Chapter Twenty Five: Saving Seamus, Part 2
Neville called a meeting of the DA the very night McGonagall came to him. But it was a limited meeting; he only wanted the older members. The ones he knew best and could count on.
"So what's going on?" Parvati asked.
"We know where Seamus is," Neville said. "We're going to go get him."
Demelza sprang to her feet. "Where is he?"
"I'm not completely sure," Neville confessed. "I do know that he's under heavy guard."
"How heavy?" Demelza asked.
"Cave trolls and dementors," Neville answered. "Not sure exactly how many." He paused a few moments to let it sink in. "This is strictly voluntary. We all know what dementors can do so we all know what we risk. It's too much to ask of anyone."
"I'm going," Demelza said.
"Me too," Parvati said. Within moments everyone had agreed to come along. Nine. Nine against perhaps that many cave trolls and dementors.
"We will have some help," Neville said. "Some of the teachers are coming along with us."
"Which ones?' Terry Boot blurted. Based on the silence that fell over the group, he was not the only one that wanted to know.
"The House Heads, I think." Neville paused. "Maybe not Slughorn," he amended.
"That's great!" Terry said.
"Don't get too cocky," Neville said. "McGonagall and Flitwick tried the other day and they couldn't even get close. Actually, I think they barely made it out. I don't know if any of you noticed McGonagall's limp but I think that's where it came from." That seemed to sober them up a little. He was glad so many of them were coming but he didn't want them to go in overconfident and get themselves hurt. Or killed. Or worse.
"Alright, then. We're doing it tonight an hour after dinner. Meet back in front of the Potions classroom," Neville instructed. The group dispersed to their own common rooms, except for Hannah who stayed.
"Are you sure?" Hannah asked.
"About what?"
"Oh, I mean, are you sure you want to do it tonight?" He could see the concern etched on her face. "You're still a little weak and McGonagall's hurt as well."
"Seamus has been down there for over a month," Neville said. "I'm not leaving him down there any longer. Not even one more night."
Hannah stared at him a moment, biting her lip as she sometimes did when she was frustrated. "Ok. But I'm not going to let you do anything stupid, ok? I'll stun you myself if I have to."
"Deal," Neville said with a smile. "I won't try to wrestle down any of the mountain trolls."
"Good." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "And don't snog any dementor girls either, no matter how passionate things get out there."
Neville smiled as she walked toward her common room. "I don't think there's such as thing as girl dememtors." Hannah turned around and stuck her tongue out at him before rounding the corner.
Neville walked back to the Tower alone. He was thinking through all the spells- besides the obvious ones- that might work on Mountain Trolls. He didn't know if they had any sort of innate resistance like Giants. He thought he might have heard they were related once in class but he couldn't recall. Flitwick would probably know.
He rounded a corner and nearly started when he saw Draco Malfoy, also walking alone, at the other end. His back was to Neville and he didn't turn before he turned the corner and was gone from sight. Now that he thought on it, Draco was usually walking alone. He seemed to have fallen out of favor with the rest of the Slytherins. Even Crabbe seemed to be spending more time with Ted Nott and Amycus. The Slytherin night patrols had also fallen apart once Draco fell out of favor. Draco and Goyle had been spotted at night, along with the teachers, but none of them really posed much threat. Draco could only cover so much of the castle and most of the teachers didn't try very hard. Occasionally Amycus put together a few patrols but he usually couldn't be bothered and they wouldn't do it without his insistence.
Neville felt an odd sense of pity for Draco as he walked on. Draco had never been anything but cruel to him but he still hated seeing him alone. He recalled his first year when he'd been an outcast for the second half of the school year. Only Harry and his friends would even talk to him and he got the feeling that they didn't really like doing so. It was hard to see that happening to someone else, even if it was Draco.
"Neville." A voice jerked Neville from his thoughts. He turned to see Michael Corner sticking his head out of the library door.
"Michael," he returned. "What's going on?"
"What are you doing right now?"
"Just heading back to the dorm. I need to rest a little before tonight."
"Oh alright. I don't want to disturb you," Michael said. "It's just that me, Terry, and Anthony were all doing some research on trolls and dementors. To see if they have any weaknesses, I guess, and what spells we should use on them."
"That's a good idea," Neville said. He was very tired but also intrigued by what Michael was doing. "I mean, how much do we really know about dementors?"
"Not much," Michael admitted. "A Patronus will repel them but that's it. We don't know if it even really hurts them. And if we had to kill one I don't even know how we'd do that."
"I see." Neville hadn't known of any way to kill a dementor himself but he'd kind of assumed someone would.
"But anyway, we know what to do with a dementor but a troll is another story. They're so big I don't know if a simple stunning spell will work. We're still looking to see if maybe they have some kind of weakness. And if you have a few minutes we could use another pair of eyes."
"Oh, sure. Just for a few minutes though."
"Great," Michael said with a grin.
"Michael, can I ask you something?" Neville said as they started to walk.
"Sure."
"Why did you join the DA?" Neville asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean."
"Ok, I do," Michael acquiesced. "Back at the beginning of the year I was still hung up on Ginny. We'd, you know, gone out through most of our fourth and fifth years. It was my first real relationship, you know? And when she broke up with me it was so out of the blue."
"You went out with Cho right after that didn't you?"
"Well, yes. But it was more of a revenge thing. After the way Harry treated her and then watching Harry and Ginny just dancing around each other… we just got to talking in the Common Room one night and it just seemed to make sense. We'd be all over each other when the two of them were around but we hardly even talked otherwise."
"And you never got over Ginny?"
Michael made a half smile. "I thought I had. But then I heard a rumor that she and Harry had broken up over the summer. And when Harry didn't come back this year I guess it started all over again." He shook his head. "It didn't make any sense but there you go.
"Eventually I realized I still didn't have a chance with her. She was still in love with Harry. I could tell from the way she talked about him. But it was funny, I realized I still wanted to come to the meeting and be involved. Even once she left."
"Well you've really been big help," Neville said. "Especially with everyone we've… lost this year."
"Thanks," Michael said, his half smile turning into a full one. "Let's go figure out how to take down a mountain troll."
.
Neville only managed to stay in the library for about half an hour before leaving. His body was still tired from everything it had been through. He hadn't found anything useful but he was hoping the other two might.
He only managed a short name but it really helped. He still didn't feel right though. It occurred to him that something was off with him. He hadn't been starved or anything; he'd eaten poorly for a week. He was starting to worry that extended use of the Desensulator might have messed up something inside him.
He ate as much at dinner as his stomach could hold. The Great Hall seemed unusually silent. The DA members had grown nervous as it got closer and closer to the appointed time and their mood rubbed off on the younger students. The only noise came from the Slytherin table, which seemed oblivious to the mood of the rest of the school. He saw Draco staring at him from time to time. At one point that would have unnerved him but now he found that little had that effect on him.
Dementors were one of those few things, however. He'd had no trouble with his Patronus since the train… but he hadn't really had trouble with it before then either. It would be different with a dementor right in front of him. He remembered how cold it felt when it touched him and the way Lunca had gone limp when they grabbed her.
Not for the first time, he wished Ginny was still there.
Neville went back to the Common Room to wait. He brought down a few of his books, thinking he might do some homework to pass the time but he couldn't concentrate on anything. He wondered how Harry had been able to keep up on his schoolwork with everything that happened to him every year.
Some of the other DA members waited with him. Parvati and Lavender seemed fairly calm but they were able to talk with each other, distract each other. Demelza seemed even more anxious than he was. He thought about trying to strike up a conversation with her but he didn't know her well enough and thought it would be awkward.
Eventually eight o'clock came around. Neville set his books down, stood up, and walked toward the portrait hole. The others followed him.
The halls were, as predicted, mostly deserted. Nick and Peeves joined up with them to act as scouts. Not that there was much to avoid these days; the Slytherins still weren't running their patrols. They joined up with the members from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff along the way. Hannah came to walk beside him, though they didn't talk.
McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were waiting at the entrance of the dungeon. McGonagall took the lead, which Neville was fine with since he wasn't sure where they were going. She managed to keep a good pace in spite of her limp. The air got colder as they went. Eventually McGonagall stopped in front of one of an old, run down corridor.
"This is it," she said plainly. "The trolls and dementors are around the first corner. It's going to be very dark so move slowly. We will try to take them by surprise.
"I'm sure you all know that Patronuses will work on dementors but not trolls," she went on. "Trolls are very strong and faster than they look. They're not very smart, however, and don't work well together so use that to your advantage."
"They live in the mountains and are used to cold," Michael chimed in. "That's part of why they work well with dementors. Don't try any freezing spells. Fire will hurt them. They're very attached to their clubs so damaging the clubs can distract them. They also have magical resistance. Not as much as giants but it would take several stunning spells to knock one down."
Flitwick looked proud of his student. McGonagall also seemed impressed though neither of them said anything. Michael had found good information.
McGonagall turned to face the corridor. She took a deep breath and took her first step down the cave. Flitwick went next followed by Neville and Sprout. Anthony and Padma stayed behind to watch the entrance. They would need a warning if anyone came walking and also might need someone to watch over anyone who was wounded and needed to get away from the fighting.
They kept their wands dark, hoping they might retain the advantage of surprise. It also allowed their eyes time to adjust to the dark. The corridor grew colder as they went and Neville shivered a little.
Something came at him from the darkness. A mountain troll, moving faster than Neville would have thought possible. Neville and Flitwick jumped aside as the club crashed down between them. Several stunning spells shot over their head. One struck the troll but he barely seemed to notice. Neville added a Stunning spell of his own while Flitwick nonverbally lit the troll's club on fire. It screamed and dropped the club and that was the last time Neville had a firm grasp on the whole situation.
Another troll came from the darkness, swinging its club horizontally. Neville fell to the ground and the club smashed into the wall. He scrambled backwards into someone who turned out to be Padma Patil. She was shouting something but Neville couldn't make it out. He tuned slightly and saw a dementor stalking through a group of students. It was reaching its hand toward Anthony Goldstein and would touch him in moments.
"Expecto Patronum!" Neville shouted. A silver lion shot from the tip of wand and hit the dementor. It was driven into the air and off into the darkness.
His Patronus seemed to start a chain reaction. Silver animals appeared everywhere shooting off toward dementors. Neville let his Patronus go when he realized another mountain troll was coming toward him. Its club was already raised and he was too closed to move. Neville desperately shot off a Stunning Spell as he moved, hoping the club wouldn't hurt him too badly, or even…
The Charm knocked the club from the troll's hand and down the hall. The troll looked confused for a moment before chasing after it. He looked to his right and could see two dementors closing in on Ernie, who had fallen to one knee.
"Expecto Patronum!" Neville's patronus sent one dementor away but the other one grabbed Ernie's wrist. It started to pull it's hood back when another Patronus, a horse, hit it dead on. The dementor flew off into the darkness as Ernie collapsed against the wall. He followed the Patronus's path and saw Hannah.
"Duck!" she shouted. Neville threw himself to the ground and Hannah, Terry, and a clearly shaken Ernie shot stunning spells over his head. A clubless mountain troll stumbled backwards into another trolls and they began to scuffle.
Neville grabbed Terry and pulled him over to Ernie, who had gone pale and was still leaning on the wall. "Get him out of here!" Neville shouted over the sounds of the fight. "All the way out!"
"Right!" Terry called back. He pulled Ernie too his feet and more or less pulled Ernie back down the hall with an arm around his waist.
"Levicourpus!" Neville recognized Michael's voice as the caster. The spell lacked the power to pull the troll off the ground but it was able to unbalance it and it fell flat on its 's voice called out an incantation Neville's couldn't make out and ropes appeared and covered the fallen troll, binding him to the ground.
Neville saw two more trolls emerge from the darkness. He couldn't tell if they were fresh or if they'd already been fighting. He tried to recall the wand movements for Levicorpus but the he had a better idea. He summoned up his patronus again and sent it toward the trolls. He stopped it just in front of the one on the left. The Patronus startled him and he stopped and tried to swat it away with his hand. The other one, however, swung its club full force at the silver lion and smashed his fellow troll in the head.
"Wingadrium Leviosa!" Flitwick's voice called out from his side. The fallen troll's club sprang from its grip and knocked the other one in the head several times until it, too, fell to the floor. Flitwick hit the troll once more for good measure.
There was no immediate danger around Neville so he took a short breather. The fighting had worn on him greatly; he almost felt like he could fall asleep. He couldn't really tell how the battle was going. One other student was leaning against the wall as she walked back toward the entrance, an arm limp at her side. Three of the trolls were down now and he only saw two dementors. Maybe there were only two… or maybe the others were waiting for the right moment, just out of sight. Or maybe they'd given up.
"Neville, look out!" He saw something coming at him through the darkness. A troll club. He had no chance to move and the club struck him in the side. He felt one of his ribs breaks as he flew through the air. He crashed against the wall and fell to the ground. He saw red jets of light shoot up and strike the troll, disorienting it. It raised it club again but the club turned into a giant, flopping fish. The troll looked at the fish in confusion and several more Stunning spells struck the troll, knocking its head into the wall. It slumped and fell over.
"Neville? Neville?" He heard Hannah's voice. He stood up slowly. His side hurt and he thought his head was bleeding. He tried to speak but only managed a cough. "Neville? I think we found him!"
Neville cleared his throat. "Where?"
"In here!" she called back. "It's locked! It's the only locked one!" He stepped away from the wall. He was unsteady on his feet but he followed Hannah's voice.
"You don't look so good." Terry Boot appeared beside him, back from seeing to Ernie, and put an arm around him. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," Neville lied. He could tell he was pretty far from fine but Seamus was so close. And at this point he was going to have to fight his way back out anyway so he might as well do it with Seamus.
"No you're not," Hannah said as they reached her. "I'm taking you out of here."
"No," Neville said. He pulled away from Terry and stood on his own. "We need to get Seamus. We'll all go out together." Hannah tried to pull him along anyway but he wouldn't budge.
"Fine!" she relented.
By then McGonagall had reached them. "Where is the door, Miss Abbot?"
"Here, Professor, this one," she said. "I've tried unlocking it but nothing's worked."
McGonagall stepped past her and tapped her wand on the door. It swung open opposite its hinges. Neville heard her say something about Amycus not being clever enough to charm the whole door and show she should have tried it last time.
"Lumos." Neville's wand lit up and he and the others stepped into the room. He could dimly make out the layout of the room- it looked like the Potions classroom, only a bit smaller. Old desks had been shoved into the corner. McGonagall, Hannah, and Terry lit their wand as well and Neville could see to the back of the room where something was laying in a heap on the floor. It took Neville a moment to realize it was Seamus. He was chained to the wall, his ragged clothes barely clinging to his thin frame. He groaned and turned his head away from the light.
"Seamus!" Neville cried. He ran up to him pulled just short of embracing him; Seamus was so weak he worried he might hurt him. He immediately turned to the chains but McGonagall was right behind him. She pointed he wand as the chains and they simply vanished.
"Are…" Seamus said weakly. "No. No, no again. I won't fall for it again just stop…" His voice was barely there. "Go away!"
"What's he saying, Professor?" Neville asked.
"Amycus has been muddling about in his head," she said. "Help him to his feet."
"Will he be alright?"
"He'll be fine if we can get him out of here." But Neville noticed the way she frowned before she spoke. He reached down to help Seamus up but he jerked away. Neville managed to take hold of his arm but Seamus actually pulled away when Neville tried to get him on his feet.
"Seamus," Hannah said softly, crouching next to him. "Seamus, listen. It's really us. All of us. Neville's here, and Terry, and Professor McGonagall." Seamus looked up and studied each of their faces, especially Terry. "Demelza's outside. So's Professor Flitwick and Michael and… everyone. So come on. Let's go."
Seamus seemed to take all this in carefully. "Alright," he said weakly. Hannah took one of his arm and Neville took the other and together they helped him to his feet. Neville couldn't see his legs through the remains of the robes but it didn't seem like he'd be able to stand on his own.
Slowly they got him out of the classroom. The battle outside was not as intense as it was before but two trolls were still on their feet and there were always the dementors. Neville looked for Demelza but he couldn't spot her in the darkness. McGonagall and Terry acted as something of a guard, watching the three of them until they were clear of the battle. He wasn't sure how they made it without incident but somehow they rounded the first bend and Neville could see the school proper at the end of the hall.
"I must go back," McGonagall said.
"Me too. Michael needed help," Terry said. The two of them went back to join the fray while Hannah and Neville carried Seamus down the hall. Neville's side hurt worse than ever but he was determined to make it to the end of the hall and had him off to Anthony and Padma. The end of the corridor came slowly closer and closer.
"Anthony! Padma!" Hannah called as they got near. "We're got him! We need…" he voice trailed off as they left the old west corridor and neither Anthony nor Padma were anywhere in site.
"I don't see them," Neville said. As he spoke a figure stepped out of the shadows, raising a wand.
"Hannah look out!" A red bolt shot from the wand. It struck Hannah in the side, knocking her into the wall. She fell to the floor, leaving a small but bright red stain on the wall.
Without Hannah's help he wasn't able to hold Seamus anymore. Seamus slowly slipped to the floor. Neville fumbled for his wand as the attacker came closer and Neville was finally able to make him out.
"Malfoy." He wasn't very surprised. "What do you want?" He was still trying to reach his wand but it was stuck his pocked somehow.
"It's all your fault," Malfoy said. "If you'd just given up your little game, none of this would have happened."
Neville thought back briefly to the sight of Draco walking the halls alone but forced it from his mind. "Don't act like we started it," he said. He had to keep him talking. "Where's Crabbe and Goyle? Surely you didn't come alone."
"Shut up!" Draco said. He was only a few feet away now. Neville finally got his wand loose and tried to pull it out, but Draco stepped forward and shoved him. Neville lost his balance and fell over, losing his wand in the process.
"I've lost everything because of you and Potter," Draco snarled. He raised his wand and tried to take another step closer but stumbled. He looked down and saw that Seamus, too weak even stand, had grabbed on to Draco's leg. "Get off, Finnigan! You're next!"
Neville took advantage of the moment of distraction. He pulled himself to his, ignoring the stabs of pain from his side. He looked for his wand but he didn't see it. With no other option, Neville lunged forward and tackled Malfoy like a Muggle might do. He took Malfoy down to the ground. Neville got a grip on Malfoy's wrist and smashed it against the floor until Malfoy dropped his wand. But then he struck Neville on his wounded side and Neville lost all his strength. Draco pushed him off and grabbed his wand. He pointed it at Neville and he felt like something was cutting his chest. He looked down and saw that the front of his robe was covered in blood.
"Learned that one from Potter," Draco said with a smirk. "You can thank him for that."
"Harry's coming back," Neville managed to say weakly. "You can compare then." The others would be coming out of the corridor soon… wouldn't they?
"He's dead," Draco said. "He's dead, I saw it over Easter. Fenrir brought him to the Dark Lord and he killed him." Neville's heart sank. He felt his eyes water and his vision blurred. He thought he might have seen a sadness flash across Draco's face but he wasn't sure.
Then Neville sadness turned to anger. "Liar!" he snarled. He pushed his pain away and stood up. Fear ran across Draco's face and he raised his wand. Neville realized standing up was a mistake, he should have looked for his wand first…
"Get away! Cru-" He stopped and looked down. Hannah had pulled herself to herself to one knee and poked Draco in the side with her wand.
"Stupefy!"
The spell knocked Draco off his feet and into the air. He flew backwards down the corridor and landed on his arm. Neville thought he heard a crunch. Draco tried to move and whimpered from the effort.
"Hannah that was amazing," Neville said, walking over to help her up. "We need to… Merlin's beard, your face!" Hannah reached up and touched her face, which had several trickles of blood running down it.
"No, I'm fine," she said, getting to her feet. "I just need to-" she swayed a little and steadied herself against the wall. Neville walked over to her but found his strength was gone as well.
They heard footsteps coming down the hall. Hannah raised her wand but it was Michael, Terry and Parvati who came around the corner.
"Neville! Hannah!" Michael exclaimed as he rushed over to them.
"What happened?" Parvati asked. Her face was badly bruised and her robes were torn in places but she and the others seemed mostly fine. Hannah pointed her wand at Draco, still laying on the floor by way of response. "Him!"
Michael snorted. "Figures. I ought to…"
"Get Seamus to Madam Pomfrey," Neville said. "And look for Anthony and your sister," he said to Parvati and Terry. "I think Draco did something to them."
Soon the others came around the corner. McGonagall and Flitwick came to attend to them but Neville and Hannah waved them off. Michael and Terry had both been hurt and were struggling with Seamus and wherever Anthony and Padma were, they needed more help than they did. Someone gave Neville his wand back but after that it was all a blur until…
"I think we're the only ones left," Hannah said.
"We are?" Neville looked around. Even Draco had pulled himself away.
"We sent everyone else off."
"That's no good," Neville said. "I don't think I can make it back to the Tower. Too many stairs." He took a deep breath, which hurt his side. "I don't think I could make it to the Hospital Wing. But someone will realize… eventually…"
"My dorm isn't too far away. You could stay there tonight."
In spite of everything, Neville still felt the blood rush to head. He thought he might actually black out for a moment but it passed. "Is that… a good idea?"
"It'll be fine, Neville," Hannah insisted. "And you said it yourself, you can't make it anywhere else."
"Alright," Neville said at last. "Let's go."
Hannah led Neville through the corridors to the statue of the witch. Hannah held her hand on its shoulder and the passageway opened up. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and he wasn't able to take much in about their common room besides the fact that there was a lot of yellow. Then a memory came to him of when Ron and Harry tried to follow Hermione into her dorm.
"Wait, the…stairs, I'll fall…"
"What stairs?" Hannah asked. She led him into a hall lined with doors and went into the first one on the left. "Come on. Lay down." She led him to a bed and he practically fell onto it. The last thing he remembered was feeling her lay against him before he fell asleep.