A/N: Okay, there are many things going on in Neville's world right now, and our great Neville's tired himself out! There is a real reason for him being the way he is at the end of the chapter, but I can't tell you yet, that would just give it away! There is deception in the ranks, but who is it! Can you guess? Hummm...
-Also, I am letting you know that I do take time in naming each chapter, sometimes for very good reasons, and other times because I want it to be just perfect. Well, there is some info in TWO of the chapter titles that has not been actually stated in any other chapter content. If you read over the titles, you might be able to guess about what's coming and who's been a good girl/boy.
-And, The "A", "B", or "C" in front of the chapter tells this:
A past time, 1974.
B Presant time. Ron, Snape, Luna school years.
C Presant time, somewhere other than Hogwarts.
NONE In the Vision Realm or someother mind trance/dream with characters from A & B.
DarkLordLongbottom: Thanks for the review, love ta hear questions and comments! Lily does look at Neville as kinda cute and funny, but I'm afraid to go any more into that 'cause it just creeps me out. :) Neville was talking in his sleep, poor guy. He didn't really want to send Lily off, and he didn't know he'd said anything to her because he was sleepin'. But, was it just an accident? I think not... Deception in the ranks, I'm tellin' you! Lots of it! Well, about Neville goin' nutzo on Bella, I'm sad to say it will be the other way around. But, our great Neville won't let her get away once he's back in the presant! Cheer for Neville!
Turning Your Time Around
This chapter is dedicated to: DarkLordLongbottom because of the four reviews! Thanks so much!
A - Chapter 11: "The Cause"
Neville woke up expecting to find Lily hovering over him, but as he cleared his blurry eyes, he couldn't see her anywhere.
I could have sworn I'd heard her. Oh well...
Neville pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his head to wake himself up a little more. His back felt much better and his shoulder was only tingling a tiny bit.
Maybe I can actually leave here.
Neville swung his feet over the bed and sat up. When no pain came, he stood up. Nothing hurt.
Great!
He couldn't believe it. He was actually happy. That was rare these days. But.. hadn't he just had an interactive dream? The dreams were normal for Neville, but the fact that Rotiart was there was something totally new. He wasn't sure how he felt about him invading his dreams. That was what he expected from Merlin, not him.
Rotiart had been the one telling Lily all those things in the Toss Room. It had been Neville's mouth saying it, but not his mind behind the words. No, that was no way him. He remembered the Toss Room and meeting Rotiart. He was meeting a lot of new people these days. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Oh well, the more people involved, the more protected he'd be.. at least, in theory.
Neville glanced over at the side table. A glass of water and note were all that was left. He picked up the note and read:
Mr. Raymond,
I'll be gone for the remainder of the day. Please make sure you get up and walk around so that your back does not get stiff. You will not like it stiff.
-Madam Pomfrey
What?
Never could he remember Madam Pomfrey just leaving a note and taking off. That was really strange. Though, maybe she had changed a lot between the time here and the time he knew her from before.
Oh well... Wait, I'm supposed to be doing something.. what was it?
He heard something rush by the entrance of the Hospital Wing. He whirled around to see the swishing black tail of a dog disappear.
Was that a dog! This just keeps getting better and better! Geez, Hogwarts sure was crazy in the 70's.
Neville gave a little laugh at that thought.
Hogwarts is always crazy.
Neville was drawn from his thoughts when he heard his name being called softly.
"Neville, come here!"
The voice may have been soft, but the panic in it seemed to cause the same effect as if it were yelling. Neville jumped and turned around to see the person calling him. But, he realized it was a person in a painting. Esor looked frightened and was pushing things off her table, as if looking for something. She glanced up again and saw she'd gotten Neville's attention.
She stood up from her chair and bent down near the edge of her painting. Even though she was scared, she gave him a small smile.
"How are you?" she asked in her kind voice.
Neville noticed she was shaking slightly, and instead of answering her question, he asked his own.
"What's wrong Esor?"
Esor's shaking increased as she replied, "Wrong? Nothing is wrong, I just wondered if you wanted to talk."
Neville looked her over for a moment. There was no way she was all right, but he'd let it go for now.
"Well, I guess so. What would you like to talk about?" He asked her.
The next sentence she spoke was said rather slow which in tern made Neville raise an eyebrow.
"Why don't you toss out an idea? As a great man once said, 'The side you chose is the side you stay with.' all right?"
Neville was looking at her with a quizzical expression.
What does the phrase "The side you chose is the side you stay with." have anything to do with.. well.. anything? Strange... Wait! She had mentioned "toss around ideas".
That last thought made him wonder if there was another reason she wanted to talk to him. He had just seen the secret, or supposed to be secret, Toss Room and she just happened to mention "tossing around ideas" now? Not a chance. Was she trying to hide something? Or was she warning him? A better question: Why would she do either of those things?
This place is too confusing! I feel like a professor who has to teach nothing but Slitherins! Well, at least that's really never gonna happen.
"Esor, is everything okay?" Neville asked her with the same expression.
The color drained from Esor's face immediately as he asked that. She was glad he could recognize her clue, but was desperately hoping that the other frightening man hadn't been listening to her. If he had, she was dead, she knew it. Oh well, at least she had warned Neville, even if he had no idea she had, yet.
"Y-yes Neville, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," Esor replied with a slight smile, totally contradicting how she felt.
With that last sentence, Esor walked from her painting into some other one in the castle.
"Uh.. okay. It was nice talking... about nothing," Neville said to the long-gone Esor.
That was probably the strangest conversation he'd had with her. Maybe she was just weirded out from when he told her he was from the future. No, maybe she just thought him crazy and didn't ever want to see him again. It would make some sense to her shaking. There was "Neville the Nutter" running about, lock your doors, get your wands!
Neville gave a quiet laugh at that thought, but then changed his expression to a frown.
Maybe I am crazy.
A sudden tapping on the window brought him out of his thoughts. As he looked over he saw an odd looking owl waiting for him to come over.
Neville glanced around to see if there was anyone else the owl wanted. Seeing none, he walked over to the window and started to open it. The owl only waited long enough for it to get a leg with a note in, for him to take it. He did, and right after, the bird flew away over towards the valley in the distance.
Neville sighed and looked at the letter in his hands. Should he open it?
Well, there's no one else around.
Reluctantly, he unrolled the parchment and read it over. As he got further down the page, his eyes grew wide.
Oh my-
He didn't even finish that thought as he ran to find a teacher to show it to.
The halls were dead quiet. Nothing was moving, not even the people in the paintings.
Wait- what in the world?
Neville stopped right where he was (about seven steps outside the Hospital Wing), and he looked at all the paintings he could see from where he stood. Not any of the people or animals were there. The only thing in the paintings were backgrounds, unmoving. That did not make Neville feel any better. He brought the letter out in front of his face again to read it over to make sure he wasn't dreaming, or dead, for that matter.
The first person to read this must send reinforcements to:
Ollivander's Wand Shop, Diagon Alley
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
No, he wasn't dreaming, and he wasn't dead -at least he hoped not- so that just left the fact that it was true. So, ignoring the lifeless paintings, he moved onward to find a professor.
He found nothing, and no one. Not one student, and not one professor was walking the halls. This was getting extremely scary the further he went.
With a sigh, he reached the Great Hall. Thankfully, there were murmurs coming from the other side of the huge doors. Not wanting to get caught by anyone who would know him in the future, he had no choice but to open the doors the tinniest bit and slip the letter through.
He pulled out his wand, which had only been used once before, and said in a quiet, but firm tone, "Rumpo silentium!"
A window-rattling crack rang throughout the castle, down every hall and in every classroom.
The murmurs quieted instantly. Neville froze for a moment, waiting. That had been the loudest he'd ever made that spell work.
Loud footsteps could be heard from inside the Great Hall as someone walked to pick up the note. Neville didn't wait another second. He just ran.
Neville found himself in the Hospital Wing again and he fell in a tired heap onto his bed. He was so sleepy, he could sleep for three days!
-
And to his great surprise, that is exactly what he did. There was no explaining it, but that's what happened.
He raised his head from the soft pillow and blinked to clear his vision. He could hear a faint voice calling his name. Well, "Neville Raymond" but still calling for him.
The blurry images did not seem to want to clear even though he blinked so much his eyes hurt. There was that person calling him again. He wanted to answer, but his whole body seemed so tired that all it would do is blink, breath, and lay still.
"Mr. Raymond, stop blinking and answer me!"
Neville heard the last sentence clear and loud in his ears, making him push his tired body away from the direction it'd come from. He tried his best to say "stop yelling" but it only came out as a small "ssssyyyllll" and then a groan from the big effort.
"He's responding! Bring me the-"
The rest of Madam Pomfrey's words were lost to his mind as he tried to move his arm a little. He only succeeded in causing himself a headache. Someone was slipping a hand under his neck and raising his head to drink something. He didn't want to, plain and simple. His head hurt and he was tired, why don't they just leave him alone!
He groaned again as someone insisted he drink whatever it was. But, this time they didn't pay attention to his protests and just made him drink it.
The potion, he assumed is was a potion anyway, flowed effortlessly through his gritted teeth. It felt like air passing through his mouth and being forced down his throat. That was not happy feeling, he realized. It seemed as if he'd swallowed too much food at once and didn't have anything to drink to fix it.
Slowly it made it's way down his throat, and he gulped and gulped over and over to get it down. But, the pace kept going smoothly and steadily. That just made Neville feel more uneasy.
Sweat drops were on his forehead as he fought to not let the potion down any further in his body. Madam Pomfrey was sitting on his bed and was holding his hand for a little support for the boy. She was much different now than in Harry, Neville and the other's time. She seemed to still care, but had the advantage of more youth now.
Lily Evans sat on the opposite side of the bed and watched with sorrowful eyes. She wondered why she was here when just tree days ago, this boy in the bed had nearly made her cry. She owed him nothing, not a thing. But, he had been asleep, and she had come to the conclusion that he might have been dreaming. Even so, she was going to wait for him to ask where she was before he was forgiven. If he had truly wanted to say what he did, he wouldn't, or shouldn't care where she was now. But, two days had passed and she was starting to believe he had wanted to upset her.
But, she still had to know. After her classes on the second day, she had gone up to the Hospital Wing to sneak a peak at him to see if he was still there. What she found made her eyes go wide. Madam Pomfrey was sitting on a bed and she was crying softly. That was Neville's bed.
She ran to her side as she asked what had happened. Madam Pomfrey said that he wasn't going to make it. Not going to make it? Make it to what? And then she had realized she ment death. Death for this young boy who had upset her. She panicked and asked if there was anything they could do to help him. Madam Pomfrey said there was a way she might be able to save him, but it would take to long. So, Lily offered to help her do whatever had to be done. She was angry with this Gryffindor, but he did not deserve to die!
Together, they made the potion and by that time the next day, they were ready to give it to him. They called and called for him to wake up, even shaking him, but nothing seemed to work. The two of them had almost lost hope until he opened his eyes and started blinking at a rate of five times per second. Madam Pomfrey called for her to get the potion and she did. Neville had drank the required amount and was now gulping and blinking every moment.
Lily watched as Neville blinked at the ceiling and twisted the sheets of the bed in his hands in silent agony. She could hardly stand to see him like that. That face that had been cute and sweet days before was now twisted with fear and pain. He had not spoken a word apart from two small groans, which amazed her. He looked so bad and yet he was keeping from screaming. But, the worst was yet to come, as all three of them soon realized...
A/N: Well, what did you think? If everything works out fine, we'll be seeing James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter in the next chapter, allong with Lily o' course! Shortly after, Neville's gonna make a new-old friend. He's been at Hogwarts for a long time, and knew Tom Riddle. Not that he liked him, he just knew him. Think! Who is it? Tell me what you think, please. :) "11" is my favorite number, and is the number of this chapter- something important happend in this chapter! Did you catch it?