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As always with his visits, Neville never felt like he had enough time. It was always slipping through his fingers like grains of sand and before he knew it , it was time to go. Pulling away from a hug with Alice, he slipped a piece of paper into her hand. Her brows furrowed , looking to him for explanation. Neville just smiled and closed her fingers around the parchment.
"Hold on to this for me, okay? Can you do that?" She nodded.
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Hogwarts.
Had it been anyone else, they'd have been jumping in their skin. A school for wizardry , how cool was that? But Neville didn't want to go. It wasn't just because Draco and his friends bullied him, he could care less about that, though the words they said did sometimes sting. He didn't want to leave because of his parents. It was like they had put a metal shackle around his ankle. This was what his grandmother had meant about getting too attached. He had left packing his school supplies and uniform until the very last minute, then spent what little time he had left, sulking.
Neville , on many occasions, had insisted that he'd much rather go to a muggle school. This way, he'd be able to keep up with his visits to see Alice and Frank. She got all huffy and puffy about it each time it was brought up. Her words repeated themselves in his head. ' You'll be a disgrace to your parents if you ever do that. Don't you want to be like them ? ' Speak of the devil ----
"Neville, it's time to go!" His grandmother's voice screamed from downstairs, bringing him out of his thoughts. He sighed and looking around his room one last time, he grabbed his suitcase and shut the door behind him.
"Coming!" He had slight difficulty lugging it downstairs , but he managed well enough, meeting her at the bottom of a staircase. A hand reached out and smoothed out some of his hair. It was almost...motherly. The small action calmed some of his nerves about leaving and he forced a smile for her , something that he's been having to do more often than he should recently. But what could you do when your parents don't remember you and you're constantly being reminded that you'll never live up to their legacy? Seriously, he had no idea what he was doing and if somebody could write a book about it, that would be great and much appreciated. They could call it ' How to deal with your parents not knowing who you are and constant doubt from others '. Actually, no --- that was much too long. He'd come up with a better title later.
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"Neville!" The orange haired girl ran towards him , wrapping him up in a tight hug. Unfortunately due to the amount of things he was holding, he couldn't return the friendly embrace. A smile crept up to his lips. Ginny was the same as always, cheerful and bright. Just the way that he liked her. She was the ray of sunshine in this darkness that he called his life.
