Chapter Twelve – The Dueling Contest

Neville went through the next week expecting Malfoy and his gang to ambush him at any moment. Even though he told himself that he could handle Malfoy, he still tried not to walk through the hallways alone.

Luckily, the only thing that Malfoy threatened Neville with was a couple of dirty looks. Once Malfoy made a suggestive remark to Luna when he saw her and Neville holding hands in the hallway. He regretted that instantly. Luna took out her wand and cursed him with a blasting curse so quickly that Neville hadn't even realized that she stopped holding his hand.

There was a D.A. meeting the second to last day before Christmas break. Neville was looking forward to the break, but at the same time was going to miss Luna. He had gotten used to seeing her everyday. Now they had to go two weeks without seeing each other.

"Today for a bit of fun, we're going to have a dueling contest," Professor Binns-Morgan told the D.A. "Here is the list of the starting pairs. Find you partner, get into pairs, and when I say 'Go,' start the duel. Standard rules apply. When you've been knocked out, go stand at the side of the room and watch the rest of the duelers."

Neville looked at the list and saw that his partner was Millicent Bulstrode. Luna was standing across from Zacharias Smith.

Neville gulped at stood across from Millicent. Neville had never talked to the Slytherin girl before. She was extremely tall and heavy set and she looking at him like he was scum.

"Ready...Bow to your partner...wands at the ready...Go!" shouted Professor Binns- Morgan.

Millicent threw a disarming spell at which Neville blocked easily. Neville threw the same spell back at her, which she also blocked. Millicent cast a twitchy ear hex on Neville, which he couldn't shield himself from. It was hard for Neville to concentrate on anything other than how his ears where wiggling.

Neville gained his composure and cast a banishing charm on Millicent's wand. Her wand went six feet behind her. Neville was slightly frightened as she growled at him, but he said, "Accio wand!" clearly, and her wand rattled across the floor and then flew into his hand.

He handed her wand back to her. As she passed him to go stand next to the wall, she bumped straight into him, knocking him down to the floor. Neville shook his head and stood up slowly, regaining his balance. Remembering how twitchy his ears felt, he waved his wand and ended the hex.

Five minutes later, the first round was done. Neville was pleased to see that Luna had beaten Zacharias. Professor Binns-Morgan quickly put the remaining sixteen into pairs. Neville was now paired up with Cho Chang.

Now he was worried. Cho was a year older than him, and had probably learned much more magic than him.

"Go!" Professor Binns-Morgan yelled.

Cho must have been distracted, because Neville cried "Expelliarmus!" and she was disarmed easily. Smiling, she took her wand back from Neville and went to stand at the wall. Neville had to wait for ten minutes until this round was over.

Neville looked at the people who were left. It was down to Neville, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan and Terry Boot. Harry wasn't in the contest; he was helping Professor Binns-Morgan referee the duels.

He was quickly paired with Susan Bones. He smiled at Susan. He always thought she was nice; she shared his interest in Herbology with him, just not as obsessive. He saw that Luna was paired against Hermione. As smart as Luna was, he had a gut feeling that this would be her last round.

"Go!"

Neville was caught a little off guard, staring at the other pairs. Just in time, he shielded himself from a tickling curse. Neville threw a trip jinx at Susan. She fell flat on her face, and dropped her wand, which then rolled straight to Neville. He bent down and picked her wand without needing a spell. Quickly, he walked to Susan and helped her up.

"I'm sorry!" Neville said worriedly.

"Don't worry!" Susan laughed, rubbing her nose. "Good job."

"Thanks," Neville grinned and handed her his wand. He couldn't believe that he was going to be in the final four.

Neville watched the rest of the duels finish. Hermione took Luna out with a very good leg- locking curse. (He still hated that curse.) Ron was out, and he looked like he was ready to jump Draco and beat him up. Now it was down to Neville, Hermione, Draco and Ernie Macmillan.

"Neville and Ernie, you two will duel. Hermione and Draco, you'll both duel," Professor Binns-Morgan said. It was hard to miss the excitement that was building up in the room.

"Take your positions," the professor said.

Neville set himself across from Ernie.

"Go!"

Neville struck first. He tried disarming Ernie, but Ernie blocked the spell easily. Neville couldn't tell what spell Ernie threw at him, but Neville simply stepped out of the way of the blue light.

He and Ernie battled for more than ten minutes. Neville could feel beads of sweat trickling down the side of his face. Finally, Neville decided he would have to take the duel one step further.

"Stupefy!" Neville shouted. He hadn't tried stunning Ernie before. Ernie took a moment too long before trying to defend himself, and was knocked to the floor, unconscious. Neville pointed his wand at Ernie's wand and said "Accio wand!" and it was in his hand.

The moment Neville took Ernie's wand from his hand people started cheering loudly. Neville looked around, surprised. He had almost forgotten that people were watching. Neville stood next to the wall and watched the rest of Hermione and Draco's duel. Hermione's hair was standing straight up and Draco had a horn growing out of his back.

Finally, Hermione's hair fell in front of her face at the exact moment Draco tried to disarm her. Her wand left her hand easily. Neville gulped.

He would be facing Draco in the final round.

"Let's take a ten minute break," Professor Binns-Morgan said easily.

Neville left the Great Hall quickly, needed to clean up a bit. There were a lot of footsteps behind him. Neville turned around and saw that he was being followed.

"You can totally beat him," Ron said, slapping him on the back.

"I'm not supposed to take sides," Harry grinned, "but it's Malfoy. Kick his ass."

"You'll do great, Neville," Ginny smiled.

"Thanks," Neville said, before ducking into the boy's bathroom. He faced the mirror. Truthfully, he didn't know if he could beat Draco. He knew Draco would have no problem playing dirty. Neville decided that the best he could do was hope he wouldn't embarrass himself.

He left the bathroom with only a few minutes to spare. Luna was waiting for him. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. "You'll be fine," she said softly.

"Do you really think so?" he asked, hugging her tightly.

"I do," she said, smiling. "Good luck."

Neville walked into the Great Hall, almost hoping no one would notice. It didn't work. The crowd started chanting "Ne-ville! Ne-ville! Ne-ville!" The students were on two sides of the Hall. One side was Slytherin. The other side had everyone else.

"Take your positions," Professor Binns-Morgan said loudly. The cheers died down quickly.

"Bow to your dueling partner!" she said. Neville walked three steps and bowed to Draco.

"Wands at the ready!" Neville took out his wand and faced Draco.

"Go!" she cried.

Neville and Draco both cast a disarming spell at the same time. The flashes of light bounced off of each other harmlessly.

Neville was able to get the next spell out first, "Aerarduus!" he cried. Draco wasn't able to move fast enough and was hit with wheezing hex. Draco took a moment and held his side, wheezing loudly. Neville tried to disarm Draco again, but he blocked it at the last moment.

Draco then shot a stunning curse at Neville, which he dodged by rolling to the ground very quickly. Neville tried to stun Draco, but Draco jumped fast, and got out of the way.

Neville was breathing hard. His elbow hurt where he rolled on the ground. He and Draco both took a moment to compose themselves. Draco threw a tickling curse at Neville. He couldn't move fast enough and started laughing uncontrollably. Neville gathered all his concentration and was able to throw the curse off of himself.

At that time, Draco had already thrown a disarming spell. His aim was high, and Neville dropped to his knees to avoid being hit.

Quickly, Neville thought about what spell to use. He remembered a spell used on him his first year. He remembered how scared and vulnerable the spell made him feel.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Neville cried, surprising Draco. He didn't move in time, and the spell hit him right in the chest. Draco's arms and legs snapped to attention, and Draco fell over on his back.

Neville ran over to Draco and took his wand from his hand. The Great Hall erupted into cheers. Neville smiled meekly, not really believing that he had beaten Draco in a duel. Luna ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"Well done, Neville!" Professor Binns-Morgan cried. "The winner gets a prize."

She handed Neville an envelope, which contained a ten-galleon certificate to Honeydukes.

"That's all for today everyone. Have a great Holiday," she called out.

It took a good half hour before Neville could leave the Great Hall. Every person that rooted for him seemed to want to congratulate him. Neville was almost embarrassed by all the attention. Almost, but not quite.

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"I'm going to miss you," Luna said. They were both back at the King's Cross Station. Neville's grandmother was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Me too," Neville said, giving Luna a hug. As much as he would like to, he wasn't ready to kiss Luna in front of his grandmother yet.

"I'll owl you," she promised, holding him tightly.

"I will too," Neville said. "But I'll see you in two weeks."

"True, that's not so far away," she said smiling.

"Neville!" his grandmother cried.

"Coming Gran!" Neville shouted back.

"Bye," they both said at the same time. Another quick hug, and they went their separate ways.

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He and Luna owled each other everyday. On Christmas Day, Neville and his grandmother went to St. Mungos, to visit his parents. When they got to the ward, they weren't allowed in. A patient was having a fit, and they needed some time to settle him down.

Neville asked quickly if the man was his father. The orderly knew Neville by sight, and told him that it wasn't. Neville's grandmother decided to stay in the hallway and wait. She conjured up a chair for herself.

Neville decided to walk around the hospital. He needed to stretch his legs. He walked down floor by floor, just walking through the hallway until he reached another staircase. He did the same thing going up the floors as well, hoping that when he reached the fourth floor he'd be able to see his parents.

On the second floor, he saw a small man with dirty blonde hair enter a room. Without thinking, his eyes followed the man, looking into the room.

Neville's heart skipped a beat. There lying in a hospital bed, looking as white as a sheet was Luna.

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A/N: An evil cliffhanger I know! We'll finally learn what's up with Luna next chapter. Cheers!

Aer-Air; Arduus-difficult