Predictably, Neville was left partnerless.

[adjunct]

Hullo, this is Neville Longbottom, I think I've done this right.
Erm, you can leave me a voiceletter. If you'd like.

Comments

text.

[brainiest]

Neville! Can we talk?

(ooc: is it okay to handwave and say our tdm thread is now game-canon? c:)

text.

[adjunct]

[It's going to take Neville a good long minute to hunt and peck his response out.]

Of course Hermione should we meet?

[ooc: Yes I'd like that!]

text.

[brainiest]

You can come to our house, if you like. It's where James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Harry and I all live.

text --> action?

[adjunct]

Alright could I have directions?

[And after she gives them, he'll show up (relatively) promptly, having only gotten turned around once or twice.]

action forever!

[brainiest]

[ Hermione is standing outside and she brightens when she sees Neville, rushing over and giving him a tight hug. It's still a little sad, knowing he is here, trapped as they are, but at least he's among friends. Perhaps she should talk to everyone else about letting him move in with them... ]

Welcome to the Gryffindor house, Neville. Come on in, I've started some tea.

[ She turns back to her house before -- ]

Oh! And mind the dogs and the cats. They're very friendly.

[adjunct]

[Neville would definitely like that! He shuffles in, glancing around for the animals like he's had considerable experience getting chased up a lot of trees by people's very friendly pets.]

Thanks, Hermione. [Tea sounds lovely. In any case, Neville looks much better than he did when he first arrived, more rested and scrubbed clean and the sour yellow that had ringed one eye since the trio came back to Hogwarts was finally gone completely. He's quite pleased with having been sent to Sigyn.] You've settled in. Have you been here as long as Harry? Months?

[brainiest]

[ And, as if by magic, two dogs come running up to greet them; a stumpy two little dogs come running up and Hermione laughs, bending down to greet them with ear scratching and little coos. ]

Hello Morholt, Iggy, I know, I'm home. This is Neville - play nice, alright?

[ Turning back to her friend she smiles, softly. ]

I haven't been here as long as Harry, no. I've been around a few months, but - not that long. He's been here far, far longer than I have. The kitchen is this way.

private text

[liquidsky]

Mr Longbottom,

how nice of you to join us.

[adjunct]

Oh, hullo.

[Neville trundles after her, pleasantly surprised over not getting his ankles bitten to pieces, even bending down to pat their heads in turn (and tripping over one of their paws afterward, which he's really hoping she doesn't see.)]

Is he from two years, erm, after, like you? [He'd really been meaning to ask about that, and it had gnawed at him since they last parted ways.] What's it like?

[brainiest]

[ Hermione does see and she just smiles fondly; oh, Neville, she missed you something terrible. She goes into the kitchen straight away and starts to make some tea for them, dogs running around their ankles - one bulldog and one mutt desperate for attention. ]

Um, no, he isn't. He's from a few years before me, I think. [ A pause, then she turns and offers a soft little smile. ] It's good, Neville. Everything is getting better. Kingsley is Minster and the school has been rebuilt and - we're all working on making it good again.

private text

[adjunct]

[Neville actually drops his bracelet. It takes him a good long minute to recover, and even after he does he sorta wants to be sick. Private text received from Barty Crouch, Jr.]

Is this a joke?

[Please let this be some kind of horrible joke.]

private text

[liquidsky]

[...first Sirius, now this. People really have to stop asking that question, it is bound to draw out bad humour. But this is a bit more important than his talk to Black had been, so when he smiles, it's more dark than amused. He can imagine how Neville must feel.]

My presence? No, Mr Longbottom, it isn't. Why, does it strike you as funny?

[adjunct]

[Neville smiles back, a sort of almost-confidence in the expression that had never been there before. His gran would be pleased: she quite liked Kingsley, and Neville had learned that her judgement was pretty bang on most of the time.] We never lost hope, you know. The D.A. [Well, Neville hadn't, and he'd refused to hear otherwise from anyone else. No one really pushed him on it, anyway, because close to the end he was about the only thing holding them all together.] Knew if anything could figure things out, it'd be you three.

private text

[adjunct]

[Can a text sound shrill? Because this text should.]

No it does not! [Neville has never found anything less funny in his life. Well, other than the fact that his DADA teacher for a year, whom he'd had tea with, had been one of the men who tortured his parents into insanity. That had been profoundly, and on many, many levels, not funny either.] Whatever it is that you want, you're not going to get it. I won't let you.

private text

[liquidsky]

[It doesn't have to. Barty can imagine and, oh, he does.]

As seems to be the norm with us, Mr Longbottom, you've once again already proven yourself useful to me without realizing or intending it.

private text

[adjunct]

[Oh, Merlin, he doesn't like the sound of that. Neville is just glad for the fact that there's no way Barty can see his hands shaking as he types, because even he has a rough time telling whether it's because he's angry or scared.]

What do you mean by that? What are you doing?

private text

[liquidsky]

[He is enjoying this, probably more than he should, but it's far too late to grow a conscience.]

I'm merely expressing my gratitude. And it seems you've grown up well. I always thought you had potential.

private text

[adjunct]

[Why are the only people who seem to say things like that to him either Death Eaters or their horrible Master? Neville is going to develop a complex. (Well, more of one.)]

I don't want to hear that from you!

private text

[liquidsky]

Who do you want to hear it from?

private text

[adjunct]

[His parents.]

That's not your business.

And you're not going to get away with it. You're not.

private text

[liquidsky]

[Aww.]

We're on the same side in this, Mr Longbottom. There is no need for heroic lines. I believe you the Gryffindor even without them.

private text

[adjunct]

[so much internal screaming]

If we're on the same side then tell me what you're doing, what you meant by that I'd done something useful.

[brainiest]

I know you didn't. That - it's what helped us keep going, knowing you were all there waiting for us.

[ She turns back to him and offers an even brighter smile. ]

We couldn't have finished everything without all of you - you, Ginny and Luna. We'd have been completely lost when we got back to school. You all saved the day, Neville.

private text

[liquidsky]

Patience. You will find out soon enough.

What do you think makes a hero, Mr Longbottom?

[What do you think happens if he just keeps cryptically being creepy?]

private text

[adjunct]

Have you hurt someone?

Standing up to your lot, for a start.

[Like my parents goes un-typed, but it is oh so very there in spirit.]