Neville had never been in Flitwick's office before. It seemed strange to see such small furniture with such big chairs and desk, but he realised that Auror Fernsby had probably made them larger for their benefit.
"Neville Longbottom, is it?" The dark-haired Auror asked, "I knew your parents,"
Neville nodded as he sat in the chair the Auror motioned to. From close up, the scar looked ragged as it cut through the greying stubble and ruddy skin. He wondered what curse or weapon had caused it. "They were brilliant Aurors, your mother actually helped train me." He smiled, drawing back his gaze from the scar.
Neville smiled weakly back as he sat nervously on the chair. "You look a lot like her, You have your dads colouring though." He nodded as he stared at Neville.
Neville remained quiet as he waited for the Auror to get to the point. "I saw that you want to join the Aurors at the end of the school year. That's an interesting choice, wouldn't you say? After what happened to them," He asked conversationally.
Neville shook his head, "not really, sir." He replied.
"You could have joined over the summer, how come you returned to Hogwarts?"
"I wanted to finish my exams." He replied. The other wizard nodded as the 'Quick-Quotes' quill started to wave and write.
"Always a good choice, especially if you ever want to progress within the ministry. Blunt tools never get you very far." He nodded.
The silence hung awkwardly before the Auror spoke again.
"So, I guess you are wondering what's going on, and I bet your old mate, Weasley, told you all about it." He stated with another genial smile as he linked his fingers over his belly. Neville shook his head.
"No, sir," Neville replied, "He said that you would tell me,"
"Very good." The Auror leant forward, his clasped hands propped between his knees. "I'm going to be honest with you, and tell you what we know so far. And I hope that you will tell me exactly what happened so that we can tie all the ends together. Does that sound fair?"
"Yes, sir." Neville nodded.
"I will tell you everything once We've talked and you tell me your version of events. I don't want to colour or change any memories by the information I hold." Neville nodded. It made sense.
"So, what I would like to do first is go through your memories of the party last night, starting from your meal in the great hall."
Neville took a deep breath and told him everything that he could think of. He told him about Hannah and the Polyjuice, and about returning drunken to the dorms, he didn't go into as much detail from where Pansy helped him off the stairs. It was only the two of them, so he didn't think that needed to be gone into.
The Auror nodded as he listened. "That virtually matches the statements we've already taken."
"Oh, Weasley did say to tell you about me having been bullied, I don't know what relevance it has." Neville shrugged.
The older man looked at him and frowned. "You? Bullied? What on earth could people bully you for? You tower over most of the other students, You're almost as tall as Weasley,"
Neville shrugged "I'm shy and clumsy, I guess."
"I bet you're less shy than you used to be with that Parkinson girl hanging off your arm?"
Neville blushed fiercely as Fernsby smirked and winked. "She's very pretty." Neville nodded in agreement as his mind raced. Why was this relevant? "Shame about the family, though. How do they feel about you both being together?"
"They don't know, sir." He replied, "Are you going to tell them?"
"I don't think that will be necessary, I'm just trying to get a bit of background to the situation."
"What could my involvement with Miss Parkinson have to do with this investigation?" Neville asked.
The Auror took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. "Would you be willing to give me your memory of last night?" He asked calmly as he disregarded Neville's question.
"I will give you some of it, but some of it is very private and I would rather not," Neville replied.
"And what if the part you are not willing to hand over is part of our investigation?"
"I can assure you, it won't be. Once I got back to the dorms I didn't leave until breakfast this morning unless you believe that it was me that attacked the student?" he frowned. "I'm not a suspect, am I?"
Fernsby sighed and tilted his head at Neville. "And can anyone else confirm that you were in the dorms?" He asked, but from the smirk on his face, Neville guessed that he knew the answer already.
"Yes, Miss Parkinson. We were together all night." Fernsby nodded with a knowing smile.
"Miss Parkinson confirmed that too. However, she took a bit more persuasion to divulge the information."
"Her parents don't approve of us. Also, they don't want her… reputation tarnished."
"Oh… her reputation." Fernsby repeated with a smirk. "I assume then that her reputation is no longer a problem if you two spent the night together?" He asked, making Neville's cheeks blaze again.
"Her reputation is just as intact as before, sir."
"Very well, If you are willing, I will take that memory up until you enter the dorms. If that is agreeable?"
Neville nodded as he dug out his wand from his pocket. He placed it against his temple and drew out the memory like plucking at a single strand of spaghetti. Fernsby grabbed one of the waiting vials and held it open to him. Neville tapped the glittering strand into the glass tube before pulling his wand back. He could still recall all the details of that night, they just seemed slightly dimmer in his memory, which in light of what had taken place, he didn't mind.
"Would you mind waiting while I view this?"
"Then will you tell me what is going on?" Fernsby thought for a moment and then nodded.
He watched as the Auror poured in his memory into a pensieve which lay behind him hidden. He had never seen anyone actually use one before and was interested in what it was like. The Auror lowered his head about to plunge it into the smoky liquid when he paused. He straightened and looked at Neville.
"If you would be so kind as to join me, it's so much more helpful when you have someone be able to assist you in the thoughts and meanings behind things." Neville sat there for a moment as he took in the request. He would have to see every painful moment of that argument all over again. But knowing it was Hannah would take at least some of the sting out of it. He nodded and stood as Fernsby moved to give him room. "You ever used one of these before?" He asked.
Neville shook his head. "When you step in, there will be a falling sensation, and then we'll be in your memory. The only one you'll be able to interact with is me, understand?" He nodded his head again as he watched the Auror lower his head. He copied plunging his face into the cool, airy liquid. He started to fall and gripping the desk, tried to steady himself.
He landed, the floor rocked slightly as though he'd caught the aftershock of an earthquake. He looked around as he caught the eighth years walking in.
"Some great costumes!" Fernsby muttered from his shoulder. He glanced at the older Auror and nodded.
"Are you muggle-born?" Neville asked, wondering whether he knew most of the characters behind the costumes.
"Yeah, I get to the cinema every now and then."
"The what?" Neville asked, turning to him.
"Cinema, it's where you can go and watch the muggle films some of these costumes are from. You can go on a date or with friends." Neville nodded with interest before turning around.
"So, talk me through who we have here," He asked as they leant against the wall. Watching the goings-on in the hall, he was free to look around. The looks of delight and joy of the little first year's faces made him smile. The costumes really were great.
"I'm Gomez Addams, Mandy Brocklehurst is the unicorn, Terry Boot is the zombie,"
"Cool costume," Fernsby smirked with appreciation as the students groaned all over again.
"Susan Bones is the skeleton. The guy in the denim shorts and suit jacket is Stephen Cornfoot, The guy next to him in the wide, orange trousers and baggy coat is Oliver Rivers." He pointed.
"What are they supposed to be?" He asked with a smirk.
"Muggles, apparently." Neville snickered.
Fernsby snorted and shook his head before Neville continued to go through the people he could name and the costumes they were in.
"So did she ever tell you what the scales were all about? Lovegood was it?" He asked as everyone started to leave the hall.
"She was giving out divine inspiration and magical empowerment." Neville smiled.
"That's… nice." The Auror replied, his face crumpled in confusion.
"Luna's eccentric," Neville explained as they followed him to the common room.
"So these two," He motioned to Cornfoot and Rivers. "These the two that have been bullying you?"
"Yeah, since Hannah and I split up about two months ago," Neville explained as he pushed his hands into his trouser pockets.
The students they passed all had eyes for the people in the costumes. It was nice to be invisible this time around.
"And why do you think that was?" He asked.
"Hannah went a bit crazy. She started getting really possessive and controlling. She tried to get me to leave all my old friends behind saying they were a bad influence, including Ron and Harry."
"I don't think anyone could really call the chosen one a bad influence." Fernsby laughed.
"She dumped me. Within a couple of days, they'd started picking on me. Calling me names and spreading rumours at first, and then they tampered with my shampoo, which is why my hair is the colour it is."
"I just thought it was part of your costume," Fernsby added.
"No, it was a prank. It's been like this for over a month now."
"Is that why Miss Parkinson has the same colour?"
"Yes, but not for the reason you think. I got tricked, and she decided to help me and trick them back, pretending we showered together. Baise was there when she dyed it."
"Very cunning, then again, Weasley tells me she was in Slytherin."
"Houses don't really mean anything to me any more. I've had more grief from former Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws this term than I ever had from Slytherin school mates."
"I see your point." He nodded as they stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment. "What's down there?" He asked, pointing down the corridor.
"Erm, there's a little sitting area, and then it leads you outside and towards the main courtyard. You can also get to the greenhouses from here if you go left."
Fernsby nodded as they started to climb the steps. He seemed thoughtful for a moment. "So what else did they do to you?"
Neville sucked in a breath as he tried to think of everything. "They shredded all of my clothes, broke my cheekbone by tripping me in the shower. Trip jinxes in the corridors. Hannah accused Pansy of putting me under the imperious curse and then hit me with a modified stupefy charms, and I smashed my head against the fireplace. But that curse was meant for Pansy. I think there might be more, but they're the things that stand out the most."
Fernsby whistled "Wow, they really don't like you do they?" Neville shook his head as they pushed through the common room door. The place looked as horrifying as he remembered.