“So what did he do?” Albus asked softly.

Neville shook his head, not wanting to talk about it here. In the infirmary, it was like adding salt on the wounds. They couldn’t talk about it when Harry and Draco were fighting for their lives. He didn’t want to be here if either of them didn’t make it, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to bounce back from that.

“Can we move somewhere else to talk?” Neville asked quietly.

“Of course my boy,” Albus replied, gesturing to them to follow him.

As the headmaster ushered them into another room so they could all have their talk, without a chance for them to see their classmates. Neville looked down at the hand he was holding, though he never envisioned using a gun like Harry, he himself had thought about ending his life as some point too.

 Everyone here constantly told him that he didn’t deserve to be here, even his own family thought he was a squib. Most of the Gryffindors and the rest of the school believed that he was sorted into the wrong house and at times he felt the same way.

He felt like he didn’t belong anywhere, and as he looked around at the saddened faces of his classmates he had to wonder if they really got it. Did they really understand just why Harry went mad? Neville had thought about ending his life numerous times. Would this incident prove to them that bullying had consequences?

 Would that see that words hurt more than a spell? Words tended to linger, and the more you thought about it, the bigger your doubts become. Since he didn’t seem like anyone was going to talk any time soon, he let go of Pansy’s hand and moved to stand by the Headmaster.

“Can I help you with something Neville?” Albus asked kindly.

“I think I can help you and everyone else understand; just why Harry did this.” Neville said as he swallowed the fear, his stomach was churning in anxiety.

“You do, how Mr. Longbottom?” Albus asked gently, as dread returned to the pit of his stomach.

“I too have thought about ending my life.” Neville said quietly, though everyone heard him perfectly.

They replied to his statement as one, as each person looked at him in shock and horror.

“I know what you’re thinking, why would I want do something like that? The Longbottom name is a known throughout the wizarding world, pureblooded as well. I have everything going for me and yet I don’t. I am constantly following someone I never knew, trying to reach expectations for a man that will never be me.” Neville said with a shake of his head. How many times had his teachers compared him to his father? He could only guess how Harry had handled his boy-who-lived status; that was too much pressure for anyone.

“Bullying, especially by your house mates takes a toll on you. Life starts to dull as the people you live with relentlessly tease you. The rest of the school you can take but when your house who is supposed to be your family, starts in on it, the will to live diminishes.” Neville explained more calmly then what he felt, his heart was hammering in his chest.

“Why didn’t you say anything Neville?” Hermione asked softly, she hadn’t spoken since Harry had snapped at her.

“I tried and that didn’t do anything. Most of you think that just because I’m in a corner of the room I can’t hear the things you say. I can hear every single word you say about me, and they all hurt. There are days where I wish I was deaf so I didn’t have to hear the insults.” Neville admitted.

“Have you ever, almost done it?” Blaise nearly whispered, they knew just what it meant.

“I have a few times, and before you ask it was easy. I found an abandon classroom, there are loads as you know and I turned my wand on myself,” Neville explained calmly.

“Why didn’t you do it?” Blaise asked again, knowing that what’s everyone wanted to know regardless of the looks they were giving him for asking it.

“Because; someone always seemed to know when it got too bad for me to handle,” Neville replied softly, remembering the interruptions at just the right moment.

He could see his words had hit their mark, and he had often wondered if there were others like him. Others who were struggling to fit in, who didn’t want to disappoint their family, or house. He knew he and Harry couldn’t be the only ones. They needed to all band together and fix this, he had no doubt that others could be nearing their breaking point and no one would know until it was also too late.

“So those of you who have bullied people for no reason, just because they didn’t have the same status as you, because you felt they were beneath you; when those kids finally crack take note that just like Draco was on Harry’s list, you will be on theirs.” Neville said in a serious tone, they had never heard him use.

He saw that many of the kids paled, both Gryffindor and Slytherins alike. He knew that he had scared them, but he didn’t care. They were all old enough to know that even words had consequences. He wasn’t as lost as they all assumed he was, and he knew that his two classmates were fighting for their lives in the infirmary all because someone didn’t stop it.

By the time an adult came into the picture to help Harry it was already too late, he knew a few of them were bound to have guilt of their conscious and for that he was grateful. Without it he was sure that they wouldn’t learn, as Pansy had pointed out they needed to remember all of it.

“Enough on that lets tell the Headmaster what really happened in potions.” Neville said before launching into the story, each person jumping in with their own point a view until they had reached the end.

Albus listened to the story silently, horror growing as they explained why Harry felt he had to do it. His eyes watered and he shook his head, feeling so ashamed of himself. He didn’t think of Harry as a tool, he loved that boy as if he was his grandson. He always tried to protect Harry; he knew that Harry would be the end of Voldermort’s reign of terror. He had only wanted to let the child hold onto his innocence a little bit longer. He sighed as his hand covered his face feeling more guilt.

 Albus sighed softly, he would fix it; Harry had been through too much. He would make sure that Fudge couldn’t lay a hand on Harry. At the moment he needed to see how they were both doing. He didn’t know how Draco would react when he woke up. He knew that if the boy didn’t agree to the oath that Lucius would be at Hogwarts within the hour after he found out. And for Harry and him that would be bad, extremely bad.