Chapter 8:

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. (Dang! I wish I knew how to do funny disclaimers...)

A.N:) My disclaimers aren't funny, so why should my author's note be any different??? Food for thought... I'm bored. I'm facing another long and boring typing session, Help. In addition, I'm sick. :( *Sigh* Well here's chapter 8 and I hope no one yells at me for being so late. Have mercy, I don't feel good.

Madame Pomfrey awoke the following morning and prepared to take Neville's daily dose of medicine to him. She didn't see how it could possibly help him, it was hopeless, which just went to show how desperate Neville's condition had become because Madame Pomfrey never lost hope. Imagine her surprise when she found Neville's bed empty. Looking around, panicking for a moment, she found him sitting next to the window at the end of the corridor, fully dressed, looking out onto the grounds.
As Neville heard her approach, he turned to face her and smiled.
"I'm ready to go now Madame Pomfrey."

~~~*~~~

"Password?"
Neville looked up, startled. He hadn't realized he'd already reached Gryffindor Tower. He panicked, what was the password? He'd probably forgotten it, it had been a week after all. But, wait a minute, he did remember!
"That's a first." He muttered to himself.
"Ahem! I said: Password?" The Fat Lady was getting annoyed.
"Oh, sorry. Flopperwhopasquiggles."
The portrait swung open to admit him. He climbed through into the common room and looked around. It was so familiar yet it felt to him as though it had been months since he'd been there, not just a week. He was just puzzling where everybody was when he heard footsteps on the stairway to the boy's dormitories. He turned around just as Harry and Ron came walking down. They stopped dead when they saw him.
"Neville!" Ron shouted and jumped down the last four steps to run and shake his hand. Harry followed suit, but more carefully.
"Hi Ron, Harry." Neville smiled at them both, "Where is everybody?"
Harry was watching him with a pained look on his face. "They're all at the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw quidditch match.
Ron laughed, "We're late as you can see."
Harry glared at Ron furiously. "Well we wouldn't be if someone hadn't spilled pumpkin juice all over me after jumping 5 feet in the air when his brothers put a dumb spider in his porridge!" Harry was fuming.
Ron looked at the floor sheepishly. "It was an accident," He said, "you know I hate spiders."
"Yeah, live ones! Not only was that spider NOT alive, it was made of rubber!"
"Alright, alright. Don't lose your shirt! (A.N:) Actually, I wouldn't mind if he did...) I'm sorry!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Neville watched this exchange wordlessly, smiling. It was good to be back.
Harry looked at Neville, his expression sobering. "Neville, I don't know what happened, but are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah," Neville replied finding it true, "I'll be fine."


Neville was still very weak so he stayed behind while Harry and Ron went off to the match. He climbed the stairs to his dormitory and pushed the heavy wooden door open with some difficulty.
He stood in the doorway, looking around at the comfortable four-posters and then walked over to the basin of water to wash the remnants of sleep from his eyes. He splashed water on his face and then looked up into the mirror- and nearly cried out in shock.
That, that wasn't him in the mirror, was it? It couldn't be!
But it was.
"What happened to me?" Neville whispered. He raised his hands to his face, as if to make sure it was him.
His face was thin and his skin sagging. He had black circles under his eyes, which were bloodshot and tired as well. They looked lifeless and dim and his eyelids were swollen from crying so much. This was what the past week had done to him.
"No." Neville told himself firmly. "This is what I did to myself."
He made a decision then. It wasn't his fault, any of it! And he should stop torturing himself. Not only that, but he was going to try extra hard from now on not to be so incredibly helpless. He could do better in school if he tried- ok, maybe not Potions- but everything else, and he would!
Feeling much better he changed his clothing and went back downstairs. He pushed open the portrait hole and left, walking towards the entrance hall.
He was going to go to the quidditch match like everyone else and not sit around moping. He needed fresh air and exercise and he needed to be around PEOPLE! But most of all, he needed to see Hannah. He missed her so much and after his revelation the night before, he had to talk to her. He had to explain how he felt, explain his need of her. How was it he felt this way? Did wizards his age normally feel this way? For some reason he didn't think so. Wizards his age felt like he had in the beginning. He'd thought that was love, but now he knew that wasn't so and he had to see if Hannah felt the same way.
While he was thinking this, he passed by one of the tower entrances and heard someone crying from inside. Neville stopped and peered curiously around the doorway. He knew it was none of his business, but he hated when people cried.
It was a girl. She had her head down on her knees, so Neville couldn't see her face, but he'd know that hair from a mile away, it had always fascinated him, especially when it caught the sun.
"Hannah? What's wrong?"
The crying stopped abruptly and Hannah lifted her head. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Neville, then she sprang up and threw her arms around him.
"Neville!" she cried unbelievingly, "I thought something dreadful would happen to you!" She began crying again. She let go of him and looked at his face. "I've never been so afraid in all of my life. When Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let me in to visit, I knew something was terribly wrong. And she wouldn't listen to me! I told her you needed me, I told her and she wouldn't listen, she didn't!" she put her head on his shoulder and continued to sob, shuddering.
Neville stood with his arms around her, comforting her. He was in total shock. He couldn't believe his being ill had taken so great an affect on her, and he had been so selfish! That entire time only thinking about himself, about how much he'd messed up or how much he'd needed her. He'd never once given thought to the fact that perhaps, she had needed him too, and by the look of things, she had needed him. Neville wondered. Somebody needed him.
It made Neville feel warm all over, just knowing that he was needed, it gave him a sense of responsibility, to take care of himself so that he'd always be there to take care of Hannah.
"Hannah, shhh..." he said softly.
She pulled away from him and dried her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm being so silly."
"No you're not! Don't think that."
Hannah looked at Neville with her tear-streaked face and Neville didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so beautiful. The rest of the school could keep the Patil Twins and Lavender Brown. He had the truest beauty as his girlfriend.
"Neville. What happened? Why were you in the hospital wing so long?" she implored.
So Neville told her. He couldn't keep any secrets from her, not when he felt the way he did.
He told her about McGonnagal calling him to her office, his grandmother, his memories, the crying, his bad dreams and worst of all, the red eyes.
He shuddered for a moment and closed his own eyes. If he concentrated, he could still see them laughing at him clearly in his mind.
"Go on." Hannah took Neville's hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
Neville's eyes fluttered open and the eyes vanished. He looked up at her. She looked worried and frightened. In fact, she looked exactly like he'd felt all those nights, lost in nightmares, almost as if she was taking it away from him, sharing the burden so that it wouldn't be so heavy. He didn't want her to do that but now that he'd started, he had to finish.
He told her about the loneliness and then about the conversation he'd heard between Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonnagal. He told her how he'd felt that nothing could save him and then, how he'd remembered.
Neville stopped and looked at Hannah with shining eyes. Her mouth was slightly open.
"Do you know what I remembered? Do you know what saved me?"
Hannah looked at him, wide-eyed, and shook her head.
Neville took her hand and drew her closer.
"It was you." He whispered into her ear. Hannah gave a little cry and hugged him.
"Neville, I love you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!"
"Hannah, I love you too, more than you know." He leaned back and looked at her, his brown eyes sparkling and smiling. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
Hannah giggled and gave him a sly smile.
"What?" Neville asked, surprised.
"Well, actually, you shouldn't be here at all."
"Why?"
"Umm, I'm supposed to be doing a detention right now. Up in the owlry." Hannah pointed up the stairs.
Neville looked around wonderingly and realized that they were indeed standing at the foot of the stairs that led to the owlry. How he'd gotten there, he didn't know as he'd been heading in the other direction when he'd set off. He turned his attention back to Hannah.
"What happened?" he asked her curiously.
"Well, the other day we were in Potions class, you know, while you were..."
"Unavailable." Neville finished for her. "Go on."
"Yes, well Snape started making stupid remarks about what blundering accident you must have done this time, to land yourself in the hospital wing for so long. Said he'd have to give you points when you came back for doing him such a favor." Hannah looked at Neville, and Neville saw a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.
"Don't tell me!" he said.
"Well, what would you have done? No, wait, we already know what you'd have done being as you've already done it!"
Neville smiled peevishly at her. Hannah continued.
"It seems you've had a bad influence on me, Mr. Longbottom. I got upset and told him to take his Sterilizing Solution, stuff it down his throat and shut up. He got a bit upset although I can't imagine why..." She attempted to look innocently bewildered, causing Neville to go into fits of laughter.
When he'd calmed down he smiled at Hannah and wiped away the remainder of her tears with his thumb and asked, "When are you going to be done here?"
"I don't know. In about two hours?"
"Fine. Meet me at the lake in two and a half hours." He quickly kissed her cheek and left.
He continued walking towards the Entrance Hall, sticking to his earlier plan. His stomach was doing flip-flops and he couldn't control his heartbeat. That moment by the owlry had been- well he'd never felt anything like it. They needed eachother, him and Hannah, and they'd be together, he'd make sure of it. All they needed was some privacy...

A.N:) Well that's the end of chapter 8. I'm feeling a little better now, especially since I'm DONE TYPING!!!!!!!! *Sigh* I am happy. I think that the next chapter is going to be the last one but I'm not sure. This story was originally supposed to be only 4 chapters... ahem...
Whatever.
Will Hannah and Neville ever find time alone?
Will Fred and George ever stop their teasing? (Not likely...)
Will Marlena and John ever be together? (OOPS! Wrong story...)
Tune in next time for "It'll Be OK".