Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling as well as Dumbledore's speech. I own nothing but my ideas (and the computer I'm writing them on...)

A.N) I'm sorry I took so long to update but I was in a car crash and hurt my arm, but now I'm o.k! =)

Chapter Two

Neville awoke on Thurs. morning with butterflies in his stomach. It took him a moment to remember why but when he did, he jumped out of bed at once.
"Oww!"
Neville had jumped a little too high for his low ceilinged bedroom.
Massaging his head where he had banged it, Neville went downstairs for breakfast. His grandmother was frying eggs as he bounced into the kitchen.
"Morning Gran!" he said happily, thinking of his meeting later that day with Hannah.
"Good morning Neville." His grandmother replied curiously. The fact was, Neville rarely bounced. "What are you so excited about?"
"Oh, well, I wrote Hannah and I told her to come to come to Diagon Alley as well. I haven't seen her all summer. We're going to meet."
Neville's grandmother made an indistinct noise in her throat, showing her disapproval of
Neville's life choices. She didn't think boys should have girls as their best friends.
Neville ignored this as he began buttering toast from a stack on the table.
Toast, besides eggs and pasta, were basically the only thing that his grandmother could make without burning. It was ever Neville's wish to introduce her to the house-elves at Hogwarts and see if she walked away with any recipes she couldn't ruin.
When Neville had eaten, he flew upstairs to get dressed and then took to bouncing around the house out of excitement. Every few minutes, a crash was heard as Neville broke yet another vase or glass or plate. Neville ordinarily managed to break a remarkable number of things without bouncing around in excitement. Needless to say, the house was a mess by the time he and his grandmother set off.
They would be taking the muggle train to London, for Neville's grandmother thought that Floo Powder was much to dangerous and messy.
The train ride would be an hour long so Neville settled himself comfortably next to the window in the compartment.
They rode by farmland and a wood and stopped in many little villages, but Neville didn't notice. He was staring at the sky, deep in though.
Half a year ago, he had been sure that things were finally getting better. It had seemed that Voldemort was gone for good and each visit with his parents brought him closer to his father.
Of course, his father thought that he was just a nice boy who came to listen to his stories about back when he had been a pirate and sailed the Seven Seas with Long John Silver. Neville's father would enact various famous battles with a hat-stand, which he seemed to think was Blackbeard. These battles normally ended with the hat-stand on the floor, though once in a while, the hat-stand, having been pushed to one side, would swing back and conk Neville's father when he least expected.
"Aha!" his father would then shout, "Sneaking up on me when my back is turned! Blackbeard you have dirty tricks!"
Neville chuckled to himself as he recalled one such visit last Easter.

Things had been getting better... and then Voldemort had come back.

FLASHBACK

Neville couldn't understand what had happened. Harry had touched the Triwizard Cup at the same time as Cedric and both of them had disappeared. Twenty minutes later he saw, from his seat in the stadium, that Harry had returned holding onto Cedric's hand. Both of them were lying on the ground and both seemed to be unconscious. Dumbledore had run to them and was bending over Harry, who didn't seem to want to let go of Cedric, and then, the screaming had started. Neville couldn't hear what was being said at first, but then someone nearby gave a shout. "It's Cedric!" Neville heard him cry, "Cedric Diggory's dead!"
The girls around Neville burst into tears, screaming, and Neville felt as though he were about to faint.
"No." he said to himself softly. "It can't be."

Everyone was sent to their dormitories immediately. When he reached his own room at the top of the spiral staircase, he found Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan already there. They didn't speak to eachother as they got into bed. Neville's head was reeling. What had happened? How could Cedric be dead? Neville simply couldn't bring himself to believe it.
He wouldn't believe it.

"The end of another year."
It was the Leaving Feast, which was usually held at the end of each year, and Dumbledore was saying his good-bye speech. Normally, the walls would be hung with the colors of the house that had won the House Cup that year, but now it was hung in black out of respect to Cedric.
Dumbledore continued his speech but Neville wasn't listening. He was looking over at the Hufflepuff table and saw Hannah sitting silently with her head down. She wasn't crying but she looked shocked. Neville still hadn't had the chance to talk to her and he had no idea what she was going through. He wished he could help her.
Neville turned his attention back to what Dumbledore was saying.
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house. He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not."
Neville looked down at his hands, tears welling up in his eyes. Dumbledore continued.
"I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."
Neville looked up.
"Cedric was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
Whatever Neville had been expecting, it hadn't been that. He swayed in his seat feeling incredibly sick. His vision blurred from shock. "No." he thought to himself desperately. "Voldemort's gone. He's gone where he can't hurt me anymore." But Neville knew in his heart that wasn't true. Everyone knew that there was always a chance he might come back.
And now he had.

END OF FLASHBACK

The man, no, the thing, that had torn his and so many other families apart. Neville was terrified of him but deep down, he held such a boiling hate towards Voldemort that he was afraid it would eat him up from inside. This frightened Neville almost as much as Voldemort. He was a peaceful boy by nature and had a feeling he could do terrible things if his hate ever took over, and he could simply hope that if this happened, it wouldn't affect the way he treated people. He couldn't stand it if he ever hurt anyone!
Of course this thought made him think about Hannah and his stomach started doing flip-flops. Neville was starting to get nervous. He suddenly realized what a complete idiot he was. What had he been thinking, telling Hannah he thought he was falling in love with her?! What if she didn't feel the same way? What if she thought he was silly? What if she had met someone else over the summer?
The What If's stayed with Neville for the rest of the train ride and followed Neville into Diagon Alley. Though once there, he quickly turned his attention to the list of things he needed for school. This year, he was determined not to forget anything.
He bought quills and parchment and all of his books. He then proceeded to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He had gone through a growth spurt over the summer and needed new school robes as well as new dress robes. Madame Malkin successfully managed to scare him half to death before he made his way to Flourish and Blott's at 11:30.
Neville sat down on a bench outside the store, while his grandmother went to pick up some magical cook-books from a witches supplies store nearby. This thoroughly worried him, but after fifteen minutes had gone by, and Hannah still hadn't shown up, Neville turned his worries to more pressing matters. The What If's began to haunt him once more.
"What if she didn't get my letter?" he thought desperately, "Or worse! What if she got it and decided she doesn't like me and never wants to speak to me again?"
Neville was panicking by the time his grandmother came back. When she realized that Hannah hadn't shown, she tsk'd as if she'd known it all along. She then told Neville it was time to go.
"Just ten more minutes, please!" Neville pleaded.
"No. I'm sorry Neville but the train leaves in ten minutes. Now off you go!" She replied sternly.
Neville knew it was no use to argue, so he trudged off after his grandmother, his heart sinking with every step.
"Hannah didn't come." he thought, "Why didn't she come? Did I do something wrong?"
These thoughts followed Neville all the way home, where his mood was definitely not improved by
the fact that he still had to clean up all of the things he had broken that morning.


A.N) I hope you enjoy chapter 2. I spent all of Biology class writing it so you'd all better! Just kidding! Everyone is free to think whatever they want just please r/r!