Neville felt caught up in the rhythm of the group. There was some sort of energy here, like something new was just beyond reach but getting closer. It was kind of sad to realize everyone now felt closer to him than his own house.
Susan stayed close to Neville. Something felt right about helping him, so she intended to do it. Didn't hurt that he was a bit cute. She grinned. "Welcome to the Merp Room!" Neville gave her a bit of a confused look that she found adorable. "Merp?"
Hannah raised a hand to Padma. "MERP!"
Padma completed the high five. "MERP!"
Hermione held her face, massaging her forehead. "Fine. Merp."
Harry slapped her shoulder. "Well done Mione! MERP INDEED!" He grinned at Neville who was VERY confused now. "Stands for Magic Research Project. We are learning how magic... does."
The confused boy waited, but that seemed to be it. "How it does what?"
Harry grinned. "AND MUCH MORE!"
This time Hermione DID thwap him on the arm. She was smiling though. "All right, we should meet up in Harry's mind so he can fix up Neville." The poor boy barely had time to ask 'Merp?' before he was pulled into Harry's world.
Neville was actually doing pretty well with the coping, at least Harry thought so.
Still, they couldn't stand around staring with mouths open ALL day.
Harry grinned. "Welcome to my mind scape. A world created in and containing my mind." He waved a hand behind them, where wooden doors with letters stood. "As you see, I have connected the rest of the groups minds together so they can join us."
Neville realized that at some point Susan had gotten beside him and seemed to be offering moral support.
He had never felt so grateful before.
Harry on the other hand seemed to be on some sort of sugar high. "I love this part, I really do. Neville, look at your chest. That is your magic." Neville looked down... it was WILD. A thick and DARK blue, almost black, made of dozens of thick ropes. There was some sort of sphere and it was fury with threads.
Harry pointed. "As you can see, you are... well, pretty much a powerhouse. Compared to normal wizards you are REALLY powerful."
The boy looked up at Harry... and he had no threads at all? "Harry, don't you have... like, ribbons and threads and stuff too?"
Harry shrugged. "I have them when I need them. After creating Wrath... uh, you met him earlier. After making him, my magic got much more stable. I wasn't fighting myself anymore."
Hermione almost stumbled. "Wait, you mean you were NOT at full power when we met you?"
He nodded. "Barely at half. I feel much better now." He waved his arm... the ARM had an after image. His magic was FILLING his body, molded to it. "Frankly getting to this point caused a lot of pain. What little bits of me were not filled with magic got flooded. I wouldn't suggest it."
Harry looked back at Neville. "Now here is the part that is confusing me. You are clearly powerful, yet you have problems doing spells?"
Neville gripped his wand, which somehow had appeared. Harry had mentioned earlier he could make wands match, right? "Well... my parents were badly injured when I was young. I use my father's wand in memory of how he used to be." He looked at the worn wood. "I... I know I could put it away and be stronger, but I don't want to put Dad away."
Neville felt Susan hug him. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the hug or realizing he was crying.
Harry noticed the emotions on Susan's face as well. He gave a small smile. "Neville, I am not really able to mess with the binding of wands to men... not directly. Susan, would you be willing to help me with this?"
Neville felt the arms tighten for a moment. "I would be glad to help, Harry. What do you need me to do?"
Harry moved her in front of the nervous boy. "Grab the end of Neville's wand while he holds it. I will press my hand on your back, and guide your magic to fix his wand binding." Harry looked her in the eyes. "Is this acceptable, Ms. Susan Bones? I will only do this if it is both of your wishes."
Susan was DESPERATLY not looking at Hannah as she nodded. Somehow she could STILL feel her grin and wink. Merlin her face must be red.
Neville was not sure why Harry was making such a big deal about this... until the first purple thread of Susan's touched his core. Yep, lots of blushing for everyone. And a Hannah winking at Harry was NOT helping the process. Strangely enough, Padma's giggling DID help in some small way.
After the three recovered a bit, Neville coughed slightly. "Um... how many of those brown threads are we doing this for?"
Harry shrugged. "All of them. You ok to continue?"
The boy's blushing nod actually made Susan smile a bit more through her own blush. She wasn't sure she could talk without squeaking right now... and she was going to smack Hannah with a pillow SO HARD tonight. Friends could be such... Anyway.
Neville's smile could have powered the world when he returned to the waking world. At least, until he looked at Susan. Thankfully their blushes could more than pick up the slack. He also seemed slightly relieved that she was still smiling at him.
Hannah on the other hand was nudging Susan's ribs and making eyebrow gestures until Harry threw a snowball.
Seeing Hermione's look of surprise he grinned. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Wisdom figured out how to combine the spells? We now have a snowball hex."
The ensuing fight took many good students down. Not for long, but still.
Finally Harry waved his hand, drying everyone. "Well, I think that next time Merp gets together, we should all show off some of the neat things we are working on to our new friend Neville. All in favor?"
Many hands went up.
"All opposed?" Susan's hand went up. "Can't we show him now?"
Harry shook his head. "We've got 30 minutes until curfew at this point. Oh, and Neville, Gryffindor's password tonight is 'Quidditch' of all things."
They ignored Terry's whoop.
"Anyway, we will drop you off, then Susan and Hannah..." He noticed the two looking. "On second thought, you will come help us drop Susan and Hannah of at Hufflepuff, THEN we will drop you at the Lion's Den, then we take a well deserved nap."
THAT had two people looking happy. Harry grinned. He was glad Susan had made a connection with Neville, although it may be hard to explain to others how it had started. His grin turned into a huge blush. MAN that was embarrassing. He had thought he had found a clever work around, he would help Susan (Still felt... well, interesting to say the least) who would help Neville.
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