Updated 5/11/08 - Thanks to mumimeanjudy for catching my inability to count - there were six kids at DoM, not five.

A/N: Thanks go to mumimeanjudy & Immortal Sailor Cosmos for inspiration on pieces of this chapter.

I've updated the links to Cyane's fics in my profile and added another story by Shivani (WIP).

Some may not like my brief explanation/dismissal of the Department of Mysteries incident. All I can say is that I always found the whole "untrained kids can beat trained terrorists any day it just takes a bit of luck and clever thinking" idea to be utterly ludicrous. Those kids should have never succeeded. And, really, if it'd been me, I would simply have waited for Harry to pull down the prophecy, cued my people, then AK'd the kids and been done with it. I wouldn't have asked for the prophecy and started a pointless chase. Honestly…

Chapter 12 – Neville

It was a Wednesday morning when the school was finally witness to an enraged Veela's fireballs.

Surprisingly, it had been neither Ron's nasty comments nor Hermione's questions that had finally set him off enough to lose control of his form and his fire. He had honestly thought it would be. In fact, it hadn't even been a Gryffindor, and neither was it a Slytherin, which had been his next guess. Shockingly, it had been a Hufflepuff. Even more shockingly, it had been a snotty little first year Hufflepuff.

He had just finished breakfast and stood up from the table to prepare to leave for Hogsmeade for his morning evaluations. He had settled his bag at his hip and placed his cloak – the lovely cloak that Draco had gifted him – around his shoulders. That was when the little snot had shot off his mouth.

He couldn't remember exactly what the brat had said, but it had been some stupid, completely nonsensical comment along the lines of only wearing the cloak so he could attract the ladies and screw as many as possible before getting married to some guy.

The first-year end of the Hufflepuff table had needed to be replaced.

The Hufflepuffs had avoided him since.

It was just as well since he was still tempted to fry the little menace.

He'd told the headmaster that, too, when the man had tried to punish him for the incident. What the little monster had said could easily be taken as a mortal insult – Veela were not promiscuous and, in fact, mated for life just like hawks – and the kid should be glad for his life, that Harry still had had enough self-control to fry the table and not the brat.

He wore the cloak because it was warm and because he liked it. He absolutely adored the cloak, in fact, and considered it one of his most prized possessions.

He had gotten a lot of hassle about the cloak – it was very obviously quite expensive – and that was before that horrid paper had reported the fact that it had likely cost more than a year's tuition at Hogwarts. Nonetheless, he persisted in wearing it every day and ignored the comments about gold-diggers. Perhaps he should have considered the possibility that it would be comments about the cloak that would finally anger him beyond reason, but he hadn't. Then again, it hadn't been a comment about the cloak that had angered him but the suggestion that he slept around indiscriminately. He would never!

He had mostly calmed by the time he had reached Madam Puddifoot's and had been able to attend the lunch and dinner meetings in a decent frame of mind. He'd even managed to keep said frame of mind all the way back to Hogwarts' main doors. It was the headmaster's request to speak to him about that morning's incident that had re-annoyed him. He had quite rudely told off the headmaster and stomped his way to Gryffindor tower. In a desperate bid to keep his snit from erupting into yet another display of Veela fire prowess, he had immediately retreated to his bed and sealed the curtains so he wasn't disturbed.

It was now Sunday afternoon and he finally felt that he could be his normal, mildly stressed, self. And so it was that when he found Neville hunting through his trunk in the dorm upon returning from the lunch meeting Harry issued a greeting instead of once again hiding in his bed.

"Hey, Neville," Harry greeted calmly as he removed his cloak. "How are you?"

Neville looked up and smiled. "Hey, Harry. I'm good. I can't find my book on magical tiger-lilies, though. I swear I've looked through this mess three times." He waved his hand over the clearly disheveled trunk contents.

"Did you look under the bed?" Harry asked. He well knew that Neville often read at night and sometimes the books got pushed to the floor once he fell asleep.

Neville got a look of consternation upon his face and promptly ducked down to look in the suggested location. Fifteen seconds later he stood up with the sought after item clutched in his left hand. "You know, I should just always look there first," he said with a combination of amusement and self-exasperation.

Harry chuckled slight. "Probably."

"So how are you?" Neville asked as he put his book by his pillow.

"Tired," Harry said with a shrug and put his cloak away in his trunk.

"It must be tough," Neville said sympathetically.

Harry nodded. "Why don't you ever ask me about how the courtships are going?" Harry asked curiously.

Neville shrugged and said, "I figured if you wanted to talk about it that you would say something."

"Oh," Harry said, looking a bit nonplussed. Imagine that, someone not nagging him to spill his every secret.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Neville asked obligingly.

Harry looked at Neville soberly and said, "Sometimes I do, but I'm afraid that anybody I talk to besides my chaperone won't understand my concerns."

"Well," Neville said slowly, "I can try if you like. I promise not to tell anyone anything. Is there something really bothering you?"

Harry nodded hesitantly. Could he trust Neville? He could really use another opinion… "There are a few things. I talked to my chaperone about them but I'd like to get a wizard's perspective, you know?"

Neville raised his eyebrows at the tacit admission that his chaperone wasn't a wizard. He didn't comment, though, and just presumed that the chaperone was a Veela. "Well, what have you got? I'm willing to give my opinion, for what it's worth."

"I've had some names…" he admitted slowly.

"Like who?" Neville asked curiously as he took a seat on his bed.

"Well, like the four oldest Weasley boys, not counting Percy," Harry said as he shifted his feet, uncomfortable with the thought of any of the Weasleys courting him.

"Really? I wouldn't have thought that they were interested in you in that way," Neville said in surprise as he waved Harry over to his bed.

Harry lifted his bag from over his shoulders as he stepped over to Neville's bed. Neville scooted down so that he was by the headboard and Harry settled himself at the foot so that they were facing each other. "I don't think they are," he agreed, "but I got letters from them anyway."

"You think they were coerced into entering the courtships?" Neville asked with a frown.

"I think so," Harry said with a nod. "Here, look at these." He opened his bag to the center filing compartment and pulled out several folders, passing each one to Neville as he retrieved it.

Neville stole a cursory glance at each folder as he accepted it then placed it on the bed in front of him so that he could see all the names. When Harry was finished passing files Neville said, "The red ones mean you've eliminated them, right?"

Harry nodded. "Right. And the black "O" by the name marks them as all part of the same group," he said as he gestured at the neatly splayed folders.

Neville read the names on all the folders. The only names he recognized were the Weasley brothers and Alastor Moody. He shook his head and admitted, "I don't understand how these people are all in the same group."

"These are all people from Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix," Harry said.

Neville's eyes widened and he said, "Oh. I see. You're sure?"

"Absolutely," Harry said firmly. "The only one missing that I know about is Remus Lupin and I happen to know that after Sirius died he left the country to go traveling. They probably couldn't reach him. I've not heard from him, at any rate, and if anything might inspire him to write me it would be this mess."

Neville nodded distractedly as he took another quick look at the folders. "You eliminated most of them. It's just Bill and Charlie left now," he said. "You think Dumbledore had them enter?"

"Yes," Harry said. "I'm almost positive."

"Isn't this interference?" Neville asked cautiously. "Could you get all these people and Dumbledore in trouble for this? This would be considered coercion, wouldn't it?"

"I…maybe," Harry said uncomfortably. "It's a bit grey, actually. I'm sure Dumbledore didn't actually force anybody to participate. He probably just…strongly suggested. And you know how much people want to please him."

"I suppose," Neville said doubtfully. "It still wouldn't look good, though."

Harry shrugged. "There are other reasons why I don't want to make a fuss about it," he said slowly. "Things might…come out in a legal confrontation that I don't want revealed quite yet."

"Oh," Neville said, unable to come up with any better response. He wondered if "things" included facts about Harry's Veela heritage since he seemed to want to keep that information hidden for now.

"Anyway, they're mostly eliminated, like you said. It's just Bill and Charlie now," Harry said with a grimace. "And I'm not sure what to do."

"Why don't you just eliminate them," Neville suggested practically.

Harry sighed. "That may seem like a sensible and straightforward solution but I'm really worried about doing that," he said. "I'm afraid that if I just summarily dismiss them, or anybody, that Dumbledore, or the Ministry, will complain to the Veela council that I'm taking advantage of the situation and not really evaluating suitors fairly. They wouldn't win the case – the council takes a dim view on even partly coerced suitors – but it would be disruptive and with so many suitors I don't have the time for anything to go wrong and cause delays in my testing plans."

Neville gave an understanding huff then asked curiously, "What does your chaperone say?"

"That even if they were pushed into it by Dumbledore I should still evaluate them independently," Harry replied with a slight grimace. He could see the man's point, but really!

"Your chaperone is a Veela, isn't he?" Neville asked with a small chuckle.

Harry snorted and said, "Yes. He's full-Veela, too, which means that it's been ingrained in him since before he was even born that all potential suitors should be evaluated. You just never know where the perfect mate might be hiding, after all."

"Right," Neville said, shaking his head. "I understand now why you wanted a wizard's opinion. That is definitely a Veela way of looking at things."

"So, what is your opinion?" Harry asked in interest.

"My opinion is that Bill and Charlie are pretty good guys from what I've seen and heard of them," Neville said with a shrug. "Bill works with Fleur and became good friends with her so that's probably why he knew the right answer to your trick question. He probably knows a lot about Veela. Charlie obviously did his own research."

"Or Bill told him what he knew," Harry disagreed with a shake of his head.

"Maybe," Neville said doubtfully, "but I don't think so. If he had told Charlie then why wouldn't he have told Fred and George?"

"I don't know," Harry said in surprise and looked at Charlie's folder in a new light. "Maybe you're right. I just presumed that Bill had told them what to do and the twins answered incorrectly on purpose."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Neville said then added, "I'm really surprised they agreed to join the courtships at all, Dumbledore or no."

Harry snickered. "They sent their official letters of intent separately, but they sent another one just the next day. Go ahead and open Fred's folder and read it. It's hysterically funny. And it completely told me they weren't interested. They celebrated when they got eliminated."

"What did they say?" Neville asked curiously as he fished Fred's folder out of the rest.

"Oh, Harry, you're the sky we walk on and the ground we breath!" Harry said fatuously. "Our robes are always open to you whenever you want to come over! We love you and must have you…together!"

"Wait. What? Together?" Neville asked, taken aback.

"Twins are twice the fun!" Harry said enthusiastically.

"Oh, Merlin," Neville said as he shook his head. He opened the folder and read the first letter. Boring. Blah, blah, blah. The next letter had him grinning and snickering. "This is much more like the twins."

"Read the next one, too," Harry said. "It's just as funny."

Neville laughed through the second letter. "I love this one and how it skips back and forth between them. You must reconsider! Please don't. We cried all night! We drank a bottle of Ogden's. It's perfect."

"They sent me a bottle of my own, too," Harry said with a grin. "I haven't opened it though. Alcohol does some weird things to Veela. You want it?"

"No," Neville said with a grimace. "I hate whiskey."

"Ah, too bad," Harry said in disappointment.

"Keep it and send it back to them in twenty years," Neville suggested.

Harry brightened. "That's a great idea," he said. He became serious again and asked, "So what do I do about Bill and Charlie? They'll both probably pass my next tests as well, but I honestly think of them as big brothers."

"Do you really?" Neville asked intently as he leaned forward. "How much interaction have you really had with them?"

Harry looked up at Neville then blinked in surprised realization and said, "Well, not that much, actually."

"Then why would you think of them as big brothers? Simply because they're Ron's big brothers?" Neville asked.

Harry nodded thoughtfully and said, "You know, I think you're right. That probably is why I think of them that way even though I really don't know them at all."

"I think that you should go ahead and evaluate them like anybody else," Neville said honestly. "They might be part of Dumbledore's Order but both of them have their own strong personality. They both went their own way in regards to their careers despite the protests of their mother. I don't think either one of them would be a bad choice. Well, except for that fact that they both have rather high risk jobs and I know you want a big family with your mate alive and well."

Harry smiled gratefully and said, "You're right. Thanks for the insights."

"Sure," Neville said with a return smile. "Any time."

"Are you up for another set of people?" Harry asked hopefully. Maybe Neville would have just as good advice on the second problem group.

Neville nodded, so Harry re-filed the folders on the bed and started pulling out the "X" marked folders from his bag and handing them to his friend. When he was finished pulling, and Neville was finished organizing, there were more folders than in the previous set and far fewer had been turned red.

Neville looked down at the files and started reading through the names. He looked up in shock when he was only one-quarter of the way through. "These are all Death Eaters!"

"Not officially," Harry said dryly.

"Right, of course," Neville said with a snort, "not officially."

"I'll make sure and check everyone for polyjuice, don't worry," Harry said with a scowl. The reference to how all the "Death Eaters" at the Department of Mysteries were actually low-level hired thugs, some polyjuiced as various "honest citizens", was not lost on Neville. Probably only Bellatrix had been herself. It had been bitterly disappointing when they'd found out, but it did explain why six school kids could win against such long odds.

"Is this all of them?" Neville asked, nodding to the assortment of folders on his bed.

"I don't know," Harry admitted grimly. "These are all the ones I've heard about, or read were freed after the last war for claiming imperious, but there are probably others."

Neville read through all the names before looking up and saying, "You know, I'm pretty sure some of these people are married." He tapped the folder of Lucius Malfoy pointedly.

"I know," Harry said with a small shrug, "but I don't want to eliminate them just for that."

"Why not?" Neville asked in shock.

Harry looked off to the side and was quiet a moment before turning back to Neville and saying, "What if they were forced into those marriages? Bonding with me would free them if they truly are interested in me and are a good mate."

Neville looked at his friend in dismay as he realized a bitter truth for the first time. "You really feel trapped in this life, don't you, Harry?"

Harry looked up in surprise and not a small bit of alarm but did not answer.

"I mean, why else would you even think that the married men might be trapped instead of simply trying to get you for status?" Neville asked.

Harry shrugged and looked away; he was obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

Neville dropped the subject himself – there was no sense in discussing such an obviously sensitive topic when there wasn't much to be done besides what was being done – and said in a businesslike tone, "I think that everybody with the Dark Mark will probably get eliminated during the meetings. I bet you'll feel the mark when you feel their magic and you won't like it."

Harry shook his head and said, "Maybe, but I'm not so sure that the Dark Mark affects a person's core magic. If not, I won't be able to feel it. I've not felt any so far, though it's true that I've not met any men that I know are Death Eaters."

Neville sighed. "Well, if you're not going to summarily dismiss anyone, then you'll have to evaluate them. You didn't invite them all to the same meeting, did you?"

"No!" Harry exclaimed in horror. "They're spread out. There's only one on any given day and only two or three per week. Starting tomorrow."

"Well, good," Neville said. He was quiet for several moments before saying thoughtfully, "I don't think you should worry about them."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why not? I don't want to mate with a Death Eater! There has to be some way I can eliminate them!"

"Think about it," Neville said with a smile. "Are people who willingly follow You-Know-Who going to be the kind of people that have the personality traits you're looking for? They're all followers and you've said how many times that you want your mate to be able to think for themselves?"

Harry blinked. "Huh. Well, that's true. I hadn't thought of that. And they'll all fail this next test if they stay true to their obnoxious selves. Still…"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Neville said with a shrug. "It's not like you can do much else."

"True," Harry said with a somewhat dejected sigh and started re-filing the Death Eater folders. A couple minutes later he was finished and pulled out one last folder that he passed to Neville.

"Severus Snape!" Neville exclaimed in shock once he'd read the name.

"Yes," Harry grimaced. "Isn't that just lovely?"

Neville had a look of horrified disgust on his face as he held the folder out away from him as if it would bite.

Harry laughed a moment and said, "When I got his letter of intent I was so shocked that I practically screamed "No bloody way!" and McGonagall took ten points off Gryffindor for my language."

Neville, who looked a bit green, asked, "What did you do?"

"Nothing much," Harry said with another small laugh. "I just sneered at her and went back to my letters and wrote him a postcard."

"You mean you actually invited him?" Neville questioned in astonishment.

"I told you why," Harry said defensively. "I couldn't afford not to."

"Well, yes, but this is Snape were talking about!" Neville protested vehemently.

"I know," Harry said with a grimace, starting to look a bit green himself. "And what's worse is that he passed."

"No," Neville breathed, horrified.

"I think he'll fail this next test, though," Harry said brightly. "I can't see how he could possibly pass."

"I hope so," Neville said and handed the folder back with a shudder. He watched Harry re-file the offending folder then asked plaintively, "Do you have any good ones?"

Harry let out a surprised laugh and grinned at his friend. "I have almost four dozen favorites. Does that count?"

Neville nodded eagerly so Harry dutifully pulled a file from his bag. "This is Ian Cadwgan. His first gift was a subscription to Vagabond, which is a wizarding travel magazine. In his letters he tells me about some of the places he's been…"

As the Gryffindors had learned to leave Harry alone this week due to his temper, the two boys were able to talk about Harry's favorite suitors all the way until dinner.

--HPDM--

Draco looked up from his reading at his desk as his bedroom door was opened. "Evening, Pansy," he greeted.

"Evening," Pansy replied with a grin.

"What are you grinning about?" Draco asked warily as he watched his friend walk over to his bed and bounce on the mattress a couple times before settling into a cross-legged position right in the middle.

"I've news!" Pansy said in excitement.

Draco grinned back. He couldn't wait to hear what she had learned. "What did you find out?"

"Well, Potter's finally calmed down," Pansy reported proudly. "He went up to the dorms today after he returned just like he has been, but… Neville Longbottom was already up there. Neither one came back down to the common room, though, and they were later seen together going to the kitchens for dinner."

"Thank Merlin," Draco said with a relieved sigh. It had been a tense few days at the school since that blasted Hufflepuff had insulted Harry. From what he'd seen and heard, the boy was lucky to be alive. Harry certainly had a strong will to keep himself from attacking the boy directly – Draco wouldn't have been so self-restrained.

"I'd stay away for another couple days anyway," Pansy said with wave of her hand. "Let Brown-Cadbury and Neville calm him down some more."

Draco nodded. "Good idea. Wait. Neville? Since when do you call Longbottom by his given name?"

"Since he's shown his bollocks are so big it's a wonder he can walk at all," Pansy said defiantly.

"Pansy has a crush, Pansy has a crush," Draco sing-songed teasingly.

Pansy threw a pillow at Draco that he easily knocked aside. "So what if I do?" Pansy said angrily.

Draco's eyes widened at his friend's tone.

"He obviously has a backbone and just as obviously chooses to use it only for those things that he feels are worthwhile instead of every little situation like most Gryffindors," Pansy said earnestly. "He knew just how to handle Potter, too, so that means he must've done his research – unlike the rest of this school. And he's loyal."

Draco stared at Pansy and didn't say anything. She stared back at him defiantly. Eventually, he said reluctantly, "We'll just keep an eye on him, then. How about that?"

"He's brilliant at herbology," Pansy said.

"I know," Draco said, looking away.

"And he's been getting a lot better at defense," Pansy said.

"I know," Draco acknowledged with a grimace.

"And his grandmother probably pounded into him all the necessary social etiquette and he'll be Head of his family when he comes of age," Pansy continued.

"I know," Draco said with a pained sigh.

"Even you've said that he seems to be finally coming into his own and becoming a much more promising person," Pansy said challengingly.

Draco groaned and covered his face with his hands. He should have realized that saying such a thing would come back to bite him on the arse.

"And his comment was really funny," Pansy offered placatingly.

Draco dropped his hands and looked over at Pansy. "Which one? The "Harry, you missed." or the "A couple more ought to finish off the table." Personally, I like the first one."

Pansy giggled slightly and said, "Well, I meant the second one but the first one was pretty good, too."

Draco sighed in resignation and shook his head. "I suppose I will never again question his placement in Gryffindor. It took some guts to approach an angry transformed submissive, who'd just tossed a fireball, and try to calm them."

"I think it says a lot for Neville that he was successful," Pansy said proudly.

Draco groaned but didn't reply. He couldn't believe Pansy was interested in Longbottom. The gods were laughing at him.

"Potter has finished Europe," Pansy said casually.

"He has?" Draco said as he immediately perked up. "Have you heard anything?"

"Nothing more than usual," Pansy said apologetically. "It's interesting, fascinating, amazing, etcetera, but so far still no extra-special interest in any particular culture. He and Granger were due to start the Mediterranean the day that brat shot off his mouth."

"Damn," Draco said in disappointment.

"If you're looking to send him supplemental reading, why don't you just send a picture book of the area he's reading about?" Pansy asked curiously.

Draco shook his head but didn't comment.

Pansy sighed. "You and your obsession with perfect gifts," she said in annoyance.

Draco snorted but still said nothing. It wasn't actually an obsession with perfect gifts as Pansy thought, but a desire to know where he needed to make arrangements for Harry's summer. The summer's arrangements were one of the most important aspects of his courtship of Harry. He wanted to display his ability to get Harry out and away from Britain and protect him from meddling headmasters. But in order to make such plans he needed to know what cultures Harry was interested in.

"What are you going to do about Yule?" Pansy asked, still annoyed that Draco continued to refuse to tell her exactly why he wanted to know which culture Harry liked best. "Are you going to reveal yourself when you invite him to visit your family or are you going to have everybody wear a glamour?"

"I'm not going to invite him," Draco said. "I'm…"

"What!" Pansy screeched. "That's a required part of a courtship! You can't not invite him just because you're afraid of getting rejected! You'll get rejected if you don't!"

Draco blinked in surprise for several moments after his friend had vociferously expressed her displeasure. Maybe that was it?

"Draco!" Pansy called loudly.

"I bet that's it," Draco said, voicing his epiphany.

It was Pansy's turn to blink in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"I bet that's the next test," Draco explained, a smile starting to creep onto his face. "You're right; it is required to make an invitation to visit family, but how many people do you think actually will?"

"All of them!" Pansy exclaimed immediately.

Draco shook his head vehemently, now smiling fully. "No, no, no. You're not thinking. The second interview said Harry was conducting the meetings until the 20th of December and then he would start meeting people independently on the 6th of January. So what is he doing in between?"

"Taking a vacation?" Pansy suggested sarcastically.

Draco waved off her comment and continued his explanation. "Think of all the counter articles that have come out. Specifically, think of the articles that contain quotes from Dumbledore. What has the man said about Harry's vacation? I know you remember."

Pansy frowned then replied, "Not to bother him over the holiday but do you really think…"

"Absolutely," Draco said strongly. "People here in Britain have been conditioned to obey him. The European countries follow his lead as well, if to a lesser extent. Most countries at least hold him in regard for his past accomplishments. Plus, the obvious breach between Harry and Dumbledore hasn't made it into the papers so everyone outside of Hogwarts will probably still think that Harry defers to Dumbledore. How many of the suitors do you think will honor his request to leave Harry alone?"

Pansy narrowed her eyes and thought about the question. Slowly, she admitted, "A lot of them. Also, it's likely that some people will not bother to issue an invitation at all either because they just don't think about it or because they realize that the possibility of a visit is practically nonexistent with so many suitors."

"Exactly," Draco said smugly. "Whether you think Harry will accept or not, it's the proper thing to do to invite him to meet your family. To not invite him shows disrespect."

"And since he seems to be very concerned about respect…" Pansy trailed off suggestively.

"And since he wants someone to think for themselves…" Draco responded in kind.

"Not inviting him would get you dismissed," Pansy finished with an eager nod. "Yes, it makes sense. It's a trick, just like the first test. Something that should be obvious, that is obvious to those who've done their research, but will fail the lazy ones without much effort on his part."

"It's very clever," Draco said admiringly.

"Which just means that you have to invite him!" Pansy said firmly.

"No, no. This is what I'm going to do. You remember the baby bracelet you didn't like…"