What If?
by Lev

The sun shone brightly through the window of Gryffindor Tower. Neville Longbottom had been up for almost an hour reading Hogwarts, A History. As he looked out at the pink light that weakly illuminated the Forbidden Forest, he took a deep breath and decided that this new day was just meant for him. He marked his place in the book and put it down on his night stand. He chuckled to himself as he ran his fingers over the brown leather cover.

She'll be pleased that I've read half the book, he thought. Startled by a loud snore, he turned his head toward the source of the noise. He could not decide which of the beds the snore emanated from, as Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus all had their drapes closed. Waking up this early was a childhood habit. Mostly it was because for years he was afraid to sleep, but now, as a fifteen year old Hogwarts prefect it seemed like his own special gift He tried to share it with his friends in their first year, but they unanimously chose sleep over the beauty of the sunrise. In fact, Ron threatened to beat Neville up if he ever woke him up that early again. Remembering the incident Neville rolled his eyes. That was Ron; he had to act tough even then, but it was all talk. Ron would never be able to beat him up. Neville lowered his eyes and sighed. I guess that's what life is like when you have older brothers. He had no older brothers or younger brothers, or any siblings for that matter. Voldemort had seen to that.

Neville looked at his book bag and remembered his letter to Gram. He had to send it to her today, which meant going to the Owlery before breakfast. Trevor was such a good owl and he made the trip to Wales faster than any of the school owls could, but every time Neville sent him away, there was a pang in his heart. Trevor was his oldest and most treasured friend. Neville had taken care of his owl ever since he was an egg. After all, Trevor was the last surviving baby of his parents' owl Elaine. But he had not written Gram in ages, and she was bound to be worried if she didn't get a letter soon. He knew how hard it was for her to let him go to Hogwarts. Had Dumbledore not been such a good friend (and former Transfigurations professor) she would never have let him go at all. He was all that was left of her family save for Uncle Algie, but since the flight to Wales, she could never see him again.

He heard another snore, and this time there was no mistaking who it was. It came from Harry's bed. As he turned back to the window, Neville rubbed the odd lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Of all the other boys in his year, he liked Harry the best. It was the orphan connection. Neville's parents were killed when he was one year old. A day earlier Harry's father was murdered by the Dark Lord. Harry probably would have been too, but somehow, miraculously, his mother escaped the house with Harry and fled to safety. Not even Harry was quite sure of the details of the escape, but his mother found a hiding place in the Muggle world and did not return until five years afterwards. Harry occasionally mentioned a "fat whale Dudley." Perhaps he lived by the ocean. Neville did not know, he was forbidden to visit Harry over holidays - Dumbledore's orders.

Neville felt a tear in his eye. Feeling like a baby, he wiped it away. His parents were killed long ago. Gram told him the whole story when he was eight. Frank and Alice Longbottom were two of the Ministry's best Aurors; they had stood up to Voldemort three times and managed to survive each time. But the day after he killed James Potter, he showed up at the Longbottom residence on Dragora Avenue without any warning. He murdered Frank and Alice with a single spell. When he tried to kill Neville though, something happened; the spell went wrong. Voldemort vanished, and Neville lived. Dumbledore gave Neville to Gram and found them a secret place to live; a house outside an isolated Muggle village in the Welsh countryside. The only two people he told his story to were his girlfriend Hermione Granger and Harry. Not that everyone in the school didn't know about "The Boy Who Lived." But Hermione and Harry were the only people he personally told.

But there was more that he could not tell even them. Not even Gram knew the full story, or else she may have fled with him across the world. Neville was meant to be Dumbledore's weapon against Voldemort. Dumbledore had even told him so halfway through his first year at Hogwarts.

"Neville," he said, "You are young and you have so much pain in your life. You have been condemned to an existence full of isolation. When you were one year old, Voldemort chose you as his opponent. I don't know when it will happen, but he will rise again, and you, Neville Longbottom, will be our champion. You are the only one who will have the power to defeat Voldemort."

Sometimes Neville wished he could simply disregard Dumbledore as an old crackpot. The pressure that he faced every day, especially at night.... He was used to it now, but those first few years, he cried silently every time he went to bed and said a silent prayer that the next day would not be the day Voldemort returned. That's why he like mornings so much. They were filled with hope and promise. He had survived the night.

The other boys in the room began to stir. Seamus awoke first, and grabbed his wand, quill, and a piece of parchment. He still needed to finish some Charms homework that he put off from the night before. Neville always finished his homework; Dumbledore made sure of that. Neville had mandatory study sessions with all of his professors - McGonagall, Flitwick, Sinistra, Snape, Vector, Sprout, Grubbly-Plank, and Lupin. He no longer took classes with the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years. He was in all seventh year classes. Dumbledore told him that next year, he would just take private lessons. Neville was being trained to be a soldier, a kind of super-Auror.

This was all because of what happened during Neville's second year. Lucius Malfoy had given the diary of Tom Riddle (Voldemort's name when he was at Hogwarts) to Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister. The diary was enchanted and through its power a Basilisk was released into the school. Neville helped figure it out due to his ability to understand Parseltounge, a discovery he made at age six to Gram's horror. Dumbledore was finally able to stop the Basilisk and destroy the diary but not before the creature killed Justin Finch-Fletchley, Colin Creevy, and Ginny. Ron and his brothers never recovered from that. Luckily there was enough proof to put Lucius Malfoy, an already suspected Death Eater, in Azkaban. As a result of the incident though, Professor Lockhart was fired, Professor Lupin was brought in, and Dumbledore decided Neville needed intensive Auror trained.

He knew they all whispered about him, and his special treatment. Some of them resented him for it. Others feared what he could do. Malfoy's son Draco was extremely bitter toward Neville, but was too afraid of him to duel him.

Harry finally woke up and put on his glasses. He rubbed his eyes and squinted.

"All right, Neville?"

"Good moning, Harry."

Harry's bruises were looking far better than they were the previous night. But that is what happens to Seekers when they practice too hard. According to Harry, he got pummeled by Bludgers all night, though he was smiling when he told his story. Harry liked to show off how tough he was, or perhaps more accurately pretend he was tougher than he actually was. Neville felt sorry for him. James Potter was a great man; everyone in the wizarding world knew that Voldemort believed him to be a deadly enemy. Potter was afraid of nothing. Harry never got a chance to know him. Quidditch was Harry's way of connecting with his father, as James was a superb player.

"Mum always told me what a great Chaser he was," Harry said when he made the team during their third year. "I was hoping to be a Chaser too, but they already have three and they needed a Seeker now that Betters is gone."

Harry was good too. The team won the House Cup that year. The competition was canceled last year because of that Triwizard Tournament thing that Cedric Diggory won. But this year, Harry was really excited about it again. Neville envied him. Growing up alone in Wales, he never even heard of Quidditch. How good would Neville have been? From the pictures he'd seen of professional teams Neville certainly had the build for it - strong arms, broad chest, a good Welshman's body. And definitely he was decent at flying a broom. But Neville did not have the time or the knowledge for playing Quidditch. It was the most important thing in Harry's life. For Neville it would come a very distant second.

For Harry, the game was a way to know his father. Did Frank Longbottom play Quidditch? Did Alice? Gram never actually said, or maybe Neville never asked. He never asked her any questions about his parents. He hated to see Gram cry. He had a few photos of them and of course Trevor, but otherwise nothing else. They were strangers to him and no one spoke about them. Dumbledore did not, the gameskeeper Hagrid once said they were nice. Professor Lupin also once said he admired them. The only person Neville ever heard talk about them at length was an old friend of Dumbledore's, a former Auror named Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody who had been Frank's mentor during his first year at the Minstry. Neville only met Moody once though, when he came to explain to Neville what an Auror's life is like.

As soon as Harry finished dressing, the two of them walked down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Ron walked with them as far as the common room, but as soon as he saw Fred and George, he went over to join them. Neville felt pity for the Weasleys. He remembered how Fred and George used to be such great pranksters during his first and second years, always one step ahead of Filch. But after Ginny died, they just stopped. They both quit the Quidditch team and became the quietest students in Gryffindor. Ron barely spoke to anyone anymore. It was always uncomfortable to be around him, especially alone. But Ron tended to stay far away from everyone else except for his brothers. The three of them sat at the end of the Gryffindor table where no one bothered with them. Even professors never called on them in class. Neville heard this about Ron and saw it personally in classes with Fred and George.

Sometimes he blamed Dumbledore for that. Neville admired him, respected him, learned from him, was loyal to him, but did not like him. He should have helped the Weasleys more. But Neville knew that there was lingering personal bitterness in his own feelings toward Dumbledore. It was because of Neville that Dumbledore discovered Quirrell was in league with Voldemort and thus was able to destroy the Philosopher's Stone as quickly as he did. But Neville was not thanked in any way. Instead Dumbledore forced him to start saying "Voldemort" instead of the far more comfortable "You-Know-Who". It further set him apart from the rest of the wizarding world. Gram shrieked and sobbed uncontrollably the one time she heard Neville mention his name. Only Dumbledore and a few of his most loyal followers openly pronounced the name. Neville was by far the youngest. Even Snape, former Death Eater that he was, could not do it.

Neither Neville nor Harry could get a word in during breakfast. Hermione had so much to say, mostly about the O.W.L.S. which were coming in a few weeks time. Neville had no fear, and he knew that Hermione really should not either. Though Muggle born, she was by far the smartest student in the school. Most everyone else thought she was a pain in the neck, but Neville always appreciated her. He saw her in a different light, and her complete detachment from all things in the wizarding world made him feel like she understood him better than anyone, though that sense of being an outsider frustrated her to no end.

Owls swooped overheard. An elderly white owl dropped a letter in front of Harry. He looked at it for a second and then tore it open. He smiled while reading it.

"From your Mum, Harry?" Neville asked.

"No," said Harry, "It's from Sirius. He said that after the O.W.L.S. we're going to a Puddlemere United match. We'll see Wood play."

"Hmmm," said Neville. He could never tell Harry, but he was very jealous of him because of Sirius Black. Sirius had been his father's best friend at Hogwarts and afterwards. After his father's death, Sirius tracked down Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater responsible for leaking the Potter family whereabouts to Voldemort. Sirius was very much a surrogate father to Harry. It strangely affected his relationship with Professor Lupin for some reason. Neville did not know all the details, but Lupin and Sirius were also very good friends. After Sirius tracked down Pettigrew they had a falling out. Harry and Lupin did not get along. In fact, it was Harry who told everyone that Lupin was a werewolf. Harry had also darkly hinted that Dumbledore did not appreciate Sirius Black's influence over Harry. Neville sighed at the thought. Dumbledore's fondness for Harry grated Neville, since Neville was the chosen opponent of Voldemort and Harry had very little talent in all magical areas except for flying and having difficult relationships with professors.

Neville had no such problems. Snape especially took a liking to him, impressed that Neville had such remarkable skills in Potions and Herbology. Lessons with Snape were the only ones he looked forward to, an amazing feat since everyone else in Gryffindor tower despised (and feared) the man. Dumbeldore saw to it that Neville got excellent professors and even exempted him from History of Magic to ensure that it stayed that way.

Lost in his thoughts as he was, Neville took no notice that Harry was excitedly (and obliviously) telling an obviously bored Hermione about the history of Puddlemere United. He and Ron (once a devoted Chudley Cannons fan) used to argue all night long about Quidditch. It annoyed Dean to no end as he preferred a Muggle sport called football, or something like that and had no one with whom he could discuss it. And they were loud anyway.

Neville looked at the Head Table and saw Dumbledore staring at him over his glass of pumpkin juice. Those eyes, those abomidable blue eyes, reminded Neville that every day was one day closer to his destiny. He prayed he was ready. Already he was beyond N.E.W.T. level, but Voldemort was the most brilliant student Hogwarts ever had, and Neville had never even dueled a Death Eater, save for practices with Snape.

Harry had just finished telling Hermione about the great Puddlemere United victory over the Ballycastle Bats in 1958 which gave Puddlemere the league championship.

"It was one of the greatest matches ever," said Harry.

"I know, Harry," snapped Hermione, "You've told me seven times already."

But Harry was oblivious. As Neville half-listened to him move on to the 1959 season, he was struck by a thought. What would have happened if Lily Potter had not foiled Voldemort? What if Harry was chosen instead of me?

For a brief instant he imagined a world in which he knew his parents and all the worries of the world were on Harry's shoulders. Feeling guilty, he immediately stopped thinking those thoughts and listened to his friend recited the history of Puddlemere United.