CHAPTER 23: FAMILY

Dumbledore knew the castle very well and could somehow sense that the blood curling screams were coming from the hospital wing. As he ran, McGonagall, Snape, Frank and Alice all rushed after him, frightened for the students and themselves, as well as determined to fight whatever or whomever they came across.

Unbeknownst to them, Harry, Hermione and Ron had followed them the whole way, keeping far enough behind to remain undetected. Hermione was insisting that they go back to the common room, although the two boys knew that it was more out of habit and respect for the rules than anything else. She was dying to know what was going on, just like Ron and Harry were.

"You don't think it's an attack, do you?" McGonagall asked Dumbledore quickly.

"I don't know," Dumbledore said honestly, "but I don't believe it is. I think it might just be a student in an excruciating amount of pain, as it is coming from the hospital wing."

"It's not Potter, is it?"

"No, I doubt he would ever go to the hospital wing willingly," Dumbledore said fondly, not realizing that there was a different Potter in pain, one that also despised hospitals. "Plus, the yell has too much of a feminine quality to it."

"Of course," McGonagall said, realizing her worry for Harry had overshadowed some of her rational thinking abilities.

"Do you worry about all your students this much Minerva, or is it just Potter?" Snape sneered.

"I care about the safety of all my students, Severus, as should you."

"Enough," Dumbledore said, interrupting Snape and ending the bickering.

The rest of the trip was made in silence and they finally came upon the hospital wing, bursting through the doors to a surprising sight.

"Well Hermione, all your hard work for nothing," Ron whispered good-naturedly, the trio still quite a bit behind the professors. "Harry's officially the teacher's pet."

"I am not," Harry said defensively.

"The first person McGonagall thought about was you," Ron pointed out.

"That's only because I'm usually the one screaming."

"He does have a point," Hermione said.

"Thank you," Harry said with a smile.

"He's the one that always does the stupid things that get him hurt. He really doesn't have much common sense," Hermione said, causing the smile to disappear and Ron to laugh.

"Hey!" Harry said with a scowl. He paused before adding, "You're just upset because you're not the teacher's pet."

Ron laughed harder while Hermione hit Harry's arm playfully and then smacked Ron upside his head to get him to shut up. "They'll hear us," Hermione she hissed.

"Who are you?" Snape growled at the older looking man wearing glasses. The elderly man looked to be hovering over, amazingly enough, the young blonde ministry employee, with Madame Pomfrey's wand pointing in his direction.

"Is everything all right?" Dumbledore asked, sensing no immediate danger as the man whipped around to look at the five adults that had barged in on the eerie silence of the room.

Madame Pomfrey nodded her head slowly, still trying to understand what happened.

Giles looked at the five wizards and witches and noticed that two of them looked awfully familiar.

Frank and Alice gasped at the sight of the elderly man and young woman that had saved their lives.

That's when it clicked that the two familiar people were the people he had left in St. Mungo's a few hours ago. 'Oh dear lord,' Giles thought with a sigh. This had the potential to be very revealing, and Buffy had made it clear she didn't want that to happen yet.

Assuming they actually believed her crazy story, what if they followed her in order to find Sirius? Buffy was very adamant that Sirius could not be sent back to Azkaban or killed by some crazy self-righteous people. And Giles would not let his Slayer down.

He stared back at the Longbottoms as they recognized his face and pleaded with his eyes not to say anything.

"Is something wrong?" McGonagall asked, turning to the Longbottoms. "Do you know him?"

It was the moment of truth. Giles silently prayed that they wouldn't say anything, while he averted his eyes from them to give up the appearance of familiarity.

"No," Frank said after a, thankfully, short pause. "At least, I don't think so. We really haven't met anyone in the time since we've been awake."

"It's just, she looks awful. Is she going to be okay?" Alice asked, putting her hand up to her mouth. Had she saved them only to end up like that herself? She couldn't live with herself if that had happened.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked, turning back to Madame Pomfrey.

"I've never seen anything like it before in my life," the medi-witch said. "He came in here carrying her, saying she was attacked by a dog. I treated her wounds, but she wasn't responding to the fever-reducing potion. I went back into my office to put together something else and then she started screaming.

"I came back out here and saw she seemed to be struggling with something and then this, this thing started coming out of her mouth," Madame Pomfrey finished, pointing at the trapped dark cloud.

"That thing was inside of her?" McGonagall asked, surprised and frightened.

"It sure seemed that way."

'Dumbledore walked over to the floating ball and lifted his hand up to pluck it out of the air. "It's warm," he said. He held it up higher and looked inside it and the writhing black mass. "It looks to be a magical parasite," Dumbledore said upon analysis. "If I'm not mistaken, I think it's dying; it doesn't have a host to feed off of."

"How did it get into her?" McGonagall asked.

Dumbledore turned to Giles and lifted an eyebrow in question.

"I think we should start by answering my original question," Snape said at Giles' silence. "Who are you?"

"I'm her father," Giles said on a sudden impulse.

"A name would be nice," Snape drawled.

"Ethan Rayne," Giles said immediately, surprised at how that was the first thing out of his mouth.

"Indeed?" Snape said. "And here I was thinking that Ms Fox wasn't married."

"She's not," Giles said. "I'm her stepfather. Her dad died when she was younger, or might as well have," he added bitterly.

"Did you see what happened to her?" Dumbledore asked, trying to get back on track.

"No," Giles lied easily; perhaps his misspent youth wasn't entirely misspent. "She came over for supper and I had run out of milk, so I ran to the store to get some. When I came back, she was lying on the floor unconscious. She didn't look so well and she kept shaking, so I took her here."

"And how did you get here?"

"A portkey, is it?" Giles asked unsure.

"Are you a muggle?" Snape asked incredulously.

"Yes," Giles said, standing up a little straighter. "Is that a problem?"

"Forgive my colleague, he's just surprised you could get here by portkey if your daughter was unconscious."

"She had an emergency portkey made for me when she first took this job; in case I ever needed anything. Since her mom has died she's overly worried about me."

"How'd she die?" Alice asked despite herself.

"Brain tumour. There wasn't anything anyone could do about it. It was completely unexpected."

"I'm sorry," Dumbledore said seriously.

Giles just nodded thankfully. "It was years ago, but she's still having trouble with it. She was the one who found her."

"That's awful," McGonagall said, looking at the girl in a new light.

"Yes, it nearly broke her but she managed to pull through. She always does," Giles said quietly, looking at her fondly.

"It seems she has a very strong will indeed if she forced this out of her," Dumbledore said, holding up the ball again. "I'm not sure how it found its way to her, as curses of this magnitude are seldom used, but she managed to do what most wizards encountering these curses do not.

"I think with some rest she should be fine," Dumbledore finished, ushering everyone out of the room before Madame Pomfrey did it first. "You may stay at Hogwarts as long as you like," he offered before leaving.

"Thank you," Giles said as he resumed his place beside his 'daughter'.

"What are you going to do with that?" McGonagall asked as they left, referring to the trapped parasite thing.

"I'll keep it in my office until it dies, which shouldn't be long," Dumbledore answered. He turned to Frank and Alice. "I'm sorry we've kept you so long, I'm sure you're dying to see your son."

Frank and Alice smiled and excitedly followed Professor McGonagall.

"What do you make of that?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione. They had listened to the conversation with the help of Fred and George's Extendable Ears, as they had to stay far enough away to escape notice.

"I think we can talk about it later," Hermione said. "They're headed back to Gryffindor Tower and they're going to know something's wrong when we're not in bed. It's already way past curfew."

"One thing's for sure," Harry said as they ran back to their rooms, "There's a lot more to Professor Fox than we first thought."

"What do you make of this, Severus?" Dumbledore asked after McGonagall, Frank and Alice had left.

"He's lying."

"I'm not so sure," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"There's definitely more going on than what he said," Snape insisted.

"That I agree with. And how did she come upon this curse?" Dumbledore asked, looking once more at the ball.

"I think there's more to Professor Fox than she lets on," Snape said, echoing a student's sentiments. "She's hiding something."

"But what?" Dumbledore asked. "And why?"

"Do you think she's a threat?" Snape asked, remembering Crouch and Quirrel from years past.

"I'm not sure," Dumbledore said. "But I think we should be cautious, especially since she's here on the Ministry's behalf."

Harry, Hermione and Ron rushed into the common room, miraculously making it ahead of the adults. Although, it wasn't that surprising considering they ran the whole way and knew all the secret passageways.

All three collapsed onto the couches in front of the fire, trying to catch their breath.

"We made it," Hermione gasped.

"Are you guys okay?" Ginny ran over to them, concerned.

"We've fine, why?" Ron asked.

"Why? Why!? Did you not hear the awful screaming?" Ginny yelled. "Everyone came down to the common room, all afraid something bad had happened, and guess who didn't show up? Just like usual, something bad happens and you three aren't around."

"Sorry, Ginny," Ron apologized sheepishly.

Harry and Hermione looked around the common room and realized that in their rush to make it back on time, they didn't notice how full the area was. Some of the students had opted to stay in their dorms, blocking the doors shut, while others had ventured out to be with their friends in the common room.

"Wow," Hermione said quietly. It seemed that in a time of apparent crisis, the Gryffindors could be counted on to stick by each other.

"So, what were you guys doing?"

"We were..." Harry started.

"At the library," Hermione finished. "I was trying to get them to finish their research for our Transfiguration essay and we lost track of time. We ran the whole way back, trying not to get caught by some teacher roaming the hallways."

"Especially Umbridge," Ron added with a grimace.

"Oh," Ginny said. She then reached up and swatted Ron on the back of the head.

"Bloody Hell! Ow!" Ron yelped.

"Don't swear, Ron," Hermione said automatically.

"What was that for?"

"For making me be all worried about you and you were off doing other things. I know you weren't at the library," she hissed before she stormed away.

The three friends just looked at each other in stunned silence. "Well, that went well, all things considered," Hermione said lightly.

"What? I got smacked and you think it went well?"

"Of course," Harry said with a smirk. "We didn't get smacked."

Ron just scowled and sank back into the couch.

Hermione was about to open her mouth when the portrait opened once more, allowing Professor McGonagall access.

Upon seeing the full common room, she stopped in shock. "What is going on? Why aren't you all in bed?"

Students rushed up to her, trying to get answers.

"What was that scream?"

"Is everyone okay?"

"Are we under attack?"

"Did someone get hurt?"

"No one's dead, are they?"

"What happened?"

"Is it over?"

"That's enough!" McGonagall said, not unkindly. "You're obviously worried, but everything is okay. Professor Fox just had an accident," she said, unsure of what she should tell them.

For the most part, students quieted down, talking amongst themselves, until one student yelled out, "Is she dead? Is she going to stay?" All the students laughed, thinking it wouldn't be awful if she didn't come back.

"I'd much rather have her than Umbridge," Fred spoke up.

"Yeah, she's hot!" George said, earning another round of laughter, and several mummers of agreement.

"Now, whenever we don't pay attention in class..." Fred continued.

"We have something interesting to look at!" George finished.

"She's fine and will be back to work on Monday. Now go to bed, all of you." As they all trooped up the stairs to their dormitories, she looked around for Neville but couldn't find him. She must have missed him in the crowd of students.

"Mr. Potter," she called out, as Harry was one of the last to file in.

"Yes?" he asked, pretending not to know what she wanted.

"Could you please send Mr. Longbottom down?"

"Sure, professor," he said and took the stairs as fast as he could with all the people still on them.

"Neville?" he asked, bursting into the room.

"What?" he called beneath his t-shirt he was trying to get over his head.

"Professor McGonagall wants to see you in the common room."

"What for?" he asked, getting nervous. "I didn't do anything, well, not that I remember."

"I'm sure you're not in trouble," Harry said, giving a quick glance at Ron to make sure he kept his mouth shut. "She probably just wants to congratulate you on standing up to Snape."

"Yeah, that was bloody brilliant what you did," Ron said, remembering the look on Snape's face.

"Well, I don't think she'd do that," Neville said with a blush. "Besides, I didn't really do anything."

"Well, go and see!" Seamus urged.

"I'd get dressed first if I were you," Harry said when Neville was about to go out in half his pyjamas.

"Right," he said sheepishly and quickly changed back into his school uniform. It'd be a little strange to talk to McGonagall in his pyjamas. What could she have to talk to him about anyway?

Neville nodded at his friends and left their bedroom.

"Professor?" he asked shakily, still having no clue what this was about. Was he going to get punished? He couldn't possibly get rewarded...

"Neville," she said with a smile. Were those tears in her eyes?

"Yes?" he asked anxiously.

"I have some great news," she said. "You might want to sit down for this."

Neville sighed with relief when he realized he couldn't be getting in trouble, as he hardly thought that was great news. Maybe Snape was getting fired?

"Neville, this may seem hard to believe, but Dumbledore, Snape and I have all looked into the matter, in a manner of speaking, and agree that this is no joke. It's real."

'Well, there goes that dream,' Neville thought when he heard that Snape had looked into whatever matter it was; he wouldn't be getting fired.

"It seems that your parents," McGonagall started.

"My parents?" Neville interrupted. "Are they okay? Is something wrong?" his heart beat rapidly in his chest. What could have happened to them? He might never have known who they really were, and they may not have ever comforted him or been there when he needed them, but it wasn't their fault. It was awkward, but they were his parents and he still loved them.

If anything else happened to them... someone was going to pay.

Eventually. Once he mustered up the courage to track them down.

"You're parents are fine. Better than fine, actually," McGonagall reassured gently. "The thing is, they weren't tortured to the point of insanity as everyone had once thought."

What?

"They've been under this spell that made it look like they weren't in control. Some people helped them out; we don't know who, but we know that somehow, someone finally caught on and undid the spell."

Neville's mind had frozen during her revelation. He had no idea what she was saying or going on about, but he got the gist of it. "They're okay?"

"Yes," McGonagall said with a smile. "They're more than okay."

'My parents are okay!' Neville thought. 'I have parents again!'

"Where are they?" he asked hoarsely. "Can I see them?"

"Of course," she said. "They're waiting for you. We thought it would lessen the shock if I told you before they appeared."

Neville stood up shakily. He was going to see his parents. And they would recognize him! They would know that he was their son.

What if they didn't like him? They hadn't known him in fourteen years; he wasn't a baby anymore. What if they thought he was a failure?

He could handle believing that his parents had once loved him and now didn't recognize him, but he couldn't handle them recognizing him and rejecting him.

Neville stopped in the middle of the common room.

"Neville?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

"I can't do this," he said quietly.

"What? Why not?" she asked amazed.

"What if they hate me? What if I'm not good enough? I mean, I'm not athletic, I can't play Quidditch, I'm not good at school, I'm entirely too clumsy and I can never remember anything. Why would they want me back?"

Professor McGonagall looked at the young man in front of her with shock written across her face. She had never realized how low this boy's self-esteem really was. He couldn't even face his parents because he was afraid they'd hate him!

"Neville, listen to me," she said, walking over to him. "You're parents love you."

"They love the baby me. They don't even know me."

"It doesn't matter," McGonagall insisted, losing her strict appearance with the insecure boy. "They love you anyway. The first thing they did was to come to Hogwarts. They didn't even tell anyone they were okay; they snuck out of St. Mungo's to tell you themselves that they were okay. They wanted you to be the first to know; they wanted to see you more than anything.

"Neville," she continued as she could see her words were making some sense to him, "Your parents might not know who exactly you are, but to a parent, that doesn't matter. They love you no matter what. Who cares if you don't play Quidditch? Miss Granger can't fly at all! And Mr. Weasely isn't that good at school, but I happen to know that you're an exceptional Herbology student. Professor Sprout has come to me numerous times with compliments on your exceptional behaviour and progression.

"You didn't get placed into Gryffindor for nothing," she continued, trying her last tactic as she could tell she was almost through. "Get up your courage and go see your parents."

Neville knew what she was saying made sense. He was just scared by the sudden realization that he'd finally get to see his parents. It wasn't anything to be taken lightly. Deep down he knew that they would love him no matter what, but there were still lingering fears. She was right, though. He was a Gryffindor for goodness sake! If he could stand up to Snape, surely he could face his parents!

Neville nodded and slowly began making his way towards the portrait hole. McGonagall nodded in satisfaction and lead the way.

She opened the door and Neville's parents came through the opening. Neville was frozen in shock, fear and awe. It was his parents! They were there, in the flesh. They looked healthier and younger.

They were okay.

"Mum? Dad?" he asked quietly.

"Neville? Oh, Neville!" Alice said, tears coming to her eyes. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around her son, hugging him closely, not noticing Professor McGonagall stepped out to give the reunited family some privacy.

"Mum!" Neville asked again, happier this time, as he wrapped his arms around her. Tears came to his own eyes, but he wasn't ashamed of them; his family was back!

"My boy! Oh, my boy is all grown up and so handsome!" Alice said, stepping back to look at him properly and let Frank have his turn.

"Dad!"

"Neville!" Frank crushed his son to his chest, holding on tightly to the son he never thought he'd see again. Alice came forward and Frank and Neville pulled her into their hug. They really did love him and Neville was so overjoyed at having his family back.

They were together. No one ever thought they'd see this day, but it happened.

It was a miracle.

"What do you think McGonagall really wants with him?" Dean asked once Neville was gone.

"I'm not sure," Harry lied, "But we might not want to wait up for him. I'm really tired," he said with a fake yawn.

"Me too," Seamus said with a yawn, catching it from Harry.

"Man," Ron complained when he too had to yawn.

"They always sa... ay yawning is contagious," Dean said, his information being interrupted by a yawn.

"Goodnight," Harry said, climbing into his bunk. "I'm sure Neville will tell us in the morning."

"Yeah, goodnight."

It was a good thing that no one decided to wait for Neville, because Neville didn't come back upstairs that night. He and his parents spent all night talking and catching up.

Of course, no one else knew this, as they were all sleeping peacefully in their beds.

Well, almost everyone.

Harry slept on, tossing and turning, as he kept seeing a long dark hall and lots of doors around him. It was a recurring dream he'd been having. Sometimes he'd wake up and forget it, but not this time.

"The prophecy," a voice hissed at him. "It's yours, take it."