Neville woke up with a gasp on the Forest floor. All his extremities were numb with cold and he could barely feel his toes. It was freezing and a thin mist obscured even the closest trees. He could hear a strange and terrible rattling sound and he sensed what was in front of him before he saw it.
There were around ten Dementors in front of the mist, slowly gliding towards him and Luna. Their rasping breath was loud in his ear, even though they were a good fifty feet away.
He shook Luna's shoulders desperately.
'Wake up, Luna ... wake up ...'
Her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up, already shivering. He didn't need to tell her what the problem was; they both drew their wands and Neville frantically thought of when he'd Disarmed Harry in that first ever DA meeting.
'Expecto Patronum!' he cried, but only a pathetic wisp of silver came out. The Dementors were getting closer – he could hear his parent's cries of pain getting louder and louder. 'Ex – Expecto ... expect ...'
'Expecto Patronum!'
Luna's hare burst from the tip of her wand and bounded towards the Dementors: they immediately scattered and fell back, disappearing through the trees as the hare chased them.
'Hey, they're down here! I just saw a Patronus!'
Neville spun on his heel at the gruff voice, still panting in fear. More excited voices joined the first and Neville heard footsteps getting closer; Luna grabbed his forearm as they both raised their wands again.
'Expelliarmus!'
'Protego!'
Neville's Shield Charm was quick enough. Three men came into view.
'Easy, Stan,' one of them said to the man who had tried to Disarm Neville. As they moved into the moonlit clearing, Neville saw that Stan was quite young-looking and covered in pimples. He was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite put a finger on where he'd seen him before.
'Who've we got 'ere, hidin' in the Forest then, eh? Going for a romantic night-time stroll, eh?' said Stan; his expression was slightly hazy, his voice slurry.
'I recognise this girl you know, Stan,' said a third. 'And – oho, is that young Longbottom?'
'How d'you know, Selwyn?'
'They were at the Ministry with Potter couple years 'go.'
'Ah, Longbottom?' said the second, staring at Neville with a horrible, wry smile. 'Yes, I believe Bellatrix is friendly with his parents – wonder if –?'
'Stupefy!' shouted Neville, his temper overheating. The man was thrown backwards and landed with a thud twenty feet behind him.
'OI!' roared Stan. 'Incarcarous!'
This time it was Luna's swift Shield Charm that blocked the flailing ropes that flew out of Stan's wand.
'Stan!' warned Selwyn. He turned to Neville and hissed, 'You're gonna regret that – lower your wand, idiot.'
'What do you want?' asked Neville, his wand still raised. He tried to sound as brave as he could.
'You should be in bed, pal,' answered Stan. 'You've got a choice: we can take to back to the castle and pay a visit to our good friend Amycus, or we'll go to Lucius Malfoy's, where Bellatrix will be waiting to torture you, like she did to Mummy and Daddy.'
Neville gritted his teeth.
'Castle,' he muttered, but the word hardly came through his clenched teeth.
'What's that?'
'Castle,' he said clearly.
'Yeah, I thought so,' said Selwyn coolly. Neville glanced at Luna then back again.
'But you're not taking Luna to Carrow.'
'We'll do what we want mate, thanks –'
'YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER!'
He hadn't meant to shout, but it hardly mattered.
'Neville, don't worry about me –'
'No, Luna, I won't let this happen.'
'How dare you talk to me like that!' roared Stan; he looked quite deranged. 'Cruci–!'
'Stupefy!' Neville shouted again, and Stan flew and fell next to the other Death Eater, unmoving. But Selwyn was too quick this time. With a flash, Neville was trussed and bound in invisible ropes.
'We'll let your gelfriend go,' Selwyn hissed, 'if you take both your punishments – understood?'
Neville glared at him but nodded defiantly. By the sounds of it, Luna had also been bound, for he could hear her struggling slightly as Selwyn led them forwards. Where were Ginny and Hagrid? Was Ginny already in the castle? Had they looked for him and Luna, or assumed they would make their own way back later? Now it looked as though he was going to get the punishment he'd expected after all.
'Enervate,' muttered Selwyn, his wand directed at Stan and the other Stunned man on the ground. Nothing happened. Neville felt a grim satisfaction. His Stunners had been strong, but they would come round again within the hour. Selwyn grunted but didn't round on Neville again. The three of them stumbled through the trees until they approached the edge of the Forest and the remaining lights of Hogwarts could be seen from several tiny windows. An owl hooted.
The oak doors creaked lightly as Selwyn opened them; it was silent in the castle. Neville had lost track of time: it must have been the early hours of the morning. He hoped beyond hope that a teacher would come trotting down the marble staircase, but it was no use ... they were surely all in bed ... all except Carrow ...
'Go on then, girly,' said Selwyn, withdrawing Luna's restraints. She looked back desperately at Neville as she approached the staircase, looking fearful, but he nodded his head and he hoped she would understand, that he would be OK ... with a crack like a whip, he was forced to move down the steps leading to the dungeons. A door banged open.
It was cold, almost as cold as it was in the Dementor-infested Forest. It appeared to be an unused classroom, but there were no tables or chairs. It had been transformed into a prison, a miniature Azkaban. There were five 'cells', two of which containing two young, scared-looking students, hugging their knees. It was a sickening sight.
Selwyn left the room to fetch Carrow, leaving Neville, still trussed, and the two first-years.
'Hey guys,' said Neville. It was hard to breathe, let alone speak. 'D'you wanna get out of there?'
They nodded.
'OK – argh,' he gasped slightly as the invisible ropes clamped his ribcage. 'Get your wands out – you've got your wands, right? Good – point them at the padlock – that's it – and say Alohomora!'
'Alohomora!' they chorused and the padlocks detached with a loud click.
'No, don't get out yet!' said Neville as one of them laughed with relief and made to open their barred gate. 'Wait 'til I say, OK?'
'Well, I dunno where Amycus is,' came Selwyn's voice as he slipped through the dungeon door, 'but never mind ... I know what the new punishments are anyways.'
He released the ropes from Neville.
'It's gonna be a bi' diff'rent for you, Longbo'om. I 'eard young Crabbe and Goyle torture those who've earned detentions, so it's your turn now.' He grinned evilly at the two first-years, their eyes now wide with horror.
'Haha, I don't think so,' said Neville.
'Ah, you need persuasion?'
'I'm not doing it.'
Neville glared at Selwyn for a second, before the latter brandished his wand like a sword and slashed through the air and a gash, the worst gash yet, hacked through Neville's cheek. But Neville had had enough, again -
'Stupefy!'
With a shout of shock, Selwyn rose and was thrust backwards, smashing into the stone back with a gut-wrenching cracking noise. All the fight was gone from him and he lay there panting and moaning, unable to move. Already regretting his decision, Neville thought quickly: what would the Carrows do when they found one of their Death Eater friends alone in this dungeon with two escaped prisoners? Or maybe it didn't matter as long as Selwyn said nothing ...
Neville pointed his wand carefully at Selwyn's forehead. The Death Eater whimpered pathetically, and Neville was able to calm himself. They'd only learnt the complicated charm he was about to perform this week, but he had a good idea of how it worked.
'Obliviate,' he murmured and Selwyn's eyes went unfocused and dreamy, with silver wisps, neither gas nor liquid, leaking from his head, which vanished into thin air.
'C'mon boys,' he said quickly and the two first-years, looking relieved at Selwyn's downfall, quietly hurried out their cells and followed Neville as he ran out the room and up the stairs.
'What houses are you in?' asked Neville as they made their way up the many staircases to get to the seventh floor.
'Ravenclaw.'
'Hufflepuff.'
'Good,' Neville said, 'you can come into the Gryffindor common room for a while, they won't think you're in there.'
They nodded.
'Longbottom!'
It was Professor McGonagall. Neville jumped out of his skin as she walked briskly down the seventh floor corridor.
'What on earth are you doing at this hour?'
'Professor, please – long story, but I got taken to the dungeons and managed to escape with these two. A Death Eater, Selwyn, is down there unconscious, we had to get away quickly –' He stopped talking because McGonagall no longer looked angry.
'Very well,' she said, 'I didn't know you had it in you, Mr Longbottom – get to the common room quickly, I'll clear up the dungeon.'
'Thank you, Professor,' said Neville, relieved, and the three boys reached the Fat Lady. 'Oh - Professor.'
She looked back.
'There's two others in the Forest. I - I Stunned them but they'll be up again soon -'
'Very well,' repeated McGonagall, 'I shall attend to them respectively. Goodnight, Longbottom.'
'Goodnight, Professor,' said Neville and she trotted down the corridor again.
'Albus Dumbledore,' Neville muttered to the Fat Lady and they stepped inside.
It was beautifully warm and Neville was tempted to sleep by the fire tonight but he knew his bed was waiting for him upstairs.
'We've got spare beds in our dormitory, you can sleep there tonight, OK?'
'Thank you!' they said together and ran up the spiral staircase. Neville grinned. He was OK, Luna was OK, there were no current prisoners, he'd defeated a Death Eater, and, best of all, Snape and the Carrows knew nothing.