Cartography of the Mind
by
1: Lost
Please don't notice, please don't notice. Neville hastily tried to block from view the blue bubbles arising from his potion as Snape stalked toward him, but he was just too small and his arms were just too skinny. Consequently, his sleeve dragged through his potion and turned white. Snape smiled wickedly.
"Longbottom, I do believe that you heard me say that a purple froth was supposed to ensue from your potion, and not blue bubbles, did you not?" Neville shook his head ruefully. "You added too many gecko toes. Your potion is an Ever-lasting Perfume Potion, instead of a Stench-Reducing Potion. Now that sickly odor will follow those robes forever. It will never wash out and anytime you wear those robes, you will smell exactly as that potion does now, making even more people desire to be away from you."
The Slytherins tittered unpleasantly as Malfoy took a huge sniff of the air and pretended to choke, even though he was across the room. Why did everything go wrong in Potions? And why was it in this class that Neville's typical exhaustion always kicked in? Neville looked sadly at the white splotches on his sleeves and wondered why the school uniform had to be so hard to manage. He glanced over at Hermione, who was looking sympathetically at him, and noticed that her robes fit fine on her. Then he remembered that his robes didn't fit because he was too small and always had been. He turned back to Hermione, told her that he was okay and then went back to hating himself.
* * *
Neville walked slowly from the dungeons once Potions was over, thankful for it to be the weekend, when he wouldn't have to endure hateful taunts and teasing from Slytherins or embarrassing exasperation from his teachers. Neville hated classes. He hated the teachers and he hated the Slytherins. Even Herbology was torture, as it was always right after Transfiguration and he couldn't help but relive those horrible hours when surrounded by the solitude of plant-life.
Suddenly Neville was torn from his woeful thoughts as Hermione ran up to him, followed by Harry and Ron, both out of breath. He looked up at her, her face flushed pink from running.
"Hey, Neville, I'm sorry about today. I should have told you about the gecko toes. You were busy cleaning up the flobberworm broth that you spilled at the beginning of the class and you didn't get to hear how many toes."
"No, no, it's okay. It's not your fault. I should have been listening—"
"Don't let Snape make you think that it's your fault," Harry cut in. Neville liked Harry a lot. He was always so nice.
"Yeah. He's just trying to make you look like a fool so he didn't tell you, even though he knew you didn't hear. He's just a big dumb jerk," Ron said angrily. Ron was great. He was a funny guy and his loyalty was extremely noticeable even to someone like Neville who was only a part-time side-kick.
"Let's go get some dinner, okay?" Hermione suggested.
"I'm not hungry," Neville said. "Actually, I would just like to go to bed."
Ron looked at him in amazement. "But it's just five o'clock!"
"Yeah…" Neville replied. "But I didn't get much sleep last night and I am dead tired. Potions wore me out." The truth was that he hadn't gotten any sleep at all the night before. He had lain awake, thinking about his parents as he did many nights while at Hogwarts. "I'll eat breakfast with you tomorrow, okay?" he told them.
"Okay, but you have to," Hermione said doubtfully.
"I promise I will," Neville said, and then he headed up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower while the others headed to the Great Hall.
Neville hurried off, remembering to jump the disappearing step and when he got to the Fat Lady, he had to wait for a few moments before Seamus showed up and gave him the password.
Once in the dormitory, Neville threw the smelly robes he was wearing into his trunk and pulled on his pajamas, thankful for the built-in fluffy feet as it was very cold in the stone room. Quietly, he hopped into bed, pulled the curtains about him, and almost immediately dropped off to sleep.
"It smells funny in here, Gran," Neville says, taking his grandmother's hand in his own.
"Don't worry about it, Neville," she replies.
"Where are we going? Where are Mommy and Daddy?"
"We're going to see them, Neville."
"Oh." Neville sticks the side of his hand in his mouth and chews, performing one of his childhood habits which he failed to break before his current age of three.
Soon they reach a witch sitting in a chair, who tiredly waves them on with her hand. They walk down another sterile corridor, Neville's grandmother's high heels clacking loudly on the tile floor. They come to the end of that hall and turn down yet another, this one lined with windows made out of fake glass. Neville is too small to see in any of them, but he can hear sobbing and screaming coming from some of the rooms beyond the windows. They walk nearly to the end of the hall where a wizard wearing white robes meets them and checks something off on the clipboard he holds.
"Right in there, ma'am," he says courteously, gesturing to the window nearest him. The room behind the window is silent. Neville's grandmother peers inside. Her mouth thins into a line, and her blank expression hardens.
Neville looks around. Above the window is a sign with letters on it, but he can't read. "Gran," he says, tugging on her dress. "Gran, what does that up there say?" He points to the sign.
"It says 'Frank Longbottom and wife', Neville," she says shakily.
"Oh." Neville thinks for a moment. "That's Mommy and Daddy, isn't it?"
His grandmother nods. "Would he like to see, ma'am?" the man in the white robes asks. Neville's grandmother nods again. The man walks away for a moment and returns with a step ladder. He sets it down in front of the window.
Neville's grandmother takes his hand and leads him up the first step, and then the next, until he reaches the top of the ladder and can see in. Inside he sees a man and a woman. The man has light brown hair and is laying on the floor with his eyes wide, and his arms and feet flailing. The woman has what must have been beautiful long blonde hair, but now is tangled and matted and plastered to her head with sweat. She is sitting down with her legs crossed the wrong way, her arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth. She appears to be mumbling. Neville presses his nose against the fraudulent glass, confused.
"Why are they in there? Why is Mommy's hair all messed up? Why is Daddy kicking like that? What's wrong with them? Can I go talk to them?" Neville asks, turning quickly to his grandmother and nearly falling off the ladder.
His grandmother looks at the man with the white robes, who nods and begins to walk the rest of the way down the corridor. Neville's grandmother grasps his hand and leads him down the passage after the man. They reach a door at the end and they go through. An empty white room allows them to do a U-turn and they go through a different door, and down a different hall.
This one is lined with doors with great large handles and complicated-looking lock systems. They come to one with a small card on the door which says 'Longbottom'. It has a little window, which the man looks through before pulling out his wand and tapping the lock. It clicks and he opens the door, walking inside. Neville and his grandmother follow.
The man and woman don't seem to notice their entrance. The woman continues to rock and the man continues to kick.. Neville steps uncertainly towards his mother. The floor is like a pillow, soft and buoyant. Neville takes another step. He bounces. "Gran!" he cries. "It's like a trampoline!" Neville bounces up and down for a while, enjoying himself, before he remembers his mother.
"Mommy!" he cries, and runs to the woman, flinging his arms around her. "Mommy, I've missed you!" She does nothing, except go on rocking back and forth. Neville pulls away from her, and brushes the hair out of her face. "Mommy? Mommy, what's wrong? What's wrong Mommy?" he asks, his voice getting more and more worried. He lets go of her and runs to his father. "Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy? Daddy, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? Wake up, wake up!" Neville shoves his father, and he rolls over, his eyes wide and blank. The corner of his mouth droops and a thin trickle of blood seeps out.
"Oh no, he bit his tongue!" the man with the white robes says. Neville starts to cry and continues to push on his father. The wizard with the white robes runs forward and pulls Neville away, then points his wand at Neville's father's mouth. The bite along his tongue heals up, but he does not stir. His eyes remain wide.
Neville runs to the wizard and starts to pound his little fists on his back. "Leave him alone, leave my Daddy alone! Let me see him! Get away!" he shrieks. His grandmother is crying silently now as she steps forward and picks up Neville. He continues to kick and scream and cry, but his grandmother keeps him from getting away. "Let me go, Gran! Let me see my mommy and my daddy! Leave them alone!" Neville looks longingly at his parents.. "What's wrong with them?"
Neville awoke with a start. Quickly he clamped his mouth shut to keep from shouting but he immediately opened his mouth again and screamed at the top of his lungs. He had been chewing on the side of his hand and he had shut his mouth so fast that his teeth had broken the skin. Neville cradled his bitten hand, more to keep the blood off the sheets than because it hurt.
Without warning his curtains were thrown back. It was Harry. He climbed in and sat cross-legged on the bed in front of Neville.
"What's wrong?" he said, looking curiously at Neville.
"Nothing," Neville said hurriedly. "Did the others wake up?"
Harry shook his head and Neville noticed that he didn't have his glasses on. "Ron rolled over, Dean snorted and Seamus mumbled something, but I'm the only one who woke up." Harry looked at Neville's bleeding hand and then back up at his face. "Did you have a bad dream?"
"Yeah…" Neville said distractedly. "Yeah, I did."
"What about?" Harry persisted.
"Nothing in particular."
"Was it about your parents?"
Neville looked up at Harry, startled. "Wh—what?"
"I…I know about them, Neville," Harry said, looking uncomfortable. "I saw the trial of the people who tortured them…it's kind of hard to explain how. I saw Dumbledore's thoughts."
"Y—y-you know?" Neville said faintly.
"Yeah. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to. Is that what you were dreaming about?"
Neville nodded. "I dream about them all the time. I always relive the first time I went and visited them, when I was three."
Harry nodded knowingly. "I dream about my parents too. I did before I even knew about how they died."
"H-h-harry, c-can we not talk about m-my parents, p-please?" Neville stammered, suddenly realizing that he was about to cry and didn't want Harry to see. Harry smiled.
"Sure Neville. I understand. I think I'm going to try and go back to sleep."
"Me too."
"Goodnight, Neville."
"Night, Harry"
Harry crawled out of the gap in the curtains as Neville laid down. But he didn't fall asleep. In fact, he didn't sleep any more that night, and got up only once Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus had all left. Quietly, he pulled a picture out of his trunk. It was of a man with brown hair, a woman with blonde hair, and a blonde baby. The baby was asleep, but the man and woman were both looking solemnly out of the frame, their blue eyes filled with tears. Neville looked at the picture for a long time before he put it carefully back in his trunk, changed into his robes and headed to breakfast.
When he got into the Great Hall, a loud chatter was buzzing and instantly Neville's head began to hurt. He saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting with Ginny Weasley and began to walk to them when Draco Malfoy leapt nimbly in front of him and began to choke, sinking slowly to the ground. Neville considered him a moment before deciding to ignore him. He made to step over him but Malfoy suddenly grabbed the hem of his robes. Neville's feet flew over his head and as some Ravenclaw girl walked by, his feet hit the cup she was carrying and splattered orange juice all over him. She was knocked off her feet and landed painfully on her backside.
Malfoy burst out laughing before stalking back to Crabbe and Goyle, who were both guffawing. The girl who was carrying the orange juice stood up carefully and offered Neville a hand, which he gratefully took.
"Hi!" she said, her long brown bangs swinging and hitting her shoulders. The rest of her hair was done up in an intricate bun. "I'm Adeline Liveque. I'm sorry about your robes. I s'pose you'll have to go change, huh. What's your name?" She spoke very fast as Neville listened, aware that she was familiar. He knew he had met her but where he did not remember.
"Uh, Neville," he said, coming abruptly out of his daze. "Neville Longbottom." He blushed slightly as he always did when he said his last name. A confused look passed over her face before she pasted her good-natured grin back on.
"Nice to meet you!" she said, brightly. Neville was not fooled. Something was wrong with this girl. Her smile might have stretched to her ears but her blue-green eyes were the opposite of friendly.
She glared at Malfoy's retreating back, the antipathy in her eyes growing deeper still. "I don't like him. He's rather rude. Well, I had better go. Sorry about your robes. Talk to you later!" Again, she was talking very fast and over her shoulder as she walked away.
Neville stood for a moment, wondering where he had met her. He certainly didn't know her from school and he couldn't remember anything from his past before that…Neville hammered his brain, trying to recall but he couldn't. All that he could remember was that her syrupy sweetness was very obviously not her true personality. The hatred she had shown in her eyes, especially when looking at Malfoy disclosed that her smile was forced.
Suddenly, Ron came running up to Neville, waving his hand and trying to stop him. "Neville!" he was yelling. "Wait! I'll come with you!" Neville stopped as Ron ran towards him and pulled level. "I saw what happened and I just thought I'd come with you so you're not always alone. Who was that girl you were talking to?"
"Her name's Adeline. She's a Ravenclaw," he said, glad to have a friend to talk to.
"Okay." Ron gave a yawn. "I'm so glad it's the weekend," he said, stretching his arms high above his head. "I'm sure you are too. You and Herm both look close to nervous collapse. She takes her prefect responsibilities so seriously! She's almost as bad as Percy was!" By now they had reached the Fat Lady. Ron looked expectantly at Neville before throwing his hands up. "Don't tell me you've forgotten it again! It's 'purple truffle'."
The portrait swung open as Neville and Ron climbed through and up to the dormitory. Once Ron shut the door behind him, Neville pulled his orange-juice soaked robes over his head and threw them into his open trunk. He promptly donned clean ones, and then hurried back down to the Great Hall with Ron.
When they got in, the noise was less and Neville's head did not hurt. Fewer people were there, and as they made their way toward the Gryffindor table, Neville and Ron both stopped dead.
Adeline was sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking animatedly to Harry, who was seemingly enraptured. Hermione was eating without looking up and Ginny was sitting sulkily on the other side of Harry.
"What's she doing here? She's a Ravenclaw," Ron said, eyeing Adeline angrily.
Adeline turned slowly to Ron and gave a weak detestful smile. "I'm talking to my friend!" she said in mock innocence.
"That's where I was sitting…" Ron half-whined.
"Not anymore. You can sit over there by Herm-ee-oh-nay," she said, stumbling over Hermione's name.
Hermione didn't look up. "This is my table!" Ron said defensively. "And her name's Hermione."
Adeline smiled hatefully at him again. "I don't see your name on it." Her smile flickered slightly as she glanced at Hermione and they caught a glimpse of her expression underneath. It was pure loathing. "And I don't care what her name is."
Ron growled but sat down beside Hermione on the other side of the table. Neville sat next to Ginny, across from Hermione. Harry immediately went back to listening to Adeline while Ron pulled a dish of sausages to him and began to eat. Neville turned to Ginny.
"What's wrong?" he asked tentatively.
Ginny turned huffily towards him. "Your little friend has decided to steal Harry away from us!"
"Hey Gin, why's she here?" Ron asked behind his hand.
"She came looking for you, Neville, and she met Harry and he appears head over heels," she said, crossing her arms.
"Aw, poor Gin-Gin jealous?" Ron cooed.
Ginny glared. "You saw how she treated you! She was even ruder to Hermione and me!"
"Jeez, just kidding, lil sis." Ron reached across the table and patted her arm, then turned to Hermione. "You're being quiet Herm. What's up?"
Hermione finally lifted her head from her food and they saw that she had been crying. Ron leaned over and put his arms around her, rocking back and forth. Neville was suddenly reminded of his mother. "Oh Hermione…what's wrong?" Ron asked soothingly.
Hermione pulled away from Ron and wiped her eyes. "It's…it's…it's her!" she managed to shout in a voice that rang through the Great Hall, silencing all who were speaking. Hermione's quivering hand pointed accusingly at Adeline, who giggled. "She hates me because I'm a better student than her and because I'm a prefect and she can't be one, so she's taking it out on me!"
Fred and George who were still at the table got up and walked over, stopping behind Adeline. "You can't sit here. This is the Gryffindor table," Fred said.
Adeline twisted around in her chair and looked up at the twins, blinking as though disbelieving. "So…?" she drawled in a voice not unlike Malfoy's.
George grabbed the back of her chair and lifted it up, causing Adeline to slip out onto the floor. "So move," he said meanly.
Calmly, she stood up, dusted herself off and smiled painfully. "Fine, I will." She picked her cloak up off the floor, leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek. This made Ron, Ginny and Hermione so mad that when they stood up their chairs all skidded noisily in unison. Harry's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened, making him look ecstatic. "Bye, Harry!" Adeline said singingly, and she skipped off. They could here her mumbling to herself as she walked away. "…big mean 7th years, picking on a poor lil 4th year…"
Hermione glared angrily after her. "Harry, you're just lapping her up!"
Harry stood up, equally as angry. "You're just jealous!" he yelled at her.
Ron looked incredulously at Harry. "A 4th year? A 4th year Ravenclaw? A 4th year Ravenclaw you just met is who you're mooning over? A 4th year Ravenclaw you just met is who you're yelling at Hermione for?"
"What's wrong with 4th years?" Ginny asked, hurt.
"Not all 4th years. He just means her," Neville supplied. Ron nodded earnestly. "Besides," Neville continued, "I think everyone would like Harry to get with you versus anyone else at Hogwarts."
Ginny smiled. "Aw, thanks Neville!" She leaned forward to give him a friendly hug and Neville clumsily hugged her back. Neville was glad to have Ginny, his one friend who was always ready to talk to him.
Harry turned away from Ron and Ron scoffed. "You're so stubborn sometimes Harry. How can you let someone you just met be so rude to your friends of 5 years?"
"Y—you're just jealous!" he yelled again.
"Honestly, is that all you can think of?" Ron asked, putting his head down and looking up at Harry.
"Shut up! Shut up you moron! You're just jealous because you're a freaking pauper!" Harry shouted, losing it.
"Don't you dare speak to him like that!" Hermione yelled, standing up and brandishing her fork at him. She was angrier than Neville had ever seen her. "You can yell at me all you want but not at Ron! He has done so much for you, and this is how you repay him? You leave him alone!" Her anger spent, Hermione sat down and crossed her arms, scowling.
"Harry," Neville began gently, but Harry broke in.
"You shut up too! Why don't you go cry about your parents or something!" he spat.
Hermione looked horrified. Neville wasn't hurt, just…shocked. Harry had been so nice that morning when he had awoken from his dream and now…this.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked vehemently.
"His parents, they're…" For one terrifying moment Neville was afraid that Harry would reveal his deepest secret, the thing that he had never told a single soul in his entire life. Thankfully, Harry didn't. "Ask him," he said, sitting back in his chair, a look of slight amusement on his face. "Go ahead, ask him."
Hermione looked confusedly at Neville. "Neville, what is he talking about? What about you're parents? Why did you get brought up by your grandmother?"
Neville couldn't speak. All words caught in his throat. Harry gave a cold, dry laugh.
"See?" he said vindictively. "He can't talk about it because he's too sensitive." His tone raised in pretend warning. "Be careful! He might burst into tears at any moment!" He laughed delightedly at Neville's look of utter confusion.
Hermione pursed her lips and turned to Harry. "Why? Why Harry? Why do you want to hurt us?"
Harry looked uncertainly around for a moment, anger on his face, before without a word, he stood up and traversed the Great Hall, sitting down at the Ravenclaw table with Adeline. Adeline looked overjoyed as she picked up her conversation with Harry, using her hands and animate facial expression while Harry watched, captivated.
"I knew it. I knew it would happen," Ron muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
"I knew one of us would crack and run away. I shoulda suspected him."
Hermione remained silent but Neville noticed fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. Ginny watched Harry for about three minutes before she too began to cry. Neville began to eat quietly, trying not to think about what Harry had said to him.
Suddenly, Ron broke the silence, making everyone jump. "Let's go do something, guys. Take a walk or the like, and get our mind off that…that…" Ron trailed off, too angry to continue.
Everyone nodded in silent agreement. They stood up and walked outside, beginning their slow walk around the grounds.
But it wasn't the same without Harry. Ron had no one to talk about Quidditch with and without him there, Ginny was the one who had to keep Hermione and Ron from killing each other. But another strange thing was that they didn't really need to be kept apart. A great transformation had overtaken them after their hug that morning, and they seemed to want to be together. They walked side by side and when Hermione slipped on the damp shore of the lake and Ron caught her hand to keep her from falling, he didn't let go, nor did Hermione. Neville and Ginny followed them for awhile, trying to ignore their cuddling, but once they reached the forest and Ron sat down, pulling Hermione down next to him Ginny had had enough. There were only some things that you can do while standing up, but both Ginny and Neville knew that whatever Ron and Hermione could do while sitting down, they did not want to see.
Together but still silent, Ginny and Neville traipsed back up to the castle and sat on a bench in the gardens.
"It's not fair!" Ginny burst out suddenly after a few minutes of silence.
Neville knew exactly what she was talking about, but he asked anyways. "What's not?"
"Everyone else has got a boyfriend or a girlfriend but I haven't, so I just sit there like a dumb idiot while they hold hands and kiss and stuff."
"Not like a dumb idiot. And I haven't got a girlfriend," Neville replied, immediately mad at himself for unintentionally sounding hopeful.
Thankfully, Ginny took it the way Neville had intended it. "So you know how I feel, huh!" Neville nodded. "I wish I had a boyfriend," she concluded sadly.
Suddenly, an unwanted drawling voice came from a bush near them. "Well Ginny dear, Potter doesn't have a girlfriend." Ginny and Neville's heads slowly turned as Malfoy stood up from behind a bush. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind going out with a child. He hangs out with them. I mean, look at Longbottom. He's a year older than you but still a head shorter."
Neville didn't say anything. He knew that almost always Malfoy would go away if ignored. Sadly, Ginny had not yet learned this. "Well if we're so insignificant then why were you spying on us?"
"Spying?" Draco gave an inimical laugh. "Sure, you caught me. But I wasn't spying on you."
"Well who were you spying on, then?" Ginny replied, her voice dripping with cold hatred.
"Them." Malfoy pointed. They followed his hand and saw a bench just like theirs on the other side of another bush. Sitting on it were Harry and Adeline. Adeline was doing something extremely strange to Harry. She seemed to be chanting while waving her hand slowly in front of his face. It was like nothing Neville had ever seen, nothing involving peculiar hand movements was taught at Hogwarts, and he had a notion that it was not permitted. Harry's eyes were shut and his head was lolling, making him look as if in a trance. Draco laughed unpleasantly. "Sorry, Weasley, I guess he does have one now."
"What are you spying on them for?" Ginny inquired.
"I've a pretty good idea that that's not allowed, so if they get caught, they might chuck Potter and that bitch out!" Malfoy was speaking with the trace of happiness in his voice that he used when he spoke of bad things happening to good people.
"What've you got against Adeline?" Ginny asked, intrigued.
Malfoy's face twisted into a bitter grimace. "She, uh, she and I, well we…" he trailed off and then shook his head briskly. "None of your business!" he said firmly.
Ginny gave him a skeptical look before remembering the problem at hand. "I'm going to stop them!" she said worriedly. "Adeline's going to hurt Harry!" After hurtling the small bush separating the two benches, she tackled Adeline, followed quickly by Neville, who propped Harry on a tree when he fell over unconscious.
Suddenly, a blinding flash lit the area and Ginny rolled off of Adeline, also unconscious. "What did you do to them?" Neville demanded angrily.
Adeline waved her hand impatiently. "They'll wake up in a few minutes.
"What were you doing to Harry?" Neville persisted, amazed at his own temerity.
"I was trying to give him what he always wanted. His parents."
Neville looked awe-struck at her, completely confused. "But Harry's parents are…well…dead."
Adeline smiled sagely, but her eyes remained cold. "Death is not as final as you think. Do you realize," she continued, stepping forward and cradling his cheek. "that I can give you your deepest desire?"
Neville's thoughts flitted again to his mother. He, like Harry, just wanted his parents back. But the story of the Longbottoms was not widely known. Only a few at Hogwarts knew about their mental condition and current whereabouts, and Neville couldn't think of how Adeline could know. She couldn't give him his deepest desire. He couldn't make his parents sane any more than he could make Harry's parents live again. She was wrong. Death was completely final. No spell could alter it.
Neville jerked out of her reach. "What do I matter to you?" he said fiercely.
Adeline floated behind him and ran her forefinger under his chin. "I can give you what you want." Neville thought again of his parents and for one fleeting moment, wondered if Adeline really could give him what he desired. But how could she know? "I can see it. Your heart's desire is that…" She trailed off, her eyes closed, apparently in a deep reverie. Then her eyes snapped open and she smiled warmly again. "You want to be taller."
Neville laughed, and stepped out of her reach once again. "You fraud. You charlatan. You don't know my deepest desire. You don't know anything about me! You just met me!" The earlier certainty that he had previously known her swam into his thoughts but Neville tried to ignore it. "All that you're doing is acting in a creepy manner. You may have Harry figured out, but you will never, ever get me." Neville blinked, once more astonished at the audacity he had just displayed. "Go away. Go away and leave my friends alone."
Adeline looked surprised too but soon recovered herself. A disdainful smile seeped onto her face. "I haven't just met you," she said softly yet spitefully. "And I 'get' you. Don't you remember me, Neville?" She stepped forward once again and ran her hand down the side of his face. "Sweet, innocent Neville. You've blocked me from your thoughts, haven't you?" Unexpectedly, she leaned forward and kissed him gently. "You remember that, don't you?" she asked, almost inaudibly.
Adeline stepped back and watched Neville carefully. He was breathless. Neville couldn't remember ever being kissed, and certainly not like that. If he couldn't remember, then how could it have possibly have happened? How could she expect him to forget something like that? Neville couldn't think of a single time he had ever been kissed before that. Who would have kissed him? He was shorter than everyone in his year, and he had very few close friends anyways. No, he was positive. He didn't truly know Adeline. Maybe he had seen her somewhere sometime, he told himself, but he had definitely never kissed her.
Suddenly, Neville was brought out of his daze as Ron and Hermione came crashing into the clearing. "Leave!" Ron shouted at Adeline and without a backward glance she turned on her heel and left. Hermione ran to Ginny and stooped next to her, seemingly checking her pulse and as soon as Adeline was gone, Ron walked over to Harry. Neville approached him.
"Hey, thanks a lot Ron. I said some pretty dumb stuff to her back there…I should have known that she could have hurt me."
Ron looked up, a caring look on his face. "No Neville, we were watching and you said some pretty brave stuff to her back there. You just showed why you're in Gryffindor. You stood up for you friends, and you stood up to someone much bigger than you. I thank you."
Neville blushed, and bent down to help Ron with Harry. Together they lifted him up and put him on the bench, then they helped Hermione rest Ginny on the ground beside him.
"She said they'd wake up in a few minutes. I guess we just wait…" And sure enough, after about two minutes, Harry stirred and then Ginny about thirty seconds later. They both sat up, dazed but in a few minutes they had been filled in on what had happened.
Unanimously, they decided to head back to the Gryffindor common room. All the trip up and sometime into Hermione and Ron's chess match Harry apologized and apologized for how he had acted. Neville sat and watched while everything around him changed and evolved like it did everyday. He was on the sidelines, watching everything happen. He thought about himself and was sad. Nothing was ever perfect. Sure, life wasn't but everyone else had those times in which everything was like they wanted it. Neville didn't. He was never where it was perfect. There were too many things wrong with him. He wasn't ever good enough. He was always too small or too stupid or too trivial or too something else. He had nowhere to be. Neville was lost.