Chapter Twenty-Two – Mooncalves

No one felt like celebrating Valentine's Day that day. Not when they all felt responsible for an attack on Hogsmeade in which six people were killed. All Neville could ask himself, over and over, was would Voldemort have struck if they didn't plant that vision?

Luna was worried about him, and let him know as much. Neville tried to explain it, how guilty he felt because of his face in the vision, but he couldn't make her understand.

The next day there was a meeting for the D.A. Professor Binns-Morgan wasn't feeling well, and Harry asked Tonks to take her place for the night. Neville and Harry talked at length, and decided to tell Tonks about the vision after the meeting.

They planned the talk carefully. Draco and Nata weren't to be included. Tonks didn't know that they were part of the group. They also didn't know how much Tonks knew; if she knew about the connection between him and Harry. So they decided that Harry would take the lead and act like he was the one to place the vision.

Much to Neville's relief, Tonks said that she didn't think that there was any cause and effect because of the vision at all. She had been there during the attack, and according to her, they had been "very well planned, very organized." If he was simply trying to capture Harry, he would have gone in and out, trying to remain unnoticed. Voldemort wouldn't have been able to plan that organized of an attack at a moment's notice. Neville found himself able to breathe easier after he heard that.

They also found out some very interesting information from her. Apparently, Professor Snape was no longer a spy for Dumbledore. He had been found out, and now was under Auror protection. It made perfect sense to Hermione, remembering that Draco said that he had stepped down as the Head of the Slytherin House.

But Tonks did make them talk to Professor Dumbledore. But he surprised them, not telling them off, like they expected, but telling them he expected Harry and Neville to try something like that ages ago.

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With studying for N.E.W.T.S, meeting three times a week with Snape and trying to find time for Luna, not to mention the rest of the group, the next few weeks were over before Neville knew it.

The Death Eaters were busier than ever, it seemed. At least twice a week The Daily Prophet announced another attack, whether on wizard or muggle targets. Hermione concluded that the Death Eaters were more confident, knowing they got rid of a spy. That conclusion made Harry even more upset with Snape, if that was even possible.

When the professors announced that there were only ten weeks before the N.E.W.T. exams, Neville felt a slight sadness. It really was beginning to dawn on him that his life at Hogwarts was almost over. Even more so when Professor Snape handed him a sealed recommendation, allowing Neville to owl his completed application to St. Mungos. Now all he had to do was wait for a response, which he would have by June 1st. Neville was slowly realizing that he was leaving his childhood truly behind.

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"You realize if we're caught, we're bound to be in loads of trouble," Ginny said casually.

"Shhh…" Luna whispered. All three were hunched together under Harry's invisibility cloak, which Ginny borrowed for the occasion.

"Are you sure Harry doesn't mind?" Neville asked for the umpteenth time.

"He's fine," Ginny said with a smile. "He wanted to come with, but he has too much homework to do."

"Why are we doing this?" Neville asked impatiently. He still had no idea why Luna insisted that they sneak out of the common room in the middle of the night.

"It's a surprise," Luna said softly.

Ginny stopped for a moment and looked at the Mauderer's Map. "Almost there," she told them. "Here we go. Thank goodness for Fred and George."

Ginny checked the map again and took the cloak off of the three of them. Her eyes scanned the paintings on the wall quickly. She ran up to a portrait of a young boy, no more than six years old. Ginny didn't take her eyes off of the boy.

As she continued looking, Ginny handed the map to Neville. "Make sure no one's coming," she said, her eyes not leaving the portrait.

Luna tilted her head to one side. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"Staring contest with the painting. It's the only way he'll open up," Ginny said.

Luna nodded. They waited for at least three minutes, and Ginny was staring. Suddenly Luna moved behind Ginny and stuck her tongue out at the painting. The little boy looked away, pouting.

"Ha!" Ginny cried. "I win. Open up."

"Fine," the boy in the painting said, crossing his arms.

Neville took Luna's hand, and the three of them walked into the secret passage. The painting closed behind them ominously.

"I can't believe I let you convince me to sneak out of school," Neville moaned.

"It'll be worth it," Luna said, squeezing his hand.

"It's too dark in here," Ginny complained.

Then they all said "Lumos," at once. The effect was immediate. Neville could tell that this passage way wasn't used very often. He also saw the dead end that was ahead of them.

"Don't worry. Fred and George warned me about this. It's actually a door. We just need to push it open," Ginny said. The trio pushed as hard as they could, and after a few struggling minutes, the door finally opened.

"Let's go!" Luna said excitedly.

"Shouldn't we close the door?" Neville asked.

"Nah," Ginny said, waving her hand. "Then we'd have to open it up again when we got back. If you didn't notice, it was pretty heavy."

Neville and Ginny followed Luna to a nearby field, near the Forbidden Forest. Neville looked up. There was a full moon tonight.

Luna had them all stand behind a thick tree. "Any minute now," she whispered. "Look in the field."

Neville stared at the field and saw nothing. But then there was an odd gurgling noise.

Luna tugged on Neville's shirt. "Look!" she said happily. "Coming out of the little burrow."

Then Neville saw them. "Mooncalves," Neville whispered in awe.

The group was silent as they watched the Mooncalves come up from their burrow one by one and stand in the field. When they were all up from underground, they all stood up on their hind legs.

And then they started dancing. The Mooncalves, which were no larger than a raccoon, danced wildly in the moonlight. They danced as if their lives depended on it.

Ginny had an amused look on her face. "And this is why we're here? To watch opossums dance?"

Neville started laughing, because he finally realized why Luna had been so insistent to sneak out tonight. "They're called Mooncalves, Ginny. They only come up from the underground once a month on the full moon. Not many people get to watch them dance."

To his right, he saw that Luna had started dancing herself in the moonlight. "We should dance with the Mooncalves!" she cried. "Dance with me, Neville Longbottom!"

Ginny and Neville shared an amused look, but then they both started intimidating the Mooncalves. At first Neville felt foolish, but then realized how liberating it was to be out here and not care. He took Luna's hand and twirled her around. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked like she was having the time of her life.

The group continued dancing for another twenty minutes. Then they continued to watch the Mooncalves for at least an hour.

Luna handed Neville and Ginny a plastic bag. "You know what to do, right Neville?" she asked. Neville ordered the group to put on the dragon skin gloves that they had brought with.

"What are we doing?" Ginny asked, obviously confused.

"We're going out into the field and collecting as much dung as possible," Neville said happily. Dung collected in the moonlight from Mooncalves was very rare. It was also, quite possibly, the best fertilizer in the world.

"First we watch them dance, and now we steal their poop?" Ginny asked, both eyebrows raised.

Neville nodded. "It has to be tonight, Ginny. They'll see us, and they'll move their burrow by next week. Their dung is really, really valuable."

"Why not?" Ginny said, shrugging her shoulders.

The trio ran into the field. Luckily, it looked like there was a good amount of dung on the ground. For close to a half hour, they bent up and down, searching for yet another pile of droppings.

"I think we got all of it!" Neville cried.

"Thank Goodness!" Ginny yelled back. "It smells awful!"

"We'll charm the smell away when we put it under the cloak," Luna said. They started walking back towards the castle.

The door was open, just like they left it. Together, they went back into the passage and pushed the door back to its rightful place.

Again, all at the same time, they cast Lumos. Neville started walking, beaming happily because of all the dung they managed to collect.

"How did you find their home?" Neville asked happily.

"I was taking a walk one day while you were practicing with Professor Snape. And there it was. I was going to tell you, but I thought it would be better as a surprise," Luna told him.

"Did you hear something?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"Maybe," Luna said, sounding uneasy. Neville stopped. All three put down their bags and held their wands out.

A low hiss could be heard within the passageway. "I heard that," Neville said. He realized that they were trapped in here. They couldn't go back outside since it took several minutes to push the door open.

They stood in silence. "Maybe we just imagined it," Neville said softly.

Luna took Neville's hand and held it tight. They walked carefully back towards the school,

Then they saw it.

A large snake was blocking the painting that led into the school's hallway.

Neville was too shocked to move. The snake lunged towards them, but Ginny pushed Luna and Neville out of the way. She stood defiantly in front of the snake, her hands on her hips. A low hiss emitted from her throat.

The snake stopped its attack and stared at Ginny. The snake hissed back, and Ginny nodded her head. Under her breath, she said, "Someone needs to kill it. There's not much time."

The snake hissed angrily, and Ginny hissed right back. The two seemed to be in a stand still. Neville racked his brain for a spell that could kill a snake. Remembering, Neville quickly waved his wand and yelled "Fuma Occidio!"

He then grabbed Ginny and Luna and ran back towards the heavy door. He could hear the snake shriek in agony as it was burned alive. Neville could fell the flames and didn't stop running until they reached the door.

Neville turned around and threw himself in front of Luna and Ginny. The snake was slowly burning a hundred meters away. They watched as the fire became smaller and smaller and then finally burn out.

He had a hard time catching his breath. "We need to destroy the ashes," Luna said, holding her side. They walked back towards the ashes. Neville conjured a glass jar. Ginny scooped up the ashes, and then Luna placed an unbreakable charm on the jar.

They walked in silence. Neville remembered to grab the three bags of dung on their way out. When the painting finally slammed behind them, Neville couldn't help but stare at Ginny.

"You're a parseltongue," Luna said matter-of-factly to Ginny.

Ginny nodded miserably. "Stupid Tom Riddle," she said softly. "I realized it after I was held in the Chamber of Secrets. I suddenly was able to talk to the garden snakes at the Burrow. Tom must have transferred some of his powers to me when he possessed me."

Luna tilted her head. "You sound ashamed."

"Only dark wizards can talk to snakes!" Ginny exclaimed. "Do you think I'm proud of this?"

Luna seemed to consider this for a moment. "Dark wizards and Harry Potter," she said finally.

Ginny looked up and chewed her lower lip. "I hadn't thought about that."

"He speaks parseltongue, you speak parseltongue. Maybe you'll get married and have babies that speak parseltongue. Make it fashionable," she said, obviously trying to cheer Ginny up.

"Thanks, Luna," Ginny said, giving Luna a small hug. "So who votes for turning this evil, dead snake over to Dumbledore and then getting in trouble?"

"Why not?" Neville said gloomily. They took the long way to Professor Dumbledore's office, since Neville wanted to drop off the bags of dung first.

"Do you think he'll be there?" Ginny asked.

"If he is, he is," Luna said serenely. She was holding Neville's hand tightly. He could tell that she was still worked up about seeing the snake in the first place.

Much to their surprise, Professor McGonagall opened up Professor Dumbledore's office door as they were walking up to it.

"Neville!" Professor McGonagall said. Her eyes were slightly bright.

"We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore," Neville said apologetically.

"Professor Dumbledore needs to speak to you, Neville," Professor McGonagall said. "Why don't Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood speak to me?"

Neville looked at his Transfiguration teacher worriedly. He had no idea why Professor Dumbledore would need to speak to him alone. "Okay," Neville said warily.

Luna squeezed his hand and gave him a curious look as Neville stepped into Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Yes, Professor?" Neville asked, sitting down.

The moment Professor Dumbledore's eyes met him, Neville breath caught in his throat. Something was wrong. Something had seriously gone wrong.

"Neville…" Professor Dumbledore said softly. "There was an attack on St. Mungo's tonight…"

Neville felt his mouth go dry. "Are my parents okay?" he asked quickly.

Professor Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly, and already Neville knew. He knew exactly what Professor Dumbledore was going to tell him. But he needed to hear it spoken out loud.

"Your parents were killed tonight, Neville. It looks like the Death Eaters decided to finish them off."

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A/N – Fuma Occidio. Latin for Smoke Death.