Chapter Twenty-Four – Remembrall or Nothing

The next night, the Knight Bus dropped Neville off in front of Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore had been great, telling Neville he could stay with his Gran for a few more days. But Neville wanted to be with Luna. And Luna was at Hogwarts.

He tried to avoid the Great Hall at dinner time. The last thing he wanted was to see everyone stare at him, and him knowing they were all feeling sorry for him.

But Neville decided to go into the Great Hall right as dinner was ending to grab something quick to eat and bring up to his dorm.

Just as he was about to go in, Draco Malfoy was walking out. "You really don't want to go in there, Longbottom," he said seriously.

"Why not?" Neville asked.

"Do you really want the entire place staring at you?" Draco asked.

"I'm hungry," Neville said. "I didn't eat before I left."

"Follow me," Draco said. Neville shrugged and followed Draco.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked.

"Kitchens," Draco said casually. "You can get some dinner and no one will stare. I can't tell you how many times I've eaten there this year."

Draco stopped in front of a picture of some fruit. He seemed to tickle a pear, and the door opened up. They walked inside. A number of house elves were running around. Draco stopped one.

"Is Dobby here?" Draco asked cautiously.

"Dobby here, sir!" a house elf said. "You knows he will not serve for you, sir."

"I know," Draco said.

"Who's Dobby?" Neville asked interestedly.

"A former House Elf of my family's," Draco said. "He was freed second year and works here now."

"Holds a grudge, huh?" Neville asked.

"I don't blame him," Draco said. "I was pretty awful to him." Then to the elves, "This is Neville. Could he get some food, please?"

Three house elves ran up to Neville with a plate full of ham and mashed potatoes. "Thanks," Neville said and the house elves beamed at him.

Draco got his own plate of food and they ate for a while in silence. Neville cleared his throat. "I saw you at my parent's memorial service," he said. "Thank you."

Draco shrugged. "I guess I thought I could understand a bit of what you were going through."

"I doubt that," Neville said tensely.

"All right," Draco said. "So not exactly. My parents weren't in St. Mungo's, but my parents were so brain washed by you-know-who that I didn't know who they were. And then he took them from me. Just when I thought we'd have a chance to be a family again after we got out of Azkaban. Just like he took your parents."

Neville had to admit that Draco had a point. "Do you think they were brainwashed?" Neville asked.

"That's what I'm telling myself," Draco said defensively.

"Fair enough," Neville said. The young men were silent again after that. Enough confidences had been shared for one evening.

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Neville stared up at the top of the canopy of his four poster bed. He shouldn't be here. He thought that after he talked to Draco, that he'd be able to talk to everyone. But as soon as he entered the common room, his chest started constricting. Why didn't he take Professor Dumbledore's offer of a few days away from Hogwarts?

The drapes were pulled tightly around his bed. Neville didn't want to talk to any of his roommates. None of them would understand. He doubted that even Harry would be able to understand how miserable he felt.

He could hear the voices of his roommates slowly enter the room. All of them were quiet, most likely out of respect for Neville. He heard both Dean and Seamus whisper, "Good night, Neville," before he could hear the curtains of the other beds closing.

Finally, the room was silent. Neville wasn't quite sure how long he lay there, staring at the canopy. Sleep was the absolute furthest thing from his mind at the moment.

Suddenly, the curtains opened. Neville sat up quickly and before he could even say a word, Luna took Harry's invisibility cloak off of her and put her hand over his lips. Neville scooted over, giving Luna room to sit on the bed with him.

Luna leaned against him as she pulled the curtains tightly shut. Then she tapped the curtains with her wand, casting a silencing charm on the curtains.

"What are you doing here?" Neville blurted out.

"I thought you might want some company," Luna said softly. "But if you want to be alone, I'll leave."

"You can stay," Neville said, taking her hand and stroking it gently. "How'd you get in?"

"I asked Harry if I could borrow his cloak," Luna said simply. "I snuck in the common room just after midnight. Then when I saw everyone go to bed, I came up here."

"I'm glad," Neville said, meaning it.

"I can stay the night, if you want," Luna said shyly.

Neville looked at her. She was biting her lip, and her large, round eyes looked at him questioningly. He could tell she didn't know what was best for him, but wanted to do anything she could to help.

"I'd like that," Neville said, kissing her softly on the lips.

Her face lit up. "I wore my pyjamas just in case," she said brightly.

Neville looked her over. She was wearing something that looked like a t-shirt, but went down to her knees. It was a light pink, and matched the plaid pyjama pants she was also wearing.

"Are you ready to sleep?" Luna asked. "We could stay up and talk for a bit if you'd like that instead."

"Why don't we sleep?" Neville said. Luna brought her legs under the quilt and laid her head on the pillow. Neville did the same, but then Luna turned and positioned herself so that her head was on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and brought her closer.

"Good night, Neville Longbottom," Luna whispered, kissing his neck.

"Good night, Luna."

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The next morning, before Neville opened his eyes, he couldn't understand why he didn't have any feeling in his arm. But then as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Luna laying next to him, sleeping peacefully.

He wiped his eyes with his free hand, getting rid of the sleepy dust. But the movement was enough to wake her up.

"Good morning, Neville Longbottom," Luna said, smiling. Right then, Neville knew he could get used to hearing that in the morning.

"Good morning, yourself," he said. Neville moved his arm that was around Luna, and she raised herself up slightly. Then he turned so that they were facing each other.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked, stroking his cheek.

"A little bit. Well, not much at all, to be honest," he confessed.

"I was afraid to sleep after my mother died," Luna told him. "Since it happened right in front of me, I was so afraid that I would dream it over and over. Finally, Daddy had to give me Dreamless Sleep before I would go to bed. It took me six months before I would go to bed without it."

Neville glanced at his watch, and saw that it was already seven-thirty in the morning. "You better get going," he told her. "Don't be late because of me."

"I'm skipping classes this morning," Luna said casually. "I want to be with you."

"Are you sure?" Neville asked. He loved the idea of spending the morning with her, but didn't want her to get in trouble.

"I'm sure," Luna said. Then she leaned her head and kissed him. Neville responded immediately and brought her in close. He felt her arms go around him, and it felt like there was no space between them.

"Neville, are you going to break-"

"Ron, don't-"

Neville looked up quickly and saw Harry and Ron at the foot of his bed. Luna must not have cast an imperturbable charm on the bed.

"Sorry, mate," Harry said, sounding incredibly embarrassed. "I couldn't stop him in time. We'll see you later." Then he grabbed Ron by the arm and dragged him off.

A moment later, Harry was back and grinned sheepishly at them before he quickly shut the curtains, giving Neville and Luna their privacy again.

Neville shook his head, while Luna whispered, "Accio wand." She quickly cast another silencing charm, as well as an imperturbable charm on the bed.

"I guess I forgot a spell," Luna said apologetically.

Neville didn't even bother to respond, but started kissing her again. For what seemed like ages, they lay next to each other, kissing and necking, but slowly, Luna started to progress things further. Neville's shirt came off, followed by hers. Things Luna said she wasn't ready for just a few weeks ago suddenly met no objection from her.

And then Neville understood what exactly Luna was offering him. And in one hand, he was ready. He would like nothing more than to bury himself in her and finally connect with Luna in that way. He would be able to forget everything, if even just for a moment. But at the same time, his pain and his grief was too raw. If they went through with this, Neville would always look back at the first time they made love with the sadness of his parent's murder hanging over him.

Neville pulled away. "We should stop," he said softly.

"We don't have to," Luna said, breathing hard.

"We do," Neville said, sounding more confident than he felt.

Luna nodded and sat up. She reached for her top, which had managed to find its way to the end of the bed. She quickly put it on and looked at him.

"I'm going to go back to my dorm and get dressed," she said softly. "Why don't we go to the Greenhouse until lunch?"

Neville nodded and watched her cancel the spells on the bed. She stood up and looked at him.

"Luna…" Neville trailed off.

"Yes, Neville Longbottom?" she asked with that dreamy sounding quality in her voice.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Instead of answering, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. A moment later, Luna left the room.

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Neville and Luna spent the rest of the morning in the Greenhouse. Neville decided to be responsible and actually use the time to start catching up on his homework. He knew that all of his teachers wouldn't mind if the homework was late. But N.E.W.T.S. were coming up and he refused to use his parent's death as an excuse for poor grades.

Lunch at the Great Hall was exhausting. Neville tried not to look around, because all he would see were heads that quickly turned away when he looked at people. No one seemed to be able to look Neville in the eye.

Except for his friends. Neville was more glad than ever that he had really become part of this group over the past year. He knew his friends would help him get through this.

Luna had to go to class that afternoon, leaving Neville on his own. He went back to the Greenhouse, but instead of studying, he worked on his plants. Professor Sprout hadn't ignored them completely, but she also didn't put in the amount of work that the plants needed to thrive.

He apologized profusely to the plants. And he was sure it wasn't his imagination that the plants were looking much better after only a few hours of tender care.

By then, Neville was exhausted. He slipped into his dorm, desperately hoping that none of his roommates were there. Luckily, he got his wish and sank down onto his bed. The day seemed like it would never end. He hated that none of his school mates seemed to be able to look him in the eye.

Closing his eyes, Neville decided to take a nap before dinner. However, sleep wouldn't come. After a few minutes of restlessness, Neville stood up and went to his trunk. He wanted to look at the collection of scraps his mother had given him over the years. Maybe that would give him some comfort.

As he moved some jumpers and robes out of the way, his Remembrall caught his eye. It was still flashing red, like it had every single day since he owned it. Like every other Remembrall he had ever owned. The scraps left Neville's mind as he picked up the Remembrall.

"What have I forgotten?" Neville asked the Remembrall frustratedly. "What good are you if you won't tell me what I've forgotten?"

Sighing, Neville held the Remembrall in his hand and got back into bed. He was tired now. He closed his eyes, and for a few minutes before he fell asleep he imagined what sort of things his mother might have forgotten. Things she had forgotten when this had been her Remembrall. Surely she wasn't as forgetful as him!

An hour or so passed, and Neville's rumbling stomach woke him up. Without opening his eyes, he could still feel the weight of the Remembrall in his hand. Finally, Neville sat up and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

He looked at the Remembrall. For a moment he didn't realize that anything was different. But then he saw it. The Remembrall was no longer flashing!

Neville closed his eyes and visions and thoughts rushed past him as quick as lightning. When he opened his eyes again, he felt uneasy, like he might be sick.

But he also felt a sense of power. A power unlike he had ever known. He could actually sense the secrets that were being unlocked in his mind.

For Neville had finally remembered how to defeat Voldemort once and for all.