When he woke, Neville found himself in a dark room laying atop a hard bed, scratchy blankets covered his battered body.
"You're awake." A cold voice emerged from the corner. A shadow amongst shadows stirred, lifting from the high-backed chair. The shadow caught up a bowl on the night table before resting itself on the edge of the bed.
A strong medicinal smell filled the room, cutting through the iron scent that filled Neville's broken nose. "You need to stop resisting the Carrows, Longbottom." a wash cloth cleaned the dried blood out of Neville's eye, the cut above opened again as the sting made Neville wince. The cloth stung the bruised cheek and the split lip as well.
"Why did you stop them from finishing me off...Headmaster?" An unaccustomed gloom settled onto the young man's face as he grudgingly added the title. "The Carrows have me attacked before, they attack people everyday, and you have never lifted a finger against them." A bitter edge tinged his words. Neville had never expected Snape to help him, but other students certainly should have been saved from the evil Carrows.
The Headmaster was suspiciously absent most of the time, at least the students never saw him, when the doors of the dungeon had crashed open, Snape was the last person Neville had expected to come through. With merely a word, Snape was able to collect Neville, dragging him bodily until away from prying eyes. The blood trail ended as Snape levitated the unconscious boy the rest of the way to his personal chambers.
"The Carrows had strict orders not to kill, you have proved so tiresome to the siblings that I could see the murder in their eyes. They will be tempering their actions in the future. I will see to it. A few spells could easily repair the damage to your body, but I think I will leave it as a reminder to keep your head down." Snape cupped Neville's face with his hands, studying the crooked nose. A swift motion snapped the nose back in line, causing the young man to grunt in pain.
His voice thick with blood, Neville accused, "What a scandal it would be if you showed that crippled thing you call a heart. You just don't want to use your wand. It would be proof that you still care about something. We all know the Carrows check your wand regularly to see what you're up to, hiding up in Dumbledore's office."
Snape rose from the bed, the wash cloth splashing into the bowl, "The Headmaster's Office is my providence now. Do not place your hope in a dead man, Longbottom."
"Dead because of you. Killing a man that trusted you. Letting You-Know-Who have full run of Hogwarts. Scarring the hope out of these walls."
"You go too far, your friendship with Zoe will not protect you any longer. Potter is losing this war. The Dark Lord is the future but Hogwarts will remain long after we are all gone." Loosing control, Snape bellowed, "I AM Hogwarts now. You cannot begin to comprehend what I have done to keep this school together for you ungratefull children." Reclaiming himself, he sneered in disgust "Take the bowl and return to your common room. Be assured that I will not extend myself to intervene if you cause any more trouble."
Snape made to storm out of his rooms, making it to the threshold before Neville spoke quietly, "Zoe is wrong about you. You have her completely bambozelled. I have to say its not fair that you preyed on her. She has a hard life and you used her naivety against her. It doesn't take an Occlumance to see how much she wants the approval of a father figure. If Sera dies because of her blind faith in you, I will hunt you down and kill you."
Snape swooped from the room leaving a hollow echo behind.
Gingerly, Neville got dressed, his clothes rubbing against the tended lash marks on his back and legs. The potion sloshed around the bloody wash cloth as the boy painfully climbed the many stairs back to Gryffindor, plotting his next charge against the Carrows, Snape, and ultimately Voldemort.
A/N blurgh dang writer's block. took so long.