A/N: This is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from the perspective of those left behind at Hogwarts, primarily Neville. I'm quite aware this has been done before, but this is my take. "My" being a very relative term: I, of course, own absolutely nothing.

I have the primary genre for this story marked as H/C. That will absolutely come up and be a huge focus in this story, but it's not prominent in the first chapter.

Chapter 1 - Now more than ever

Neville didn't know how he would have imagined his last school-bound ride on the Hogwarts Express, but it wouldn't have been like this.

Most years, it had been difficult to find an empty compartment to sit with his friends, especially given his yearly scare of losing his toad immediately upon the train's departure. This year, Trevor wasn't even with him, and neither were most of his friends. Half the compartments were empty, and most of the remaining students were Slytherins.

Tired of having to look at the sneering faces of his enemies, Neville was about to choose an empty compartment when the galleon in his pocket grew warm. He pulled it out to find a message in tiny letters: Front car, second on the left.

He hurried to the front car, peeked into the window of the indicated compartment, and entered to settle down across from Ginny and Luna.

"We were wondering when you'd join us. We need to make some plans." Ginny gave him a slight smile. "Where have you been?"

"Looking for Trevor, I would assume," Luna said.

Neville shook his head. "Trevor's gone."

Luna frowned. "That's sad."

"No, not really." He sighed. "I've been walking around the train, I almost just sat in an empty compartment."

"You're always welcome to sit with us. Even if we are a year younger than you." Luna smiled gently.

"Thanks, Luna." Two short years ago, Neville was embarrassed to sit with Luna; now it was a relief to be with anyone who he knew was on his side.

"About those plans," Ginny said. "I was listening to some Slytherins using one of Fred and George's extendable ears. Aside from the usual rubbish, I was able to pick up on something . . . disturbing."

"Bigger question is if you picked up on anything that wasn't disturbing."

"I'm serious, Neville. Snape has the sword of Gryffindor."

Neville felt like an icy hand had clutched his heart. He'd never seen the sword before, but he knew what it meant. And he knew Snape could not keep it.

"I don't understand why it's so bad," Luna said. "Compared with a wand, a sword isn't a very powerful weapon."

Neville gave her a look. "It might not be the most powerful weapon, but it's still a powerful item." Neville knew Voldemort would never be defeated by a sword, but he also knew the significance of that sword. His great uncle had told him stories when he was a child. "It's a symbol of everything Gryffindor stands for. Bravery, of course, but also nobility, doing the right thing when it's impossible. That sword has appeared to so many great wizards over the years in their hour of need. It . . . it deserves better."

"We'll get it back," Ginny said.

Neville let his breath out. "We'll have to sneak into Snape's office."

Ginny shrugged. "Fine."

"And counter any anti-theft measures he has in place."

"Of course."

"And find a place to keep the sword, so the other Gryffindors will know, but Snape won't."

"Not a problem."

Neville turned to Luna. "This will be dangerous. I know the sword probably doesn't mean much to you, since you're in Ravenclaw—"

"I want to help."

Neville saw the earnest look in her eyes and nodded. "Then we'll go together."

Ginny grinned. "Ron used to tell me stories, he and Harry and Hermione used to go on adventures like this all the time. You know they brewed Polyjuice potion in their second year? Ron let that slip, he made me swear never to tell anyone." She giggled, but then sighed, and her face grew serious. "We're all Hogwarts has now."

"No," Neville said. "There are others. We'll keep having DA meetings, if we can." Neville shuddered. It would be more difficult than ever to know who they could trust. They needed all the help they could get, but one spy in the club could spell ruin for all of them.

Luna sighed. "It's sad how many people are missing."

"Seamus is still around, isn't he?" Ginny asked.

"He must be having a hard time," Luna said. "Dean is muggle-born. Aren't they best friends?"

"Yeah," Neville said. "Dean's not around this year. Seamus is okay for now, but it's going to be tough on him. He's half."

"Where is Seamus?" Ginny asked.

Neville rolled his eyes. "Snogging some girl."

"Life goes on." Ginny smiled wryly. "I'm the only one in my family at Hogwarts this year. Ron's gone."

"Harry and Hermione, too," Luna said. "Do you think they're in hiding?"

"Maybe." Neville didn't think for a minute that they were hiding. Harry was on a mission of some sort—he had to be, otherwise he'd have faced seventh year like the courageous hero he was. He'd come back for them when the time was right. They just had to survive Hogwarts until Harry came back.

Ginny shook her head. "I feel like I've heard so many rumors, it's hard to what's true."

Luna's brow furrowed. "That's why I only trust the Quibbler. My father would never print something that wasn't true."

Ginny and Neville exchanged a look, but said nothing. Ginny cleared her throat. "Fred and George have some ideas about ways to get news around, too."

That was good—Fred and George were the perfect ones to do it, too. Reporting dark news was difficult; Neville was sure that Fred and George could balance it with good news, good humor, and good reminders for how to keep safe.

"About the defense club . . ." Ginny grimaced. "Should we still call ourselves Dumbledore's Army?"

Neville nodded. "Now more than ever."

It was quiet for a long while. Like many other students at Hogwarts, Neville had always felt the school was safe as long as Dumbledore was in charge. That security blanket had been removed from them, but it wasn't just physical safety that had been lost with Dumbledore's death. There was a warmth that came with believing the school, in general, stood for what was right, and it had filled the Hogwarts chambers and halls. Neville didn't want to think about the feeling that would fill the castle with Snape in charge.

A tremor of grief and fear passed through Neville. He never would have admitted it, but a tiny part of him, the part that was always embarrassed by the magnitude of his fear of Snape, was almost gratified when Snape had publicly embraced the dark side. It proved that Neville's fears hadn't been exaggerated or irrational.

Neville took a deep breath. "Remember when Professor Lupin was teaching us all how to fight boggarts?" That had been Neville's third year—Ginny and Luna were a year younger, though. "Did he do that with the second years?"

"We all know about what happened, Neville." Ginny laughed. "It was all over the school."

Neville grinned at the memory of seeing Snape in his grandmother's clothes. The image had gotten him through many a tough potions lesson, and it was as fresh in his mind now as that day in third year. "I think I'm more afraid of him than ever, but I don't think he's my greatest fear anymore."

"What do you think your boggart would be now?" Ginny asked.

Neville settled his head back into the seat. "I don't know."

And that was the truth. Neville didn't feel any braver or less fearful than he ever had. In fact, he was still quite convinced that the sorting hat had made a huge and obvious mistake in placing him in Gryffindor. But his greatest fear now couldn't easily take on an image: it was the fear of the unknown.

Certainly, he feared Snape. He feared oppression, pain, and loss of control. He feared losing his friends and losing his sanity. He feared his own inadequacy, and he feared fear itself.

But the scariest thing was knowing that there were things he couldn't imagine: dark, twisted possibilities too grim for his mind to conceive of. Such possibilities were normally so unlikely as to be laughable, but now they lurked in the shadows of tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after—and he'd never know when they would come to claim him until they already had.

And that's why it mattered that Dumbledore's Army stood together, and that the sword of Gryffindor should be in their possession, not Snape's. Fear had the power to control good people and malign them into something else. Every symbol and shred of hope mattered.

It didn't matter that the sorting hat had made a mistake with Neville. Now more than ever, he had to pretend to be brave.