Thorn | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 20: Answer My Question

Briar was walking down the halls to get to Charms class when she heard a group of students whispering loudly right behind her. She caught snippets of their conversation and picked up on one girl saying, "We have that DA meeting today with Harry, don't forget."

"Hush, say that any louder, and Umbridge or her squad might overhear," A second student hissed back, but Briar's interest had already been piqued.

She was not a part of Umbridge's horrendous Inquisitorial Squad; she actually faked illness when Umbridge requested her presence for said meeting. The rumors of what Umbridge was planning had already been slithering around amongst their friend group, but Briar wanted no interest in the terror and control some of the others planned to instill in their fellow students.

However, if the Inquisitorial Squad did anything particularly terrible, Briar knew she would find out about it, and she planned to make the responsible parties suffer if necessary.

So, on that particular day, Briar was glad it was her and not Malfoy or Pansy who had overheard that particular conversation. She became even more glad when she overheard, "Professor Lupin has apparently been in contact with Harry. I heard he's giving Potter some advice on what to teach us."

Briar immediately thought of her conversation with Professor Lupin and how the tall man seemed to know a lot more about her than most people at this school. She decided in that moment that she needed to talk to him again. After everything she learned that summer from her father, she needed to talk it out with someone else who also knew her mother.

Would Lupin have known about her mother's true soulmate?

After classes that day, Briar caught Potter before he slipped into the Great Hall for dinner. She wrapped her hand around his bicep and yanked him down a different corridor. A couple other students looked over in concern if they noticed this, but no one did a thing, not wanting to get in the middle of a presumed Slytherin and Gryffindor fight.

Briar cleared her throat when Harry just stared at her with raised eyebrows and flighty eye contact. She enunciated, "Is it true that you're still in contact with Professor Lupin?"

Harry's eyes widened as he rasped, "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap, Potter. I know about your little meetings, but I don't need to tell anyone about them if you just answer my question honestly and help me contact Professor Lupin," Briar drawled. She crossed her arms and stared at Harry with a single eyebrow quirked.

It was silent for a moment before Harry finally nodded.

The corners of Briar's lips tipped up. She commanded, "Then set up a time for him and I to meet."

"But why?"

Her state turned harsh as she snapped, "Listen, you don't ask questions about this, and I won't ask questions about your DA meetings. Are we clear?"

Harry nodded in response, blinking through his shock at how quickly Briar shut down any attempts to understand where this was coming from.

Briar stared at him for a moment, unsure how to know if the boy was telling her the truth, but she decided that he likely couldn't tell her bluff. She swiveled on her heel and left him in the corridor.

She hoped he would hold up his end of the deal because she knew that holding up her consequences wasn't an option. She heard the whispers that Neville was in the DA meetings, and the thought of his involvement in these meetings being discovered, and leading to severe punishments for him, made her feel sick to her stomach.

Everyone else in this world had felt like poison to her at times, but Neville was different. It was hard for her to put it into words, but she just knew that he wasn't like everyone else. He was caring and kind and good, and he brought joy and comfort into Briar's life for the moments they spent together, and she knew she needed to protect that at all costs.

———