Chapter 10 - You're in the army now.

"Ron, what on earth are you wearing?" Harry said as soon as he saw Ron in their Dorm room.

"Guess it's my new uniform" Ron said looking very pleased as he turned around. It was brand new, unlike all his other clothes that were hand-me-downs from his brothers. The uniform was a deep navy blue and fitted Ron tightly like a quidditch uniform. The sturdy boots gleamed with mirror-like polish, the pants met the short jacket at the waist belt that was wide and had a number of small compartments along each side and a leather holdster for a wand. But the most striking thing was the insignia on each shoulder, a stylised golden phoenix holding a large silver lightening bolt in its beak. "You have one too, laid out on your bed." Ron said as he placed a blue cap bearing the same insignia on his head. Harry now noticed Neville was struggling to put on a similar uniform to Ron's.

// Why did it have to have a bloody lightening bolt// he thought as he changed into his uniform.

A few minutes later the three boys walked out of their dorm and met a women in blue waiting for them. Ron's eyes almost stood on stalks out of his head. "Hermoine?" Ron gasped. Unlike her billowing school robes, her new blue uniform hid nothing. Hermoine had quite a figure and it was set off to perfection by the tight fitting uniform.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked puzzled by her three friends reaction.

"Nothing" Harry said with a dry mouth, somewhat embarrassed by the thoughts he was suddenly having about Hermoine. They were nothing compared to what Ron was thinking. Neville too, he had a bright pink face. Hermoine suddenly realised what was going on.

"Oh, Men! Really!" and turned and began walking down the stairs. Her three companions stumbled to catch up.

A few minutes later, they walked into the Great Hall for lunch. They were the last to arrive and their appearance caused every conversation to stop and every head to turn in their direction. The silence was shattered by a loud wolf whistle from the Gryffindore table. Shamus stood with a huge grin on his face despite the fingers still shoved into his mouth. The hall exploded into laughter and catcalls, directed at each of the four.

"Really" said Ron "They don't have to all stare like that, it gives me the creeps."

"Now you know what its like to have a lightening bolt on your head for real, Ron." Harry replied looking up at Ron's cap. Ron pulled the cap off self-consciencily and all four sat at the Gryffindor table. Lunch appeared around them. Mainly salads and although Hermoine looked delighted, Ron wasn't sharing the feeling but if Harry could stick this, he would. At least there were no raw eggs. He didn't let himself think ahead to tomorrow's breakfast.

Their lunch was interrupted many times as students came to them wanting to know about the uniforms. Soon the hall was buzzing as the news spread.

"Nice uniform Potter!" an all too familiar voice said from behind. "And what's that on the sleeve, it's a little birdy. And it's carrying a stick, no it's a lightening bolt! How cute." Draco sneered.

"Your just jealous you don't have one!" Neville blurted out.

Draco rounded on the boy "I wouldn't want to get into a uniform like that, Longbottom…"

"No, everyone knows you just want into Harry's uniform." Ron said from behind Draco.

No one had ever seen Draco so staggered from a comment before. He was speechless and after a moment he simply fled the hall without saying a word. "Ron! That was very wrong." Hermoine scolded him.

"Well it's true!" Ron said and avoided the dark look Hermoine was giving him. Harry remained silent. This speculation that Draco, far from really hating Harry, may actually fancied him, made Harry very uneasy. He wasn't sure how he should respond to it. Life was simpler when they just hated each other.

After a few minutes of silence between them all, Hermoine asked, "Neville, why exactly are you taking these classes?"

Neville stopped eating and although he avoided looking up from his lunch he replied, "I… I have to do something… something about the Lestranges!" There was a strange note in Neville's voice, a note of determination.

The whole of the Gryffindore table suddenly seemed to have stopped talking and be listening.

"Who are the Lestranges?" Hermoine asked casually.

Neville moved uncomfortable in his seat. "They… they… my parents…" he was clearly unable to continue.

Only Harry knew the truth. He had learned it last year from Dumbledore. How Neville father was an auror. How his parents were kidnapped and tortured for information they did not have. Tortured until they were insane but not dead. They lived still in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, unable to recognise their own son. And it was the Lestranges that had done this terrible, terrible thing.

Harry spoke up. "They were deatheaters, Hermoine." Harry said as Neville looked up at him. "They kidnapped Neville's parents…" Harry stopped. That was enough information for now. The rest was for Neville to share when he was ready. "They're in Azkaban now" Harry said finally.

"No!" Neville replied quietly, "No, they're free!"

"The raid on Azkaban!" Hermoine said, "They were the ones that escaped?"

"Raid, what raid?" Harry asked.

"During the summer holidays, so I guess you haven't heard." Hermoine told Harry, "There was a raid on the prison of Azkaban by the deatheaters. A couple of prisoners were removed before the aurors could drive them off. Those horrible Dementors seemed to be in on it."

"I heard Great Uncle Algie telling my Gran… that someone has to go after them. A Longbottom. He wanted her to tell me, he said it was my duty to do it but she said no. Great Uncle Algie said I was the only Longbottom left that was young enough. So that's why I doing this, Hermoine. I've… I've got to try." Neville said staring at his plate.

Harry had never felt more proud of his friend Neville then he did now. Neville had accepted his duty and was doing all he could to live up to it. Harry felt somewhat ashamed at his own reluctance to accept his duty as Commander and resolved to redouble his efforts, if for no other reason than to ensure Neville had the best chance Harry could give him of avenging his parents on the deatheaters responsible.

Neville stared down at his plate of food. The thought of the Lestranges being free while his parents remained trapped within their own private hells tormented him more than anyone knew. Neville stared at the plate in front of him, feeling the surge of emotions rise within him. In front of him, his goblet of pumpkin juice steamed and boiled until the goblet suddenly glowed white hot and melted. Along the Gryffindor table all the serving plates and jugs of juice exploded showering the students with their contents. All over the Great Hall the scene was repeated at the other house tables. Students screamed as they were covered with their lunch foods. Nor was it limited to the students. Above the screams of the students, an angry voice boomed from the staff table.

"LONGBOTTOM!" Professor Snape bellowed in rage as soup dripped down his hair and face. He recognized the effect that his worst ever potions student all too often had on things around him.

The shout had jarred Neville out of his trance. He looked around at the chaos about him and up at the glowering figure at the staff table that had bellowed at him.

"I think we should go" Hermoine said. Neville didn't argue and the four of them fled the Great Hall.

"I think there is a lot more wizard in you than you let on Neville." Harry told his friend as they fled out into the entrance hall.

"That was an amazingly powerful bit of magic, you know. I certainly couldn't do it".

Neville had never considered the effect he had on cauldrons as magic before. But how could he control it, it only happen when he was very emotional about something, either angry or scared. He followed his three friends toward their next lesson.