My first fic on the forums. Didn't realise the main site area wasn't accepting them any more! anyway, please read and review.

Set 1997, DH Era, on the Hogwarts express at christmas. Neville, Luna, Ginny.

All characters, settings, etc owned by JK Rowling.

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Coming Home

Luna hurriedly followed Neville and Ginny as they boarded the Hogwarts Express; an aura of fear surrounded them, as it did every other student who defied the “Teachers.” Their defiance had earned them quite a reputation. Like them, others had opposed the new “changes,” but these three, they were the leaders - others drew their own courage from their rallying. Barely half a year ago, no-one would have even given them a second glance (with the possible exception of Ginny.) But now, their subdued heroism gave a small ray of hope in a school that was now little more than a dark arts facility.

Neville found an empty compartment, and the three huddled together. The unnatural mist outside had followed them in - a troop of dementors towered close outside the compartment window, drawing long, deep breaths. Neville felt the cold entwine between them, stinging and cutting through his clothes and skin, as though the dementors themselves were grasping at them. Think happy thoughts… None of them could risk producing a patronus this close to the school - they had been banned by the Carrows in the first week of term, as Dementors were now a common sight around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, to disencourage what the Carrow’s deemed “Insolence.”

After what seemed hours, the train began to move, and the dementors disappeared as the coal smoke engulfed the platform. Neville, who had been unintentionally drawn to watch the skeletal forms, snapped awake, as though out a trance. Out of his small bag, he pulled a large bar of Honeyduke’s best chocolate he had stolen two weeks previously from the teacher’s lounge. Breaking it into large pieces, he handed it over to Luna and Ginny, and all three hastily devoured their share.

“Thanksh, Neville,” exclaimed Ginny through a particularly large mouthful. The colour drained immediately back into her face. Even her flaming hair had dulled at the presence of the Dementors, but now its colour, fully restored, blazed, as a few shards of sunlight was allowed to enter the compartment by the thick cloud cover above.

However, the chocolate didn’t rid any of them of the new scars, bruises and cuts they all now bore. Neville wore a scar on his right cheek, crudely cut by a curse from Alecto for speaking out of turn. All three of them ached constantly nowadays - their continued efforts gained them a detention every few days, subjecting them to torture by use of the cruciatus curse. Even after such continuous use, however, it was not something any of them had gotten used to; although they all refused to moan or cry about it.

As they sped away from their once beloved school, talk broke out across the train, and even a slight inkling of happiness could be felt in the corridors. There was no lady pushing a trolley overflowing with sweets down it, but the relief of a break from such constant abuse could lift anyone’s spirit.

Luna alone seemed to be oblivious to this rare atmosphere. Her slightly bruised eyes were glazed, and as her bottom lip started to betray her best efforts and tremble, Ginny gracefully pulled her into a motherly hug. Luna clutched the latest edition of her father’s magazine, disguised as a copy of Hogwarts - a History, tightly into her chest. Silent tears fell down Luna’s nose, and into Ginny’s lap.

“They’ll - they’ll - take him! Why can’t daddy just - just -” but the end of this sentence was inaudible as Luna, after such agonising months of keeping face, finally broke down into an uncontrollable grief. Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed into Ginny. Neville grabbed Luna’s trembling hand.

“It’s - It’s okay. They won’t do anything to him or you - you know what those two gits keep telling us - they only want rid of muggle borns. He’ll be fine,” Neville had no clue whether this was true at all, but his voice did not waver as he consoled Luna. The truth was, Neville was worried for all of their families; not one of them had heard a word from them, except Ginny, when they huddled over the wizarding wireless for Potterwatch. Neville moved himself to beside Luna, and cupped her hand in both of his, hoping this would bring some sort of warmth to his broken friend.

The journey felt longer than it ever had done; fear for their families mounted as they drew nearer to them. Half an hour previously, snow had begun floating from the sky, gently powdering the flat landscape outside, but this had built into a powerful blizzard, now threatening to break in the compartment’s old windows. A harsh wind whistled through the train. Again, the trio huddled together, now under a large blanket Luna had brought from home, emblazoned with the Ravenclaw crest. Luna had stopped crying, but her expression remained unreadable. Talk between them was thin - at one point, Harry’s name had come up, but Ginny’s face had fallen at the mention of it. Deciding that depressing conversation was not quite what any of them needed, Neville had quickly changed pace. However, Neville’s mind wandered back to Harry after a short time. Even Potterwatch had no clue where Harry was, or what he was doing. Neville assumed Hermione and Ron were with him, and found it almost laughable that people actually believed the paper-thin lies that Ron was fatally ill in bed, and Hermione had gone into hiding - didn’t the “Ministry” (even Neville’s inner voice spat this word with sarcasm and contempt) realise that that trio were unbreakable?

A small hiccough from a now calm Luna brought Neville back to the compartment from his thoughts for a fraction. But then, aren’t we the same now? We’re holding the fort, we’re leading the Hogwarts - Dumbledore’s - army! The thought exhilarated Neville for a second, and then a familiar sense of doubt and fear shot to his brain. If Someone had told him a couple of years ago that he would have fought death eaters in the presence of Voldemort, or helped fight them off side by side with the Order of the Phoenix (on more than one occasion), or be sitting there now, with the proud scars his loyalty had acquired him, he may have fainted on the spot. Hadn’t he once feared the monster of the Basilisk due to his own belief that he was, “Almost a squib”? And then Harry Potter had destroyed it, at the age of twelve - the basilisk, in the service of the heir of Slytherin, one of the greatest wizards of his age - had been slain by a small boy. And if Harry could do it, so could Neville, or anyone else for that matter. Harry had single-handedly showed Neville that loyalty overcame ineptitude; that was how the sword of Gryffindor had ended up in Harry’s possession, and the fuel for Neville, Luna and Ginny’s attempt to reacquire it for its true owners, Gryffindor house.

Thinking vaguely that perhaps Snape had been confunded when dealing them their punishment after that failed plan, Neville again pulled open his bag, rummaging for the food he had taken from the breakfast table earlier that day. Handing over various fruits to his friends, Neville himself took a large, crunching bite out of his apple. The snow was beginning to subside outside, but the haze had not lifted. Luna suddenly shivered violently, and then the same implicit reaction occurred in Ginny. A sudden wave of ice cold chill collided with Neville, almost solid, and he to, began shaking. This all to familiar event told them why such a thick haze had not lifted - the train was heading through a large Dementor breeding ground. Neville tried to avert his eyes from the window, but it was no use - A large, scabbed hand drifted close to the glass, sending further waves of chill over them.

A shudder almost caused Neville to fall from his seat; the train had abruptly stopped, right in the midst of what was possibly hundreds, even thousands of dementors. More decaying arms reached to their window, and the lights inside and out of Neville began fading - think happy thoughts…. Happy… Neville’s parents, howling strange rantings, broke into Neville’s mind - Their dishevelled appearance even more so, accentuated by such a magnitude of Dementors, grew more and more vivid, and Neville was reliving the first time in memory he met his parents. Next to him, his gran’s vulture topped hat even seemed menacing - Neville’s eyes were drawn back to his father, who was crying uncontrollably, screaming, not at, but past Neville and his mother and his gran, at some unknown object or creature - he began lashing out, limbs flailing, and a couple of large, burly healers pushed past Neville to restrain him to the bed…

HAPPY THOUGHTS! HAPPY!

Neville forced the memory away, thinking of the DA, of his friends, of their efforts against the Carrows… about how proud his gran had been after he had returned from the ministry, after fighting side by side with the Order…

“EXPECTO… EXPECTO….” his breaths between were heavy and drawn, just like the Dementors. “EXPECTO PATRONUM…” a transparent mist feebly dribbled from his wand, but then, a silvery creature burst into existence to his side - Luna had produced a full patronus, and the Dementors near the windows flew away in disgust.

Luna’s patronus rounded on the door as she croaked instructions. Before it reached there, the door shattered open, and two hooded figures entered. They smirked, teeth flashing at the patronus, which they did not retreat from… something was wrong, they weren’t Dementors. One of the hooded figures made a grab for Luna, catching her by the hair as she let out a cry of pain; Neville and Ginny immediately rose, ready to retaliate, but it was in vain, the other figure whipping his wand, stunning Ginny, who’s head hit the window with a deafening thud, leaving her unconscious on the floor. Neville made a dash for the culprit, his rage shattering the gathering Dementor’s attempts to draw his thoughts. Again. The figure brandished his wand, and with a bang, thick ropes constricted Neville, leaving him wriggling painfully on the floor of the compartment.

The figure, holding a struggling Luna, again smirked at Neville;
“Longbottom! Tell all your friends; you lot are just bait and bargaining chips for the dark lord. Let this be a lesson! If your family misbehave, you worms are all going to suffer. Luna here -” he tugged again at her hair, and Luna let out an unstifled sob, “is about to feel very much that her father could behave himself!”

And then, both men, cackling, disappeared from the doorway, and off of the train. A loud crack indicated their disapparition. Neville’s eyes began flowing… his head dimmed… the train gave a shudder… Seamus appeared in his blurred vision…

Neville could make neither head nor tail of what was happening, except that the ropes were now endangering his life. Seamus made a slashing movement with his wand, cutting the ropes. A free Neville and Seamus then scrambled over to Ginny, a swollen bruise covering her right temple, and shook her. Seamus bent down, to check her breathing. As he did, Neville examined her bruise. A small trickle of blood issued from under her hair, indicating that the damage spread upwards. All of a sudden, Ginny’s eyes flickered, and as quickly as she had gone down, she shot to her feet.

“Luna! LUNA! Neville, where is she?” Her face was aghast.

“They -They -” Neville swallowed hard; he couldn’t finish his sentence, as shame set in over his helplessness and inability to save his friend.

Seamus stood up beside her, and pointed to the absent doorway.
“I saw them leave Ginny, they left with her. They took Luna with them.”


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