Disclaimer:I do not own Harry Potter. However, I do own a cardboard cutout of Draco Malfoy, so that's okay.
Prompt: Post-Hogwarts. A one character musing on what could have been. Friendship or romance.
Key Words: telescope, remote, Potions
Seeing Stars
Neville found him pissed out of his mind at the table in the corner of the Hog's Head. Aberforth grunted in greeting from behind the bar.
"Thanks for coming Professor, didn't know what to do with the poor fellow."
"It's just Neville to you Abe, I still owe you for my life - all our lives," Neville replied softly. "I'll bring him back to the castle with me. The new Potions Mistress should have some Dreamless Sleep for him tonight and a Sobering Potion or two in the morning."
"He's come here every night for the last week," Aberforth warned.
"I'll sort him out."
Neville approached the mousy brown haired figure whose bloodshot eyes stared at him incomprehensibly. His back was slumped over and his mouth gaped slightly.
"Come on Dennis, let's get you somewhere warm," Neville coaxed the unresponsive man. A quick mind clearing charm was shot in his direction so he was sober enough.
"Four years, four years Neville," he moaned.
"Four years Dennis," Neville replied sadly.
"No," Dennis shook his head back and forth three times quickly before gripping his head in pain. "Four years one week and 2 days."
"Let's take the scenic route," Neville said abruptly, "we can walk under the stars."
"Stars," Dennis muttered, "Colin loved the stars." He hiccupped. "Used to try to take pictures of the night sky; you could see the stars so well away from the city!" He was raving accompanied by flailing arm movements. "HE LOVED ASTRONOMY," Dennis was wailing, "he lived for Wednesday nights where they'd climb up the winding staircase of the Astronomy Tower and look at the stars through brass telescopes."
Neville nodded in agreement, "I bet he did, Dennis."
Dennis looked extremely proud through his half-drunken stupor, "he was going to revolutionize Hogwarts! Pictures of the night sky! No more painstakingly drawn star maps. Look at the actual stars! See them twinkle at you!"
Neville gave a grunt of agreement, what a wonderful idea.
"And I helped him too!" Dennis insisted, "in the summers we had the latest telescope! The Astronomer 3000. It was the height of Muggle technology back then you know. With a click on the remote you could find Venus! Mars! Jupiter! Constellations magnified one-thousand times larger than you could see with the naked eye!"
"But he's gone," Dennis moaned and slumped to the ground. Neville grimaced under the extra weight. The charm was wearing off.
"He's with the stars now, Dennis" Neville said softly. Dennis shook his head in Neville's shoulder.
"He's gone and I can't see the stars anymore."
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