𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Back at Hogwarts

Everyone gape at the person who just appeared in front of them. The last thing they'd expected was there to be a secret passageway behind a painting of Dumbledore's sister in Dumbledore's brother's home.

But here they were.

Neville crouches down into a squatting stance, resting his elbows and forearms on his knees as he sighs out of relief. His face was painting with small cuts and bruises, some more fresh then others. Majority of the rest of his body was covered, but by the looks of his face and hands, Hogwarts wasn't much better than being out there.

"You look like..." Ron began saying.

"Like hell, I'd reckon. It's nothing. Seamus's worse." Neville finishes.

Harry couldn't help his face of surprise at the tone of confidence that Neville. He smiled to myself, happy to see his friend finally see his worth.

Lily looked at the boy with concern in her eyes. If Neville alone looked so rough, she couldn't imagine how the others looked. The boy saying that his physical state was 'nothing' only raised more concern.

Neville grins at the sight of his friends. His eyes scan the room, stopping at the time travelers for a second longer than the others. This was the first time he'd seen them without the glamour charm. It didn't take long for the rest of Hogwarts to find out about the five exchange student's true identity after they'd left with the golden trio. Most of the death eaters who were at Hogwarts weren't the most discreet.

The thousands of wanted posters with the time travelers faces on them were another dead giveaway. It didn't take much to connect two and two together.

Without the glamour charms, Neville couldn't help but be in awe of how similar Harry looked to his father. Except for the eyes, which were the same entrancing emerald shade as his mother's. Ramo- Remus looked exactly like how he did when was a professor at Hogwarts, only younger. But there something else too, his eyes looked more alive, more fool of mischief.

Neville never really knew Peter Petigrew. The only reason that he even knew that name was because it was plastered on every corner of the street.

Sirius Black was exactly how he would've expected. If Harry had described the older Sirius right, then the Sirius in front of him was just the same. Patches tattered across a big leather jacket, long hair and hair messily slicked back by hand.

Beside Sirius Black was another person. The mist peculiar thing was the that striking resemblance the person held with Sirius. Same grey eyes, black hair, defined cheekbones.

He snapped out of the trance that he was in when he remembered why he was really here. Turning to Abeforth, he says, "Hey, Abe, we've got a couple more coming through." He receives a stern nod in return.

Satisfied with the response, he peers back at the others.

"Well come on. We best be quick, before the others start wondering where I've disappeared off to." Neville tell them, nodding his head to the tunnel. He starts to walk further back inside it, fully turning out after noticing that the others are following along with him.

Regulus looks around him, noticing how the rest are just following along with this boy. He came to the obvious conclusion that he was a friend of theirs. Even in the darkness of the tunnel, with only Neville's flashlight and a couple of lit up wands, Regulus could notice that Neville held quite a resemblance to an older Gryffindor boy that he was vaguely familiar with.

The boy leaned closer to Sirius's ear and asked, "Is that Frank Longbottom's son?"

Sirius jumped at the sudden sound of his brother whispering harshly in his ear. He sent the boy a dirty look and rubbed his ear with a frown painted on his face. Even with the repulsed expression, he still responded.