Ch. 162

"Of course you were!" Frank told him in a tone that brooked no argument. "Why else would you be going along with the Potter boy? All this time you've been telling me the wizarding world's gone mad when it's you who's gone mad! They are right, that Potter boy is a menace!"

"Harry isn't a menace, Dad-"

Frank spun around, glaring at his son. "He's gone dark! He's bloody married to a dark witch, and the worst of them all! I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to get you to practice the dark arts, either!"

"No, Dad, listen to me," Neville argued, standing his ground. "Harry's not evil, and Bella's not who she was years ago. Can't you see? People change-"

"Damn right they do," Frank agreed. " You changed, Neville. If I were you, I'd have killed her the first time I saw her!"

"Frank!" Alice cried in shock.

"Dammit, Dad, listen to me! I've had my differences with Bella, but you know what? Despite what she did to you, despite everything else she's done in the past… it's just that. The past. She was sick, Dad, very sick, for a long time-"

"Sick in the head is more like it-"

"Yes, Dad. Maybe Harry explained it to you, but Bella wasn't herself, really herself when she did all those things. But ever since… ever since Harry was thrown into Azkaban, she's been there for him, she's helped us out a lot. In fact, I don't think we could've won without her. She's been trying to come to terms with what she's done and atone for it all this time, Mom, Dad."

" She is trying to come to terms with what she's done?" Alice howled, "What about us ! We're the victims! She took fifteen years with our son away from us, and nothing can ever bring them back! You're telling us to just forgive and forget?"

"No," Neville shook his head. "Not to forget. I don't think any of us can ever forget. But if you keep being so angry all the time, if you keep up hating her… it's - it's not good for you. I wanted to hate her for so long, you know, for what she did to you, but you know what? When it came down to it, when I had my wand pointed at her and she was ready to die? I couldn't do it. She's done so much to make up for the past, and there's so much more she could do. She wasn't herself when she did those terrible things, but she's herself now, and the worst punishment, something she doesn't deserve, is to live with the guilt and hate of her past. No one deserves that."

His parents stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. "You… you… you're not our son!" Frank yelled, rearing back to slap Neville again, only to find the boy's arm blocking his swing.

"I love you, Mom, Dad. I really do. But I can't hate Bella. I can't hate her, because it's not going to do anyone any good."

"It'd sure make me feel good to wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze," Frank muttered

angrily.

"Mom, Dad, can't you see? If you just keep on hating and hating forever, you'll end up just like the people we just fought against. They hate for hate's sake. I can't do that, I don't want to do that."

"We don't hate her for hate's sake, son," Alice told him quietly, "we hate her because of what she is."

"You hate her because of what she was," Neville corrected. "You haven't even given her a chance!"

"Why should we?" Frank shot back.

"Because she cured you. She brought you back to me. She healed you, developed and brewed the potion that restored both your sanity."

"And that makes it all right? The hell it does!"

"She makes Harry happy," Neville added.

"What?" His father looked at him, staring in disbelief, unable to believe what his son had just told him. "She… makes… Potter… happy?" he echoed.

"Yes. Harry's never been happy before in all the time I've known him. With all the crap he's gone through so far, he deserves to be happy," Neville explained.

"Potter? I don't give a damn about Potter's happiness! The damn kid corrupted my son!" Frank shouted.

Neville's eyes narrowed. That was the exact same attitude that had landed Harry in the mess that was his life to begin with. People just saw the Boy-Who-Lived and what he could do for them, and damn the cost to Harry. He'd been used, abused, and tossed aside when convenient by the wizarding world. "You should," Neville said quietly. "You should care about his happiness, and you know why? Because he's my friend. He's my family. And it's thinking like yours that made him into who he is today, because people didn't care about him, just what he could do for them."

"Neville-"

"No, Dad. Please, don't make me choose between you and Harry." Neville turned around and walked off.