Longbottom's Army

Chapter Four - Logistics

During his first year, whenever Neville was lonely or upset - which was often - he always found solace in Greenhouse One. It was the greenhouse for first years, where the least dangerous plants were kept. There was a comfort in working with the Dittany plants, Flitterbloom or Belladonna. He would talk to the plants, like Professor Sprout suggested, and it felt like he had friends.

The fact that plants could be dangerous never entered Neville's mind. Even after he had received his first Herbology injury - a bite from a Fanged Geranium - Neville still wasn't scared. To him, plants were simply easier to understand than magical theory.

Greenhouse One was still his favourite greenhouse, not because of the plants inside - that would be Greenhouse Five - but because of the feeling of comfort that always enveloped him whenever he stepped inside.

It was in Greenhouse One where Neville was sitting, books and rolls of parchment scattered in front of him. In a bout of inspiration, Neville had owled his old Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Professor Lupin for help. Not mentioning the D.A., Neville wrote that he would like some help studying for his N.E.W.T.S. Professor Lupin responded quickly, eagerly providing the seventh year lesson plan he had used when he taught at Hogwarts.

The information was invaluable. Neville tried to organise the lesson plans to give to whoever ended up being the leader of the D.A. Both he and Luna decided that there should be a vote during the first meeting at the Three Broomsticks.

The greenhouse door opened. Neville looked up and saw Luna walking towards him, holding a roll of parchment. They were meeting to make last minute preparations before the meeting tomorrow.

"I made the sign-up sheet," Luna said happily as she sat down next to Neville, but not before casting a quick blanket spell on the earth.

"May I see it?" Neville asked. They had debated for hours whether or not there should be a sign-up sheet. Both were far too aware of what happened the last time the D.A. had one. But then Luna had a brilliant idea.

"Here," she said almost shyly, handing Neville the parchment.

Neville quickly unrolled the parchment and his eyes widened in amazement. Luna had drawn twenty different magical creatures, one for each member of the D.A. The other columns indicated possible meeting times. Each row represented a different D.A. member, to tell them when they could meet. Each person would mark an X below times they could attend a meeting.

Luna had memorised who was who as a show of trust to the D.A. If anyone was to find the sign-up sheet and somehow manage to discover its purposes, the D.A. would know who to blame. Neville had been resistant at first, not wanting to put that sort of pressure on Luna, but she seemed to look at it almost like a game of sorts.

"You drew all these?" asked Neville. The drawings themselves weren't the greatest quality, but what amazed him was the variety. These were animals that Neville would have never been able to imagine on his own.

Luna nodded. "Charmed them to move for fun. I thought about having them make sounds, but decided that might get annoying after a bit."

"Which one am I?" asked Neville curiously.

She pointed to a creature that seemed to have a lion's body with wings that appeared to have dragon wings sprouting out of its back. The head was a horse with a bright red spot in the middle of its forehead and a tail that he didn't recognise. "This is you. It's a Winged Barrett."

"What's the spot on the forehead?" asked Neville. He didn't have the slightest idea what a Winged Barrett could possibly be, but the picture looked interesting enough.

"It's the same type of spot a Clabbert has," Luna told him. "It senses danger."

"So what exactly does it do, exactly?" Neville asked.

To his surprise, Luna seemed to blush a bit. "It's a wonderful animal," she said. "Lives in Africa. It helps some tribes with their herding and can act as a guardian."

"That's me, Neville the herder," he said with a laugh. Looking at the parchment again, he asked, "Which one is you?" She pointed to the only non-moving creature on the parchment. A hare. "You didn't draw a magical creature for yourself?"

"That's my Patronus form," she told him, raising her chin slightly in a defiant manner. "And I'll have you know that hares are some of the most magical creatures out there. Don't let their mild demeanor fool you."

"I'll remember that," Neville said with a grin. He went back to looking at the parchment. "Which one is Ginny?"

"A Heliopath," Luna said. "A spirit of fire. I thought it worked for her."

"That certainly does," Neville agreed. He continued asking about various students, trying to unsuccessfully hold back a snigger when Luna told him she assigned a Wrackspurt to Ernie Macmillan. She simply blinked and tilted her head curiously when he tried to explain why he thought it was perfect for Ernie.

When curfew approached, Neville placed the books and parchments back into his school bag. "What are we doing?" he asked suddenly as his stomach all at once turned into knots.

"We're about to leave so that we don't break curfew," Luna said matter-of-factly.

"I know," Neville said, running his hand over the back of his neck. "But tomorrow?" Luna opened her mouth to speak, but Neville cut her off, knowing that she was about to say that they had the meeting tomorrow. "Why do we think that anyone will listen to us?"

Luna lowered her head and looked thoughtful. "No one would have agreed to show up if they didn't want to listen to what you had to say."

"I just don't want to make a fool of myself," Neville admitted softly. Looking foolish was something he hadn't worried about in quite some time. Why would he worry about that now?

"Have you ever looked foolish before?" Luna asked curiously.

Neville let out a laugh at the question. It was one Luna should know the answer to. Thinking of all the times he had made a fool of himself, he replied, "Yes, I have certainly have looked foolish before."

"Did the earth stop spinning?"

Confused, Neville asked, "What do you mean, did the earth stop spinning?"

"Did it?" Luna asked, leaning back on her hands.

"No," Neville said, still not sure what she meant.

"Then it won't stop tomorrow if you look foolish," Luna said with a sigh, staring at a potted Fluttery Bush.

Neville looked down and smiled. "The world won't end," he agreed. "I just want things to be perfect, you know?"

"I know," Luna said. "Perfect can be nice. But I prefer mistakes. They really are much more interesting than perfection."

"I guess," Neville said uncertainly.

"Everything will go fine tomorrow," Luna told him. "And if it doesn't, there really isn't much you can do about it, is there?"

Neville sighed. She certainly did have a point.

~~~~~

The next morning, Neville woke up to a cloudy grey sky and wondered if he could somehow stay in bed for the entire day. Knowing that keeping his head underneath the covers simply wasn't a possibility, Neville sat up, and tried to ignore the slight flutter in his stomach.

He could hardly believe that five weeks had already passed since school began. There were times when it felt like only yesterday he stepped on the Hogwarts Express. But then again, there were also times when he thought that the sands in the hourglasses were glued together.

It was almost time for the second monthly official study session for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. The first one was a bit of a joke. An official from the Ministry had come to lead the study session. There was no practical part of the session; they only sat around a table and answered questions that could easily be looked up in a textbook. Neville hoped desperately that the D.A. would be able to do better than the Ministry!

Neville looked around. The room was empty except for him; Dean and Seamus must have already gone downstairs for breakfast. He walked to the window and looked outside, seeing flashes of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. A smile formed on his lips knowing that the Quidditch season started in only two weeks. Ginny had told him that she was secretly impressed with the Gryffindor team so far, but she hadn't told them that. She didn't want them thinking too well of themselves this early in the season.

The icy-cold sensation in his stomach was disappearing. Luna was right. There was absolutely no point to worrying about how the first meeting would go when there wasn't much he could do to control the outcome.

These comforting thoughts in his mind, Neville quickly got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He passed a number of students that had been invited to the first meeting, and they all seemed to smile or wave at him. And these were people who wouldn't normally notice him. It almost made Neville feel like he was really accepted, which was a very nice feeling, one he wasn't used to at all.

At the Gryffindor table, he sat next to Ginny, who was in a deep discussion of various Quidditch strategies with Keeper Darren Wood. Apparently, his brother had been owling him training ideas and Darren was eager to share.

Not having anyone to talk to, Neville looked over at the Ravenclaw table, wanting to catch Luna's eye. She wasn't there, and Neville felt a sense of disappointment. Not that he had asked, but he had just assumed that they would walk over to Hogsmeade together. Well, she would walk and he would limp. His leg still wasn't doing nearly as well as the Madame Pomfrey had hoped. She was even talking about sending him to St. Mungo's during Christmas break if he didn't start walking better soon.

Neville didn't really mind the not walking well part. All his professors knew, so they never scolded him if he was a minute or two late to class. He wasn't in pain, and that's what mainly concerned him. As long as Neville remained pain-free, he could limp until the Thestrals came home.

Once breakfast was complete, and students started filling the queue to be allowed into Hogsmeade, Neville lingered behind, hoping to see Luna bounding down the stairs. He waited until Filch told him to hurry up or he could forget about Hogsmeade. So Neville started the short trek towards the wizarding town.

The sky was still overcast; it was the type of day where he would be pleased to sit inside the Three Broomsticks with a warm butterbeer and watch the people bustling through the streets. He felt sorry for the third years, who had been looking forward to the trips all summer, and even worse, the fourth years, who went to Hogsmeade last year and now were no longer allowed to go.

About halfway to Hogsmeade, a shooting pain coursed through Neville's leg. He stood still for a moment, waiting for the pain to subside.

"Neville!" a voice shouted behind him. Neville smiled, recoginising Luna's voice. "Are you alright?"

He turned, and Luna relaxed immediately. "You stopped, and I thought-" Looking embarrassed, she stopped speaking and put her hand on her cheek.

"What did you think?" asked Neville curiously.

"I thought a Podmeister might have gotten you." Luna shook her head and laughed while Neville resisted the temptation to ask just what one was. "Silly of me, wasn't it? Pomeisters are never up this far north in October."

"My leg just hurt for a moment," Neville admitted. "I'm fine now."

Luna looked down at her feet for a moment, then held out her arm to him. "Do you want help?"

Neville flashed a smiled, pleased that she asked if he wanted her help, not if he needed her help, like several professors and students had done since school had started. He shook his head. "I'm fine, honestly." Then before he could stop himself, added, "You weren't at breakfast."

"I wasn't hungry," Luna shrugged. "Not much point to sitting in the Great Hall if you're not going to eat."

They started walking again towards Hogsmeade, a silence falling between them. At the edge of town, Neville paused, not sure what to do. "Do you want to go sit in the Three Broomsticks?" he asked uncertainly. "We could wait for everyone to show up and join us."

Her head tilted to one side thoughtfully. "You don't want to make a grand entrance?"

Neville laughed. "I think I'd prefer to blend in with the wallpaper than make a grand entrance," he told her.

"I could use a Yellow Rattler," she said as they headed up the walk towards the Three Broomsticks. "What do you like to drink?"

"I'm a butterbeer man, myself," Neville told her. The truth was Neville had never had anything stronger than a butterbeer. He had thought about ordering a glass of wine when he went out to dinner this his grandmother on his seventeenth birthday, but found he didn't think he could drink in front of her.

Luna held the door to the bar open for him. "Go get some tables for the group," Luna told him. "I'll get drinks."

Neville nodded and headed towards the corner of the bar and sat down. From his vantage point, he watched Luna order the drinks from Madame Rosmerta, who was still a bit on the jumpy side, having been placed under the Imperius Curse in her own bar last year.

A few minutes later, Luna returned with a butterbeer for him and an odd looking drink that looked like orange juice, but not quite, seeing that there was an onion cocktail stick included. She saw him looking at her drink and asked, "Do you want a sip? Yellow Rattlers are very good."

Neville was always fairly conservative when it came to trying new foods. He started to shake his head, but then on an impulse, said, "Yes, please."

Once she sat down next to him, Luna handed Neville the glass. Trying not to look to obvious, he sniffed the drink. Finding the smell acceptable, Neville took a small sip. There was definitely orange juice, but there was another taste, something flowery. All and all, not a bad drink, but something that he didn't think he would order for himself. "Thank you," he said, returning the drink to her.

"You're welcome," Luna said.

Neville looked at his watch. It was ten-thirty. They had asked for everyone to arrive by noon, to try to blend in with the lunch crowd. Only an hour and a half to go...

"Who do you think will arrive first?" Luna asked.

He tried to think about the question seriously. Who had seemed the most excited about the group, besides him and Luna? "Ernie Macmillan," he said slowly.

Luna looked pleased. "That's who I thought, too."

They were both wrong. Neville was surprised to see Millicent Bulstrode enter the bar, somewhat uncertainly, at fifteen minutes after eleven. He raised his hand and motioned her over. How in the world would they make small talk with Millicent for forty-five minutes?

After stopping by the bar, Millicent sat down at the table next to them, holding some sort of dark green drink. She looked nearly as uncomfortable as Neville felt. "Hallo," she said uneasily. "I hope you don't mind that I'm early."

Neville shrugged and tried to think of something to say. He finally settled on something dealing with Quidditch when Luna said softly, "Thank you for helping me last week."

Millicent shifted in her seat. "My housemates can be idiots sometimes," she said, rolling her eyes.

"True," Luna agreed, causing Millicent's eyes to narrow. "But you didn't have to stop them from taunting me. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Millicent said, her cheeks reddening a bit.

After that, the conversation seemed to flow fairly easily. By eleven-thirty, more students showed up, each one entering the bar with an excited look on their faces that Neville found almost humbling. Everyone seemed so pleased to be involved. Neville again hoped that the meetings would live up to their expectations.

By five minutes to twelve, all twenty students were there, sitting at four different tables. Neville was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the Slytherins had shown up, even Pansy and Nott. And more importantly, not one table represented one single house. Hufflepuffs were sitting next to Ravenclaws and Slytherins next to Gryffindors.

The group started to get a bit restless, and Neville knew it was time to start. He looked at Luna, who simply smiled at him. She seemed to project a sense of calm no matter the situation. Even when they had fought in the Department of Mysteries, it had been the same.

Hoping he didn't look too awkward, Neville stood up and cleared his throat. "Erm..." He stopped instantly. What sort of impression would 'erm' make? Not a very good one he decided gloomily. "Thank you all for coming," he continued, trying to sound casual. "I think we all know why we're here-"

Zacharias Smith cut him off. "Yes, we do," he said rudely. "So when do we start?"

"Shut up, Smith and let him speak," Millicent said with a glare that Neville was quite glad wasn't directed at him.

Neville relaxed instantly and took a deep breath. Everyone here sitting at these table was on his side. They had all agreed to be here to discuss studying defensive magic in secret. Neville knew they all had to support each other or this would never work. There were no enemies here.

With more confidence, Neville told the group, "Basically, we need to decide on a time to meet and who should run the meetings." Neville didn't say in charge, because he didn't want the same feeling like fifth year, where everyone knew that Harry was more important than everyone else in the room.

At the mention of meeting time, Luna pulled out a piece of parchment. The entire group looked suspiciously at the parchment. Neville knew why at once. No one wanted to risk what happened last time.

Luna explained the parchment to the group quickly, and Neville noticed that when she said that only she would be to blame if anyone discovered the parchment, people looked impressed.

"But what happens if someone just blabs?" asked Orla Quirke.

"Well, we're technically not doing anything illegal," Neville said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "We're asking for secrecy since this was invitation only. I'd prefer to keep it that way. I don't want people's feelings hurt."

"And there's no Umbitch around to tell us what to do," Susan Bones said with a laugh.

With the mention of Umbridge, Neville saw several students shoot hateful glares towards the Slytherins in attendance while the former members of the Inquisitorial Squad all looked uncomfortable. Apparently that chapter in Hogwarts history hadn't been forgotten yet.

"So how will we know what time the first meeting is?" asked Millicent, her eyes narrowing as if she expected the first official meeting to happen without her knowledge. "Word of mouth?"

Luna was prepared for this question as well. She pulled out a bag of fake galleons, the same type that the D.A. had used two years ago. Neville had been slightly amazed when Luna had no problem duplicating the spell that Hermione had used on the coins. That was advanced magic! Something that wasn't even taught at Hogwarts, and Luna performed the spell like it was a First Year Charms lesson.

The bag was discretely passed around the tables. Neville took the last two in the bag and handed one to Luna. They could have used the coins they had used before - Neville still had his and was fairly sure that Luna had hers - but he liked the idea of starting fresh. A new coin for a new group.

"So who's the leader?" asked Dean Thomas asked.

Neville let out a breath. There it was. The question that everyone really had on their minds. He knew he could go on and say that there didn't need to be a leader, that they could all work together, but Neville knew that everyone probably wanted one.

He looked at Ginny, who was staring at her hands. "I nominate Ginny Weasley," he said. Neville truly thought that she would do a great job running the D.A.

Ginny looked up instantly, shaking her head. "I can't, Neville."

"Why?" asked Neville.

"I can barely keep up running the Quidditch team. I can't take on any more responsibilities," she said quickly. "Thank you, though."

Nodding, Neville turned back to the group. "Does anyone have a nomination?"

Across from his, Zacharias Smith and Justin Finch-Fletchley were whispering. "I nominate Zach Smith, here. He is Head Boy, after all," Justin announced finally.

"Anyone else?" asked Neville, hoping desperately that someone, anyone, other than Smith would be nominated. He looked around. Susan Bones might make a good leader, or perhaps even Anthony Goldstein.

"I said it before, mate," Seamus Finnigan said easily. "It was your idea. You should lead."

The majority of the group all murmured their agreement. Neville felt his cheeks flush and instantly felt foolish. How could he lead a group if he couldn't stop blushing? "Thank you," Neville replied sincerely. "Anyone else?"

No one else was nominated. "Let's put it to a vote," Neville started awkwardly. It didn't feel right to preside over a vote where he was one of the candidates.

Luckily, Ginny seemed to realise his discomfort and stood up. "Alright, if you want Smith here to lead, raise your hand," she said. Only three people, Zacharias, Justin and Susan Bones, who was dating Smith, raised their hands.

"And if you want Neville here to lead the meetings, the person who thought of this idea and brought us together, raise your hands."

Sixteen people raised their hands at once, leaving Neville's mouth dry. He had never won anything before in his life. And here he was, in a position where he was just chosen by his peers... It was a bit overwhelming.

Neville knew he had to say something or look a bit like an idiot in everyone's eyes. "Thank you," he said softly. He raised the parchment with the magical creatures and added, "Mark you free times and we'll let you know."

A small line formed in front of Luna while she told everyone which creature represented them. There were a few grumbles - Smith seemed distinctly put out when Luna told him that his creature was best known for its world class fertilizer - but the majority seemed pleased.

Twenty minutes passed before the tables were empty, leaving Neville and Luna by themselves. "That went well," Neville said to himself, more than to Luna.

"Did it?" asked Luna as she poured over the parchment.

"You didn't think so?" Neville asked, slightly disappointed.

"I don't know if I'd be able to tell either way," Luna said truthfully.

He watched Luna pour over the parchment. "Please tell me there's a time when we can all meet."

"There is," Luna said, biting her lower lip. "But I don't think many people will like it."

"When?"

"Saturday nights."

"I don't mind that," Neville told her. He rarely had anything to do on Saturday nights.

"Neither do I," Luna said. "But some might think it will impede on their social lives."

"Well, it's not like it would be every Saturday night," Neville said thoughtfully. "It would only be every other Saturday." He scratched his head. "I think it will work. Curfew's later, so we can practice longer."

"So Saturday?"

"Saturday it is," Neville said. "A week from today?"

Luna nodded eagerly. "Do you want me to charm the coin now?"

Neville broke out into a wide grin. "Why not?" But then he realised how much he needed to accomplish before then, figuring out a lesson plan of sorts, not to mention making sure he could actually perform the seventh year and advanced spells as not to make a fool out of himself at the first official meeting.

As Luna tapped her coin with her wand and Neville felt the small ridges on his change beneath his fingers, Neville's stomach did a bit of a twist. What had he gotten himself into?