By Easter, anybody who could get out of Hogwarts did. Even Ginny was hidden away by her parents and didn't return to Hogwarts. Snatchers roamed the woods and towns trying to find Hogwarts-aged kids that had escaped. Many escapees were brought back, bruised and scared for their troubles, only to be soundly caned by the headmaster. Their punishment complete, they would then return to their dorms and resume "normal" life. For purebloods this worked because the Carrows were fine with bruising and punishing purebloods, they didn't really want to permanently hurt most of them. Their ire was saved mainly for the half-bloods or those unfortunate purebloods that had uncooperative parents. Soon there were banners from each house except Slytherin in the Room of Requirement, and more and more students were taking up residence.

Those that still could go to classes, did. Neville made a point of it in large part so that students could contact him when they were ready to go into hiding. He paid for it with bumps and bruises from the Carrows, and an occasional caning by the headmaster. But McGonagall also would hand him packages of shrunken food and Professor Sprout would give Neville fresh fruit and vegetables as well as healing herbs. Even Professor Flitwick managed to slip him contraband on the sly, but from his was mostly charmed objects such as small tracking devices and alarms they could set.

The class that had once been called Defense Against the Dark Arts had be renamed simply Dark Arts was the hardest for Neville, however. The male Carrow taught that class, and much of the time was spent learning and performing unforgivables. If a child was so foolish as to earn detentions they could often find themselves the subject of the Cruciatus during the class.

"Your Cruciatus seems lacking," the male Carrow told Neville as he was "practicing" the spell on a second year Hufflepuff that and somehow earned the Carrow's ire.

"I just can't seem to do it, sir," Neville replied politely. "I suppose this means that I will get a poor grade for my performance today."

"That's not all you will receive!" the Carrow bellowed at Neville, flicking his wand and creating a gouge along Neville's cheek. Neville yelped and cried out, giving an overly dramatic response to the injury. In truth the gouge, while painful, was not that bad and actually matched one he had received in Muggle Studies that morning. But he knew that if he did not react the punishment would escalate, so he appeared distraught. Snape had taught him that, though it never actually worked on him.

"Please, sir," Neville asked him, but couldn't bring himself to beg. "Please. I'll practice and do better."

"See that you do!" the Carrow snapped, but felt mollified by Neville's reaction. "Class dismissed."

Neville carefully followed the second year target out of the room. He came up beside her when they were a safe distance away, tugging gently on the arm of her robe.

"Do you want to hide?" he asked her carefully. "I can keep you safe."

"Can you?" the girl asked. "My mum wanted me to stay home, but we were so scared of the snatchers . . ."

"Go now and pack a small bag with your essentials and bring it under your robe for lunch," Neville told her. "I'll take you there directly after lunch."

"Is that where Alissa Baker and Eliot Garver are?"

"I believe so," Neville told her, trying to remember. "I don't remember all their names. But you'll see lots of people from your house there."

"Thank you," the girl looked up at him with adoring eyes.

. . .

"Food is becoming a problem," Seamus told Neville as they un-shrunk a bag of groceries from McGonagall and began unpacking them. "We're going to have to figure out a better solution."

"I think as long as you, Michael and I are free we can keep snitching," Neville told him. "Although it's a lot harder without Ginny and Dean. Ginny was very good at this."

"Growing up with all those brothers," Seamus joked. "She had to get good at getting food or she'd starve to death."

Neville laughed, and looked over their meager food supply. They were going to have to come up with something different, especially given the burgeoning population of the Room of Requirement. It had done his heart good to bring in that second year Hufflepuff today, though. She had actually cried with relief at finding her friends there. Neville realized that people not in the room or part of Dumbledore's Army wouldn't know what happened to kids - and everyone knew that some of the missing kids were dead. And now here they all were shut up in a room together hoping beyond hope that somehow the greatest Dark Wizard of their age would be defeated by a boy that they knew and did not seem all that impressive to anybody. Neville realized that It was such a hard combination for the kids to be hungry, bored and scared - so he was determined to try and reduce these hardships as much of that as he could. Harry could sort out Voldemort, he had his job.

"We need to make sure everyone's practicing their spells," Neville told Seamus. "It's getting close now, I can feel it."

"I will work on stepping up drills," Seamus nodded. "Michael has got the kids doing their lessons too, that should help with the boredom."

"Harry's got to come soon," Neville remarked. "He just has to. This cannot go on for much longer."

"What if Harry doesn't come, mate?" Seamus asked. "I mean, what if this really is all there is?"

"He's coming," Neville said firmly. "Our job is to take care of kids and be ready when he gets here."

"How can you say that?" Seamus asked him, his face flushed. "You just got caned again yesterday for graffiti!'

"It wasn't that bad," Neville told him.

"I saw your backside, mate," Seamus told him. "That washroom is not that private. You can't tell me that it wasn't that bad."

"Okay, then let me say that it's worth it," Neville told him. "We're keeping them on their toes."

"At some point, we're going to need to call a peaceful surrender," Seamus told him with a heavy sigh. "Or at least step down the really visible stuff."

"Maybe . . ." Neville considered, then were startled by a woman's cry out.

"Neville!" Lavender Brown shrieked as she came into the room. "Come quick! It's Michael!"

Neville didn't say a word, but pulled his wand and followed her. She quickly lead him and Seamus to just off the main hall to what looked like a crumpled heap of laundry. Neville paled when the heap moved - that heap was Michael.

"What happened?" Seamus demanded as they both flew to his side.

"I was freeing a first year those bastards had chained up in the hall," Michael told them, and then spit blood out of his mouth. "They caught me."

"Where does it hurt?" Neville asked, trying to remain calm. Michael looked really bad.

"Everywhere," Michael snorted. "Look, mate, I can't move my legs."

"Seamus, you and Lavander go and get Madame Pomfrey," Neville ordered. "Go different directions in case one of you gets caught, the other gets through."

"Okay, Neville," Seamus nodded.

"I'll stay here with Michael," Neville told them.

Neville watched as the two of them went different ways, and looked back and Michael.

"Did the firstie get away?" Neville asked him.

"He did," Michael answered with pride, and then coughed a wet, sticky cough. Neville winced when he saw blood coming from his mouth.

"Good work," Neville told him.

"I told him to find you to hide," Michael told him. "Look for him. Little guy with black hair."

"So, just like you?" Neville joked.

"Much more innocent," Michael choked. Blinking, Michael then said in a soft voice, "Neville, if I don't make it . . ."

"I'm not listening to this!" Neville protested. "You're going to make it!"

"If I don't make it, tell Cho . . . I don't know. Tell her something good and say I said it." He then coughed again, turning his head to the side to spit out more blood.

"You'll tell her something yourself," Neville insisted. He examined the boy for external bleeding, and didn't see anything he could treat. It looked like Michael's ribs were crushed and he was bleeding internally, and Neville wasn't prepared for that. He had several potions in his robe, but he couldn't think of what would help. And with him already having trouble breathing, he hesitated to give him a pain potion.

"Madame Pomfrey will be here soon," he told Michael. "You're going to be fine."

"Don't lie to me," Michael told him, choking. "Tell me something else. Tell me a story. Tell me something so that I can picture something other than those bastards' faces as they kicked me."

"When I was younger, before Hogwarts," Neville started. "They didn't think I was a wizard. I came from a long line of wizards, but I never showed any accidental magic so my family was worried. They kept trying to startle and scare me so that I would show my magic, but I kept not doing it."

"That sounds rough," Michael coughed.

"It was," Neville nodded. "Mostly it was just small stuff, like hiding sweets too high for me to reach and things. But I had one uncle that was determined. He would levitate me to scare me, he would jump out at me and make me cry, and he would dangle me out windows to see if I would react."

"Bastard."

"He was," Neville agreed. "Anyway, one day he was dangling me out of the window, and he accidently let go. At least that's what he told Gran anyway; I suspect he did it on purpose. He didn't get his wand out fast enough either, and if my accidental magic hadn't kicked in I could have been killed."

"But it kicked in?"

"It did," Neville told him with a grin. "I bounced. I got my Hogwarts letter not long after that."

Michael snorted, and that cost him another coughing fit.

"My uncle bought me my toad as a reward and Gran said it was also from a guilty conscience too. He could have just waited for me to get my letter, Hogwarts always knows if a child is magical or not."

"What a git."

"Yeah, well, there you go. I have lots of embarrassing stories of getting in trouble at school, but those aren't as much fun. And I know you know the one of me making the Boggart Snape dress like my Gran."

"That was great," Michael agreed, careful not to laugh. "I wouldn't remind the headmaster of that one if I were you."

"Good plan," Neville agreed. "He beats me often enough without any reminders of that one."

Madame Pomfrey suddenly appeared, not through apparition but through a speed charm. She quickly scanned and assessed Michael, making him choke down potions and muttering charms as she went.

"Have you given him anything?" she asked Neville. She was the one who had supplied him with first aid potions.

"No," Neville replied. "I was worried it would hurt him. I have a blood replenisher, but I wasn't sure."

"Good," she told him. "For internal bleeding things are a bit more complicated, your instincts were correct to just wait for me."

"Will he be okay?" Neville asked softly.

"He should be," she told him. "We caught it in time. He's in for a rough night of healing, however. Can you students help levitate him to the infirmary please? He's stable enough to move, but I need my wand free for casting if he needs an emergency spell on the way.

Neville nodded to Lavender and Seamus, and they helped levitate Michael and walk him to the infirmary. They worried about meeting a Carrow on the way, and Neville almost marvelled that they hadn't. Did Madame Pomfrey cast a spell to prevent it?

"Put him down there," Madame Pomfrey directed. "Good. There now Mr. Corner, settle in properly. There you are. Now I need to go and fetch potions from Professor Slughorn, can you students stay here for a moment with him? If you need me just tap your wands to that globe on my desk and I'll return immediately."

"We can stay," Seamus nodded.

"I have something I have to do," Neville told them all. "But Michael should be fine with Lavender and Seamus."

"Be careful," Madame Pomfrey nodded to him. "And don't do anything stupid. We need you alive and well, Mr. Longbottom."

"I'll be careful," Neville nodded.

"Do you need any more of the first aid potions?" she asked him critically.

"We still have enough," Neville told her. "And the room provides some of the basics as well as bandages. Food continues to be one of the critical needs."

"I'll see what I can do," Madame Pomfrey nodded. "Promise me you won't engage the Carrows tonight, Mr. Longbottom."

"I promise," he told her. He meant it too, he wasn't trying to get the Carrows tonight, he needed to talk to Snape. It was time for some decisions to be made, and he couldn't think of one other person other than Snape to talk to about it.