A/N

Author walks in, patting main characters on their heads lovingly.

They glare at her.

Yes, yes, I know, I'm evil and mean and all that.

They nod and point out they just wanted a nice and quiet time travelling

Author throws hands in the air in despair: That wouldn't make for very exciting fanfiction!

Two clear We-Really-Couldn't-Care-Less-glares are thrown at her

Aww come on, cooperate, boys! Hey, I did give you time to bond and all!

Sev and Nev have to reluctantly agree, and decide to cooperate for another chapter

And what do we say waaay to often during every story…?

(They intone together like schoolchildren) "This is not slash and we belong to JK Rowling"

Exactly!

Severus stretched out lazily in the hammock on the porch of the house he and Neville had rented. Neville spent a lot of time in the city a few miles away, with an old retired healer who had offered to tutor him for three months. The old man had provided Neville with countless books on healing that would take him months to study properly. Severus had been quite pleased when the man produced some old, and rare, potions books and handed them to him when he told him he was a potions master. Of course he had to pretend to only have gained the title a few years back, instead of already having been a full Master for nearly two decades. He had read it with some interest. It did contain very fascinating recipes and theories, and an idea was forming in the back of his mind…

Neville came home midafternoon, to find a sleeping Severus in the hammock and an owl perched, looking at the snoozing man somewhat irritated. Neville grinned and relieved her from her letter. The owl hooted softly and flew off into the nearby forest to rest and eat before going back.

Severus woke half an hour later to see Neville sitting on one of the porch chairs, drinking coffee (a disgusting habit in these parts, Severus had decided) and several parchments in front of him.

He yawned. "Anything of interest? I don't recall any owls…"

Neville grinned "No, you were asleep. Annoyed the owl by refusing to wake up." He held up a letter. "From our friends back home. They're fine; though they now understand how annoying we must have been in school."

Severus smirked.

"Remus is happy that they've found a new Herbology professor. The double workload was starting to get to him. His name is Lance and it seems he gets along famously with the rest of the staff. And I've asked Minerva if she knew of any trustworthy people here to help you, and she has recommended someone."

Severus jumped like a large insect had stung him.

"You WHAT!"

Neville looked up, unimpressed by the death glare that was directed at him.

"I'll be checking him out first, of course, but you ARE going."

Severus slumped back in the hammock, brooding angrily.

Elsewhere…

"Lance?"

"Yes. I got the job and I'm already befriending the staff. They'll begin to trust me soon."

"Excellent! And how about the rest of you? Any sign of Snape yet?"

"Well, we followed his trail…"

"Yes, and?"

"And it let us to a grave on the Hogwarts grounds."

"CRUCIO!"

"EXPELLIARMUS! Don't be a fool, Rufus. You are not Voldemort, we are not going to let you torture us. If you wish to kill your foolish little assistants like you did last time, go right ahead, but we don't plan on letting ourselves getting tortured."

"Stop seething, Rufus, it doesn't become you. The man is right. Find some muggle to torture but leave us alone. Now. Your Snape obsession."

"It is NOT an obsession! I tell you, he is alive."

"The Longbottom kid told you the whole story of his death."

"That's just it. That Longbottom kid is not someone who is capable of killing. And his whole mushy story! Overly dramatic."

"Hmmm…you know, I have to admit, you do have a point there. But there IS the tiny little detail of him actually being IN HIS GRAVE!"

"What, are you a wizard or not? You don't think they could have transfigured it?"

"What's the point? Why would they have done that? It wasn't very likely anyone would ever open that grave, was it? I mean…Albus Dumbledore's grave. That would be sacrilege to them."

"To them, yes. But Snape is a Slytherin. A cunning one, even for that house. HE would have come up with such an idea."

"I still say you are delusional. This just might rank among the 'Ten Most Stupid Conspiracy Theories Ever Heard'. David Letterman might do a list on it."

"David who?"

"David…oh nevermind. A muggle thing."

(all ten) "A MUGGLE thing?" (Death glares are being shot)

A month later

"Hey Sev. How did it go?"

"I don't trust him. I don't want to be there. I hate you."

"Ah, it went well then."

Severus huffed. "Yes, it did go quite well, in fact. The guy is still giving me bad vibes, though. Are you sure he is trustworthy?"

Neville looked thoughtful. "McGonagall recommended him as an old friend of her, I checked him out, you did background checks, neither of us found anything suspicious."

Severus sighed. "True, but still. It bothers me that I can't use legimency on him. There is just something in that office that bothers me."

"The office? Not the man himself?"

Severus thought for a while. "No, not really the man himself. It's just the feeling that something is…not right."

Neville bit his lip. "We can't risk anything. I'll come with you next time in my invisibility cloak and see what I can find. No, I won't be eavesdropping on your session with him."

Severus shrugged. "I know. I'd feel more reassured if you would do that, Neville. It's probably just my leftover spy paranoia kicking in, but I need to be sure. Meanwhile, I have something I want to talk to you about…"

Neville, who had been busy making tea, set the two mugs on the table and dropped into his favorite chair.

"Go ahead, talk."

"It's about that potions book your mentor gave me."

"Yes?"

"Well…I don't want you to get too hopeful, and I wouldn't have said anything yet if I hadn't needed your help…"

"Sev, enough with the suspense already. Out with it."

"There is a potion in that book, specifically designed to heal neurological damage. It's actually a potion made from several other, specially treated potions. It's very complicated and I need your help with it."

"Neurological damage?" Neville said, sitting very still as the implications of his friend's words hit him. "You mean…my parents…?"

"I'm not promising anything," Severus hastened to say, "It's too early to predict anything. But it is an old and forgotten potion, and from what I can tell, it might be something useful. Just…just don't get your hopes up."

Neville let out a hollow laugh. "How could I NOT get my hopes up, Severus? I know what you're trying to say and I will prepare myself for disappointment…but I have to hope. I've had to hope for so long already…"

Severus looked at the young man, curled up in his favorite chair, a pained expression on his face. He got up and put a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"I understand. I need you to contact your parents' healers, as I can't do that. I will need bloodsamples from them. I will do my best, Neville, I promise."

At Hogwarts

"Hey, Harry."

Harry turned around and saw the new herbology professor approach.

"Hi, Ben. How's classes going?"

The man beamed. "Very well, thank you. I enjoy teaching. But I was wondering…At my old job, we used to integrate the subjects more then we do here. I mean…cooperation and joined classes would be good, right? I mean…herbology and potions and Defense would benefit from working together."

Harry raised his eyebrows and looked thoughtful. "I suppose. Certainly your classes and Potions would go well together. And that would be easy to integrate into my classes. Perhaps a joint project? Interhouse? Why don't you bring it up at the next staff meeting."

Benjamin Lance gave a charming smile. "I'll be sure to do that. Thank you, Harry."

He walked away with a distinct smirk on his face.