Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; it belongs to JK Rowling, etc etc.
Authors Note: I have nothing interesting to mention. Though I would like to know what you guys think of Seraphina. It's hard introducing an "original" character into a world that already exists, especially when its fan base is generally of the disposition to hate them automatically. I hope I managed to pull it off successfully. Thanks for the reviews.
The office of the Hogwarts headmaster was more crowded than usual. Dumbledore sat in his seat, listening as Neville told his story. Harry sat in his usual seat, feet propped up on the desk. It was a testament to the seriousness of the situation that Dumbledore didn't even care. Neville was standing, telling the tale while trying to keep his cool. Seraphina sat in the back of the room, arms crossed over her chest protectively, trying to be tough despite everything that had happened.
Neville glanced back at her when he reached the part where Mandy Brocklehurst had attempted to sexually assault the unconscious girl. He decided that Dumbledore didn't need to know that part and skipped over it as much as possible. He paused uncertainly when it came time to reveal how he had escaped his bounds and fought off the Death Eaters.
'I… I'm not sure what happened next,' he said slowly, tentative. 'Crabbe and Goyle went to attack Seraphina and I. They cast killing curses, but the curses missed. The air in the room just seemed to… I don't know… explode. The ropes binding me vaporized and I could move. Nott and Brocklehurst ran from the room. I chased them, but by the time I'd gotten out, they had vanished.'
'I felt the "explosion",' Harry said. 'It was magical energy. The purest I've ever felt. And very strong.' Harry looked at Neville curiously as he said this. Dumbledore followed his gaze, echoing the look. Then he nodded softly.
'Very well,' Dumbledore said. 'Will you provide a statement to that effect Mister Longbottom? And agree to provide evidence against Misters Crabbe and Goyle?'
'I will,' Neville agreed.
'Good,' Dumbledore said, looking past Neville to Seraphina. His features softened. 'Would you like to spend the night in the hospital wing Miss Labelle? I am sure Madam Pomfrey would not object.'
Seraphina shook her head minutely.
'I'll take her back to her dorm, if that's okay?' Neville asked.
'Very well,' Dumbledore agreed. 'Harry, will you accompany him?'
Harry nodded. 'Sure,' he said, 'but I'll be coming back after. We need to talk.'
'Yes, we do,' Dumbledore said, his eyes lingering on Neville as the boy helped Seraphina up and towards the door. Harry followed them out, but not without sharing another meaningful look with Dumbledore. They both knew where that power had come from. And they both wondered what it meant.
Harry followed Seraphina and Neville at a distance, giving them some modicum of privacy. He was far enough away not to hear what was being said, but close enough to reach them should anything happen.
Neville had his arm around Seraphina as he led her back to the Hufflepuff dormitory. She felt so soft and fragile in his arms, and nothing like her usual full of life, happy self. He hated it. He hated the Death Eaters even more for causing it.
'My underwear is gone,' she said, so softly he hardly heard it.
Neville kept walking, but it was a struggle not to stop in surprise. However, he didn't want Harry to suspect anything, so he kept on walking. In his head, he tried to think what to say, but nothing came to him. How do you tell someone they had almost been raped? Should he even tell her? What good would it do?
'Neville,' Serpahina said, 'why don't I have my underwear anymore?' She spoke so softly - like a mouse afraid to draw the attention of the cat, but unable to resist asking the question. She sniffed. 'Neville, please tell me.'
He just didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
'Neville, did they…?' She couldn't finish and choked back another sob.
'No,' Neville finally said, 'they… she didn't get the chance.'
'She.' It wasn't a question. Seraphina sniffed again. 'She took my underwear?'
'I'm sorry Sera,' Neville said, his self-loathing very evident. 'I should have stopped them. I should have caught them. Now, instead, you have to live in fear. Knowing that they… she… is out there. I'm so sorry.'
'It's not your fault,' she said. 'I don't want you to blame yourself for it. You didn't make them…'
'But the only reason they targeted you is because of me,' Neville argued.
'You don't know that,' Seraphina said. 'It wasn't your fault. If you insist on feeling responsible, I'll slap you until you see sense.'
'What?'
'I'm serious,' Seraphina said, stopping him with a hand and turning him to face her, 'it's not your fault. If I have to beat it into you, I will.'
'Okay,' Neville said, for lack of anything better to say.
'Say it,' she insisted.
'Erm.'
'Say it Neville,' she repeated, 'I won't be happy until you do.'
'It's not my fault,' he said, sighing it out. 'And it's not yours either, Seraphina.'
'I know,' she said. She wiped at her eyes, though she didn't appear to be crying, and then sniffed loudly. Seeing his concerned look, she said, 'I'll be fine. They didn't do anything, right? Only…'
'Only…' Neville affirmed.
Nothing more needed to be said until they reached the Hufflepuff dormitory. Seraphina turned to him again, leant up and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and whispered in her ear, 'I won't let them hurt you again. Ever.'
'I know,' she said, pulling away. 'My big strong hero will protect me.'
'I will.'
Harry watched as they finished saying goodbye. After Seraphina had disappeared into the Hufflepuff common room, he signalled for Neville to follow him. Neville jogged to catch up to him. They walked in silence for a while.
'You going to tell me what you didn't tell Dumbledore?' Harry asked eventually.
'No,' Neville said immediately. 'It doesn't have anything to do with you or Professor Dumbledore.'
'I'm not talking about your girlfriend,' Harry said. 'I mean how you managed to fight off Nott and Brockehurst. Not to mentioned hospitalising Crabbe and Goyle.'
'What are you talking about?' Neville asked, baffled.
'The power,' Harry said. 'It came from you. You must know that.'
'No,' Neville argued, 'I don't have that kind of strength. I didn't even have my wand. I can't have possibly done it. It must have been something else. Some freak magical occurrence or something.'
'I don't think so,' Harry said. 'Why are you so bent on denying it?'
'Why are you so sure it was me?' Neville countered.
Harry sighed. 'I have my reasons,' he said. 'And I know it was you. I just need you to know it. You're no use to me unless you master it.'
'It wasn't me,' Neville said. 'I was angry, that's all. I tried to get free but I couldn't. I felt something, but it wasn't that. I don't have that kind of power. I'm not you. I'm just Neville Longbottom.'
'You might have been,' Harry said slowly, and let it hang like that for a while. The silence that fell was taut with tension. Neville had stopped walking, so Harry turned to face him. Neville looked at Harry with confusion all over his chubby face.
'I might have been? What do you mean?'
'I mean just that - you might have been,' Harry repeated.
'I don't understand,' Neville said.
'There was a prophecy made Neville,' Harry began the story, urging Neville to follow as he started walking again. Neville hurried to keep up and listen as Harry went on. 'The prophecy talked about a child that would one day fight Voldemort. It said the two of them - the child and Voldemort - could not exist together. That one would kill the other. Only two children fit most of the description. Me. And you.'
'Me?' Neville interrupted, flabbergasted.
'Yes - you. But the last part of the prophecy said that Voldemort would mark his equal, and he marked me, not you,' Harry finished.
'That makes sense,' Neville said. 'You're much more suited to the task. Me… heh… I'd be dead already, no doubt.'
'I'm not so sure,' Harry said.
'What do you mean?'
'I mean we both must have the power in us,' Harry proposed, 'or at least that's what I always thought. I don't put much stock in prophecies, but I believe that both of us must have had the power in us. If Voldemort had marked you instead of me, who knows where we would be? Maybe you would be in my shoes right now and I'd be in yours. Either way, what happened tonight proved that you have power.'
'But I didn't do anything!' Neville said. 'I didn't even have my wand.'
'So?' Harry held up Dumbledore's wand. 'The wand only channels the magic. We don't need them to perform it. The magic you unleashed tonight was raw and un-channelled - a pure force. A force you can tap into, if you learn how.'
'But I've never been good at magic,' Neville argued. 'Everyone thought I was a squib. And even when I found out I wasn't, I could never seem to get the hang of it like everyone else. I've always been weak.'
'That's part of your problem,' Harry said, taking Neville by the shoulder. 'You have no self-confidence. You believe you will fail even before you try and thus doom yourself to failure. Be confident. Believe in yourself. I do. I know you can be strong. Why do you think I let Hermione introduce us? Why do you think I tried so hard to become your friend?'
'I don't know,' Neville muttered.
'Because I believe that you can be my most powerful ally,' Harry said. 'Together we can bring down Voldemort. Don't you want to get your hands on Lestrange?'
Neville tensed. 'Revenge won't bring my parents back to me,' he said. 'They'll still be… wait, how did you know? I never told you.'
'Yeah,' Harry said. 'I found out a few years ago. I was viewing a memory in Dumbledore's pensive. It was Lestrange's trial. They mentioned your parents, and what she had done to them.'
'Oh.' Neville turned his head away so Harry wouldn't see his angry tears. 'Anyway, even if I did get my hands on her… it wouldn't help.'
'It might make you feel better,' Harry offered.
'Is that what you think? That killing Voldemort will make you feel better?'
Harry narrowed his eyes. 'He killed my parents, Neville. At least you can still see yours. Mine - I never even knew. So don't even think about lecturing me on vengeance.'
'Sorry,' Neville said. 'I just meant… killing him won't bring them back. And I don't think it will make you feel any better, either. Hatred only breeds more hatred.'
'That might be true,' Harry said, 'but I've got Hermione. She keeps me grounded. No matter how much I hate Voldemort, I will never become him. Even if I didn't hate everything he stood for, Hermione would keep me sane. Without her, maybe things might have turned out differently. At the time, I didn't care.'
'And now?'
'Now I do,' Harry said. 'We'll leave it at that.'
They walked on in silence for a while.
'I do hate her,' Neville said. 'Lestrange. And I hate Brocklehurst as well. And Nott for being there and doing nothing. I hate them all for everything they have done.'
'What did they do to her?' Harry asked.
Neville opened his mouth to deny it, but Harry didn't let him.
'Don't even bother trying to deny it,' Harry said. 'I'm not stupid. You hate Brocklehurst, you said. And Nott for doing nothing. Did the Ravenclaw do something to your girl? It can't have been you. If it were you, you wouldn't be half as mad. So the only option is Labelle. What did she do to her?'
'It doesn't matter,' Neville said. 'No, it does matter, but telling you won't change anything. And you don't need to know. Just know that what she tried to do was horrible and I will never forgive her for it.'
'Fair enough,' Harry said. He already had a fair enough idea of what had happened. 'So that pushed you over the edge. And released your magic, right?'
Neville sighed. 'I guess,' he admitted. 'But I have no idea how to control it.'
'You can learn,' Harry said. 'Come to my private lessons with Professor Oniki. He can probably enlighten us. You. Teach you how to control it.'
'And what do I do when I can control it?'
'Use it.'
'I'm not interested in vengeance Harry. It's an endless cycle.'
'Okay,' Harry said. 'But that's not the only reason people have for fighting. You want to protect people right Neville? You want to protect your girlfriend? You want to protect Ginny? And Hermione? And everyone, right?'
Neville didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The answer was all over his face - in his very heart.
'That's why you fight, Neville.' Harry laughed. 'People need a hero. And I don't fit the bill. But you do. You're the hero in this piece Neville. Not me.'
Neville shook his head. 'That's crazy,' he said. 'I'm no hero.'
'Yes,' Harry argued, 'you are.'
When Harry returned to Dumbledore's office, the headmaster was not alone. Rufus Scrimgeour stood by the fireplace, talking with Dumbledore when he entered. They stopped talking and turned to look at him. Harry tried very hard not to curse the wizard on the spot. He hadn't forgotten how he had been arrested and then kidnapped all because of the other wizard.
'Potter,' Scrimgeour said coldly.
'Minister,' Harry returned, using the title mockingly.
'Gentleman,' Dumbledore interrupted before anything further could be said, playing peacekeeper. 'As I was saying, we have Misters Crabbe and Goyle in the hospital wing. Securely bound, of course. Hagrid is guarding the door. Mister Nott - the ringleader in this - and Miss Brocklehurst have vanished from Hogwarts. No doubt they have left to join Voldemort's ranks. They won't be back. Mister Longbottom has agreed to testify against them. He will name them all as Death Eaters.'
'True Death Eaters?' Scrimgeour asked. 'Or just kids playing dress up?'
'I think they answered that when they murdered Hannah Abbot,' Harry said, scathingly.
Rufus went red with rage and opened his mouth to retaliate, but Dumbledore cut across him.
'They are without a doubt working under Voldemort's orders,' he said quickly. 'We have been sure of that for some time. The Dark Mark left in the wake of the first murder was proof enough. Only Death Eaters are capable of casting that.'
'And you are sure Nott and Brocklehurst have fled Hogwarts?'
'I am,' Dumbledore said. 'I know this castle better than anyone. They are no longer in it. Be assured of that.'
'Do you have any proof?' The Minister asked.
'My word is all I can give,' Dumbledore admitted.
Scrimgeour sighed. 'I do not think I can stop the board of governors from closing Hogwarts. Not with just your word that the Death Eaters have fled. They have eluded you so far, how can you be sure they are no longer within these walls? And You-Know-Who managed to breach your walls last year as well. What's to stop him doing it again?'
'Me,' Dumbledore said. 'I was incapacitated last year. Voldemort would not have been able to break into Hogwarts otherwise.'
'And you are not incapacitated now?' Rufus gestured to Dumbledore's missing hands. 'You cannot even wield a wand. I do not see how you can protect these children.'
'I'll protect them,' Harry said loudly, stepping up to defend Dumbledore.
'You?' Scrimgeour laughed. 'You're just a child yourself.'
'I've survived Voldemort several times,' Harry boasted. 'I've done far more than you can even imagine, working towards defeating Voldemort. And what have you done? You accused me of being a dark wizard. You've arresting innocents to cover your own incompetence. Rest assured, he will fall by my wand.'
'Your arrogance never fails to amaze me Potter,' the Minister said. 'You think you can protect these children? With what? You don't know the first thing about real combat. I'm a veteran of many duals. What about you?'
'I already told you,' Harry said, 'I've survived Voldemort. Can you say the same?'
'Luck!' Rufus proclaimed hotly.
'Enough!' Dumbledore roared over Harry's response. 'Harry is right, Rufus. If you do not trust me to defend Hogwarts, then you must trust Harry. I have been training him myself. He might be mostly untried in battle, but he has power you can't imagine.'
'Tosh!' Rufus declared. 'I will not rely on a child to defend the future of the wizarding world. No. I fear Hogwarts must be closed.'
'Do not be a fool!' Dumbledore said, rising to his feet commandingly. 'These students will be safer by far if they remain here in Hogwarts. You know it.'
'Once, perhaps,' Rufus said, 'but no more.'
'You're making a terrible mistake,' Dumbledore spoke gravely.
'I'm sorry Dumbledore. Hogwarts must be closed.'