A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back to another fic :) This fic is a good example of "I looked at a prompt, and then this fic wrote itself" XD With a little bit of tweaking, I hope I did this trope justice. After all, a side character in someone else's story is the main character in their own.

This one is for Round 1 of The Houses Competition, where I'm in Slytherin House and writing for Transfiguration. This competition, we have to write a drabble (500-1000 words) as well as a standard (1000-3000 words). This fic is the Drabble of the two. I've chosen the prompt [Dialogue] "Is this your toad?" .

Thank you kindly to Bailey, Ash K, Dhrish, Aya, and Hope for betaing this.

Word Count: 998

Disclaimers/Warnings: N/A

Summary: When Voldemort won, Neville expected to die on his feet, and to join his grandmother in death. But when he opened his eyes, he stood before the Hogwarts Express in first year all over again. Time travel fic with Harmony

"Try Again"

Neville let out the breath he was holding as he got onto the Hogwarts Express. Things had gone so horribly wrong after Voldemort had killed Harry in the forest. Hermione had disappeared within minutes of the announcement of Harry's death, and everyone else had been rounded up and brought before the Dark Lord himself. Many people had been killed personally by him, while others were handed over to the Death Eaters sitting at his heels.

Neville had been dragged forward, and, like a true Gryffindor, had lunged forward with the Sword of Gryffindor still in his hand in the attempt to slay the monster before him.

Green light flashed brightly, and then he suddenly stood in a silent, lightless hall, faint whispering surrounding him.

If he concentrated, he realized he could hear snippets of conversations he'd remembered from all his years at Hogwarts.

"Is this your toad?"

"I-I'll fight you if I have to!"

"Have you heard of Gillyweed?"

The whispering continued, certain phrases repeating themselves over and over again, others fading away, until only one line remained.

"Is this your toad?"

"Trevor!"

He blinked, and suddenly, he stood on Platform 9 ¾ staring at the scarlet steam engine that would take him to school. He felt the claw-like grip his grandmother had on his shoulder and tuned into what she was saying.

"—remember to work hard! Your father excelled in his studies, and I expect you to do the same. Neville, are you listening to me?" she asked, and he could only nod in response, too stunned to react.

"Yes, Grandmother," he replied obediently. She turned him to her to get one last look as the five-minute warning whistle sounded to round up all of the stragglers.

"Do well, my boy. Make me and your parents proud!"

"I will," he promised, and as the Weasleys burst through the barrier, a tiny Ginny clinging to her mother, Neville figured he wasn't dreaming. He really was back in first year. But how did that happen?

His grandmother shooed him onto the train, and Neville began the arduous task of finding a compartment. Thankfully, he found an empty one in the second car he looked in and hoisted his trunk onto the luggage racks. With Trevor cradled in his hands, he absentmindedly wondered if it was worth releasing him in order to stage his first meeting with Hermione, when a knock came at the door. He looked up to find the subject of his thoughts standing in the doorway.

"Hello! Do you mind if we sit with you? You seem nice, and you're clearly a first-year student like us!" she exclaimed with her buck-toothed smile. He was about to agree when her words registered in his mind.

"We?" he asked. A familiar shaggy head of hair popped into the doorway next to her.

"I'm Hermione Potter," she introduced herself with a mischievous smile.

"And I'm Harry Granger," the boy added with a matching smile. Neville, confused, invited them in. Why did they switch last names?

"Oh! Is this your toad?" Hermione asked. She leaned over and picked up Trevor, who had hopped onto right where she was about to sit down. Neville's brow furrowed as she repeated the words that had echoed earlier. Hadn't Hagrid said that to him first year, not her? "Trevor, right?" she continued, and Neville felt himself grow cold, now knowing something was off.

"Hermione?" he asked warily, and she immediately looked abashed. "Hermione, what did I do when you guys went after the Philosopher's Stone?" he asked, and she gave out a little sigh as she silently conjured up an aquarium to put Trevor into. She then turned back to Neville.

"You stood up to us to stop us from going," she replied simply, and Neville sighed in relief. He leaned over and pulled her into a hug.

"It's so good to see you!" he exclaimed before pulling away. He then looked at Harry, and the other boy pulled him into a hug as well. "What's with the name switch?" he then questioned as they all settled in their seats again.

"Oh, well, we figured it was a good way to mess with people. We already encountered Malfoy, and the name switch seemed to throw him off-kilter. He wasn't as vile as he normally was the first time around," Harry explained.

"Think of it as a prank," Hermione added, and Neville stared at her in shock.

"You, Hermione, pranking people?" Neville gasped before swooning exaggeratedly as Hermione giggled. "I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Yes, well," she replied, sticking her nose in the air, her smile ruining the look she was going for. "As I've been told before, I have to 'loosen up' this year, since I've already aced everything anyway. Isn't that right, dear?" Hermione then asked Harry, and he nodded in agreement. Neville wasn't sure when this had happened, but he knew it would have happened eventually.

"Of course! Why stress about something when we already know what will be on the tests and exams? We'll just be reviewing these next few years!" Harry's teasing demeanor then turned serious as he shifted to face Neville once more. "We were told a few people would come back as well but weren't told who. I'm glad one of them is you," Harry said, and Neville looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean come back?"

After a solid half hour of storytelling—about a reaper, a deal to come back to fix past mistakes and save a lot of people, and the conditions to go with it—Neville was still a little shell shocked, but he finally understood. He hadn't been given a chance to relive his life on a whim. He had a mission to help his friends, and as they all sat in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express hurtling towards their first year of Hogwarts again, he vowed to himself he would do better…be better.

He was a true Gryffindor, after all.