don't you see him? /NEVILLE

[HERMIONE GRANGER]

Hermione was irritated. She had not seen Ron since their last fight, which had been the day previous. She had not seen him because Hermione had skipped dinner the night before, and all through the current day had kept her eyes glued to her books and readings, considering most of her classes for the day involved work from the book (essays, assignments to be started before the week was over). Hermione had kept quiet most of the day as well unless answering a question asked by a teacher or friend or classmate. Other than that, Hermione had kept to herself. The fight with Ron had drained her of her positive energy, her cheerful spirit, her enthusiasm to do something. She sat by the fireplace, a large old book in her hand, and flipped through the pages, her expression unfathomable. Her light brown hair fell over her shoulder, curly and slightly unruly. She wore her Gryffindor uniform, her shoes tapping on the wood floor, making a dull sound. She heard the chatter of others around her, and Hermione simply denied the invitation to conversation, blaming it on her desire to study the book she was reading. In all honesty, Hermione had already read the book cover to cover. It was just that Hermione could not converse when in such a mood.

Out of her peripherals, Hermione noticed a boy with fiery red hair. He looked like Ron from the back, but Hermione could not be sure. He dressed like Ron, looked like Ron from the back, and Hermione looked over. She closed her book, clutching it between her arms and hugging it to her chest. She placed it back on the shelf and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. "Ron!" Hermione called out, but he did not turn back. Hermione could not even be sure that it was Ron; his characteristics and appearance seemed to fit the description of Ron Weasley, and that was enough to make Hermione follow him to try and talk. Perhaps she could reason with him about their fight the previous night. It was not her fault that she had fought with Ron; his mind was not in the right place for their argument. Hermione knew she was right so she had yelled at him with all of her might. It had exhausted every bone in Hermione's body, and tired her beyond belief, as was the case with every other fight Ron and Hermione had. She wished the two would not fight so often, but they got so irritated with each other so many times in a day and one of them always seemed to say the wrong thing. It was an endless cycle of liking each other and hating each other.

Hermione thought that the boy (she supposed him to be Ron) was acting rather oddly. When she called his name multiple times, he did not answer. He was too short to be Fred or George, the only two other redheaded males she knew that well. It could only be Ron; she had that thought imprinted into her mind as she hurried down the various staircases. The dull thudding of her shoes against the marble staircases echoed, only able to be faintly heard between the sounds of the staircases moving. By her Fifth Year, Hermione had easily learned to move at the right times down the stairs and up. She knew which ones moved when pretty well, and so she followed the boy quickly and efficiently. She did not hesitate to go after who she supposed to be Ron, calling his name out again and again. Why was he ignoring her? Hermione was beginning to hurt emotionally from Ron ignoring her. "Ronald Weasley! How dare you ignore me like that!" Hermione yelled out, scolding him for what he was doing wrongfully. She had never seen him this rude. He exited the large oak doors to the grounds, and Hermione followed. There was no stopping her now.

The evening sky was beautiful. The abyss that hung above Hermione was a deep purple-blue mixture, with stars littering the sky. The sun had set, replaced with a bright, almost full moon. It reminded her in the back of her head of her Third Year, when Remus Lupin first showed himself as a werewolf. She did not have time to think, though. She began her trek following who she assumed to be Ron Weasley down the lawn to the area by the lake, that stretched into being the Forbidden Forest. No matter how many time she'd been told, Hermione still entered there. She'd been there countless times with Ron and Harry and Hagrid. It was no surprise that she would go there with the friends she had. Hermione began to walk faster as she walked downhill, and Hermione called out Ron's name a few times again. She didn't understand his nature of ignoring her, but she was growing angry. He disappeared into the forest, and Hermione was prepared to follow him in. She held her wand out and aloft in case something came to attack her.

[neville]

Another day of classes, another boatload of homework. Neville sat cross-legged on the middle of the large, bright red carpet, his parchment, quill, textbooks, and ink bottles lined up in front of him. He looked around the room, glaring at the kids who were lying on the couches, taking up all three cushions. Neville had politely asked one kid, a 7th year, if he could sit up instead of lying down and taking up all the room. Let's just say that the boy was not happy. In fact, he had thrown an ink bottle at his head. Neville had been able to dodge it just in time, but now he didn't dare ask anybody else to move. Since there were no more seats left, Neville wad forced onto the floor. He wasn't that upset, though. It was quite comfy on the rug. If he wanted to, he could probably sleep here. Not that he was going to, of course. He actually really liked rooming with Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus. They were nice to him, unlike so many others.

Neville was now staring down at a blank piece of parchment, his mind blank. He was supposed to be writing a twelve inch Charms essay about what they had learned in class that day and how it could be useful in the future. Honestly, he didn't remember much from today's lesson. Professor Flitwick said some stuff. He scolded Neville for dropping his books on the ground, which released his Monster Book of Monsters from its bindings. It of course ended up biting Flitwick's leg, considering he was so little and all. It had taken four students and Neville to finally clasp it shut. But that was basically the only time Neville had been listening during class.

He really was desperate now. Whipping his head around this way and that, he was looking for anybody that could help him with his essay. Fred and George weren't doing anything important, buy they were looking around the room in a sort of mischievous way, and Neville decided, for his own safety, that he would skip them. Harry was in the corner of the common room, fervently scribbling down on a piece of parchment. Harry had trouble with homework just like Neville, so he wasn't going to bug Harry now while he was trying to concentrate. Neville turned, and noticed Hermione sitting in one of the chairs with a huge book in her hands. She didn't look busy! Plus, Hermione was really smart and nice, and was bound to help Neville out.

Neville quickly put the caps back onto his ink bottles, rolled up his piece of parchment, and picked everything up. He turned around, ready to walk up to her, when he noticed Hermione was no longer there. He whipped his head around just as the portrait hole was swinging shut. "W-wait!" Neville called desperately, running after her. He was just about to push open the door when he slipped, crashing to the ground. He dropped his ink bottles and they exploded all over the floor. "No! He gasped, pushing himself up. Everybody in the common room was watching now. Some people were laughing. Neville knew that if Hermione were here right now, she'd be scolding whoever was laughing. But she wasn't here right now, she was out there! And his essay was still wordless!

Neville quickly pulled out his wand, trying to think of a good spell to clean the mess up. He didn't really care about the ink bottles; he had plenty more in his trunk. He guessed that just making them vanish would do good. Concentrating, Neville pointed his wand at the mess and said, "Evanesco! To his utter surprise, the black ink vanished at once, leaving the floor clean. He couldn't believe he had actually cast the spell right. Neville quickly jumped up onto his feet and rushed out of the common room.

Hermione was just turning the corner at the other end of the long corridor when Neville opened the door. Even from that far away, he could tell that she was furious about something. And was she... screaming? At who? Now Neville was honestly curious. Completely forgetting about his essay, Neville started to chase after her, though silently. She didn't want him to think that he was stalking her and invading her privacy.

After running down several flights of stairs and keeping a safe distance from her, he noticed that Hermione was actually following somebody. A red-headed boy. His first thought was that it was Ron, but he wasn't so sure. The figure just looked different somehow... Finally, they reached the large door of the castle, and Hermione disappeared outside. Neville waited several seconds, and then slipped outside too, following her. She was now walking across the field toward the lake, still chasing after the red-head and screaming furiously. She was yelling Ron's name. Well, Hermione spent a lot more time with Ron than Neville did, so it must have been him.

Neville thought that Ron was going to stop at the lake, but he didn't. He kept going and went into the Forbidden Forest. Neville's eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw this. Why on EARTH would Ron be going in there? It was dangerous! Horrible! Neville still had nightmares about it. Of course, Neville sometimes skimmed the edges while looking for plants, but Ron was heading directly into the forest, where the most horrible creatures lurked around. And... oh no, Hermione was following him?! Neville couldn't take much more of this. Just as Hermione was going to enter the forest, Neville sprinted forward, screaming at the top of lungs. He jumped in front of her like a superhero, blocking her way. He admits, it was a bit extreme. But Ron had already gone in, he wasn't going to let Hermione go too.

Neville struggled up from his place on the damp grass, hoping he hadn't startled her. "Hermione! Neville coughed, trying to catch his breath. "What are you doing? Going into the Forbidden Forest? Have you gone mad?"

[HERMIONE GRANGER]

"Ronald Wealsey, what in Godric's name do you think you're doing?" Hermione yelled, wondering why Ron would be entering the Forbidden Forest at all, and why he did not hesitate to enter. Even if it wasn't Ron, by the time Hermione reached the Forest, he would have turned around to wonder why a mental girl kept calling him the wrong name. Hermione knew of Ron's fear of spiders, which was why she was so concerned about his uninterrupted walk right into the Forest. He had walked in there so fearlessly. Hermione was unexpectedly halted on her path to find Ron and confront him by a voice she knew very well. Neville suddenly jumped in her way rather oddly, falling to the ground but creating an obstacle from her to the Forest. Hermione was startled, but only trembled slightly in her position. She went to help him up because he looked as though he was having trouble. Once again, Neville was questioning her motives, as he had back in their First Year. That had resulted in Hermione using Petrificus Totalus on him. He was frozen while Hermione, Ron and Harry continued on their adventure. Everything had turned out alright then, and it was now. Hermione was not about to put herself in imminent danger - she was a skilled duelist and had Ron as well (when she confronted him) if any sort of danger came their way. "I am most certainly not mad, thank you. Neville, don't you see Ron going in there? He is deathly afraid of acromantula and they are all over the forest. I don't know why he went in there, but I have to find him and find out why." Hermione said, hoping Neville had seen Ron too, so it didn't seem like Hermione was actually mental. Hermione had seen him, she had seen him walk into the Forest, ignoring her. Why he was ignoring her? Hermione had no clue. It was uncharacteristic of Ron. But if he was in danger, Hermione would be there to save him, and Neville was not about to stop her.

Neville was a kind boy. He followed all of the rules (for the most part, some of Umbridge's rules were beginning to get ridiculous), tried his best at school work (even though he needed assistance at times, but who didn't?), and was overall a really caring and sweet individual. Hermione was glad to have him as a friend, but some times, he tried getting in her way. Now was one of those times. Hermione was going to be safe, and she knew what she was getting into. The Forbidden Forest was not anything relatively new to her, not that Neville knew that. He probably had no blue about all the times she, Harry and Ron had ventured in to complete something or find something with Hagrid or for any other reason. Hermione knew defensive spells despite Umbridge preventing them from practicing them. She knew spells to defeat an opponent. Hermione was prepared for encountering Ron in there, probably scared by acromantula and running for his life back to the grounds and out of the forest. "I'm sorry Neville, but I have to go in there. If Ron is in danger, then I have to help him. I'm not leaving him in there defenseless. He is ignoring me and I want to know why." Hermione explained to Neville, attempting to reason with him although she was positive he would still try and prevent her from going in. Hermione was not going to stop easily, though, unless she saw Ron coming out of the Forest safely. She doubted that happening soon unless Ron happened across a vile creature, and then Hermione would hear the screaming from where she was.

She looked at Neville and sighed. Hermione could tag him along if he wanted to join her, and she could help him out with anything he needed. That was why she supposed Neville had come out after her and raced up to prevent her from danger. "I'm going in, Neville. Are you up for joining me? I'm supposing you have something to ask me about work, and i'm willing to help." She offered, lightening her mood. Neville had done nothing wrong, he was simply trying to protect her from the danger even she knew lurked within the trees, especially at night. Hermione gave him a break, instead of yelling at him, she would be calm and composed. "I just want to make sure Ron doesn't get hurt." Hermione said to Neville, her voice lowered, a blush creeping across her cheeks and then vanishing. She really wanted Ron to be okay, and for him to talk to her without yelling. They always seemed to fight, and it was wearing her out emotionally. She stepped up toward the Forest's edge, the fringe of it clustered with plants. "You coming with me, Neville?" Hermione questioned curiously, waiting for his answer patiently.