It took me a bit to stuggle through it, but I've done it! We've got another chapter to start off the next bit of character growth for everyone. Yay!


Chapter 51: It All Fell Down

Dark, heavy clouds were gathering in the sky as Haven followed Neville down to the Greenhouses where the mandrakes were stored. Neville had a small notebook tucked under one arm and his bag slung over one shoulder. He'd mentioned wanting to come and see what he could do to help out the mandrakes, with a meaningful look that Haven translated to mean he planned to use the strange healing powers the Stone had given him.

The rules that had been put in place with Neville's disappearance had been lifted, now that the one behind them had been caught and arrested. Haven scowled at the thought. She hadn't realized that the others were just going to turn him in like that. If she had known, she would have asked them to stay out of it until she had gotten Neville back. If they hadn't felt like they could handle it, why hadn't they just waited for her? Did they honestly trust magical police over her?

Haven sighed. She felt constantly restless, like she had forgotten to do something important. There wasn't much to be done about it. All she could do was follow after Neville while he tried to do something actually useful.

The Greenhouse was empty when they stepped inside. Neville made straight for his own goal, while Haven meandered around for a bit. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, but it wasn't like she could really remain still for longer than a moment or two.

She watched Neville examine the mandrakes with a thoughtful eye, occasionally glancing down to his notebook and he scribbled a few things down with a quill.

"So, how is this going to work?" Haven asked curiously, "You just going to bleed on 'em?"

Neville shook his head. "Well, some of them. I was thinking that I could use this as a bit of an… experiment, I guess. See what different ways my powers can work. For this group," he pointed the feathered end of the quill to the mandrakes at the far left end, "I'll use my blood. For the ones in the middle, I'll try maybe just touching them. That worked with Zacharias, at least I think that's what did it. On the last ones, I want to see if I can make them grow faster without any of that. Like you do with a spell, without a wand or the words. The wanting it to happen part." Neville looked a strange mix of uncertain and excited, like you felt standing at the edge of a steep drop. The view was wonderful, but there was that bit of fear that you could fall down, down, down.

"Sounds good." Haven said. It was good that Neville was trying to figure out what he could do and how to control it, she thought. That way there wouldn't be any reviving and getting kidnapped by Dark Lord Pretty Boys. He was using it to help the mandrakes, too, which would let the petrified people get better that much faster.

Haven just hoped they wouldn't end up finding out something terrible about his Stone powers.

She watched as Neville went first to the mandrakes on the right, hopping on one foot and then the other in an attempt to soothe the restlessness dancing in her chest. Nothing spectacular happened, really, but she thought she saw the leaves flutter in a nonexistent wind. Maybe one or two perked up a little, but that might have been her seeing things. Neville moved on to the middle of the row, his fingers straying for a minute or two at the base of each plant, his eyes closed and face pinched in concentration. This time she knew she was seeing something happen. The mandrakes seemed to stretch, the leaves growing more vibrant.

"Look, Neville." Haven said. Neville opened his eyes. He turned to look at her, and they shared a grin. "Try the next ones!"

Neville eagerly approached the remaining mandrakes. He created a cut on his finger and smeared his blood on the leaves of one of the mandrakes. Instantly, it grew and grew, turning almost impossibly vibrant. He had to remake the cut every time, because it would heal so fast, but he didn't seem to mind. His eyes were as wide as his smile.

"I think these ones will be ready. Tomorrow, even." Neville turned to say as he stowed away the knife. After a moment, he picked up his notebook and scribbled down the results.

Haven peered over at the page and smiled. "I mean, I know it was kind of scary and all- especially since Riddle, but- I think it's wonderful, too. As long as we're careful, you might be able to do all sorts of good things. We don't even know what all you can do yet. Maybe it'll be like the rest of magic- the more you do it, the more you can do, if that makes sense?"

Neville nodded hesitantly, "Maybe."

Her friends powers were strange and mysterious, but if anyone could take something like that and make it a good thing, it was Neville. Haven didn't really trust the powers themselves. Beyond just the resurrection of Lord Pretty Boy, Neville would have to fear being discovered all of his life. It scared her friend, and she just wished she could do something about it.

She wished she could do something in general. After all that research, all that time, all that worry over Michelangelo- arrest? It didn't seem a fitting enough punishment. A girl had died. Michelangelo had nearly done the same. As it was, Michelangelo was a mess over his ordeal. Who knew how many had died that they didn't know about? Lockhart deserved to die. If her friends didn't think they could handle it, they should have let her look the bastard in the eye and end his life. He was a monster. Humans got arrested. Monsters only deserved death.

It made no sense to treat Lockhart like he was human.

Haven's thoughts looped on and on until it was time to head to dinner in the Great Hall. She found her seat next to Neville, shooting a glare over at the Slytherin table where Malfoy sat. She didn't know what it was he thought he was doing getting involved, but she didn't trust it. What had Zacharias been thinking?! Malfoy? After what he'd done?

She stabbed her fork into her vegetables, thinking viciously, "I'll bet it was Malfoy's idea to turn him in. He probably hoped Lockhart would get off easily, since all the captives weren't 'important', since all of them were dirty muggleborns. He probably got a laugh with his little buddies out of it."

Haven remained silent as her friends took their seats around her. She didn't greet anyone but Fred and George. She only looked at Zacharias to glare.

Didn't they trust her to know what she was doing? Didn't they want to make sure no one else got hurt? Didn't they want to avenge those who had died? Didn't they want to defend Michelangelo? Didn't they care about Neville enough to never, ever, speak to Malfoy again?

She just couldn't understand it. Not any of it.

"So you've been released, then?" Neville asked Zacharias. She sighed. Haven loved Neville, she really did, but she couldn't fathom how he could be kind to people no matter what. It was something she was fond of, but sometimes she wished Neville would have a bit more of a backbone. Some things didn't deserve his kindness.

"What gave that away?" Zacharias replied dryly. Haven glared at him again, before fixing her gaze on her food. She just didn't get it. Why would Zacharias ever ask Malfoy's help? Zacharias didn't even like him, in fact he never had. She wouldn't believed it if she was reasonably sure of Diggory's character, and the fact that Malfoy had been right there. What reason would Diggory have to lie?

It was another sad thing to note- that Diggory had been the one to tell her about it. Not any of her friends. Diggory. Would they have told her otherwise? She'd heard Malfoy, he'd been about to make some excuse, and not one of the others had opened their mouths to argue it. None of them had lifted a finger when Zacharias had asked for help from the enemy. Not Hermione, not Luna. She wouldn't expect Diggory to know better, she supposed, but the other two knew what Malfoy was like. The only reason she hadn't said anything at the time was because she was more worried about Neville.

She was only drawn back to the conversation when she realized Zacharias was speaking to her. "Alexandrite. What has the food done to offend you?"

Haven didn't look up at him. She stabbed her fork down again. She didn't really feel up to eating, but stabbing it gave her something to do with her hands. "Nothing."

Everyone instantly looked at her. Even Neville seemed a little alarmed.

"Alright. Something's up. What is it?" Zacharias replied. She wished he wouldn't talk to her. She didn't want to hear his voice, or have to talk to him.

"It's fine." Haven replied tightly, glaring at her plate. "Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

There was a pause. She was beginning to hope he'd leave her alone when he said, "Right. Well, when you're in the mood to actually talk about what is really going on, let me know."

Haven got to her feet with a huff. Not bothering to look at any of them, she stormed out of the Great Hall. It's not like she wanted to eat anyway. There was no point in hanging around with people who were going to ask her what was wrong when it was so obvious.


Neville's POV

It was happening again, was all he could think as he watched Fred and George walk out of the room without a word. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no words formed. What was Neville supposed to do?

All he'd wanted to do was bring everyone together to do something nice for Michelangelo, since he wasn't doing so well. Neville had hoped that it would give Haven and Zacharias something to work towards together and would ease the tension that had been building. Maybe the distraction would be good for Fred and George, too.

Neville had thought it would work too. But then, it went wrong.

It started with a muttered comment from Haven. "Maybe, if you'd all just killed the bastard who did this to him, we wouldn't have this problem right now."

Her words were quiet, but Neville felt like they echoed through the unused classroom. Neville felt winded, as if he'd been hit in the gut. What? He'd just thought… he'd thought she was angry about Draco. What did she mean? Lockhart? She was mad they arrested Lockhart instead of killing him?

He couldn't help but glance at Fred and George. Their faces were like stone. Neville couldn't believe Haven would say that. Had he misheard her?

No one else had said anything until at last Zacharias spoke up. His face was just as blindsided as the rest of them. "You've got to be joking. Is that honestly what this is all about? You're mad we didn't kill him?"

"Of course it is!" Haven had replied. What? Really? "You just let the guy walk? If you guys hadn't thought you could handle it, why didn't you just wait for me? I could've taken care of it."

"We did not 'let the guy walk' as you put it. We turned him in to the Aurors. I don't see a problem in that." Zacharias had replied. The pair went back and forth a few times, Haven especially becoming more heated as they went. It was strange, how she didn't even seem to understand what they found so horrifying about what she said. Did she truly not get it?

There still had been perhaps some hope, until Zacharias had huffed, "This is what happens when someone is stupid enough to leave a witch to be raised by Hunters of all things. We should count ourselves lucky, I suppose, that it wasn't one of the Men of Letters, at least."

Neville couldn't help but wince. Zacharias had brought up her family. That was bad. That was when Fred and George had walked out.

"How dare you!"

Neville covered his face with his hands as he heard Diggory's voice, "Hey, how about we calm down fo-"

"If you haven't noticed, it is the Hunters out there risking life and limb to keep innocent people from becoming breakfast!" Haven yelled as if she hadn't heard a word Diggory said. "I'm proud to be a Hunter, and I'll be damned if I let anyone insult them."

Neville decided it was time to step in. He opened his mouth to speak- he wasn't quite sure what yet- when he caught Zacharias' glare and closed it again. Right. Don't interfere. It will only make her angrier. Neville took a deep breath. This wouldn't be like last time.

"Don't you dare blame Neville." Haven hissed. Wait. She thought- the glare was because Zacharias blamed Neville? No. That wasn't it at all. Neville felt even worse. He was just making her angrier, and he hadn't even needed to say anything.

"For what?" Zacharias replied, his arms crossed and his tone imperious. "Your being unreasonable? That is most certainly not his fault."

Haven scoffed. "Unreasonable? Me? You're the one who trusted Malfoy of all people to help! You never bring in someone you don't trust! What if Michelangelo had gotten hurt because of him?! Don't you even care about Neville?"

Oh no. Zacharias' expression went hard like stone.

"And arresting Lockhart? I guess you don't care about Michelangelo, either! Or anyone else! Now I can't even finish the job. When he gets free and starts killing people again, you'll only have yourself to blame." Haven continued. Neville felt himself shrinking down. He wished this all was just a bad dream. He'd wake up and none of this would have happened.

"What's wrong with arresting him?" Hermione suddenly spoke up. "I can't believe you! I thought you were a good person, and now I find out that you're- vigilante justice isn't justice! Everyone deserves to be tried by the law!"

Haven turned to Hermione. "Yeah, everyone human. He's a monster. Why should he be given that? He murdered a girl in our year, and nearly did the same to Michelangelo. He's not a human. He can't be held in prison like a person can. He can't be rehabilitated. Because he's a monster. He's going to escape, because he's not a human and can't be held by the same things that hold humans. They aren't equipped to deal with him."

"You do realize this is Azkaban you are talking about, right? And Aurors?" Zacharias spoke, his voice quieter than Haven's or Hermione's, but no less heard for it. "They are trained to deal with Dark Wizards, and all manners of creatures. He's not going to escape from them. Unless you are implying that Aurors are incompetent?"

"Oh, I'm sure they can do their own job well enough." Haven replied, "But this isn't their job- it's mine."

"So you are just mad that someone else can do what you see as 'your job', nevermind that you are 12 years old and they are trained professionals. You are also angry that we have more sense than to assume we can do something better than said trained professionals can, and acted accordingly. Is that right?" Zacharias said.

Hermione shook her head, her face disgusted. "Don't bother, Zacharias. It's obvious she won't see sense. I can't believe I was friends with someone so… so… despicable." With that, Hermione turned on her heel and stomped out of the room.

"Look, guys, it's okay to have different opinions, but we don't have to fight." Diggory tried again, looking between Haven and Zacharias. "You're not always going to agree on everything. Let's just agree to disagree, alright?"

Zacharias remained silent, but gave a stiff movement that might have been a nod.

"But what you guys did was wrong." Haven insisted. "Other people might die, now. Innocent people. Sally-Anne Perks and Michelangelo deserve better than that." She turned to Zacharias. "I can't see how you think I'm wrong."

Zacharias let out a hollow sound like a laugh. "That. That right there. That's the problem. You don't see." He huffed, and let his arms fall to his sides. "I'm going to- go. Before anyone says anything worse."

Then Zacharias was gone, too.

Haven turned to the last three remaining. She looked… confused. Lost. "You guys… you think I'm right, don't you?"

Diggory gave a small smile. "Do I agree with you? No. However, I do see where you are coming from." Haven didn't seem to register the last part. Her face fell for a moment, before her expression hardened into a glare and she turned away.

"It is not the end, friends." Luna hummed, as if this was an answer, before she left the room herself. She paused by the door and turned to Diggory. "You'll want to come, too. I've been told by the philos that they have some things to sort out, if we want things to mend themselves." Diggory, bemused, followed Luna after a moment of hesitation.

Neville didn't look at Haven for a long moment. He didn't want to answer her question. He didn't agree with her, but if he told her that…

Was she going to cut everyone out? Like she had to Draco? Neville couldn't stand the idea. He couldn't let it happen.

Resolve steadied his breath. He couldn't let it happen.


So, after this, we only have 5 chapters left before Second Year is over and I start the rewriting process! Woot woot!

Alright, so yeah. This chapter. Complicated stuff. Everyone has something to learn, I think. More of that will be revealed next chapter. Once more, I'm trying to do a 'no one in the complete moral high ground' scenario. That's probably going to get some anger, and that is fine, I guess. I don't really agree with any character totally on their actions, but they are 12. None of them are quite able to understand the other viewpoints, and thus things will be done and said that I, and probably you, will disagree with. But tell me what you think! Who do you agree with right now? How will that change? Feel free to share and debate with me!

I know it seems like I don't agree with Haven here- we're in Neville's POV, remember. Even he doesn't quite get where she is coming from, even if he is more willing to try and understand. Honestly, everyone did something wrong, or will do something wrong. Haven's problem? Not trusting anyone else to have the ability to do something. Sure, the Ministry of canon is seen as incompetent, but that doesn't mean no one else can handle a situation. There's also the matter of cutting other people out the moment they disagree with her or make a mistake- as with Draco. There's a deeper issue that I'll bring up later, but for now this is a start. I want her to grow past some of that.

For Hermione, she just... ugh. Doesn't bother to understand other opinions. Very rigid idea of justice that she had in canon. That's what needs to change for her to remain a part of the group. I wanted to address it and this was a good time.

Zacharias... buddy... you understood she couldn't see your viewpoint and why, but... dude... don't hate on the family. I kind of think he's right that he and his group were not equipped to handle Lockhart, so the best thing they could do was turn him in without facing him. The adults who can handle magical creatures have a better idea of what to do than they do. If they had done something, they would have died or been framed. They are all 12-13 years old.

So, if you disagree, feel free to say something. I'll reply and we can talk further about it. But I'd like to ask that you see what I do with it before claiming this story as a lost cause. I won't finish it up throughout second year, but I will get through some of it and set up what I will do with the rest.