The Lion and the Eagle |Neville Longbottom|

15. The History Behind the Hysterics

"I asked him if that whole time we meant anything at all to him. We did, for a time. His love for joining the Death Eaters ran that over. He still wanted us to be a couple, which was part of the reason why he wanted me to join.

"The more I protested, the angrier he got. I threatened to tell Dumbledore about him, and that's when Brian went into detail about the plan to assassinate the headmaster. I was prepared to run to the nearest professor to rat him out, but Brian had me by the arm." I buried my face in my hands.

"What did he do to you?" Neville asked hesitantly.

"He...he beat me," I choked. A sob escaped my throat. "He didn't use any curses. I was lucky he hadn't gone that far, but I was sure he would have if he'd thought it necessary. I was on the brink of going under after he was done. He abandoned me not long after. If I said a word about anything I'd heard, the beating I'd gotten would seem like child's play.

"In that abuse, our relationship was done. It had been done long before that, I just hadn't seen it."

"What did you do next?" There was sheer horror in Neville's voice.

"I went to the hospital wing. I lied to Madam Pomfrey about how I got my injuries. I was afraid word would slip, Brian would hear, and then he'd carry out his threat. Our next encounter was in the Battle of Hogwarts," I continued. "Brian is the reason one of my friends is dead, he did the deed himself." Poor Penelope. It's hard to imagine her without imagining him. "Hearing he has been in Azkaban this whole time and now broke out...I fear that..."

"That he'll come after you," Neville finished for me in a whisper.

"Yes."

"You never told your parents?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Neville, if you were me and feared what would happen, you'd be too scared to tell anyone." I shivered.

"Your injuries certainly couldn't have been healed by the time we were all sent home."

"They weren't. Even people on the train asked, strangers I didn't even so much as acknowledge. I lied to my friends about it; I didn't want them to get involved."

"Do you realize that he could've been put away a long time ago if you had?"

"Yeah, but you understand why I couldn't, right?"

"Jenelle...I'm really sorry all that happened to you."

I looked up from my hands at Neville. "I should've seen it coming! Ravenclaws are supposed to be intelligent. I certainly wasn't then."

"It was one time. You were in love. Love can blind people sometimes. It's hard to control."

"How would you know? You've never been in love, have you?"

"No, but I've seen enough of it to know. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"I just..." I broke down into tears. Neville took me in his arms. "D-did you see anything when you came in, or hear anything?" I sniffled as the sobs started to die away.

"No, nothing," Neville reported. "Why?"

"I saw Brian in the tent."

"I didn't see anybody. I think it's because of how ill you are."