The Chosen One [#Wattys2016]

TORMENT

He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.

Neville sat there, for how long he did not know, not caring if he got hit by a spell. Crouching next to his grandmother, he closed her eyes, then crossed his legs as he spoke to Avaline, nonsensical words, but he attempted to divert her from the pain that he knew he had caused, albeit indirectly. He gripped their hands in either of his, hoping to take away their anguish.

"I loved gardening at home. I feel like my plants are just like us. They have feelings too. They like having friends. And they're a lot more accepting. They loved me for who I was. They grew with me. They took away my loneliness.

"I always thought Gran was too paranoid because she wouldn't let me go out. She thought I'd get hurt, so I never went beyond the park," his words stuck in his throat but he continued, his voice now hoarse, "She was right. Now – now I would give anything to have her worry about me. She was strict and overbearing, but she loved me.

"This one time, Uncle Algie brought me a box of Muggle crayons and I spent the whole day drawing. I gave it to Gran and she hung it in the house, like it was a masterpiece. It was hideous, I tell you, but she wouldn't let me throw it. She was my first friend. And now, she's gone, because of me.

"And then when I came to Hogwarts, I thought I wouldn't make friends. Malfoy was terrible to me, but then I met you and you became my friend. I can't thank you enough. I – I didn't deserve you, I –"

"I understand, Neville. You're a great person, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Tell Malfoy I'm sorry too. I should have listened to him, but I was too curious and too stubborn for my own good. You'll tell him, won't you?" she pleaded.

He nodded.

"He likes you a lot," he said, sobbing uncontrollably. She smiled. Her breathing became shallower as she attempted to keep up.

"Don't leave me. I'm not ready for you to leave me."

"The people we love never really leave us," she said.

As Avaline Snape breathed her last, her grip on Neville's hand slackened, the ghost of her last smile stood still on her face.

And then Sirius Black stood next to him, prying his fingers away from the corpses of people he had loved, and those who had loved him back. He attempted to pull Neville away from them, but Neville resisted. The screams got caught in his throat as he refused to accept the mundane reality.

"Neville, there's nothing you can do for them. Come on," Harry's godfather said gently as Neville's will shattered. His pain echoed in the night, as a sound of pure agony escaped from his mouth.

He screamed until his throat was raw. His brain denied reality but his heart tore open at the seams. It could not be that both Avaline and Augusta were dead. Sirius pulled him but Neville would not budge.

"Neville, come on. We have to move," Sirius persisted. He hadn't moved at all. Instead, he had held him while he had screamed.

Tears tracks and grime lined the young boy's face, adding years to his youth. Neville allowed himself to be led away as Sirius he stood him up gently once he had quietened. They walked away from the chaos that still reigned as the Wizards rounded off the last of the death eaters.

Neville glanced at the prone body of Rabastan Lestrange. The solution in the cauldron lay still and dead, just the man who had attempted to restore chaos.

It didn't matter to him though.

The world had ended for him, so the flashes of brilliant light were pointless. They were ridiculous and meaningless. But it was all for him, he realised. He had caused it. If he was the key to bringing back the dark lord, he should be buried deep where no one could find him.

Before the trees hid them from view, Neville looked at his loved ones for one last time. He bade them goodbye silently, sobbing quietly as Sirius escorted him away from the place that would haunt him forever.

As Sirius sat Neville on his flying motorcycle and revved the engine, Neville resolved never to make any more friends if that was where his friendship led them to. The motorcycle flew over a river that appeared dark as black ink in the night, surrounded by fluttering lights of the city. The water looked strangely welcoming.

Without thinking, without worrying about the consequences, now that there was no one to scold him for his thoughtlessness, he jumped into the river. It was like hitting cement, hard and final. He thought of Augusta and Avaline and how both of them hadn't deserved to die. His last thoughts as the water filled up his lungs were of his parents and how he could now finally meet them.

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Don't hate me for sinking your ships and Neville too.