Neville well and truly misses Bem Orba.
The smiley, happy kid that he'd known for over six years is dead and buried, his name read out at a memorial service once a year and tossed aside. Neville regrets that but he can't change it.
Bem was a smart kid. A nice kid. He was a Gryffindor in Neville's year, but didn't share his dorm room. Neville hadn't even met him until their second year when Bem had found Neville in the Greenhouse crying.
Bem had sat with him, comforting him, telling him some jokes to make him smile. After that day, they were friends. Not best friends, but friends none the less. Bem joined Dumbledore's Army their fifth year, he helped Neville revise for OWLS. During the reign of the Carrows Bem stood with Neville, Ginny and Luna from the get go. He never wavered in his commitment to the DA.
Bem Orba died right beside Neville. They had both ducked to avoid a curse. Neville remembers the rushing noise, the whizzing of the curse passing centimeters from his ear. He remembers being relived to be alive. He remembers calling out for Bem and then turning to see his friend lying spread eagle on his back, his brown eyes blank and his dark skin somehow ashen.
Sometimes Neville wonders if anything would have been different if Bem had lived and he had died.
He wonders if Bem would have thought of him as often as he thinks of Bem.
Today, on the first anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom has to give a speech. He finds Bem's family in the audience. He wonders if they know how close Bem came to making it. He wonders if they know how close he came to dying. He wonders if they would wish him dead if they knew.
Neville Longbottom well and truly resents Bem Orba for making him wonder if his life was worth it.