The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 108: Harry's Sacrifice

*CW: Violence*

In the distance, there was a white light that kept growing towards me, getting larger and larger with every staggered breath I took. And then I stopped feeling my breath, allowing the light to consume me.

"This was it." I thought to myself.

For all I knew, this was how my life should've ended. I was never meant to be anything special. I was merely a soul placed in the wrong body at the wrong time and was destined to forever experience misfortune. But at the same time, that couldn't have been right. The story didn't make sense. How could after all these years, after all this lead-up, that my life ended... Wasn't there supposed to be something that saved me, or did that only happen in fairy tales?

Suddenly, the light dimmed, and I found my breath again. Was this it? Was I actually saved, or did I end up in the afterlife? Hell... What did the afterlife even consist of? Then, I felt a sharp pain in my chest as my surroundings continued to develop.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! MERLIN, FUCK!" someone shouted in the outskirts of my mind, "COME ON, DAWN, WAKE UP!"

That couldn't have been from the afterlife... Right? The pain in my chest continued to grow as did the ache on the back of my head. I wouldn't have been able to feel my battle wounds if I was dead.

Oh my Merlin... I wasn't dead.

I woke up gasping, sucking in a large amount of air. I probably inhaled several billion dust particles, but that didn't matter. My lungs accepted it regardless, causing me to choke and cough as my life was restored to me. I wasn't even sure how I was breathing, considering I had a piece of glass shoved into my chest, but then I looked down and saw that it wasn't there. Instead, there was a small stitch. However, the pain still remained.

As my eyes began to function again, I tried to gather how I came back from the dead. That was if I was still even alive... Maybe I did die and wake up in the afterlife. I saw the light. I felt the pain go away, and my heart stopped.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" someone screamed, "DAWN! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Groggily, I looked at the voice. It took my eyes a second to adjust so that I could see who the person was. I assumed they saved me — the voice matched the one I heard when I was pulled back. At first, I saw brown matted hair and lots of bruises. And then the rest of the image loaded, causing me to gasp.

"NEVILLE!" I shouted, lunging forward.

Quickly, I realized that was a poor mistake, the pain in my chest worsening. I groaned in agony, causing Neville to help me lie back against the desk. Frantically, Neville pulled out his wand, holding it to my chest.

"Lenio..." he stated.

He casted the relief charm; a healing spell that acted as a painkiller, numbing the area for an hour or two. Instantly, the sharp pains in my chest dissipated, although it was still unreasonably sore. Once I was able to sit up a bit more, Neville leaned forward, kissing my forehead.

I tilted my head as Neville continued to fix me up, "How did you learn all of this?"

"Madam Pomfrey was instructed not to heal wounds from punishment or detention," Neville explained, reaching for a cloth, "And thanks to the Carrows, I suffered from quite a bit. So, I decided to learn a bunch of healing spells. They came in handy... Not just for myself, but for when others started showing up to the Room of Requirement as well."

"Oh..." I asked shakily, "How did you find me then?"

"I was nearby and heard screaming," Neville continued frantically, wiping away the blood that spilled onto my arms, "The door was wide open, so I thought to check and found you passed out, bleeding out on the floor... What happened here?"