The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 20: Wordless Magic

*CW: Harsh Language & Violence*

December 6th, 1995

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Ronald," Hermione scoffed, "Chew with your mouth closed!"

Ron rolled his eyes, shoving more of his breakfast into his mouth. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I sat in the Great Hall for breakfast. I had my usual: toast and sausage. Our first class of the day was Potions with Slytherin in the dungeons. This meant that I had to deal with my brother and his friends all morning.

But Draco wasn't the only person I was worried about, nor was Professor Snape, Harry was basically a ticking time bomb. We haven't spoken in a week, not after he called me self-absorbed in the common room. I avoided Harry as much as I could. Even though we sat by each other during meals, I didn't speak to him; I barely looked him in the eye.

Of course, this made things awkward for Ron and Hermione, but Harry still engaged in their conversations while I just... sat there.

But thankfully, I had Neville to talk to at lunch and dinner. Breakfast was more difficult because he was always late - he wasn't a morning person.

"Hi..." Neville whispered, taking a seat next to me, "Did you sleep alright last night?"

I nodded, "I got a whole five hours... it's like a new record!"

"You should go to bed earlier, Dawn..." Neville sighed.

"I am!" I protested, "I just get... distracted... and stare at the ceiling sometimes instead of closing my eyes!"

Neville chuckled, rolling his eyes, as he helped himself to a serving of scrambled eggs. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Hermione whispering something to Ron, and then laughing. I whipped around, staring angrily at the two.

"What? You two are adorable!" Hermione beamed.

"You guys are together?" Harry asked rudely.

I didn't respond to Harry's question, instead I lowered my head. I saw Neville give Ron and Hermione an annoyed glare for a quick moment before returning to his food - this made me laugh a bit.

"We caught them snogging about a week ago," Ron laughed, "Very passionately too!"

I picked up a sausage, throwing it at Ron's head, "PISS OFF!"

Ron bursted into laughter, "WHAT? IT'S TRUE!"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE!" I seethed.

"WE ONLY TOLD HARRY, AND IT'S NOT LIKE HE'S GOING TO TELL ANYONE," Ron protested, "WE'RE HIS ONLY FRIENDS!"

When Ron said that I sent Neville a look that could've cackled. Maybe Ron was friends with Harry, but I definitely wasn't. Harry had some sort of weird vendetta against me, so I stopped fighting for our friendship weeks ago.

"Right..." I spat, avoiding eye contact with Harry, "Either way, it's not your place to be telling people, and we don't want them to know yet... so!"

"Well, if you don't want people to know then you shouldn't make it as obvious!" Hermione shrugged in a chuckle.

"You guys walked in on us?" Neville questioned through his chews, thoroughly annoyed.

"It was obvious before that!" Hermione beamed, "But it's fine, I think you guys make a very nice couple!"

My lips formed a thin line as I slowly nodded, facing away from Hermione before I rolled my eyes. Ron and Hermione were probably the worst people one could trust with a secret. I knew that Harry wasn't the only person they've told because Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel have also said something to me about Neville... so have the twins... so have Dean and Seamus... and so has Angelina. Even Colin and Dennis Creevey have asked about my relationship with Neville.