Team: Wigtown Wanderers

Position: Beater Two

Prompt: Mediocrity

Bonus Prompts: (setting) Room of Requirement; (animal) swan

Word Count: 2009

Warnings: Character with low self-esteem

Ordinary Happiness

Neville paced quickly in front of the blank expanse of stone. I need a place to practice, he thought, screwing his face in concentration. I need a place to practice.

After a few passes, the familiar door appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Glancing around to make sure he didn't have an audience, Neville ducked inside. The usual pillows and dummies lined the edge of the room, ready and waiting for a member of Dumbledore's Army. The air here felt warmer than the rest of the drafty chambers in the castle—almost as if the room was trying to bolster his spirits. This iteration of the room was smaller than usual, too, but that didn't really matter. Neville only needed enough space for one.

Harry said that, in order to be effective, the Patronus Charm required the caster to draw upon a single, very happy memory. Neville had tried several different memories over the course of the DA meetings, but he hadn't been able to produce even a small spit of silvery mist.

He refused to give up, though. This was his big chance. If he could figure out how to cast a corporeal Patronus before the end of the school year, maybe Gran would finally be proud of him. She loved him, of course, but it wasn't the same as being proud of him. He would finally prove to her that he wasn't the most mediocre wizard in the family.

He just had to choose the right memory. Neville took a moment to center himself and tried to remember the moments he'd felt happiest.

He'd heard Seamus and Dean talking about their happiest memories—Seamus' was seeing Gryffindor win the Cup during First Year, Dean's was learning that he was a wizard—but Neville had always belonged to the magical world, and England hadn't won the World Cup in ages. Still, he could try something in a similar vein. Maybe the memory of being sorted into Gryffindor, just like his father…

"Yeah, that could work," he muttered to an empty room.

Raising his wand, Neville summoned the memory of the hat falling down over his eyes and digging through his head. He closed his eyes, waiting for the surge of pride and relief that followed the cry, "Gryffindor!", then…

"Expecto Patronum!"

Neville's nerves tingled as he hoped for something, anything to emerge from the tip of his wand. He thought he might have seen a wisp of silver, but he wasn't sure. He pulled a bar of Honeydukes Best from his pocket, took a large bite, and chewed thoughtfully.

He could try taking a page from his teachers' book. Neville had no idea what memory Harry would be drawing from, but he assumed Hermione's happy memory was related to the thing she was most proud of: academics.

Neville knew he was a rather lackluster student in every subject except Herbology, which Gran said was a waste of time. Still, he racked his brain for his best moment in that class. There was always Third Year, when he earned the same marks as Hermione on their final exam…

Drawing on that feeling of accomplishment, Neville raised his wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

It felt so right that, for a split second, Neville actually held some hope that he would finally be able to cast the spell. A heartbeat later, his wand dropped to his side, and his heart followed suit.

Neville scrubbed a hand down his face and fought back the urge to scream. Why couldn't he get this right? Why wasn't his memory good enough? Why wasn't he—

The door behind him opened with a creak, and Neville froze.

"Oh, I'm sorry," came a soft, feminine voice. "I didn't think anyone else would be here. I'll just…"

He turned to see a red-faced Cho Chang reaching for the doorknob.

"You don't have to leave!" he blurted out. He felt all the blood in his body rush to his cheeks. What in Merlin's name possessed him to do that?

Cho raised an eyebrow at him.

Before he could actually follow through on his wish to disappear, a thought popped into Neville's head. "What I mean to say is, uh, maybe we could practice together? I assume you're here to work on the Patronus as well."

Cho nodded slowly. "I can produce a corporeal one, but I can't do it on a consistent basis. I need to be able to do it flawlessly. Ravenclaw standards and all."

Neville thought the need to perfect the charm was more rooted in her desire to impress Harry than in her house pride, but he didn't care. He had someone else to help him practice. He nodded and retreated to one half of the room, which now seemed just a few feet larger.

Cho strode to the other end of the room and raised her wand. With a determined look on her face, she firmly said, "Expecto Patronum."

The mist emanating from her wand hesitated for a moment before coalescing into a large silvery swan that floated gracefully around the room. Neville's heart felt a little lighter than it had since entering the room, and he almost didn't notice the flare of jealousy in his stomach.

She smiled at him, confidence gracing her features. "Your turn."

Neville scrambled to find another happy memory to try. There was that time he actually got good marks on a brewing assignment in Potions, or the time that—

Cho's voice cut through the fog of Neville's thoughts. "Having trouble picking a memory?"

"Uh, yeah." Suddenly the cracks in the floor were quite interesting. "I've tried a lot of different ones, but I can't seem to find one that works for me."

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly snapped it shut. Instead, she considered him for a long moment.

"Tell me about the ones that didn't work."

Neville's eyes widened. How was reliving all the times he failed supposed to help?

Before he could object, she said, "Just trust me."

Maybe there was something to divination after all.

Neville dutifully went through the list of memories that had failed him, and he could practically see Cho taking notes in her head.

"Okay, I can work with that. Just one more question, though. Why are you working so hard at this? There's no shame in not being able to form mist, let alone a corporeal Patronus. A lot of witches and wizards, including other people in the DA, can't produce anything."

He studied her intently, searching for any trace of guile. He was hesitant to trust a girl he didn't really know with such a painful truth, but something in her eyes assured him she was absolutely sincere. Neville took a deep, steadying breath. "Because I'm tired of being the butt of every joke. I'm tired of the fear that I'll never live up to expectations. I'm tired of everyone I know, from Malfoy to my Gran, thinking I'm a mediocre wizard.

Cho barked a short, harsh laugh, and a chill ran down Neville's spine.

She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes and immediately waved it away. "I'm not laughing at you, per se. I'm just remembering. Do you know what the definition of mediocre is, Neville?"

"It means you're pants at everything."

Cho shook her head, her long black hair rippling with a lightness he didn't feel. "Mediocre, in its truest sense, means average. Of moderate quality or ability. Fair, middling, ordinary. And there's nothing wrong with being normal, you know. It's only an insult if you're trying to be better than everyone else."

"But how—"

"It's a lesson every Ravenclaw has to learn at some point. No matter how good you are at something, you can't be the best at everything. Though when I consider the people you have classes with, I can understand how you missed it. Obviously Granger is an exception to the rule—"

Neville did his best not to smile at the jealousy and note of grudging respect in Cho's voice.

"—and it's hard to see past Harry's extraordinary abilities. Even Weasley has his moments of brilliance. I swear, it's like those three don't even have to ask or try for it." Cho waved that thought away. "But the rest of us? We all exist as a lesser deviation from the norm, each with varying potential to achieve greatness. But I'd say you have a pretty good shot at being exceptional as well."

"Me?" Neville squeaked.

"Of course," Cho scoffed. "Everyone knows you're second only to Granger in Herbology. You work so hard every meeting that one might think you're a Hufflepuff, except we all remember the story of how you stood up to Harry, Granger, and Weasley in your First Year, which took a lot of guts even then. So no, you're not the Boy Who Lived or one of his sidekicks, who've had this mantle of greatness thrust upon them. None of us are. For the most part, the rest of us are ordinary, average, mediocre. We have to be in order to give the word exceptional any kind of meaning. But that doesn't mean mediocre is bad, and it doesn't mean that you're mediocre at everything."

Neville staggered back a step, trying to wrap his mind around what Cho was telling him. "What are you saying? That I'm normal and that's okay?"

"Yes," Cho said slowly. "Now let's apply that line of thought to our current endeavor."

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't keep the look of confusion off his face.

She took a deep, calming breath and looked him square in the eye. "I guess I'll just spell it out for you. What I'm saying is that you don't have to prove anything. Try to master the charm because you want to, not because you feel like you have to do it to make someone else proud. That's the problem with your memories you know."

Neville's train of thought took a hard left, leaving his mind reeling. He remembered why he had such a difficult time talking to Ravenclaws now. So many logical leaps, so few explanations. "I don't understand."

"Damn it. Think! What did all your memories have in common?"

"They…" Neville chewed his lip. "I achieved something in all of them. That's why I was happy."

"You weren't feeling happy," Cho argued. "You were feeling proud or relieved, like you were finally living up to the standards someone else had set. Your magic knows the difference, which is why I think your charm wasn't working. This time, I want you to think of a memory where you aren't trying to be something or someone. Just think of a time that you were actually really happy."

Neville raised his wand, but Cho gently pushed his hand down.

"Let me cast one first. It's easier to produce something if you're already feeling the effects of someone else's Patronus."

With that, Cho recited the incantation, looking quite pleased with herself when a fully formed swan floated out of her wand.

The swan swam circles around Neville, filling him with peace and joy. When the swan dissipated, Neville pulled out his bar of Honeydukes Best and offered Cho a square, which she took gratefully.

Licking the corner of her mouth, Cho said, "Alright, Neville, you're up. Take a deep breath and think happy thoughts."

Neville considered the things that made him happiest and, in a stroke of rebelliousness, decided not to choose a single, very happy memory like Harry said. Instead, he focused on the feeling of being in the greenhouse early on a Sunday, listening to the rain plink off the glass panels as he dug merrily in the dirt. The thought wouldn't be special to anyone else, but to him it was pure joy.

With a slight smile on his lips, Neville raised his wand and murmured, "Expecto Patronum."

To his delight, a good sized stream of mist poured from the tip of his wand. It wasn't the fully formed animal he'd first hoped for, but it was a very good start. He knew he would continue to practice, of course, but only because he wanted to. After today, Neville felt a little less pressure to be anything other than his happy, ordinary, mediocre self.