Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories [Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter XXXXII: Prank and Punishment, Part II

 It was close to midnight when Harry and Neville found themselves standing outside the entrance to the Great Hall.

Well, Harry was actually leaning against the wall, eyes shut and arms crossed as he took deep breaths in and out while a calm, composed expression stayed on his face. Neville, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth across across the hall lengthwise. The round-faced boy would walk exactly ten feet, pause, about face, then walk ten feet the other way before repeating the process all over again.

“Would you relax, Nev?” Harry sighed, eyes still closed. “Pacing like that's not going to do you any favors. It will just make you more nervous.”

“I can't help it,” Neville said, though he did stop face and turn to look at Harry. “There's so many things that can go wrong with this. We could get caught.”

“We won't,” Harry replied confidently. His eyes opened and locked onto Neville. “I set up a very powerful repelling charm that I learned just for this occasion. Only one of the teachers would be able to get past it, and they don't come down this way during patrols. Filch might, but he's a squib, so even if he did, the magic would make him remember that he had something more important to do the moment he got too close.”

Neville did not look convinced.

“Still...”

“You were the one who wanted to come with me, remember?” Harry reminded the boy.

“I know that,” Neville sighed as he bit his thumb, a nervous gesture he'd picked up from somewhere. It was a tick the boy had, Harry noticed. Whenever Neville was thinking about the possible consequences of something—normally of something that could get them into trouble, he bit the tip of his thumb. “But I just can't help but be nervous.”

“I understand, in a manner of speaking,” Harry said. “But that's why you wanted to come, right? To get over your nerves by being here when I dealt with Malfoy?”

Neville nodded.

“Yeah.”

“And it looks like you're going to get that chance. Blaise is coming.”

Neville blinked, then turned to where Harry was looking to see nothing. The heir of Longbottom furrowed his brows, then gave Harry a questioning look. Harry smiled.

“He's disillusioned.”

“Naturally,” Blaise's voice sounded out from their left, causing Neville to jump. “I would have never gotten out of my bloody dorm if I wasn't.”

The air before them shimmered for a second, before revealing the dark-skinned pureblood standing before them, his wand drawn and pointed behind his back. The boy was frowning.

“I hope you appreciate the effort I went through to do this,” he said, sounding disgruntled. “It was difficult getting out of the common room, especially with the baggage I have.”

“Which is why I taught you the disillusionment charm,” Harry informed him. “Which, need I remind you, is not taught in the Hogwarts curriculum. And I even allowed you to use my invisibility cloak.”

“I'm not saying I'm not grateful for the new and useful spell,” Blaise rolled his eyes as he turned around. He reached out with his hand, grasping something that could not be seen. Then, with a quick yank, pulled off what soon revealed itself to be a silvery cloak, allowing the sleeping form of Draco Malfoy to be seen. “I'm just saying it was difficult getting out of my common room. I had to be careful since there were still a number of seventh years up studying, and I kept bumping my baggage here into the walls when the space got too tight.”