nearlychosen | 1st seed; [Action/Voice]

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1st seed; [Action/Voice]

[Perhaps the journal picks up the sound of Neville's arrival as he is unceremoniously deposited on the icy southern lake sometime in the dead of night. If not that, then it might catch the dull groaning as he slowly wakes and struggles to pull himself upright. If not that, then certainly the furious squeak from sneakers lacking traction on slippery ice would catch the journal's attention, as would the dull thudding as Neville collides with some child's forgotten snowman on the westernmost bank. A sharp intake of breath, then] No wand. Bastards. [In fact, even though Neville hasn't yet noticed the presence of the book at all, he seems perfectly aware that someone is listening, even if it isn't quite who he expects.]

It's still not enough! [The words, though a bit rasped and wheezing, are spoken with the stubbornness of one who rather expected this displacement.] You think you can just Portkey me someplace and be done with it? You won't get me -- not any of us -- to back down that easily. I know you're here -- show yourselves, you bloody cowards!

[The dead silence is less than encouraging. It means that if he wasn't being watched, then he'd been sent far enough that he wouldn't need supervision. Accio wand. [The incantation is intoned softly through clenched teeth. It doesn't escape him how ironic it was that in his desperation to recover his stolen wand he's resorted to a summoning spell that usually required the use of his wand in the first place. The spell fails spectacularly, leaving Neville to suppose his captors laughed, wherever they happen to be.

Still, the place he'd been sent certainly merits some investigation. If he'd been sent here via portkey, then some other innocuous-looking thing might well be the ticket home. It might appear off for a young, underdressed, blackeyed, fairly beaten and emaciated man to be picking up small stones with a thoughtful expression, but finding an alternate portkey is simply the most plausible way back to the more important matters he'd left at home.]

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[At least Neville isn't troubled with having to know what a Horcrux actually is.]

[The icy terseness melts away from his voice.] Harry! Harry, it's really you! You're alive! I knew you were alive, I kept telling everyone to just wait and see and you'd be back soon enough. Have you been here the whole time, then?

[Good point. Or even the fact that he dodged a bullet with that one.]

[There's definitely a smile in Harry's voice.] Sorry things have taken so long, Neville. Are you alright? I haven't been here the whole time. It's sort of weird. Nott says he saw me returning to Hogwarts, but I don't think I'd gotten that far ahead in time. You're in a place called Luceti right now, and I don't think time applies here.

Well of course you haven't been here the whole time -- we've been keeping up with the papers and heard lots about the things you've done -- like the dragon!! But it's been a while since there's been news. I didn't realize you'd been taken -- you'd think they would've wanted to brag about it at least a bit, but [Wait. What was that other bit?] ....Theodore Nott?

The dragon was sort of a happy accident. [Chuckling a bit.] They're not the ones who got me. It was this place. They probably don't even know I'm gone, unless Voldemort somehow remembered.

...Yeah, Theodore Nott. He's here, though I haven't heard from him in a while. A lot of people are here from our world, including a few surprises. We've got a big house on the southern end of town, right now Hermione, Sirius, Cho, Luna, and I are living there. Malfoy is next door sometimes. I'm not exactly sure where Dumbledore lives, but he's here as well. Tom Riddle was here, but I haven't heard anything from him lately. And that's not it, either. [Holy crap, describing this cast takes forever.]

Only the kind of accident you'd have, Harry. [He's not fanboying -- it's just being a good friend! Well. Maybe with a little fanboying.] ...I don't follow.

[And though Harry's just said several significant things, again Neville zeroes in on the most important bits.] Malfoy's here -- occasionally next door to you? Malfoy and Nott are together? And you speak with them? Harry, have you gone round the bend? Don't you know what they're capable of doing?

To be fair, it happened to Ron and Hermione, too. [At least Neville's fanboying doesn't make Harry feel uncomfortable.] It's part of the nature of Luceti to try and take people away from their worlds. We can't get back home, or back to Hogwarts from here.

[Naturally!] One of his mates lives next door - some alien woman who lets him stay over. Nott and Malfoy share an apartment but obviously Malfoy isn't there a lot. He and I are sort of getting along, mostly because Tom Riddle was here. Or rather, sixteen year-old Voldemort. We sort of agreed that he was worse than anything we could manage to do to each other.

Well, of course! When you three get together, you're pretty unstoppable, aren't you? [There's still a grin in his voice, because it's still so thrilling that you haven't died, Harry.] But what good does that to for anyone?

[He'll take a minute to give his head time to stop exploding.] You-Know-Who was here -- at the same time as Malfoy-- Harry, he must have been spying on you! Has he cursed you?

Mostly. Voldemort and the Death Eaters make it difficult sometimes. [Harry's amused at this. He's glad that all of them are alive, even if Ron isn't here.] It apparently helps them. It's rubbish for all of us, though.

[Yeah, that one's a bit of a doozy. Harry looks a bit awkward.] No... he didn't curse me and he wasn't spying on me for Voldemort. It was the other way around - at least the spying bit. It's mum who's all into him. Malfoy - he's not really a model Death Eater.

Well who are the blokes, and what's the point of helping them at all?

...Harry, maybe this is something we ought to discuss face-to-face. [Just to be sure that Malfoy's not feeding answers in Harry's ear at wandpoint or something.]

There's no point to it, I think. We're just stuck here because we're inside this giant barrier and there's no way to get out.

Yeah, there's a lot to explain. Where are you, anyway?

Of course there's a way out, Harry! You'll find it sooner or later. [Because solving the unsolveable is what Harry Potter does! It just... takes him a year sometimes.]

I'm near a lake. Hermione's said she'll be here shortly to fetch me.

I'm working on it! Or at least, trying to. There's not much in the way of leads. [He might be forever on this one. Harry is not so sure sheer force of will and bravado will work on this one.]

Near a lake? [Pause. Oh thank heaven, the lake's frozen.] Oh bloody hell, I hope that's not the lake Malfoy likes to hang out at. Watch out for him, alright? He gets all, well, Malfoy when people from our world show up. [Tugging on that neck chain now. Please be paying attention, Draco.]

You'll figure it out. [Would some cheerleading help the force of will and bravado any?]

[There is no reason to be thankful for a frozen lake. The frozen just makes it hurt more.] I thought you said you and Malfoy'd truced. Changed your mind already?

Thanks, Neville. [Harry's not sure the idea of Neville the Cheerleader is a good one.]

[But that means Draco can't be stupid and try to drown Neville in it.] That's a bit of a sore spot between us, from before we made that truce. I do know that it's one of his favorite places to go, and I suspected he thinks it might be his. If he finds you there before he knows you're here, he'll probably try to act like he hasn't changed at all.

Any time, Harry. [If it gets Harry any closer to finishing his little espionage-thing and getting back to Hogwarts, then Neville will cheerlead his little heart out. Best idea ever.]

[He'll certainly have a chance to do it come springtime.] It's also possible that he hasn't.

Likewise. [But then Harry might be distracted or scarred by the horror of Neville in a cheerleader outfit.]

[Not if Harry has anything to say about it ~~11 times~~.] I think he has. He's still a prat, but he's definitely helped me out more than once. I trust him, but I really hope I can get a hold of him before he does something stupid.

[It would probably be cuter than Millicent Bulstrode in a cheerleader outfit?]

[~~But who's counting?~~] You've been away, Harry. You don't understand. He's just using you.

[That could be true for a lot of things.]

[~~I only did for the one thread. >>;~~] I've seen some things you probably haven't. Even if he was using me, I doubt he'd go to the trouble of what he did.

[I'd say it's comparable to a hippo in a tutu, but then pictured the hippo and damn that's kind of cute.]

[~~And it was glorious.~~] Unless he went through the trouble just so you'd owe him a favor later.

[If Neville is a hippo in a tutu, who is the alligator in a bowtie?]

[~~/bows~~] It was a lot of trouble for him to go to. I'd owe him more than one favor at this point. [This is never going to end well. Harry gives the neck chain another tug in hopes that he can head Draco off at the pass.]

[If Neville is the hippo, Seamus is the alligator, obviously.]

[Ooh yeah...Draco's already seen Neville and he's really not that pleased. He's even less pleased when he feels his neck chain bite at him. The first time he managed to ignore, but he should have known he couldn't avoid it forever. So, in complete retaliation, he just pulls the chain right back a bit harder.]

[But we don't have a Seamus. D:]

[Harry is a bit hopeful and inevitably annoyed at the tug back. He'll give Draco a harder tug in response, hoping that Draco will get the hint. Even though it's already happened, Harry still wants to try and stop them from hating on each other.]

[Okay then Luna can fill in!]

[Unfortunately, no, Draco's not getting what the hint is beyond Potter's being annoying, again. He tugs even harder then, hoping to get him to quit. Don't you get it, Scarhead? He wants to sulk in peace. At his lake.]

[She'd have an amazing bowtie.]

[Harry is not going to quit. You can't hear him swearing but FEEL THE BITE, BLONDIE. Harry does not want to have to fish anyone out of a lake or clean up explosions.]

[She'd pull it off well man.]

[Busy swearing himself because jfc, that hurts the more Harry retaliates. So instead, he grabs for his journal and opens it]

What the hell do you want?

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[Threadjack Action technically?]

[Suddenly Draco Malfoy Action]

[Somewhere far-off Draco is Sulking Action]

[Meanwhile Harry is Headdesking Action]

[Suddenly Draco's Frustrated and Bitching in Voice]