Neville was waiting in the common room when Ebony arrived. He rushed over to her instantly. "How are you? What did Professor Lupin say? Do you wanna talk about it? We don't have to. Unless you want to," Neville fired question after question. He had clearly been worried after leaving her. Ebony couldn't help but smile though. Merlin, he was adorable when he was stressed.

"Merlin, let me breathe," she said and Neville stopped abruptly.

"Right, sorry, was just worried, I didn't get to talk to you and … well… yeah." Neville blushed and scratched the back of his neck.

"I appreciate your concern, I do," She said. "But maybe let's eat first?" Neville's stomach growled in agreement, Ebony snorted.

"Let's do that then." He plucked Trevor from a nearby table and slipped him into his pocket.

…

Ebony tried to ignore the strange looks she got from her fellow Gryffindors at dinner. Neville could tell she was uncomfortable and was trying to distract her with some facts about a new plant that Professor Sprout had got from Germany but Ebony wasn't really listening. She kept thinking about what Professor Lupin had said, about talking to someone. She wanted to tell Neville but the thought of his concerned look becoming a permanent occurrence made her feel sick. She loved that he cared but hated the way he looked at her as if one wrong move and she would explode. Besides, she didn't really want to go on about how shitty she thought her life was. Why would anyone want to sit and listen to her go on 'oh woe is me my life sucks.'? Neville probably had it worse anyway, at least her parents could speak to her. They didn't always want to but at least they could.

"Ebony?" Ebony looked up to see Neville staring her in the face.

"What?"

"You're not eating." Ebony looked down. It was true. She had merely been pushing her food around the plate and it had now formed some sort of sludge. She pushed it away from her.

"Turns out I'm not hungry." Neville gave her his 'I don't believe you' face. Merlin, she hated it, it made her feel guilty. "I'm not." Ebony, in turn, gave him her 'I'm serious face' which caused him to sigh and go back to feeding Trevor bits of mashed potato.

…

Ebony was still sat in the common room after the last group of sixth years retreated upstairs. Neville had gone to bed about an hour ago and Ebony said she was just going to finish her book. The truth was though, she didn't want to try and sleep, for she knew what dreams would fill her head and honestly, she'd had enough of her family for one day.

"You should be in bed." Ebony turned to see Neville stood in the doorway, arms crossed. He was trying to look angry but he was hard to take seriously in his oversized pyjamas and his hair sticking up in all directions. She shrugged and smiled guiltily.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither." Neville came and curled up onto the sofa next to her. The two of them sat in silence, nothing but the sound of the fire filling the room. Then Neville spoke, " Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Ebony, please." Ebony sighed. Of course, she knew exactly what he was talking about. She hoped he would just forget about it and move on. Apparently not.

"I don't. Not really."

"You can't just pretend your problems don't exist," he said. "You can't keep ignoring them." Ebony flinched at the hint of frustration in his tone. She sighed. He was right. Of course, he was right. And Professor Lupin, telling her to talk. Why did everyone have to be so helpful all the time?

"What do you want me to say?"She said. Neville thought for a moment.

" I want to know that you are okay. Because it kills me that there is so much going on in your head and your life that I can't help you with." Neville hesitated before reaching forward to take her hand. Ebony tensed up for a moment but didn't move away. She liked it, the weight of his hand on hers. It was reassuring, a way of saying 'I'm here, don't you forget that.' It was nice. Besides, Neville had gone as red as the walls of the common room and it was highly amusing.

"I'm as okay as I can be I guess," Ebony shrugged. "And besides, there's a whole lot of stuff going on with you so don't pretend you're fine either." Neville chuckled.

"I guess we are both a bit messed up," he said, grinning. "Your mum is bloody terrifying by the way." He was clearly trying to edge the conversation back over to the incident earlier.'Nice try' she thought.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"How do you live with her?" Ebony looked away and didn't respond.

They sat there hand in hand for a while.

"I want to talk. I do," Ebony finally said, turning to meet Neville's eyes. "I just don't think I'm ready yet." Neville squeezed her hand.

"However long you need, I'll be here." They both smiled.

"You should've been in transfiguration," He said, his voice losing its air of seriousness. Ebony was relieved at the change of subject. " I turned Seamus' eyebrows green and then when he tried to change them back he scorched his fringe off. Again." Ebony burst out laughing.

"I would've loved to see McGonagall's face."

"Trust me, you wouldn't," Neville smirked

Ebony laughed. She felt the happiest she'd been in weeks. The simple joy of having someone appreciate your company was not found in the Lestrange house, it was big, dark and lonely. After having barely anyone to talk to for the whole summer Ebony never wanted to stop talking to him. She never wanted Neville to leave her side. Ever.