#MagicMonth - Anthology / CLOSED

Neville Longbottom and The Return of Voldemort by @MadameTulip

Ginny ran through the vast corridors of Hogwarts with only one mission. To find Neville. She knew where the Gryffindor's boys chambers were but the changing staircases once again played evil.

All around her, strong fumes arose, drugging her mind with forgetfulness. She needed to tell someone what she saw, what she knew. And, she had to do it quick.

Finally, she reached the door after several failed attempts and barged in without knocking.

Neville was sound asleep in his bed but instantly woke up, reaching for his wand when he felt his quilt being tugged away. He immediately pointed the wand towards Ginny, adjusting his eyes to the darkness, ready to fight off the intruder.

As soon as he realised it was Ginny, he lowered his wand and said in a high-pitched voice "Blimey! Ginny! What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you Neville! Please listen to me. We don't have time! Just hear me out" She said in a rushed tone, her words already slurring.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" He asked, making Ginny sit on his bed.

"It's Harry. He's.. Go, find Ron and Draco! They'll help you. I- Just stop Harry! He's not himself. He's summoning Voldemort back! Go!" She said with all the power she could manage and then slumped back, her eyes drooping close.

"Ginny! Wake up! No no no. I need you here!" Neville attempted to wake her up, but she wouldn't. He leant down and immediately smelt something on her. The essence of Fainting Fancies. Not fatal but she wouldn't wake up for a while.

Neville adjusted Ginny on his bed and then ran out of the room to find Ron and Draco.

~~~

Neville had run to Slytherin's common room lightning fast but failed to find Draco. As he passed the Bathroom on the sixth floor, he heard some strange voices and went inside.

He saw Draco half dragging Hermione's jacket away while kissing her to the ground. Both of them saw him and jumped away from each other, just as he averted his eyes.

"What do you want, Longbottom?" Draco asked, irritated at the situation.

He cleared his throat, then looked at them and said "I need you both to come with me. Ginny came to our room and told me that Harry is bringing Voldemort back. I guess she found out when they were together."

Draco was too shocked to say anything. Hermione uttered through a constricted throat "I don't understand. I thought we had already dealt with Harry's problem! Why didn't Ginny come to me?"

"She didn't have a lot of time. Harry apparently tried to smother her with Fainting Fancies' essence. She was going unconscious very fast. He obviously didn't want us to know. Also, she believes I'm the only one who can stop Voldemort" Neville explained.

"And why does she believe that?" Draco asked, his voice laced with curiosity.

Neville gulped and said to the both of them "I haven't exactly been honest about who I am. Everyone knows I'm the boy who lived but no one knows why."

~~~

Draco returned to the Gryffindor common room with Ron, where Neville and Hermione were going over everything that was about to happen.

Draco sat down next to Hermione when she asked him "What took you so long?"

Draco replied "Weasley here decided to play hide and seek. Couldn't find him anywhere. Finally saw him in the kitchen pantry stacking cupcakes in his pockets."

Ron just sat down and said "Malfoy told me everything. How could you hide this from us, Neville? I thought we were friends."

Neville sucked in a breath and said, "If he already told you, you know my reasons."