Author's Notes: I know, I know! I should be working on Two Lives or Wackiness and Waffles or My Only Love, but the creative bug has bitten me once again. I do promise though that those three series have not fallen by the wayside. I am actually thinking of re-writing parts of W&W to make it a little more realistic and interesting. Also, Percy and Oliver are giving me fits in Two Lives. They can't decide what they want to do next, and not even bribes of cookies and cream will get them to cooperate. As for MOL, well, let's just say that Mr. Draco Malfoy is being unreasonable and temperamental. Anyway, one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter is Neville Longbottom, and I feel that he doesn't get enough play in the series. So, I am writing him his own story. Misunderstood takes place in the same universe as Two Lives and starts at the end of Neville's 7th year and then jumps to several years later. So, without further ado here is Neville's story, Misunderstood. Please leave a review and let me know if you like this story!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Neville Longbottom or any of the characters or places associated with the Harry Potter universe…or do I? No, that's just wishful thinking. Damn it all!
Warnings: This story is rated R, for violence, depression and sexual content. It will also eventually be a slash romance between Neville Longbottom and a yet undetermined male. So, if this squicks you out, well what are you doing here?
PROLOGUE: Hogwart's, May 1998
Voldemort is defeated, the whole Wizarding world is rejoicing. Families are finally together again after three years of terror. Of course there have loses here and there, but on the whole there had been very few causalities among the side of Light. Harry Potter is being herald as the Savior, The Boy Who Won. Everyone is happy. Except for me.
Oh, don't get me wrong, of course I'm pleased that Voldemort was gone once and for all, and that all my friends and their families are safe. But it doesn't change the fact that my parents are still sitting comatose in St. Mungo's, trapped in whatever Hell Voldemort sent them to 16 years ago, and that my gran is dead. I'm alone in the world now, with no one to turn to now that the war is over.
It's amazing though, how quickly things returned to normal after the war. With the threat of Voldemort gone, my classmates have returned to the everyday task of surviving another round of brutal final exams at Hogwart's, and planning for after Hogwart's. In their minds the future was bright, no shadows to mar the paths they may take.
I don't mean to sound bitter, I'm not, I'm just practical. It's just that I can't see things the way they can. The world is not a nice place, even with Voldemort gone. There's no silver lining to every cloud, no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow waiting for us to come and claim it. There's just pain and sorrow, and there's nothing to be done about it.
Neville shut his journal with a sigh. He didn't write in it often, but sometimes the thoughts and emotions just kept bombarding him until he could do nothing but write until he couldn't think anymore. He was just glad that no one ever seemed to notice him sitting on his bed, writing furiously. He didn't want his roommates' curious inquiries into what he was writing. But, Harry and the rest were so consumed with their own lives that they never noticed quiet Neville sneaking off to his room.
A quick look at his clock showed that it was time for dinner, so Neville put his journal back in its place under his mattress and hurried down to dinner. His friends had already left the common room, so Neville made his way to the Great Hall alone. Nothing new there, he thought, as he seated himself next to Dean Thomas. The tall black boy didn't even notice his arrival, and continued his argument with sandy haired Seamus Finnigan.
"Dean, there's no reason we can't go the leaving ball together. It's not like it's a secret that we're together or anything," Seamus was saying, a look of earnest annoyance on his face. Neville sighed, the two had been having this same fight since this morning when it had been announced that the graduation ball would be held the last day of term.
Neville tuned out his two roommates, and started picking at the food on his plate. He wasn't all that hungry, thoughts about the future and his distinct lack of prospects were eating away at his stomach and he thought that if he ate anything, it would just come back up again.
He was so lost in thought that it was a couple of seconds for him to realize that someone was poking him in the shoulder. He looked up and saw Lisa Turpin at his elbow. She was a 7th year Ravenclaw, and he had been helping her with Herbology for a couple of weeks now. "Um, hi Lisa," he said quietly. He never really knew how to talk to girls, he always felt like they were laughing at him for some reason.
"Hi, Neville! I wanted to ask you something," she said, a wide smile on her pretty face.
"Um, sure. What is it? Do you need extra tutoring for Herbology?" he asked. He could think of no other reason she would want to speak to him.
Lisa smiled at his obvious confusion and said, "No. I wanted to ask if you had a date to the Gradation Ball."
Neville was surprised. He hadn't even thought about a date. He hadn't even planned on going. "Um, no I don't."
"Good. You can pick me up at six o'clock sharp," Lisa said and with a last smile at Neville's bemusement, headed back to the Ravenclaw table.
Neville watched as she walked away. Had she just asked him to the dance? He turned back around to the table only to see Ron Weasley and Harry Potter grinning madly at him.
"Way to go Nev! Who'd have thought that you would get lovely Lisa as a date the graduation ball! She's hot!" Ron exclaimed, giving Neville a leering wink. Then he winced as his girlfriend, Hermione Granger, smacked him on the back of the head.
"Honestly, Ronald, you'd think you were nothing more than a hormone riddled teenager!" she exclaimed haughtily.
"But, 'Mione, I am a hormone ridden teenager," Ron said, and to prove it gave her a smacking kiss on the lips. Harry looked as if he were about to laugh, but a stern glance from his girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, culled it before it could come out.
Neville just shook his head. They didn't understand. Lisa probably only asked him because she felt sorry for him. There was no way she could actually be interested in a boring, pessimistic sod like him. Neville excused himself and headed back to the dorm. He had revising to do.