1 Chapter 15- Actions Taken
When Harry entered the 7th year boys' dorm that evening, Neville was sitting on his bed with an expectant look on his face. It soon dropped as he realized it was simply Harry.
"Hey Neville, you okay?" Harry looked at the person who was neither his friend, nor his enemy.
"Oh yeah, I just told Dean to meet me here, I need to talk to him. Things going well with you?"
Harry's eyes glazed over as he thought of what had just happened in Hermione's rooms. "Yeah, things are going pretty well. I was thinking about playing chess with Ron, but since he's not here, I think I'll go see Hermione. Bye Neville."
Neville watched Dean enter as Harry left. Neville scurried over to the door, closed it, locked it, and put a silencing charm on the door.
Dean looked at him curiously. "Neville, don't tell me I was supposed to meet you here so you could profess your undying love for me."
Neville laughed. "No Dean, I need to talk to you about something much more important."
"And what, Neville, could possibly be serious than love?" Dean waited for the answer, not realizing what was waiting for him.
"Hate, Dean. Hate is more important." Those words confirmed Neville's suspicions. Dean tensed at the word hate, and did his best to hide his surprise. This did not go unnoticed by the pudgy boy's eyes.
"Dean, who do you hate so much, that you're willing to become a Death Eater?"
Dean sputtered. "What makes you think I'm going to become a Death Eater."
Neville sighed. "Dean, for 7 years no one has hardly noticed my existence. That has given me plenty of time to notice what your 'normal' actions are. I know your daily routine, your grades, your bad habits. So when you 'mysteriously' appear from the same corner as Malfoy in the library, then start flinching twice as much at the word 'Voldemort' as everyone else, and even worse, nearly jumping out of your chair every time your parents send a letter from home, I know something's up."
Dean grew cold. "That didn't answer my question Longbottom."
Neville sighed again. "Dean, I wrote up a list of things Malfoy does in his spare time, and you didn't participate in any. Quidditch, no, you're too into football (soccer!). Potions? No, Gryffindors hate potions because of Snape. Sucking up to teachers? Gryffindors don't do that either, except for Hermione. And I KNOW you don't pick on younger students. That left me with one option: becoming a Death Eater. I know I'm right, Dean."
Dean hung his head in defeat. "Fine, you're right. I want to become a fucking Death Eater! You'd want to be one too if you'd been dropped like that! Why does it matter?!"
"Dean, it matters because becoming a Death Eater will ruin your life! And not just YOUR life, but the lives of hundreds, or even THOUSANDS, of OTHER PEOPLE! By becoming a Death Eater, you would be KILLING the people that Hermione knows and loves! You wouldn't even be able to get CLOSE to Hermione as a Death Eater, because she's Muggle born! Besides,"
Neville got quite all of the sudden. The drastic change was easily noticed, and caused Dean to lift his head.
"Death Eaters are the reason I live with my grandmother. I don't want anyone I knew to cause pain in people like me. Innocent babies, who don't even remember they're parents, because they're dead or gone crazy by our first birthday."
Dean hadn't known about Neville's parents, and his expression showed it. Neville tried to ignore it.
"Dean, I know you miss Hermione, and thus, you hate Harry. But you shouldn't. Harry needs friends. He lost the only family that loved him when he was a year old. He was sent to live with the nastiest bunch of Muggles in the world until Hagrid came and got him on his 11th birthday. For some reason, Harry has been fated to save the world from The Dark Lord, and all you can think of is how much you hate him because he's so famous. Dean, you and I both know that Harry would trade all the fame in the world, if he could have even 15 minutes with his parents again."
Dean was crying now. Neville's yelling had shamed him into guilt, and there was no turning away from it.
"I'm not asking you to be Harry's best friend, or to even forgive him for taking advantage of Hermione's glee, but I am asking you not to become a Death Eater because of him."
Dean wiped his eyes. "Agreed. But when the letter finally comes, I'm going to need your help with something."
Neville smiled. "No problem. Hey, I think Seamus, Parvati and her twin are outside having a snowball fight. When Seamus told Padma you weren't coming, she looked more than just a little disappointed, if you know what I mean."
Dean grinned. "Thanks Neville, I owe you one."
Neville removed the wards. "You owe me nothing. I'm happy to have saved the lives I did. So for their sake, I thank YOU."
The two of them exited the room; Neville stopped in the common room, as Dean kept walking down to the grounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Ooh…look! Two parts! That means this chapter is *gasp* longer!)
Harry sat on a couch in Hermione's study, while she poured through book after book. Suddenly, she looked up.
"What are you thinking about, Harry?"
The two of them had long passed the point where the other would get offended if they weren't always thinking about one another. "Neville and Dean."
Hermione furrowed her brow. "Why?"
"Well, when I went back to my room for a few minutes, Neville was in there, waiting for someone, and it wasn't me. But then as I was leaving, Dean came in, and as I walked down the stairs, I heard Dean say something about Neville asking him to meet him there so they could talk. I would have stayed and listened, being my nosy self, but Neville put some silencing charms on the room, in addition to the locking charm."
The furrow only got deeper. 'She's so cute when she's thinking'
"Hmm…Harry, is it just me, or has Dean gotten more and more distant every day. Not that he would be talking to you, but is he talking to you?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I don't think he's spoken with me since you and I started going together."
Understanding hit her like a bolt of lightening. "Harry! He's furious that you, well, took advantage of the situation. He's just another case of jealousy. You should apologize."
"Why should I apologize? You two would have broken up eventually. You guys being a couple only delayed the inevitable."
"Although that may be true, you shouldn't have done it. And besides, until Dean gets a heartfelt apology from you, I won't touch you."
Harry's eyes widened in shock. He knew she was dead serious. Hermione could be the most stubborn of them all, if the mood hit her. Unfortunately, it had.
"Alright! I'll apologize! Now, do I get a kiss goodnight?"
"Harry, I said I wouldn't touch you. But if you answer me this one question that's been plaguing me for awhile, I might concede you a kiss."
Harry inwardly sighed with relief. He would still have his goodnight kiss. "Ask me anything!"
"Why in the world did Petunia and Vernon buy you a computer?"
Harry grinned at the memory. "They didn't. They bought Dudley a new one, and the old one moved into my room. It took me awhile, I figured out how to plug it all in and such. They hardly even realized it was in there until after I left for the Burrow."
"Okay, you've sparked my curiosity. Now I've got two more questions."
Harry, unwilling to push Hermione's buttons at that moment, agreed to answer them.
"Where'd you get all the spare time to talk to me?"
Harry chuckled. "I told them that if they forced me to lift a finger even a millimeter more than I wanted, I would write Sirius, and he could come and turn them all into rats."
Hermione laughed. "Alright, last question. How'd you know it was me?"
"Well, when we were talking to those two other people, you perfectly described the wizarding world. So naturally, I wanted to find out who it was. Then, you talked about getting started on your homework on the first day back. You're the only one I know who would do that."
Hermione blushed, but urged him to go on. "Then, once you said you went to school in Scotland, and had finished your 6th year, I knew. You had been telling me so much else about you, it would have been natural for you to tell me the name of your school. And then, when you started talking about Ron and I…"
Hermione blushed some more… "Great…I ruined your ego from the first, all because I told you that you were a hottie…"
Harry laughed. "Now where's that kiss you promised?"
She grinned, and walked over to him. Harry looked at her, expecting a kiss on the lips, but she missed and got his cheek.
Hermione was laughing as Harry gave her the puppy eyes. "Alright! You can have the kiss you wanted, but only because you answered 3 questions instead of one."
So she kissed him again. But this time the kiss displayed to the room how much they loved each other.
"Good night Hermione. I love you, sleep well."
"I love you too, Harry. I'll see you in the morning."
2 End Chapter 15
There! Dean is all better now! Well, except for that one thing Neville has to help him with in the next chapter (
I love all the positive reviews I'm getting! I love you all to bits! Keep them coming!
~Herbie (who really hadn't forgotten it was a Harry/Hermione fic)
I feel bad…I've had this chapter done for like…2 weeks now, but I hadn't posted it, because I didn't think it was done, and I had been ignoring it. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!
When Harry entered the 7th year boys' dorm that evening, Neville was sitting on his bed with an expectant look on his face. It soon dropped as he realized it was simply Harry.
"Hey Neville, you okay?" Harry looked at the person who was neither his friend, nor his enemy.
"Oh yeah, I just told Dean to meet me here, I need to talk to him. Things going well with you?"
Harry's eyes glazed over as he thought of what had just happened in Hermione's rooms. "Yeah, things are going pretty well. I was thinking about playing chess with Ron, but since he's not here, I think I'll go see Hermione. Bye Neville."
Neville watched Dean enter as Harry left. Neville scurried over to the door, closed it, locked it, and put a silencing charm on the door.
Dean looked at him curiously. "Neville, don't tell me I was supposed to meet you here so you could profess your undying love for me."
Neville laughed. "No Dean, I need to talk to you about something much more important."
"And what, Neville, could possibly be serious than love?" Dean waited for the answer, not realizing what was waiting for him.
"Hate, Dean. Hate is more important." Those words confirmed Neville's suspicions. Dean tensed at the word hate, and did his best to hide his surprise. This did not go unnoticed by the pudgy boy's eyes.
"Dean, who do you hate so much, that you're willing to become a Death Eater?"
Dean sputtered. "What makes you think I'm going to become a Death Eater."
Neville sighed. "Dean, for 7 years no one has hardly noticed my existence. That has given me plenty of time to notice what your 'normal' actions are. I know your daily routine, your grades, your bad habits. So when you 'mysteriously' appear from the same corner as Malfoy in the library, then start flinching twice as much at the word 'Voldemort' as everyone else, and even worse, nearly jumping out of your chair every time your parents send a letter from home, I know something's up."
Dean grew cold. "That didn't answer my question Longbottom."
Neville sighed again. "Dean, I wrote up a list of things Malfoy does in his spare time, and you didn't participate in any. Quidditch, no, you're too into football (soccer!). Potions? No, Gryffindors hate potions because of Snape. Sucking up to teachers? Gryffindors don't do that either, except for Hermione. And I KNOW you don't pick on younger students. That left me with one option: becoming a Death Eater. I know I'm right, Dean."
Dean hung his head in defeat. "Fine, you're right. I want to become a fucking Death Eater! You'd want to be one too if you'd been dropped like that! Why does it matter?!"
"Dean, it matters because becoming a Death Eater will ruin your life! And not just YOUR life, but the lives of hundreds, or even THOUSANDS, of OTHER PEOPLE! By becoming a Death Eater, you would be KILLING the people that Hermione knows and loves! You wouldn't even be able to get CLOSE to Hermione as a Death Eater, because she's Muggle born! Besides,"
Neville got quite all of the sudden. The drastic change was easily noticed, and caused Dean to lift his head.
"Death Eaters are the reason I live with my grandmother. I don't want anyone I knew to cause pain in people like me. Innocent babies, who don't even remember they're parents, because they're dead or gone crazy by our first birthday."
Dean hadn't known about Neville's parents, and his expression showed it. Neville tried to ignore it.
"Dean, I know you miss Hermione, and thus, you hate Harry. But you shouldn't. Harry needs friends. He lost the only family that loved him when he was a year old. He was sent to live with the nastiest bunch of Muggles in the world until Hagrid came and got him on his 11th birthday. For some reason, Harry has been fated to save the world from The Dark Lord, and all you can think of is how much you hate him because he's so famous. Dean, you and I both know that Harry would trade all the fame in the world, if he could have even 15 minutes with his parents again."
Dean was crying now. Neville's yelling had shamed him into guilt, and there was no turning away from it.
"I'm not asking you to be Harry's best friend, or to even forgive him for taking advantage of Hermione's glee, but I am asking you not to become a Death Eater because of him."
Dean wiped his eyes. "Agreed. But when the letter finally comes, I'm going to need your help with something."
Neville smiled. "No problem. Hey, I think Seamus, Parvati and her twin are outside having a snowball fight. When Seamus told Padma you weren't coming, she looked more than just a little disappointed, if you know what I mean."
Dean grinned. "Thanks Neville, I owe you one."
Neville removed the wards. "You owe me nothing. I'm happy to have saved the lives I did. So for their sake, I thank YOU."
The two of them exited the room; Neville stopped in the common room, as Dean kept walking down to the grounds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Ooh…look! Two parts! That means this chapter is *gasp* longer!)
Harry sat on a couch in Hermione's study, while she poured through book after book. Suddenly, she looked up.
"What are you thinking about, Harry?"
The two of them had long passed the point where the other would get offended if they weren't always thinking about one another. "Neville and Dean."
Hermione furrowed her brow. "Why?"
"Well, when I went back to my room for a few minutes, Neville was in there, waiting for someone, and it wasn't me. But then as I was leaving, Dean came in, and as I walked down the stairs, I heard Dean say something about Neville asking him to meet him there so they could talk. I would have stayed and listened, being my nosy self, but Neville put some silencing charms on the room, in addition to the locking charm."
The furrow only got deeper. 'She's so cute when she's thinking'
"Hmm…Harry, is it just me, or has Dean gotten more and more distant every day. Not that he would be talking to you, but is he talking to you?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I don't think he's spoken with me since you and I started going together."
Understanding hit her like a bolt of lightening. "Harry! He's furious that you, well, took advantage of the situation. He's just another case of jealousy. You should apologize."
"Why should I apologize? You two would have broken up eventually. You guys being a couple only delayed the inevitable."
"Although that may be true, you shouldn't have done it. And besides, until Dean gets a heartfelt apology from you, I won't touch you."
Harry's eyes widened in shock. He knew she was dead serious. Hermione could be the most stubborn of them all, if the mood hit her. Unfortunately, it had.
"Alright! I'll apologize! Now, do I get a kiss goodnight?"
"Harry, I said I wouldn't touch you. But if you answer me this one question that's been plaguing me for awhile, I might concede you a kiss."
Harry inwardly sighed with relief. He would still have his goodnight kiss. "Ask me anything!"
"Why in the world did Petunia and Vernon buy you a computer?"
Harry grinned at the memory. "They didn't. They bought Dudley a new one, and the old one moved into my room. It took me awhile, I figured out how to plug it all in and such. They hardly even realized it was in there until after I left for the Burrow."
"Okay, you've sparked my curiosity. Now I've got two more questions."
Harry, unwilling to push Hermione's buttons at that moment, agreed to answer them.
"Where'd you get all the spare time to talk to me?"
Harry chuckled. "I told them that if they forced me to lift a finger even a millimeter more than I wanted, I would write Sirius, and he could come and turn them all into rats."
Hermione laughed. "Alright, last question. How'd you know it was me?"
"Well, when we were talking to those two other people, you perfectly described the wizarding world. So naturally, I wanted to find out who it was. Then, you talked about getting started on your homework on the first day back. You're the only one I know who would do that."
Hermione blushed, but urged him to go on. "Then, once you said you went to school in Scotland, and had finished your 6th year, I knew. You had been telling me so much else about you, it would have been natural for you to tell me the name of your school. And then, when you started talking about Ron and I…"
Hermione blushed some more… "Great…I ruined your ego from the first, all because I told you that you were a hottie…"
Harry laughed. "Now where's that kiss you promised?"
She grinned, and walked over to him. Harry looked at her, expecting a kiss on the lips, but she missed and got his cheek.
Hermione was laughing as Harry gave her the puppy eyes. "Alright! You can have the kiss you wanted, but only because you answered 3 questions instead of one."
So she kissed him again. But this time the kiss displayed to the room how much they loved each other.
"Good night Hermione. I love you, sleep well."
"I love you too, Harry. I'll see you in the morning."
2 End Chapter 15
There! Dean is all better now! Well, except for that one thing Neville has to help him with in the next chapter (
I love all the positive reviews I'm getting! I love you all to bits! Keep them coming!
~Herbie (who really hadn't forgotten it was a Harry/Hermione fic)
I feel bad…I've had this chapter done for like…2 weeks now, but I hadn't posted it, because I didn't think it was done, and I had been ignoring it. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!
