A Literate Engineer

Everyone dies. Some do it by old age. One such man, lying in his deathbed many years after his time at Hogwarts, has had his mind wither away like so many of the plants he cared for. Now, Neville Longbottom must die after a life unfulfilled, able to remember little more than his two mistakes: that he loved a woman and did nothing, and that he remained faithful to that love for all his life.

Towards the end of a Spring Term, a Hogwarts student runs across a copy of one of the most stirring photographs in the whole of Muggle history. Can a man who stood down the full might of one of the Earth's greatest nations change one Pureblood Wizard's way of thinking?

It was prophesied that Lord Voldemort would mark as his equal one of 2 boys. The chosen one, Harry Potter, saved the world and gained fame, glory, and a snazzy scar. The other was Neville Longbottom, who nearly became a Squib. Racked by self-doubt and belittled by the world his whole life, he has lived in the wings until now, unacknowledged understudy to the Perfect Hero. But the fifth year at Hogwarts has ended, and he has learned faith in himself. Now it is his Sixth Year. It is his time for glory, his time for love, his time to remind the world that most feared Dark Wizard ever has not one but two equals. If the future holds a Chocolate Frog card that says "Neville Longbottom", the time has come for him to start writing it.

It is the summer after Harry's fifth year. He is alone, angry, and sad. Life sucks. Plus, Dudley's listening to Rush, really really loudly. A vignette that features "Something for Nothing" in songfic fashion.