Harry Potter: The Rise Chapter 25: An Awakening, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 25 : An Awakening

I do not own Harry Potter

Author's Notes :

1) Yes, the 1), 2), 3) thing is back.

2) I am considering a pairing for Sirius.

2a) I know Amelia Bones, for one, is a popular choice on this forum.

2b) Hestia Jones is another name I've seen pop up every now and then, she's a pretty obscure character mentioned only in passing, though I suppose that's the advantage, gives me a bit of creative room to work on her character without making it OOC. I've noticed people feel put off if my characters behave in a manner too 'un-canon', so that's a plus point with her.

2c) Marlene McKinnon has popped up a couple of times, though I'd have to cook up some reason as to why she's not been around, considering the McKinnon's were supposedly 'wiped out' in the last war.

2d) An OC is also something I'd consider, though I don't have a premise for that. Maybe she can be Sirius' psychiatrist/Mind Healer he later dates? Idk this is just something I thought as I'm writing this note

2e) As always, any other suggestion my readers make, I'll mull over them.

3) DUELING TOURNAMENTS ARE ON THE HORIZON. I plan on including it either as part of the TriWizard, or an international dueling tournament in the summer before Year 4 (though perhaps BOTH, or contrarily NEITHER are also options). Once again, I'll wait for what you guys want to see before I finalize it.

4) Are Polls bugged for everyone? For the life of me I can't figure out how to post one.

"Happy birthday, Grandfather" Sirius smiled reminiscently, taking a shot of the Ogden's he'd asked Harry to smuggle.

"It's Arcturus' birthday?" questioned his rum-runner

"Yeah, 14 years without him today" sighed the Marauder, staring at the ceiling as he fell back onto a couch.

The Chamber had been made quite homely since the start of the year, even featuring a small bedroom on the side where Sirius, now a permanent, at least till the holidays, slept.

It was just the two of them right now. Harry had not activated the stone, wanting to talk to Sirius alone for a little bit, and Salazar had asked to be moved back into his study, citing something 'extraordinarily temporal'.

On that note, he'd sparsely taught Harry in the last week or so, and that too mostly in his office, coming out only a handful of times, such as when they were viewing the memory from Harry's meet with Ragnok.

"You two were close, right?" began Harry, noting the downcast demeanor his godfather was sporting "He even made you-"

"-his heir" Sirius completed for him, before sighing "A son preceding a living father to the Lordship... first time it had happened in our family for a 150 years" he continued monotonously "he had such high hopes"

"Come on, Padfoot, you-"

"-did fine? did all I could?" he scoffed "I got myself sucker punched and locked in prison. I lost 12 years, you lost your childhood..."

"You're here now, aren't you?" his heir reasoned

Sirius chuckled humorlessly "And that makes it all better?"

"Yeah" Harry replied simply, plucking Sirius' eyes away from the rocks he'd been finding so interesting, and towards Harry "Yeah, it does. At least for me"

Sirius smiled genuinely this time, sitting up, and gesturing the boy to join him, who readily walked over.

Gripping his hand, Sirius continued "I've always thought of you as my own, and always will. However, its not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me". Harry opened his mouth to protest, but kept mum as Sirius held up his hand, pleading him not to speak. "No, this is something that's absolutely true, not just for me, but for everyone... That Halloween, I lost my brother, and you became the single most important thing in my life. But we look back at what actually happened, and one could be forgiven for not thinking that. James and his family did so much for me, and all he ever asked was one thing - your safety, yet I pawned it off and went after revenge. My anger, my arrogance, clouded my reason and I made a mistake that robbed both of us of so much. I failed you, I failed your parents, and my grandfather. I should have been on the Wizengamot, helping steer my country though the turbulent times, ensuring its prosperity like my ancestors before me, and most of all... raising my son with the utmost love and devotion... and I failed... everyone"

Sirius began trembling. At first, Harry wasn't alarmed.

But then he started heaving as if he were suffocating, his body twitching involuntarily as he sturggled to draw breath

"Sirius?!"

Unable to speak, he indicated Harry towards the Potions workstation - a large flask of an unknown concoction at the center of the table. Understanding what it meant, he rushed and brought it over to where they were seated.

Sirius spat out the first sip, unable to swallow, still twitching heavily.

Harry tried again, this time with a small sip, barely a few drops

Sirius swallowed with an audible gulp.

'Thank Merlin!' the Gryffindor said inwardly, and steadily began downing the entire portion into the Animagus' mouth. With successive sips, Sirius seemed able to ingest larger amounts. By the time the last quarter came around, he grabbed the container himself and gulped it in one go.

Immediately, he dropped the flask (which was thankfully charmed to be tougher than ordinary), and slumped back, catching his breath.

"It's ok, it's ok... I've got my breath back" he reassured a worried Harry, as he gradually stopped shaking. "I-I had a panic attack, Harry... nothing dangerous, don't worry" he added between huffs. And in what the avian animagus guessed was an effect of the potion, Padfoot was back to normal shortly after.

"I've been having them ever since I escaped." Sirius began explaining "Solitary confinement, barely any food, then a dementor showing right in front of my cell every few days and making me relive my worst memories... Azkaban messed me up kid."

"Are they always this..." Harry paused, thinking of the correct word

"Scary?" offered his godfather "Yeah"

"And the potion?"

"Been brewing it ever since I started staying down here. Saw the ingredients in one of the books down here"

"Is that why you wanted to brew the potions yourself?" asked Harry, referring to the potions regimen Sirius had been put on to help him recover.

"No, well not only... I wanted to keep myself busy... what is there for me to do anyway?". Much to the disappointment of both, and for unknown reasons, Harry seemed to be the only one able to activate the Resurrection Stone.

"You should see a psychiatrist, Sirius" implored Harry

Sirius grunted in reply.

A fluttering of wings diverted their attention - Hedwig, who'd apparently found a way through the pipes somewhere.

The snowy owl, carrying what looked like a somewhat heavy package, perched on one of Harry's shoulders, dropping the cargo on the coffee table in front of her master.

"Better hope there wasn't anything fragile in there, girl" joked Harry with a chortle, affectionately stroking her feathers

Once satisfied with the amount of attention, she flew over to her stand, looking forward to a nap, or that's what Harry could deduce from her body language and the absence of the usual glow in her amber orbs.

"Gringotts!" exclaimed Sirius, putting his finger under the seal on the package "...You think?"

"I hope so" responded Harry, opening the standard shipment wrapping.

Peering inside, he found one, no, two envelopes placed one below the other. Removing them, he looked back inside, instantly breaking into a wide smile

"I'm guessing Slytherin's random items aren't the only things inside?" asked Padfoot, grinning himself

Harry simply pulled out a golden pendant. A picture was worth a thousand words, after all.

A few moments later

"Marvelous" commented Salazar, inspecting the trinket. The circular festoon was carved with several, small, intricate patterns along its boundary, with an hourglass-like object attached by 4 joints along the circumference. "What else?"

"The things you asked for, a little something I asked for, and two letters. One of them's just my account statement and profit/loss if I liquidated my investments right now" Harry paused "The other is from Ragnok" he ended with a pensive look. Obviously he'd given him the time-turner, but still...

"Well we wouldn't know what he wants till we read it" said James, sporting an expression striking similar to his son's.

Harry nodded and began to read aloud

Harry,

Nearly a thousand years ago, Myrddin, or, Merlin, as you might call him in common parlance, was allowed to bend the laws of time and join the Summit at Ben Nevis. He went on to prevent a conflict many claimed the outbreak of which would have ravaged the world, both ours and the non-magical. I have come to believe the circumstances we are in today are no less urgent.

There is one condition I would like to place, however. You must use it only for the sole purpose you requested - to train. Tempting as it may seem, you mustn't use it to alter fate, yours or otherwise. It is not the place of us mortals to determine destiny. Perhaps one day I can justify my beliefs to you, but I cannot change them. Such is the burden of one who inherits a legacy, it is something greater than them.

Otherwise, the crown-jewel of the craftsmanship of my ancestors is for your perusal. I shall pray for you to emerge victorious.

May your steel carve both your enemies, and your place in history,

Ragnok VIIth

"The locket does not leave this Chamber, I hope we are all in agreement?" announced Salazar, pausing till he received some form of affirmation from the rest. "Good. Secrecy on this matter is not just important, it is essential... Now, to the way forward. I wish for Harry repeat the entire day. 24 hours of regular life, then 24 hours here."

"That's... not as crazy as you'd think" remarked Harry "Honestly, I've been burning the candle at both ends, and I'm absolutely knackered. I can go about my regular day then come down here and go back in time. We'll have more time to teach me, I'll have more time to spend with everyone, and my sleep schedule won't have to change"

"A second chance for all of us" whispered a smiling Lily

"By the way, get ready to be absolutely bored to death in class, you're going pull light-years ahead" inserted James

"I also wish you do another set of rituals" inserted Salazar

"Rituals?! But you said it was too risky!"

"It was, which is why I've been spending the last week making absolutely sure nothing goes wrong"

"So that was why you had me doing all that bloody Arithmancy!" interjected Sirius

"While I could get the library to function to allow me to read, the calculations were too lengthy for me to be able to do mentally"

"Yeah, I noticed!"

"Stop whining, it wasn't that hard" dismissed Salazar "2 more sets, bringing you up to a total of 21. A ritual every 7th day. I've made sure they balance out and not damage you, physically or mentally."

"But something's bound to change, is it not?" questioned a curious Lily

"Naturally, maybe even some shifts in personality. But rest assured, he will not go insane like Riddle, again, I have made sure of that. Ingredients for the first ritual should be in the package that arrived today... we'll order the rest in inconspicuous shipments as we go along."

Rituals.

Though Harry was still apprehensive of them, considering how dangerous a botched ritual could be, he trusted Salazar's work. And as much as this practice could be considered objectionable, he really wasn't in a position to choose. He had to make use every trick in the book, such was the challenge that awaited him.

"I'm in"

"Excellent, the first ritual is a few days away, we have plenty of time to prepare... For now, let's get you started on the Duro spell, I wish to teach you some Battle Transfiguration next year, so it's imperative you master these basics. Right, so 'Duro', derived from the Latin..." and with that began Harry's lesson, Salazar diving into his lecture as a blackboard prepared with the help of the resident Marauder was levitated in front of the student. James and Lily vanished for the time being, while Sirius went up to the library for the time being, wanting to keep his mind occupied.

Same morning, in the Slytherin Common Room

"Daphne" Draco Malfoy greeted with a hint of annoyance in his tone, as he made his way over to where his supposed future-wife was seated.

'I was wondering when this conversation was going to happen'

"Malfoy" she answered stiffly, not looking up from the Potions essay she was working on

"You seem to have forgotten what is expected from a woman of your station" he sneered

"Is that so?" she answered, still not looking at him

Apparently this was enough to trigger the boy's fragile ego'. "Alright you bitch, you better listen!" he hissed angrily, grabbing Daphne's arm.

The girl's instinct was to slap the ponce for touching her, but she fought it down.

She still had a ruse to maintain, after all.

Slowly rising up, she faced the 'ferret', as Ha- Potter's friends called him.

"You seem to have forgotten its YOU who needs me, not the other way round! There's no shortage of brides on the market for me, but rest assured, I am the only option for you!"

Daphne on her part, pretended as if she'd made a mistake - a jolt of 'realization' passed by her pallor, followed by a rather helpless looking demeanor.

Malfoy, if his expression was any indication, had bought her little farce hook, line and sinker.

A triumphant smirk plastered itself on his face "Much better. Now, I here you've been mingling with Scarhead, of all people. Care to explain yourself?" he demanded with a raised eyebrow, as he'd observed his father do to intimidate others

"I'm getting my roots into that mudblood lover" she answered almost instantaneously, having foreseen this confrontation.

"He's a dunderhead whom I'm merely manipulating. He thinks I see more than just a political favor for my family in, that I'm some unhappy girl being forced into a marriage. Being the hopelessly naïve, and 'honorable'" she spat "Gryffindor he is, he is receptive of my advances. Already his proxy is taking meetings with my father. He brought a decent number of defections with him, you see. I'm ensuring my father's re-election in the short-term, and brainwashing him into trusting me and doing my, no, OUR, budding in the long run. Rest assured, I'm more than aware where my loyalties lie, they are firmly with the heir Black" she finished with an evil grin.

'Well, technically that last part isn't a lie'

What her fellow Slytherin couldn't guess was who that grin was directed towards.

"Very cunning, Greengrass"

"You don't know the half of it. See you in Transfiguration!"

"How about accompanying me to Hog-" Draco started, but Daphne had left by then, away enough to pretend to be out of earshot.

'No way in hell am I letting that ball of hairwax near me!'

"Strigiforma!" casted McGonagall, and the barn owl on her desk turned into a pair of perfect opera glasses, in the same shade as the original animal

"Alright, students, by my watch we have 15 minutes left. I shall be awarding 10 house points to every student that manages to successfully complete this transmutation in the time that remains." proclaimed the Deputy Headmistress, beginning to take her customary rounds around the classroom, and observe each student individually.

"You are rotating your wrist too much, Mr Malfoy. Remember, only a half circle, then reverse"

"Ms. Parkinson, focus on visualizing the glasses"

"Mr. Goyle, Mr. Crabbe, perhaps a review of the essence is in order for you. Turn to pg. 36"

"Decent attempt Ms. Patil, keep trying"

Eventually she arrived at where Harry was seated - alongside Hermione and as far away from Malfoy and his crew as possible.

"Ms. Granger?"

The bushy-haired girl nodded and showed her attempt, displaying a perfect wand movement, and coming quite close to the goal.

"The best attempt so far, take 5 points for Gryffindor!" awarded McGonagall, which Hermione accepted with a small smile

"Mr. Potter?" she asked, turning her attention to her seat partner

"Alright. Here goes, Strigiforma!" chanted Harry

To the surprise of the other two (but not him), the tawny owl morphed into a pair of opera glasses identical to McGonagall's, differing only in their shade

An impressed Minerva picked up the new-looking glasses and inspected them for herself.

"A perfect result! Excellent Mr. Potter, take 10 well-earned points for Gryffindor!"

"Thank you, Professor" he replied modestly

The rest of the class was surprised, to say the least.

In three years, no one had ever beaten Hermione to a Transfiguration.

Speaking of the girl, she had a disappointed look on her face, however, she congratulated her friend warmly nonetheless and immediately continued on her own assignment, though everyone could tell she was working at a hurried pace.

Harry took the compliment and decided to leave her to it, going to help the other students, as McGonagall had asked him to.

'Hopefully I'm a more popular teacher than Hermione' he grimaced, knowing just how much the other students disliked her 'helping' them, even in their own house.

Harry, started towards Ron, naturally (who'd been looking quite phased out for the last few quarter of an hour or so... naturally) when something caught his eye.

Tracey was waving him over.

Deciding his energy was better spent there, he walked over to the portion of the class where the Slytherins sat, something he hadn't done in...well, ever.

"Hey, Tracey, Greengrass" he hailed, arriving at the last occupied bench in the 'Snake Section'

"'It's 'Tracey' now?" inquired Daphne with a raised eyebrow

"Well I bloody well don't want him to call me 'Davis' my entire life" scoffed the brunette "Besides, we're getting to be friends, right Harry?"

"I'd say we get along pretty alright"

Daphne shrugged non-committedly and went back to looking at the diagram of the opera lens, not noticing the amused and odd look given to her by Tracey and Harry respectively

"Bet Granger looked like you'd murdered her puppy" Tracey added in a low voice, stifling a laugh.

"Seemed alright to me... a little sourpussed maybe"

"How'd you do it anyway?"

'The specter of my father and a painting of your house's founder taught it to me last week'

"I dunno, just followed instructions, I guess"

"As opposed to the rest of the class?" challenged Daphne, though it didn't seem malicious

"Well apart from Crabbe and Goyle at any rate" chuckled Harry

"And Weasley"

Harry wanted to protest, but then he remembered Ron looking like a corpse not 5 seconds ago

"Fair enough" he admitted with a laugh

"Alright, how am I doing this? I've got the wand movement right, I know that"

The emerald-eyed boy began examining his new friend's latest attempt.

"Hmm... notice this bit on the top?" he pointed at the left rim of the glasses, and continuing at Tracey's nod "It's off, so there's one problem, you haven't finished visualizing it... Ok, try transfiguring it part for part" he suggested

"How would that help?" the younger Davis asked inquisitively, tilting her head sideways

"Well a smaller transfiguration for one, but also, each part of the owl transforms into a different shape, so can work on the geometry individually and see what's off. That helps a lot" at her still semi-unconvinced expression, he elaborated "Remember early transfigurations? When we turned matchsticks into needles? Think of it like this - it was essentially a simple cuboid turning into a line"

"You're breaking the entire thing down into the most basic divisions possible" observed the blonde one of the two girls "That's...quite ingenious, actually" she complimented with a pleasantly surprised expression.

Both girls decided to give a shot to the obvious-in-hindsight strategy, and, unsurprisingly, at least for Harry, both managed the Transfiguration within a few minutes, earning 20 points for Slytherin.

Harry knew he'd helped their rivals, but honestly, he had much bigger concerns than the House Cup.

"Oh ho ho! We beat Granger to it!" pointed out Tracey with poorly concealed relish.

"Humble pie is on the menu, folks" added Daphne, with, very uncharacteristically, a giggle

"Seriously though Potter, you get better and better every week it seems, what's your secret?"

'2 people from the 'great beyond', the most wanted man in the country, and a bunch of oil pastels'

"Just...more focused now, I guess" he responded neutrally

"So what happened to your neck, Dora" Harry asked casually, as the two made their way towards one of the Greenhouses

"Wha- nothing.. I, uh-fell" she stammered, adjusting her collar to cover the darkened spot, clearly visible against her light complexion

"Fell? On someone's lips?"

Tonks turned her neck so fast she almost cricked it.

There was Harry, with a smile so wide it would tear his cheeks if he tried making it any wider

"You. Little. Shit"

The metamorphmagus fired a stinging hex before marching forward, only making Harry howl with laughter

"Dora's got a boyfriend, Dora's got a boyfriend!" he sang, catching up to her, ecstatic at her displeasure. "You think I don't know you sneak out to Hogsmeade every night?!"

"Wha - oh, bloody map" she sighed, grumbling something about 'nosy little pricks' while pacing to their destination.

Harry stepped into the greenhouse, where he'd seen the year's best herbology student on the Marauders' Map.

"Neville" he greeted the pudgy boy

"Harry? W-What's going on?" Neville asked nervously.

Merlin, that boy was probably afraid of his own shadow.

"I'm sorry"

"You first" laughed Harry

The blonde boy stammered, more than usual, before being able to verbalize some coherent words "W-Well you were only tr-trying to help, and, well..." he looked around anxiously, fumbling his fingers.

Harry glanced back at Dora, who mouthed 'wand' to him. He nodded almost imperceptibly, and reached into his robe.

"Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable. Powerful combination, especially good for transfiguration" recited, twirling the so described item in his left hand "Know whose wand this is?"

Neville shook his head.

"My dad's."

The blonde boy stared back at him gapingly. Seizing the opportunity, Harry made his move.

"I've had it since my first year. They'd placed it in the family vault, as is tradition. Believe me when I say there was no one more disappointed than me when I first held it"

"W-What?!"

Harry nodded. "The second I touched it I knew. I just didn't feel the same rush and I knew... knew it just wasn't a good fit, or at least not as good as my own wand.

Neville shook his head defeatedly "Harry my Gran-"

"-Is blind. Trying to force you to be something you're not"

"Sh-"

"No, listen. Give me one chance, and then I'll never bring this up again, I swear. Deal?"

After a surprisingly brief pause, Neville nodded.

"You know I lived with muggles, right? Yeah, they did everything, and I mean EVERYTHING they could to make sure I wasn't a wizard... They thought all their cruelty, all their obsessiveness could change who I was, but it didn't. It didn't make a damn difference in the end." Harry spoke calmly

"I was a wizard then, I'm a wizard now, and I'll be a wizard tomorrow. The only thing that's changed is my attitude. If I could give years being miserable thinking something was wrong with me, then I sure as hell was entitled a moment, just ONE moment to think maybe it's not me... maybe it's them who're wrong. Well, I gave myself that chance, and that it was the best decision I ever made" he concluded earnestly "If it doesn't work, then fair enough, at least you tried"

"Longbottom" called out Dora "I don't know you too well, but let me tell you a genuine truth... Trust me you don't want to live with the regret that you didn't try. Fail, that's absolutely fine, at least now you know. You can move on, otherwise you could end up spending the rest of your life thinking maybe you should have taken that chance. And believe me, from experience, losing yourself in this fantasy affects you in more ways than one"

Neville might've stood still, but both his heart and his mind were racing

"You told me I don't understand, but believe me Nev, I understand you... your struggle better than any other student. If there is one person in this school that will get you, then that's me, that's a fact and you know it... No one can handle everything on their own ma-"

"My dad's being given euthanasia" the boy confessed abruptly, burying his face in his hands as he leaned against the wall for support, sliding down all the boy till his hip was touching the ground.

Harry's breath hitched.

All of a sudden, the 'overreaction' from the other day made sense. The impending death of his father on the horizon, along with his grandmother's constant demeaning had taken their toll on him.

He looked back at Tonks once more. The girl's hair had turned raven-black, not unlike his own.

She held her up own hand, gesturing him to wait.

...

"I'm guessing you know my parents aren't really dead?" the blonde boy broke the silence, staring at the ground as his hands moved through his hair

"I do" affirmed Harry

"Mom, s-she... the healers think there's a chance with her. They've seen her face all scrunched up, as if she's thinking hard. She also gives me a wrapper every time I visit, which is encouraging, at least she has an idea of me" he spoke monotonously "Dad, however... has not improved at all, and now they're saying it's b-best if..."

"They're sure tha-"

"Harry I saw him run into a wall trying to chase a bug" deadpanned Neville

"Neville... I'm so, so sorry"

Harry thought himself unlucky. But compared to the torture that Neville had to live everyday, he almost considered himself fortunate. First, to have them right there but never be able know them. And now, to bear the news of his impending death...

"They proposed it last summer, s-said, it's best if we put him out of his misery, that life was more than just an animal existence, that he was entitled to his dignity... Gran agreed this summer"

Neville gulped "Then, about a week before I came to you, I'd received a letter from Gran. She told me she'd heard about the dueling club at a gubernatorial meet, and expected that I'd at least make it in there. And that was fine, you know? That's normal. I can deal with that. You know what else she wrote? She said maybe now I'd at least try to make my father proud. And even THAT was fine!" he simmered

"Here's what REALLY hurt me" he said at once, breathing shakily "That if there's one reason she's glad about what happened to her son... then it's that he doesn't have to see such a disappointment like me, because he'd want to die of shame!"

'The blinds and silencing charms around his bed, his falling attendance, the amount of time he spends out here on his own... all makes a lot of sense n-'

Harry's focus turned to the sound of nearby footsteps - it was Tonks, who was walking over to Neville.

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small flask

"Calming draught. Aurors are supposed to keep one on their person while on duty... Here, take it" she said, extending the flask to the other boy, who accepted it gratefully

Neville downed the contents in one go. Once the effects kicked in, he spoke again "She's such a bitch, and I'm so done with her..."

"Hey, I'm sure she loves you kid-"

"Well she's got a funny way of showing it" he scoffed

"Neville" spoke up Harry, drawing his attention "I...I had no idea what you were going through... And I totally understand" he conceded sincerely

"Don't keep it all to yourself. Talk to someone, maybe even a professional. But let it out" the metamorphmagus advised, giving him an encouraging pat on his shoulder

"Nev, needlessly to say, you're welcome to talk to me if you want. And, you're welcome to join our dueling practice too. If you wanna use your dad's wand, that's entirely up to you. I won't force you... Let's go, Dora?"

"Sure"

"See you around mate" and with that Harry and Tonks started towards the exit, with a newfound respect for the quiet, unassuming Neville.

They were halfway to the exit when he stopped them.

"Guys, wait!"

"Yeah?" responded Harry, a triumphant smile he made sure to wipe off of his face before he faced his classmate.

"I'll do it" he answered "I know my parents would have wanted me to be the best wizard I could be, and I'm done lying to myself that I can do it with just dad's wand"

"But what about your Gran?"

"She can sod off. This is my life, not hers!" he exclaimed determinedly "And you're right, it's worth at least taking the chance. W-Worst-case scenario, nothing changes; which is exactly what happens if I don't do it anyways."

Harry beamed at him, before

"Phew!"

"What?"

"Nothing, I kind of already asked the wandmaker to come here" he said with a laugh

"Git!"

-x-x-x-

"Huh?" came the reply from Harry, once again demonstrating his mastery of the Queen's English

"You say that a lot, you know?"

"I know, but the writer likes this stupid trope for some reason, so I guess I'm stuck with this dumb line!"

"Hey!" came an echoey objection

-x-x-x-

And that's a wrap!

I was contemplating extending this chapter, but then I was tempted otherwise, since, one, I wanted to give Neville his (first) moment in the spotlight, and two, what's ahead wouldn't go with the theme of this chapter. This one can be angst, the next one will be a new beginning.

Oh, and I wanted to post something, so there's that.

See you all next time, thanks for reading!