Longbottom Rising Chapter 25: Impaction, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 24: Impaction

Neville had unknowingly been squeezing Ginny's wrist so tightly that she let out a tiny squeak. He quickly spun around in the opposite direction and held Ginny back behind him.

"Who's there?" he called out, more calmly and bravely than he had expected.

There was no one there but the overwhelming sense of someone's presence was surrounding them.

Out of nowhere a wind began to pick up and it violently swarmed around them, Ginny's skirt flew up and their hair was whipping around their faces wildly. Next the street lights began flickering off and on and the wind began to emit an eerie howling sound.

"NEVILLE WHAT'S GOING ON?" screamed Ginny.

Without responding to her he took a few steps forward, her wand raised threateningly in his hand.

"WHO'S THERE?" he called again louder. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

"There is nowhere left to hide my dear child, your destiny has arrived and the time has come for you to rise."

Neville looked around trying to see if he could sense where the voice was coming from but soon realized that the trail of sound seemed to have no direction.

"WHO ARE YOU?" he demanded, with a hint of anger in his tone.

"A wise witch once told a boy his future, his destiny was set for him to follow and he lived as though he would expire tomorrow. As it was told- before his poor, unfortunate soul had joined the fallen- he would father a son whose intent in this world was set in stone and upon his arrival his destiny revealed that he held the key to our survival. He must banish all inhibition and delve into the darkest depths of his mind and match wits with the most evil of forces to which his powers are blind. If he shall fail then our empire will fall into the hands of he who shall not be named and upon us his sin will remain forever untamed."

"SHOW YOURSELF!" screamed Neville, but instead the voice continued.

"The time has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled. I have been sent from beyond our realms to voice the revelation of its mystery. The silent warrior who wallows in the darkened gleam of the dying flame, arise he shall and when he does our world will never be the same. He shall come forth and lead the way as the darkness takes its plight, he'll leave behind the boy who died and rise again as a man who hath aged with wisdom and become a hero overnight. Along this journey he will be forced to make the most difficult decisions ever in his life but with the knowledge he hath collected he will act with great precision and triumphant strife. Now marks the beginning of his imminent and tragic quest, he has made his first choice and must continue to pass each test. Listen closely as I speak, as I say that tomorrow he will find just as soon as he will rise that a new day has arrived and he must open up his eyes. Release the lion that rages inside and keep it near, for he is our only hope to relinquish the key to fear."

Silence.

Neville stumbled out to the center of the alley and began to walk around searching for signs of anyone. He had to confirm somehow that he hadn't just lost his mind and gone completely insane like his parents. Could this have possibly been some cruel joke?

He finally turned around to face Ginny whose face had lost every trace of blood, just by her reaction he was relieved to find that he hadn't just imagined this.

"Let's get out of here!" squeaked Ginny, as she grabbed his hand and drug him away.

------

Upon their arrival back to the castle the prophecy kept echoing in his head.

He and Ginny sat silently in the common room watching the fire.

It had taken Neville quite a while to stop shaking and Ginny sat with him the entire time, trying her best to calm him down.

"Who could that have been?" asked Ginny. "We didn't see anyone...there was no one there!"

"I think I know who it was," replied Neville softly.

"Who?"

"The same witch who my father encountered once...Maven Carling, he wrote about her in his journal. Now I just have to find her..."

"This all seems so unreal," began Ginny, "you should tell Dumbledore about what we heard."

He nodded and sighed.

"I have so much new information to process and yet still have no idea when I'm taking my mid-terms and I haven't been studying nearly as hard as I should..."

"Want me to help you?" offered Ginny.

"You have your own courses to study for," he replied, "I appreciate the offer though."

Ginny sighed.

"Anything I can do to help you Neville you know I will you just have to ask."

"I know."

"You say that but you never ask for help with anything, it's as though you see yourself as a burden or something...it's doesn't make you weak to need help from those who care about you."

"I know Ginny I just...there are some things that need to be done alone."

"Like what? Suffer with stress and guilt over things you can't control? You don't have to carry the burden of this yourself you know. I'm here."

When Neville didn't answer Ginny continued.

"So now that we're alone...talk to me, tell me what is going on inside your head because sometimes I don't think I'll ever know..."

"I just want this all to be over," he replied glumly. "I'm not strong enough to- I'm not meant to be a hero Ginny. I just- I'm better off being out of the way. I-I can't do anything right. I can't even walk without tripping over my own feet half the time and I forget so much that it's a wonder I haven't lost my head! I'm just worthless. Why on earth would anyone ever think to give me such a huge task to follow through with!"

"Bollocks!" scolded Ginny angrily, "you are not worthless! You have a gift, obviously there is something about you that is different from everyone else- just like with Harry- you're special and if it weren't meant for this to be your destiny then it would have been dealt to someone else. Don't you see Neville? You are strong, brave and talented and the only thing holding you back- the only thing you are lacking- is faith in yourself. If you tell yourself how great you are you will be able to do anything. I mean it! Remember...just moments ago you were ready to run out and attack someone we couldn't even see without even a flinch or a second of hesitation!"

Neville remained silent so she continued.

"And of course...who could forget what you did at the Department of Mysteries...if it weren't for you who knows what might have happened to Harry," she trailed off, "you were the only one left out of all of us who could help Harry hold off the Death Eaters until the order arrived. You are so much more important than you realize, there is more to you than your knack with plants...you have so much more talent than you allow yourself to show."

"Thank you Ginny that's really sweet of you."

"It's the truth."

He smiled and pulled her closer and kissed her head.

"What ever would I do without you?" he asked.

"Well let's see," she began, "you would probably be driven into a state of permanent madness by Lavender..."

He couldn't help but snicker.

"No but really Ginny...I think you owe Lavender an apology. You were really awful to her."

"I know," agreed Ginny guiltily. "I'll try and see if she'll talk to me tomorrow."

They both stretched out so that they were laying down.

Ginny interlocked her fingers with his and gently traced along his chest with a finger on the other hand.

"Have I mentioned how ecstatic I am to take you home and show off to my family?"

"Only about a million times today," he replied with a blush.

She placed a quick kiss on his nose and giggled.

"Ginny I'm just warning you now...if we see each other less over the following days please don't be upset. I really have to focus on studying for mid-terms and quite frankly you're just too big of a distraction for me- although not in a bad way..." he replied with a sly grin.

She grinned back wickedly.

"Not my fault you're so hard to resist!"

Neville scoffed and rolled his eyes.

A couple of minutes passed and neither of them said a word, he listened to her soft breathing and held her tighter. Aside from all of the current stress in his life this was the happiest he had been in a very long time and he had Ginny to thank for that. It felt right being with her, he couldn't exactly describe why but it just did. Eventually he glanced down at her and noticed that her eyes were closed. He figured she had fallen asleep so very softly he whispered in her ear-

"I love you Ginny."

------

"HEM!"

"Shhh! You're going to wake them! You can be such an inconsiderate pig sometimes!"

"Look I'm fine with them dating but I don't want them sleeping together!"

"Ron...isn't it obvious nothing happened? They're still dressed in their clothes from last night and probably just fell asleep when they returned from Hogsmeade."

"Hmmph," mumbled Ron, "nothing better have happened!"

"Should we let them sleep a little longer?" questioned Hermione.

"Yeah if they want to miss breakfast."

"They are so cute..." replied Hermione softly, "you can tell how much he loves her, look at how he's holding her."

Ron scoffed.

"Cute?" began Ron defensively, "ugh please you are beginning to sound like Lavender!"

Ron cried out as Hermione slugged him.

"Take that back this instant Ronald!"

"Relax I was just kidding!"

"I don't know why I put up with you," she retorted.

"It's because you love me," answered Ron smugly.

"Oh please," began Hermione with a blush, "don't flatter yourself..."

"They still sleeping?" asked Harry, walking over to join his two friends.

"Yes," replied Hermione, "although someone should probably wake them..."

At just that moment Ginny began to rustle and groggily sat up to find the trio staring down at them.

"Good morning," said Hermione, "we were just about to wake you."

"So do you three always stand around and watch people sleep?" she questioned with a yawn.

"Ginny..." began Ron in a low voice, "you two didn't do anything stupid did you?"

"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione.

"It's alright Hermione," began Ginny, "and that's none of your business."

"It might not be mine but I'm sure mum and dad would feel differently!"

"Oh come off it Ron!" began Ginny with a glare. "I haven't done anything that you haven't already done!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ginny smirked.

"Don't play innocent...last week at around, oh about two in the morning I saw you sneak down from the girls' dorms. I'm sure mum and dad would love to hear about that as well."

Ron's mouth fell open and Hermione looked to him with horror.

"Er," began Harry awkwardly, "so shall we be getting to breakfast then?"

"You were spying on us?!" exclaimed Ron.

"No...you just need to learn to be more discreet," replied Ginny.

"Whatever I'm starving I'm going to breakfast," mumbled Ron.

Harry shrugged at the two girls and soon followed.

"How is he?" asked Hermione.

"Who?"

"Neville."

"Fine I suppose...well I mean he's stressed but who wouldn't be with all he's got going on?"

"You should keep an eye on him," began Hermione quietly, as she sat down next to Ginny on the other end of the couch.

"Why?"

"Well like you said he's under a lot of stress and he's got a lot of pressure being put on him...you know, just make sure he's getting some frustration out, keeping up with his studies, eating properly..."

Ginny sighed and stared at her sleeping boyfriend.

"I get the feeling that there's something going on with him that he's not telling me," began Ginny, "I've felt that way for awhile but he won't talk to me and anytime I mention it he gets really defensive and tries to change the subject."

Hermione also watched his sleeping figure in thought.

"As long as he knows you're here he should open up eventually...Neville's always been a very private person."

"Have you noticed how much weight he's lost?" asked Ginny as she bit her lip.

"Of course, you can't not notice, even Ron has mentioned something about it and he doesn't even notice when I change something about myself."

"I mean he eats," began Ginny, "you should have seen what all he ate when we went to Hogsmeade last night..."

"Stress can cause weight loss," began Hermione, "remember how skinny Harry was during fourth and fifth year?"

Ginny nodded.

"I suppose you're right," she agreed. "I just wish I could help him somehow. I imagine he's already told you that he's taking his mid-terms early so he can begin searching for that key..."

Hermione nodded.

"It just seems so dangerous," continued Ginny, "I don't want anything to happen to him. I wish he didn't have to go."

"He and Harry have been training for months," began Hermione reassuringly, "and I'm sure Dumbledore will make sure someone else goes to assist him."

"I'm going to go up and change," replied Ginny quietly, "you can go on to breakfast if you like...I'll come back down and wake him up."

"Things will get better Ginny..."

"I hope so."

Hermione gave her a hug and left.

Ginny went up to change and came back down to wake Neville up. She began to gently rub her hands through his hair.

"Neville wake up."

After a couple of minutes he finally opened his eyes.

Ginny grabbed his glasses from the coffee table and placed them on his face.

"Good morning," she replied with a smile. "You need to go get dressed, breakfast has already started without us. We overslept."

He sat up and stretched his arms.

"I'm not hungry," he began quietly, "you go on without me."

Ginny watched him disapprovingly.

"You have to eat something."

"I ate enough last night to last an entire week," he reminded her.

"Oh fine," she replied, "but you still have to get changed."

He stood up and stretched his legs.

"Go on Ginny I'll be fine. I need to go talk to Dumbledore anyways."

"Alright...see you later," she replied with a kiss on his cheek before leaving.

Neville ran up to the dorm, showered, changed and made his way to Dumbledore's office.

When he arrived Dumbledore's door was open slightly, so he knocked but there was no answer.

He knocked again.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

Neville gently pushed the door in and entered.

Dumbledore wasn't in his office. Neville was about to turn around and leave when something happened to catch his eye, beside Dumbledore's desk was a pensieve. Neville quickly looked around to make sure no one had been watching and slowly approached it. He looked inside and could see that someone had just placed a memory inside. Neville was curious but knew he shouldn't be meddling so he sat down.

However a nagging voice inside of his head kept encouraging him to view whatever was inside the pensieve.

So Neville stood up and placed a hand on either side of the pensieve and stuck his head inside.

Once again he was falling so quickly that he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impending impact that logically he knew wouldn't occur. When he opened his eyes he found himself in a darkened room lit only by a few candles. He could hear sniffles and soft crying amongst people who were gathered around a small table.

He slowly made his way forward and instantly recognized the faces of Dumbledore, a very young Sirius, Remus, James and Lily Potter and Snape along with his much younger grandmother. Everyone but Dumbledore, Snape and his gran had been crying- which he had never seen his gran cry, not even at his granddad's funeral.

"It is my sad duty to inform you all that Frank and Alice have been critically wounded and will not recover," began Dumbledore softly, "last night they were attacked by a group of Death Eaters led by Bellatrix Lestrange. They were tortured with the cruciatus curse for hours until they went insane..."

Harry's mother began bawling even more and buried her face into her husband's shoulder.

"We had no idea..." started Harry's father, "we got note that something had happened but we had no idea they were attacked."

"Augusta I'm so sorry," began Sirius, "Frank was a good man...he always had our backs and his efforts to the order will never be forgotten."

"IS a good man," Augusta corrected him coldly, "my son is a good man, you speak of him as though he were dead which he is not."

"Of course," replied Sirius shamefully, "I apologize."

Dumbledore continued.

"It is reported that they were attacked in their home around 6 p.m. last night...and were not discovered until early this morning."

"What about their son?" asked Remus, "Where is he?"

"He is with my husband," answered Augusta stiffly. "I thank Merlin he wasn't harmed..."

"Wait...the boy was there?! At the house- during the attack?!" asked Sirius incredulously.

"Frank and Alice knew their lives were in grave danger," continued Dumbledore somberly, "they had been packing to leave their home last night. They hid Neville in a cupboard and enchanted it so his cries couldn't be heard. If the Death Eaters would have known of him being there there is no doubt they would have taken him."

"Did the Death Eaters find the key?" asked Remus.

"No," answered Dumbledore, "Frank informed me about a week ago that they had hidden it in case they were to be attacked."

"Did they say where?"

Dumbledore shook his head thoughtfully.

"I never got a chance to ask them of its whereabouts."

"What will happen to the boy?" asked Lily through tears. "He's so young and to already be orphaned...how awful. He was born the day before our Harry..."

"He is not orphaned," replied Augusta in a huff, "his parents are not dead, they are simply...incapacitated for the time being and and my husband and I will raise him."

"Is that what Frank and Alice wanted?" asked Sirius gently.

"Of course that is what they wanted!" began Augusta defensively, "Frank was my son! Why shouldn't he want me to raise my own grandchild?"

"Augusta...I must ask something of you," began Dumbledore, turning to Neville's gran, "if you should find the key that I entrusted upon your son I want you to destroy it."

"Why would I destroy it?" she asked, "that was probably one of the last things my son ever touched..."

"Augusta that key must be destroyed," repeated Dumbledore more firmly, "the fate of our world depends on it."

Augusta said nothing but Neville could tell by the set look on her face and the way her arms were crossed that she did not agree.

"Do I have your word?"

"I wouldn't even know the first place to look," she replied. "If you expect me to go out and search for it then I am afraid I can do no such thing. I have a grandson to raise now and much more important things to do with my time."

Neville could see Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkling even in the dull candlelight displayed before him.

"Of course Augusta I can not ask anything more of you."

"Frank's legacy will surely be carried on through Neville," began Augusta confidently, "I will raise him just as I did my own sons. My Frank will not be pitied but rather respected with the highest degree of honor for his contributions and great sacrifice for us all."

"Very well stated Augusta," replied Dumbledore. "And now our focus is on the best intentions of young Neville. It was brought to my attention years ago that a witch named Maven Carling had once spoken to Frank as a boy and told him that he would father a son who would be essential to our survival. Augusta did Frank ever inform you of this?"

"He did not...but I know Maven and she is about as credible as my Archibald's bad hip! Anything she says can not be viewed as fact, this is the problem with our world today, everyone is willing to believe anything layed out before them as fact. Well I say it is all hogwash!"

"Maven is a very highly respected seer and so far all of her prophecies have proven true."

Neville's grandmother rolled her eyes and pulled a tiny mirror out of her purse to fix her graying hair.

"I have known Maven for a long time," continued Dumbledore, "she is a very old companion who I have known over half my life and I have utmost trust in her."

"She's a fraud," argued Augusta sternly, "and my Archibald is proof of that. She prophecised to me fifteen years ago that my husband would die a horrific and most unhonorable death and he's perfectly fit as the day I met him, hasn't got a weak bone in his body and I can count on one hand just how many times he has been ill in the last thirty eight years. She ought to be locked up...she is a nothing but a disgrace to our kind."

The room remained silent.

"Albus, might I suggest showing Mrs. Longbottom the prophecy?" uttered Snape, breaking the silence.

"I will see nothing of the sort!" she bellowed.

"Mrs. Longbottom I must ask that you view the prophecy," began Dumbledore calmly, "for the sake of your grandson's future. He will be expected to do great things for our world and you must know what they are so you can one day prepare him for his fate."

Augusta suddenly stood up, grabbed her purse and began wagging her finger in Dumbledore's face.

"You do not tell me what I need to do! My grandson is my concern and I will be the only one who has any say for what's in his future!"

"Augusta please," continued Dumbledore, not missing a beat, "it is crucial for you to know what lies ahead, he has been chosen. The prophecy has spoken."

"I will not be patronized! I have no interest in what this so called prophecy has to say about my grandson and that is final!"

"Augusta," began Remus calmly, "we all realize that you are quite upset and not in your right frame of mind-"

"Not in my right frame of mind?!" she bellowed threateningly. "A Longbottom is never not in their right frame of mind! I am appalled that you all are here seeming to suggest that I ought to agree with what course of action to take with my grandson's future, he's just a baby and all of this nonsense is something I do not plan to tolerate! Now if you will excuse me I am going to be returning home to my family!"

"Augusta?" Dumbledore called as she reached the door, "just one more thing and then you may leave."

He waited until she turned around to continue speaking.

"How much do you love your grandson?"

Suddenly Augusta's face fell and soon contorted with rage.

"How dare you ask me such a thing! I've taken him in! I'm going to be caring for him for the next sixteen years!"

"I do apologize Augusta. It was not my intention to suggest that you did not care for Neville but he is a very special boy who needs to be carefully monitored over the course of his young life. Neville is destined for great things and I will ask once more that you view the prophecy, it was Frank and Alice's final wish that I show you."

Augusta's face settled back to her usual expression and she stood without a word, carefully reviewing her options.

"If this was what my son wanted then I will have to oblige."

"Very well," began Dumbledore, "Severus the prophecy please."

Augusta carefully walked back over to the table and sat down while Snape disappeared.

"Albus would you like us to search for the key?" offered James.

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled.

"It is not an issue of concern for the moment," he replied.

A few moments later Snape returned with a glass sphere that was emitting a bright blue glow that illuminated the faces of everyone in the room as he set it down on the table before them. Dumbledore waited a moment and then drew his wand out and lightly touched the sphere and began to chant under his breath.

Suddenly goosebumps rose all over Neville's body as he immediately recognized the voice that had spoken to him and Ginny the other night at Hogsmeade.

Silence.

The younger members of the order all watched each other with wide eyes and then turned to Augusta, who remained still and calm.

"I must ask one more thing of you Augusta," began Dumbledore softly, "do not speak to Neville of this. The time will come for him to learn of his destiny but that time is not now. We must wait until he is older, we must protect him from the truth for as long as we can."

"And what good will this do?" retorted Augusta.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"It can do no good just as it can do no harm. Let the boy discover in his own way, whenever he is ready the time will come for him to be told."

"I must be going," replied Augusta coldly, suddenly standing up. "I will be in touch."

And then she was gone.

Neville was relieved to know that his gran had always been difficult, even before he was old enough to realize it. He had always assumed from a young age that she was only like this to him. He loved her and she meant everything to him but he often found himself wishing that she were more loving towards him. She often came across as cold and uncaring but that is just the way she was raised and it is all he has ever known. He knew she loved him and she had certain ways of showing it, but sometimes it wasn't enough and he still managed to feel so alone and unloved.

"No wonder Frank and Francis were so rebellious..." muttered Sirius to no one in particular, "that woman is impossible to please. You just can't bargain with her."

No more than twenty minutes after his grandmother left the others slowly began to file out as well until only Dumbledore and Snape remained.

"Severus you have served me well and for your courage and great bravery I am forever in your debt. However I must ask you to do something else for me."

"Anything Albus."

"I want you to watch over the boy when he is of age to attend Hogwarts. His grandmother is blind with grief and defiance and I do not want her to negatively influence him from what is to be his fate. I need you to make sure he is kept out of harms way until he is fully equipped with the magic and knowledge to protect himself. I trust you Severus."

Snape watched the older wizard unblinkingly for many seconds before finally nodding.

Suddenly Neville felt himself being pulled away at a speed that seemed even quicker than when he had first arrived.

When he was back in Dumbledore's office he was startled to find that the older wizard had been in the room.

"Good morning Mr. Longbottom."

"Oh er- morning s-sir...I'm sorry I-I just came in and-"

"Please have a seat."

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"Neville it is alright. I am glad that your curiosity allows for you to make such formidable decisions, that may just come in very handy."

"Professor...if you asked Snape to look after me while I was here then why has he treated me so horribly? Why does he hate me?"

"He does not hate you my boy..."

"Have you seen the way he treats me?! He's treated me like right garbage for the past seven years! There has to be a reason for it!"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled once more.

"I would imagine there is," replied the aging wizard.

"Well do you know?" asked Neville.

"I am afraid I can not speak for Severus."

Neville sighed.

"Professor...the reason I'm here is because when Ginny and I went to Hogsmeade last night we heard Maven Carling's prophecy about me..."

At this Dumbledore's eyebrows rose and his normally small eyes grew wide.

"And I just thought that I ought to let you know."

"I am very glad you have informed me of this Neville. It is time..."

"Er time for what?"

"It is time for your journey to begin."

"B-but what if I'm not ready! I-I...there is still so much I haven't learned! So much I don't know! I-I'm still inexperienced! I-I can't just be expected to go out there as I am now?!"

"And why is that Mr. Longbottom?"

"Because I'm...I'm a screw up! The fate of the wizarding world in my hands? That's like giving a serpent your arm to bite! I'm poison!"

"Ah but this is where you are wrong my boy," began Dumbledore softly, "you are the anecdote but you must find within yourself the true purpose of your heart and when you do the rest will all come easier than you think."

"I don't understand..."

"You will soon enough."

"I hope so..."

"Will you be prepared to take your mid-terms tomorrow evening?"

Neville's heart fell. He hadn't expected to be taking them so soon, he had been studying a little when he had free time and Hermione had helped him a couple of times but it wasn't nearly enough and he couldn't put it off any longer. He wanted to get as early of a start on the search for the key as he could.

"Yes sir."

"Very good. You will not attend classes tomorrow so you can have the entire day to study. Then you will report to my office tomorrow following dinner to take them and then you will be free to begin your search."

Neville nodded.

"I have faith in you Mr. Longbottom," replied the old wizard kindly, "just look within yourself and you too will see this."

Neville thanked Dumbledore and left. He looked down at his pocket watch, breakfast was already over so he made his way to Francis' office.

When he entered no one was inside so he decided to try checking the room of requirement and sure enough they were there.

"Hello Neville," greeted his uncle cheerfully, "will you be joining our dueling session today?"

"You better," began Maitland, "dad says you've been the reigning champ in his class and I'd love a challenge."

"So who is dueling first?" asked Francis as he twirled his wand eagerly in his hand.

"I'll go," offered Harry.

"Me too," echoed Nelie.

"Alright get into position. Wands ready? And duel!"

Harry and Nelie both shot off attacks at exactly the same time.

"OCCUMBOLUS!"

"RIDEO!"

They both successfully blocked their attacks.

"DISTRAHO! TRINIUS!" bellowed Nelie, as she ducked out of the way just in time to avoid Harry's spell.

Harry was hit and immediately distracted and then was dragged down by an invisible force that had slipped beneath his feet.

From the floor Harry uttered his next spell.

"MANIBUS IGNEUS!"

Immediately after the jet of white light exited his wand and hit Nelie she dropped her wand with a shriek.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

But just as Nelie's wand flew up into the air towards Harry she countered it and it jumped back into her outstretched hands.

"ARTUS LIQUIDUS!" she bellowed in return, hitting Harry right in his wand arm.

Suddenly his limbs went limp and he collapsed to the floor, he tried to move but his limbs were liquefied.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" she finished and Harry's wand flew effortlessly into her hand.

"Excellent work Cornelia," replied her father proudly, "good effort Harry."

Nelie did a curtsy and winked at Harry as she countered the spell and tossed him his wand.

"Who would like to duel with Cornelia now?"

"I'll take her," began Maitland, stepping up into position, "after all it should only take about a second to defeat her."

Nelie stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Wands ready. And go!"

Before Francis had even had a chance to say go they both impatiently shot off their attacks.

"CAPITIS INGENS!"

"ACCIDO VESTITUS!"

Jets of bright purple and silvery grey exited both their wands at the same time, only Maitland blocked his and Nelie was hit. Suddenly her clothes began to come to life and attack her, slowly ripping at the seams.

"There now you haven't any more excuses not to buy a new wardrobe!" joked Maitland.

"Oh yeah? CAPITIS INGENS!"

Maitland blocked her oncoming attack once again and laughed.

"Admit it sis...I'm too good and you know it! AUTUS CAPILLUS!"

Before Nellie could even counter the previous spell she was hit with the next and suddenly on top of her clothes attacking her, her short pixie hair had begun to grow at an alarming rate until it covered her entire body and was beginning to fill the room. Somehow she managed to stick her arm out of the growing hair and although very muffled, called out her attack.

"SICCO!"

Suddenly the lights went out.

"CAPITIS INGENS!"

When the lights came back on everyone watched in awe as Maitland's head began to grow at an even more alarming rate than Nelie's hair, like a balloon, until eventually it was three times its normal size.

"How do you like your new head little brother?" taunted Nelie, who had countered her spell and was back to normal, "now your ego should feel more properly fitted!"

Francis leaned in towards Neville.

"You should have seen them yesterday..." he began quietly, "they were much more viscious to each other...even as kids they would duel for hours...it was never really about winning the duel but always more about who could humiliate the other the worst."

Maitland quickly countered the spell and shot off another, which Nelie blocked and sent back to him.

Maitland dodged it and caught her off guard.

"REDDO IGNOTUS!"

Nelie was hit and immediately attempted to fire off another spell but could not be understood.

"What was that?" asked Maitland, "sorry...can't quite understand you! Might want to speak up!"

He fired another spell which flipped her up in the air, her arms and legs sprawling about as though she were swimming through mid-air.

She was flipped again until she was upside down.

"RIDEO!"

Suddenly she began to laugh hysterically as though an invisible pair of hands were tickling her.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Maitland reached out and grabbed her wand with a look of satisfaction on his face as Nelie toppled to the ground below.

She got up, brushed herself off and glared at her brother.

"YOU CHEATED! YOU KNOW WE SAID NO SNEAK ATTACKS!"

"That's the whole point of a duel Nel, anything goes. Plus do you think Death Eaters are going to be polite and warn us before attacking? Pay more attention next time...maybe you'll learn something."

"You little bastard!"

"Hey! Hey now kids...it's just supposed to be for fun so Harry and Neville can put into practice what they've learned! Settle down."

Nelie continued to glare at her brother as he got into position for his next opponent.

"Alright Neville you're up," called Francis.

Neville gulped there was no way he could beat Maitland after what he had just witnessed. He and Nelie must have both had at least five or six years of serious experience respectively to him and Harry. He took a deep breath and readied his wand.

"Shake gentlemen," replied Francis.

Neville and Maitland approached, shook hands and returned to their places.

"Alright...duel!"

"MONTENSEM!"

"PRAEVENIO!"

Neville had shot off a prevention charm which halted Maitland's attack- who looked astonished and began to examine his wand- right in its tracks.

"IMPETUS!"

The jet of black hit Maitland square in the chest and he flew backwards so fast that he broke right through part of the flimsy wall.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Neville asked as he started to run towards him but quickly stopped as Maitland jumped right back up and fired another curse, catching Neville off guard.

"PANIGIO!"

Neville felt as if he were being pounded by a million fists and the force of it all brought him to his knees.

Maitland shot off another curse which Neville blocked.

"ENGORGIO!"

Neville's curse had barely caught Maitland on the leg, which immediately began to swell to five times its normal size.

"AGUAMENTI!" bellowed Neville, "TALEA!"

First Maitland was soaked with a jet stream of water that expelled from Neville's wand and then an invisible force swept beneath his feet and knocked him flat on his back.

Maitland blocked Neville's next curse, jumped up and fired another.

"TORPEO!"

Neville's entire body went numb but he still managed to lift his wand and bellow out his next attack.

"LUMINOSUS!"

Suddenly a bright light erupted from Neville's wand hitting Maitland right in the eyes.

He tried to shield his eyes but the light was so bright he didn't react in time.

"VALIDUS VENTARMUS!"

A large gust of wind burst inside the room of requirement causing the entire room to shake.

The strong gust of wind moved towards Maitland who could only stand frozen with amazement as it engulfed him and began to spin and throw him around in a chaotic fashion- just as it had Hermione during their first dark arts duel.

"RADIXUS!"

Suddenly gigantic, bright green roots erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around Maitland to pull him down.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Maitland's wand flew out of his hand and straight into Neville's.

As Maitland continued to struggle with the roots, everyone else ran over to Neville to congratulate him.

"Wow Neville you just keep getting better and better!" exclaimed his uncle.

"That was fantastic!" squealed Nelie.

"A little help over here?!" called Maitland helplessly.

Neville countered the curse and went over to his cousin to shake his hand.

"Mate...I've got mad respect for that," began Maitland with a grin, "anyone who can beat me in a duel is alright in my book."

Neville grinned back.

"Alright Neville," began Francis slowly, "you ready to duel an old man?"

Neville laughed.

"Sure."

"But I beg of you go easy on me...I'm not as young and quick as I used to be."

Maitland smirked.

"Not as magically advanced either..."

Neville and Francis took their places.

"Alright men shake...and on the count of three," began Nelie. "One...two...three!"

Neville immediately shot off one spell after the other only to have them all repelled by Francis.

"CONFUNDUS!"

Francis blocked the spell and sent it right back to Neville, who immediately was met with confusion.

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

Neville was hit once again and everything was moving in slow motion.

"FINITE INCANTATUM!"

Everything returned to normal and Neville fired off two spells, which successfully hit his uncle.

"RURSUS FLIPEO! SCINDO!"

Francis was forced into a back flip and ended in a rather painful looking split, his legs frozen in that position, which left his children laughing in hysterics.

Francis countered the spell and shot one at Neville which he countered and sent back to Francis, which he blocked.

Their duel carried on for another twenty minutes and Neville couldn't believe he was holding his own against such an experienced auror! It was truly an unbelievable feat to him and he had to keep himself focused otherwise he would fumble and be defeated.

"MOBILIARBUS!"

Neville blocked the spell.

"MUFFLIATO!"

Suddenly Neville wasn't able to hear anything and was unaware of Francis disarming him.

He countered the spell and was suddenly beginning to feel dizzy, they had been dueling so intensely that he was covered in sweat, his vision began to blur slightly and he bent down on his knee to rest a moment but when he tried to stand up again he collapsed.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" came his uncle's soothing voice. "That was quite a duel but I think that's enough for today..."

Maitland and Nelie went over to Neville to make sure he was alright while Francis and Harry hung back.

"Whoa Neville I can't believe you lasted that long against our dad!" began Maitland excitedly, "even we can only last a good five or ten minutes whenever we duel him!"

"Harry...has he been feeling alright?" Francis asked him quietly, "he doesn't look very well."

"I'm sure he's fine," replied Harry, "he's just under a lot of stress and he didn't eat breakfast this morning so maybe that's why he's so tired."

"Has he been talking to you at all?"

Harry shook his head.

"Not really."

"He can't go off looking for that key like this," continued Francis. "And right now he looks in no shape to be setting off on such a stenuous journey..."

"I'll help him," replied Harry, "this is all still new to him."

"Just please keep an eye on him Harry," began Francis, "and if you should ever think anything is not right with him please tell me. I may not have been in Neville's life for long but he is my brother's only son and I want to do what's best for him. I'm sure my mother has raised him well but she can be quite...well for lack of a better word oblivious to the rest of the world where she isn't involved."

Harry nodded.

"Alright the rest of you out," called Francis jokingly, "go on get out of here!"

"Bye dad! We'll owl you later," replied Nelie, as she hugged him and followed Harry out of the room.

"Son that was some good dueling. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks dad. See you later."

Francis waited until his son was gone and slowly approached Neville who was still hunched over on the floor with his head between his knees.

"You alright?" he asked his nephew worriedly.

When Neville didn't respond Francis bent down next to the boy and was alarmed to find that he was breathing very heavily and unable to speak.

"Neville?"

"S-sorry tryin' not to pass out."

"Why didn't you eat breakfast this morning?"

"Overslept."

"Neville you can't afford to not eat with the kind of schedule you have...you need strength."

"I know," huffed Neville, "I'll be fine...just need to rest a moment."

Francis watched his nephew, it was obvious that he wasn't taking care of himself.

"Do you skip meals often?"

"Only if I've overdone it," replied Neville slowly.

"What do you mean overdone it?"

Neville groaned.

"Sometimes...I can eat up to four, five or even six servings in one sitting," began Neville casually, "and if I do that then I usually skip the next meal."

Francis stared at his nephew in astonishment.

"Neville that isn't healthy at all."

"You haven't seen me when I was younger. I've always been fat which is why I can put away a lot of food but I'm trying my best not to."

"Neville you aren't fat," replied Francis softly, "whatever gave you that impression?"

Neville sighed.

"I'm trying to get rid of this mainly," he replied, grabbing the imaginary fat that clung to his midsection.

Francis stared at him dumbfounded.

"What are you talking about? Get rid of what?"

"Nothing," mumbled Neville, "just never mind."

"Neville are you alright? Do you want to go back to my office and talk?"

"I'm fine I-I should be getting to my next class..."

"Why don't you stop by the kitchen first and grab a bite."

"I don't have time."

Francis sighed.

"Here let me help you up."

He grabbed Neville just below the elbow and pulled him up only to have Neville fall over again.

"There will be no class for you," replied his uncle sternly. "We are going straight to the hospital wing."

"No! I'm fine I don't need to go there!"

"I think you do. The extra rest will work wonders."

"I think you are overreacting," argued Neville, "I'm fine...just leave me alone."

"Now listen here young man-"

"JUST GO!" screamed Neville. "I don't need you! I can take care of myself!"

"Not by the look of you you can't."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Neville viciously.

"You're getting weaker Neville. It's been apparent for awhile now...you are in no shape to go on this journey..."

"Yeah? Well I don't need you telling me what I can or can not do! Who are you to say? You're a coward remember?! You ran off and abandoned your family to marry the enemy! You betrayed my parents! What credibility do you have?!"

"Neville you need to settle down..."

"NO I don't! Just because you can't control your own life doesn't mean you can try to step in and control me!"

Silence.

For a moment Francis looked angry but then his anger quickly subsided and he felt extremely sad. This wasn't the Neville he had met in the beginning of the year, the boy before him right now was someone entirely different, so full of anger. He was reminded of himself as a young lad.

"Neville I apologize if I am coming on too strongly but I think you need a day to rest..."

"You're the old man remember?" snarled Neville, "maybe you should be the one to rest."

Francis sighed again.

"Alright Neville you win. I'm going to leave you alone. Just remember I'm here when you need me."

Francis then turned around and left and as soon as he was alone Neville unabashedly broke down into tears.

------

The guilt of how awful he had treated his uncle that morning ate away at Neville.

He couldn't believe how vicious he had been. He had just snapped out of nowhere and he couldn't figure out why.

Lunch was about halfway through and he hadn't even had the energy to eat. Instead he sat staring blankly at his plate of food while everyone else around him chattered excitedly about how their days had been going so far.

"Neville what's wrong? You haven't said a single word," observed Ginny.

"Too tired..." he mumbled.

"Maybe you should try eating something," she suggested.

"Not hungry."

"Are you ever?" she asked.

"No," he answered honestly.

And this was the truth, even when he ate he wasn't eating because he was hungry but rather because he was stuffing all of his emotions deep down to where they couldn't be reached, to where he would never even think to address them.

"Have you had a bad day or something?" she asked.

"No."

"Look if you won't talk to me then...I don't even know."

"I think I'm going to go garden for a bit," he replied quietly.

"Would you like me to join you?" she asked hopeful.

"I just need to be alone right now..." he answered. "I'm sorry."

Ginny looked up at him sadly as he stood.

"Alright..." she replied with disappointment.

He left the Great Hall and went straight to the fitness center.

He had been hoping that maybe the intense dueling from that morning (along with the fact that he hadn't eaten yet today) had burned off a pound or two.

He walked straight up to the scale and removed all of his clothing except for his boxers and stepped on. He adjusted the weights until the bar balanced at one hundred and forty five pounds. He had lost two pounds!

'Now that's the way to do it! You are right back on track!'

Although he was happy about this he was still overwhelmingly sad, he felt like a inferi- living but without a soul. He redressed himself and decided to go to the common room and attempt to study for a little bit.

He was relieved to find it empty. He went up to the dorm to get his books and came back down and began to study.

About a half hour later he could hear voices.

"Hey mate what are you doing?"

It was Harry, closely followed by Ron.

"Studying I'm taking my mid-terms tomorrow."

"Why so soon?" asked Ron.

"Because I have something I have to do."

At that Harry stared hard at Neville.

"Like what?" pressed Ron.

"Something that doesn't involve you," replied Neville more sharply than he had intended.

"Uh," replied Ron defensively, "what's your problem? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed did we?"

"Possibly."

"Neville there is an order meeting tonight," started Harry, "I only just found out. It's been scheduled for after dinner."

"Alright."

"Come on Harry," started Ron huffily, "Neville's made it quite clear that we aren't wanted here..."

Neville got about another hour of studying in when Ginny entered.

She sat down next to him but he did not look up from his books. When she remained quiet for the next few minutes he finally looked up to see what was the matter and was alarmed to see that she had tears streaming down her face.

He finally closed his books and addressed her.

"Ginny? What's wrong?"

"Have I done something? Why won't you talk to me...don't you trust me?"

"No- Ginny of course I trust you-"

"I just feel like we're growing more and more distant...I know that isn't what you want for us and it's not what I want but how am I supposed to be a good girlfriend if I don't know what is going on in your life? How am I supposed to support you when you don't tell me things? I'm not asking for your entire life story...but I just- I know that something isn't right with you...I can feel it..."

Neville bit his lip and watched her closely, right now his feelings were very conflicted. He should have been comforting her by wrapping her tightly in his arms and wiping away her tears, telling her everything would be alright but at the same time he felt angry, angry that she wasn't leaving him alone like he wanted, angry that she was prying where she had no right to, he felt violated and threatened. She had no right, no right to accuse him of anything.

'Who does she think she is? She's never going to leave us alone...you have to get rid of her! She's going to ruin everything! Just think- if she gets her hands on me...all of your hard work, all of your achievement...gone, just like that! She wants to control you...just like everyone else! Well they can't! Don't let her win...don't let her take me away from you...that's what she wants. She's selfish, she wants you all to herself! She doesn't care about you like I do! I take care of you...I help you get the things you want and she only wants to take them away! Get rid of her!'

He plastered on a phony smile and grabbed her hand.

"Ginny you are being paranoid," he began, "there is absolutely nothing wrong. I'm sorry for the way I acted during lunch...I've been in kind of a weird mood today but I feel much better now that you're here."

Ginny remained tight-lipped and did not smile.

"I'll take you out to Hogsmeade later," he continued, "I'll buy you a new outfit."

Ginny shook her head slowly while another tear fell down her cheek.

"Neville Longbottom don't you dare try to buy me off..."

"I'm not," he replied defensively, "I just...don't want you to be mad at me."

"Neville I'm not mad! I'm worried about you! And hurt that you won't tell me what's going on!"

"Once again," he began through clenched teeth as his patience wore down, "there is nothing wrong. How many times must I say it?"

"Until I believe you. If this is just some pathetic attempt to push me away then I will tell you right now it isn't going to work!"

"Have you ever thought that maybe you're just looking for something to fight about? You're nit-picking at me to spill my feelings when I really am not feeling anything at the moment other than stress! I tell you everything else but apparently that's not good enough! What do you want from me Ginny?"

"You want me to stop caring? Fine! I'll just stop giving a shit about you is that what you want?!"

Neville stared at her with wide eyes. She was really angry, her face had gone as red as her hair and her eyes were slit to where her irises were barely visible. He had never seen her this angry before and it startled him into disbelief. Had he really just made her this angry?

"Ginny...I-I'm so sorry. I had no intention of getting you so riled up...I honestly don't know what got into me."

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

"Please...Ginny what can I do to make it up to you?"

Silence.

Neville began cursing under his breath and stood up to leave.

"Wait," she called suddenly standing up, "talk to me," she begged.

Neville sat back down and she sat next to him, the anger on her face quickly desolved into desperation.

"Please?" she prodded.

He stared at her and suddenly felt his heart breaking. He was causing her to become angry and sad...him of all people! He was no better than Dean who had always been upsetting her, in fact, he was worse than Dean. He didn't deserve to be with Ginny, Ginny deserved so much better than him. For a split second he considered telling her everything, just to get it off his chest and who knows, maybe she could help him because he knew what he was doing wasn't normal but it comforted him. It was his security and it made everything else in his life seem a little less crazy and it kept him in control of things. It was the one thing in his life that he felt he couldn't live without, nothing else mattered, except for maybe his gran, Algie, Enid and Ginny but anything else seemed so unimportant.

Neville opened his mouth to speak but no words escaped.

Ginny's eyes sparked with hopefulness as she watched on, begging him with her eyes to say whatever was on his mind.

"I'm sorry Ginny," he finally replied firmly, "that's all I can say."

She nodded and bit her lip.

"I've got to go," he mumbled, grabbing his books. "I'll see you later."

This time Ginny did not try to stop him, instead she stared dumbly into the dying fire and began to cry.

------

The rest of the day went by so slowly. Neville couldn't stop thinking about how badly he had been screwing up. First with his uncle and now with Ginny...who else could he possibly upset before the day was over?

He hadn't seen Ginny since their argument in the common room and he was afraid to see her, in fact, he was avoiding her altogether. He felt so ashamed of his behavior and part of him wanted her to just dump him and get it over with. As much as he loved Ginny dating her was never a good idea. He would never be good enough for her, he would always be holding her back from better things and he couldn't understand why she would allow him to do so.

Dinner was in fifteen minutes and he had been in the library studying for the past two hours. He had already decided that he was going to skip dinner, not only was he not hungry but the stress and anxiety of having to be around everyone, especially Ginny, made him feel queasy. He just couldn't handle it right now.

"Neville?"

He looked up to see Hermione approaching. She sat down across from him and gave a small smile.

"Wow you've really been studying hard."

"Yeah about eight weeks too late," he began softly, "I'm just making up for lost time...not that it will do any good. I'm sure I'm going to do miserably on my mid-terms..."

"You can't think like that," began Hermione sternly, "you're only going to psych yourself out and make things worse. Just go in with a positive attitude, apply what you know and you should do fine. You can't allow yourself to get anymore stressed."

"Too late for that," he mumbled.

"So what happened between you and Ginny earlier?"

"Don't want to talk about it."

"Neville she was really upset..."

"Hermione...I just said I don't want to talk about it."

"She's worried about you Neville. We all are...you haven't been yourself in weeks..."

"Well then you tell me Hermione...how am I supposed to be? Who am I? I don't even think I know anymore..."

"You aren't happy...your entire life has become consumed with trying to achieve so much in so little time, with trying to please everyone...it isn't healthy. You have to just learn to accept that you can't do everything at once and right now you need to focus on you."

"So I suppose Ginny hates me?"

"No...no one hates you Neville."

"I wouldn't blame her," he continued, "I've been awful to her."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've been snapping at her and saying things I shouldn't...she deserves better than me."

"Neville everyone has bad days and snaps and says things they shouldn't...that doesn't make you a bad person and you are good to her. You make her happy."

"Hermione...can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Have you ever done something...that you know isn't right but you just can't help...you know, because it makes you feel good?"

Hermione stared at him baffled.

"Neville what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he muttered, "I should really get back to studying."

"Well dinner is almost ready. Why don't you take a break and then come back to it."

Neville shook his head vigilantly.

"I can't I've got to study."

"But you've been studying all day...you can take a few minutes to eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"How can you not be hungry? You haven't eaten at all today."

"I just can...okay?"

"I really think you need to take a break...you're letting yourself get overwhelmed."

"Yeah? Well I really think you should worry about yourself and leave me alone."

Hermione looked hurt but tried to remain unphased.

"You need to stop punishing yourself..."

"What?" exclaimed Neville sharply.

"In your mind you just...see yourself as this bad person when you aren't. You just...don't have any confidence, you set yourself up for failure because that is all you know. I think you're afraid to succeed...I think you're afraid of what success might bring..."

"Just like you are afraid to be wrong...and you are."

"Neville...I think you need to talk to someone- someone who can help you deal with this."

"Talk to someone about what and to deal with what? What is there to talk about? About how I'm being asked to help defeat Voldemort when I'm clearly not the right person for the job? About how screwed up I am and how I'm a lost cause? This wouldn't be something no one already didn't know."

"You have to be strong mentally in order to do this," she replied.

"Are you suggesting that I'm not?"

"No not at all-"

"Because that's what it sounds like to me."

"You can't keep depriving yourself of sleep and food...it's beginning to affect you negatively. I know you probably think it makes you stronger in some way but it doesn't. It's making you weaker and you aren't going to be able to continue for much longer like this. It's going to catch up with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about and I'm not depriving myself of anything."

"You've always got an excuse ready when it comes to not eating and no one is buying it anymore."

"I eat Hermione...so you can stop with your pointless lecture. You've seen me! Everyone's seen me!"

"Yeah but when you do you stuff yourself to the point where you can't even move! And more often you don't eat than do."

They both fell silent and Neville felt the anger building up inside of him again, first Ginny thinks she can accuse him of things and now Hermione? Who did they think they were? They weren't his mother! They had no right to speak to him as they had been. He would never speak to anyone like that, with his finger pointed and ready to accuse. He was suddenly beginning to grow paranoid and wondered if they had been talking to each other and were planning to gang up on him. This only made his anger grow greater.

"You know," he began feverishly, "If you worried about yourself a little more instead of me...maybe Ron or other blokes in general would actually take notice of you but obviously that's not something you are very interested in now is it?"

Hermione's mouth fell open and she stared hard at Neville with tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Neville suddenly realized that he had gone too far but he didn't care. Whatever he had to do to get her off his back he would, no matter what the cost. He couldn't have her ruining all of the hard work he has put in. He'd find a way to make it up to her eventually but she was getting too close to figuring things out and he had to throw whatever he could at her to change her sense of direction, he had to blindside her so she would forget about him.

Without a word Hermione slowly stood up and walked out of the library.

Neville immediately was plagued with guilt, he left his books lying open and ran out of the library to the nearest washroom and lunged for the toilet where he began violently heaving up the contents of his stomach, which was nothing but bile and acid.

------

Neville quickly made his way to Hagrid's hut where he was to meet Harry and his uncle so they could travel together for the order meeting. He was hoping he wouldn't have to interact with anyone along the way and he gladly got his wish. When he arrived Harry had been sitting inside visiting with Hagrid, his uncle and cousins had not yet arrived.

"Why hallo thar Neville! How ye been?"

"Fine," he mumbled unconvincingly.

"Why th' lon' face boy?"

"Nothing...just tired."

"Missed you at dinner..." began Harry, "everything alright?"

"Yeah. Just been studying."

Neville sat quietly in the corner while Harry and Hagrid continued to visit.

The shame and horror at how awful he had been treating those closest to him was finally beginning to sink in and it literally made him want to run to the washroom and vomit some more but he had nothing left in him to throw up. He was completely empty.

About five minutes later Francis entered, followed by Nelie and Maitland and also rather unexpectedly, Ron and Hermione.

Neville's heart sank. It was bad enough he was going to have to be around one person he'd wronged today but now two? He immediately averted his eyes as they walked in and tried to calm his nerves but nothing seemed to work.

"Hello Neville are you feeling any better?"

He finally looked up to see his uncle smiling down at him.

"A little," he lied.

"Good. Well are we all ready?"

Neville quickly stood up and rushed out the door and began to walk ahead of everyone. He couldn't bare to walk with them due to the immense shame and embarrassment he felt. He didn't deserve to walk alongside them. Besides they probably didn't want him around them anyways.

When they arrived at the gates they apparated to Number 12 Grimmauld place and walked inside of Sirius' home. They had been the first to arrive and moments later Sirius greeted them happily, immediately embracing Hermione and Ron.

Neville took the farthest seat away from everyone and hoped they would all leave him alone and surprisingly they did.

"We've been staying here," began Nelie to Ron and Hermione, "we've been having loads of fun."

"Yes...maybe a bit too much," confirmed Sirius. "However now it's time to get down to business. The prophecy has been revealed once more and it is time for us to prepare for what is to come. We've got a long and treacherous journey ahead of us...times are about to get very dark."

What Sirius had just said sent goosebumps all over Neville's body. The reality of what was happening had never felt more real.

"So when will we become official order members?" asked Maitland.

"That's not for me to decide," answered Sirius. "Just wait...the time will come eventually."

Sirius looked over towards Neville and then to Francis.

"What's with him?" he asked quietly.

Francis sighed.

"Other than rampant, teenage hormones? I wish I knew."

"He's been very distant lately," added Hermione, "He won't talk to anyone. He just keeps shutting himself away."

"Well that isn't good," continued Sirius, "we need to break him of that...otherwise it may be used against him in the worst way imaginable."

Sirius left momentarily and returned with a platter full of chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies, chocolate frogs, pastries and all kinds of other grossly fattening treats and set them down on the table.

"Help yourselves," he began, "thought you might all be hungry."

Everyone except for Francis and Neville grabbed something.

"Still not a fan of the sweets, eh Francis?"

Francis shook his head.

"Never really have been."

"What about you Neville? There's plenty to go around."

"No thank you. I'm not hungry."

"Alright, suit yourself."

As Neville observed the food, it was suddenly brought to his attention that his stomach had been protesting his decision not to eat. Part of Neville wanted to go over there and satisfy the dull aching of his stomach by feeding it but at the same time, simply watching with disgust as Ron and his cousins devoured piece after piece of chocolates and other fatty toxins and licking their sticky, gooey fingers afterwards made him want to heave right then and there. Just the thought that he could easily devour the entire contents of that platter in minutes made him feel even queasier than he had already felt. The shame continued to grow. He could never win.

Within the next ten minutes the rest of the order members gradually began to file in. First came Charlie, (whom caused Nelie to blush the moment he walked in) followed by Fred and George (who both fought over who would get to talk to Nelie first) and later Tonks and Remus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Snape and finally Dumbledore.

Dumbledore wasted no time in starting the meeting and began to speak before he even had a chance to sit down.

"Welcome everyone and thank you for arriving on such late notice. As you all have been informed the prophecy has been reiterated to Neville through the unconscious spirit of Maven Carling as of last night, which can only mean one thing..." Dumbledore paused, his eyes twinkling. "The war has begun."

Everyone in the room remained silent, it wasn't a stunned silence but rather a chilling one that made everything seem more frightening and depressing.

"Neville has received my permission to take his mid-terms tomorrow evening so that he will be given extra time to descend upon his journey in finding and destroying Blydlliss' key. Now the time has come for us to expect the unexpected and to prepare for the worst but to fight diligently and until not one good wizard is left standing. Good and bad wizards alike will die and there are more of them than us but we can not let them see our fear, that is what they want. All of our greatest fears are trapped within Mindossanya's Well and if they should be released...it would bring great destruction to our world and living without fear will be impossible."

Neville began to feel panicky. The room began to spin and as Dumbledore continued to talk all he heard was noise that had no meaning. What he was saying didn't make sense, he was hearing it but he couldn't comprehend it.

"Now we need to decide who will be accompanying Neville on his journey. Would anyone care to volunteer?"

Immediately Nelie and Maitland's hands shot up.

At this Snape rolled his eyes.

"You can't expect these...children to know enough to be taken seriously for such a task?"

"Hey!" snapped Maitland. "We aren't children...we're highly qualified aurors in training...I could bet we've had more experience than any of you by our age."

Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle even more.

"Francis?" he questioned, looking at the graying Longbottom.

"Well...they are very highly trained but I don't think they're ready to be on their own just yet at least not unsupervised."

"You are treating us like children!" argued Nelie. "We've dealt with more than you think! We know how to handle ourselves!"

Francis sighed. "I'll go with them," he continued.

"Actually Francis I was hoping I may ask you to remain at Hogwarts, to train the remaining students for battle if it should become necessary they fight. We must be prepared for anything at any moment."

Francis nodded in agreement.

"Albus if I may volunteer to go in his place."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well Severus."

Neville's heart dropped to his feet. He hadn't had to deal with Snape in weeks and now he was going to be stuck with him during his search? He wanted to protest, to scream or to just run out of the room but he was frozen and without a voice.

"Professor...I'd like to go too if that's alright. I-I don't have to go right away but I'd like to join them just as soon as I can."

"Of course Harry."

The other members of the order began to discuss the ordinance of their duties and Neville was simply numb. He had lost all sense of feeling and was there in body but his mind had checked out of the meeting since it began.

"Tomorrow evening Neville will take his mid-terms and then those who are venturing on the journey will all meet here and we will further devise a plan and means of communication along with a map of what locations you will be traveling to..."

Neville suddenly found his feet and jumped up out of his chair abruptly.

Everyone stared at him with surprise as he ran out of the room and into the hallway.

He grabbed at the wall with both hands to keep from falling to the floor and tried to steady his breathing. This was really happening. He wasn't just imagining it, this was actually happening. He was about to be thrust into an even bigger world of chaos only now the chances of failure or death were looming right over him like a big, black rain cloud. He couldn't run from it. He couldn't escape it. He was trapped.

A few moments later the doors quietly slid open and he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Neville what's the matter?"

It was Hermione.

"Just...needed a moment. I'm fine now."

"You look awful," she began, "and you're shaking..."

"I'm fine...really."

"Here why don't you sit down for a minute."

"Hermione I'm fine now...you can go back inside. Tell them I'll be in in a minute."

"When are you going to stop and realize that you need our help?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't do this alone," she began hurriedly, moving in closer towards him, "you need our help. Look at you...you're falling apart right before our eyes and the war has only just begun. How are you going to manage through the rest of it?"

"I'll find a way," he mumbled.

"You need to tell someone what's going on..."

"There is nothing going on!"

"If this is your way of coping then you are going about it the wrong way. You need to find another outlet...something that isn't going to kill you!"

"Rubbish! You don't know what you're talking about...you just like to focus on other people so you can feel better about yourself!"

"Look I know you may think you're fooling everyone else but you're not fooling me. You need to knock this off now."

"Knock what off?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"You think people haven't noticed how much you've changed?" she began, her tone falling dangerously. "How different you've become? It's like you aren't even yourself anymore...it's like you are being controlled by someone else. You're distant, constantly moody, tired and weak...you get defensive if anyone tries to talk to you...whatever is going on you need to take care of it now before it becomes even more of a problem."

"Do I?"

Hermione groaned.

"Drop the attitude!"

"I don't have an attitude," he replied, "you're just wasting your breath. Save it for someone who needs it."

"That is what I'm talking about!" she shouted, "the old Neville would have never talked to anyone like that! What is happening to you?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe you and everyone else are the ones with the problem? I'm perfectly fine...it's not my fault so many people love to stir up trouble and make a big deal out of nothing...then it snowballs and becomes this huge, imaginary issue that doesn't even exist!"

"Listen to yourself!" she screamed, "you sound delusional! You don't think that you not eating isn't a problem?!"

"You're overreacting," replied Neville calmly.

"No I'm not! And if you don't tell someone about what's going on with you then I will and I know you don't want that."

"Whoa- what's going on out here? Tell someone what?"

They both turned around and found themselves face to face with professor Lupin, who had just stepped out to check on them after the remainder of the order heard them shouting- which apparently had been so loud they didn't even hear him come out.

"Oh Professor- I mean Remus hi..." mumbled Hermione.

He raised his eyebrow suspiciously and eyed his two former students.

"Uh…we were just...talking..." she continued awkwardly.

Remus placed his hands on his hips.

"Talking huh?" he began, moving his eyes between both of them, "then how come we could all hear you both shouting from inside with both doors closed?"

"Alright...so we were having a rather heated discussion," she replied lamely. "About...his quidditch... "

Hermione blushed, realizing how ridiculous and far-fetched what she had just said seemed and looked at Neville who in turn looked back at her, praying silently that she wouldn't reveal anything to the older werewolf.

"One of you had better start talking," he pressed gently.

"I just told you," she replied firmly.

"Hermione would you mind giving Neville and I a minute alone please?"

She nodded and gave Neville one last solemn look before returning to the meeting.

"Come here," beckoned the werewolf.

Remus led Neville into a small study down the hall and sat him down. He pulled a chair up so that their knees were practically touching.

"Look I know that you weren't discussing quidditch so spill it because I'll find out otherwise. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"That's fine, you wouldn't be the first not to. I don't know why everyone is making such a fuss over me anyways."

"You want to know why Neville? Believe it or not you have a lot of people who care about you and are very worried for you. We are all here to help you in any way we possibly can but in order for us to do that you need to talk to us."

"I-I know…but nothing is wrong. I'm just stressed for obvious reasons nothing more I swear."

The werewolf could sense that the boy was lying.

"I was a teenager once and I know what it is like. It's very hard but if you have a problem it would be best that you tell someone so that you can get the support you need."

"I don't have a problem." Neville replied defensively. "Why does everyone keep assuming I have some sort of a problem? I'm fine!"

The werewolf sighed.

"Francis is concerned with your lack of care for yourself...if you have something you need to say you need to do so now because otherwise it will need to be brought to Dumbledore's attention and if that happens he will not allow for you to set out on your journey as planned."

"Oh so now everyone is ready to believe Francis over me? He doesn't know anything about me! He just decides to come back into my life after seventeen years and act as though he knows me? He's a traitor and a coward! Have people seem to have forgotten that?! He betrayed my parents! He sold my family out and could have gotten them killed! He's a selfish, evil and manipulative bastard! Did you know he attempted to steal the key from my father for his own benefits? How can he be trusted?! He married Althalos Bloodworth's daughter! H-he's the one with problems!"

"Now Neville calm down..."

"No! Everyone keeps telling me to calm down! Why should I calm down? Would you be calm if you were in my shoes?!"

"It probably feels like we are all attacking you but I promise we aren't...we're simply trying to figure out how we can help you."

"You want to know how you can help me?" began Neville coldly, "by minding your own fucking business and leaving me alone!"

And with that he stood up and stormed out.

------

There was no way in hell Neville was going to return to the meeting.

He quickly made his way down the hallway and out the door where he apparated back to Hogwarts. Just as he was about to go inside the castle he caught a glimpse of someone up in the astronomy tower and his heart leapt when he saw a glimpse of red out of the corner of his eye. He slowly made his way to the top to find Ginny by herself and she immediately stood when he arrived.

"Neville," she began surprised. "What are you doing here?"

But before he could answer he ran to her and picked her up and swung her around in a lung crushing hug. He set her down and continued to hold her tightly. He had never been happier to see her. She had instantly melted away all of his the negative feelings he had just experienced while at the order meeting and left him with a feeling of immense relief, and right now he needed some kind of comfort and she happened to be right where he needed her.

"Oh god Ginny," he began tearfully. "I'm so sorry! I was being an idiot! I've been so angry and sick with myself all day! I'm so glad to see you!"

Ginny had been so taken aback by Neville's spontaneous burst of emotion that her brain hadn't even had time to send out a signal to her arms to reciprocate the hug and instead they were left sticking up awkwardly in the air. She slowly wrapped her arms around him tightly and began to rub his back in a circular motion.

"Are you alright?" she asked with alarm.

"I just feel so awful with how I treated you earlier...I-I promise...I'll start talking to you about things. I need you Ginny...more than anything."

Ginny's mouth fell open with surprise.

"You mean it?" she asked, as she gently pulled away from him so she could look at him.

He nodded.

Ginny answered him by pulling him down into a ferociously passionate kiss. Their lips moved hungrily against each other as though they had been star crossed lovers who had just been reunited for the first time after being forced apart, the kissing soon grew more desperate and hurried as though they were running out of time. When their lips finally did part they both panted and gasped, their lungs begging for air. Sparks flew between them once again as they locked eyes, just as when they had kissed for the very first time.

Neville grabbed her hand and they sat down.

"I'm just so overwhelmed," he began, "I feel like everyone is judging me and waiting for me to fail...everyone keeps hounding me and I just can't take it! I wish I could just go back to being ignored...I preferred it much more that way."

"It's perfectly normal to feel this way but you don't deserve to be ignored Neville. You are such a wonderful person with so many amazing qualities to share. You just have to learn to block out the things that don't matter. Who cares what anyone else thinks? We've been over this...it's about what you think. I promise you you are going to get through this...you have so many people rooting for you and you don't even realize it."

"I miss my gran..." began Neville sadly, "she's really overbearing most of the time but she'd talk some sense into me and toughen me up for all of this."

"You'll see her soon," reassured Ginny. "Hopefully I will get to meet her too."

"I just can't seem to please anyone...not even myself."

"You please me..." replied Ginny softly, nuzzling her head against his chest.

"I'm just...I'm ready now to face whatever comes and I don't care what happens to me but I'm scared of letting everyone down. What if I can't find that key? What if I screw everything up and our world completely goes to hell because of me? How could I ever live that down?"

"You need to just take it a day at a time Neville," began Ginny, "you can't think about those things right now because it will only make things worse. Just focus on what you need to do now and worry about the rest later and I know you, you will not fail. We're all here behind you the entire way, whatever we can do to help we will. It isn't going to be fun or easy but it's what you are supposed to do. Everything happens for a reason...including this. This is your chance to show everyone what you are made of- to prove those who never believed in you wrong. I have faith in you and I love you."

Neville wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"Thank you Ginny..." he began softly, "that's exactly what I needed to hear."

------

Author's Note: Hey! So we're finally about to get into the real gritty stuff in upcoming chapters! Neville's journey has officially begun! A lot going on in this chapter as well...along with a very angsty!Neville (which as I've mentioned before is not him but rather his ED taking over him more...which as you can see by how many people confronted poor Neville in this chapter that it's getting harder for him to hide) so with the next chapter Neville will take his mid-terms and set off to find Blydlliss' key (a.k.a. the key to fear). Thank you all for sticking with my story and as I promised it's about to get a lot more interesting! There will be long, insidious battles, more romance, a little comedy and even some *gasp* tragedy! This story will have it all! I appreciate all of my followers and reviewers so much and this has truly been such an amazing experience writing this story which I believe has developed rather nicely and better than I could have ever imagined! Please, please keep up with the reviews! Give me feedback, reviews or any encouraging comments! It helps feed me the energy and motivation I need to keep up with this story! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! Chapter 25 to follow! :)