Aftershocks
Harry's friends slipped him out of the Hospital Wing and all the way to Gryffindor Tower without anyone the wiser. But it soon became apparent that the reason they'd not encountered any students in the halls was because it seemed most of them were standing in the Gryffindor Common Room waiting for news. Their arrival in the Common Room resulted in a rare occurrence during daylight hours - total silence.
That lasted for thirty seconds before they all started shouting questions about what had happened and where he'd been kidnapped off to. Harry's temper, which was never very cool even at the best of times, was rather frayed with the previous events that night and he was losing his grip on the Beast. However, relief came from an unusual quarter.
For the second time that night, the sound of canon fire filled the air and brought the whole tower to a shocked silence. As one the Lions in the room turned towards the source of the sound and was surprised to see Neville Longbottom standing on the stairs to the boys dormitory. Neville had his wand out and a thin wisp of smoke coming from the tip.
"Enough!" Neville called out. "Give the bloke some space!" Between the noise of the spell and the fact that quiet, shy Neville Longbottom was actually yelling at them, the shocked Gryffindors and visiting students from the other Houses and schools stepped back from Harry and his friends to allow them to pass.
As he passed Neville on the stairs, Harry murmured, "Thanks, mate." Neville flushed with colour with the praise.
"You'd have done more for me," Neville demurred. Harry replied by simply grasping Neville's shoulder in friendship as he passed by. Neville smiled as the rest of Harry's friends passed with their own thanks. But it was the shy smile on the face of his Yule Ball date that made Neville feel the most pleased with himself. The cute red-haired girl had only gone to the Ball out of pity and because their families were close, but now maybe she would see him as him, not an afterthought. It was a nice bonus to helping Harry, a boy that was always nice to Neville even when everyone (including Neville himself) thought he was nothing but a squib.
....
Once in the Gryffindor Fourth year boys' dorm, Ernie and Ron helped Harry onto his bed where he settled with relief. Padma quickly settled onto the left hand side of the bed and grasped Harry's hand. Hermione mirrored her on the other side. Daphne, Ron, and Ernie settled on Ron's bed which was next to Harry's.
"You okay, mate?" Ron asked tentatively. Harry simply nodded. It was a relief to simply lay there. The end of the emotional rollercoaster coupled with his injuries seemed to suddenly such the energy right out of him.
"You scared us," Padma said in a quiet tone. Seeing Harry pop away with Filch and then not knowing what happened to him for hours afterwards was horrible.
"Wasn't me," Harry defended himself in a drowsy voice. "T'was Tommy-boy." He barely got that out before he was sound asleep. While he slept his friends carried on a quiet conversation that was simultaneously relieved with Harry's safe return and concerned with what their friend had experienced in that graveyard.
....
Narcissa Malfoy waited impatiently in her sitting room for her husband to return from his summons. As a young witch and a Black, she had welcomed the Dark Lord's rise. Mudbloods were useful in their place. Servants and shop keepers had to come from somewhere. But they were entirely too uppity, especially the ones that got into Hogwarts. That great institution should be reserved for only the elite of Magical Society.
And now, as an older more experienced witch, she still agreed with the concept but disapproved of the violence that went with it under the Dark Lord. Her beloved husband stood just out of the centre of power if only that old fool would just die already. They owned Fudge outright. With both positions under their control, they would be able to bring all their wishes to be without the messy and inefficient violence. The fighting was too random and had too much chance of causing loss to one of the great bloodlines. The elder Malfoys had been concerned with the growing darkness of the Dark Mark and hoped they were wrong. Where the young Malfoy had accepted being the lieutenant of a great wizard, he now saw himself in that role and did not truly wish to step back into a subordinate position.
Her thoughts turned to her precious child, Draco. It had been hard for Draco to be conceived due to an injury Lucius received while on a raid for the Dark Lord. They knew he would be their only child and took steps to protect him all his life. Then his name came out of that vile Cup and he'd been forced to participate in the wretched Tournament. Now he slept in a bed in the Hospital Wing under a Calming Draught. He'd been raving about giant spiders and being swallowed by eels.
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