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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I mean exactly what I'm saying. You're from the same time as Potter and the rest of them.

Which makes you different how, exactly? [He might not believe whatever answer he gets, but he'd still like to know what story Draco's shilling.]

Because I'm from June of 1997.

[His nostrils flare a bit with swallowed anger.] That's some kind of holiday for your lot now, isn't it?

You think I would have chosen that date if I really had a choice?

Judging from what I've seen come from you since then, absolutely. [Not that his opinion is colored or prejudiced in any way, of course.]

And just what have you seen, exactly? [He wouldn't put it past him just to exaggerate to make Draco sound bad.]

You've tortured people. Laughed when they broke. Helped keep the first years chained up like animals. [So maybe some of that was Crabbe and Goyle. And maybe the two of them enjoyed it more. The three of them are fully interchangeable as far as Neville's concerned.]

[He knew about the Cruciatus, but the rest of it? No.] 'Broke'? And what's this about first years? [What the hell kind of future is this?]

Broke. There's no point torturing someone if there's not a proper result. "You want to hold your wand steady when you use the cruciatus, and keep it on them until the scream changes pitch. That's when you know you're starting to get someplace." Isn't that what you've been taught? Don't you want to slither your slimy way back to the top of the class? [He sneers distastefully with the face he used to use only when impersonating his grandmother.] Some first years were being held in preparation for their detention. The Carrows made quite a show out of disciplining the person caught trying to free them.

...Carrows. [He doesn't lower his wand, but he does loosen his grip just the slightest. Yeah, Luna definitely didn't tell him this part.] So it's all true, then. They really do have us practice the Cruciatus on people in place of scrubbing cauldrons. And Snape's just allowing this?

[Luna's too gentle. Probably wanted to spare Draco's feelings.] Snape's one of your mates, isn't he? Of course he lets it happen. He hired the both of them to teach subjects.

[Maybe, but that didn't stop her from PT'ing him.] What subjects?

[He probably deserved it, the git.] Muggle Studies and Dark Arts.

[Probably, but he'd never admit it.] A Carrow? Teaching Muggle Studies? You must be joking. [There's that unspoken question of "what happened to the previous teacher", though.]

Alecto does it. She teaches the classes in your kind of way, trying to convince us that muggles are filthy like animals and need to be tamed. I reckon you probably get top marks in a class like that.

Is that so. [Yeah, he's starting to get a little pissed off because once again, he's out of the loop. Draco hates being out of the loop.] Anything else you think you know?

[Neville's not entirely thrilled with being Draco's loop either, but there's only so much that can be done while that wand's still out.] I know I've had bug bites that sting worse than being stuck in detention with you. [Even though that's probably not the right way to make that wand go away.]

...what the hell is that supposed to mean? [Watch it, Longbottom.]

I mean your cruciatus is a joke, just like it sounded. [It's a bad idea, he knows it's a bad idea, and yet it's still better than backing down.]

A joke, is it? I don't think I believe you.

I really don't care if you believe me or not. If I'm going to be saddled with one of you, it's better you than Crabbe. [Yeah, he went there.]

[Yeah, that's going to make him falter just a little. This is probably the first time he's heard anything about his friends specifically back home.] What about Crabbe?

[Whereas talking about Draco's friends makes Neville feel horrible and dirty.] He's the best in the class.

...can't say I'm surprised at all.

[Action, because that's probably true enough]

[Action, because Neville would rather deter any combination of his Gran and Snape in future thanks]

[Action, because vultures are actually pretty scary]

[Action, because so are Snape and Gran.]

[Action, because a lot of things in this canon are scary]

[Action, because you're so right. =X]

[Action, because I usually am right =(]

[Action, because OH YEAH damn it you won again. >(]

[Action, because I have to win sometimes to make up for Draco always losing]

[Action, because you speak truths. Carry on.]

[Action, because I approve of this]

[Action, because I NEED TO TURN OFF MY 360 TY. IT IS A SICKNESS.]

[Action, because I was wondering where you went XD]

[Action, because I might have been having a life! Or something! ...maybe someday.]

[Action, because I am not sure if I want to believe that]

[Action, because now I'm wounded. Off to eat my feelings in the form of pie.]

[Action, because I ended up making a burrito.]

[Action, because our feelings taste different.]

[Action, because I ate a chocolate heart too]

[Action, because that's seasonal! :D]

[Action, because it's DELICIOUS]

[Action, because the delicious happens from the LOVE.]

[Action, because somehow that doesn't make sense]

[Action, because I rarely make sense.]

[Action, because I like you anyway.]