Clumsy Kind of Love Ch. 28

Pain. Pain was all Neville could feel. The poison had slowly crawled across his skin to his right index finger, where it settled, leaving the tip of his finger completely black. It had only been a couple of hours but thin spidery veins of the inky poison could be seen crawling up his arm, it was almost to his shoulder. His arm throbbed in protest. When he dared to try and move it, the liquid seemed to constrict around his arm, causing even more pain.

Neville could barely remember his name at this point, the room was spinning. He was losing it, all of it. It was almost like he could feel bits of memories and himself leaving him, and laughing tauntingly as they did so. There was one thing he held onto, a memory he held onto for dear life, well memories.

Hannah. Filled his mind, it gave him the strength to grasp them a little tighter, even though at this point he couldn't remember why. Neville just felt this warmth, and he knew he was hallucinating when he could have sworn he could smell the delightful aroma of butterbeer, vanilla, and something distinctly feminine. But it was all he had. Most of all, through all the pain, a new feeling was coming forth.

Exhaustion, he was so tired. Neville sighed softly, closing his eyes, picturing a face. Her face, and now her name eluded him; it was just out of reach. The pain had moved in the last hour from the beginning of his shoulder and now was clawing its way down the side of his chest.

I'm dying. He told the woman, whom he saw etched into the darkness of his closed eyelids. Before the darkness of unconsciousness came, he thought he saw tears leave her eyes, and a soft frown appear on his face.


Hannah, Hermione, and Luna hurried into the Burrow and quickly informed them about what they had discovered. The others quickly stood up wand drawn.

"Wait!" Hermione exclaimed as they all readied themselves to apparated there. "One, we don't have a picture of the place, and have no idea where we are going. Two, it is safe to say that if Cassandra Lestrange went after Neville, she will go after the woman who killed her mother, Mrs. Weasley. Some of us need to stay here with her!"

Mrs. Weasley gave a soft humph, and opened her mouth in reply before Hermione interrupted her.

"Not because she can't take care of herself, but if Cassandra was able to get one of us, it's safe to say she can do it again. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley can handle her, but Cassandra is most likely to be a sneak, and kill her from afar!" Hermione explained.

The others nodded softly, "I'll stay with mum," George whispered softly; his eyes were sunken in a sea of soft purple, like he hadn't slept for days.

"I'll stay with ye, Mam!" Seamus added and smiled at Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley gave him a soft smile in return.

"Me too!" Dean continued.

"Ok, I think we are set on that front then," Harry said and nodded his head towards everyone, who returned the nod.

"But, what about how we are going to get there?" Hannah asked gently.

The others shared a look, like they had forgotten she was there and having a silent conversation.

"Look, Hannah…," Ginny began.

Hannah knew instantly what they were going to say. "No! Ginny, if it was Harry would you stay here. Heck, if it was any of your brothers would you stay here! No! You wouldn't, I'm going! And there's nothing you all can say that is going to make me stay!" Hannah interrupted, a firm frown set on her face, and her arms crossed themselves across her chest. She gave everyone a fiery look as if daring them to tell her she could not go.

Ron nodded solemnly, "Alright," he whispered in reply.

"Just look at the picture in the paper," Luna suggested dreamily, her voice cutting through the tension of the room.

"Picture in the paper?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes, they have a picture of Miller Mansion in the paper, see," Luna explained and held out the paper. Hermione snatched it and her eyes went wide in surprise.

"Luna, you're brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I was housed in Ravenclaw for a reason. You just didn't see it," Luna replied and smiled lucidly.

"Everyone look at the picture and we will apparate there together!" Hermione said and passed the paper around to everyone. Then they all walked outside and out of the protective barriers.

They nodded their goodbyes to the ones staying behind and with a loud pop, made their way to Miller Mansion.


So...too cheesy? I hope not. Well. I guess a little cheese is good for everybody right? Next chapter is the long awaited one! I hope you guys read on to find out what happens!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter Universe, only plot and original characters.

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