Chapter 27

Fred, George and Lee had tried to throw a surprize party for Harry, but Neville wasn't sure it was such a good idea. There was more than enough food and beverages scattered all around the Common Room and the air was thick with stars and sparks from some Filibuster's Fireworks Lee had let off, but it took more than that to make a party. Dean's drawings weren't exactly helping, since he had managed to capture exactly Harry's expression after he had killed the dragon, and it was scary to see. Neville didn't feel comfortable looking at the dragon's dead yellow eyes either, nor at Cedric with his head on fire. It had all been too horrible, how could anyone think it was a good moment for a party? Surely Harry would not want to celebrate.

Neville knew that he had been right when Harry finally walked into the Common Room and his eyes went wide with horror. A few people cheered in welcome, but more kept quiet, and the Common Room went completely silent when it became obvious that Harry wasn't in a festive mood at all. He had frozen at the sight of Dean's banners, and Neville could see his knuckles turning white from the strength with which he was gripping his wand.

"Take those off!" hissed Hermione angrily at the twins. "What were you thinking?"

Fred and George looked uncertain and a little guilty.

"We just figured Harry might need some cheering up," said one defensively.

"Yeah, it was completely unfair that he didn't get a score!"

"You're a bunch of insensitive prats!" exclaimed Hermione. "Harry isn't in the mood for celebrating, don't you see?"

"It's all right, Hermione," said Harry, speaking for the first time and trying to smile. He didn't quite manage. "It's not a big deal, let them celebrate if they want to."

"See, Hermione?" said Fred smugly, "Harry isn't such a killjoy as you are."

"And he really needs to lighten up. Come, Harry!"

Neville was more inclined to think that Harry needed to be left alone, but maybe George was right. Maybe Harry needed to be surrounded by people now, by friends. He looked around in search of Ron, but didn't see him anywhere. Were they still fighting? Could Ron still believe that Harry wanted this? Weren't friends supposed to believe each other, and be there no matter what? Neville didn't understand Ron at all.

Once Dean had taken down the banners Harry seemed to relax a little. He still looked sort of absent, and really pale, but at least he had taken a seat and wasn't pointing his wand at anyone. Hermione was trying to get him to eat something, which was tricky since Harry refused to let go of the golden egg or his wand. Neville decided that what he really needed was a shower and a change of clothes, since he smelled of sweat and smoke, and his robes were all burnt or torn. Harry didn't seem to be aware of his messy state, however.

Hermione finally gave up in her attempt to make Harry put the egg down, but at least she managed to get him put his wand away, which made everyone feel safer. Now people were talking about the egg, which apparently was a clue to the second task.

"Well, why don't you open it, Harry?" said Lee, just as curious as everyone else. "Let's see what's inside it!"

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," argued Hermione.

"They won't be able to help me anyway," said Harry bitterly.

Neville was about to ask what he meant by that when Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around the egg and prised it open. It was hollow and completely empty, but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screeching wailing, filled the room. Neville felt his blood ran cold. It was like being in Moody's class again watching the spider being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse, only much worse. That sound... it resonated inside him in a familiar way, putting the hairs on his neck on end and making his heart accelerate. Neville had had nightmares with a similar screech countless times. It was like he imagined his parents must have sounded when they were being tortured to insanity.

He was relieved when Harry closed the egg at Fred's loud request. Only then did he realize that he had spilled sausage rolls all over the floor, but he didn't care about that. He was staring at Harry in horror. Would they use the Cruciatus on him in the next task? Was there even a way to fight it? If someone could, it must be Harry, but Neville couldn't stand the idea of him going through that. He tried to warn Harry about it, but found that he couldn't say the words. That was odd.

Seamus was also looking at Harry as if he wanted to say something, and several other people too, but the Common Room remained silent.

"See?" exclaimed Harry, jumping to his feet. "None of you can even give me advice, how great is that?"

He stormed off before anyone could think of something to say, and a moment later he had disappeared up the stairs that led to their dormitory. Everyone stared at each other in confusion. Hermione sighed.

"It seems like the Goblet prevents Harry from being helped," she explained. "Apparently cheating is not only forbidden, but impossible. He'll have to figure out the clue on his own."

"Sounded like a banshee," said Seamus. "Maybe he'll have to get past one of those next?"

"It was someone being tortured," whispered Neville, still feeling sick. "I think he's going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse."

"Don't be daft, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions, didn't you hear what Dumbledore said today?"

"It sounded like Mermaids," said Lee. "I once saw Hagrid talking to them by the shore, and they made those horrible sounds."

Dean laughed.

"Mermaids are supposed to have beautiful voices! Wait... are there Mermaids in the lake?"

"Lots of them," pitched in a seventh year whose name Neville couldn't remember. "And I agree with Lee, the egg sounded like Mermaids. Their voices are only beautiful under water. And their singing is supposed to be really dangerous..."

Hermione was looking more concerned by the moment, and Ginny seemed to be trying not to cry again, but Neville felt relieved to know that all the wailing had not been someone being tortured, apparently. He was confident that Harry could handle a bunch of Mermaids without trouble. They couldn't be more dangerous than a dragon or a basilisk, right?

He missed the rest of the conversation because he suddenly turned into some sort of large feathered creature. He panicked, but then Fred laughed and explained that Canary Creams were just prank products they had invented, and that it would wear off in a minute. Neville really should learn to mistrust anything offered by the twins. He tried to laugh with the rest of them once all the feathers had fallen off and he was back to normal, but tonight it felt harder than usual to go along with any sort of jokes. At least they hadn't pulled that prank on Harry, he thought as he excused himself and went up to the dorm to make sure Harry had not drowned in the shower or something like that.

He found Harry sitting on his bed and staring at a tiny dragon that was flapping its wings on Harry's night table. Maybe they had given it to him as a memento? Neville thought it looked cute, but didn't say it out loud just in case. He actually didn't know how Harry could stand to look at the model after having faced and killed the real-sized creature.

"Hum... Harry? Are you... all right?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm fine, Neville," said Harry. He didn't sound angry anymore, just sad.

"Maybe you could use a shower," Neville suggested.

It seemed to take Harry a minute to process his words, but eventually he looked down at his clothes.

"Right. Good idea, Neville. I thought I kept smelling smoke."

Neville laid down on his bed to read one of the books Sprout had lent him while Harry showered. He began to worry when at least half an hour went by and the water was still running, but before he could decide to go check on Harry the shower finally stopped and a few minutes later Harry emerged from the bathroom looking sort of new. He immediately went to bed, but he didn't close the hangings. Neville realized he was staring again at the tiny dragon, which had curled up and seemed to be sleeping.

"Was it awful?" whispered Neville after a few minutes.

He heard Harry sigh.

"Yeah, Neville, it was."

Neville had had the habit of hanging out with whoever tolerated him, or else being alone, but after the first task he felt like he should stay close to Harry. Hermione couldn't always watch him, since she had different subjects and couldn't get into the boy's bathrooms, and also she divided her free time between Harry and Ron. As to Ron, he was still hanging out with Dean and Seamus most of the time. That sort of left Neville with the responsibility of making sure that Harry didn't run into a wall or fell from a moving stair or was ambushed by Slytherins in the bathrooms. Normally Harry was far better than Neville at avoiding all those dangers, but Harry hadn't been himself since the dragon, and Hermione said that they had to keep an eye on him until he snapped out of the shock. It wasn't that hard, since Harry would go anywhere they guided him to, and do whatever Neville or Hermione told him to do, but it forced Neville to be far more careful than usual. He felt terrible when only a few days after the first task Harry got stuck in a vanishing step that Neville forgot to make him jump. From then on he began making an extra effort to pay attention. It wasn't the same to get stuck himself (he was useless, after all) than to let Harry get stuck when Neville was supposed to be keeping an eye on him.

Since Neville would not be of any use against bullies, it was good that most people were avoiding Harry, even the Slytherins. It seemed like they were afraid of him, and Neville thought they had good reason for it. Harry was still on high alert most of the time, drawing his wand at anyone who startled him and looking at them just like he had looked at the dead dragon. Neville was a bit scared himself, but he trusted that Harry would not harm him, not once he realized who he was (although just in case he was careful not to startle him).

He didn't mind taking care of Harry, but he thought Ron should be the one doing it. Hermione had said that Ron didn't really believe that Harry had willingly put his name in the Goblet, so Neville was confused. Hermione had also said that Ron had tried to apologize after the first task, but Harry had not reacted well, and so now Ron was offended and was expecting Harry to apologize to him for whatever had happened then. That was silly, in Neville's opinion. Harry wasn't himself, how could Ron expect anything from him? Probably Harry hadn't even noticed Ron's attempt to apologize. He didn't notice much these days.

The teachers also seemed to be worried about Harry and being more patient than usual with him. Professor Sprout wasn't allowing him near any dangerous plants, and Professor Grubbly Plank simply made Harry sit some distance away and watch. Even Professor Snape had forbidden him to brew any potions, instead assigning him the task of harvesting and purifying Flobberworm Mucus the entire class. Snape had been very cruel at that, and all the Slytherins had laughed, but Harry didn't seem to notice the humiliation and Neville thought it was actually wise not to let him brew potions. He was also relieved, because if he had had to keep an eye on Harry during Potions class he might have forgotten to count three times and three times again in everything he did, and then Snape might have changed his mind about not disemboweling Trevor.

It was more complicated to watch over Harry when he slept. He was having nightmares every night now, waking them all with his screams. Neville had tried to shake him awake the first time, but Harry had almost hexed him by reflex. Apparently he slept with his wand under his pillow now, and since he didn't see much without his glasses it had become really dangerous to approach him while he was asleep. Everyone in the dormitory had decided that it was not worth the risk of waking him up, so they just let him alone with his nightmares. The third night after the first task, however, a Prefect told McGonagall about the screams. She came dressed in her night gown and frowned at Harry for an entire minute before turning around and leaving without saying a word. They had all almost fallen asleep again when she returned followed by Snape, to everyone's horror. He was completely dressed in his usual black robes, as if he had never gone to bed, but he was cranky like a person whose sleep has just been interrupted for the worst of reasons. Snape glanced at everything red and golden with obvious dislike, and at Harry with special irritation in his black eyes.

The man might not want to be there at all nor to help Harry, but he ended up doing it. Neville figured it must be one of his obligations as Hogwarts' Potions master. Snape forced Harry to drink a potion to sleep without dreams, and gave him three more phials for three more nights, making very clear that after he ran out of phials he would have to find another way of dealing with the nightmares. Then he threatened everyone present with detention for life if they ever mentioned that he had been inside Gryffindor Tower and went away. Neville would never dare to disobey Professor Snape, especially when he sounded so dangerous, but he could see that Ron and Seamus intended to tell everyone first thing in the morning. Until McGonagall made the same threat, that is. She could be scarier than Snape sometimes. Neville wondered if his Boggart would have continued changing shapes to show him all the people he was afraid of if he hadn't managed to banish it at the first try.

Being able to sleep through the night for a few days did Harry a world of good. He was slowly becoming himself again, being more present, less jumpy. The nightmares came back when Harry ran out of sleep phials, but he no longer screamed (not always, at least), and he seemed to be managing to sleep several hours in a row every night.

It was also Snape who, in a way, helped Harry to finally snap out of his shock completely. He did it by insulting Harry in so many horrible ways during one Potions class that Harry's temper finally flared. It cost Gryffindor thirty points, but Neville was glad of seeing Harry back to normal. Or as normal as he could be considering everything.

Overcome the shock, it came the anger. Now Harry was always in a bad mood. It didn't help that Rita Skeeter published an article about the first task that made Harry look like a dangerous dark wizard. After that people avoided him in the hallways very much like they had a few years back when everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin. And Harry glaring angrily at everyone sort of reinforced the general fear. Neville knew that Harry's anger was mostly fear and frustration because no one could help him. Sometimes Neville felt afraid and frustrated as well, because it was true that no one could help him. He had already tried to tell him about the possible Mermaids, but the words had stuck in his throat. Hermione said that he shouldn't worry, that Harry would figure it out on his own, but she didn't look very convinced.

Now that Harry was better he no longer needed anyone to keep an eye on him, but Neville had grown used to go everywhere with him, and Harry didn't seem to mind, so Neville continued hanging out with him and Hermione. He preferred their company over that of Ron, Seamus and Dean, who were sometimes mean. Harry might not pay much attention to Neville, but he was nice and always came to his defence when someone bullied him.

To Neville's disbelief, Harry also hadn't yet managed to master the Summoning Charm, although in his case no doubt it wasn't because he was generally useless but because he had been so distracted by the Tournament since Halloween. Flitwick kept giving both of them extra homework about it, and had suggested them to try to help each other. Of course no one could help Harry not even with homework, but apparently Harry could help others, and so he had ended up helping Neville and accidentally learning the charm himself.

Slowly, things calmed down and they fell into a peaceful routine. Since Hermione was now Harry's only friend, he spent a lot of time in the library with her. And Neville hanged with them, hoping they would not send him away. It was actually kind of nice, even if Harry was always grumpy. Neville felt sorry for him, and he also privately felt relieved that it wasn't Neville in that horrible situation. He definitely would not have survived that dragon, and he also would not be able to survive school without Hermione's help.

Harry was miserable, but he was managing well enough. Clearly he could kill things, so he must have a chance of surviving the Tournament. And he wasn't stupid like Neville, so he could study and do his homework on his own even if it was a struggle for him sometimes.

Neville wasn't sure how to feel when one of those days Hermione came to find Harry in the library and dragged them both down to the kitchens to meet the House Elves. Until that moment, he had forgotten that hanging out with Harry usually meant to get into trouble. Even Hermione was up to breaking rules sometimes, despite her usual uptightness. Neville couldn't help remembering that time in first year when he got detention in the Forbidden Forest for trying to warn them about Malfoy and the fake dragon, and that other time when Hermione had hexed him for trying to stop them from breaking more rules. After that he had tried to stay out of whatever trouble they got into, but here he was now again. Students weren't allowed in the kitchens, and they really shouldn't be distracting the Elves when they were busy making dinner. He was also certain that his gran would forbid him to go anywhere near that crazy House Elf.

He realized in shock that for the first time he had been included in one of Harry's adventures. It felt wrong, since it was usually Ron who did these things with Harry and Hermione. And Neville didn't feel comfortable breaking rules. He wasn't like them. He wasn't brave, and he definitely was too afraid of getting caught. He wasn't really a Gryffindor.

It felt nice to be included, but Neville's life was already too hard without being dragged to Harry's crazy adventures.

So in the end he mumbled an excuse and abandoned the kitchens before he could get into trouble. Hopefully Harry and Hermione would still allow him to hang with them in the library even if he was a coward.