The next day at noon, he was up and out of his hammock, and trudging around the room. I stayed in bed for most of the day, for the first time, not keen to talk to him. He didn't seem to notice until midafternoon.
He was leaning against the bottom of the staircase with Seamus, talking about Harry Potter who, according to the Daily Prophet and Terry Boot, had broken into Gringotts, and stolen a dragon. "I'm telling you Seamus, it's only a matter of time before he shows up here and the end will be near."
Seamus moved out of the way so I could go up the staircase, and Neville smiled over at me, but I didn't return it. I hurried up the stairs and into my bed where I slept through most of the evening and awoke just as dinner was being served downstairs. As I stumbled down, Neville pulled out a chair next to him and invited me to sit. I did, and listened to the talk slide around me as they spoke about this and that. Finally, a lazy feeling engulfed the room and most of the people around me stumbled into armchairs near the fire or up towards bed.
Neville turned to look at me.
"Hannah, I've been wanting to talk to you."
"So have I." I admitted. I wanted to ask him about what he had said yesterday.
"Listen—"
There was an alarm going off above our heads, kind of like the bell but a sort of chime and Neville jumped up like he had been electrocuted and exchanged a look with Seamus.
"What's going on?" Susan asked, leaning on the balcony.
"Aberforth, he said he'd only ring if Harry was here."
"Tonight?" Parvati murmured, looking excited and terrified.
"I'm going to go look." Neville said. He cast a look towards me, seeing all of the things we should have said, but instead, shouldered his way through the opening and out of sight.
The room's noise became a buzz again, everyone exchanging excited words. I looked up and saw Susan frowning down at me, and I knew that she was trying to understand the loss this war would bring us.
Neville returned only a moment later with our heroes, and I cheered and hugged them with all the rest, my heart filled with the bittersweet ending of our time in the Room of Requirement. After tonight, nothing would be the same.