"Okay piece by piece let's go over this one more time." Cedric seemed remarkably cool, but Neville was exhausted and while Hermione continued to pace and nigh-constantly pull books from the shelves, she was moving more slowly than usual and the explosive frizziness of her hair in first year had returned.

"'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.' Not the one who WILL, but who has the power to. Approaches; could mean born, could mean steps up."

"Born to three defiances," Cedric continued. "This bit seems like it could mean many different things. I know Professor Potter and her husband survived three encounters with Voldemort before the night he died. It could mean something like that."

"'Born as the seventh month dies' seems straightforward, but..."

Cedric eyed Neville warily.

"But who would believe that I was prophecied to defeat Voldemort? Besides, it could be someone born long ago who only resolved to fight then, like the Headmaster or the defense professor. Or someone like Barty Crouch who had the power but failed and died."

"Neville." Hermione leaned over the table to look him straight in the eye. "Cedric and I are the top students in the entire school. You're here because the Headmaster and Professor Potter believe in you. You need to know that you can live up to that! You're going to be a great wizard, not just some day, but some day soon. You're making the most progress on the animagus exercises, you were one of the first students to produce a corporeal patronus and THE first to produce a shield, and you can't keep pinning your progress on our busier class schedules. Not with all the essays she keeps making you write!"

Neville felt more awake than he had for hours, but only because he was terrified.

Hermione stopped for breath, and there was a moment of silence before Cedric started to speak.

"Hermione might be a bit... scary about it, but she's right-"

"No. It's not that, I know she's right, but it's not her I'm scared of." Neville took a deep breath.

"If I was chosen, that means I have to fight the dark lord. 'Either must die at the hand of the other.' And it means it's all on me; all this responsibility."

"Neville..." Hermione tried to interject.

"It doesn't say 'Someone with the power...' it says 'THE one with the power to vanquish the dark lord'! That means it is JUST ME. I'm the ONLY one who can do it, and there's no one else..."

"NEVILLE!" Hermione slapped him this time.

"You aren't going to be alone for this! Even if you face the Dark Lord, you won' be doing it alone. You'll be doing it with US!"

Cedric nodded. "We've talked about dozens of ideas for 'his power will be Unknown,' and while a late bloomer like you fits the bill, so do secrets, friendships, and obscure families like mine and Hermione's. If anything makes the exclusion from this table of Fred, George, Luna, and Susan, it is that they come from famous pure-blood families! Lily didn't just bring us here because of our minds, she brought us here because she knew we could stay by your side."

Neville looked away, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"It's late, we should get back to our dorms."

"Fair point, Neville." Cedric agreed. "Hermione, I trust you'll let him get enough sleep? It's 3 O'clock, he'll need some more time before breakfast."

A few rows of bookshelves away, a student with platinum blonde hair sat alone, thinking, now that the listening was done.

Professor Potter was right, he had been convinced that he needed to lead a lesson for the deputies on secrecy and protective charms.

But what did she hope to gain from having him overhear her plans for the prophecy?

Did she expect him to foil their plans, or join them? Would she be happier with what she expected him to do, or if he broke form?

And what was it that HE could gain from this situation? Warn Voldemort that a 14-year-old with terrible marks was after him, alongside a mudblood and a Hufflepuff?

Or let an unknown threat to the Dark Lord grow unchecked?

And another lesson sinking in; it is incredibly difficult to fight an intelligent opponent.

At least he was learning a lot in defense class.