Chapter 2 – Tangled Up In Blue

-AAfA-

For Neville, everything was in chaos in the after the D.o.M. battle. Dumbledore had been called by Scrimgeour and had arrived to escort them discreetly back to Hogwarts - which meant away from the press. They had apparated back to Hogsmeade and made their way up to Hogwarts and back to their rooms for the night to rest after such an eventful evening.

None of them could, of course. He, Harry and Ron had stayed up all night. Not really talking but just acknowledging what happened and resting their heads. When Hermione was admitted into Madam Pomfrey's care it was quite a scene to see. Harry barely left her side except for meals and curfew. Even then, Neville or Ron had to prompt him away. They knew he blamed himself, but he would starve otherwise.

Harry turned to Neville at breakfast one day.

"Neville," he began, with a vacant expression. "I need you to take care of the D.A. while I'm... absent, alright?" Neville saw the sunken expression and hastily agreed. The problem became evident as the members of the D.A. became tentative and asked if they were planning on resuming lessons over the last weeks, or even after that now that Umbridge had left.

Ron and Neville teamed up to handle the lessons, but they still felt overwhelmed with the duty of organisation that Hermione had handled so seemingly effortlessly before. Many people decided to leave after hearing of the results of the battle fearing for their safety. It only made things more stressful. In the end they were down to less than twenty, with the others just promising their support.

Thankfully, when they mentioned this Susan Bones stepped in to help fill the role to help them out. It made sense as she and Ron had already worked quite closely in the earlier D.A. lessons. She was also the most skilled member, with previous experience from her aunt Amelia. But the cuts were still hard on them. By the last of it they were left with Neville, Ron, Susan, Luna, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione along with Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown, The Patils, Terry Boot, Colin Creevey, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, with Fred and George Weasley, of course.

They had good synergy. Susan would help with practical lessons. She fully utilized her skill set in teaching the more complicated offensive and defensive charms, and even some lower level curses. Of course, Ron always made a good target, which brought the group no end of joy. A nice reprieve, at least, from their worries. He would huff and puff, but there was clearly no bad blood between him and Susan. They would share some good laughs together at dinner. With much less of the student body attending there were no real stipulations against crossing tables, especially with Umbridge long gone.

"I'm surprised at you Ron." Susan said one dinner time. "You've hardly touched your chicken wings. I mean, you've had two already, mind, but usually you'd be on your fifth or sixth by now." The group chuckled to themselves with Ron putting on a silly pout.

"Yeah, I'm not too bad, Sue. I'm just thinking about Harry and Hermione. He just comes in, gets some food and heads back off to the Infirmary and we don't see him until it's time for bed. I'm just worried it'll be any day now when he just gets Dobby to get it for him."

"Well, Ron-"

"-I don't know, I'm just worried is all. I don't want him to cut himself off." Ginny laid her hand on Ron's forearm."

"And we understand that, we're all worried, too. Right, guys?" said Ginny and everyone nodded to the affirmative. "He just blames himself is all. He'll be fine, I'm sure."

"He sits in a few lessons now and then too." Neville chipped in before Luna decided to speak up from her spot on the end in a detached, dreamy way even stranger than usual.

"Madam Pomfrey's just sorting out her potions regiment for now, she should be ready to come out by the end of the week to listen to the Minister's official statement on Sunday. She'll need help getting around for a bit and Harry will volunteer. We'll meet in the Room of Requirement to listen to it, but Fudge will faint before he finishes the speech."

Everyone was stunned into silence and exchanged slightly worried glances between themselves. Neville decided to ask first.

"Where, uh. . . When, uh. . . How do you know that, Luna?" She turned from her stare at the rafters across the hall and gave him a small smile before shrugging.

"Well...We should probably get going if we don't want to miss our D.A. lesson, the others are probably already waiting." They all laughed nervously before deciding to address whatever the hell happened with Luna later. Much later.

The lesson went well, thankfully. Better than expected, actually. They had decided to wind down on intensity until deciding to regroup next year and deciding where to go. They had simply practiced a few of the basic offence/defence. People who were dragging behind a few times before, like Lavender and Colin, were really showing improvement this time around. Everyone was recovering well from the dramatic events of the last few days. Harry had even shown up and was in much better spirits than before, being much quicker to smile and laugh than before. Looks like Luna may have hit the nail on the head, things must be on the up and up.

For Neville, he felt much better in himself. He felt his overall mood improved, despite the desperate and uncertain times that were beginning. He felt his calling as he stepped into a leadership position and it felt good. He was also losing weight nicely since the beginning of the year and felt much healthier in general – in mind and body. He knew it wouldn't be long before he would have to become the Lord Longbottom, but those were thoughts for another time. He had to focus. A lot of people would be depending on him.

-AAfA-

Oblivious to Neville, while he was walking back from the Owlery, he was being tracked by a certain blonde Slytherin. She was uncertain to approach him, knowing the plan was risky, but she knew it was necessary for her father and securing the safety of her family. Her siblings looked up to her as the oldest child and getting into his and Harry's little inner circle would be key. She finally drew a calming breath, redoubled her impassive demeanour with rudimentary Occlumency before walking up behind him.

"Longbottom." He whirled around with startling speed, showing up his experience. He was surprised to see who had called him.

"Hello, Ms. Greengrass."

Always the polite one, even when he's being cautious. Daphne thought to herself, bemusedly. "I know about your secret group, Longbottom." His confidence seemed to falter.

"W-What are you on about?" She allowed herself a small smirk.

"I see you and your little posse at dinners. You've still got that club going. I know you're still practicing even though you were supposed to break it up." She took a step nearer to add some subtle subconscious pressure. She didn't want a confrontation but still wanted to show that she meant business.

"Look, we're just-"

"I want in on it. Well, there are a couple of us who do, actually." That seemed to stop him in his tracks. She had to admit, it was quite entertaining.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You heard me. You'd be surprised but there are Slytherins who don't actually subscribe to the pure-blood dogma. But, as you may be able to guess, it makes us a target, so we're just not as vocal about it as some certain reckless Gryffindors." She couldn't help with the little jab she put in the end but he was still considering what she had said, nonetheless, seemingly not paying it any heed.

She then put in the final kicker to get them on the same page, so to speak. "Everyone looks down on us there because our families don't fall into line with You-Know-Who and his minions" She wasn't as scared as some others to say the Dark Lord's name but she felt it added a humbling layer of vulnerability to her little monologue.

Neville was struck. It made sense, what she said, but he didn't know how the others would take their addition to the D.A. He looked to his feet for a second before locking eyes with a stern expression. It was surprisingly intense to Daphne.

"If this is a trick-"

"-then I promise you can throw us out as soon as you expect anything suspicious." She barely contained the eye roll. She wasn't angry but she had been hoping it wouldn't come to that. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. He looked out of the window with hands on his hips in brief thought before letting out a quick sigh. She had to admit he really looked the part of leader. It was almost – dare she say it – lordly. He scratched the tip of his nose before locking eyes with her again.

"When you see the group leave this lunchtime, I'll wait behind, and you can come with me. Who's coming with you?" he asked her quite determinedly.

"It's just me, Tracy and Blaise." If she was not who she was, she might have almost been caught off guard at his simple agreement - things seemed to be going smoother than expected. He glanced down briefly before giving a simple nod. And with that, he turned back around and headed down the corridor. But he didn't get far before she managed to throw him a curve ball of her own.

"Thank you. . . Neville." She gave him a small wave and a ghost of a smile before letting him head off once again, this time with a light blush. A simple bit of light flirtation to prevent him getting any cold feet. Although she did have to admit that seeing him getting all flustered was quite cute. Well, perhaps cute isn't the word, but it doesn't matter. She didn't feel things like that for anyone anymore. She was the Slytherin Ice Queen and she was determined to maintain that persona. Especially to any Gryffindor. Even if that Gryffindor was the dashing Longbottom scion.

She shook herself from her thoughts as she turned the corner to go back to the common room and report her success to the other two. Her father and, more importantly, her siblings depended on her success.

Daphne had a mission, and that mission's name was Harry Potter.

Inspo. of the Week: 'Harry Potter Fate's Child: A Destiny Revisited' by mathiasgranger