A/N: So I'm watching my college, Georgia Tech, get demolished in the NCAA Basketball Tourney, and I needed something to ease the pain, so here we are, on my roomie's laptop, and going to start the story. That's why this chapter came out so soon, and you can thank Louisville for it. I don't own anything other than my pain, both gallbladder and basketball. And another quick note: I am completely, totally, 100, absolutely blocked on Betrayal…It's not going to be updated for a long while. So enjoy this one :-) And if you like it, leave a review. They are really motivating me…and if you put this on any C2 group, leave me a review to let me know!
Betrayed, Used, and Royally Pissed
By LeTimbo
Chapter 3
-Confusicate!
No Neville, make the arm motion more fluid. Remember what Stalwart told us. More fluid arm movements mean you can rattle off the next one faster.
-Ok Harry, good point... CONFUSICATE!
Much better Neville. You know, I was wondering for a long time why they stuck us together as partners. But I see it now. If I was with Hermione or Ron I would be too worried about protecting them. I see us more as equals, so I don't have to protect you all the time.
-Thanks Harry. Ok. Time for some partner spells. Biprotego's up first. On the count of three.
One..Two..Three.
BIPROTEGO!
-That looks like a stronger double shield than normal. Good job Harry.
Thanks Neville. Next up, the stunner sphere. On the count of three.
-One..Two..Three.
STUDEFLY
Good job Neville. I think that was a pretty good warm up.
-Agreed. So, what next before the trainers call us in. Tactics? We haven't covered it in a while, and I've got a jut feeling it'll be covered again soon.
Ok. We apparate into an unknown room other than we know that an attack is happening. First step?
-Ascertain the amount of hostile individuals and entrances and exits in the room.
Right on. And ascertain? You been taking lessons from Hermione?
-Cute Harry.
I know, but you know the rule, no relationships between partners
-Droll even.
See, there you go again Hermione. Best method to incapacitate an enemy?
-Physical retraining devices. Magical means can be undone.
What about putting them in incapacitating pain? Or death?
-Pain can be overcome with a strong enough emotion or the right spell. Death, albeit permanent, takes too much energy to cast versus the other means on incapacitation.
Right Neville.
-Ok. You two seem warmed enough. I think we'll covering tracking, as neither of you seem to have noticed my arrival.
-Trainer Johnson.
-Neville, Harry. Lets get started…
The clang of the bread bowl wakes me up. I have a lot of dreams about those days we were training. It was all I was able, allowed even, to think about for such along time, its no wonder my subconscious decides to review it almost every night. Better that then the nightmares I had immediately after the final battle. Watching Hermione fall. Blood covering me after defeating Riddle. Disgusting Dreams.
Those times with Neville were pretty darn great, especially considering the times we were in. Training constantly, either in the old HQ, the Ministry or Hogwarts. It was always interesting, albeit repetitive, always learning new spells, new tactics. The paired partners and the trainers. We rarely had courses with other partner pairs, so we were never sure what training we had compared to others. Me and Neville always had a feeling we were getting much more advanced training than the others, and boy that turned out to be true. When we did our first partner spell in combat, everybody froze and stared at us, obviously wondering what in the hell we had just done. Luckily, that hesitation gave me and Neville the time needed to incapacitate the rest of the Death Eaters in the room. By the time the other partners realized we had finished the job, we had already gone to our next stop after the cleanup crew arrived.
It really was an ingenious system they had set up for these raids. Each pair had a specialized watch that had a twin watch back at the war room. They would charm the twin watch and our watch would become a portkey to the next location that needed help. There was never a reliable way to ward against portkeys, only apparition. The Department of Mysteries and our own research team came up with the watches, and it helped change the course of the war, even though it was extremely stressful on the partners. We rarely got a beak between raids and battles during our shift. Neville and me of course ended up with the busiest evening shift, but we survived.
We spent most of the war in those immediate counteractions based off either intelligence reports or emergency fire calls, until the research team could find a way to finally kill Riddle. Every night there were attacks, either from death eaters or dark creatures, although only some nights were truly raid-hopping. We were stunned at first how quickly Riddle had recruited after the DOM fiasco, but he recruited heavily outside Britain for help. We did our best to recruit people as well, but whenever our methods of winning the war were published, it convinced more and more that the lines between the two sides were really indeed blurred, and probably helped push more into Riddle's ranks.
Neville.
We were equals out on the battle field, although we were the only ones who saw it that way most of the time. Everybody assumed that I was in charge of the pair, even though he had a brilliant mind when it came to field operations. He never took it badly, even though I did. He deserved the credit he rarely got. Still, we were the most successful team in the Order or in the Ministry, and he knew his worth.
I think we reached a state beyond simple friendship. We were partners – we rarely talked about personal problems, and when we did it was only in the sense of our emotions at the time. Emotions can screw around with spells, and your partner has to know what to expect. We were responsible for each other in combat, fighting along side each other, more often back to back, and just total equals. We were comrades, a step above friends it seems. Comrades last longer than friends.
We were never really great friends at Hogwarts. Even with the DOM debacle, we never really got close. We tried, but he always seemed like the odd one out in the guys dorm. Me and Ron, Seamus and Dean. Neville had his closest friends the year below us and in Hufflepuff House. But he showed true loyalty, which was an asset in the field.
Time for the pushups. I may be the first person in Azkaban's history to be more buff after admittance than before. I've always been skinny, even more so now. Training did put a little muscle on me, but I've certainly got more now than when I came in.
Every day it's the same training regime in here. First, physical training with the pushups and sit-ups, jumping jacks and stretching. Then the magical training. I don't want to let either my body or my magic start to atrophy from inactivity. We were prepped in the war training on how to protect ourselves from atrophy if we were ever captured by the enemy. I doubt they anticipated us using the exercises if we were captured by ourselves.
Breathe in. Find your core. Expand your core. Breathe out. Repeat…Repeat…Repeat…Repeat….Repeat. Repeat 100 times.
Next up, if safe, transform into animagus and back without notice. Breathe in. Transform. Stretch, fly, land and transform.
That's another thing everyone learned during the war, animagus training. We were only to use it in extreme circumstances; if the enemy actually saw us transform there went our edge. I was hoping for a cool, magical animal to turn into, but alas, no. Neville ended up being the magical critter in our partnership, not me. My form ended up being a dove. Made a ton of sense after I thought about it, even though I was put off at first. A bird, for how much I like flying, but one that is usually caged against its will and shown off, and let go only when their owners have a point to prove. Very appropriate.
They have special rooms in Azkaban for people they know to be animagi. A mesh on the windows, but not enough room between the grating for anything to pass through and get to the tiny, closed window. Solid stone door only openable by dementors. They did a pretty good job. Took all of our recommendations into account when they opened up the new Azkaban after the third breakout by Death Eaters. How ironic. I had a hand in designing the very security features that are keeping me at bay. Too bad I never expected to end up here, or I would have designed a flaw or two in the cells, or at least tried to convince the team to change their plans.
Our two forms did come in handy a couple of times. My form was much better used for spying than Neville's. I could hide in any natural environment as a dove, but Neville was rather limited as a hippogriff, although we could both fly away from a bad situation when we needed to. No one is terribly sure why Neville ended up as a hippogriff for his animal…he wasn't outwardly immensely proud or easily offended; at least that was the running story. I knew differently as his partner. He was proud and was offended by people rude to him, but he never showed it to anyone. He kept it bottled up, and took it out on whoever we were up against that night, which could also explain why people were so shocked at his viciousness out in the field.
Time for the occlumency. I keep my mind barricaded all times, but it needs to be refreshed every week. Another skill I had to learn on my own. Snape was absolutely no help on that front. It was about the only useful thing I learned that summer between my fifth and sixth years. The shock of Sirius dieing caused me to take stock on my life and, well, looking back on it, start to live up to my potential. I got the books I needed and taught myself occlumency. Shocked the hell out of Snape when not only could he not force himself into my mind, I could easily break into his without a second thought. Best memory of that summer. In order to strengthen the wall I have to bring it down and put it back up again…the only time that Dementors have any sort of effect on me, even though it is slight.
Here we go. Breathe.
-Harry! What happened to Hermione?
She was killed by a vampire, on the way to Voldemort.
-How could you let her die?
-Ron! That's out of line.
-Shut it Neville. He got my girlfriend killed.
-Get real Ron. Voldemort killed her, and thanks to Harry he can't kill anyone again.
I...I can't hear this. Ron, don't blame me for this. I tried...I did...I swear...Please...
Concentrate. Inner layer first…
-NOOOOOOO!
Neville, it's ok. Can you honestly say you're surprised? You know this whole thing was a sham.
-Mr. Potter, that's uncalled for. You are guilty of your crimes, and until you show some mercy we shall show you none.
Oh please Ron. That's a load of crap. And it's Mr. Potter now? Well, you spineless traitor, you will get what's coming to you soon enough.
-And to top it all off you threaten me? You killed Hermione, you killed Dumbledore, you somehow managed to kill He-who-shall-not-be-name: you are clearly a threat. If anyone is a traitor, it's you. GUARDS! TAKE THIS TREASONOUS BASTARD TO AZKABAN
And the outer layer is up. Well, those weren't too bad. I've had worse. Those seemed pretty…soft compared to years past. Well, I assume years. Ron looks so much younger in those memories than when he comes and, ugh, visits me. These memories are never that bad, because of my comrade Neville sticking up for me. I'm sure if the dementors, uhm, liked me, that the memories would be much worse that those. Merlin knows I've seen much worse.
Core, check. Dove, check. Occlumency, check. Can't practice wandless magic thanks to the wards on this cell. Ok, that's enough training for the morning.