Chronicles of Camelot

The longest day

"Something wrong Neville?" asked his grandmother, distracting the boy's train of thought as Neville looked up from his seat in the dining hall of Longbottom Manor, his summer reading tasks open before him.

"No Gran," Neville replied, his face shifting into a smile as he looked out of the window, "Just thinking."

"About Harry and Hermione?" she asked, Neville nodding almost subconsciously as he looked across the rolling meadows and the valley of Snowdonia that his family's home was located within.

"I'm not jealous," he explained, "But I just can't trust that the Weasleys will keep their vow to Harry and, now that he's a Holy Knight, it makes me feel further away from my family's kinship with him than ever."

"Why don't you tell him that?" asked Augusta Longbottom, her hand on her grandson's shoulder, "He is your friend, isn't he?"

"I suppose," Neville smiled, "But what do I say?"

"You stopped him from making a big mistake, didn't you?"

"Yeah," answered the thirteen-year-old, "So?"

"Are you truly that dense?" laughed Augusta, earning a look of sorrow from Neville as she shook her head, "Tell him that you wish to confirm your position as his friend and, in the name of your family's kinship with House Potter, simply wish to act as a warrior and/or friend to him. In fact, you could offer to undergo a blood pact with him: after all, you're both born on the same day."

"We are?" asked Neville, slightly shocked at this new piece of information, "But my birthday is always the day before Harry, isn't it?"

"No," Augusta replied, pulling a chair out as she sat down with Neville, "That's the strange thing: you see, both Alice and Lily went into labour at exactly the same time and had both you and Harry at the same moment. Now, you may say that it is a mere coincidence, but, before their…unfortunate deaths, Lily and James were always round here with Harry and, when the two of you were together, you were truly inseparable. It was like the two of you were real brothers and, though it was rare, but there were times when Harry was only happy if you were happy."

"Wow," Neville gasped, "I never knew that."

"Frank didn't want me to tell you," Augusta explained, "Because of the threats posed between you, Harry and Dumbledore; you see Neville, I never told anyone this personally, but, as Harry has recently proven, I don't think I can trust Albus Dumbledore any longer either."

"So what do I do?" asked Neville, returning his attention to the window.

"Write him a letter," Augusta suggested, "And ask him to meet you in Diagon Alley: if you want to tell him about this, then do, but let him make the last decision, all right?"

"All right," Neville smiled, before he joked, "Anything for my brother."

"That's more like it," Augusta smiled, ruffling Neville's hair as she left him to his homework;

However, as she left Neville alone, the Dowager Longbottom was unaware of Tyler and Elora hiding in the shadows, both of them smiling as they saw their Lord's world being rebuilt.

Now they had to inform Sebastian of this progress…

HPHG

Ron Weasley was in a bad mood – surprise, surprise – and it was all the fault of that attention-seeking prick he had once called his friend: it was bad enough that Harry was now with Hermione, which cut off the only chance Ron had with the girl, but to be given the rank of Holy Knight and then to actually give his family money and station was the final insult.

When his Father had returned to their hotel in Egypt and found Ron there, in a bad mood, all he had said was, "It's your own fault, remember that," before he had gone out and spent the summer with the family, leaving Ron to stew in his own juices and drown in vivid imaginations containing Potter begging for mercy and Granger in his bed.