Neville Longbottom and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 13: Christmas Break

There was a lot of tension during the last couple of weeks before Christmas Break. Many students were anxious to get home, and several were insisting that they would not be coming back. Some of the Gryffindors even thought Neville was guilty. He walked around not daring to look up because, whenever he did, he was overwhelmed by dirty and scared looks. It was bad enough that he could hear what they were saying.

"Keep him away from me!", "It was that kid?", "I dare you to touch him", "It's always the quiet ones", "What do you expect, look at the company he keeps".

Yet Luna was the only reason he was able to make it through. Her calm voice, perpetual positivity and whimsically strange comments kept him grounded and out of his own destructive thoughts. The Dueling Club continued, but Neville and Luna didn't attend and Luna said she heard that fewer students came each week.

In Transfiguration they were trying to finish up with turning beetles into buttons, but all Neville could manage was to make the beetle's legs disappear. In Herbology they continued caring for the Mandrakes, but were also learning about Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. And in Charms they were using 'Aresto Momentum' to slow the fall of objects weighing less than a kilo. This hardly mattered since Neville was never successful with the Gobstones that they first learned on.

* * *

The only Gryffindors that stayed over the Break were Neville, Hermione and the Weasleys. Ron and Hermione spent most of their time together or off in the Castle with Harry. Fred and George spent their time experimenting or else tormenting their brother Percy. Ginny was sitting alone in the Common Room much of the time, but it took Neville a couple of days to build up the courage to talk to her - he was worried she was scared of him, too.

When he approached her he noticed that she was looking rather sick. Her skin was pale, her eyes looked tired, and he wondered how long she had been this way. He was glad when she didn't flinch or move away.

"Can I . . ." he began, then saw her complexion, "Sorry, are you feeling okay?"

She looked at him with droopy eyes, "I'm okay. I got a cold a couple of months ago and just can't kick it." Her response sounded automatic, which made sense if she had been asked the same thing for the last two months.

"Have you gone to Madam Pomfrey?" he asked as he continued to stand.

"Oh, no," she said defensively, "I'm sure it's about over - no point now." Then she added, "Go ahead and sit if you want."

Neville sat in a chair that shared a side-table with her chair. "I'm glad you're not scared of me. I'm really getting quite sick of it."

"Anyone who thinks that you're responsible is an idiot," she said with a little disdain. "You're not the type of person who wants to hurt others. I mean, you didn't Cast a single Spell against anyone at that first Dueling Club."

"Well, that's because there are few Spells that I can get to work," he said with embarrassment. "But, you're right, I don't like it when people get hurt."

It turned out that Ginny liked playing Wizard Chess, particularly without the improvised rules her brothers liked to add such as getting an arm burn or a monkey bump whenever you lost a piece. She wasn't as good as Luna, but was good enough to beat him on occasion. She also liked to play the occasional game of Gobstones to break up the monotony.

On Christmas morning Neville was awakened by a ring of exploding snaps going off around him. Once his heart rate slowed and he started breathing again, he saw that Ron had suffered the same fate.

"That was my brothers," Ron growled, "I ought to kill them!"

Neville replied, "They obviously don't think I'm capable, or they wouldn't have got me too."