.

It starts at the end, really.

It starts when it's all over.

Their school, their home is in ruins. Their world does not know how to recover from this; they only know that they must.

And in the midst of this ruin are two broken boys.

Well. More than two broken boys. But two broken boys destined to find each other.

One has fought. One has ended this battle covered in the blood of a serpent he destroyed. His robes are torn and his arm is broken, but his spirit is not.

He has lost much, but he is resilient.

The other has not fought. The other has reached the end of this battle by hiding away, afraid to fight against his father but too noble to fight for him. His robes are immaculate, but his spirit is wounded.

He expects arrest at best.

Neither of them expect each other.

…

The truth is, after the battle, no-one thinks to check for the Slytherins.

If it weren't for Draco, they wouldn't even know the battle was over.

But Draco's ferret Patronus comes bounding into the room and it stops in front of Theo, stands on its hind legs, and say in Draco's most proper voice, "It's over. The Dark Lord is dead."

It's freedom. But it also isn't.

And Theo looks around the common room at all those who fled but had nowhere to go, those who could not fight but could not leave, and he wonders if they will even be welcome.

The Dark Lord would've hated them for cowering. But the other side already hates them for the colours they wear.

Blaise looks at him, over the heads of all the younger students that they both would've fought to protect, had it come to that, and shrugs.

And Theo knows what he has to do.

He has to heal.

Because he can. He's been learning basic healing spells all year and he knows that making himself useful in this moment is the best thing he can do for his future.

"You've got this under control?" he asks Blaise, moving across the room to him..

Blaise sighs. "You're going to go do something stupid and noble, aren't you?"

"No," Theo says, because their definition of stupid and noble is very different.

"Let me see," Blaise says mock-thoughtfully. "Um, no. You're wrong. You definitely are going to do something stupid and noble," Blaise says. "I can't even look at you right now. It's too much to bear. Your nobility disgusts me." He sniffs, just to be extra dramatic, because it's who Blaise is. But then he sighs. "Go. We'll stay, until we know a little better what the lay of the land is going to be."

Theo gives his best friend a bittersweet grin, and leaves the common room, heading for the nearest staircase to climb.

…

The first girl he steps up to and tries to heal flinches away from him before he's even drawn his wand.

It makes something deep inside of him ache.

He wonders how they recover from this without making the same mistakes in reverse.

He wonders if he should just transfigure his robes, take away the signature green and silver.

But the thing is, a simple transfiguration can't change who he is. He's a Slytherin. That's never been in question. He wants to change the whole damn world, and if that doesn't count as ambition he doesn't know what does.

And they need to know that not all Slytherins were Death Eaters.

So instead of a transfiguration, he straightens his spine, holds his head up high, and moves toward Madam Pomfrey, asking her how he can help.

She looks him up and down. He wonders what she's seeing.

Eventually, though, she nods.

"Start there," she says. "If you stay close enough to me, people probably won't ask as many questions."

Theo nods and moves toward the person she's gestured at.

It takes him a long time to realize it's Neville Longbottom. His face is marred by a massive cut and covered in blood. His robes are tattered, and half of the black is stained with blood red, making it multicolored and terrifying. His arm is clearly broken.

He's staring at the stone floor of the Great Hall like it holds the secrets to the universe.

"Hey," Theo says softly. Neville doesn't look up.

"Can you hear me?" Neville doesn't move.

Theo bites his lip. "Look, I really want to heal your arm, but I need to know you can hear me and you're not going to freak out when I point my wand at you."

Neville blinks, and then slowly turns toward him. He tips his head, takes in the image.

"Theodore Nott," Neville says. His voice is slow, but steady.

"Theo. Only my father ever calls me Theodore, and he's a racist bastard." Theo smiles wryly.

Neville looks at him more fully then. Eventually, he nods, and Theo gets the sense that he's passed some sort of test..

"Can I heal your arm?"

"Sure," Neville says. His voice is a little less impassive, a little warmer. "Thanks."

Theo waves his wand, easily casting the basic healing spell.

Some of the rigid tension in Neville's frame fades away at the obvious release of pain. This is exactly why Theo wanted to learn to heal — he loves the tangible evidence of improvement. He loves knowing he did that, he helped.

"I'm going to make sure that cut on your face is doing all right, too. Anything else I should know about?"

Neville shrugs. "Nothing that won't heal on its own."

Theo leans forward, carefully looking at the wound on Neville's face. "Tergeo," he says, clearing off the blood so that he can get a look at it. It starts bleeding again as soon as he clears the clotted blood out of the wound.

He swears.

"That's a cursed wound," he says bitterly. "I can close it up, but it's going to scar like a bitch."

Neville shrugs. "That's fine."

"Shame, though, to have a mark on a pretty face like that," Theo says without thinking. Clearly he's been spending too much time around Blaise. He knows his eyes widen.

"I… Sorry," he stammers. "I just…" He knows his cheeks are flushing cherry blossom pink — he can feel the heat.

But Neville is smiling, actually smiling for the first time in this conversation.

"I don't think of it as a bad thing," Neville says. His voice is soft, without any of the remaining apathy. "But thank you. You're nearly as awkward as I am."

Theo laughs at that, and Neville grins sheepishly. "Yeah, okay. No one is as awkward as I am. But that was not smooth."

Theo twists one side of his mouth into a half smile. "Not the best I've ever done, no."

"Luckily for you, though, I need a reason to smile, so it might just work anyway."

Theo feels his smile grow into a full one. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Neville agrees. "Stop this blood dripping down my face and maybe I'll think about dinner."

"See," Theo says as he braces himself to cast a series of spells to heal the cut. "Now that was smooth."

World Cup: NevilleTheo for Belgium

Writing Month: 1202

Seasonal: Days of the Year: Smile Power Day: Write about cheering somebody up. / Summer Prompts: Word: heat / Colour Prompts: cherry blossom / Shay's Musical Challenge: Les Mis - alt, write about students fighting a war / Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Neville / Star Chart: Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation - (trait) Seductive

Character Appreciation: 21. (House) Gryffindor (bonus for Nev) / Disney Challenge:C11: Dopey - Write about someone being cheeky. (come on, he was the one that came back for the second kiss, lbr) / Book Club: 5. Tik Tok: (occupation) Healer; (trait) selfless; (word) protect / Showtime: 36. Hurricane - (emotion) Indifference / Count Your Buttons: C1: Theo, W5: freedom / Lyric Alley: 24. And you turn back to me, smiling, and I'm Helpless! / Ami's Audio Admirations: 12. Comedy — Write about someone who is funny (or thinks they are!) / Sophie's Shelf: 68. Prompt: (restriction) Only one female character / Emy's Emporium: I2: (setting) Hogwarts, S3: (Trait) cheeky, G1: Write about something pure. / Angel's Arcade: Axel:(trait) loyal; (plot point) arguing with your best friend; (character) Blaise Zabini / Lo's Lowdown: Enjolras: colour: blood red / Bex's Biscuit Barrel:Rich Tea: [word] Wrong; [Character] Theodore Nott; [Emotion] Disgust; [Dialogue] "I can't even look at you right now."

Pinata: Hogwarts

Funfair: North: Ice Cream: Lemon Custard and Banana Cream Pie (Neville/Theo) South: "Let me see" for bumper cars East: Location: the great Hall for ferris wheel 16

Hamilton Mania: Act 1, 19: Changing careers - (character) Neville Longbottom; 26. climb

Canada Day: (band) The Trews - "It's too much to bear."

Insane House: character: Neville