Chapter 11: The FCNP Project
Diana, Heidi and Neville exited the second floor bathroom with the unconscious form of Ginny Weasley in their arms.
"Finally out," Diana cheered in relief as she lowered the red-head first-year on the ground.
"Longbottom! Potter!" McGonagall's voice boomed from the other side of the corridor.
The kids turned their head towards the sound of the angry voice and saw, not just McGonagall, but also Dumbledore, Sprout, Snape and Flitwich running towards them.
"Well, crap," said Diana and bolted for the stairs.
"RUN!" said Heidi as she too let go of the Weasley girl and ran after her sister, Neville was quick to follow.
"Stop you three!" McGonagall shouted and tried to stun them, but the kids rounded the corner and stormed up the stairs, not stopping until they'd reached the third floor landing, where they ran all the way up to the hospital wing and threw the door open in one swift motion, startling the people inside.
Standing in the middle of the room, staring like she'd just saw a bomb go off right before her eyes, was none other then Hermione Grange, looking as un-petrified and healthy as Madam Pomfrey which was standing a few strides to her left and Augusta Longbottom which was sitting on the bed to her right.
"Hermione!" Diana cried in an ecstatic tone and quick as a ghost she had crossed the room and lung herself at the bushy-haired girl which fell down to the floor with a loud thump.
Hermione gave a squeak of distress as she hit the floor and Madam Pomfrey shrieked: "What do you think you're doing child! That girl's barely recovered from her petrifiction, she doesn't need you to add wounds to her already week system!"
But nobody heard her, as Heidi too, jumped on top of the two girl, eliciting another moan of discomfort from Hermione.
"Both of you off! Right now!" Hermione snapped.
The twins each gave their friend a peach on the cheek then they lifted themselves off her. Neville held out his hands in order to help Hermione up, which the girl accepted gratefully.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked when she was on her feet. "Everyone's been worried sick!"
"That's what I'd like to know!" Augusta Longbottom's angry voice drew the kids' attention.
"And I," said McGonagall, who had finally managed to catch up with the kids.
"I think it would be best if we continued this conversation in my office," Dumbledore said.
The three kids weren't smiling anymore; actually they looked rather dejected as they made their way out of the hospital wing and towards the spiral staircase, where they met Snape who was bringing Ginny Weasley's unconscious form to the hospital wing.
"We only stuned her!" Diana protested.
"Yes, but after we've de-spelled the stunner, the girl still wouldn't wake," McGonagall said.
"It's probably Voldemort's fault," Heidi guessed.
"Why would you say that?" asked Hermione.
"Because she had this little red glee in her eyes, and it was the same color that Voldemort had when I saw him in the Forbidden Forest last year," Heidi answered.
"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Weasley was possessed by you-know-who?" asked a worried looking McGonagall.
"Yes, I believe I just said that Voldemort took possession of that girl in order to open the Chamber," Heidi confirmed.
The group of people stopped in front of a Gargoyle statue which was located on the fifth floor corridor.
"Lemon-drop" Dumbledore said and the statue jumped aside to reveal a small hole in the wall out of which's floor grew a spiral-staircase, which reached up towards the next floor.
Dumbledore stepped on one of the steps, and then the kids, McGonagall and Augusta followed his lead.
The spiral steps stopped before a door which led towards one of the weirdest rooms the kids had ever seen. All sorts of gadgets and gismos were adorning the walls, a desk was jammed against the wall opposite the door and a nest with a beautiful looking bird which's feathers were dyed in a flaming red color was happily perched on top of the nest.
The bird gave a melodious chirp as it saw them enter the office and rose from its nest, preferring to perk itself on Dumbledore's shoulder instead.
"Is that a phoenix, sir?" asked Hermione in aw.
"Yes, miss Granger, this is my trusty companion, Fawkes," Dumbledore said smiling merrily at the bird. "Now, if everyone could have a seat, we can begin this conference."
Dumbledore sat himself at his desk, and the kids noticed that six chairs were surrounding the large oak piece of furniture, which was packed with as much strange gismos as the rest of the room.
"So," Dumbledore began. "Missis Longbottom had been kind enough to share with us the amazing tale of how you kids discovered what was inside the Chamber, and as well as approximately where it might be located. She also happened to mention that you were supposed to come straight to me with this information and leave it in our care to locate the Chamber and the perpetrator."
Dumbledore paused to give the four children a piercing look.
"Why is it that you did not keep your words regarding the Chamber matter?" he asked with a cold, somewhat disappointed voice.
The four kids suddenly found their hands which were hanging loosely in their laps to be the most interesting thing in the world. Hermione was flushed with embarrassment as was Diana and Neville looked like a small helpless animal which had lost its voice to even cry in the face of danger, let alone carry a civil conversation.
Heidi was the only one whose brain was working in overload. The others wouldn't speak, that was a fact, maybe because they were too ashamed or just didn't know where to start, but it was clear their lips were sealed, so of course, she had to stand up for them...again. But how could she get out of this one...?
"Well," prompted Augusta when she saw that none of the kids were gonna take a stand. "Why didn't you go to Dumbledore like we agreed?"
Silence.
Augusta looked ready to ask again, but Heidi finally lifted her head up high and said:
"It's because it would have been no use to the Headmaster had we gone to him with so little information," she stated flatly.
"Why would you think that?" asked McGonagall.
"Because, we already suspected that the entrance to the Chamber was sealed with parcel-magic, so, even if we had told the Headmaster exactly where the Chamber was, he would have not been able to find it unless a Parseltoung opened it for him."
"I think you are underestimating our capacity to solve a simple matter of blowing up a portion of the wall," McGonagall said sharply.
"And dealing with a 20 stories high Basilisk," Heidi responded in the same sharp voice.
"I think a group of teachers is far suited to deal with the mater then a bunch of overconfident teenagers!"
Heidi snorted at that.
"However you want to put it, it still does not change the reality that you were unable to solve the mystery, in spite of the fact that you were presented with the same amount of clues as we were, even more, considering the fact that the first time the chamber was opened, you both were in school!"
"That still does not explain why you went after the perpetrator on your own," Dumbledore said.
"Come now, the motive should be quite easy to understand," Heidi said in an arrogant tome. "We wanted revenge for our fallen comrade," she stated simply.
Hermione's head shot up at that, as did Diana's (who threw a questioning look her sister's was), and Dumbledore's (who had apparently expected a much more sly explanation from the girl).
"Up until yesterday, we had all the intention of coming and informing you of our progress the moment we found out where the entrance to the chamber was, and leave you to deal with the Basilisk and the Slytherin heir," Heidi said honestly. "Yesterday while Neville and I were helping the Weasley girl look for some notebook she'd lost, I accidentally discovered where the entrance to the chamber was and the two of us –" she pointed at Neville and herself "– decided to come straight to you (she pointed at Dumbledore) with the information – After we'd found my sister and Hermione of course, after all the hard work they've done, it seemed only fair that we'd tell them about our discovery first."
"Then Hermione's little accident occurred and ... and any trace of rational thought disappeared from my mind. That asshole attacked Hermione to spite us and we –I fell right into his trap. I was blindly driven by revenge and didn't take the time to consider the wellbeing of my sister and Neville, and for that I am sorry," Heidi shot an apologetic look towards Neville and Diana, and then continued in a stubborn tone. "But I don't regret going down there! I don't care if you expel me; I won't regret looking that asshole in the eye and telling him exactly how I felt about him!" The ember eyed girl folded her arms across her chest and fell silently into her seat awaiting the adults' verdict.
Truth be told, Heidi had absolutely no idea what drove her to be honest with the people in front. Maybe it was because she was tired thanks to the day's events, or maybe because her mind had blacked out a few minutes ago after seeing that her plan had finally come to an end and now her worn-out brain was pressing her for a few moments of rest before it could work properly again, or heck, maybe she was tired of lying to get out of trouble (nope, it was definitely not that), but anyway, she had told the truth, and now it was too late to take back her words, so, might as well go along and see how it turned out.
"I confess myself sorely disappointed with your trail of actions," Dumbledore said after a few minutes of silence. "Understandable though they may be, I can not find it within myself to forgive this severe breach of school regulations. Not because you have failed to obey the school rules, but because you have jeopardized your own safety and that of your companions through your brash behavior, and I fear that if I do not take action now, next time might be too late. You three shell be suspended for one week and you will serve detention every night at eight starting tomorrow, up until the end of the school year. I hope this punishment will give you time to reflect upon your mistakes and the dangers which might have befallen upon you had luck not been on your side tonight. You may leave."
Neville, Diana and Heidi nodded numbly and rose to their feet, while Hermione looked like she was about to protest, but Diana and Heidi took hold of her and dragged her towards the door and out of the office before she could utter a single word.
"Why didn't you let me speak?" asked and irritated looking Hermione.
"Because that would have only served to dig up a grave for you as well," Heidi replied. "We were toast the moment we strolled down that stairs and threatened Malfoy, I knew they wouldn't expel us if we caught the perpetrator, but they were hardly gonna praise us for running head first into the Basilisk's lair for no good reason."
"But they suspended you!" Hermione protested.
"It's not that bad," Neville said. "Wait till Granny gets a hold of us."
That caused a wave of shivers to crawl down the four's back.
"Or our parents," said Diana causing the other children to groan in misery.
"The one time when I decided to tell the truth and look where it gets me," Heidi said bitterly.
Hermione smiled approvingly at her and said. "It'll work better next time."
"Of course," Heidi assured. "Next time, I'll lie!"
Hermione shot her a disapproving glance.
"So, do you think it best to wait for your granny and McGonagall here and get the shouting over with or run and hope they never find us?" Diana asked.
Te four kids shared an uneasy look before mutely agreeing that it would be better not to try and tempt their luck any more and silently waited up until the two elder witches emerged from Dumbledore's office.
McGonagall let them off easily, by giving the four of them and extra week of detention and promising Heidi a lifetimes ban of Quidditch if she didn't win the house cup, while Augusta took her time chastising the kids for their brashness and poorly executed (and very much flawed) plan and promised to whoop the floor with them the following summer when they came by to visit.
At last, around a quarter pas midnight, the kids finally managed to drag their fatigued bodies to bed and fall into a much needed dreamless sleep.
/////////////////////////////////-----
All except for Heidi.
What was it that deranged psychopaths liked about her anyways?
"Can we talk?" she tried to say, but the sound came out as something between a groan and a glower since her mouth was currently held hostage by Voldemort's demanding one.
Voldemort gave her another mind-blowing kiss, then pulled back slightly to give her a questioned look.
"And what is it that you want to talk about?" he asked smoothly, tracing the thumb of his finger over her cheek.
Heidi took a moment to consider his question. What was it exactly that she wanted to know? Oh, yeah...
"I'd like to know what your face looks like behind that hood for one," she suddenly leaped forwards, took a grip of his hood and lowered it from his face. Out came the head of a handsome sixteen year old boy, with neatly combed dark hair, alluring red eyes and aristocratic features.
Heidi gaped open-mouthed at him.
The figure raised a delicate brow, while a large smirk spread on his handsome face.
"Are you really Voldemort?" Heidi asked skeptically.
"Well, I imagine I look less frightening in a teenager's body, but to the extents of my knowledge I believe I am Voldemort." His voice had changed. No longer was it the chilling hissed sound she had become so accustomed with, now it had taken on a slight puerile tone, and his voice was much more smoother then Voldemort's had been.
"Hmm, why keep the hood on? Were you expecting to frighten me?" Heidi questioned as she gave the teen Dark Lord a slight push and slipped away from underneath him.
She rose to her feet and turned to give the teen a one-over. He was slightly less taller then the hooded figure in the forest had been, but then again, she had grown somewhat over the year. He was wearing dark pants and that was about all that could be seen underneath the long black coat.
He gave a slight chuckle, less frightening then Voldemort's cold laugh, but still somewhat unfitting for such a cute face.
"No, I had absolutely no intention of frightening you," the teen answered nonchalantly. "That was merely how you remembered me, and seeing as you hadn't tried up until now to see what exactly was underneath the hood, you were stuck with snogging the ugly version of me." While he was talking, he had strolled calmly forward, closing the distance between them, and was standing right in front of her.
"What exactly are you, a figment of my imagination?" Heidi asked puzzled. "I mean, am I talking to myself or is this Voldemort screwing around with me?"
"Well, considering the possibility that I am a figment of your imagination, I would definitely not know the answer to that, now would I?" was the vague reply. "But, if by some unfortunate occurrence of the universe, I do happen to be Voldemort..." he gave a slight chortle. "Well, I wouldn't exactly admit to that, now would I?"
Heidi narrowed her eyes at him, and then gave a frustrated sigh. The truth was that there was absolutely no way of confirming if the apparition in front was Voldemort or just some twisted concoction of her own mind. Because if it was Voldemort, she was sure the bastard would enjoy messing around with her head. But if it wasn't Voldemort, then this was a really bad joke her mind had decided to play on her.
Actually maybe it isn't, she decided after giving the boy another one-over. He is hot. Then something clicked in her mind.
"I've never seen your face!" Heidi countered sounding smug. "If this is really a figment of my imagination, then my mind couldn't have simply made up a face out of thin air! Especially considering the fact that it is a scientific fact that while sleeping one only dreams of places or people one has seen in real life! So, since my imaginative side of the brain is, theoretically, asleep, I couldn't have come up with your...character on my own. So, that of course, leaves only the possibility of Voldemort screwing around with my head."
"Have you read the Famous Prefects from start till today book?" The boy asked nonchalantly.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" Heidi asked perplexed.
"Well, if I remember correctly, that book has a total of 900 and profiles of prefects, each profile being associated with a picture and description of the person's character. Let's not forget the, oh so many people you've met or simply bypassed every day. For all you know, I might actually be a student at this school and you've probably failed to notice me up until now."
Heidi glared at the boy. No matter how infuriating it might be to accept it, it didn't change that fact that the boy's arguments were legit. Still she couldn't help but argue against him.
"What about the voice? I'm sure I don't know it!" Try to get out of this one punk! She cheered mentally. Too soon it seemed as the boy countered with:
"Watch TV much?"
"But, but..." Heidi furiously searched her brain for another plausible pretext to keep arguing against the boy, but no mater how much she tried, her brain came up blank. "Why?" She finally asked not being able to make anymore sense of the matter. "Why would I take the image of a guy I hardly know and associate him with Voldemort of all people?"
"Well, I don't think your mind is acceptant of the idea of you kissing an ugly deranged psychopath," the boy said reasonably.
Heidi lifted a delicate brow. "So, are you saying that my mind was sooo traumatized about the fact that my first kiss was lost to an ugly, deranged psychopath that it created a handsome, charismatic and likable character to take the place of the murdering psychopath as means to alleviate some of the disappointment it felt?" she asked sarcastically.
"The pretty much sums it up," the boy said innocently.
Heidi spared him an amused glance.
"Are you saying that locks make so much of a difference to me?" she challenged.
"Obviously," the boy answered in a cynical tone.
"Hmm, sooooo, you're supposed to be something along the line of prince charming to me, right?"
"Probably," the boy shrugged and gave a non-committing nod.
"I thought prince charming was supposed to be blond," Heidi teased.
"Not necessarily," the boy answered. "Does it bother you?" he asked in the same teasing voice that Heidi had used earlier.
"Not in the least," Heidi answered while boring her emerald orbs into his scarlet ones. She slowly lifted her hands up to his face and began tracing its shape with her fingers up until she came across the mouth, where her hands stopped and her eyes remained locked upon, as if drawn to a magnet.
The pair of lips twitched into something closely resembling a smirk.
"Have my handsome features blown you so far away that it left you speechless?" the boy asked in an arrogant tone.
Heidi lifted her eyes to grace him with an annoyed glare. "You know, I liked you better when you didn't talk!" she snapped.
"Well, pardon my saying, but last I remember, you were the one who wanted to talk," the boy huffed in mock-offence.
"True," Heidi agreed. "But I'm done talking," she said. "For now that is, because," she gave the boy a suspicious glare. "I don't really think you're a figment of my imagination, and I'm going to prove it!" she threatened.
"You don't say?" The boy challenged with a raised brow. "And how exactly are you going to prove that?"
"I'm out of arguments for tonight," Heidi admitted miserably. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna come back tomorrow with something!" she threatened.
"Very well," the boy nodded. "I'll be waiting."
And that was supposed to be the end of the conversation for the two... only problem was...
"How do I get out of here?" Heidi asked looking around. They were still in the Forbidden Forest.
"Aw, you want to leave me alone for the entire night? I'm hurt," the teen said.
Heidi glared at him. "Can't you go to sleep?" she asked.
"I sleep during the day," the teen stated.
"Well, I work during the day!" Heidi snapped. "And I have to be up for class tomorrow!"
"No, you don't, you've been suspended, in case you've forgotten," the teen pointed out. Heidi looked ready to argue, but the boy interrupted her by saying: "And even so, what does that have to do with me?"
"I can't sleep with you here!" Heidi grunted in annoyance.
"Of course you can," the teen said nonplused.
"I can't sleep on the floor!" Heidi said moodily.
"We can always go back to the castle," the teen suggested.
"It's a dang long walk," Heidi whined.
"Honestly woman, are you in a dream or the real world?" the teen asked exasperatedly and with a flick of his hand, the forest around them suddenly began to change shape. The trees molded into a room and the sky turned into a ceiling, and suddenly, Heidi found herself standing in the middle of the second year Gryffindor girls' bedroom. Only problem was, there was nobody else but the boy and her in the room.
"Where are all my roommates?" Heidi asked perplexed.
"Somewhere outside your head," the boy said sarcastically.
"Well that's perfectly fine by me!" Heidi snapped and then smiled nastily. "There are enough beds for the two of us!" she announced merrily and the boy cursed. "You sleep over there!" she said pointing to the first bed from the door.
The boy smiled at her and suddenly the shape of the room changed. The five beds which adorned the wall were replaced by a gigantic king-size bed with dark green sheets, seven fluffy pillows and silver hangings.
Heidi turned to give the teen a reproachful glare and snarled "Cheat!" in his direction.
The boy gave her and innocent look, which Heidi completely ignored in favor of climbing on the bed and building a line of sorts with the help of the five extra pillows and left one pillow for each on opposite sides of the bed. She turned to smirk triumphantly in his direction and said:
"That's your side," in a pleasant manor. "Cross the line and I'll toast your ass!" she threatened before sinking down into the silky sheets.
The teen dropped on the other side of the bed and turned to give her and amused look.
"You like playing hard to get, I presume," he said after a small pause.
"Of course!" Heidi answered. "Even prince charming has to work dang hard to grab my attention; else he can go straight to hell! Now if you'll excuse me, I want to sleep!"
With that said Heidi turned the teen out and concentrated on getting a goodnight's sleep. The teen never once tried to reach past the line of fluffy pillows she had built.
The next day Heidi woke up at six in the morning with the soul intention of getting ready to go to her first class. And then Hermione woke up... and reminded her of her suspension...and she cursed slightly before deciding that she'd rather not return to her bed and have to see that annoying teens' face again. So she went through her morning routine in a rush and stumbled down the stairs only to find Neville sitting in an armchair closely by the fire, still dressed in his pajamas and intently inspecting a piece of parchment.
"Hey there Nev, what's up?" Heidi greeted.
"Oh, hey there Heidi," Neville replied. "Ron's snores woke me up again this morning and when I came back from the bathroom I saw this parchment on the foot of my bed." He handed the piece of paper to Heidi. "It's from granny," he said.
Heidi gave Neville a questioned look, but the boy only smiled at her and beckoned her to read it.
Dear Neville,
I just wanted to say that I have never in my life been more proud of you then I am today. I am of course very displeased with your carless actions and irrational thinking, but I am also amazed at your devotion towards your friends and the courage which you have displayed tonight at facing a Basilisk of all things! Your father would have been dead proud of you and I'm sure that your mother would have been too. Though that careless way of thinking has got to change, and fear not, because for the following summer I myself will make sure that you and your friends know the difference between a well executed plan and a suicide operation,! But until then, I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your school year.
Love Granny.
PS: You place one more toe out of line and I won't be as forgiving as I have been up until now!
Heidi turned to give Neville a wide grin. "Looks like we have a rough summer ahead of us."
Neville couldn't help but agree. "I guess so."
Though the smile slipped of her face in the next moment and she turned a serious look in Neville's direction. "Neville, I wanted to ask you something about... your parents," Heidi said carefully.
Neville's smile instantly dropped off his face and he lowered his eyes to the ground, while nodding his head slightly.
Heidi took a deep breath and said: "Have you ever considered doing something about it? You know, about their condition?"
Neville's head shot up at this, a miserable look adorning his face. "I haven't," he admitted. "Uncle Algie and Granny have asked around for healers, or any sort of treatment that might have the slightest chance at curing them. Granny even went as far as to call in a few favors from an unspeakable at the ministry, but all to no avail. Up until I was five, the two did nothing but try and try and try to find something which might help my parents get better. Uncle Algie was always on the road, traveling to different countries and researching all kinds of stuff, I barely even knew him before my sixth birthday. Then my aunt put her foot down and said she'd leave him if he didn't stop with the silly trips. My granny gave up hope around the time too..." he sighed sadly.
"And I think I did too," he admitted. "I mean, I love my parents and all that, but there was no hope coming from any side, every clue we ever got was another disappointment, I just couldn't delude myself with believing that it will all be ok one day, I was getting tired," he sighed sadly. "And when they lost fait I just lost mine too," he finished in a small voice.
"But you haven't even tried," Heidi said sounding somewhat annoyed at his behavior. "You gave up without even trying! How can you lose hope in something when you didn't even believe in it to begin with?!"
"Because they didn't believe in it either!" Neville snapped. He rose up from his chair and started pacing the room while shouting: "I saw them, how they exchanged tired and unhopeful looks while they prepared for another useless journey to some useless place which had nothing for them! They knew it! That it was all in vain, yet they somehow managed to delude themselves in believed it would be possible to find a cure for my parents! And they kept telling me in that false tone of theirs that they will someday find something, but they never did! And I did myself a favor and decided to stop hoping for false miracles and start living my life!" He let out a deep and choked breath while blinking his eyes rapidly in an attempt to not cry. No! He was a big boy now, he had to be strong, he mustn't cry! He couldn't cry!
"You didn't even try!" Heidi snapped startling the blond boy. "Your uncle and grandmother tried their best, and failed, time and time again, but you," Heidi shot him a disappointed look. "You gave up without even a fight! Jesus Neville, how the hell did you end up in Gryffindor?!"
Neville stared at her with a god-smacked expression on his face. "Well, what was I supposed to do?" he snapped feeling offended. "Leave home and search around the world for a cure I already know never existed?" he asked skeptically.
"That's what I would have done!" snapped Heidi.
"Heidi that's enough!" Hermione and Diana came rushing down the stairs which led to the dormitories.
"Don't take what this dunderhead sais to heart Neville," Diana came to stand beside him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"They haven't searched everywhere," Heidi snapped. "Your Granny, has she searched the Muggle world for a treatment?!"
"No," Neville said. "Come on Heidi, this is a wizarding illness!"
"Oh, so now you think that only wizards have to deal with insane people?!" Heidi asked cynically. "Well they don't!"
"Heidi, that's enough!" Diana snapped.
"No," Hermione intervened. "It isn't! Neville, I can't believe that you wizards never bother to check the Muggle world for anything! I mean honestly, did you know that wizards have no idea how to replace a dying organ while in the Muggle world vital organs had been successfully transplanted since the 1900!"
Neville gave Hermione a doubtful glance, not trusting what she said in the slightest.
"Ok, fine," Heidi sighed. "Screw the Muggle world, what about the wizarding world then?!" the girl challenged.
"What about it?" Neville asked defiantly.
"Your relatives gave up on finding a cure when you were five," Heidi explained. "Well, now you're thirteen! Seven years Neville! Seven long years of Magical evolution! Do you honestly want to tell me that you don't believe it possible that somehow, somewhere in the world someone might have invented a cure for the Cruicatus curs in all this long time?!"
Neville still didn't look convinced. "Well, if they had invented a cure, why not come forth with it?" he challenged.
"Gee, well, I don't know, why doesn't NASA come forth with all the bull they have developed throughout the years?" Heidi asked skeptically. The meaning to this statement was lost on the pureblood who turned to give Heidi a blank look. "Ah! Never mind!" the girl glowered.
"What she's trying to say," Hermione took over for Heidi, "is that they might have some personal reasons for not revealing the information."
"Like what?" Neville asked befuddled.
"Like profit," Diana supplied.
"Oh, stop trying to convince him," Heidi snapped. "You know what your problem is?" Heidi said as she turned her blazing eyes on the blond boy. "That fact that you're to much of a coward to admit that somewhere out there there might actually be a cure for your parents' illness, because you're afraid of building up hope just to be disappointed again, and I understand that!" Heidi assured when she saw that the boy was about to intervene. "Neville, I really do! But if you give up hope now, then what have you got left to live for? Have you got a reason for waking up in the morning and going to school? Or are you just doing that because it's what you're supposed to do, what others expect of you to do?"
Neville hung his head, his face a flushed mess and fresh tear were slowly starting to form in his eyes.
"Jesus, Neville, do you even have a reason to live?!" Heidi asked outraged.
Neville's eyes flashed in anger and he asked "Well, what about you? What's your reason?"
"I want to become a professional Quidditch player," Heidi answered nonplussed, surprising everyone around.
"A professional Quidditch player?" asked Diana doubtfully.
"Well, there's no point in asking what you want to become," snapped Heidi moodily.
"What's so wrong about wanting to have a family?!" Diana asked peeved by her sister's comment.
"Nothing," Hermione answered, hoping to avoid a fight between the two. "I want a family too!" she declared.
"Yeah, with Ron Weasley," Diana snapped sulkily.
"Well, excuse me for not liking biased blonds with a superiority complex and a hair fetish," Hermione huffed insulted.
"That's sooooo yesterday's news!" Diana snapped. "I don't like that prick anymore!"
"Well, good riddance!" Hermione huffed.
"Yeah, too bad some of us can't gat over stupid crushes that easily," Diana snapped.
Hermione looked ready to smack Diana over the face, but settled instead to continue bickering with the red-head for another 15 minutes or so, while Neville watched on in amusement, his previous sulky mood gone.
"Those two are gonna kill each other someday," Heidi came to stand beside him.
"I doubt it," Neville said regarding the two with a fond glee in his eyes.
"Look Neville," Heidi started fidgeting on her feet and rubbing her hands nervously. "I'm sorry-"
"No, it's ok," Neville cut her off. "You're right," he said in a small voice, head slightly bowed. "I did give up to soon, heck I didn't even try!" he sounded bitter and slightly disappointed. "But, what was I supposed to do? I was only a kid! I didn't know any better! I couldn't do any better then sit around and wait for others to do my job for me."
"Well, you're a big boy now," Heidi said softly.
Neville turned to give her a sad smile. "I'm still afraid," he admitted.
"Aren't we all?"
"I guess," Neville shrugged.
"You're not alone you know," Hermione said startling the blond boy. She and Diana had stopped their senseless bickering sometime after Neville had diverted his attention from them and were now standing a few strides away from him, with encouraging smiles spared on their face.
"If you decided to one day stop whining about your miserable life and start doing something to try and make it better, just know that you have friends on which you can rely on," Heidi said giving his arm a slight squeeze.
"That's not exactly my choice of words, but just remember that we're her for you Neville," Hermione said.
"Thanks guys...girls," Neville said flashing a grateful smile. The three girls smiled encouragingly at Neville and Hermione asked:
"So, does that mean that I can start planning our schedule for operation 'find a cure for Neville's parents'?"
Diana groaned while the other two tried and failed at stiffening a laugh. "That's a rather long name for the operation," the red-haired exclaimed drily.
"Not to worry," Hermione waved a reassuring hand. "We can abbreviate it to FCNP!"
For the second time that minute, Diana found herself groaning at the words of her curly-haired friend.
AN: I've opened up a pool on my profile page for you guys in which you can vote for who you want Neville to end up with. If you don't vote, then I'm just going to go and pick the girl with whom Neville has the most number of stories on FFN, which is currently: Luna with 617. Ginny is second with 218 and Hannah ranks third with 106, so, if you guys are impartial to the pairing, I'll chose Luna, if you vote, I'll chose whoever you want. (Right about now I have received one vote for Hannah and Ginny each (from reviewers which I will take into account), which is still a tie so, VOTE!)