Simple

Chapter 13

Groggily Ron's eyes separated weakly and he shaking lifted his arms.

"Mum?" he groaned, his voice hoarse.

"I'm here Ron," she said softly, laying her hand on his wobbling arm.

"And dad?"

"Yes and Harry."

"Harry's here?"

Harry smiled and leaned over the bed and touched his fingertips to Ron's head to alert him to his presence.

"You alright mate?" he said.

"Been better."

"Well…at least you are alive," Molly said.

"I was dying?"

"Yes. Professor Snape managed to produce a potion to help you," said Arthur, from the foot of the gurney.

"Honestly?" he gasped out, the pain in his throat apparent.

"Yes, now rest your voice," said Molly, fluffing the pillows behind her son's head.

"Aw mum…" Ron moaned as he tried to lift his arms in protest.

"See!" she said.

"Ronald do as your mother says. We will be right here," said Arthur.

"Yeah mate, quicker you get better the quicker you can complain and fight with Mione all the time right?" laughed Harry.

"I guess," mumbled Ron, his eyelids visibly becoming harder to seperate as the cocktail of healing potions seemed to attack his concious.

"I need to go, don't wanna give your little Griffyndor friends a fright finding me here," said Draco, quietly into the dark.

Neville buried his face into the expanse of his lover's chest, his arms tangled around Draco's waist and his lips placing wet kisses on his skin.

"Nev…C'mon on."

"No!"

"Neville…"

"Draco…Ten more minutes."

"I need to go, no one can see me here. You know that. I could be found out…That would be terrible for the war effort…"

"Yes…Well since the war effort is all everyone seems to care about, you better go…"

"Neville, don't be like this. I'm not doing this for fun."

"Well you are certainly not doing it for me…"

"Of course I am! I do everything for you…I want us to have a future together…"

"I'm sure you do. Just go Draco. You can sit with Harry and Snape and discuss how great the war effort is!" Neville cried, pulling his blankets from Draco and turning his back to him.

"Neville…" Draco sighed, leaning over Neville's stiff form and pressing kisses to his slightly damp shoulder.

"Go Draco…"

"I'll come and see you tomorrow night. Love you."

"Hmm…"

Draco could feel his heart rate increase and his lungs began to reject air as he suddenly felt desperately nauseous. He flew from the room, down flight after flight of stairs, seeking the solace of the dungeons and the slim possibility of a warm word from his godfather.

"Severus!" he cried, throwing himself in the room. His balance broken and his voice ringing in his ears.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, just wondered what was going on," panted Draco, suddenly deciding to keep the seeming end of his relationship with Neville a secret. If he did not say it, it did not happen.

"Harry is in the hospital wing, my potion worked."

"That's great! Now we can save anyone else who gets bitten by that thing."

"No need."

"What do you mean?"

"I am disposing of her."

"Disposing?"

"Yes…The Dark Lord can read her mind, if he wishes to he can see and hear us every time she can…"

"Fuck Severus! Harry and I were talking about Neville in front of her…"

"It's fine, when she is dead he cannot use her."

"Harry will not be happy."

"He will be much too pleased about Weasley to notice the absence of a little snake…"

"It's Potter…He will notice…"

"She needs to die. We have no other option…"

"Yeah… But what about Harry's friend? Surely he will try and protect her…"

"I'll be fine…"

"I'll help."

"No!"

"What? This isn't some kind of suicide mission is it?" said Draco, his eyebrow raising.

"It's the murder of an animal, let's not exaggerate."

"Severus…"

"How was Longbottom?"

"Fine…" growled Draco.

"Liar. You need to go, I need to sort this before Harry gets back."

"Severus…I am not going…"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! As your senior I tell you want to do and not the other way around. Now leave, I will request your presence, you do not demand to be here!"

"Okay…You alright?"

"Perfect, now get out."

Draco sighed and left, the abnormal feeling of rejection causing his blood to solidify as he dragged his heavy body through the twists and turns of the dungeons to his dorm.

Twirling his wand through his hand that he lay parallel to the ceiling as he stood above the curled shapes of the snakes. His eyes watched the wand, entranced by the imperfect balance of fast and slow movements.

This was a procedure Severus always did to calm himself before doing something unpleasant. The way his wand threaded through his fingers seemed to extract all of the unwanted energy from him and leave him calm and prepared for any task.

It was taking longer than normal but he was aware it was because of Harry's inevitable wrath…

Finally he rose from the couch and stalked to his bedroom.

In the bed that Harry had produced for Larry, both snakes lay curled. The sparse light stopped him from being able to differentiate between scales but he could tell her straight away, her image plastered in his brain from the nightmares…

He stabbed his wand into her side until she unwrapped herself from Larry, hissing.

Backing away Severus led her into sitting room, Larry sleepily on her tail. When she and Severus were both in the living room, Severus magically slammed his bedroom door shut with Larry still on the other side. He would not kill Larry unnecessarily.

She began to coil up and the hissing continued as sweat developed and multiplied on Severus' forehead but his breathing remained steady.

Nagini seemed reluctant to move first and Severus knew the weakest was always the first to strike as it left you at such a disadvantage but at the same time he was aware that the hospital wing closing time drew ever closer…

Sighing he pulled up his wand and whispered two words softly, sending a beam of vicious green light straight towards his target. He regretted taking the easy option as he observed the limp form of Nagini. The ease of the disposal shocking and numbing.

"Severus! Guess what? Ron can talk and everything. Your potion worked so well, I am so proud of you! Sev…" Harry called. His face blanching when he finally walked into the sitting room, to find Severus' figure stiff and his wand straight out in front of him. He could also hear Larry shouting and hissing, questioning the whereabouts of Nagini.

"Harry…I needed to…"

"What the fuck have you done you stupid bastard!" Harry shouted.

" I needed to…We cannot have a creature with a direct link to the Dark Lord living here…And she wanted to go back…She would tell him everything if he does not already know…"

"We could have made a compromise!"

"With an animal? I'm sorry Harry but things do not always work that way…"

"You could have tried instead of just killing her…She was completely helpless…Were you going to kill Larry too?"

"I had no intention to but if he was unable to handle the change then…yes I would have."

"You would have killed Larry? You bastard!"

"You met her last night Potter. She wasn't exactly your best friend…She is just a snake…"

"And I'm just a person but you all want to keep me alive!"

"I do not think it is possible to relate your situation to hers… Think of all the people she has killed."

"She thought she was doing the right thing. She was just doing what she was told by someone she trusted."

"I realise that but it does not justify what she has done."

"What about what you have done? Is that alright then Snape! How many people have you killed? How many has Draco? Come on…I'll go kill him, see how you like it!"

"I know you do not have the capacity to kill in cold blood and you really cannot compare my feelings towards my godson to your feelings towards an animal you met yesterday!"

"You don't have any feelings for your godson! You don't have any feelings at all Snape! You heartless, selfish bastard!"

"Harry…let's not blow this out of proportion…"

"Too late Snape…I am going to take my snake and sleep in the Tower, where I can actually trust people…"

"Go then you stupid child."

"I was not a stupid child when you had your hands all over me was I Snape?"

"Yes you were. I was just too blind to notice…You are never going to be anything but a child…And your father's child at that. I am sure your dogfather and father will be very proud of your selfish irrationality this evening you spoilt child!"

"Fuck off you greasy bastard!"

"These are my rooms. I will give you half an hour to sort yourself and leave…I do not want to see you here when I come back…"

Severus fled, his robes following him like a haunting presence as the door slammed behind him.

Tears choked him as Harry fell against the bedroom door. He tried to communicate to Larry through the door as the snake hissed back deflated.

"I'm so sorry Larry. I trusted him…I did not think he would do us wrong…I own you everything. You can be mad at me if you want…"

"It's not your fault Harry," he said softly. "Can we just leave?"

"Of course…"

Through curtains of tears, Harry gathered together his things, running his hands over Severus' as he went. His fingertips brushing against the coarse fabric of his over cloaks, cherishing the crisp cotton of his robes and delighting in the softness of his pyjamas. He brushed the palm of hand over the chest of drawers and over the wore leather books which lay scattered thoughtless throughout the small room. The delicious Snape-ishness of it stinging his eyes as he replayed the words spat at him only minutes ago.

Larry asked him if it was ready to go and Harry nodded, once they reached the oak door Harry acted as though he had forgotten something and ran back to the bedroom. Stuffing Severus' pyjamas hurriedly in his bag, ignoring any possible repercussions.

"Nev?" asked Harry as he finally entered Griffyndor Tower.

"Hey," Neville mumbled sleepily.

"I was not expecting you to be here…"

"Yeah well Malfoy has other priorities. What are you doing here? And with all your stuff?"

"Snape is a bastard," laughed Harry hollowly.

"I knew that, what happened?"

"He killed Nagini."

"Killed her? Just like that? Why?"

"Because the Dark Lord could read her thoughts and because she wanted to go back…"

"Seriously? I hate to say this…But isn't it a good thing Snape took the liberty to get rid of her? She could put all of us in a lot of danger…"

"I guess…"

"Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you were a bit over the top…"

"But…He just killed a helpless animal in a second. He did not even warn me Nev. I am not a child, I could handle it. Why does no one ever tell me about anything that affects me? I am always the last one to know…"

"What do you mean?"

"With my parents, with Sirius, with my "destiny"…With everything Neville. I am always the last one to know the truth."

"So that's what this is really about?"

"Maybe…" Harry mumbled. "No more about me just now though. What happened with Draco?"

"It doesn't matter..."

"It must do..."

"You really do not wanna know..."

"I do, I could help..."

"It's just that everything has to be about the war…He cannot make a decision that is at all separate…"

"Yeah…"

"I don't think you understand but you and Dray and Snape, you are all part of something that I am not. Snape thinks I'm being selfish, Draco thinks I don't understand and you haven't noticed but… I don't wanna lose everyone. I even want Snape to survive…"

"You won't lose everyone."

"In case you haven't noticed he is all I have Harry…"

"You have me…"

"Not really. How often have you paid me any attention this year? Or any years before? I am only your friend now because Draco and Snape are so close and Ron is in a coma."

"Ron's better actually…"

"Well I guess things go back to normal…"

"What do you mean Neville?"

"Well I no longer have Draco and you have Ron back, so I fade into the background. The only interesting thing I ever do is fall over…"

"Neville don't be like that…I guess I never made an effort to get to know you but now we are friends. I promise. And you and Draco are not over. I know this is killing him…"

"How do you know that? Have you seen him?"

"No but I know how happy you make him. I have never seen Draco Malfoy happy at all actually but he cannot stop smiling when he is with you..."

"I just want things to be simple Harry…"

"Impossible. And where's the fun in that?" Harry said, grabbing a pillow and hitting Neville square in the face.

"It's on Potter," smiled Neville, taking the pillow from Dean's unoccupied bed and forceful whacking Harry on the head with it.

After a while, they both collapsed panting on Neville's bed. Both flat on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

"We are friends now yeah?" Harry asked Neville.

"Yes, why?"

"I need to ask you something which may seem kinda odd…"

"Okay…" said Neville, rolling on his side to look at Harry, confused.

"See…God this is embarrassing…But…how long was it before you…slept with Draco?"

Neville coughed and his cheeks darkened.

"And you just assume we have?"

"Neville…I am a virgin not completely naïve…"

"We did it wrong though…"

"What do you mean?"

"We had sex…then became an item…"

"What? I didn't think you were like that…" laughed Harry.

"Me neither…But it was Draco Malfoy and I am Neville Longbottom. You do not say no when the stars are shining on you like that Harry…"

"Did you really like him?"

"Sorta. I had stolen a couple of looks but everyone in the school wants a piece of him. I really didn't think it would work…"

"So what actually happened?" questioned Harry, desperate to know the details.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Harry.

"Well…We had to work together in Herbology and he kept mumbling about what a pointless subject it was and how anyone could do it. But he realised he could not repot a certain plant. So instead of letting him fail I did it for him…" said Neville.

Harry noticed the way light seemed to catch in Neville's eyes and his whole face creased into complete joy when he discussed Draco. His hands moved in an animated fashion as he appeared to juggle the air due to his delight.

"Right?" said Harry eagerly.

"So in a typical and rather disgusting manner, our eyes met over the plant pot and he winked at me," said Neville smiling. " Needless to say I was mortified and the happiest I had ever been all at once but I decided to forget about it, knowing nothing would come of it and convincing myself I probably imagined it…"

"Uh huh…" said Harry.

"But that night after dinner, I was wandering back to the Tower and he grabbed me, pulling me into the shadows and threw himself on me…."

"You did it there?!"

"No…In his room. He has his own private one, it's pretty cool. But really hard to get out of so I don't tend to spend the night there."

"Hard to get out of?"

"Without being noticed by everyone in his house yes…"

"Ahh riiight…"

"So, there you have it. I am cheap."

"You're not cheap," laughed Harry. "I just thought you were so innocent."

"Yeah well, I have to do something with all my spare time. I might have found something I am good at as well, besides herbology."

Harry laughed, savouring these moments with Neville. Strangely he noticed this was the most relaxing conversation he had been part of recently. Every moment had been consumed by worrying about Ron or Draco or in complete blind arousal.

The light, warm conversation had gelled together his melted insides and caused his anger at Severus to dissolve, leaving the bitter taste of guilt as he remembered the irrational and horrible things he had snapped at the disappointed face of his husband.

"Harry?" asked Neville.

"What were you and Severus doing the night Draco was hurt?"

"Well," said Harry, giggling awkwardly.

The end of another chapter.

I really had to sweeten the end of it with a nice little happy conversation between Harry and Neville.

I am not too sure at this precise moment but either the next chapter will be an assault of pure fluff before the lead up to the terrible final battle.

And mean little Severus and nasty little Harry!

Anyway, review pwease ^^

And I really hoped you enjoyed it.