Chapter Twenty-Two – Mind Games

Neville walked into the common room exhausted. He was ready to go up to his bed and go right to sleep.

Unfortunately, Harry had other ideas. He rushed up to Neville. "Can we practice?" he asked briskly.

Neville sighed, but agreed. Luckily the common room was empty except for Ginny and Hermione.

He opened his mind and felt Harry's presence. A flash of memories went through his head, mainly dealing with Luna. Neville had learned that what memories he sees usually depends on his mood. He had just come from the Greenhouse with Luna, so she was on his mind.

A sight that Neville had never seen was before him. There was a large field with Death Eaters cheering. The Death Eaters were forming groups and disapparating one by one...

There was a flash of white light and Neville suddenly felt queasy. He rested his hands on his knees and was panting.

Hermione and Ginny rushed up to both of them. "What happened?" Hermione asked fearfully.

"There's another attack!" Harry said, catching his breath. "Dumbledore needs to know..."

Neville knew he was in no condition to go anywhere. He was dizzy and needed to sit down. "Harry..."

Harry looked at Neville. "You stay here, I'll go."

Neville nodded. Ginny took his arm and led him to a couch. He sat down. A moment later, Hermione appeared with a glass of water. "Are you okay?" she asked gently.

He blinked rapidly, trying to get the white spots out of his eyes. "I...I think so," Neville said timidly. "That's happened once before, but I didn't react this way."

Hermione sat next to him and patted his shoulder. "It's really brave what you're doing, Neville." Ginny nodded her head in agreement.

"Thanks," Neville said softly. At once he was overcome by a need to see Luna. But he knew there wasn't a chance to see her tonight. She was so weak, but luckily there was only a week and a half till her next treatment.

The three friends sat in silence, waiting for Harry to get back. After a half an hour, the door opened and Harry climbed through the portrait entrance.

"There wasn't an attack," Harry said, flopping down in a chair close to the couch.

"But we saw it!" Neville protested.

"I know," Harry said softly, looking confused. "But when I ran up to Dumbledore's office, Snape and Tonks were in front of it. They would have been fighting if there was a battle."

"Maybe-"Ginny started, but then Harry cut her off.

"Dumbledore left for a few minutes to check his contacts. Even Fawkes left. Nothing happened tonight," Harry said.

"Well, that's good though, right?" Hermione asked.

Harry stayed silent. Suddenly Neville realized what the issue was.

"If there was no attack tonight, that means you-know-who might have planted the image there," Neville said timidly. Harry nodded glumly in agreement.

Hermione clasped her hands over her mouth. You could just see her thinking "Not again."

Harry leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "How am I supposed to know what's real anymore?"

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Two days later, Neville sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Luna was sitting next to him, but something felt wrong.

"Where's Ron and Ginny?" Luna asked.

"Harry and Hermione aren't here either," Neville added, feeling a sinking sensation in his stomach.

The plates in front of them became filled with food. Neville started piling his plate. The mail owls started descending on the Great Hall. Since Hermione wasn't there, the owl dropped the Dailey Prophet by her place and waited.

Luna fished a knut out of her pocket and gave it to the owl, which then flew off. She unrolled it and looked at the headline.

After a moment, Luna shook her head and handed the paper to Neville. The headline jumped out at him.

Fifteen More Killed by Death Eaters!

As Neville quickly scanned the article, he felt Luna put her arm around his waist and leaned up against him.

"What if those were the attacks you saw?" Luna asked fearfully. Neville had told Luna everything that had happened about seeing the Death Eater attack.

"But Occlumency deals with past memories, not future events," Neville said, feeling quite confused.

Then the Harry and the rest sat down with them. Neville looked them over. Ron looked furious, and Ginny's eyed were red.

"Is that the paper?" Hermione asked weakly.

Neville nodded and handed it to her. "Is everything okay?" he asked timidly.

Ron snatched the paper out of Hermione's hand and beat it against the table. "No, everything is not bloody okay!"

"Ron, please," Hermione pleaded. "Don't swear," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Can we ask what happened, or would you rather not talk about it?" Luna asked matter of factly.

Ginny buried her head in her arms. "The Burrow's been destroyed. Death Eaters came to the house, with Mum and Dad in it. They got away, but the place is completely destroyed," Ginny said, choking back a sob.

"Is that what we saw?" Neville asked Harry.

"I don't know," Harry said truthfully. "But how did we see it? I'm not even taking Divinations this year."

By then Hermione had taken back the paper. "Two Order members were killed," she said softly.

Ginny sat up instantly. "Who?" she said, sounding scared.

"Emmet Ramsbottom and Hestia Jones," Hermione said sadly.

"Hestia picked me up from Privet Drive last year," Harry said.

There were tears in Hermione's eyes. Ron put his arm around her. "That put everything in perspective real quick," Ron told the group. "The house is gone, but at least Mum and Dad are alive."

Professor Dumbledore stood up then and made an announcement to the Great Hall. Neville didn't really pay attention. He was thinking more that for the first time, he really felt included in Harry's gang. They had spoken about the Order in front of him. Neville had heard about the Order, he knew his parents had been in it. But Harry never spoke about it front of Neville. Until today.

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Even though only two days ago there were Death Eater attacks, the trip to Hogsmeade was still on. In a way, Neville was glad. It would be a welcomed distraction.

It took awhile for Luna and Neville to walk there. Luna was walking very slowly. Neville asked if she'd rather just stay at the school, but she was insistent. He tried to help a little; she was holding on to his arm. Neville was very glad she was getting a treatment next weekend. He missed the energetic Luna that was so passionate about everything.

"Where to?" Neville asked. Luna stopped and thought for a moment.

"It's Daddy's birthday soon," Luna said. "I need to find him a birthday present."

"What are you going to get him?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," Luna pouted. "Daddy's hard to shop for."

"Am I hard to shop for?" Neville asked, genuinely curious.

Luna shook her head. "Not at all. Just get you some seedlings and you're happy," she smiled.

Neville laughed, knowing perfectly well that that was true. He took a good look at Luna. She was wearing the Turnishes earrings. He allowed himself a small smile seeing that.

They stopped in front of the bookstore. Walking inside, Luna led him to the astrology section. "I think Daddy's into this now," she said, chewing on her lower lip. "I never know though. He changes hobbies every other day."

Luna stared at the selection for almost five minutes. Finally she chose a book with a ratty looking cover. Dine with the Stars; and Dance with the Planets, by Uni Versey.

"I hope this works," Luna whispered to herself.

"It looks good," Neville said encouragingly.

Luna nodded and took Neville's arm. Together, they walked up to the cash wrap, where she paid for the book.

"Should we go have a butterbeer?" Neville asked, desperate to please.

Luna looked thoughtful. "The Three Broomsticks is too loud," she said finally.

"I know," Neville said, feeling inspired. "I'll grab two butterbeers, and we can walk to the Shrieking Shack. It won't be loud there."

Luna's face lit up. "I'd like that," she said happily. She sat down on a bench, and ran inside the Three Broomsticks. He quickly passed Harry, Ron and Hermione who were sitting with...Neville couldn't remember her name. All he remembered was that she was an Auror.

He gave the table a quick wave and then paid for the butterbeers. A moment later, he was by Luna's side. They walked slowly to the Shrieking Shack.

Neville helped Luna sit down on the ground carefully. And then sat next to her, and opened their drinks. They sat in silence. Luna rubbed Neville's knee. After the drinks were finished, Luna rested her head on Neville's lap and fell asleep.

He gently stroked her hair while she slept. After fifteen minutes or so, he could see Crabbe and Goyle walking in the distance.

Neville groaned. The last thing he needed was a run-in with these two. "Luna," Neville said gently.

"Hmm..." Luna sighed.

"Luna, it's time to get up now, honey," Neville said.

She nodded and gave a wide yawn. Slowly she sat up. When she was sitting, Luna put her hands on the ground quickly and closed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked. He was beginning to get worried. "Why don't we go back to Hogwarts?"

He started to grab her hands to help her up. "Too dizzy," she mumbled.

He knelt next to her and felt her forehead. Luna was burning up. "Luna, what should I do?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"St. Mungo's," she said softly. "I need to go to St. Mungo's."

Neville gulped and jumped up off of the ground. Very carefully, he scooped her up in his arms. "Does this hurt?" he asked, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Luna shook her head, which he hoped meant no. He walked right past Crabbe and Goyle, hoping that they wouldn't say anything. Luckily, all Crabbe did was crack his knuckles while Goyle pounded his fist.

"Where's a teacher when you need one?" Neville muttered under his breath. Looking around frantically, he saw Professor Snape. He walked towards him.

"Professor!" Neville cried out. Professor Snape was by his side in an instant.

"What's wrong, Longbottom?" he asked.

"Luna needs to go to St. Mungos," Neville said quietly.

Professor Snape took a good look at Luna. "Let's take her to the hospital wing first. We can stabilize her there, and then go to St. Mungo's," the professor said.

They started walking towards the castle. Neville paused when they got to the small hill they needed to walk up. He wasn't particularly strong, and didn't know how much longer he could hold Luna.

Professor Snape seemed to sense his hesitation. "I'll take her from here," he said, taking Luna from his arms.

"Thank you," Neville said gratefully.

Minutes later they were up in the hospital wing, with Madam Pomfrey looking her over. "Nothing I can do here," she said. "I'll take her to St. Mungo's and get her admitted. Severus, let Professor Flitwick know. He can contact her father."

"Can I go with?" Neville said.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "Students aren't allowed to leave Hogwarts, Neville," she said gently. "I'll let you know what happens."

Neville walked over to where Luna was lying. Even though she was sick, she still looked so at peace with herself.

"Luna?" he said softly, hoping Professor Snape or Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear. Her eyelids fluttered slightly. He kissed her forehead. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

Neville stepped away and watched Madame Pomfrey floo with Luna over to St. Mungo's.

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A/N – Thank you so much for all the happy birthdays! I had an awesome b-day. Tres fun. Just a quick note to everyone. I'm moving out of my apartment. Yeah, I have less than a week to pack everything out and move. Good times. I probably won't get to update any of my stories for a while, until I'm settled. I'll try to update, but I make no promises. It's awful timing too, specially cause there's only three to four chapters left to this story. I know! It's almost over. But don't worry. The sequel is already in the works!

Note to Caroline – I wouldn't mind at all if you translated my story! It's an honor!