N: 'Just in case you hear any rumours today:
Yes, that was me.
No, I did not get caught.
No, they can't prove it was me.
So please don't worry, okay?'

Theo stared at the message for several long seconds, not quite sure how he was supposed to feel about it.

Last time Neville had got himself into trouble, it had driven him half-mad to not know where he was and whether he was okay. It was the sole reason why he'd even made these notebooks for them both. He had wanted a way to contact Neville in situations like this. — except now that he was faced with such a situation, he found that it didn't do anything to calm his anxiety.

Granted, the kind of dread he was feeling right now was different to what he had felt last time. — at least this time he knew Neville wasn't currently in danger. — but it was still dread, nonetheless.

A twisting, ominous feeling spread in his stomach as he rummaged in his bag for a quill and ink, before he put the diary flat onto his pillow and scribbled his answer:

T: 'Neville…what have you done?'

N: 'You'll see…' — Neville's very unhelpful reply came back.

'But don't worry! As I said, they can't prove it was me.

It's a funny one.

Well, I think so anyway…'

Theo had a feeling that he probably wouldn't share that sentiment with Neville, but refrained from saying so. Instead, he flopped back onto his pillow and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, wondering if he should maybe skip breakfast today. — After all, rumours were much easier to ignore if you didn't hear them in the first place, right? If he didn't go to the Great Hall, then maybe he could avoid people for long enough until the whole thing blew over and wouldn't have to stress about Neville getting caught.

He looked up when the diary began to glow again:

N: 'Anyway, are you free tonight? I think I might have a place where we can meet. …it's kind of a secret, but I trust you not to tell anyone.'

Theo's heart rate instantly sped up. It had been several days since he had seen Neville — apart from secret glances during meals in the Great Hall, or a courteous nod in the corridors — and he really missed spending time with him.

Using the notebooks as a form of communication was fun, but it didn't compare to spending time together in person.

T: 'Yeah, I'm free.'

He wrote quickly. Then added a cheeky and somewhat accusatory:

T: But will you be?'

N: 'Yes, Theo! I definitely will!
Seriously, the whole point of these books is so that you don't have to worry about these things anymore, so please STOP WORRYING, okay?'

Theo could almost hear Neville's exasperated tone, as he read the message and couldn't help but smirk when he pictured how the other boy was probably rolling his beautiful, hazel eyes at his antics right now.

For a moment he considered teasing the daring Gryffindor a little longer, just to see how much he could rile him up, but he was too curious about that new meeting point that Neville had thought of, so instead he wrote:

T: 'Yeah, okay…I'll try.
So, where do you want to meet tonight?'

N: 'Can you meet me on the seventh floor by that old tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy at 10pm tonight? You know the one where he tries to teach the trolls ballet?'

Theo furrowed his brows. What an odd place for a meet-up.

T: 'Yeah, I can do that.
Why? Is there a hidden alcove behind it or something?

N: 'I'll show you when you get there.'

T: 'You're incredibly secretive for a Gryffindor…'

N: 'I have my moments. :P ...Anyway, I'm gonna go down to breakfast.
Talk later!'

Theo wanted to ask more questions, but his stomach chose that exact moment to let out a loud, hungry growl and he quickly rubbed a hand over it to soothe it.

"Fine…" he muttered quietly to himself. "I guess I will go to breakfast after all."

Scribbling a quick 'Yeah alright. Talk later!' as an answer to Neville, he snapped the little notebook shut, raised his arms over his head for a long, indulgent stretch and then got out of bed to get ready for the day.

ooo

To Theo's surprise, breakfast was rather uneventful. If Neville had done something, people didn't seem to know anything about it yet.

It wasn't until noon, when Theo entered the Great Hall together with Draco, Vince, Greg and Blaise, that people started to whisper.

"Professor Carrow had to go to the hospital wing this morning." Pansy filled them in, the moment they joined the girls at the table.

"Which one?" Blaise asked, eyebrows raised.

"Amycus… obviously." Millicent answered with a snort. "I dare say Alecto would have been better equipped to deal with it. …Vicious hag that she is, she's not as brainless as her brother."

"Deal with what?" Theo couldn't help himself to ask. — this was it, wasn't it? The thing Neville had done.

"Apparently…" Pansy explained; her dark eyes gleaming with unrestrained glee. "Someone broke into his office and filled his drawer with bouncing bulbs, so that when he opened it this morning, they all shot out at him."

"Bouncing bulbs?" Gregory asked, perplexed.

"Bulbus Transilio." Millicent provided. "The 'Leaping' or 'Bouncing' bulb. We learned about them in Herbology last year, remember?"

"Yes, well…" Pansy continued, stopping Millie before she could go into a monologue about the magical properties of the bulb. — The quiet witch had always liked Herbology more than anyone else in their year… apart from Neville of course. "Apparently one of the bulbs hit Carrow square in the face and broke his nose. Some Ravenclaw third-years saw him running towards the hospital wing to get it fixed. Can you believe it? The idiot can't even perform a simple Episkey on himself."

Blaise snorted. "As a matter of fact, I can believe that. He's got like what? …three brain cells? Four on a good day."

They all started to cackle with the exception of Vincent, who looked a bit put out at the fact that his favourite teacher was being made fun of. "So, who did it?" He asked, jaw clenched and hands balled into fists.

"Well…" Pansy drawled, a conspiratorial smirk on her lips. "We think it was Longbottom and his friends — since it has to do with plants and all — but no one can actually prove it."

They all looked over to the Gryffindor table and Theo allowed himself to look too. After all, he couldn't be called out for staring if they were all doing it, right?

Neville was sitting in his usual spot between Ginny Weasley and a blonde sixth year boy that Theo didn't know by name, and was looking rather smug, as he tucked into his bowl of pasta with unusual gusto.

Theo's heart sank. He had forgotten how much of a Gryffindor Neville was. Okay, so maybe no one had been able to prove that he was the one who had instigated the prank at first, but only one look at the boy's self-satisfied smirk now, and even someone as thick as Carrow would know that he was guilty.

Theo sighed. Honestly…Why were all Gryffindors so unbelievably bad at hiding their emotions?

"It was definitely him." Millicent said, confirming to Theo that they could all see what he saw. "Just look at that smug gob."

Theo tore his eyes away from Neville and looked at her instead, hoping that he was better at hiding his feelings than his Gryffindor friend, as he did everything in his might to look unaffected by the whole situation and said with faux nonchalance: "If he wants to parade it around and get caught, let him. It's not our problem if he's too stupid to feign innocence."

'Not your problem, my arse.' He added in his head, stomach churning. He felt terrible for acting like he didn't care, but he needed to keep up the façade.

"True." Pansy agreed with a shrug. "The prank itself was funny though. I think we all agree that Carrow had it coming to him."

ooo

"You bloody idiot!" Theo hissed, the second he turned the corner to the seventh-floor corridor and found Neville waiting in front of the Tapestry of Barnaby the Barmy. "Bouncing Bulbs? Have you lost your mind?"

Neville looked infuriatingly unaffected by Theo's chiding.

"They were only young ones." He said with a shrug. "They couldn't have done any serious damage. Even to someone as thick as Carrow."

"I don't bloody care about what they did to Carrow!" Theo growled. "I'm talking about the fact that you used plants, Neville. PLANTS! Everyone knows how much you love Herbology. …and as if that wasn't tell-tale enough that it was you, you then have to strut around like you own the bloody castle, all puffed up and far too pleased with yourself. Honestly! Do you want to get caught?"

"Oi!" Neville laughed, looking more amused than offended by Theo's accusations. "I do not strut."

"Yeah, you bloody do." Theo retorted. "A blind hag could have seen that it was you."

"You worry too much." Neville sighed, but looked rather pleased that Theo cared so much about his wellbeing. "I told you, no one can prove that it was me."

Theo wanted to argue, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Not with the way Neville was looking at him, — all twinkling eyes and fond exasperation.

"Well, I hope you're right." He grumbled instead, and then forced himself to tear his gaze away from Neville and cast a curious look around.

"Anyway…" he said, assessing the tapestry carefully and holding back a snort, as he watched a troll in a tutu attempt a pirouette and fall on his face. "Where is this secret hideout of yours? Surely, you didn't mean for us to hang out in the corridor again, did you?"

"No…" Neville hedged, looking nervous all of a sudden. "I… well… there is something I want to show you, but you have to promise that you won't tell a soul about it!"

Theo drew his eyebrows together, hesitating briefly, but then nodded. "Alright. What is it?"

Neville stepped closer, soft, hazel eyes looking imploringly at him. "Promise, Theodore."

Theo swallowed, a strange flutter in his stomach as he stared back into Neville's eyes. "Okay…" He breathed. "I promise."

Neville licked his lips and smiled. "Okay." He said, as he stepped back and walked over to the opposite wall, where he scrunched up his face in concentration.

"You have to walk up and down three times." He explained, as he began to pace in front of the wall. "And think about what you want."

There was a short moment of silent suspense. Then, Theo gasped as a large wooden door appeared right in front of him, surrounded by a gothic stone archway, and looking very much like it had always been there.

"How did you…?" he trailed off, puzzled.

"I didn't." Neville said. "It's always there. You just have to know how to find it."

"Come on." He added, when Theo continued to stare at the door with wonder. "We better go in if we don't want to get caught." And before Theo could protest, the taller wizard had taken hold of his hand and dragged him towards the door, only stopping to cast a nervous glance up and down the corridor, before he pushed it open and pulled Theo through it.

They both came to a halt when the door snapped shut behind them, letting out identical gasps of surprise.

"Wow." Neville breathed, walking further into the room and surveying it with big eyes. "This is not what I expected."

The room was round and roughly the size of Theo's dorm room. But instead of the usual set of four poster beds, there was a big threadbare sofa and several comfortable looking armchairs in the middle, right atop a very large, and incredibly fluffy looking rug.

Along the walls were bookshelves, several small tables and a big stone-fireplace that was currently housing a happily crackling fire that, combined with a number of stained-glass lamps, doused the room in a warm, comforting light.

All in all, the room reminded him of a smaller and much cosier version of the Slytherin common room.

"What did you expect?" He asked, taking a tentative step towards the middle of the room. "Have you not seen it before?"

"No." Neville admitted. "I mean... I have, but it looks different when we use it for the DA."

Theo pinched his brows in confusion. "The DA?"

"Yeah…" Neville said, walking over to a bookshelf and inspecting the backs of several hardcovers with mild interest. "Dumbledore's Army. It's a group of students who wanted to learn more about Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry founded it back in fifth year, but Ginny, Luna and I have been trying to keep it going."

Theo nodded. That sounded familiar. He had a vague recollection of Draco telling him about Potter's secret society back in 5th year, but he hadn't known that Neville was a part of it…or that they were still operating even without the Chosen One being here to lead them.

"Is this why you keep getting yourself into trouble?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at Neville.

The Gryffindor laughed and shook his head. "Nah. The DA has nothing to do with it. I mean, yeah… Ginny and Luna help sometimes, but I would still try to fight Snape and the Carrows without them."

"Of course you would…" Theo muttered, his voice teetering dangerously on the border of affection rather than the chiding tone he had aimed for.

Neville chuckled and shrugged. "Anyway, when we meet up with the DA this room is much bigger and well… emptier, I guess? And it has loads of stuff we can use to practise duelling, like magical dummies and loads of pillows and cushioning around the borders."

He walked towards the big, three-seater sofa in the middle of the room and let himself drop onto it. "But this is much nicer." he said, letting out an appreciative sigh. "The other room would have been fine, but this… this is great! Come sit!"

"I wonder what kind of magic is making the room behave like this." Theo mused, as he walked over and sat down on one of the armchairs opposite of Neville. "Do you think it changes according to what the person who summons it needs at the time?"

"Hmm…" Neville hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe? I normally just ask for it to give me the DA room, but today I told it that I needed a room that we can hang out in without being detected. I guess that means it listens to instructions somehow?"

"It might be semi-sentient." Theo agreed, giving the room an intrigued once-over. "A lot of magical buildings develop a sort of personality after being exposed to magic for a long time."

Neville snorted. "If other buildings have done it then Hogwarts definitely has. Just imagine the amount of magical power it is constantly subjected to." He sat up, looking intrigued. "I wonder what else it can do. Do you think I could grow plants in here?"

"That depends on whether you get the same room every time, or if they are just mere copies of each other. Have you ever left anything in the other room and then come back for it later?"

"Yes!" Neville confirmed, eyes wide with excitement. "I forgot my book about underwater plants and their magical properties once, and Harry was able to go and get it for me the next day. That means that it was the same room we had used the night before, doesn't it?"

He got up and did a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn, his face shining with a mixture of excited curiosity and something shrewd, almost cunning, — as if he was already plotting all the things he would use this room for.

Theo shifted nervously in his chair. He was still getting used to this side of Neville. The mischievous and undeniably clever side, that schemed and plotted and knew exactly how to use his strengths to his benefit. They were character traits he normally associated with his own school house; except that in Neville's case they were combined with an irritating amount of Gryffindor bravery and his ridiculous sense of self-sacrifice, which still made him reckless enough to get himself into trouble all the time.

This new Neville was both thrilling and intimidating at the same time, and Theo couldn't help but watch him in awe, as his beautiful, intelligent eyes began to shine with all the possibilities this room could hold for them.

Determined to ignore the little flip in his stomach, Theo got up too, and walked over to one of the book shelves along the wall.

"'Goshawk's Guide to Herbology', …'Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties', …'Healing Herbs - A Complete Guide To The Natural Magic Of Common Garden Plants'..." He read, tracing his finger along the backs of each book. "Did you ask for all of these, or does the room just know what you like?"

"The room has Goshawk's book?" Neville asked, an eager expression on his face, as he made his way over to Theo. "I only ordered this with an owl delivery service the other day. The school library used to have a copy, but it seems to have disappeared over the years."

"Judging by your enthusiasm, I take it you didn't consciously ask for it then?" Theo asked, amused.

"I didn't." Neville confirmed, as he carefully pulled the book from the shelf and began to flick through it.

"Interesting…" Theo muttered. "The room really seems to know what you like then."

At that, Neville's expression changed; a small crease forming between his eyebrows.

"Is there anything in here that you like?" He asked, casting another searching look around the room.

"I don't mind a good game of chess." Theo offered, gesturing towards a shelf that had a small assortment of board and card games on it, but Neville's frown only grew deeper.

"That doesn't count." He said, shaking his head. "Everyone who was raised in the wizarding world plays chess." He scrubbed a frustrated hand over his face before fixing Theo with an almost disappointed gaze. "The room only has things I like, because I was the one who summoned it, and I don't know enough about you yet to add anything you are interested in. That's just not fair!" he looked at Theo with stubborn determination. "I want to get to know you, and learn more about what you like."

Theo felt oddly touched by this notion. He didn't think anyone had ever taken the time to truly get to know him. Sure, some of his older friends knew him pretty well, but that was something that had happened over time. It was inevitable to learn about the other's passions and dislikes when you grew up together. …but this felt different. Neville was making an active effort to learn more about him.

He sucked in a deep breath and then blew it out again, — cheeks billowing in the process, as he wracked his brain for any information about himself that he could offer Neville. There really wasn't much to say. He'd never thought he was a particularly interesting person.

"Let's see…" He stalled, as he walked back to the middle of the room and reclaimed his spot on the cosy looking armchair. Neville followed him and sank down on the sofa, expression eager and anticipating.

"I… like Charms." Theo started warily. "It's my favourite subject. I like the intricacy of it and how every charm varies depending on who casts it. It makes it feel more…personal, I guess? Knowing that every charm I cast has my very own magical signature on it…it… makes it feel like it's a bit of me." He bit his lip, his face heating a little, then added. "I don't know if that makes any sense."

"It does." Neville confirmed, his lips curling at the corners. "You like to create new things. …You're an artist."

"Well…" Theo mused (and he was definitely blushing now.) "Maybe you're right. I do like to draw too, so there's that."

It wasn't really a lie. Granted, he hadn't drawn in quite some time, — too distracted with everything else that was going on around them — but he did really love to draw… when he had time.

When Neville's smile widened into something big and excited, he quickly added "But I'd rather not share my drawings. They're not very good and feel… well… personal."

Neville's face only fell marginally, but he recovered quickly and nodded solemnly. "That's fair." he said. "Your art is like a small part of yourself, so it's for you to decide who you want to show it to."

Theo felt a rush of relief as he nodded. Neville understood.

"What kind of things do you draw?"

"Hmmm…" Theo hummed, wondering how to best explain it. "Things I see." he eventually settled on. "I don't often draw people or landscapes, I prefer to focus on one individual thing at a time. Say, I see a pretty flower while we're down by the lake, then I'll draw that… or the bottle of ink and feather quill that's on my desk in front of me during a particularly boring History of Magic class…I also like to draw animals and magical beings. I go to the owlery sometimes and draw there…and I'm pretty sure I drew Trevor once, when he kept hanging out in the dungeons."

"You drew Trevor?" Neville laughed excitedly.

Theo nodded, thinking that he might even be okay to share his sketch of the wayward toad with Neville, — since it was his toad and all. But just the one. His other drawings were just for himself. …For now, anyway.

"So, you like Charms and drawing." Neville summed up, after a brief silence. "What else?"

They lunged themselves into a conversation about all the little things Theo liked and disliked: That he loved the outdoors and enjoyed walks around the lake; but wasn't much into sports. That he liked to read and learn, and that at one point he had had a rather strange obsession with the concept of time and had decided he was going to be an Unspeakable when he was older, just so that he could build Time Turners. (Although the fact that he had ever wanted to work for the Ministry was hilarious to him now)

When Theo confessed that lately he had been delving into the subject of healing magic and potions a bit more, Neville seemed both impressed and very interested.

"I reckon that could be very useful…with the war and all."

Theo nodded gravely. "Yes…" he drawled, raising an indignant eyebrow at the blonde. "Guess who inspired my newly found interest in the subject… couldn't have been a rogue Gryffindor who keeps getting himself into trouble, could it?"

Neville's eyebrows shot up, as he laughed. "You're learning Healing because of me?" His expression was caught somewhere between bashful and rather chuffed with himself at the fact the he had been the one to inspire this new interest of Theo's.

"Yes, well…" Theo shrugged. "I didn't like that I had no idea what to do when you had those horrible gashes on your back. It made me feel useless, and that's a horrible feeling to have."

"You're not useless." Neville insisted, shaking his head stubbornly. "You… you're amazing." He added, slightly breathless, and the look he gave Theo was so disarmingly fond that it travelled right to Theo's spine and caused him to shiver.

Heart racing, he shrugged and averted his gaze to his hand, which was picking nervously at a loose thread on his robe.

"Thanks." He muttered eventually, despite every ion in his brain screaming at him to argue Neville's point. "I guess that's another thing I like… feeling useful."

ooo

When Theo finally dropped into his bed that night, it was almost two in the morning and he was exhausted, but feeling unusually light and floaty.

He didn't think anyone had ever shown so much interest in getting to know him as Neville had that evening, and something about that made Theo all warm and fuzzy and put a wide, and rather ridiculous grin on his face.

Biting his lip to stop himself from smiling like an idiot, he flopped back onto his pillow and blew out a heavy sigh, as the small notebook under his pillow began to glow.

N: 'Thanks for telling me so much about you. I feel like I know you much better now.'

— The little message read. Theo's stomach fluttered as he wrote back:

T: 'No, thank you for taking an interest in me. I don't think I've ever told anyone so much about me before.'

N: 'Is it weird that I kind of like that?'

Theo furrowed his brows as he read the question, unsure of what Neville meant.

T: 'Like what?'

N: 'That I know more about you than anyone else. Well… more than most people anyway.'

Theo's stomach did a strange thing when he read the message. — A lurching kind of feeling, almost as if he had missed a step while walking down the stairs.

T: 'Uhm… maybe a little.'

He wrote, but then quickly added:

T: 'But I don't mind.'

Neville's response to that was another one of his little smiley faces that always looked so unbearably lopsided. Theo snorted, and then decided to give up on suppressing his smile entirely, as he grinned widely down at the goofy looking face.

N: 'I know it's stupid, because none of the things you told me were secrets, but it still feels like I know something about you now, that no one else knows. Like…Something that's just for me.'

Theo's heart stuttered slightly, as he stared down at the message and something in his chest twisted painfully. He didn't exactly know what the feeling was…just that he had never felt it with any of his other friends before.

N: 'I'm sorry.' —another hastily scribbled line appeared on the page.

'That was definitely weird. Please just ignore that I said that?'

T: 'It's not weird.'

Theo wrote back quickly, even though he thought it probably was. But he didn't mind. He actually thought he quite liked it.

T: 'I just feel like now you know me better than I know you. So, next time I get to ask all the questions, ok?'

N: 'Oh, right! … yeah, that sounds fair!' — the written answer came back, and Theo thought that even in the way it was written he could tell that Neville was relieved.

N: 'I think I… well, I'd really like that.'

Theo smiled, unable to contain his excitement. He was going to ask Neville so many questions at their next meeting, and he couldn't wait to come up with all of them tomorrow...but right now he really needed to sleep.

T: 'Okay, it's a deal."

He wrote, suppressing a big yawn, as he slipped further down his pillow and got more comfortable.

T: 'But I really need to go to bed now. We'll speak tomorrow, okay?
Night, Neville.'

N: 'Yeah, alright.' The notebook glowed once more.
'Night, Theo! x'

ooo

A/N: Yay! They finally started using the room!