Neville was starting to get used to forgetting the passwords.

He always did.

He'd forgotten them more times than he could count.

So he did what he thought was the smartest thing possible. He wrote every single password down on a piece of paper so he wouldn't have to spend another night locked out in the corridor.

I mean, they were changing them constantly this year. It was only for safety, but Merlin, he hated it.

Then he lost the paper.

And Sirius found it.

And used it to enter Gryffindor Tower and attack Ron in the middle of the night.

All because Neville couldn't memorize a stupid password.

He only figured it out when Sir Cadogan proudly announced that he'd let Black through because he had a sheet containing all of the week's passwords.

The moment Neville heard that, his stomach dropped straight to the floor.

Of course it had been him.

Who else could have been stupid enough to lose something that important?

Who else could have managed to put an entire House in danger because they couldn't remember a few words?

He could barely look up.

His face burned with shame as students crowded around in their dressing gowns and pajamas, whispering among themselves. Every glance in his direction felt like an accusation. Every muttered word sounded like confirmation of what he'd always suspected.

Hopeless.

Careless.

A burden.

Even Professor McGonagall seemed to immediately know who was responsible.

"...is it always gonna be you, Longbottom?"

She asked, sounding more exhausted than angry.

"...I'm afraid so, ma'am."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

Standing there in his blue button-up pajamas, shoulders hunched and head hanging low, Neville felt smaller than ever.

He couldn't even blame anyone for being angry.

Ron could have been killed.

Any of them could have.

And all because he'd lost a piece of paper.

A piece of paper.

It seemed almost impressive, in a horrible sort of way. Other people made mistakes and broke a teacup or forgot their homework. Neville somehow managed to accidentally help Britain's most wanted wizard break into a dormitory.

It felt like the sort of thing only he could do.

So he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the floor while the sleepy, annoyed students whispered around him, letting every word sink in because, honestly, he couldn't think of a single reason they were wrong.