Chapter 24 – Neville's Problem
Horror. That is what filled Darren's mind the next day. It had been a day that he believed that he would never be able to get out of his mind until the day he died. He had seen it. He knew he was there because he could remember feeling the body of the Lethifold as he had pulled at it vainly to try to get it off of his mother. He could not get that feeling of helplessness out of his mind, that same feeling he had when the bastards in that same room had laughed at his feeble attempt to cast the Patronus Charm. He could not help but feel that he had failed his family. He had stood and watched his father be murdered in front of him and done nothing. His mother had told him many times that there was nothing that he could have done, but he kept coming back to the same thought. If he had attacked Voldemort then, maybe Voldemort would have killed him too, and possibly left his mother and Ellie alone since then they would have been of no use to him anymore.
That was the irrational side of his consciousness talking to him. The rational side told him, correctly, that Voldemort would not have killed him, and that there really was nothing that he could have done to help his father. The Avada Kedavra curse was unstoppable, and nothing could have been done then to save his father. However, Darren knew that there was a chance to save the rest of his family, and he had made the decision to do just last night as he had lain awake in the darkness of the dormitory. He would do whatever was necessary, and to hell with anybody that got in his way or even thought about trying to stop him. The only thing that made him waver was seeing Neville at breakfast that morning. Neville had been through a lot in his life, but his family was already gone Darren told himself. They were still alive, but they might as well be dead for all Darren knew. His family, however, was very much alive, and if he had to hurt Neville, or Ron, or Hermione, or Harry to help them, then God help them all.
After classes, he had convinced Neville to meet him after Quidditch practice, which had not gone well at all. Darren had been so wound up and angry that he had slammed a Bludger that had hit Ginny Weasley in the middle of the back and made her fall over fifty to the ground. The entire team had gotten angry at him, and he had just shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'Who cares?' After practice, he had sat in the stands waiting for Neville when Harry had come up to him.
"Darren, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Darren looked at him out of the side of his eyes with what could only have been interpreted as animosity.
"Sure, you're the captain of the team Harry."
Harry just shook his head slightly as he sat down.
"What was with that Bludger today? You almost killed Ginny. If Hermione hadn't been able to catch her with that spell, she could have been really hurt."
"Well, she didn't get hurt, did she!" Darren snapped in reply.
Harry sat back in surprise. Darren had never been this way, even when he was in Slytherin, and Darren could see that Harry was shocked at his cold response to what had happened to Ginny.
"Darren, we play Ravenclaw on Saturday. That is three days from now, so I, no we, need you to get it straight whether you are part of this team or not."
Darren let out a great sigh and let his shoulders slump.
"I'm sorry Harry," he said sincerely. "I just can't get that dream out of my head from last night."
"Well, that is something else I wanted to talk to you about Darren. What was it about?"
Darren looked at Harry for a minute, trying to decide whether to tell him what the dream was. Could he tell Harry, and not give anything away? He hoped so, because he needed somebody to talk to, even if the whole story didn't come out.
"I was dreaming that my mother was dead Harry. It happened in front of me and it seemed so real."
"I have had things like that in my dreams Darren. You see them and you almost feel like you are there when it happens, right?"
"Yeah," Darren said. "But how can it seem so real?"
"Remember last year when the Daily Prophet was telling everyone how Dumbledore and I were crazy?" Harry asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, I found out that dreams can be more real than you could ever imagine. You have to be able to tell what could be real, and what is not, or it will make you go crazy Darren."
Darren just sat there and listened to Harry. He was amazed at how much wiser Harry seemed from last year. The time he had spent with Dumbledore and the things he had dealt with from Voldemort had made him grow up quickly, and now it was showing. And it was also making him feel reluctant again to carry out his orders.
"Look, I'm sorry about Ginny. Will you tell her that for me Harry?"
"I think you should tell her yourself. She is in the hospital for the night."
"Oh man, is she going to be okay?" Daren asked in surprise.
"Yeah, she'll be fine. Madam Pomfrey just likes to keep everybody for at least a night if she can. I should know; she has had me in the hospital wing for a bunch of visits in the last few years."
They both laughed at the bit of truthfulness from Harry and Darren could feel the tension ease a bit.
"Well, I'll get out of here now Darren. I want to do that essay Snape gave us today."
"Okay Harry, see you at dinner I guess."
"See you then Darren."
As Darren watched Harry walk away, a thought popped into his head.
"Hey Harry!"
Harry turned back to Darren. "Yeah?"
"I was wondering if you could help me with something?"
"With what?"
"Well, the other night when I came to that group you have I couldn't do the Patronus to save my ass."
"Well, it isn't the easiest spell in the world Darren. In fact it took Hermione ten meetings to finally get it down, and I had to practice a lot to get it right too."
"Yeah, well, I'm not worried about Hermione. She can already do it. I want to learn how and I was wondering if you could help me out, you know, after classes, or something?"
Harry pondered Darren's request for a moment before answering. For a second Darren thought he would say no, but instead Harry agreed.
"Sure Darren, I'll help you. But it will have to wait until the beginning of next week. We both have a lot of school work to do, and we have that match this weekend too."
"Okay, that's fine I guess Harry."
Harry got up to leave as Neville was making his way over to where Darren was still sitting. But before walking away, Harry turned back to tell Darren one last thing.
"When you go see Ginny, watch out for Ron."
"Why is that?" Darren asked.
"Because he is pretty mad at you for hitting Ginny with that bludger Darren."
Darren just nodded his understanding as Harry turned and left both he and Neville alone on the quidditch pitch.
"Why is Ron mad at you Darren? You hit Ginny with a bludger? What is going on now?"
"It was nothing Neville. I hit a bludger too hard and it flew and hit Ginny. That's all."
"Is she okay," Neville asked concernedly.
"Yeah, she is fine. She is in the infirmary but she will be okay."
"Well, I hope she is because we are behind Slytherin by two hundred and fifty points, and we need her to get closer to them on Saturday."
"Yeah, I know Neville. We have to score big in the next two games to get close, so we have to play well."
"Hey Darren, why are we playing Ravenclaw now? We usually play them for the last match of the season."
Darren had wondered for a while why the Gryffindor team had to play Ravenclaw so early in the season, but the whole schedule had been changed up this year. Snape had wanted it done, and for some reason Dumbledore had let him. All the other house teams were convinced that somehow it was supposed to be to Slytherin's advantage, but Darren and the other Gryffindors realized that no matter when you played the match, you still had to play it.
"I don't know Neville, and it doesn't really matter anyway, does it?"
"No, I guess not," Neville admitted quietly.
They sat quietly for a few minutes. Neville sat and kicked his heels into the soft ground and Darren contemplated what he had to do. Finally, he worked up his nerve. He stood up and in front of Neville.
"Neville, I want to ask you something."
"Okay Darren."
"What would you do to have your parents back?"
Neville was shocked that Darren knew about his parents. That much Darren could tell just from the look on his face.
"What?"
"I said what would you be willing to do to have your parents back, to have your family again Neville?"
"Look Darren, this isn't funny. Not in the least, so I am leaving."
"Sit down Neville," Darren said firmly and to his disappointment Neville did as he asked.
"Answer me Neville. Would you kill to have them back, would you let somebody else get hurt, what?"
"What do you know about them Darren?"
"I know everything Neville. Tell me, what would you do?"
"Why do you want to know? What does what I would do have to do with you?"
"It has everything to do with me Neville, because I want you to understand why."
"Why what Darren?"
"Just answer my goddamned question Neville!" Darren yelled in irritation.
"I would do anything, okay! Anything to have them back. And I wouldn't care who or what got hurt, or how badly either. Are you happy now Darren?"
"No, I'm sorry Neville."
Neville looked up at him with tears running down his face. He was crying from the memories of seeing his parents in the state they would be in for the rest of their life and Darren felt his heart break as he grasped his wand under his cloak.
"Sorry for what," Neville said as he wiped his eyes.
"This," Darren said as he pointed his wand straight at Neville.
"IMPERIO!" he shouted as Neville's eyes widened. Then a look of peace and contentment broke out on his face.
For several tense moments Darren stood and looked at Neville closely, trying to determine if he had really been affected by the spell. If he was faking, Darren would never know until it was too late and Neville had gone to a teacher. There was only one way to tell for sure.
"Neville, stand up."
Neville stood immediately, his back straight and rigid.
"Stand on your head and sing the national anthem."
Neville got down on his hands and knees and them leaned forward and stood on his head with his elbows supporting his weight. After the second bar of God Save the Queen, Darren was certain that Neville was not faking.
"Okay Neville, sit back down on the bench and listen to me very carefully."
Neville sat back down and looked at Darren.
"I want you to listen closely for anything that Harry might tell Ron or Hermione about that night last June in the Department of Mysteries. If you hear them talking about anything from that night, especially if they are talking about a prophecy of any kind, you are to tell me immediately what they say, is that clear?"
"Yes Darren," Neville answered.
Good. Also, you are not to tell anybody that we have had this conversation, and you are to act as you normally would when around any other students."
"Okay Darren."
But then a thought came over Darren. What if Neville didn't act as he usually did?
"Hold on a second Neville. Here is what I want you to do. You are not allowed to act scared or frightened around the other students, especially Malfoy and his friends. Is that clear?"
"Yes."
"One more thing. You are not to be intimidated or scared of Professor Snape anymore, do you understand. You will not screw up in his class anymore, and you will not be scared of him. That means no more melted cauldrons, no more potions that are wrong, no mistakes at all. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now let's go get dinner and then do our homework. You need a good grade on this essay for Potions, so do a good job on it tonight."
"Okay, I will."
Dinner had gone well that night, all things considered. Well, except for the fact that when Dean Thomas had made a casual remark about Neville being a bit goofy and Neville had tried to jump across the table to get at him that is. Darren had had to grab him around the mid-section to restrain and only when Darren had told him to sit down and stop it did Neville calm down. It was then that Darren realized just how hard it was going to be to use Neville and not let anybody catch on to the facts of what was going on. He hoped that Neville would not attack Professor Snape during class, although he admitted to himself that it would be very funny to see Neville smack the hell out of that slimy haired git.
His thoughts were interrupted by Seamus nudging his elbow and pointing at the Ravenclaw table with his fork. Darren turned and looked over to see Cho sitting with Roger Davies, and sitting very close to him. She was holding his hand under the table and she gave Darren a sly look as she leaned in closer to Roger.
'Great, just what I need,' Darren thought to himself.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it Darren," Seamus said to him. "She is just trying to make you jealous, that's all."
Darren just laughed the thought off, but in is mind he admitted that it was working. Not one person seated at the table with him, not even Neville, or possibly Cho herself, knew how much he truly cared for her and none of them probably ever would. He just looked at his plate, wishing that he had not just lost his appetite. He had not eaten any breakfast or lunch because his nerves were shot for most of the day. Instead he turned to Neville.
"Neville, I'll meet you back in the dormitory at eight, okay?"
"Okay," Neville answered to Darren's back as Darren got up to leave the Great Hall.
Out in the Entrance Hall, Darren saw Cho and Roger at the foot of the stairs that led up to the upper floors. They must have slipped out when he had not been looking at them and now he was feeling very uncomfortable. Cho had her arms around Roger's neck and was kissing him. Darren tried to ignore this, but he could feel his temper start to rise, even though he was telling himself to just keep walking. However, just as he put his foot on the first step, he could hear Cho call out to him.
"Hey Darren," she said playfully, but Darren could hear the venom in her voice as she spoke to him.
"Cho, Roger," he said as he nodded his head to them, but he could see Roger Davies smiling sarcastically at him.
"Too bad you and I broke up Darren," she said. "Now Roger gets to have all the fun," she said as she laughed at him.
'She's just trying to piss you off, so let it go,' he told himself, 'let it go.'
"Yeah Darren, too bad. Although from what I hear you weren't that much fun anyway," Roger said as he laughed at Darren.
Darren had turned away from them, but that remark made him stop dead in his tracks. All he could think was that he hoped for Roger's sake that Roger would just shut up now. He had too much on his mind to deal with a wiseass little pretty boy who was trying to screw his ex-girlfriend.
"Well, bye then Darren, don't let us keep you," Cho said acidly.
"Yeah pal, don't let us keep you," Roger chimed in.
Then, he made his big mistake.
"I'll give her a good romping this weekend for you, since you couldn't do it for her."
Roger was laughing at him. Darren was gripping the handrail so tightly that his knuckles were white. Cho laughed at Darren; then Roger gave another sarcastic chuckle that finally set Darren off.
Darren turned and walked straight at Roger, who let go of Cho and took a step backwards. Darren kept coming at him and Roger looked as if he wanted to run, but he knew he could not run, not in front of his new girlfriend who stood by and watched Darren take Roger by the cloak and lift him up onto his toes.
"What is your problem Davies?" Daren asked coldly.
"Noth…nothing Darren," Roger stammered.
Darren tossed Roger to the floor. "That's what I thought."
He turned to go upstairs but stopped in front of Cho.
"Nice try Cho, but the next time you want to make me jealous, try it with somebody a little more convincing
Roger took a step towards Darren then, but the look that Darren shot him made him stop in his tracks. The last thing that Darren needed now was an ex-girlfriend that wanted to play games and make him jealous.
"Well, we'll see you at the match this weekend, won't we Darren?"
"Yes, you will," Darren said as he started up the staircase.
At the first floor landing he made his way to the hospital to see Ginny and make his apologies. Inside he saw Ron and Hermione sitting next to a bed that Darren figured had Ginny in it. He took a deep breath and entered the room. The beds lined the walls on either side and he had to walk almost the entire length of the room to reach where Ginny was. When he got close to her bed he saw Ron jerk his head around. The tall red headed boy jumped to his feet and snapped at Darren.
"I came to see if Ginny is okay. And to tell her I'm sorry for hitting her at practice today."
"Yeah, well she's just fine, so shove off Clarkson," Ron told him testily.
"Ron, stop it!" Hermione almost shouted at him. "Darren came to apologize, so let him."
"Yeah Ron, sit down and be quiet for once," Darren heard Ginny tell him.
"Fine," Ron spat out, but the look on his face told Darren that he had better not do the same thing again, or else Ron might try to extract revenge for his sister.
Darren turned to Ginny and saw that she really couldn't be feeling al that well after all. Her arm was in a sling and she looked to be in a bit of pain.
"Hey Ginny," he stammered.
"Hey Darren," she replied.
"Look, umm, I'm sorry I hit you at practice today. I, well I'm not trying to make excuses for anything, but the last few weeks have been going pretty roughly around here, and I took it out at practice by hitting that bludger harder than I should have."
"It's okay Darren," Ginny told him. "We all can only imagine how hard it is having gone through what you have this school year."
For a second Darren thought that somehow Ginny knew his situation, but she allayed his fears with her next sentence.
"Having to leave your house and join another one would be stressful on anybody, especially if you have to put up with Snape and Malfoy all the time too."
"Yeah, well that is still no reason to hurt you or the team."
"Well, I accept your apology, so let's let it go at that then, shall we?"
"That's fine with me Ginny."
After a few seconds of awkward silence Darren had a question.
"What is wrong with your arm?"
"Well, to tell the truth that was my fault Darren," he heard Hermione say.
"What?"
"Well, when I caught her with that Cushioning Charm, I didn't quite get it under her and she hit the ground with her shoulder."
"Yeah, and Madam Pomfrey insists that I wear this sling until it is better, which it is, but she won't listen to me," Ginny told him.
"Well, there never would have been an accident if you hadn't done what you did," he heard Ron mumble loudly enough to be heard.
Both girls cocked their heads and raised an eyebrow at Ron who threw his hands up in innocence.
"Well, I'm going to go now," Darren told Ginny. "I'm just glad you are okay and can play this weekend."
"Thanks for coming Darren," Ginny told him as he was leaving.
At the doorway he stopped because he could hear Ron talking to Hermione.
"I don't care what he says or doer Hermione. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin if you ask me."
"Well, nobody asked you Ronald," she scolded.
"I keep telling you and Harry, but neither of you will listen. There is something funny about him this year, I sweat it is."
"Ron, have you ever stopped to think, for just one second, that everyone you have ever suspected of anything is never up to anything bad?"
"Well, that doesn't mean I'm wrong this time, does it?"
What surprised Darren more than Ron's accusation was the lack of a response from Hermione.
Saturday morning started with a light snow that melted as it hit the ground. That made the players a little happier than they would have been otherwise if they had to play in worse weather. Darren had eaten breakfast with the rest of the team as was the usual practice before a game, but he had made Neville come with him to breakfast so he could keep an eye on him. He was still not completely convinced that Neville was fully under the Imperius Curse so he wanted to keep him close at hand for the first few days to make sure something unexpected might occur.
After breakfast, the team had walked together to the pitch. Darren couldn't understand why he was so nervous. Was it because of Neville? Or could it be his having to play against Cho and her new boyfriend, if Roger Davies was indeed that after all. The night before he had tried to think it out logically, but he could only figure that Cho was just trying to make him jealous, but it was working. He knew from the year before that she had turned Roger down for a date so making him jealous was the only reason Darren could think for her to be with Roger Davies at all. As he walked his mind kept running wild with thoughts of Cho and the game until he was pulled out of his daydream by Ron.
"Just remember, keep the bludgers away from us, especially Ginny," he said without even trying to hide his animosity.
"Don't worry Ron, okay?"
"Yeah, well, just hit the Ravenclaws, okay?"
"Okay, fine."
In the locker room they went over last minute strategies and any changes that they may have to make during the game. Harry had worked quite hard on the game plan for this match during the last month, and Darren was curious if it would work out. Ravenclaw had been the early favorite for the Quidditch Cup this year due to the fact that they had more returning players than the other houses, but an early loss to Hufflepuff had upset their chances to win the championship. Ravenclaw was in third, despite losing to Hufflepuff due the fact that Hufflepuff had lost to Slytherin by over three hundred points. As the standings were that day, Slytherin was in first place, followed by Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. A good win with a lot of points would put Gryffindor closer to Slytherin and may allow them to win the Cup against Hufflepuff with their next match.
"Okay everybody, lets go," Harry told them when they had finished with the pre-game talk.
Darren grabbed his Nimbus and set off to the pitch with the rest of the team, wiping his face from the snowflakes that wanted to stick to everybody that day. As they entered the pitch, the roars from the crowd filled the stadium, along with the usual boos from the Slytherin crowd. Darren got on his broom and took off so as not to have to get too close to Cho. However, she flew by him at full speed and he almost toppled off his broom in surprise. As she turned and stopped above him, Darren could see that she had a new broom. It was a Nimbus 2003, the newest racing broom on the market, but still no match for the Firebolt that Harry flew. At least Darren hoped it wasn't until the whistle blew and Madam Hooch released the balls.
The bludgers went right after the closest player and Darren saw Ginny with the quaffle and a bludger heading right for her. He intercepted it and sent it flying towards a Ravenclaw beater who hit it back at him. With his legs wrapped tightly around his broom, Darren hit the bludger with both hands and it slammed into Roger Davies who was chasing Ginny and getting closer. With Davies off her tail, Ginny was able to score easily and from the re the rout was on. After an hour and twenty minutes, the score was Gryffindor 150 and Ravenclaw 70. Ron was playing exceptionally well and the game plan was working perfectly. Whenever a Ravenclaw got hear the quaffle, Darren or Seamus would hit a bludger at hem, and make them change course. That would leave the ball open to be taken by a Gryffindor. Ginny had seven goals and had just scored her eight when Darren saw Cho take off like a rocket towards the far end of the pitch. She had seen the snitch and Darren could see her closing in on it. She was had half of the field between her and Harry, who was talking in mid-air to Ron about tactics when Harry saw her shooting across the pitch at full speed. Harry shot forward like a bullet, his shape a blur moving at high speed. Darren could see him lying flat on his broom stick as he closed the gap on Cho. Chop's new broom was fast, but it was no match for Harry and his Firebolt as far as speed went, but she had less distance to cover, and Darren could see there might not be enough time for Harry to catch her.
"Take out the Seeker, take out Cho!" he heard Ron screaming at him.
Darren looked up and saw a bludger heading straight for him. He put both hands on his bat and swung with all his strength. The bludger went straight where he had aimed and intercepted Cho just before she got the snitch. It hit her broom's handle and he saw it her spin in the air like a rag doll. She went tumbling towards the ground, but he didn't see what happened to her after that. All he saw was that Harry had caught the snitch at last and the game was over. The cheers of the Gryffindors filled the stadium as the team landed and congratulated themselves. Ron was especially giddy because he had been the most fired up about the game for the last month.
"Way to go Darren, you really took her out," Ron congratulated as he clapped Darren on the back, all thoughts of Ginny's accident the previous day apparently gone now.
The team was smacking each other's back and congratulating each other, but Darren did not feel like celebrating. He had looked towards the other end of the pitch and seen Cho sitting in the snow, alone, her head in her hands. He could see her shoulders shaking and he realized that she was crying. Whether it was from the loss or what Darren had done to her in the game he did not know, and he actually found himself hoping that this would make her hate him. At least that way, she would stay away from him in the future, for her own good.