Neville quietly slipped back into the hospital wing and walked up to Snape. "It's done."
Snape looked up from his study of Draco and Harry. "What was the reaction?"
"Shock, speechless. More subdued." He looked at his friend and...whatever Draco was. "No change?"
"None at all." Snape leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Standing, he laid a hand on Neville's shoulder. Come with me, please. I'd like to talk to you."
Snape led them to a place that was still in eyeshot of the boys, but out of earshot. Neville looked up at his Potions master. "What is it?"
"I should be asking you that very same question. You look as if you need to unburden yourself."
Neville sat on the edge of a cot, eyes glued to his hands, which were clenched in his lap. Silence, then, "I don't get it, Professor. I thought-I know I didn't support Harry, but I had thought that as long as I didn't say *anything*, it would be better. But it didn't work out that way. I never expected this much hated and prejudice. What happened?"
Snape sighed and sat next to Neville. "'Your silence will not protect you,'" he muttered.
"What?"
"Tell me, Neville, do you take Muggle Studies?" Neville nodded. "Do you know anything about World War II?"
"Well, yes. It was a Muggle war, in the 1940's. There were two theaters, the European and the Pacific. We didn't talk much about the Pacific, but we looked a lot at the European front, because...." Neville trailed off for a moment. "Because it was like Voldemort."
"Yes. Just as Hitler was trying to create his 'pure' race, and killing those who did not belong, Voldemort wanted his pure wizarding world, with no Muggles or Muggleborn. People were carted to the death camps by the thousands-not just the Jewish, but anyone that Hitler felt didn't belong. Homosexuals, Gypsies, other races, Catholics, political prisoners, the disabled. All of these people were killed in the name of purity."
"Just as Voldemort wanted to do," Neville breathed.
"Indeed. 'Your silence will not protect you' is a phrase that came out of that time. It came from something written by a Protestant priest. I won't quote the whole thing, but it said that he never spoke up when all those other groups were taken away...and then, when he was taken away, there was no one left to speak for him."
Neville shivered. "And...you're saying...that's like us...now?"
Snape nodded. "You may not have said anything, but saying nothing is just as bad as openly causing harm. For if no one protests, then how can change begin?"
"Well, I've spoken my mind now. And I'm not going to stop."
A hand fell onto Neville's shoulder, squeezed approvingly. "Now you have the idea. Do you know why I was always so hard on you in class?"
"N-no. Why, sir?"
Snape studied his one hand, as if the answers were there. "Harry Potter was destined for such great things. He was so much better than most of the students, and I was hard on him, both to counteract the effects of his fame and to try to push him, make him live up to his promise." He looked at Neville. "I did very much the same thing with you."
"Me?"
"Yes, Neville, you. I knew your parents, knew who they were. There is so much of them in you-you have so much potential, Neville. Maybe you've kept it suppressed out of a subconscious fear of meeting the same fate as your parents, I don't know. But I do know one thing-I could have made any student show them all that I had seen. But only you, Neville, could have done it with the strength and conviction that I feel coming from you now. You're coming into your own, Neville-this is just the first step."
Neville looked up at his professor in shock. "You really believe that of me, sir? All of that?"
Snape nodded. "I always have." He patted Neville's shoulder again, then stood. "You should go back to your dorm now, try to get some sleep."
"Yes sir. Thank you, and good night." Neville moved to the door.
"Neville, did you know that Winston Churchill was born of two squibs?"
Neville paused, turned. "Really? But I thought-"
"Yes. None of his siblings were born with magic, just as he wasn't, so, in our world, that branch of the wizarding line was considered dead. But out in the Muggle world, he managed to unite a war-torn England. Now, if a Squib-born can do that, without even magic to help, than surely you, a wizard, can unite a school's population."
"I don't know if I can, sir, but I can try!" Neville ran off.
Snape walked back to Harry's bedside and sat, looking first at Harry, then at Draco, whose gaze had never left Harry; he was completely unresponsive. "Try, boys. Come back...try. Please...."
Snape looked up from his study of Draco and Harry. "What was the reaction?"
"Shock, speechless. More subdued." He looked at his friend and...whatever Draco was. "No change?"
"None at all." Snape leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Standing, he laid a hand on Neville's shoulder. Come with me, please. I'd like to talk to you."
Snape led them to a place that was still in eyeshot of the boys, but out of earshot. Neville looked up at his Potions master. "What is it?"
"I should be asking you that very same question. You look as if you need to unburden yourself."
Neville sat on the edge of a cot, eyes glued to his hands, which were clenched in his lap. Silence, then, "I don't get it, Professor. I thought-I know I didn't support Harry, but I had thought that as long as I didn't say *anything*, it would be better. But it didn't work out that way. I never expected this much hated and prejudice. What happened?"
Snape sighed and sat next to Neville. "'Your silence will not protect you,'" he muttered.
"What?"
"Tell me, Neville, do you take Muggle Studies?" Neville nodded. "Do you know anything about World War II?"
"Well, yes. It was a Muggle war, in the 1940's. There were two theaters, the European and the Pacific. We didn't talk much about the Pacific, but we looked a lot at the European front, because...." Neville trailed off for a moment. "Because it was like Voldemort."
"Yes. Just as Hitler was trying to create his 'pure' race, and killing those who did not belong, Voldemort wanted his pure wizarding world, with no Muggles or Muggleborn. People were carted to the death camps by the thousands-not just the Jewish, but anyone that Hitler felt didn't belong. Homosexuals, Gypsies, other races, Catholics, political prisoners, the disabled. All of these people were killed in the name of purity."
"Just as Voldemort wanted to do," Neville breathed.
"Indeed. 'Your silence will not protect you' is a phrase that came out of that time. It came from something written by a Protestant priest. I won't quote the whole thing, but it said that he never spoke up when all those other groups were taken away...and then, when he was taken away, there was no one left to speak for him."
Neville shivered. "And...you're saying...that's like us...now?"
Snape nodded. "You may not have said anything, but saying nothing is just as bad as openly causing harm. For if no one protests, then how can change begin?"
"Well, I've spoken my mind now. And I'm not going to stop."
A hand fell onto Neville's shoulder, squeezed approvingly. "Now you have the idea. Do you know why I was always so hard on you in class?"
"N-no. Why, sir?"
Snape studied his one hand, as if the answers were there. "Harry Potter was destined for such great things. He was so much better than most of the students, and I was hard on him, both to counteract the effects of his fame and to try to push him, make him live up to his promise." He looked at Neville. "I did very much the same thing with you."
"Me?"
"Yes, Neville, you. I knew your parents, knew who they were. There is so much of them in you-you have so much potential, Neville. Maybe you've kept it suppressed out of a subconscious fear of meeting the same fate as your parents, I don't know. But I do know one thing-I could have made any student show them all that I had seen. But only you, Neville, could have done it with the strength and conviction that I feel coming from you now. You're coming into your own, Neville-this is just the first step."
Neville looked up at his professor in shock. "You really believe that of me, sir? All of that?"
Snape nodded. "I always have." He patted Neville's shoulder again, then stood. "You should go back to your dorm now, try to get some sleep."
"Yes sir. Thank you, and good night." Neville moved to the door.
"Neville, did you know that Winston Churchill was born of two squibs?"
Neville paused, turned. "Really? But I thought-"
"Yes. None of his siblings were born with magic, just as he wasn't, so, in our world, that branch of the wizarding line was considered dead. But out in the Muggle world, he managed to unite a war-torn England. Now, if a Squib-born can do that, without even magic to help, than surely you, a wizard, can unite a school's population."
"I don't know if I can, sir, but I can try!" Neville ran off.
Snape walked back to Harry's bedside and sat, looking first at Harry, then at Draco, whose gaze had never left Harry; he was completely unresponsive. "Try, boys. Come back...try. Please...."