Hello everyone, I would just like to thank each and every one of you for reading my story! It really means a lot to me. I would also just like for you to know that I usually won't be able to update this frequently because I have a lot of extra activities along with my schoolwork. In this chapter I felt like I wanted to kind of show what Neville's life had been like through pictures, I was kind of doing an experiment on writing styles. I love you all and thank you!
Ginny and I are together for what feels like forever, bearing the gigantic weight of our grief together. After a while, we both seem to be able to gather our senses, and sit back down on my bed. Her head rests on top of my shoulder, her eyes closed as if she if asleep. I try to distract myself by looking around my old dorm. Obviously, my bed area is completely vacant, the curtains drawn back and the bed well made. Ron's looks identical to mine, seeing as he went to search for Horcruxes with me. Over at Neville's dorming area, his mahogany trunk is placed at the foot of his bed, with the sheets rumpled. The trunk has everything neatly tucked inside, but it remains unlocked. Remembering how he had to camp in the room of requirement, he probably took all of his important possessions out before leaving. He has a couple of pictures tacked on his wall placed in a boxlike shape, leaving an inch of the wall showing between each photograph.
In the first picture in the top left corner, I see a plump toddler that must be Neville holding the hand of his Gran. She smiles, and her wrinkles are not as apparent as they are now. Neville seems to be in awe, swiveling his head to and fro, looking around. They seem to be in a meadow, surrounded by tulips in shades of red, pink, and white. They both seem so peaceful and happy, wandering around their springtime paradise. Next is a picture of Neville's parents sitting down at a dinner table. His mother is holding a sobbing bundle of blankets rocking it back and forth, as Neville's dad holds up a small baby bottle. They both have dark circles under their eyes, undoubtedly caused by their newborn son. Yet they both are smiling, happy that they have their own child they can raise together. The last picture in the top row is yet again Neville and his Gran, but it is many years later. It seems Neville is in around first year, and he has a giant cart of school supplies to his left. He is grinning from ear to ear, his excitement barely able to be contained inside of him. His Gran seems to be smiling with pride. Her eyes flick from Neville to the camera as she embraces him with one arm.
The next row seems to be all pictures from during the school year, the first one from around third year. Neville is in the Herbology greenhouse, and it seems like the Gryffindors had split the class with the Ravenclaws. He is hard at work, trimming a tree with snakelike branches. The tip of his tongue is sticking out, and he has a look of great concentration. I deduct that Luna must have taken the picture, because in the photo next to it Luna and Neville are both smiling and waving with their dragonhide gloves still on. The picture on the right is from fifth year, and I remember it being taken. Hermione had just recently bought a wizard's camera and wanted to take a couple of pictures so she could learn how the photos could move. Fred and George offered to show her how it worked in the Great Hall after dinner, and she accepted her offer. Everyone was leaving the great feast the elves always manage to provide, and Hermione rounded together some of her friends. Luna, Ginny, Neville, Ron, and I stayed behind and posed for the camera as Fred took the picture. George explained everything as Fred took our photo, and when it was finished he handed it over to Hermione. She then performed a duplication charm and gave each of us a copy, mine is currently somewhere inside my school trunk.
The last row is much more recent, almost all of them are from this year. The first one is probably from the summer, and it is inside of Saint Mungo's. Neville is in the middle of his mother and father, forcing himself to smile for the picture. Neither of his parents look at the camera, and they almost seem to be searching for a lost item. The picture makes me feel almost grateful that my parents had passed away, instead of being stuck in a state of being alive without actually living, like Neville's parents. The middle picture of that bottom row is again Neville and Luna, but they seem to be in the room of requirement when there was Dumbledore's Army. The only difference is that they are definitely older than the time Dumbledore's Army was around. I conclude this must have been when Ginny, Luna, and Neville tried to restart the club I created. Both Neville and Luna have fierce expressions, their wands in their dominant hands. The last photo is only Neville, and he is still in the room of requirement with a dummy in front of him. The dummy has a stick protruding from its hand, probably imitating a wand. Neville then demonstrates the perfect disarming spell, shouting the incantation so the stick flies away from the dummies lifeless hand.
"Neville did a lot for Hogwarts this year," Ginny whispers, gazing in the same direction as me.
"It is almost hard to believe he is the same person who lost his toad on the way to Hogwarts," I recall, remembering Neville blundering around the Hogwarts Express searching for his pet.
"Yeah," Ginny agrees, looking up at me. Her red hair is tangled, and she has a small gash on her lip. There is another deep cut on her right temple, with blood caked around it. Dirt is smeared on her forehead and nose, but the path from her eyes to the bottom of her face are clean. Her tears must have washed away any grime.
"Ginny, you got cut," I state, lightly grazing over the red line. She grimaces, and then tries to hide it, causing me to immediately drop my hand to my side.
"That cut is nothing compared to what happened to you," she sighs, concern washing over her face. "Where did you get hit with the killing curse?"
"My forehead. Isn't that written in every history book?" I joke, but without much feeling. Ginny doesn't laugh.
"Where, Harry?" she asks again.
"In the middle of my chest," I tell her, but my voice is muffled because I am also taking off my t-shirt. I hadn't exactly thought about looking where I got hit.
"Harry, you have another scar!" Ginny exclaims, her eyes widening.