Neville usually only made it ten minutes - twenty at the most - in the Hufflepuff dormitories before he got up and padded up to Gryffindor tower, where he spent the rest of the night. Tonight, however, he was surprised when he woke up to find that he'd been asleep for a little over an hour. He was improving.
He got up, pulled his school robe on over his pyjamas, and began to leave. He stopped suddenly when he saw that he was not the only one on their way out. Someone else was picking their way through the common room. Interested, Neville followed. He felt his wand dig into the soft flesh of his wrist, and he was comforted by its presence. He kept it there, just in case whoever it was did not have good intentions.
He followed the figure, at a distance, all the way to the Great Hall. He waited a moment before sticking his head around the door. He breathed a sigh of relief. The figure was drawing a design in the air with his wand, and the light illuminated his face. It was Dean. Neville felt a little silly for having followed his friend all the way down here, but since they were both here, he thought he might find out what was up.
"Dean?" he called softly from the doorway, not wanting to startle him.