Author's Note: CW: This does mention a suicide.
(Neville's POV)
Hesitantly I limp over to the first-year Ravenclaw girl. Lydia's lying with her back slightly against the wall. Her face is incredibly pale and ill-seeming. She also has a poorly-sewn stitch in her leg. It's bleeding immensely and Madam Pomfrey keeps trying to repair it, but to no avail.
"Madam Pomfrey?" I ask in concern.
"D'you need any help?"
She turns around and stares at me for a moment before saying anything.
"Mr. Longbottom," she says slowly as she puts down the needle and the spool of thread in a safe place.
She ties a small knot in Lydia's leg. Then she takes a pair of scissors and cuts the thread from the spool. Lydia winces in agony and I along with her.
"I would normally send you away, as she needs rest," Madam Pomfrey continues as she stands up.
"But I believe you know her well and she could use your company. I'll be right back. I'm going to get better thread."
As she leaves, muttering something about the thread under her breath, I sit down beside Lydia, who is attempting to keep her tears at bay. We sit in silence for a moment as she whimpers slightly in agony. It makes my heart hurt to simply hear this. I can only imagine the pain she is in.
"Lydia?" I ask gently.
"It's me; Neville."
She tilts her head to face me and smiles weakly. Her eyes are tired-looking and slightly red from crying.
"Hey, Neville," she slowly replies in a raspy, but gentle voice.
"Good to see you again."
"Yeah, you too. But what are you doing here? I thought they evacuated you."
"They tried," she replies slowly with a nod.
"Yeah, they tried, but I wasn't about to leave you three behind."
"Three?"
She nods slowly.
"You, Luna, and Ginny. You make one hell of a trio. It's thanks to you three that I nearly took out a death eater. If you hadn't taught us the petrification charm in the DA, I don't think I would be here."
"Yeah, it saved my life once too," I nod.
"In the Department of Mysteries. Back in fifth year. Did I tell you about that?"
She shrugs slightly.
"Maybe you can tell me after all of this is over."
"Yeah, maybe," I answer nod slightly.
We sit in silence before I decide to bring it up.
"I heard about what happened with Artemis. I'm so sorry."
Hearing this, Lydia bites her lips and her eyes dart around the room as she blinks rapidly. I immediately know something is up.
"Lydia?" I ask gently.
"What is it?"
She gulps as she tries to hold the tears back.
"It's just the stitching. It hurts," she replies rapidly.
"It hurts really bad."
I notice she begins to tremble violently and I can hear her breathing become shallow.
"It's okay," I tell her gently as I place my hand on her shoulder for a brief moment.
"You don't have to tell me, but you can."
Lydia gulps and faces straight ahead. For a few moments, she sits in silence, save for the howling and crying around us. Finally she takes a deep breath.
"We were being evacuated," she begins with a choke in her voice.
"And a few of us...decided to sneak back in and fight. Artemis and I went off in our own direction. She told me that she was gonna try to distract a death eater... and I could try and take it out. I went along with it because... I didn't really have any other ideas; I just wanted to help.
"So then...we found one and Artemis called out to it, but she called out for them to kill her. I jumped in front of her...and the curse hit me. Fortunately it was the cutting and tearing spell, but it was in maximum. I was starting to lose a lot of blood, but Artemis kept taunting the death eater until they... snapped."
I can hear a slight break in her voice as she takes ahold of my hand.
"Neville," she chokes slowly.
"Neville, I-I heard her last words. They were, 'I'll see you soon, mum.'"
She begins to cough and sniffle.
"I—It was my fault," she squeaks.
"I helped lead her there and I had no idea that she planned it. She knew she wasn't going to come out of this alive. She planned this out and I helped her die."
She buries her face in her trembling hands and I grab ahold of her.
"It's not your fault, Lydia," I assure her trying to hold back my own tears.
"And you did not help her die. You had no idea. There was nothing you could do."
"It is my fault," she weeps
"How was I so stupid?"
"You're not stupid."
"That's easy for you to say!" she exclaims.
"I saw her die. I didn't stop her. I just laid there and watched. The death eater made me watch or they said they were going to kill me too. What's worse is that she died smiling. She had absolutely no regrets about this."
"But that's not your fault," I explain.
"There was nothing you could do. She would feel the same way if this were the other way around."
"I nearly asked them to kill me too."
There's a moment of silence as I comprehend what she told me, and my stomach sinks in concern and dismay. This girl, who was bubbly, adorable, and upbeat, was now sullen, regretful, and even suicidal. But she could still be the way she was before, right?
I sigh as I lean further back against the wall. Seeing Lydia in this state, I feel as though this war could change people completely.
