Well, no not exactly…you see sir; I didn't go see Madame Pomfrey. I just- I was sick so I went to bed."

Snape glared at him without speaking.

------

Francis sighed and looked down at his watch.

Three minutes had passed.

"This is all because Neville didn't go to his session with Severus last night."

"Why?" asked Remus.

"He never said…Harry did he say anything to you about why he didn't go?"

Harry hesitated and then spoke.

"Well, this morning he told me he just didn't feel like going."

"I don't know what's going on with that boy…he knows better," replied Francis shaking his head.

"He hasn't been himself lately," continued Harry. "I can't explain it but something's off. Everyone's noticed, especially Hermione but no one can figure it out."

"Wonderful…" muttered Francis as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Harry got up and went over to sit with Fred and George.

"Well…he is a teenager," offered Sirius. "It's possible that it's just hormones."

"He should be over that by now though…he's seventeen," answered Francis.

"Not if he's a late bloomer," Remus added.

"I just get the feeling that there's something more going on with him…" began Francis. "Something deeper, I can see it in his eyes…he just looks so lost."

"Who isn't lost at that age though?" Tonks replied, jumping into the conversation. "This is a tough age…add the fact that he was this close to being the boy who lived…that's a lot to live up to."

"What about speaking with your mum?" Remus suggested. "Maybe she knows something."

"We're estranged," muttered Francis bitterly. "And I doubt it. She's so self-absorbed that she wouldn't notice if anything were wrong with him until it were too late."

Sirius scoffed.

"So what if you're estranged! You haven't seen her in what- nearly twenty years? What could it hurt?"

"Oh, no…believe me my mother is a woman of her word. She said she had no second son and she meant it…"

Francis looked down at his watch again.

Four and a half minutes.

"Have you asked Neville if there is anything troubling him?" asked Remus.

Francis sighed again.

"Yes and the answer is always the same. I've offered for him to come and talk to me whenever and we do talk…but not about anything that could indicate that something may be wrong. He's just so reserved all of his thoughts and secrets are just clammed up tight."

"He's lost quite an awful lot of weight…" Remus observed. "At least since I last saw him. Neville's always been a bit…" He stopped himself so he could choose his words carefully, as if to keep from offending Neville even though he wasn't even in the room.

Francis watched the other man thoughtfully, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, he took after Alice when she was younger…you know…"

"Right," replied Francis.

At just that moment Neville reentered the room closely followed by an even crosser looking Snape.

Neville retook his seat next to Francis and let his head fall onto the table.

Francis began to gently rub the boy's back.

"What happened?" he whispered so only Neville could hear.

"Don't ask…" he muttered.

"Good afternoon everyone and I apologize for my tardiness. Are we ready to begin today's meeting?"

Dumbledore took his seat at the end of the table so that he was facing everyone.

"Ah, very nice of you to join us today Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom. Welcome. So before we begin I believe Nymphadora, you've got some valuable information that you'd like to share?"

"Yes Albus, yesterday I overheard that the Death Eaters are planning an attack to overtake the Ministry and from there they plan to send Dementors to Azkaban to release the prisoners there. They've already recruited at least a hundred new members and are expanding by the day. So I think we need to keep an extra close eye out. I'll be returning to the Ministry tonight and see if I can't find anyone or anything that looks as though it doesn't belong."

"Very good as Nymphadora has just explained we all need to keep our eyes and ears open and anyone or anything that appears suspicious is to be immediately reported to me. I will report your findings to Cornelius immediately and have them on high alert."

"Albus, if I might make a suggestion?"

"Always Severus."

"I could make myself quite useful by standing guard at the Ministry for however long you need me to. That way Nymphadora could be of use in a less hostile location."

Tonks frowned at Snape's suggestion.

"She would stand out like a sore thumb and the Death Eaters would immediately know we were on to them whereas if I were there they wouldn't suspect a thing."

"I think that is a marvelous idea Severus."

Neville wanted to jump up and shout with joy.

If Snape was at the Ministry then that meant he wouldn't have to worry about his sessions with him for a day or two.

The rest of the meeting lasted for about another half hour and then he, Harry, Francis and Professor Dumbledore all returned to Hogwarts.

To Neville's delight, Snape did not return with them and would be under cover at the Ministry for the next several days but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

------

While everyone else departed for dinner Neville decided to hide in the dorm, mainly to avoid Hermione whom he knew would cause a scene at him skipping yet another meal.

He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

------

Neville woke up and discovered his throat still burned a little.

He must have been really tired because he fell asleep immediately and slept all through the night without any disturbances.

He looked down at his pocket watch.

Only five minutes left for breakfast.

He jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes and hurried to Francis' office.

------

The day dragged on and Neville was successful in avoiding Hermione.

He knew that she wasn't going to buy his excuses for missing meals much longer and he needed to devise a plan to distract her. If only she would ignore him like everyone else.

It was now lunch time and he hid in the dorm again until everyone had left and then went down to the common room to read his book.

About five minutes later someone entered. Neville prayed it wasn't Hermione.

"I thought I'd find you in here."

Neville turned around and smiled.

"Hey Ginny."

"So you still aren't feeling well I imagine?"

"My throat still hurts but not as bad."

"Well, that's good mind if I join you?"

"No of course not sit down."

Ginny sat down next to him and stared into the empty fireplace.

"Have you eaten?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm not hungry," replied Ginny with a sigh.

Neville noticed that she had the same troubled look on her face as the day before.

He marked his page and set the book down.

"So, are things any better with Dean?" he asked.

"No…"

Neville felt a pang of guilt shoot through him as he discovered that he didn't want things to work out for them. Which was selfish, he should have wanted what was best for Ginny, although he knew Dean wasn't what was best for Ginny but it seemed sometimes she thought otherwise. Every time she came to him about her troubles with Dean he found himself disappointed that it never ended up being about them breaking up.

Maybe this time was different. Maybe they had finally broken it off.

"I want this to work," she began.

Neville's heart sank. So much for this time being different.

"But he doesn't seem to understand how unhappy I am."

"Why are you unhappy?" asked Neville.

She sighed.

"I don't know. It's hard to explain. I love Dean so much but I'm getting rather tired of putting up with him. I guess I just don't know when to determine when enough is enough. I guess I just keep hoping that he will change. I mean, things weren't always like this. When we first began dating he was so romantic and sweet…I guess I'm still holding on to that part of him and am just waiting for it to come back."

Neville nodded.

She bit her lip and let her head fall into her hands.

"This is so stupid," she continued, her voice muffled through her hands. "I shouldn't be putting up with this bullshit and I shouldn't be complaining to you when I can put an end to it but I don't want to hurt him…"

Neville reached out for her hand but she lifted her head up and he quickly pulled it away.

"You're a smart girl, Ginny. You'll figure out what to do."

"What would you do if you were me…er or in my situation at least?"

Neville stared at her blankly, completely taken by surprise.

He hated being put on the spot like this.

"Well…I can't exactly say," he started honestly. "But if I really cared about this person and I knew they felt the same about me then I would do everything in my power to make it work."

Ginny let out a frustrated groan.

Again, without realizing it Neville reached out to grab her hand but quickly pulled back.

'What are you doing?!'

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Enough about me…how are you?"

"Fine," he replied dully.

Suddenly she turned to him and observed him closely with narrowed eyes.

"Have you lost more weight?"

His stomach fell.

"No…at least I don't think so."

"You definitely look thinner."

Neville scoffed.

"Well, I feel anything but…" he muttered.

Her eyebrows rose with alarm and she waited for him to continue.

When he didn't she spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So anything you'd like to get off your chest? Goodness knows I blab to you enough."

"No, not really…" he replied.

"I'd love to watch you work in the greenhouse sometime…" began Ginny quietly. "Whenever you have some free time that is if you don't mind."

Neville turned to her, surprised.

Had she really just said she wanted to watch him work in the greenhouse?

He was beyond flattered and replayed those words in his head over and over before responding.

"Of course you can watch me…I just- I think you'd find yourself bored within the first five minutes."

She grinned.

"You'd be surprised at what I can endure."

He smiled back at her.

"Actually…" he began. "I'm free now if you want to go."

"I'd love to."

------

Author's Note: Yes I know this is kind of a cheesy ending but what can I say? The past few chapters have been sort of dark so I wanted to lighten things up a bit! Chapter 15 to follow soon! Thanks for reading and please be sure to review!!! :)