Theodore Nott paced back and forth in an empty classroom he had chosen. Now what was he supposed to do!? With the Dark Lord destroyed his chances of procuring Daphne, along with his rise to power as future Lord of his own family, were quickly fading.
Something had to be done, but what?
With a sigh of defeat the Slytherin slunk from the room with an unchosen destination, 'Perhaps if I just wander for an hour or so I will think of…' The teen's thoughts came to a screeching halt as he narrowly avoided plowing into the Hogwarts Triwizard Champion, Cedric Diggory.
"Hey!" the other boy snapped, "watch where you are going you damn snake!"
The younger student said nothing, merely observing the other as he stormed off, muttering about how the Headmaster could allow them to still be at Hogwarts.
And that was when inspiration hit the Pureblood, if the Dark Lord could not stop Potter, then perhaps a Light Lord could.
...
Neville Longbottom sat, alone, in the library, the book in front of him ignored as his mind tried to process everything that had happened in the past few days. Thus far it had been a flurry of rumors, accusations, and gossip.
What the other students had managed to agree upon was that the images that had been shown to them were real. Harry truly had destroyed Voldemort less than an hour after being kidnapped and forced to bring the monster back to life. What no one seemed to be able to decide upon was how epic the battle had been.
Gryffindors had, naturally, begun boasting about how they could have done better, about how the Potter heir had gotten lucky and how he was just an overrated student. Naturally most of these had been the male portion, as the females were busy either staring at him from afar, writing him love poems in diaries, or outright trying to find a way to proposition him.
Ravenclaws were busy studying and trying to analyze how the fight went down, while Hufflepuffs were caught between celebrating Cedric's supposed 'victory' or forgetting about him altogether and focusing on the Potter heir.
Neither of these two facts escaped the rest of the students, and a petition was rumored to be making its rounds to declare the raven-haired boy the 'true Champion' of the tournament, considering he had saved the others and possibly the World while he was at it. The fact that Slytherin House had probably been the ones to start said request surprised no one, ever since the first task they had been practically shouting about his accomplishments, and how the other three older students weren't fit to breathe the same air as their chosen one.
As for Neville himself? He was one of the few outsiders with in depth knowledge on Harry and his abilities, and he had already figured out what had occurred.
It wasn't a fight, it had been a slaughter . The Potter heir had probably toyed with Voldemort, laughed at the man's pathetic attempts to rule the World and kill him, and then torn the bastard apart with his bare hands.
That would have been fine with the Longbottom heir, better than fine actually. Hell, he was considering writing his former friend a letter and seeing if they could setup a dual birthday party of some sorts during the summer. The only problem lay with three followers of the former Dark Lord, all with the last name of 'Lestrange'.
Neville wasn't a fool, he knew they had been released, his parents had warned him earlier in the year not to leave the school grounds for that very reason. He also knew that if Harry had killed them as well, he wouldn't have bothered hiding it. Which meant that he either had let them go, had them swear loyalty, or killed some but not others. Currently the Longbottom heir was betting on the third of these options.
This single fact put them, once again, in opposite corners of the moral spectrum, but regardless of that, or how often he felt Headmaster Dumbledore staring his way during meal times, he wasn't going to betray his former friend.
Harry had given him back his parents, had let him go of a Pureblood oath without consequence, and had even killed the one most responsible for the torture of his mom and dad.
The boy let out another sigh.
"What's wrong?" a feminine voice inquired softly from behind him. The old Neville would have gasped in fright, and possibly fallen from his chair, but after spending close to three years with someone like Harry he didn't even blink, "Nothing… I just… am having a hard time with all this stuff."
Susan took a seat next to him, placing her hand on his own, "Stuff involving the Dark Lord?" A nod answered her, and the silence from her boyfriend pressed her onwards. "Are you thinking about trying to make amends with Harry?"
"Yes… no… I don't know…"
The Bones heiress allowed the space between them to fall silent for a few more moments before breaking it, "You do know that you two can be friends without having any obligations, right? I'm not saying I dislike your housemates but… well Ron is a prat, and I wouldn't mind having a few girls to talk to during your birthday party this summer."
Neville laughed, raising his hands in mock defeat before reaching for a quill.
...
"Attention ladies and gentlemen, with the interruption during the final task of the Triwizard Tournament we are unable to officially announce a victor. Due to this the other judges and myself have decided to declare it a three-way draw and split the Galleons among all the Champions." Dumbledore declared, earning respectful applause, but nothing even close to the cheers when the initial selection of Champions had occurred.
"I think…" the man continued, after the room had fallen quiet once again, "that the greatest reward is the fact that all of our Champions have emerged unscathed, especially considering the ordeal they were forced to endure."
The elderly man raised his own goblet, signaling the room to do the same, "To new friends and allies."
As they toasted the Headmaster's eyes fell upon one boy, who matched him in turn. For a moment the room seemed to fade away, leaving only them to have a silent conversation.
'I know what you have done Harry, and what you are planning to do. I will stop you if I must.'
'Headmaster,' the older could practically hear the younger's dark laughter, 'you have no idea what I have done, or what I am planning.'
....
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