Change

Summary: Neville Longbottom has always been invisible, constantly ignored and overlooked. But in his 7th year at Hogwarts he is determined to make that change. Neville is in for a confusing and eye opening final year at Hogwarts as he discovers things about himself and those around him that he never knew. Neville/Blaise and minor Harry/Draco. Slight Ron/Hermione/Dumbledore bashing.

Chapter 1: From top to bottom

Neville Longbottom had perfected one thing in his life, being invisible; the ability to be completely unnoticeable. He was so good that half the time people didn't realise he was next to them until he purposefully drew attention to himself and scared the living daylights out of them. Generally he didn't mind being unnoticed, he immersed himself in Herbology or something similar that didn't involve others. Sometime though, it hurt. Like someone had simultaneously punched him in the stomach as they dug a knife into his chest. He hated the feeling and when it came there was no way of getting rid of it, he is forced to wait it out. He would be sitting in the common room or a class and it would suddenly come upon him and he would be forced to stare at his hands, tears prickling in the corner of his eyes, until it passed and he could breathe again. He figured it was just his body's way of reminding him that he was alone. In case he forgot. Like he ever could.

Neville never set out to be invisible it just happened that way. As a baby he was sent to live with his grandmother, a loving but stern woman, after the incapacitation of his parents. But there were very few children in the area and any cousins were either older or lived too far away. So Neville learnt to play on his own. Sometimes his grandmother would join him but mostly she was too old, too tired. She had already raised three sons and a daughter. She had lost a brother and husband to the war against Grindlewald. She had lost a son and a daughter-in-law to the war against Lord Voldermort. She had lost a sister and daughter to an incurable magical defect. And now she was, after all this, given a baby boy to raise. A baby boy she would have to take to the hospital to visit his comatose parents. A baby boy she would have to explain why his parents wouldn't wake up to. Sometimes she was just too tired. So Neville, though not unloved, had a fairly quiet and solitary childhood.

When he was finally on his was to Hogwarts he was so excited; so many other children to meet, so many potential friends. He was so nervous he accidentally lost Trevor the toad. Then he was sorted into Gryffindor, his father's old house, and he was so happy that he spent the rest of the night with his head up in the clouds. This was his chance to live up to all the great stories he had heard about his father's school days. But at the same time he was not use to so many children, all yelling and laughing and teasing and bullying each other. He was at the rowdiest table in the hall and he didn't know what to do. So he reverted back to the manners his grandmother had instilled in him for formal occasions. But his quiet voice was lost in the roar and the manners which stopped him from interrupting people meant he never got to speak. So when he did finally get a chance and all those expectant faces turned towards him he became so nervous he turned red and stuttered. Then bit by bit Neville found himself being pushed from conversations. His year level split into friendship groups and he realised he wasn't part of any of them. The Gryffindors became the Golden Trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the two pair of Dean and Seamus, who balanced each other perfectly, and Lavender and Pavati, who were more interested in gossip and fashion than school work. Neville did not fit anywhere. He had missed his chance to make a good first impression and had faded into obscurity.

His complete lack of confidence and ability in most of his classes, particularly potions, only made matters worse. Professors became frustrated and gave up, expecting the bare minimum and sometimes not even that from him. Success at anything was seen as either a fluke or a small miracle. He was overshadowed by his classmates and delegated to the back of the room, quickly forgotten.

Thankfully, time was partially kind to Neville. His grades, through hard studying, picked up until he was mediocre and could thus be forgotten by the professors. He became any other student in the room, receiving no special attention from the professors, except for Herbology in which he excelled. The close groupings in the house also dispersed slightly due to fighting and inter-group dating. Neville became another regular friend who they sat with at meals, in classes or in the common room; another one of the Gryffindor group when it came to Hogsmede trips. The occasional pain became even less frequent, only hitting him during the holidays. Because as well as he and his fellow classmates got on it was a school based friendship and nothing more. He did not write to them and they did not write to him unless it was necessary such as for a birthday or details on a holiday assignment. There were no questions, when school started again, about why he hadn't been in touch; instead it just picked up where it left off as those the holidays were no more than a weekend. Similarly they did not get together, did not stay over each others houses or come over for meals. The only time he would see them was if he ran into them on Diagon alley when they were all buying school supplies.

This was the pattern for years and Neville didn't mind, he was quite content, he had friends when he was at school and peace and quite when he was home. The only thing that ever irritated him was that in people's minds he was always the same blushing, stuttering, chubby first year. So when something changed people didn't seem to notice. Maybe that's why he decided to do it; he was determined to change what people saw, to make them finally notice him.

It was the summer before 7th year and Neville had been working for the local gardening nursery. He had been working there every holiday since he had first struck upon his Herbology skills, it kept him busy and paid quite well. He had just over a week before he had to return to Hogwarts so it was time to hand in his gloves and put his plan into action. He had saved the money he had earned there, with the exception of a small amount which went to Hogsmede weekends, and was determined to spend it. On the one thing he had never bothered with before, his looks. He felt ridiculously vain just thinking about it but looking down at his worn jeans and dirty sneakers he realised it may be time to change. And if his plan was to get people to notice him it seemed like a god place to start. He decided to work systematically starting from the top and working his way down.

'The bowl cut has to go,' the hairdresser decided 'the colour is good but the cut is definitely a no.' Neville's hair had never really left its bowl like shape, just gotten longer. It was, however, a nice colour, a medium brown with natural light brown, almost blond, streaks that came as a result of working outdoors. An hour or so later Neville's hair fell to the top of his ears and almost into his eyes in a ruffled spiky look, like he had just woken up or come from the beach. He liked it.

Next step was the clothes. It took the help of three floor staff and the occasional random customer who felt like joining in to get Neville a complete set of new clothes. He now had t-shirts, button downs, short sleeve, long sleeve, jeans, shorts, dress pants, jumpers, jackets and other random items that didn't look as though they had been picked out by his grandmother. He had to wince at how much he was spending but quickly got over it, it was his money and this is what he wanted. He moved on to shoes. A few pairs of sneakers, dress shoes, casual shoes and chucks later Neville was ready to collapse. Bags upon bags upon bags surrounded him and he felt like his arms and legs were trying to tear themselves from his body. He was more than ready to go home, mission accomplished. Gathering his bags he felt like he was living a bad 90s shopping montage. He was almost at the tube station when he paused at a shop. Judging by the moving photos in the window it was a magical store, not surprising since he was on the border of where the magical community started in the city. Pushing his way in Neville realised it was a tattoo and piercing parlour. A small grin found its way onto his face.

'Can I help you?' the guy standing behind the counter asked, sizing Neville up. The guy was slightly taller than him and maybe 20 years older. He had a series of piercing up and down his ears and a few tattoos peaked out from the edges of his shirt sleeves and collar. Neville felt a nervous blush start up but quickly quashed it and squared his shoulders.

'Yeah, you do piercing right?' he asked meeting the guys eyes. The man cracked a grin.

'That we do. Thinking of anything in particular?' the man asked. Neville paused frowning.

'I don't know,' with a sheepish look he said 'lots?' The man nodded slowly.

'Do you know what a muggle is?' he asked. Neville looked confused.

'As in a non-magical person?' he responded.

'Just checking, sometimes the wards slip and a muggle gets in. Can be a right mess cause we use healing charms and the like here not to mention specialised tattoos that move or change colour. So where were you thinking?' the man said leading Neville over to a chair.

'Not anywhere…uh' he trailed of with a slight blush.

'Ok,' the man laughed 'so face? Hmm, Ears? Lip? Nose? Tongue? Eyebrow? Cheeks? You are over 17 right?' he asked handing Neville a form

'Oh yeah.' he said. It was a waiver, I am legal, I consent, the parlour is not responsible for adverse reaction blah blah. Neville signed and it disappeared with a small pop.

'Right then…' the man trailed off, lifting an eyebrow.

'Neville. Neville Longbottom' he supplied.

'Right then Neville, my names Russ. Made a decision yet?' Neville bit his lip and nodded slowly.

'Um ears, a few,' he made a vague gesture towards Russ' ears to signal what he was talking about 'and ah, maybe eyebrow and um tongue' he finished with an unsure look. Russ gave him a reassuring smile.

'Relax kiddo, everything's spelled, the piercing gun makes a noise but you shouldn't feel a thing, same with the normal needles.' While he explained what was going to happen and what Neville would need to do to look after them he cleaned and marked all the places with a pen to make sure they were lined up.

'Ok, so there are two in each ear lobe, I'll use the gun for that and one in the right upper ear, I have to use a needle for that, that ok?' he asked and Neville nodded 'and then the left eyebrow and I'll do your tongue last, I have to use a needle for those two. They're all stainless steel balls, less chance of a bad reaction. You still with me kiddo?' Neville took a deep breathe and gave Russ a weak smile. Russ nodded and set up what he needed. True to his word Neville didn't feel any pain when Russ used the piercing gun on his ear lobes, a slight pressure and a loud noise but nothing else and after the healing charm his ears didn't feel that different. The only terrifying part was seeing the needles that were going to be used on his upper ear, eyebrow and tongue. When Russ stepped back after piercing his upper ear Neville let out the breath he didn't realise he had been holding. This got a small chuckle from Russ and Neville felt the blood once again rush up to his cheeks. He kept his eyes closed for the next two simply following Russ' instructions on when to relax his face or stick out his tongue. Shortly after he felt a pat on his shoulder and realised that it was all over. Russ was grinning down at him with an amused look on his face.

'All done kiddo' Neville scrunched up his nose, he couldn't feel the one's in his ear very well but his eyebrow felt weird and he could feel the ball in his mouth.

'Thanks' he frowned, talking felt weird and if he pushed his tongue forwards far enough he could feel it clink against the back of his teeth.

'You'll get use to it; just remember to look after them and owl the shop if anything goes wrong.' Neville smiled and after paying and hefting all his bags once more headed off to the tube station. A minute later a grin spread across his face. His grandmother was going to freak.