Neville's Story

and to all the readers who helped me improve this story.
Yes, this is the revised version.


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Feeling the warm sun on his face, Neville knew that it was well past time for him to wake. Though not really tired, he kept his eyes closed, wanting to recall the dream that he had before waking. Not a dream really, more of a memory. He recalled being frightened, and then he heard a gentle humming which became a soft tune. Hearing voices gently singing to him, he had woken up. Lying in bed, all alone in his room, he knew that the voices had been in his dream, not his gran or one of his uncles or aunts trying to wake him.

Hearing a slight croaking, he opened his eyes as he sat up in his bed. "Morning Trevor," he said with a half-hearted smile to his pet toad. Looking at the clock on the wall, he sighed. It was well past the time that he had set his alarm for, and since there was so much to do today, he felt pressed for time. Throwing off his covers, he quickly got dressed. Wide awake, he could hear his gran downstairs as she prepared his things for his big day. Grateful that he had set aside his clothes for today last night, he was ready in record time, which for Neville was just shy of thirty minutes.

Grabbing Trevor, Neville quickly made his way downstairs into the kitchen. "Morning gran," he said as he set Trevor in his cage.

Though old, the woman before him was still a formidable witch. Wearing a moss green dress and a large pointed hat, she gave him a stern look. "Morning Neville dear," she replied as she searched for her old fox fur. "No time for breakfast today if we're to make it to King's Cross on time," she said apologetically. "We still need to still need to see your mum and da since we're going to be in London. Just a brief visit though."

Nodding, he realized something; it was his parents that he had heard in his dream. His lone memory of them; his father hummed while his mother sang a lullaby as they put him to sleep. Feeling a lump in his throat, Neville took a second to compose himself.

Hearing the front door open, he peeked out into the hallway and spotted several of his uncles. "Morning," he said as they grabbed his trunk.

"Morning Neville," they both said as they each took an end of his trunk. "Big day for you, finally going off to Hogwarts."

Nodding in reply, he watched as they took his trunk outside. Neville understood that they would be bringing his things to the station for him while he and Gran stopped by St. Mungo's Hospital. Though he was grateful for their help, he had mixed feelings about seeing his parents before leaving for school.

It was only in the last few years that he realized how much of a strain those visits were on not only himself, but on his gran. As a child, he really hadn't understand or known any better, but the past year or so, Neville began to see the subtle changes in his gran before and after a visit. She was always more critical of him when it came time to visit his parents, usually comparing him to his father when he was the same age.

He'd also begun to notice that Gran was more tired after visiting his parents. In truth, most of his relatives were exhausted after visiting his parents, though no one visited them as much as him and Gran.

For the past week he noticed that his gran had been a stressed a bit more, probably because he was leaving for his first year of school at Hogwarts and it would be the first time that he was away from any of his extended family.

Neville himself had mixed emotions as well; excited to be going to school, but nervous as well. Living with his gran, he'd had few friends growing up. Most of his cousins were much older or much younger than him, and he barely got along with them.

He knew that if not for his gran, most of his (distant) cousins would have picked on him even more than they had. Neville wasn't sure when he knew, but it had been at least a year or so ago that he realized that the smiles on most of his relatives' faces for him weren't genuine. He could see the sadness behind their eyes as they smiled at him. With his cousins the teasing had been more to hide their own cruelty and jealousy as they did not understand why he should be doted on and spoiled.

Perhaps he understood their smiles because he himself wore a fake smile often. Though he loved his gran, he couldn't help but feel that something was different and something was wrong. It wasn't until he had learned the truth behind his parents' condition that he had started realized that he'd been wearing a fake smile. It was then that he'd realized why all his aunts and uncles had that look of sadness in their eyes when they smiled at him.

Sighing, Neville tried to concentrate on the present. Getting into the taxi, he couldn't help but think about it. He knew that few would know anything about him or his parents and their story at Hogwarts. It was a chance for him to escape his past, a past that he barely even remembered. But it was also a world where his gran could no longer protect him.

The trip to London had passed by rather quickly, as he was lost in thought, only occasionally hearing what his Gran said to him. "I know you'll be busy making new friends and with school, but will you try to write me every week?" she asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

Nodding, he got out of the automobile and walked into the mall. The entire trip, the ride in the automobile, and seeing muggles in their odd dress, was no longer interesting to him. As he walked into the building with his gran, Neville recalled a time when he was amazed at it all and when he looked forward to seeing the muggle world as part of his visit. After so many visits and having realized their importance, he had lost interest in everything else but the actual visit.

"Morning Mrs. Longbottom," the nurse said as they entered the ward.

"Morning Rose," his gran replied with a curt nod. They visited so often that the nurses knew them by name and recognized their faces.

"Morning Neville," the nurse said as she spotted him. "I hope you enjoy your first year at Hogwarts. I'm sure you'll become a fine wizard."

Averting his eyes, he nodded, "Morning Ms. Rose, thank you." Seeing that she was pushing a cart of dirty dishes, he realized that they had just finished serving breakfast in the ward. Feeling his empty stomach growl, he smiled at the nurse as they made their way towards the end of the wing.

"Morning Alice, Frank," he heard his gran say as he opened the curtain that separated their beds from the rest of the ward.

"Morning Mum, Da," he said as he closed the curtain. Smiling at them, he pulled a chair out for his gran before sitting beside his mum's bed. Sitting down, he listened as his gran told his parents about his birthday and of him going to Hogwarts.

Seeing his mother's outstretched hand, he put his hand under hers and felt her slip a crumpled piece of paper into his hand. Smiling weakly, he fought back tears. Without even looking at the paper, he knew that it was a wrapper for Drooble's Blowing Gum, her favorite candy when she was his age. Slipping his other hand over hers, he pocketed the wrapper as he squeezed her hand. By the end of their brief visit, Neville had acquired several wrappers, each of which he had pocketed and kept.

Fighting back his anxiety over leaving home and sorrow after his brief visit his parents, Neville was fairly relieved as his gran sat quietly on the short ride from the hospital to King's Cross. Like him, she was fighting back her emotions; anxiety at seeing Neville go, pride at seeing him off to school, fear of the cruel world that he was about to go into, and sorrow at being reminded of how cruel the world really was.

Neville was also glad that his uncles were already waiting for him at the station. Having already stowed his things, they stood just beyond the barrier. Exchanging firm handshakes with his uncles, he smiled at them as they gave him some parting advice.

"Neville," Gran said as she removed something from her purse. "I want you to have this." Handing it to him, she smiled as she fought back tears.

Stuffing Trevor into his pocket, Neville opened the wooden box. The red velvet interior held a finely carved wand. "It was your father's," Gran explained as Neville gently extracted the wand from the box. "Take good care of it and it will take good care of you."

Feeling the tingling of magic as it coursed from the wand into his hand, Neville nodded, "I will Gran, I promise." Setting the wand back into the box, he held onto the box tightly as he hugged his gran and felt her kiss his cheek. Lost in the moment, he failed to hear anything else she said as he boarded the train.