Neville refused to leave the hospital wing, even though Professor Snape tried to order him.
"I'm not leaving until Madam Pomfrey comes back," Neville said stubbornly.
"Fine," Professor Snape snapped. He turned, and Neville watched him leave.
Neville sank down on one of the empty hospital beds. He let out a deep breath. Neville wasn't quite sure how long he stayed there. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, and stood up instantly when he saw that it was the mediwitch.
He knew it wasn't good news when he saw her face. "It takes time for the blood to be prepared," Madam Pomfrey started. "They're hoping to have the blood ready by Monday morning. If she can hang on until then..." The statement was left hanging in the air.
Neville closed his eyes. "Can I please go see her?" he asked quietly.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "They're keeping her in a very controlled environment, Longbottom. They won't even let her father see her. It's the only chance she has to survive," she said sadly.
Neville's shoulders slumped, realizing there was literally nothing he could do except wait.
Somehow the day passed, as well as Sunday. Both days he wrote Luna page after page. He even decided to send them to St. Mungos. He knew she wouldn't read them until her treatment was over, but at least she would know that he was thinking of her.
Monday was torture. Luckily by then, Neville realized that no news was good news. Her blood should be starting to drain he told himself during breakfast. He wondered how long that process took. He told himself to ask Luna about the details of her treatments.
After class, he walked over to Professor Snape's office. They had a scheduled work session that afternoon. Neville realized the moment that he walked into the office that Professor Snape was in quite a fowl mood.
"What?" Professor Snape barked, not looking up from his desk
"Professor?" Neville asked timidly.
"Are we meeting today, Longbottom?" the professor asked.
Not wanting to risk speaking, Neville simply nodded his head.
Professor Snape stood up from his desk and walked over to a workstation. Silently, Neville put on this gloves and an apron.
Suddenly, there was a crash. Neville turned quickly and saw a figure getting up from the fireplace. He recognized her as the metamorph that Draco Malfoy tried to put the Imperius Curse on.
"Severus!" she exclaimed. She stopped when she saw Neville. "I've come at a bad time."
"It'll be just a moment, Longbottom," Professor Snape said. He walked towards her and they went into his office.
Briefly Neville wondered what they were discussing. Were they working on plans from Professor Dumbledore?
Just a few minutes later they emerged from his office. Neville noticed that her hair was a different color from what it was before. Now it was more of a strawberry blonde when before it was a light blue. Quickly, she took a handful of floo powder and flooed away.
Professor Snape walked back to the table. He started to take a vial of blood nut then put it down. "Longbottom," he sighed, "I'm sorry, but I can't work today. Why don't we meet Thursday?"
Neville tried not to look disappointed. Now that Luna was in St. Mungos, he was more determined than ever to find a cure for her. "Fine," Neville said.
Neville walked slowly back to the Gryffindor Common Room. All he wanted was to lay down and go to sleep. He knew that was the worst thing he could do, he had a great amount of homework to get through.
He dragged his book bag into his bed, figuring he should do a little work tonight. Glancing over at his nightstand, Neville let out a loud groan.
"Trevor!" Neville muttered under his breath. Trevor was missing from the small cage that he was normally in. He checked all the usual places, under his bed, in the wardrobe, with no luck.
Shaking his head, Neville walked into the common room. Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting by the fire. "Hi Neville," Hermione said.
"Have you seen Trevor?" Neville asked desperately. They all shook their heads.
Hermione jumped out of her chair. "I'll help you look," she said, giving him a smile. Harry and Ron got up as well. For several minutes, the group looked in silence. Trevor was nowhere to be found.
He was quite old for a toad. Neville had had him since he was nine years old. His Great Uncle Algie gave him to Neville for a birthday present. Trevor would disappear for long periods of time when he first got him. His grandmother, trying to be kind, told Neville that Trevor was taking mini-breaks, that he was going to see the world. Hopefully this time, Trevor wasn't visiting the Forbidden Forrest. Neville didn't like Trevor's chances there.
Instead of going to bed, Neville sat down with the group and took out his schoolwork. For several hours, they worked on their schoolwork.
Close to midnight, Neville's head started pounding. There was a sharp pain in his forehead that he had never felt before. He brought his hand up to his forehead, trying to ease the pain. Neville was startled to see Harry do the exact same thing at the exact same time.
The two boys looked at each other like they never saw the other before. "Are you okay Neville?" Hermione asked worriedly, at the same time Ron asked, "Harry, is your scar hurting?"
"Something's happening," Neville said timidly. Harry nodded in agreement, his eyes not leaving Neville's face. Neville had no idea how he knew, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that somewhere Death Eaters were attacking.
"There's been another attack," Harry added. "Neville...should we practice Legilimency?"
Neville looked around. The common room was still full of students working on their homework. "We can't here," Neville said. "We'd have to go somewhere."
"Room of Requirements," Hermione said instantly.
"How would we all get there?" Ron asked. "The three of us can't fit underneath the cloak anymore. How would we fit Neville?"
"That's only because you're too tall, Ron," Hermione said in a hushed voice. "Look, I'll go with Harry and Neville," she started but Ron cut her off.
"I need to be there with them," he said heatedly.
Hermione squeezed Ron's hand. "You didn't let me finish. I'll walk with them, and then come back for you. It's best if I go by myself, I won't get in trouble if I'm found."
Neville was lost. He had no idea what they were talking about. "How would we get there?" he asked.
Harry grinned. "You can't tell anyone, Neville. I have an invisibility cloak," he said.
"Really?" Neville asked excitedly. "That's so cool."
"So what I was saying," Hermione said.
"Well, why do you and Ron have to be under the cloak?" Neville asked. "You're Prefects. You won't get in trouble being out this late. Only Harry and I need to be under the cloak."
Ron and Hermione shared a look. "You're right," Ron said, slapping his forehead. "I can't believe I forgot that."
"I'll get the cloak," Harry said. A moment later he ran down the stairs, holding a silvery piece of fabric. "Let's go."
Harry threw the cloak over both of them. It was a strange sensation. Neville knew that there was a cloak over his eyes, but he could still see everything around him.
"It takes a few minutes to get used to this," Harry whispered.
Ten minutes later, Hermione walked back and forth in front of the painting. The door opened, and the group went inside. By then, the sharp pain in Neville's forehead had subsided. Harry was still rubbing his forehead though.
"Don't try to block me," Harry told Neville. Neville handed his wand to Hermione.
He opened his mind and could feel Harry start to explore. Memories started rushing forth, but nothing that was out of the ordinary. They shared their minds for close to fifteen minutes. Finally Neville broke the connection. By then, he was sweating and panting for breath.
Neville looked over at Harry, who wasn't looking much better. "Nothing," Harry said frustratedly, throwing his wand at the wall. "Why couldn't we see anything?"
Hermione went to pick up Harry's wand. "The first couple of times you saw something together, you weren't looking for anything specific, correct?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "Maybe these visions don't want you looking for them. Maybe they have to be willing to find you," Hermione said gently.
"That's ridiculous," Ron scoffed. "How could a vision decide if it wants to be found?"
"You'd be surprised, Ron," Hermione said. "Ever since our battle at the Ministry, I've read everything I could about prophecies and visions."
"Which means you now know everything about them," Ron grumbled. Hermione smacked him on the shoulder. "Sorry, love."
"It's late," Hermione said seriously. "I don't want you both hurting yourselves."
Harry sighed, and threw the cloak back over him and Neville. Together the group walked slowly back to the common room, hoping that the headline of the Daily Prophet wouldn't be too horrible.
Neville, Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at the Daily Prophet in horror the next morning.
Attack at the Ministry!
Late last night, Death Eaters attacked the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry was not prepared for such an attack. Luckily, there were no fatalities from the Aurors. However, several Death Eaters were hurt and are currently being treated in St. Mungos. The ward that the Death Eaters are in is very protected. They will be treated and then sent to Azkaban.
"Luna's in St. Mungos," Neville whispered. "She's in the same building with Death Eaters..."
Hermione have him a sympathetic look. "I'm sure she's fine. I doubt that the Death Eaters there are in any condition to fight."
"When will she be back?" Ron asked.
"As long as everything went okay, hopefully tonight," Neville said sadly. He missed her so much that it hurt. He still hadn't heard anything.
Somehow the morning passed. Neville got a shock when he walked into Potions. There was a wizard that he had never seen before standing at the front the room. Everyone started sharing looks.
"I'm Professor Parkinson," the man told the class. Immediately every student turned to face Pansy Parkinson, who seemed to be sinking lower and lower in her chair. "Professor Snape will most likely be out for a few weeks. I will be your teacher during that time."
It was one of the most enjoyable potions classes Neville could remember. Without Professor Snape breathing on his neck, Neville found himself relaxing and making a potion that he was very proud of.
When class was over, Harry motioned him over. "We're going to talk in the Room of Requirements," he whispered to Neville.
Neville nodded and followed the group. Ginny was waiting for them there. They let themselves in.
"That's an interesting coincidence, isn't?" Ron smirked.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Snape wasn't in potions today. He's out for a few weeks," Harry answered.
Ginny's mouth dropped. "No way," she whispered. "Do you think he got hurt last night?"
"That's the only thing that it could have been," Hermione said. "The question is what side was he fighting for?"
"He had to have been fighting on our side," Harry said. "Can you imagine the headlines if he had been caught as a Death Eater?"
"That's true," Hermione said thoughtfully. "But I don't know. He can't fight out in the open, he'd give himself up as a spy."
"Oh yeah," Harry said. "That."
"At least no members of the Order were hurt," Hermione said.
"But isn't Snape in the Order?" Neville asked. He was trying hard to follow the conversation. "He had to be hurt."
"Snape's in the Order, all right," Harry said darkly.
The group kept talking about the Battle at the Ministry. Finally, when all of their stomachs were grumbling, they decided to go down and have some dinner.
As he entered the Great Hall, he saw the best thing he could have seen. Sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table, eating a pile of vegetables and looking unconcerned about all around her, was Luna.
A/N – Yeah! I updated! The move is done. Phew. I hate moving. I still have work to do, so it might still be a while before I update at the pace you all are used to. I'm doing my best! :) Thanks for reading!
