Synopsis: Neville, who was mentally an HP fan from the real world, had managed to survive his first year of Hogwarts. Even if Neville's role changed, Vodemort was still kept from the Philosopher's stone, and it all went according to the plot… bar a few little things. Hermione had already fallen for Ron, Norbert stayed at Hogwarts, and Draco was forced to become a Student Council vice-president after himself.

Neville finds out the history behind Richmond and the fuel behind his pureblood

fascism. There are many more layers to the wizarding world than the books after all.

Chapter 24 – Summer's coming to an end already?

" I'm telling you, throwing up sand into your opponent's eyes is definitely a foul!" Su continued to complain on her broom.

" And I'm telling you again, no it's not! We didn't even have rules for this race!" Draco huffed.

" And I'm telling both of you I won." Neville earned himself two glares but was smiling self-satisfactorily nonetheless.

It was already evening when the three of them got back to the manor after their race, but Neville noticed something was wrong the moment the manor materialised after they entered its sphere of enchantments. The windows were all dark, as if Jennifer and the house elves had all forgotten to light the candles.

" Draw your wands." Neville told the other two and did not get off his broom as he floated towards the front door. Draco and Su both seemed to have noticed something was wrong as well because they listened to his advice. Neville instructed the two of them to stand on either sides of the door in case something was to attack them the moment Neville opened it.

With a bang, Neville kicked the door open and charged in on his broom, wand brandishing. Before he could get used to the darkness of the parlour, intense bright light went off and Neville had to shield his eyes.

" Expelliarmus!" Neville was hit from the second floor and his wand was sent flying into the air. He instinctively did a backward roll but two loud popping sounds emitted right behind him instead of allies.

" Happy birthday Neville!"

When he got his surroundings straight again, he was sprawled on the ground with confetti all over his messy hair. The popping sounds were from Draco and Su, who had some sort of magical confetti shooter in their hands. Inside the parlour was Richmond, Jennifer and the house elves, holding a massive birthday cake that seemed to be consisted of lit candles. The person who disarmed him was of course Snape, far away from the crowd, just outside his room on the second floor, behind the banister and musing over his wand as if it really was that interesting.

" Did you see the look on his face! He looked as if a troll would run him over the moment he walked into the door!" Richmond was howling with laughter, doubling over his stomach.

" Surprise!" Draco slapped Neville on the back as Su helped him up. Neville grunted and shook his head at the company, though unable to keep from smiling nonetheless.

It had been about four years already since he came into this world and frankly, he had still to remember Neville Longbottom's birthday as his own. He was still grateful for his friends and the Richmond's surprise party and was soon laughing along with them. Neville gave a smile up at Snape, who just harrumphed and threw his wand back down at Neville, walking back into his room after the surprise greeting. It was already a feat that he bothered enough to do that, probably because he was after all his private Occlumency teacher.

" Where's Hannah?" Neville asked, searching around for the girl who he remembered was still in a self-induced misunderstanding with him.

" She was here just a moment ago… Hannah! Come out here! There's no need to be shy!" Richmond beckoned and from the darkened corner to his left, where something shifted behind a pillar.

" Hey Hannah, what's wrong?" Su, brash as always, directly went over and pulled on the protesting girl's arm. Unfortunately, Hannah was no match to the athletic Su and the next moment, what Draco saw made his jaws drop.

Neville was pleasantly surprised as well at the charming girl that stumbled out from the hiding place. She was wearing pink and white dress robes, more like an evening dress really, that fanned about her feet as if the satin material was a cascading waterfall. She also had on a jasper necklace that no doubt was what Richmond had mentioned earlier, which gave her a regal image opposed to the usually timid hamster. But the main attraction for Neville was the absence of Hannah's trademark pigtails, which made her look much more mature and probably the reason for Draco's daze.

Even if she suited a more mature and graceful look, her personality was far from being so. Crumpling a bit of her dress in her hand, her face parallel to the carpet and probably as red as the sunset outside, she was still futilely trying to get back into the shadows. Amidst the girls' shuffle, Hannah being half-immobilised by the length of her dress and without watching where she was being pulled towards, Hannah let out a cry as she tripped and fell.

She found the worst place to fall over though as she would be landing with her face right into the birthday cake the house elves were holding. Just as Hannah closed her eyes, waiting for the worst embarrassment of her life, she felt a pair of arms around her shoulders. Hannah took a deep breath as she opened her eyes to find the cake mere inches from her nose. She was about to thank Su when she saw her friend right beside her, but empty-handed.

" Be careful there. Are you wearing high heels as well under that?" It was Neville who had rushed forward and caught her just in time. Su had been too busy trying to drag the girl over and Draco was still too dazed to react. Spotting Hannah's puzzled expression, he explained, " You know when it comes to food, I'm a lot more cautious than the rest."

Hannah gave a yelp and almost fell over backwards in her hurry to separate herself from him. She once again retreated to bowing her head with a deep blush.

" Oh – I heard from Su. I'm not angry at you for anything by the way." Neville casually explained when the young girl backed off as if he was a poisonous plant.

" I – I know… Or else you won't have caught me when I fell… Thanks." Hannah stammered, still finding her neck a little too stiff to properly orientate her face.

Well, that was easy. Neville shrugged, thinking whether Hannah would ever grow up as beautiful as, or even more than, Cecilia Richmond. She would probably never shake off this personality of hers though, but that, he thought, was quite endearing.

Severus Snape was just about to tuck into his homemade salad and tomato soup when the door to his house's front door was knocked in a merry rhythm. Snape grumbled, ripping off his tissue napkin and answered the unwelcomed visitor.

" Albus, I work for you but I am not your house elf. Can't I have my dinner in peace the night I come back from that godforsaken babysitting island trip?" Snape growled the instant he torn his door open.

The old man with long silver hairs chuckled, making his way in without an invite. " I'm afraid I must disagree Severus, I have been to Mull myself. It is a great scenic island indeed. I remember clearly this trip was supposed to be half a holiday."

" Well you have some strange tastes for a holiday Albus. I had to brew Sleep-Avoidant Potions, then lure Longbottom around the manor at night, and listen to Richmond's weepy story about his granddaughter. I had the time of my life and would've sent a postcard – wished you were there."

" See? You are even in such a good mood you're making jokes. Though I must say, sarcasm is the lowest form of comedy – but do keep trying." Dumbledore sat himself down in the living room and produced two glasses and a bottle of mead magically. " Well? How did Mr Longbottom react to the wealth of literal knowledge inside the Richmond Manor? I believe it is one of the most extensive Dark Magic libraries he will find amongst the British Isles."

Snap muttered curses under his breath, his mind on the soup that was abandoned to cool on his dinner table. Snatching the floating glass of Dumbledore's mead and downing it, he stayed standing in hopes of making this short. " As expected, Longbottom had no concept of life and death."

" Yes, he is too young to fully comprehend the loss of loved ones I guess…" Dumbledore was silent in his own memories for a few moments before speaking again. " What about the most important thing? How did he react after hearing Richmond's story?"

" The boy urged Richmond to re-marry." Snape indulgently scoffed. Dumbledore looked as if he was struck by a funny stick and went on to laugh in merriment. " Contrary to what you think, Longbottom is nowhere near as complicated as Richmond – even if he seems to share some contempt for you just as Richmond does. The boy is simply just a smart-assed twelve year-old who happens to dislikes the Dark Lord."

" But Neville saw right through Richmond's grudge? And he neither blamed it on muggles, or backed the purebloods?" Dumbledore pursued.

Snape was getting tired of Dumbledore's suspicions on Longbottom – mostly due to the fact that Snape was caught between them every time. Whether it was the Occlumency lessons or this trip, Snape never got anything worthwhile out of the deal. After having spent so much more time, relative to Dumbledore, with Neville, Snape really only saw him as another normal child – maybe with a little too much cheek than what was good for him. His deductions were also backed by the number of Legilimency successes into Neville's memories, and though there were unusual points, it was nothing more evil than a Weasley twins prank. The only thing that kept Snape from taking Neville as nothing but thin-air was because of that one lingering image of the Lily Potter look-alike that he had never seen again despite the times he raked through Neville's mind.

" Dumbledore, Longbottom is not trying to become the next Dark Lord. A pervert possibly with the way he eyed up the house nurse, but his mind is filled with nothing but food, games and petty Charms research."

" Then how would you explain his attitude Severus? You must know there is 'something' he keeps well-hidden inside him. And as you said, he seems to be working toward something… researching…" Dumbledore gradually slipped into his own thoughts, too concentrated in his contemplation to hear Snape tapping his foot.

" Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some dinner to finish –"

" Wait Severus. Have you handed my letter to Neville regarding next year's arrangements with the Student Council?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled at this and if Snape had a more sympathetic personality, he would have felt sorry for Neville.

" Yes Dumbledore, and he did not seem to realise the significance because he had yet to confront me about its contents."

" Ah, but the keyword there is 'yet' Severus. I am sure by the time he returns to Hogwarts, he will understand the full implications… and then a possible counter from his part could be…" Dumbledore once again picked up the old-man habit of muttering to himself and Snape just sighed, looking once again back through to the dining room.

His bowl of soup would probably need reheating.

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" Hey Neville, come on! Just another game before we go." It was quite hard to believe Old Al was the older one in Neville's bedroom as he packed the last of his Hogwarts stuff. Though it was still two weeks till the start of term, he was actually packing his trunk because he was heading for the Weasley's. After their persistent invite, Neville finally decided it was better to live a bit more like a normal wizarding child and say goodbye to the Longbottom study. He had almost exhausted its resources anyway, and had still to find much on Arcane magic and the Elementals, much to his dismay.

" Just one more game! We've still got time!" Old Al tugged on Neville's Dracula's Cloak, which he had started wearing again in the absence of Snape. " I've especially made this special chess set to play with you!"

After telling Old Al about how they celebrated Ron's birthday, he had somehow created a board-game version of it and had gotten quite addicted. Granted, he needed to use a wand to move all the pieces at once, but he felt it was more exciting than original chess. Old Al had given him a lecture about how chess and many other board games were based from strategies from the battlefield and this new way of chess simulated battles a lot better and more interesting.

" Gran is just outside, waiting already. I don't want her to find out I've been using magic again during the summer." Neville randomly made a quick excuse. Old Al would never tell on him regarding magic usage – the old man was just glad Neville could do magic at all, still recalling his worries from the earlier years.

" Oh come on! Who'll I play with when you're gone?"

" Anyone."

" Remember how I smuggled your bewitched rock out of Hogwarts? God knows why you wanted to do something silly like that, but just return the favour here okay?"

Neville had promptly blasted the rock that was supposed to be Norbert into pieces when Algie showed it to him. His great uncle had actually left that important piece of evidence right out in his back garden, thinking Neville really had some significant use for it.

Looking back at the childish Algie, Neville sighed. " I promise we can play when I come back for Christmas. Now don't you have to pick up your old friend from abroad at the Portkey Office? It's getting late now so you should go, and I'll get to Diagon Alley to meet Harry and the Weasleys."

" Oh alright…" Old Al waved his wand and the modified chess set disappeared. " Maybe I can play with my old friend – and show off what my great nephew invented."

" You just take care of yourself when I'm gone Old Al." Neville walked into the lounge, where Gran was ready and waiting.

" I'm old enough to take care of myself Neville!" Old Al shouted after him. Neville gave Gran a look, and she just shook her head good-naturedly at the ridiculous scene. " It's you who should stay out of trouble! I don't want to hear you fighting trolls again or falling into week-long comas!"

" I will." Neville cleared his throat inconspicuously and shoved Algie towards the fireplace. Old Al had been bringing this topic up far too often this summer for Neville's comfort. " Now go! You don't want to be late for a Portkey arrival."

Old Al, who especially came over to see Neville for the last time this summer, took one last look back. " Have a good year Neville." With a flare of the green flames, Old Al vanished from Neville's sight.

" We should be heading too," Gran patted Neville on the head, since he was still unfortunately shorter than her, especially in her stuffed vulture hat.

Neville hurriedly flung some Floo powder into the fire and stepped in, ash and fumes rapidly clouding his eyes. The familiar but still unpleasant feeling of being spun inside a tornado caused him to feel dizzy. With the vanishing of the flame's roar, Neville's feet hit ground again and stumbled a few steps as he found himself inside the Leaky Cauldron. It was like any normal British pub Neville had been in during his past life, despite it being a bit bigger and its customers a little stranger looking. It was the 'back to school' season and many wizarding families were here buying Hogwarts things just as he was.

" Neville!" A familiar voice came from between the crowds and he spotted the trademark pigtails not long after.

" Hannah, hey, how've you been?"

She dodged the various customers and arrived in front of Neville breathlessly. " I've been doing fine, thanks. Here to get your Hogwarts stuffs?"

" Yeah, and to meet up with the Gryffindor Trio. It really is crowded here huh? You'd think it was Christmas Eve shopping." Neville was still to get used to the lack of order wizards seemed to display in their daily lives.

" Yeah, it's just that there is a Lockhart signing today. You know, the wizard that's responsible for half of our books this year… My mum's one of his fans…" Hannah was seemingly as ashamed of this fact as the Weasleys were of Molly's similar fascination.

" Oh? Why hello there young lady. Are you a friend of Neville's?" Gran's appearance from the fire made Hannah lift her head again with a blush.

" He-hello! My name is Hannah Abbott! I'm the secretary of the Student Council! Nice to meet you!" Hannah even gave a small bow as Gran smiled warmly back at her.

" It is a pleasure to meet you dear." Neville ignored the tone of Gran's voice.

" This is my grandmother. Anyway, have you got your school stuffs yet? You want to join us today?" Neville asked but Hannah shook her head.

" No, I've already got my books weeks ago. Well, have fun. I'll see you later bye." Hannah scurried away into the crowd again and when Neville turned round to look at his Gran, he had a strange sense of déjà vu seeing her expression.

" Gran. No." Neville shook his head and headed into Diagon Alley, reminded of Gran's meeting with Hermione last Christmas.

Speaking of which, Hermione should be here today as well. His memories slowly slipping back to the night of them in the Dragon Room, Neville sighed to himself. Hermione is way too young for me, I should've actually sent more letters to Penelope instead. Actually, Fleur is younger than Penelope right? And she ended up marrying Bill, who should actually be about my mental age. Heh, well just wait until fourth year…

" You've just walked past Flourish and Blott's Neville." Gran reminded and he made a quick apology. " Who were you thinking of? The sweet Hannah or the polite Miss Granger?"

" Neither Gran." Neville pushed with a bit more force than necessary past the crowd gathered at the front of the bookstore, completely leaving Gran behind in his irritation.

Doesn't she know this is not the time to tease me? I've forgotten enough of the events last year already – but not today! I have to find Lucius Malfoy before he gives Ginny Riddle's Diary. I still can't think of a way to destroy it yet – and handing it over to Dumbledore is not an option. But at least it'll save a few people from being petrified, or worst – die – because of my dabbling in this world.

Neville could see in the distance puffs of purple smoke and flashes of mini-lightning and figured it was a wizarding camera. The commotion seemed to be at the end of the queue and he elbowed a few people to get a closer look. At the front, he saw a middle-aged man with carefully styled hair, a cheesy grin and forget-me-not blue robes. Beside him, looking as if he wanted the earth to swallow him up, was a scrawny boy with a mop of black hair and vivid green eyes. Must be Lockhart… And that Harry, how come he's grown so much taller in the past months? It seems the Weasleys had been taking good care of him then, unlike my first sight of him last year.

Watching the humorous scene unfold before him that he had read before from the books, seemingly so long ago, Neville felt a bit less restless. Everything went just as he remembered it, as accurate as his memories told him anyway, and Neville set off towards the place Harry escaped off to from the limelight, ready to catch up with his young friend after the summer's absence. Hermione, and Ron, is probably with him somewhere…

By the time Neville, cursing again at how short he was, made it through Lockhart's housewife fans, he already heard Draco's taunting voice. " I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for that lot."

" Draco." The company all turned their heads round to see Neville shoving a clump of his messed up hair away from his eyes. " Please, may I ask you to stop?"

Neville saw a flash of apology in Draco's eyes, or it might just be a trick of the lights, but he had already turned his head away with a snort before Neville could check. The Trio were delighted to see the friend they had not seen for months, and both Ron and Hermione dumped their stack of school books into a cauldron and ran up to greet him. Left tagging behind was a frowning Ginny, looking a lot less welcoming than the other three at the sight of him.

" Where've you been? We were here ages ago!" Harry was all smiles, completely forgetting about Draco at the side.

" Get this, Harry went to Knockturn Alley!" Ron had grown even taller than Harry did and Neville seriously considered if he should buy some platform shoes.

" How come it takes you so long to write to me every time?" Hermione Granger, the typical nerd in every high school, looked as if her hair was even more of a bird's nest than Neville remembered. Her teeth were still to be fixed, and probably due to the summer sun, she even had an overdose of freckles on her cheeks.

See? I can't possibly fall for this type of girl. Leave her for Ron. I really am more of a Veela type of guy…

Neville, despite his self-hypnosis, still did not managed to tell Hermione honestly the answer to her question: he had deliberately taken up Trevor's time to deliver letters to Penelope Clearwater. Neville forced himself to answer without a tinge of regret, " Ah right, Trevor is slow. You can tell from his weight…"

" Hey! Neville! Good to see you again!"

" How you been!" The Weasley twins jumped out from nowhere and grappled him. " Remember to allow seniors in on the student-teacher match this year Mr President!"

" Fred, George, let go of Neville." Mr Weasley called from behind Ginny and smiled kindly at Neville. " Have you sent your stuffs over to the Burrow?"

" Yes Mr Weasley, it's nice to see you again. Thanks for having me stay over." Neville was about to ask how he was, but a cold voice interrupted their reunion.

" Well, well, well – Aurthur Weasley." Lucius Malfoy put a hand on Draco's shoulder, but Draco actually did not look very comfortable to be seen with his dad at the moment, avoiding Neville's eyes.

It's a typical look as if to say 'things are out of his control now, so don't blame me for it'. Lucius Malfoy… he's a Death Eater and there is no changing it unless he's on the verge of death itself.

" Lucius." Sparks could be seen as the two adults stared at each other.

" Busy time at the Ministry I hear. All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?"

This is it! Neville's eyes flared as Lucius reached into the cauldron he noticed earlier, now confirmed to be Ginny's, and pulled out one of Lockhart's books. This is the moment he sneaked in Riddle's Diary to Ginny! No time for wondering why Hermione never hugged you as a greeting – you've got to get the diary!

" Just as well we tax payers are giving you money to do these fruitless raids. How could your family afford these books otherwise?" Lucius's eyes strayed over to a couple standing behind Mr Weasley, the woman with a familiar head of bushy brown hair. " Muggles? You brought them into a wizard's book shop? Heh, I thought your family could sink no lower –"

Now! Neville was instantly behind Mr Weasley as he slammed Lucius into a bookshelf. Using the Hakkyouken Su taught him, Neville hypothetically formed a protective dome over his head and deflected all the books that plummeted from the shelves. He interjected between the two adults, and with a smooth motion pulled Mr Weasley's momentum forward and diverted Lucius's attack sideways. Keeping his centre of gravity down, he stretched his arms outwards to his sides and pushed the two apart the best he could with his palm aiming at their abdomen. Lucius isn't really looking for a fight anyway – just a diversion.

" Break it up you two! Look! Even wee Neville knows to stop ya!" Hagrid loomed into view and pulled Mr Weasley away. Upon Hagrid's words, Lucius gave Neville a once over as he recovered his breath.

" So you are Neville Longbottom? Yes, Draco's told me a lot about you." Lucius dusted his coat and sneered at the Weasleys. " You must be careful of who you hang around with Master Longbottom. Though yours and my family are truly pure, being too close to some others seemingly so in appearance could cost you."

Mr Weasley looked as if he would jump at Lucius again if Hagrid's giant hands were not holding him back and Mrs Weasley's screams blasting in his ear. Neville's main attention was on the book in Lucius's hand though, and said, " Mr Malfoy, this book…"

" Ah yes, of course. The Weasleys will have to sell their blood to cover the cost for another one of these." Lucius, much to Neville horror, just threw the book back into Ginny's cauldron. " Then again, I can't think of anyone who'd pay money for them."

" Father," Draco gave Lucius a tug on this arm upon another glance at the enraged Mr Weasley. " I saw something in Quality Quidditch Supplies before, can you buy it for me?"

" Of course Draco, not a problem for us at all." Lucius mistook his son's intentions and thought Draco was just trying to give the Weasleys another kick and turned to leave. " Very well, I will see you later Master Longbottom. Be sure to keep to the right kinds of people now."

Before Neville could make a dash for Ginny's cauldron, Hagrid shuffled the company out of the cramped bookstore, " Let's get outta here."

When they were able to breathe again on Diagon Alley, Gran picked that exact moment to emerge and clamped her hands onto Neville's arm. " Where have you been Neville? I've got most of your stuffs already – oh hello Arthur. What happened to your glasses? Well anyway, Neville's still to get a few things, we'll meet you at the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron when we're done."

" W-wait Gran –" Neville was cut off in his protest and he felt a shiver run up his spine when a shadow of the old Gran crept onto her face.

" We're in a hurry Neville! Don't make the Weasleys wait for you! Where are the manners I've taught you?"

With almost teary eyes, Neville was dragged away from where he knew Riddle's Diary was. Once again, he was unable to fight the power of the original plotline. I curse you J.K! I curse you! Well… at least the Diary doesn't have legs and I know who took it. I'll just ask Ginny to give it to me at the Burrow…

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A/N: I don't like copying passages, or even sentences from the books. But it's necessary sometimes – but I do change and cut bits here and there. I do so on purpose and not just because it's a typo or I couldn't be bothered to check.

Now about the second book, I feel it's official starting this chapter really. Frankly, I've got to say it will be more of a confusing/mystery novel type feel than the first one. There'll still be humour, Harry Potter, and a lot of other things – and it'll all build up to a bang (i.e. Chamber of Secrets fight). Thanks for reading and the reviews last chapters.

By the way, I'm sitting on 99 reviews. Next is the 100 barrier!