A/N: To Portia and Dr@coFreak at Death-Curse.com, thank you for the great reviews. This one's for you!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the songs, only my brilliant idea. (Ok, I'm exaggerating…)

Chapter 2: Neville's Song [Loser (by 3Doors Down)]

    It's the first, official day of school and to start the day off, the Griffindors and Slytherins have potions class together and Snape is being his usual cheery self.

Snape: Today we will be working on an Animagus Potion, which, for one hour, allows you to change into any kind of animal. This potion is very complex and will take a little over a month to make. You will also be tested on it upon completion, so I expect all of you to pay attention!

     Snape glared at all the Griffindor students. The, while looking at Neville, he warned…

Snape: Those of you who fail to do it exactly as I tell you will be punished.

     Snape then turned to the chalkboard behind him, took out his wand and tapped the board three times. Scribbled writing begun to appear on its surface. When the board was full, Snape turned to the class and, with his wand, pointed to the writing on the board.

Snape: These are the ingredients and directions to the Animagus Potion. Follow them correctly and maybe you'll get it right. If you do not follow them correctly…

     Snape didn't have to say anything. Everyone knew him well enough to know what he was capable of.

Snape: You may begin.

     The student's hurried out of their seats to retrieve their ingredients. As they returned to their seats, Neville was sure to get a seat next to Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

Harry: Wow! I can't believe we get to make an animagus potion.

Hermione: I know! So far, it's the most difficult potion we've ever done, even more than the polyjuice potion.

Ron: (laughing) Hey Hermione, now you'll really be able to turn into a cat!

    Hermione glared at Ron as she began to measure out the first of the potion's ingredients.

Neville: (unhappily) I'm glad you guys are happy. This is just one more thing for me to fail at.

Hermione: (sympathetically) Oh, don't say that Neville…

Draco: Yeah, Longbottom…

     The four turned around to see Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle sitting behind them.

Draco: You're guaranteed to pass as long as you have the mudblood by your side.

Ron: Fuck off, Malfoy.

Hermione: Ron, ignore him.

Ron: But—

Harry: No, Ron, Hermione's right. Malfoy's just being an ass. If I were a Sytherin, I'd be pissed if a muggle-born were smarter than me, too.

Draco: Fuck you, Potter!

Snape: Shut up, the both of you!

     Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville turned back around; Ron and Harry muttering curses about Malfoy as they continued working on the animagus potion.

`~~~~~~~~~~'

     After about an hour, Harry and Ron, for the first time, completed the first phase of the animagus potion by themselves. Hermione, who had been the first in the class to finish, was busy helping Neville put the finishing touches on his. Snape began walking around the room checking everyone's cauldron.

Snape: If you followed directions correctly, your potion should be slightly thin with a light-gray tint.

Neville: (whispers as he put the last ingredient in) I finished it.

     Hermione looked at Neville's potion. It was indeed as Snape had described. Snape stopped by their table and checked their cauldrons. He was about to move on to another table, when he suddenly stopped and looked down at Neville's.

Snape: (loud enough for the entire class to hear) Apparently, Mr. Longbottom can't follow directions.

     The Slytherin's laughed mockingly as the four of them stared down at Neville's potion. The light grey liquid was slowly darkening.

Snape: Six years, Mr. Longbottom, you're still screwing up. 20 Points from Griffindor.

Neville: (to Hermione as they all leave potions) I don't understand! I did everything right…I don't know what could've gone wrong.

Hermione: You probably overdid the graphorn--

Draco: Guess Granger was no help after all, eh Longbottom! (from across the hall with his fellow Slytherins)

Ron: (to Neville) Forget Malfoy. He's a stupid git anyway.

Hermione: Besides, we've got Herbology in Greenhouse 6 with the Ravenclaws next.

Harry: So cheer up, all right?

Neville: (soberly) All right.

     Feeling a bit depressed since his first day was already going bad, Neville hung back in the crowd. Once they were all ahead of him, he leaned up against the wall and watched as all the other students passed him by. *Why can't I do anything right? No matter how hard I try, I always messed up. It's just not fair…*

(Music starts)

Neville: Breathe in right away

            Nothing seems to fill this place

            I need this every time,

           Take your lies, get off my case

            Someday I will find

            A love that flows through me like this

            This will fall away,

            This will fall away

Neville & People in the hall:

   You're getting closer

   To pushing me off of life's little edge

  'Cause I'm a loser

   Sooner or later you know I'll be dead

   You're getting closer

   You're holding the rope, I'm taking the fall

  'Cause I'm a loser

Neville: I'm a loser, yeah

(Neville pushes himself off the wall and begins heads to Herbology.)

Neville: This is getting old

            I cannot break these chains that I hold

           My body's growing cold

           There's nothing left of this mind or my soul

           Addiction needs a pacifier

           The buzz of this poison is taking me higher

           This will fall away,

           This will fall away

Neville & People in the hall:

   You're getting closer

   To pushing me off of life's little edge

  'Cause I'm a loser

   Sooner or later you know I'll be dead

   You're getting closer

   You're holding the rope, I'm taking the fall

  'Cause I'm a loser

(Neville arrives at Greenhouse 6.)

Neville: 'Cause I'm a loser, yeah

(Neville lets out a despairing sigh, then enters Herbology class.)

A/N: If you haven't heard this song before, you can hear "Loser" by 3Doors Down at mp3-raid.com.