Neville lay for a long time in the darkness, turned towards the bed Harry was now sleeping in. The bed that had been Neville's when it was him and Ron in the room.
Neville was sleeping where Ron had slept. Stupid, maybe, but it made him feel better.
So did Harry being there. It made him feel a bit safer, though he knew he was safe in the Black house.
He wondered if Harry was planning to stay there until Ron was back.
Ron.
Neville sighed and rolled on his back. His hand moved to rest on his stomach. He shut his eyes and brushed his thumb over his stomach and tried to imagine for a moment that Ron was doing it.
Ron loved his stomach, for some reason. He would wrap his arms around it when they slept, he would touch it just like Neville did now when they kissed each other. Neville had always hated his body. But Ron liked it. And he didn't just say he liked it to make Neville feel better or something. He really seemed to like Neville as he was.
Even stranger – Ron acted like he was the one who was lucky that they were boyfriends. As if he thought Neville could do better than him.
Silly thought. Neville closed his eyes tighter and pictured Ron there, blushing and freckled and smiling in his self-conscious way.
Neville smiled to himself sadly and kept his hand on his stomach.
He missed Ron, already, so much it hurt.
***
Ron's eyes opened heavily, and he stared blankly up at the ceiling.
For a moment he'd thought…
He sighed to himself and sat up awkwardly. The rope dug into his hips, but he sat straight against the wall and closed his eyes again.
He'd thought of Neville. Pictured him there, even heard his voice, almost. For a moment he thought he was waking up from this nightmare.
But no. There he was. Still, his mind was full of Neville, and when he closed his eyes he saw Neville's face. All shy and caring and sincere, looking at Ron like he was special because Neville really thought he was.
When Ron got out of that stupid room and the ropes binding him, he was going to hug Neville and not let him go, ever.
For now…he was really tired, and really scared of going to sleep. So he sat there and thought about all the things he was going to do when he got free.
He would take Neville to a Chudley Cannons game. No matter how hard he had to save to get tickets, he'd take Neville and tell him all about the team and the best players they had ever had, and who might get a spot on the team next year from the junior leagues. He'd teach Neville some tricks in chess that would help him maybe not get creamed every time Seamus challenged him to a game.
Maybe Neville would sneak out with him once they were back at Hogwarts and take him to the greenhouses and tell him all about the plants there and what they did. Ron had never paid attention in Herbology, but Neville loved those plants more than anything. Ron wanted to stand there and get dragged from plant to plant and watch Neville talk. And Neville would be really excited, and he'd get all flushed and his eyes would be bright and he'd be happy.
They both would.
It didn't seem like it would be too much to ask. Neville deserved to be happy, anyway. He'd had a rotten go of life so far. He deserved more.
More than Ron, really, but if Ron was who he wanted, then Ron was going to work hard to make sure he was as good to him as he could be.
He just wanted to get out of that room and away from LeStrange and her wand and her curse. He wanted to be back at that ugly house with his mum and Ginny. He wanted to fall for one of Fred and George's stupid jokes. He wanted to listen to Bill and Charlie tell stories. He wanted to watch Harry mope. He wanted to watch Hermione read.
He wanted Neville. He wanted a whole lot of things, apparently.
Actually, he would settle for just a way to get…
Fred and George.
Ron's eyes shot open.
Fred and George and their stupid Quietus potion.
That bottle of potion from Ron's bag, the one that he'd nearly laid on with Neville the night he was taken…he had put it in his pocket, hadn't he? And with this rope around him, she hadn't bothered to search him or anything.
He blinked down at his jeans and saw the telltale lump of the small round vial. His heart jumped.
He sat back against the wall and took a deep breath, puffing his chest out as much as he could – he had to get his hands loose, but the ropes were magical. They tightened and loosened around his breathing.
But his hands were trapped against his chest, and…maybe…
He had been focusing so hard on getting the ropes off that he hadn't even tried to pull a hand out.
He breathed in deeply, sticking out his chest as much as he could. As he let the air out again, one hand kept pressure against the rope as if he was still holding his breath.
It worked! With one hand pushing the rope out, the other could slide down a little. He moved it as far as he could, awkward against the position his arms were in and the fact that he was so cramped from not having moved in…however long he'd been stuck there.
It took a few very long minutes of deep breaths and hands shifting inch by slow inch, but finally with one last push the bottom of his arm came free from the lowest part of the rope.
He resisted the urge to shout out in triumph. His whole arm was starting to do that weird pins-and-needles thing now that it was free, and his shoulder was sending a deep ache through him.
Still, he was triumphant as he wiggled and managed to reach his pocket. He silently thanked his brothers for stretching the jeans out so they were too loose by the time they were handed down to him. Made the pocket easier to get to.
At long last he felt the cool hard touch of glass, and his fingers closed around the bottle. He pulled it out and looked at it happily.
He had a half an arm free, and a bottle of Quietus. He had absolutely no idea what he could possibly do with that to get himself out, but it was more than he had had before.
He settled back with a grin and waited for her to reapperate, feeling something a little better than terror.
***
Hermione was standing over the bed with a strange smile when Neville woke up. "Hullo," she said quietly, glancing at the other bed.
He followed her gaze and saw Harry was still sleeping. He sat up and stretched his arms slowly. "Is anything wrong?"
She shook her head and held out a roll of parchment. "Our OWLs came today," she said with an ironic smile. "I had actually forgotten all about them. I was about to leave if you want to get back to sleep."
Neville glanced out the window and saw the sun was bright. It was probably much later than he normally slept. He sighed to himself. "We should get up, I guess. Harry will want to know about the OWLs, anyway."
She nodded. "I'll leave you alone to get dressed. I'll just leave these here." She set down the parchment she'd been holding out to him, and another one, on the table between the beds. "You must come down, though. I'm dying to know how everyone did." She smiled warmly before turning and going to the door.
Neville stretched again, feeling stiff. Last night had been better than the nights before, when he'd gotten no sleep until he'd passed out for an hour from exhaustion. Last night he slept. Probably thanks to Harry being there. Listening to someone else breathe in the room with him had a greater effect than he's thought.
He glanced at Harry, at his wild hair tousled on the pillow. He looked really young when he was asleep, without his glasses. There was something sort of cute about it.
He smiled to himself, but it faded fast. He couldn't hold a smile lately. Not since Ron…
Neville sighed and stood. He shot a look at the rolled parchment waiting for him, but turned away. He could only handle so many bad thoughts at one time.
***
Ron's eyes shut slowly, and try as he might he couldn't get them open again. He was exhausted, and as badly as he wanted to stay awake, his body just wasn't cooperating anymore.
Of course, because he had that kind of luck, the moment his mind started drifting towards sleep there was a faint pop in the air.
And then a high voice. "Little bo-oy."
His eyes shot open, and despite the bottle clutched in his hand, he was suddenly plunged back into fear.
She stood there in her black robe, her wand held loosely in one hand. She was smiling, which was the scariest expression she had, really. "Good morning, little boy."
Morning. He lost track in that room. He wasn't even sure how long… "How long have I been here?" he asked, and he was surprised at how rough his voice sounded.
She laughed cheerfully. "Not quite long enough." She waved her wand towards him.
His eyes slammed shut, and he braced himself.
"Cibatus appareo."
His eyes opened slowly when nothing happened, and he looked around in alarm.
There was a small plate of sandwiches sitting in front of him, next to a glass of water.
He relaxed slowly. It wasn't the first time she had done that spell, of course. But he was well-trained by then to immediately cringe at the sight of her wand.
He sat back, turning red. This was humiliating. She made food appear and then sat down by him and fed him. It was…
It was perfect.
His heart jerked and started beating harder, and he had to fight to sit still. His knees were blocking his loose arm from her view. The bottle's cap he had already loosened with his teeth that night.
Whatever was going to happen, it had to be now.
He stopped thinking as she approached. He didn't have a plan in mind, but maybe just by surprising her, he could…
God, he didn't know. But something was better than nothing, right?
She crouched down surprisingly gracefully and took the glass. "Poor little boy must be thirsty."
He leaned forward and drank greedily as she held the glass out.
She took it away way too quickly. "Now now. Slowly."
He clasped the bottle in his hand as she reached for the plate of sandwiches, and with his thumb he knocked the loose cap off. His entire body tensed.
She turned her wide grin to him. "You'll be glad to hear I've heard from the brat."
He hesitated at that. "Neville?"
"Just as I suspected, he's just as self-sacrificing as his idiotic parents. And Dumbledore is more than happy to get rid of him, it seems.
Ron's thoughts spun. She was wrong. Dumbledore would never let Neville give himself to her. Would he?
It had to be some sort of trick. Some sort of plan. They were coming for him.
He clasped the bottle, doubt suddenly moving through him. If they were coming for him, than making her angry with the potion was pointless.
She laughed to herself and lifted a sandwich. "Have a bite, little boy."
He obeyed.
"Now. Since everything seems to be going according to plan, it seems to me like you have a few things you can tell me. I've been more than hospitable, I think. I feed you, I give you water, I've cleaned up after you. I'm also doing you a bigger favor than you know, not taking you to my Lord."
Ron shivered a bit suddenly. You-Know-Who. It seemed amazing to him that he hadn't been worried about You-Know-Who this whole time. LeStrange seemed like a big enough monster without considering who she worked for.
He swallowed down fear. "Why…"
"Why haven't I?" She fed him another bite and grinned. "Because this isn't for him. It's for me."
Ron stared at her.
"Longbottom means nothing to my Lord. He's just another Muggle-loving brat. You're just the same, I imagine. Still, my Lord wouldn't be very happy to know I was taking prisoners and not telling Him. So consider yourself lucky."
Ron chewed slowly, his thoughts racing. You-Know-Who didn't know he was there. If he did find out, he would be angry at LeStrange. Could Ron use that somehow?
"I think I should have something to take back to my Lord, though. Something that will put me more into His favor. Something you could give me."
Ron swallowed. "What? I don't have anything to—"
"You have everything, little boy." She set the sandwich down half-eaten and regarded him. "You have Dumbledore. And I think you have Harry Potter as well. It won't surprise you to learn that my Lord is very interested in getting his hands on Mr. Potter."
"I don't know where they are," he said instantly.
She just laughed. "We know Potter isn't with his Muggle family. He was picked up by aurors. You know where they are. You almost told me your first day here. I was willing to settle for sending messages to Hogwarts that day, but I think maybe you should give me more now."
Ron shook his head quickly. "They won't be there. Wherever I think they are, they won't still be there. They'll be worried about me telling you. They'll move Harry somewhere safe."
LeStrange regarded him thoughtfully.
Ron pasted the most sincere look on his face that he possibly could.
She grinned again suddenly. "You know, Weasleys tend to turn this unflattering shade of pink when they lie."
Ron could feel the heat in his face and cursed his fair skin. "I'm not lying."
"You are. And you're very bad at it." She reached down and picked up her wand. "It's alright, of course. We have all the time in the world. I'm sure your Longbottom friend and Dumbledore are waiting breathlessly for my response. So I want to make sure the message is a good one."
Ron swallowed, angry at himself for how fast he let himself become terrified of her.
"Fortunately I never promised them to return you unharmed. Although the Cruciatus doesn't leave scars. Not physically, anyway." She waved her wand with a smile. "How long do you think you're going to last, little boy?"
Ron's free hand clenched into a fist, and he felt the small bottle he was still clutching. He had to give Dumbledore more time to find him.
He was probably going to pay for this.
He tensed and got ready to attack.
***
Author's Notes – Heh. Cliffhanger. Fun, huh?
Sparkysparkles – Amen, sister! Ron is number one! Ron haters of the world can kiss me arse! G And YES, I think there should be a Neville button. I can't find any of the Neville fics on here, and I know there has to be at least a few of them. I can't even label this as a Neville story. Anyway, thanks! Hope I'm not boring you yet.
Arynnl – Heh. I hope this chapter is just as excellent as well. Thanks! I'm really glad you like it!
Sarah – Don't worry. Neville's gonna have more than his share of angst, I'm sure. It's just Ron's turn right now. Yeah, Harry thinks everything is about him, but then again, it usually is. You can't blame him, really, for misunderstanding.
Mathais-8888 – Another Ron fan! Whee! And a slash fan! The best kind there is! Thanks for reviewing this time! I know what it's like to not have time, don't worry. Thank you so much, you're bloody nice. I hope you like the rest of it as much as the first part.
Cygna-hime – I'm only mean because I care. You always hurt the ones you love, right? Because then you can patch them up again. Thank you! Wow. I'm glad you like the story so much! I've been witing fanfic for a while, so I guess I've had enough practice to not be a terrible writer. LOL. And you're right, Harry was a git in OotP. Absolutely. And yes, underdog characters are always the best! They're the ones I love writing about. Hell, I wouldn't have gotten into this fandom if it hadn't been for Ron. Neville's just a lovely little bonus. G Thanks so much! Hope you like the rest.
PadawanMage – Hi again, honey! G Glad you liked the globe. I'm awkward about inventing magical things on my own. Harry isn't all bad, he's just grown used to thinking the entire world revolves around him. He's forgotten that some things aren't about him. Voldemort might have a say in this before I'm done with Bellatrix. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but personally, I don't think she's going to make it out of this story alive and well. Harry and Neville need to learn to understand each other, I think. They're more alike than they realize. Thanks as ever for your wonderful review. You're the best!