581 visitors from 36 countries – can I just say wow? That's awesome! Hey, whoever is reading from Bulgaria- you're with my ancestors!!! This chapter is a turning point, not only because of the timing, but because Fleur plays an important role. It also sets up the next chapter, where we see a side of Snape that only Luna thinks exists. Happy reading!

Cheers,

Jenna

21

Neville

He struggled against the cords the bound him, but he knew it was no use. They would only dig in tighter. His breath caught in his throat as the door began to grind, stairs slowly coming down, and then the bottoms of three black robes appeared in his line of vision, with two pairs of trainers and a set of inky black boots. Neville strained to look up, but his heavy heart had already prepared him to see Ginny and Luna, both bound as well, and a vindictive, gloating Snape.

"I must admit, I am most displeased that you felt a single guard could keep me from my own quarters." Snape's lip curled. Neville's eyes widened. Why was Ginny bleeding? Her robes were covered! He felt the disillusion charm being lifted and heard Ginny's unhappy moan when Snape pulled the sword from her bag and then stuck the three of them to the floor, before turning to mount the stairs.

"I will be securing this little . . . gem . . . and then we will be discussing your punishment tonight," the Headmaster's voice lingered in the corridor. Luna was crying, silent tears running down her cheeks. Neville pulled himself to as much of a sitting position as he could reach, and leant over, ripping his trousers a bit to get to his discarded wand. The bastard had disarmed him from fifteen feet away before he'd even realized Snape had rounded the corner. How'd he'd done it, Neville figured he'd never know, but if the Headmaster had some sort of ability to see disillusioned figures or sense people's presences, they were in for a lot more trouble before the year was out.

If we make it that far, Neville thought bitterly. This was the biggest breach into Snape's boundaries they'd accomplished yet, and he had been glowering admirably when he'd left to replace the sword in it's case. Neville shivered. He wouldn't let anything happen to his girls. Could he contact someone to come get them?

Ginny must have had the same idea. She was pressing on her coin through her robes, and Neville saw Luna mimic her. At this moment, however, he knew that whoever was in the Room had likely watched the entire sorry evening go down on the Map, and they saw exactly where the three were trapped. No one was stupid enough to send a trio of fighters out to rescue them, not with Snape so nearby and so lethally furious.

Luna let out a stifled sob and Ginny hugged her as close as possible, murmuring something Neville couldn't hear. "So what happened?" he asked, hoping to learn how Ginny had injured herself. Luna stopped whimpering and explained what curses had been in place, and the time standing on the stairs, and then Ginny had broken the case and cut herself in the process. Both the girls grew silent, but if they wanted to keep a few details to themselves, Neville was fine with that. He'd seen enough pain in one year.

"Do either of you have your wands?" Neville asked, and the girls shook their heads. Somehow, waiting for Snape to punish them felt worse than the actual punishment itself- what would he make them do? What would he do to them? Would he kill them? Could he actually kill a student?

The stone steps began to move once more, and Ginny let out a sob that startled Neville. Snape's face appeared, a vein throbbing on his forehead unpleasantly, and his fists were clenched. Neville felt his stomach fall out.

"I have summoned Hagrid. You will assist him tonight in the forest. You will use no magic," he said, his eyes glittering as he summoned Neville's wand silently.

"What will we be doing?" Neville croaked, wishing he sounded more composed.

"Collecting Acromantula hairs," Snape replied, and Neville's stomach rolled over violently at the smirk on Snape's face. "Alecto will be checking in on you at midnight. She'd like the chance to thank you for your excellent performance," he said silkily, and Neville knew without a doubt that they'd gone from sitting on stumps for the night to running and being hunted.

"I will add . . . yes, an hour, onto our weekly chats, Miss Weasley. Miss Lovegood, you will be joining me for an hour after Miss Weasley is done each Saturday, so we can discuss your father's . . . talented journalism skills. And you, Mr. Longbottom," he spoke, his voice barely a grim whisper, "will be whipping up some potions for me during that time each Saturday. If you survive your . . . detention . . . tonight."

"You will bring back a hair for each of you, or we will continue this assignment tomorrow night," Snape said, and their legs were unstuck. Cold air hit his leg through the gap in his trousers, and he felt something sticky on his forehead. He raised his hand- blood smeared across it, and Neville frowned. He hadn't even realized he'd hit his head that hard.

The foursome made a strange procession, one leading the other three to their doom. It felt colder than Neville remembered in the castle, and the corridor lights were flickering on as the sun fell in the sky, a blood-red blaze. They passed the long windows on the west side of the castle, and Ginny and Luna shuffled behind him, swamped by oversized robes. Snape turned at the door and banished the girls' robes, "So you may run, if you need to," he sneered, and Neville clenched his teeth. So they'd be running tonight, eh? Well, that was suggestive. For the first time that night, fear for himself overcame him, and he dropped his face. He would not let Snape see his weakness.

Hagrid was standing uncomfortably to the side, and he seemed to want to say something, but Snape silenced him with a sharp glare. The three set off to the outskirt of the forest, where the sun had fallen, tipping precariously below the edge of the horizon. Luna was clinging to Neville, her body shaking, and Neville patted her on the back. Ginny seemed to be rallying ahead of them, and she straightened up, looking at Hagrid's weary face.

"Do you still have your umbrella?" she asked Hagrid hopefully, and Hagrid shook his head sadly as Neville cocked his head in confusion. Did she think it was going to storm?

"I'm sorry, Gin, but I have ter leave yeh at the edge, and I can' stay with yeh three tonigh'," Hagrid said, wringing his hands. He pulled a long hunting knife from his sheath at his side and handed it to Neville. The thing was heavy in his hand, and he realized that as the man, he'd be the one to kill whatever threatened them. If he could.

Hagrid clapped him reassuringly on his back, and Neville almost bowled over from the weight.

"Yeh'll be needin' it, I fear," he said, and a tear trickled into his beard. "Wish I had summat more to give, but Snape took me umbrella months ago, and Fang won't go in the forest no more," and Neville nodded. "Thanks, Hagrid, this might save us," he said gratefully, and Luna shuddered beside him.

"What are we going to do?" Ginny said in a tiny voice beside him. Neville didn't answer. Things looked bad. In fact, they had seldom looked worse. No one could get out of the castle after dark- there was a sealing spell over the doors and windows. Even the elf door to the kitchen. No one would be able to get out to help them, and they were stuck on the Hogwarts grounds until morning, having skipped dinner. Ginny was weak and still bleeding heavily, from the look of her soaked bandage. They had no wands. Brillant, he thought angrily, and his frustration filled him with warmth, strengthening him. He had to get them through this.

Neville looked at the gnarled trees, dark outlines before them. They'd be safer in the forest with some cover than out on the grounds, where Alecto could see them from the windows if she wished. Neville squared his shoulders and pulled back a branch, letting Ginny and Luna inside.

"Do you remember if the Map had anything from the forest?" Luna asked, and Ginny nodded. "The centaurs are usually camped out for the night in the back, near the west edge of the grounds," she informed them quietly, as the three picked their way through the underbrush. Twigs snapped, and Neville felt burrs catch on his trousers. "The acromantulas have a nest in the southern corner, and the thestrals are in between us now and that area," Ginny continued. Luna whimpered again.

"I don't like spiders," she whispered, ashamed, and Ginny patted her on the shoulder. "I don't fancy meeting one fifteen times my size, either," she said weakly, and the three stopped at a small lake, catching their breath.

"If we had our wands, we could just summon the damn hairs from fifty feet away," Neville grumbled, and Ginny bent down, cupping her good hand and bringing water to her mouth from the stream. Neville and Luna followed suit, knowing that dehydrated, they'd feel hungrier and run slower. They could pass up no help they might encounter.

Ginny shrieked as something dragged her hand under, and Neville pulled her back and slashed his knife in the water. Ginny examined a cut on her hand that Luna was wrapping in a piece of fabric torn from her shirt. "I knew it was too good to be true, having my wand hand healthy," she muttered angrily, and Neville kept his eyes on the stream. Something had smelled the blood on her other hand. After a few minutes patient waiting, the three gave up and abandoned their stream, heading towards a sparce grouping of trees that looked younger. "Can anybody tell which direction we're going now? We don't want to walk right into the acromantulas without a plan first," Luna said, and Ginny pointed to a stump.

"Charlie told me moss always grows thickest on the north side of trees." By that precept, Neville figured they were facing west, into the forest. The three sat down on the ground, and Luna was rewrapping Ginny's deepest cut, discarding the soiled bandage. A warning shot through his body.

"DON'T!" Neville said loudly. "Acromantulas can smell blood, remember? We have to put it somewhere else!" he cried, and taking hold of the mass, he wrapped leaves around it and backtracked to the stream, throwing it in. The pile floated for a moment and then pinchers closed around it and disappeared. Neville shuddered and trekked back to the girls.

"Any ideas?" he asked, and Luna sighed and rubbed her arms. It was mid December, and none of them had cloaks or gloves or scarves, thanks to Snape. Neville pulled the two closer to each side of them, but they were still cold. He struggled out of his robe, which Snape had forgotten to take, and took the knife, ripping it along the side. He wrapped it around the girls, though Ginny protested at first. Luna told her in what was quite a firm voice for Luna that she should stuff it, since she was the one who was weakest right now.

"Fine," Ginny grumbled, and the slanting of the sun fell further down their faces. Soon, they would not be able to see anything. They'd be lucky to make it through the night without losing any limbs. It was freezing outside, even though the snow had melted earlier today. "We should try to move around, get our blood flowing," Luna suggested halfheartedly, and Neville pulled Ginny to her feet, groaning as the cold settled over his chest again. His knees had really felt warm against it.

"We need to decide what to do," he ventured, hoping to Morganna someone else would take charge. This was a time when being the leader made him feel helpless.

"I vote we just stay alive tonight," Luna said calmly. "Tomorrow we can heal Ginny's hands, rest up, get some food, and figure out a plan to get those hairs. We can even check the potions class to see if there are any in there we can filch and bring out with us to the forest."

"And we can hide some essentials in our shoes," Ginny added, catching on hopefully, "like some dittany and a lighter, if Seamus still has that one Dean gave him. We could make torches for light, heat, and as a weapon," she finished. Luna nodded, and Neville thought that perhaps they should focus on a way to hide a few wands on their persons. Snape would be deadly if he found them, but it was worth the shot. They only had two days left in term, as this weekend everyone would go back for Christmas holidays.

"For now, we should gather some leaves to insulate us- we can pile them around the base of a tree and snuggle in. Decaying plants give off heat," Neville reminded. Ginny started shuffling clumsily, her feet kicking at the great heaps of leaves that were surrounding them. Luna cracked off several branches and knelt down, and Neville saw her tying her shoelace around the tops of them.

"A broom for you," she said cheerily, offering it to Ginny, who chuckled. Neville's heart lightened. If they focused on surviving the night, they could make it.

Luna struck down more branches and fashioned a second broom for herself while Neville began cutting down thicker branches, piling them against the sides of two trees that had a huge boulder behind them. Ginny and Luna brushed leaves onto the floor and side of his makeshift hut, and Neville saw Luna bend over, weaving branches into one another to make the roof more durable.

"Good thinking," he offered, and he attacked a thick sapling nearby, clawing at the roots. It killed him to hurt this tree, but he knew it was survival at this point. He could almost sense the trees around them, their pain as the knife slid through bark and thin, delicate shoots. He stripped the little branches and spare leaves off each limb deftly. He didn't want to get poked in the eye when they were inside. Bending the tender sapling, he threaded in under the mass that Luna had woven together, and the arch supported them perfectly. His eyes stung with tears, looking at the little tree that had sacrificed so much. He'd plant another at home in the Greenhouse in its honor. If they made it.

They worked swiftly, and soon, a tiny hovel that would have made Malfoy have a hernia stood before them, bustled by the rock and two thick tree trunks on either side. Luna swept the leaf pile into the floor and Neville looked around for Ginny. Where had she gone?

He traipsed back to the stream, hoping she hadn't been stupid enough to go back to deal with the thing that had bitten her. She couldn't give it bat bogeys without a wand, after all. Ginny was sitting at the base of a tree, snapping some flat, flinty rocks together. In the dark of the forest, Neville saw a metallic glint by her feet.

"I found a shovel," she said, displaying it like a rare fossil at a dig. "I'm trying to see if there are any pieces of flint by the creek- Charlie lit a fire once at home when we wanted to roast a fish I caught and Mum wouldn't let us use her kitchen."

Sparks flew out from the two rocks, and Ginny grinned. "Let's get back to Luna, I can heap some dirt up to cover our scent," Neville smiled. Perhaps they'd get through this after all.

He dragged the shovel behind them, moving dirt over their footprints. You could never be too careful. Harry had told him he'd seen things just as bad as the acromantulas before in here, and Neville didn't want to meet them.

Once back in the small copse of trees, he set to work in the twilight, pulling dirt up around the hut and mounding it over the sides and top. Bits trickled down on Luna, who giggled, and Neville wondered if the creativity used to make their hut was easing the tension. Were they playing house, like little children did? Ginny looked thoughtful, and Neville heard her murmuring a story to Luna about a tree house they'd kept where she had tea parties for her stuffed bears. Luna was chuckling, and Neville wiped sweat that had run down his forehead and pulled up the bark sheath he'd peeled off a giant oak whole. This, along with a heftly rock the two girls had helped him move, was their door. At least it was warmer inside, he thought, and the girls offered him part of the ripped robe, which he accepted. He wasn't nearly as cold as he'd been at first, though that would change when the sweat cooled.

It was night, clearly, but he could still see their faces, even in the light that crept in the cracks of their roof. He studied his friends, Ginny, tired but resting, and Luna, looking for all the world now like she was in the middle of a slumber party rather than the Forbidden Forest. Neville drew them close, hugging the girls, and sighed. Yes, they would be fine. He could still see the outline of Luna's hair and Ginny's arms, lit by the moonlight streaming in through bare tree branches. In fact, it looked almost like daylight, just blue . . .

Moonlight.

Fuck.

"Oh Merlin help us," Neville whispered, as Ginny looked at him quickly and then her eyes flew up, looking at the perfectly full moon rising over them, free of the clouds.

A howl sounded in the distance. It wavered, drawing to a slow, lulling sound, and the hairs stood up on Neville's neck. It was full moon. Their relaxed figures had gone stiff the second he'd sworn, and Luna was now gazing, bright eyed and fearful, at the orb glowing sinisterly above them.

"He wouldn't get us killed," Luna said, "Ginny reminds him of Lily, he couldn't kill her off," she was mumbling, and Neville started shaking. They might not be killed, but they were about to find out just how perceptive a werewolf's nose was. He had a terrible, gut-curling hunch that it was good enough to find them in their mud and thatch hut, especially with Ginny's bleeding hand, which she was gazing at, horror and fresh guilt sweeping across her face. Ginny lurched forward with a look of determination, and Neville reacted in a split second decision.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, AND THAT'S AN ORDER," he snarled, and Ginny sat back down, curled up, and began to sob. Luna curled against her, whispering, and Neville sat up hard, keeping his eyes and ears open, the knife in his hand tipped toward the door.

"Ginny, Luna, can you do that shield thing?" Neville asked quietly, feeling ashamed of making Ginny cry. He would not let her leave to get the blood away from them, no matter how she felt.

Luna shook her head sorrowfully. "You need to be holding a wand in your other hand, and even if we could, we couldn't shelter you too. And I don't think Ginny can do much while she's this hurt, it could drain her magic," she said softly. Neville's mind raced as a second howl and then another sounded. There was more than one of them.

"FUCK!" he snapped loudly. His mirror! He grabbed the robe roughly, turning out the pockets, before remembering with sorrow it was tucked into his cloak pocket. He hadn't wanted it to get broken if Snape dueled him.

Ginny had hers in her dormitory as well. There was no use asking, he'd counseled her against bringing it just earlier that afternoon. Cursing himself for his ineptness, he asked Luna if she knew any other wandless magic.

Luna concentrated for awhile, and there was silence, apart from Ginny's sniffling. Suddenly the stone was growing, and Neville's jaw dropped. Their rock had stretched to cover their roof, and had welded itself around the trees.

"That's as much as I think I can do," Luna panted, rubbing her temples. Three walls were now closed in. Neville breathed out deep. "Ok, so all we have to do is keep ourselves quiet, and defend this door if anything tries to get in," he said, and his voice sounded much more confident than he felt.

Luna closed her eyes, humming, and Neville recognized the position she was in from Parvati and Padma's demonstration. Nudging Ginny, they both took meditative stances, and legs shifted until the were all facing the unknown, backs to their shelter, sitting cross-legged side by side. Deep, low breaths came in and out. Ginny's sniffling stopped, and Luna hummed louder, filling the space with a quiet, comforting buzz.

Snarls and a few deep barks startled them, and they held their breaths as one. A trampling sound rushed past a few yards away, and they were silent until no further sounds reached their ears. Neville let out his breath in a gasp and Ginny and Luna did the same.

"I don't think I can handle ten more hours of listening to that," Ginny whispered exhaustedly, and she started stretching her hand, watching the muscles carefully. The skin kept attempting to regrow, only to fall back, exposing the muscle and making her wince.

"Ginny, didn't you say you'd started working on a wandless patronus?" Luna asked softly.

Ginny nodded, looking at the two of them. "I-I don't know if I can do it, even without this," she said, gesturing to her hand, and biting her lip. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Who should I contact?"

Neville thought. Remus was out, as was Tonks, since she needed to guard his locked den, and most of her family was surrounded by muggle-born refugees at Muriel's.

Luna piped up. "Get Fleur," she said, as though it was obvious. "She's part Veela, she can cross the boundary of the grounds into the Forest without getting thrown back. Dumbledore put it in line so the centaurs could run over if they wanted," she explained, and Ginny nodded. She closed her eyes, her wand arm outstretched, and Neville began reciting times they'd won the House Cup, or he'd seen her laughing with Harry, or that time in the Common Room when he'd asked her to the Yule Ball and her face had lit up. Luna chuckled, and reminded her of the time in Ottery St. Catchpole when they were little, and she'd picked the lock on the broom shed so they could ride together, and Luna had gotten stuck in a tree. Neville told her to think about her kiss with Harry after the House Quidditch Cup, and Ginny's grin spread across her face like honey in the moonlight. Her pale eyelids opened, and her gaze grew steely.

"Expecto Patronum!" she cried softly, and a white light surrounded them. It solidified into a doe, graceful and tentative, who lowered her head to Ginny's and let her stroke the soft fuzz along her elegant head.

"Fleur, we're stuck in the Forbidden Forest in a hut we made. We have no wands. There are at least two werewolves out here tonight. Look for the red sparks and be careful. Please be quick."

At this the doe galloped away, flying around the trees, and Ginny slumped back, drained. Luna bent over her limp figure. "She's fainted," she informed Neville softly. Neville began to tap Ginny's face, but Luna held his hand back. "She needs to rest, and it won't do any good to have her awake," she reminded him, and Neville helped Luna lift Ginny up and pull her back further into the cave behind them. Luna curled Ginny's leg's up and lay her on her side, facing the door, and then tucked the robe carefully around Ginny's back and under her legs, doubling it over her calves.

"We need to keep her warm, she could go into shock," Luna said worriedly, and Neville thought for a brief moment on how he'd never seen Luna so serious in all his life. She ran her hand along Ginny's back experimentally, and Neville felt warmth steal through the sharp air around him.

"I'm trying to do a warming charm, but I can't get the space it covers much bigger than that," she said tiredly, and Neville leaned back against the warmth over Ginny, watching his foggy breath fade to normal. Luna snuggled back against him. His back and sides were wonderfully warm, and he could feel his nose unclog as his face tingled, blood rushing back in. Luna's cheeks had regained their pink, and he looked at Ginny, whose nose was red but was breathing deeply, peacefully.

"That was genius," he said gratefully, and the two enjoyed a few minutes before another howl, much closer, sounded, chased by two more. Luna's body went rigid, and her trembling started once more. Neville prayed in his head that Fleur was already apparating and on her way.

As though the world had read his mind, a loud crack sounded behind them, and the three howls came closer to inspect. An angry growl and some snarls were no more than fifty feet away, and he could hear them getting closer. In the pale silver of the moonlight, Neville felt his breath freeze again. Silver fur, gleaming as the muscle below it rippled, was passing through a gap in the trees. Another body, strangely human but heavily muscled, jet black fur shagging over the shoulders, was passing low to the ground, sniffing and pausing. A third trotted out, heading towards the stream, his snout and throat drenched in blood that shone against his thin white fur. Neville gulped and felt Luna shift beside him, trying to control her shaking, as the first two followed their alpha toward the water. Neville felt his nose itch and held back a sneeze, and the black one snarled at the other, snapping at his feet as they disappeared into the brush.

"Send up the sparks, that had to be Fleur," he whispered, and Luna raised her hand, concentrating, and red light, twinkling like embers in a fire, shot upward and turned to dust. Footsteps came swift from behind them, and suddenly a long mane of silvery hair was being pulled back as Fleur Weasley stepped into their hut.

Neville pulled the door closed hastily and fumbled, trying to make room, and Fleur lit the space with a tiny light.

"How eez she?" she asked quickly, and she set down a bag and pulled out a few blankets, which Neville spread under himself and Luna gratefully. Fleur flicked her wand and the rock behind them began to melt, then solidified again. Its surface shone bright, and Neville realized with a jolt she'd turned it to silver. Wasn't that supposed to be impossible?

"It will keep zem from bozzering us for awhile," she said, and then she turned to Ginny.

"I vant you both to get out ze bandages and ze water bottle- wash 'our hands," she instructed, and Neville and Luna washed the blood and dirt off their faces and hands and legs. Fleur expanded the warming charm, and the rest of the hut defrosted, turning a balmy sixty. Neville's fingers burned, and his feet felt like they were on fire. Luna took her wand as she checked Ginny, and vanished the water on the floor and the leaves, spreading the blankets out to take their place. Fleur hefted Ginny onto a blanket and poured water into her mouth, massaging her throat until she swallowed.

Shuffling sounded behind them, and the three turned as one. A thick furred wolf was reared, walking on strong, clawed feet, his snout quivering as he sniffed the air. Neville froze. Fleur crouched at the head of the hut, her wand raised, and Neville knew he had to help. He pulled a shaking Luna behind him, drawing the knife.

"We will not let 'im inside, and ze door ezz ze only place he can enter," Fleur whispered, silvery hair dancing in the light. The wolf walked closer, and his black eyes met Neville's above the door. Bloodlust shot through them, hitting him like a dragon, and Neville watched in horror as he threw back his head and howled, high and loud, and calls answered. His blood ran cold, as the wolf shot forward, bounding to their hiding spot, and snarled viciously. His teeth glinted, a startling white, and Neville could have sworn he was smiling.

The wolf started to circle their hut, drawing back further from the silver-speckled stone, and coming closer to the door, snarling every time. Neville smelt his dank, musty scent, saw the drool drip from his jowl and hit the dirt. The wolf was afraid of the silver, but he wanted his dinner. Fleur shifted beside him and a gold spell shot out, missing the wolf by an inch. He growled low and snapped against the door. Teeth and pink tongue flashed in front of Neville's eyes, and he slashed the knife across the snout, blood dripping onto his legs through the crack in the door.

A bark of pain hit his ears, and Fleur shot spell after spell at the werewolf, who was backing away, a long, jagged cut covering his snout and extending toward his throat. Neville looked at the knife streaked with crimson, and put it on the ground behind him. He felt dizzy.

When the wolf had gone, Fleur sat down heavily, shaking, and Luna curled her arms around her, rocking her. Tears ran down their faces. Neville was panting, looking at the knife in the corner. He handed it to Luna, who dropped it into a plastic bag Fleur conjured. Luna sealed it.

"If we don't get the hairs, Snape might accept this," she explained, and Fleur turned curious eyes on her as she began working on Ginny's hand again.

"I need ze dittany, it eez in ze pocket," she commanded, and Luna upended the bag hastily, handing her a shining red bottle. Fleur pour water over Ginny's hand and Ginny stirred as Fleur cleaned it, flicking her wand at the cuts. Another bottle was thrust into her hand by Luna, while Neville examined the ball of light that was glimmering at their ceiling, slowly losing power, and Fleur snapped her wand at it again, repowering it.

"She might be eenfected, but zis will help, I 'ope," Fleur said throatily. A tiny puff of purple steam escaped as the wound was cleaned, and then Fleur dropped six tiny drops of the dittany across the wound. Steam rose again, fogging up the air, and when Neville could see again, Ginny's hand was whole, new skin stretched across the deep rift. Fleur sent another warming charm around the hut and spread jelly like goop from her wand across the walls and ceiling, which solidified almost instantly. The cracks sealed in, and the light reflected off the yellow goop.

"Now we must wait," Fleur informed them heavily, and Neville thanked her softly. She nodded as Luna did the same, and pulled Ginny up onto a second blanket, recovering her and setting Ginny's head in her lap. "I vill do anyzing to protect my leetle sister," Fleur said quietly, and Neville put his hand on her shoulder. Ginny lay unconscious, her grey pallor faded to pale white.

Fleur winched her eyes together and Neville started, feeling his body lift up as the blankets thickened to a fluffy mattress.

"Ve may as well be comfortable," Fleur grinned. Luna giggled once and they were silent.

Hours passed in the stillness of the hut. Fleur had no thought to bring anything to eat, and Neville's stomach was growling in protest, along with Luna's. Ginny slept on, her breaths deep and long, and Neville wished he could fall asleep as well, and dream he was back in the Room with Hannah. She had to be worried sick right now.

He nudged Fleur, who was exhausted looking, and put out his hand.

"You two should get some sleep. I'll keep watch for awhile and wake you if anything happens," he offered, and Fleur handed over her white, silver-streaked wand, yawning and rolling over to lie next to Ginny.

"Let me know eef she eez awake," Fleur said, curling up. Neville turned his face to the door, recasting the warming charm. It was going to be a long night.

By six in the morning, it was still night, but the werewolves had not been heard for hours. Neville woke Fleur quietly.

"Do you know of any way to get acromantula hairs? It's what Snape wants us to get. If we don't, he's going to send us out again tomorrow," he said, and Fleur grew enraged.

"He will nevair send Geenny out like zis! She will be weak tomorrow, and you vould all be eaten alive!" she exclaimed hoarsely.

Neville nodded. "Do you think you can hold off anything that comes by while I take the wand and summon a few? I just need to find them and get three, I can use the charm to pluck them from fifty feet off," he pleaded.

Fleur looked at him, then scanned the slowly lightening horizon.

"Very well, but be quick and do not get caught," she said, handing over her wand. Neville transfigured two sticks into long swords for Luna and Fleur, should the need arise, and stood up, stretching his aching back, as he set out.

After two "Point Me" spells and a patronus to tell the girls where he was, Neville was deep into the Acromantulas' territory. He hadn't seen one yet, but it was only a matter of time, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that they were following him, waiting to snatch him up. Shaking his head, he reminded himself angrily that he'd hear something that big if it were following him. Silly to spook myself, he thought.

A wide clearing came into view, and Neville's jaw dropped. Close to thirty huge, hairy spiders were grouped around a small pond, all of them asleep. This was his chance.

He crouched down on the ground, aiming his wand through a bush at the nearest, who was fast asleep, deep, rhythmic breaths shaking his gargantuan body up and down. The eight legs twitched as one, and Neville flinched, wanting to run back. It was near sunlight, however, and he needed to get this done. Steeling himself, he muttered a faint, strong summoning spell, concentrating on the single hair he could discern from the others, a fine, thin line on the nearest leg. It zoomed to his hand silently, and he caught it and stuffed it into his sock. A second came just as easily, but on the third time, the creature moved, legs twitching after the hair was plucked. Its eyes blinked open as the hair zoomed to Neville, and it turned about.

Neville held his breath, perfectly still, for five minutes as the creature shifted, its eyes searching the area, passing over his bush. Finally it settled back into sleep, and Neville crept on sure footed feet back to the hut, the hairs scraping his foot as he stepped.

The sun rose, light pink spreading across the sky, and the moon was visible as a pale pink circle, fading in the light. He swung open the door. Ginny was sitting up, smiling at him.

"I got the hairs," he said proudly.

"YOU DID WHAT?!?!?!"

Neville grinned. Yes, he did have some explaining to do.