Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N:You all are awesome, thanks for reading and review the last chapter. Enjoy!

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The First Step is Fatal

Chapter 11: Action

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When Neville fell to the ground he sucked in a deep breath of air. It had never tasted so good, but he didn't have the time to truly appreciate it as he scrambled backward away from the monster trying to rip the young cat off its face.

Harry ducked and dodged around the troll's scalp sharp claws giving him purchase in the thick wrinkly troll hide.

The first year Gryffindor watched in bewildered satisfaction. The troll tried to deal with his much more speedy annoyance, but was failing miserably. Sure, Harry wasn't able to pierce the thick hide, but seemed to be quite annoying. He could probably get at the eyes if he wanted to though.

What was I – Oh! My wand!

Neville quickly scanned the ground, his wand had to be here somewhere.

There! It had rolled up against the wall, in the shadows where it almost blended in with the dour grey stone.

He took a shaky step towards it, then another; breathing became easier as his body reacquainted with empty space instead of gnarly troll fingers.

The troll made a noise that Neville had only heard once; the sound of a newt inflating. Or a troll finally fed up with pesky cat dancing on its skull. The grey skinned monster had begun to slap at its head with its massive hands.

Whumph! Whumph!

"Jump off!" Neville shouted in panic. Harry would be smashed as thin as parchment!

The black cat heeded him and sprang towards him, green eyes flaring as he moved through the air.

The troll swung at its miniscule opponent and missed, greasy palm slapping into the wall. It bellowed loudly, before turning to Neville.

The troll narrowed its eyes, and Neville knew it wanted to pound him into jam.

The first year student's heart dropped in his stomach when he looked toward his wand. He'd never make it. With the troll staring straight at him, his body began to quake. Overwhelmed with fear he could only move backward as it came closer.

Pin pricks of water dotted the sides of his eyes; his mind was a mess of jumbled thoughts and he fumbled through the blaring panic.

Neville gulped. "Please." He implored as he moved backward either to the troll, Harry, or someone who wasn't even there he didn't know.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

As his fingers ran themselves around a small round parcel, Neville his fear left him.

He wasn't finished yet.

The troll still stalked him in a calm rage. It roared when the area lit up with dazzling colors from the easily triggered fireworks the twins had given him.

Splashes of red and gold fizzed, a miss-formed badger reared from a patch of white sparkles. A blur of blue shot to the ceiling and vanished.

While the troll tried to cover its eyes from the blinding lights of house colors and – though they didn't seem to be complete - creatures, Neville squinted as he tried to find his wand.

His hand touched the wall and he stumbled – his foot impacted something squishier than rock.

Sorry Hermione, he thought.

The lights were fading now, almost merging together in one spot on the floor. Neville frantically search the ground while blinking, the fireworks had blinded him as well. The spots from his eyes faded and he looked up to gage the monsters disorientation. He gasped as the troll blinked; Neville was running out of time. A furry body had met his hand.

The troll turned to him - his arm went numb, and his wand rose in the air, only this time not of his own doing.

The fireworks exploded into a blast of green accompanied by the sound of a hissing cobra and its shape. The tail was wonky, all bent at angles but it was for sure a snake.

The hair on the back of Neville's neck rose as the air seemed to get a bit colder. Next to his head the small cat perched and made a very distinct hissing noise – like an angry animal hissing out every syllable of the word 'sausage'. It was a moment that burned into his memory.

The wand tip exploded into a ball of light, and he squinted against the brightness. The troll, already light blinded bellowed as it tried to shield its sensitive eyes. It took a step back and the cracked railing groaned under the weight. A triumphant howl came from behind him. Neville grimaced. He forgot this wasn't the only monster on this level.

A shout to his right, "Defodio!"

The stone floor beneath the troll caved as if carved out by a massive butter knife. On unstable ground the troll pitched backward taking with it the small part of balcony as it toppled over the edge.

A boom echoed in the distance.

Neville blinked.

He patted himself down and touched his face. Everything seemed to be in place, his side hurt a little but it was rapidly fading.

"Huh. I'm alive." He blinked again. Neville smiled, and threw one fist in the air, "Haha! I'm not dead!"

"Oh, you will be soon." A sinister voice said. Neville flinched, it sounded exactly like his horribly angry potions master – the boy turned his head. Oh, look. It is.

The black beady eyes of his Potion's Professor seemed to give him a once over before turning to the body next to him.

The tall black robed professor raised his wand, and Neville stepped between them unconsciously.

"Move. Now." Professor Snape hissed out like his house mascot. Harry was better at it though. It hit Neville then, and he laughed a bit hysterically.

The professor made a motion as if to pull him out of the way, but Neville was already moving on his own lost in his thoughts.

No way. There's just no way. How could he – I mean that's incredibly – what.

Neville held a palm to his forehead to quell the oncoming headache while the professor hovered his wand over the downed Gryffindor's body and made a few snide remarks about "following bedtimes and not sleeping in books."

Neville leaned against the cool wall and slid down it.

I just have to accept it. My cat is a person, it can't be that much of a long shot. He was able to cast after all. My cat is a person – and that person might be a parselmouth.

"The spell worked you know." Neville said blearily out loud. Snape grimaced and made a face as if the boy was off his rocker.

The small cat knew otherwise and purred his happiness.

Uhgh. Now that the excitement was over his body was beginning to shake.

"Longbottom what were you doing here?"

Neville looked at the professor in confusion.

"You weren't at the feast." The teacher added with a raised eyebrow.

"Wanted to finish my homework. Then sweets." He mumbled out. The Potions professor gave him an appraising look.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, probably to give me a detention, Neville thought - stones rumbled from the hallway.

"Uh oh. I guess it's gotten out." Neville said to himself.

"What's gotten out?" The Professor said slowly as he grit his yellowed teeth.

Neville looked over at him, quite happy that it wasn't something he needed to deal with. A professor was here to save the day – this time, or again. Whichever it was.

"The huge dog thing. The troll was fighting it first, but then it caught Hermione." He said honestly.

The Professor's face darkened and if Neville didn't know better the man probably wanted to cuss up a storm the way his Uncle would when he got that same look on his face.

The massive dog roared triumphant.

"Look after the girl!" Snape spat as he rounded the corner toward the monster canine.

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While Neville was facing the fight of life on the third floor, the professors in the Main Hall were preparing to take their students to safety. Due to being told that there was a troll in the dungeons the mixture of Hufflepuff and Slytherin students were being escorted back to their common rooms with added escorts. Half the school slowly made their way down the steps to the lower levels with older students at the front and back, keeping the youngest safely in the middle.

Draco was very annoyed. He only screamed because everyone else had earlier. And now the night was getting even worse.

It had seemed exciting at first, but now it was completely annoying. The horde of first year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were flanked by a group of teachers leading towards the dungeons.

At first he thought he'd get the chance to watch a troll in action, but the longer it took to reach the dungeons the slimmer his chance became. Professor Snape was part of the group sent to find it; if he did it would probably go down in less than a minute. His head of House was just that good and Draco brimmed with pride just thinking of it.

McGonagall was out there looking for it too and he had grudging respect for her abilities – his father did as well, so she must be really, really good at battling.

But no. It was a slow dour march to the bottom with the rest of his age group moaning the whole way. If only the troll would show up to gobble a few of them up. They'd quit whining.

"Oh, shut up Crabbe! You don't need to eat anymore!" He said annoyed at the whole thing.

Crabbe just grumbled in response about the deserts they were missing. Draco rolled his eyes.

"I wish we could have just stayed in the Main Hall. What if we find it?" Someone moaned.

"Good. I've never seen a troll before!"

"But it's so dangerous, Justin you won't like them. They're terrible. And they smell."

The Hufflepuffs continued to moan. Other than Crabbe and his unfinished meal, Draco was proud of the younger Slytherins. At the center, he was able to see that everyone was fingering their wands. Even if it did them no good as the spells they had been taught so far were useless in battle.

Draco smirked. If any of them were to be eaten, it would probably be one of the first year Hufflepuffs.

"What's so funny?" A serious voice asked from behind. Draco turned and came face to face with a blonde haired 'Puff. Susan Bones.

"Oh, nothing."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. The Slytherins tightened together and she rolled her eyes.

Now with back up he felt confident enough to say, "If anyone gets eaten it'll be one of you."

"Step lightly; we are almost at the bottom of the stairs!" Professor Vector called from the lead over the murmurs of the students.

Susan snorted. "As if. We are surrounded by experienced professors. What could go wrong?" She said with a flick of her head as she moved off the last step of the stairs.

Suddenly, A large mass of grey descended from higher up the main stairwell and slammed into the stone floor splattering those already at the bottom with a layer of dust and troll bits. Susan's mouth popped open and her eyes widened in shock, a few of the students began to sob.

A small shower of pulverized rock rained down on it, just missing the students and teachers. A few of them breathed a deep sigh of relief; no one had been in the open center to the side of the stairs. They had been told to keep close to the walls.

Professor Vector, drenched in troll liquid ignored her current predicament and strolled to the meaty mass in the impact zone.

She shaded her eyes and looked upward.

"It almost made it to the dungeon." She said out loud bemused.

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"Hermione!" A high pitched voice shouted; Neville looked up at the sound.

"You! What happened?" A pale faced Ron Weasley shouted to Neville quickly going to the downed girl. He held his hands over her without touching, brow wrinkled tight as he bit his lip unsure of how to help her.

Neville looked over at him in confusion. What was he doing here?

"I didn't do anything," he said. It was the only thing Neville was able to come up with.

The other boy looked around at the clear signs of a fight. Rocks strewn about, discarded firework wrapper, and last but not least the unconscious girl next to him.

"You did something to her, did she get hit by their prank fireworks? What did you do?" The red haired boy asked as he took in the scene the wrong way.

"A troll. It found us." Neville answered feeling out of breath. Harry tensed in his lap when the other boy frowned.

"They said the troll was in the dungeons, what are you on about?"

The wall rumbled as Snape spat out a spell around the corner out of sight.

"What was that?" Ron began to walk toward it.

"No! Don't go over there!" Neville wheezed desperately. "It's part way out of the room. It's dangerous!"

"What're you hiding?" The other boy said with eyes narrowed.

Neville wiped at his brow, "I didn't do anything. I swear!"

"You said that before." Ron said voice heated and angry his face flushing red. He came back over to Neville; intent on moving Hermione farther away, or to get him, Neville wasn't sure. In the end it didn't matter, Professor McGonagall arrived just as the steely face boy made it to him.

"Mr. Weasley! What the devil are you doing here?"

Neville inhaled deeply and divulged as much as possible in that same breathe. "Professor! Hermione was injured! She needs help, and Professor Snape! He's –"

"I'm sure the Head of Slytherin can take care of whatever problem he is dealing with at the moment. Students on the other hand…" She stared at the two conscious Gryffindors. Ron flinched to the side but stayed in front of the brown haired girl.

"Hermione is hurt." Ron said. She gestured him away from the girl and he stood back. The hairs on the back of Neville's neck pricked up under the stare of the other boy.

"Did you prank her?" Ron asked lowly as his hands balled into fists. The fighting from around the corner grew louder as if getting nearer.

"I highly doubt he had any intent to do that, but that remains to be seen. What are you doing in here, on the third floor corridor, when you have explicitly been told not too?" The older woman scowled as she floated Hermione up in the air to better examine her head wound.

Ron opened his mouth.

"And don't, Mr. Weasley, tell me it was an accident or that you have gotten lost. Your brothers have pulled that card one too many times."

The red head looked mutinous as he grumbled under his breath. He jabbed his chin toward Neville, who had remained silent but flinching throughout most of her words. "Talk to him, She came to find him. He was here."

His house head turned to him and he squirmed a bit under her stare as he tried to push himself into the wall. "Mr. Longbottom, is that true?"

Harry meowed and looked at him. A few clicks came through but Neville was too fatigued, his heart was beating like mad – he didn't have the staying power to process two conversations at once after what had just happened.

Neville gulped and the blood drained from his face. She made a few motions with her wand, one that was quite familiar to him and a few others that he figured must have been checking his vitals. She tutted, and asked her question again. This time he nodded weakly.

She stared at him for a second in surprise before saying, "Very well. Mr. Longbottom, return to your dorm and wait there until I come for you. You are in a bit of shock, but nothing that some rest can't cure. I'll send you to Poppy later if needed. Mr. Weasley, you and I will take Miss Granger to –"

"Minerva, if you are done wrapping things up with your miscreants who will be expelled; come over here and help me deal with Hagrid's blasted hellhound." Snape shouted angrily as he came into view. His left side was covered in frothy spit giving him the appearance of a soggy black chew toy.

"I cannot let them move about the school unescorted, Severus." She grumbled. Her eyes widened as a massive claw barely missed him.

"A-a-anything I can he-help with Minerva? The troll has been found in the basement." Quirrell said from the stairs. He flinched as the monster still fighting snarled.

Her face pinched. She looked between her students and the man hunching at the foot of the stairs."Please escort my two students to the infirmary; who knows what other monsters are gallivanting about!" Professor McGonagall said flustered. Neville would have grinned it the words hadn't held so much truth. A brief glint of annoyance flashed across her face as she stared at the other man, Neville wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not. "Go straight there Quirnius. No funny business."

"Never." The man promised in a voice much smoother than usual. He beckoned Ron over to him and using Professor McGonagall's spell began to float Hermione down the stairs. From his spot on the ground Neville watched his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher grip the other boy lightly by the shoulder and whisper something – Ron's head shot up and with a speechless face he stared right back at Neville. His mouth opened in horror.

"Wha –" Neville began to say but a colorful explosion distracted him. When he looked back, the three were gone, headed for the infirmary. Neville stomach flipped again, he wanted to throw up – he had never had so many bad feelings in such a short time span. He suspected Ron was not going to be in the happiest of moods the next time he talked to the other boy. Not if the stuttering man was having a talk with him first.

"Time to stand up Longbottom, you need to leave before things get anymore hairy."

She pulled out her wand and with a flick, slivery webs glistened in the air condensing in the form of a small crouching tabby cat. It blinked and walked over to her.

She looked at it intently and poked it with her wand that silvery cat inflated a bit, back arched in a silent angry yowl. It expanded to the size of a large dog; a little more see through with spots of condensed silver dripping down its hide. Eerie. Harry padded over to the cat and sniffed it. The ghostly cat ignored him.

Closer to waist height on Neville, the silver wild cat looked at her with its tail swishing back and forth.

"It won't last long this way, but I will know if you encounter any troubles. " She turned toward the commotion at the end of the hall, but Neville was able to hear her next words as clear as ever. "I will also know if you do not go straight to your dorm. You are in some trouble this time, Mr. Longbottom."

"Minerva, if you are done prattling to your students –" Neville had never heard his potions professor sound so panicked before. He was amazed the man was still able to sound irritated as he parried blow for blow with the three-headed dog partially out of the hall.

It was an amazing sight; his potions professor was surely an experienced fighter. His vision filled with silver and he leaned back against the wall, the ghostly cat had gotten closer.

"Severus, I am coming you crotchety man," McGonagall said as she pushed up her sleeves and charmed what was left of the railing into a thick rock cord. "One would think you would know how to deal with dark creatures," she finished. Neville blinked and Harry yowled in a tone close to amazement – the Transfiguration teacher sounded excited.

She noticed him watching and said, "Off you go lad. This fight is not one for children."

"Minerva, it's in the half-giant's best interests that you come over here immediately before I blow this creature up."

With a snort, she flicked her wand at the stone rope and it attached itself to the nearest head like a giant muzzle. The beast grunted angrily and howled.

As he followed the cat up the steps that had finished their move after the troll had stepped off them, Neville felt a little bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to see his teachers finish the fight. Harry peeked back once more and so did Neville, but the angle of the stairs that they were currently ascending blocked their view.

Now he would just have to wait and see what would happen in the aftermath.

"Maybe I should start packing," he wondered miserably to himself out loud as he and his flanking escort of felines came to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

TBC