A/N - Hello everyone. Here's the newest chapter.

Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.

"Normal speech"

"Telepathy"

37) THE AWAKENING

Professor Xavier informed Dumbledore of Malfoy's letter right after he finished eating breakfast. They both agreed that countermeasures would need to be taken to stop Voldemort and they decided to begin discussing the matter that coming weekend at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had finally gotten Neville's parents moved to the Hogwarts hospital wing and was ready for Xavier to try to heal them like he healed Snape.

When Professor Lupin brought Neville to the X-Mansion he told the Gryffindor fourth year that he would not be the one bringing him back to Hogwarts at the end of the break. Saturday, April 15th, was the night of the full moon which meant that Remus would be locking himself in his room for the night to avoid possible mishaps. The risk of that was virtually zero as he was taking the Wolfsbane potion regularly to keep his mind when he changed but as Moody would say "virtually zero is not actually zero – CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" At any rate Remus would be recovering from his transformation on the morning of Sunday, April 16th and wouldn't be in any shape to take Neville back to Hogwarts. Instead Dumbledore would send a portkey to Professor Xavier to bring Neville back..

Neville was sad when his week at the X-Mansion was up but he was comforted by the knowledge that he would be returning there for the summer. He had felt at home at the school. The other students all treated him as an equal. He might not be on the team but, as the others told him, he was a mutant and, as Warren put it, that made him "one of us."

On the morning he was to leave Neville said good-bye to everyone at breakfast and went back to his room to pack up all of his stuff. A little after nine in the morning Professor Xavier called him to his office to send him back to Hogwarts. When Neville got there he was surprised to see Harry and Jean there too, both suited up as Lightning and Marvel Girl.

"What's going on?" he asked the professor who wheeled himself out from his desk into the middle of the room carrying a short length of rope.

"The three of us are going with you" said Xavier with a smile, "I didn't want to tell you until now so as not to disturb you while you were here. Professor Dumbledore notified me a couple of days ago that your parents have been moved from St. Mungo's to the Hogwarts hospital wing, and so – "

"You're going to cure them?" interrupted a suddenly excited Neville.

"I'm going to try" said Professor Xavier, "remember what I told you and your grandmother last month. Your parents have been catatonic for more than thirteen years. I don't know what such a condition may have done to their minds. All I can tell you is to prepare yourself in case I can't cure them."

Neville calmed himself and nodded to the professor. Whatever happened he would deal with it. He was friends with the X-Men now and he would be strong like all of them were, especially Harry.

"Good" said Xavier and he held out the rope so Lightning, Marvel Girl, and Neville could all grab it with one hand. Lightning put his hand on Neville's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Neville nodded his thanks to Lightning. Xavier said the activation word and the four of them popped away from the X-Mansion.

They soon landed in Dumbledore's office where the headmaster was waiting to greet them. Lightning reached out and grabbed Neville to keep him on his feet.

"Thanks" said Neville, "how did you keep from falling?"

"Lots of practice" said Lightning, "since I use one to go back and forth to Ilvermorny all the time. It was months before I was able to use one and not fall over."

"Coming from a magical home you'd think I'd be able to stay on my feet" said Neville, "but nooooooo! I've used portkeys often enough and I still fall over."

"It happens to all of us Mr. Longbottom" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as usual, "even I still fall over occasionally when I take a portkey. And not just me. Ask me later about the time Professors McGonagall and Snape had to take a portkey together from the ministry to this office and both landed so badly that they fell to the floor together with Severus lying on top of Minerva – "

"That's enough!" said Xavier, "Albus please don't scar my students."

"That's an image I didn't need" said Lightning looking a bit queasy.

"Me neither" said Neville with feeling. Marvel Girl looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Right" said Dumbledore, "now then, everything is ready. Shall we go to the hospital wing?"

"Yes" said Xavier, "I think Neville here is very anxious to get there so let's not keep him waiting."

"I agree" said Dumbledore, "Mr. Longbottom why don't you head down there ahead of us? Your grandmother is already there. We'll follow after you in a few minutes."

"Okay headmaster" said Nevile who left the office. Neville thought over why they would tell him to head down first and realized that since he would arrive in the hospital wing first and the X-Men would arrive several minutes later they would not appear to be in the same group. Neville wouldn't have to face questions about any relationship he might have with the X-Men. Yes, people had seen him flying with Lightning on the day he found out he was a mutant but most people thought Lightning was just playing a prank on Neville.

Neville's grandmother was waiting for him in the private room which his parents were being kept in. They greeted each other and Augusta asked Neville how his vacation had been.

"It was great" said Neville, "I had a marvelous time."

"I'm glad to hear it" said his grandmother, "you must tell me all about it after this is over. Come say hello to your parents now." Neville approached the beds that his parents were lying on. Both of them were lying there staring up at the ceiling and not aware of anything going on around them. Neville hoped with all of his being that today would be the last day on which that would be true.

Dumbledore led the way from his office to the hospital wing. It was the last full day of Easter Break so the school wasn't full by any means. Those students who had gone home would be arriving that evening just before dinner. But not everyone had gone home. A lot of students considered Easter Break to be too short to go home and many of them stayed at Hogwarts for it. This was especially true for the fifth and seventh years who were preparing for their OWLs and NEWTs. Quite a number of people saw the small group as they walked through the halls of Hogwarts and Lightning knew that knowledge of their presence would be all over the castle soon.

They arrived at the hospital wing shortly after that and met Madame Pomfrey in the main room who again directed them to a private room. They all went in to join Neville and his grandmother. After the initial greetings and explanations had been made Lightning was again sent outside the room to guard the door as he had when they had been here to heal Snape. He pulled over a chair to in front of the door and sat in it.

"This looks familiar" he said to himself as he began his vigil. As he sat there he realized he had mixed feelings about what was happening today. On the one hand he was glad that Neville might be getting his parents back. He knew just how damaging it could be to grow up without them.

On the other hand, while he was happy for Neville, he was self-aware enough to realize that he was jealous too and that made him sad. His parents were dead. No matter how much he might want it to be otherwise there would be no miracle cures happening for his family. His mom and dad had not been there when he was growing up abused at the Dursleys. They hadn't seen him when he went off to Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor. They never saw him play Quidditch or spend time visiting Hagrid. They didn't know about him facing Voldemort twice, or about him becoming a mutant and joining the X-Men. And they weren't there to see him off to the Yule Ball with Ororo on his arm. No, his parents were gone, never to come back, and there was nothing whatever that could be done about it.

"It's not fair" he grumbled to himself as he put his left elbow on the chair's armrest and leaned his head on his left hand. Except for Scott and Sirius all of his teammates still had their families. Sirius was an adult so it didn't matter much to him, also he had hated his parents. Scott was an orphan but he had a younger brother out there somewhere. He didn't know where his brother was and the professor hadn't been able to find him yet but Lightning was sure that someday Scott's brother would be found. Even Professor Xavier had a step-brother. It was too bad that there wasn't a family member out there for him. The Dursleys didn't count.

Lightning leaned back in his chair and gave a sigh while looking up at the ceiling. There was no point in getting all upset about it. He had a job to do and he was going to do it, no matter how sad he was or how boring it might be.

Inside the room Professor Xavier was giving his instructions to the other people there. Marvel Girl would once again act as a guide for him if he needed it while the others were warned not to do anything even if it looked like Xavier himself wasn't doing anything except staring at either Frank or Alice. Once that was all done he wheeled himself over to Frank Longbottom's bed as he had decided to treat him first. He linked himself to Marvel Girl and began his work. He was soon was inside the man's mind. What he found there was far more disturbing than what he had seen in Snape's mind. Instead of it being a disaster area with wreckage everywhere there was nothing at all. The whole place was just an empty whiteness as far as he could see in every direction.

"Am I too late?" Xavier asked himself, "is his mind completely gone? No it can't be. If that were true I wouldn't be able to enter here at all. Something still has to be here for me to be able to access this place. But where is it?"

He cast his mind out in all directions looking for something, anything, to lead him to whatever was still keeping this mind alive. At first there was nothing but finally, finally after he had no idea how long he sensed something at the very edge of his perception and hurried toward where it was coming from.

Traveling at the speed of thought it was no time at all before he arrived at his destination. He wasn't sure what to expect before he got there. Maybe it would be another box that he would have to gain access to?

It wasn't. His destination, when he arrived at it was not what he thought it would be at all. There was no box, or structure of any kind. There was only a person lying on the bare ground with his eyes closed and his arms lying at his sides. He looked enough like Neville that the professor was sure that this was what was left of Frank Longbottom. He seemed to be in a deep sleep. Beyond that his body was partially transparent, like it was in the process of fading very, very slowly.

'This is not good' thought Xavier, 'if he fades away completely he will die. I must wake him up before that happens.'

Without hesitating Xavier reached out and tried to contact Frank.

"Frank Longbottom" he sent, "wake up!"

There was no response.

"Mr. Longbottom!" he tried again, "wake up! You can't let yourself die now. I know it's been many years but you Must Wake Up!"

Again there was no response.

"WAKE UP!" called Xavier again, "your son and your mother both want you back! Your wife will want you back too when she wakes up. Do you want to disappoint them?"

There was no verbal response but as he watched Xavier was sure that Frank's body got a little less transparent.

"That's right Mr. Longbottom, come on back" said Xavier, "you can do it. Your family is waiting for you."

It was a torturously slow process as Xavier watched Mr. Longbottom's body fill in and get more opaque but at long last he was fully there again.

"Good" said Xavier, "now open your eyes."

Slowly Frank Longbottom did so.

"Where am I?" he said when he saw Xavier, "who are you?"

"Hello" said the professor, "my name is Professor Xavier, although that probably doesn't mean anything to you. Just know that you've been away for a long time and I've come to bring you home."

"How long have I been away?" asked Frank.

"What do you remember?"

Frank concentrated as if trying to remember.

"We were attacked" he said slowly.

"That's right" was the reply, "Death Eaters I'm told."

"Yes" said Frank, "They tortured me and Alice for so long until – I don't know what happened after that."

"You withdrew into yourself" said Xavier, "and you've been slowly fading away ever since as the years have gone by."

"How many years?"

"Over 13."

"13! What about Alice? Neville? My mother?"

"Alice suffered as you did" was the reply, "your mother is older but is otherwise fine. Neville is 14 now."

"Neville is well?" asked Frank.

"As well as he can be" said Xavier, "he's been waiting for you to return ever since that day."

A fire seemed to enter into Frank's eyes.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he asked as he leaped to his feet. He promptly fell again although Xavier caught him before he could hit the ground.

"Easy Mr. Longbottom" he said, "you're very weak. Don't make any big exertions. Let me do the work and I'll bring you home."

"Okay" was the answer. Xavier held on to Frank and moved them back the way he had come. This time he felt for Marvel Girl's mental beacon. There was nothing to differentiate one direction from another so he really needed her to show him the way to go.

"Where are we?" asked Frank looking around as they traveled.

"This is your mind" said Xavier.

"But there's nothing here."

"There can be" said Xavier, "all you have to do is will it. This is your place. You can do anything you want. You'll have to put it back in order but you can do it."

"Can I?" said Frank looking around. He concentrated for a moment and then bubbles began to float up from the ground. Only they weren't just bubbles, they were globes and there was a different scene in each one.

"Your memories?" asked Xavier.

"Yes" said Frank, "I need them back before leaving. I'll set them in order later."

They continued to move through the mindscape. There were memory globes floating all around them but Xavier didn't stop to examine any of them. He kept moving them onward until they came to the doorway where he'd entered Frank's mind.

"Ready?" he asked Frank.

"As I'll ever be" said Frank. They moved through the doorway and the next thing Xavier knew he was in his own body again.

"Professor?" asked Marvel Girl looking at him with concern.

"Thank you for guiding me back" said Xavier, "it would have been a lot harder to get out again without you. How is Mr. Longbottom?"

Everyone looked over at Frank Longbottom. He seemed to still be out of it but Xavier could see the light of awareness returning to his eyes. He felt spikes from the minds of Neville and Lady Longbottom and held up his hand to stop them from moving. They did although it was clear they didn't like it.

Frank came to full awareness and looked at the professor.

"Professor?" he croaked in a voice rusty from disuse.

"Welcome back Mr. Longbottom" said the professor, "there are some people here who want to say hi to you." Xavier wheeled his chair out of the way and both Neville and his grandmother came into view.

"Mother?" asked Frank in a soft voice, "Neville? You've gotten so big."

That broke the damn. Both grandmother and grandson were soon embracing the man with tears in their eyes although they kept their hugs as gentle as they could knowing he was weak.

"Well done Charles" said Dumbledore.

"Thank you" said Xavier, he sounded a bit tired, "I need to rest for a few minutes before I try to wake up Alice." Before he could say anything else he saw Madame Longbottom turning around to face him.

"Thank you" she said in a choked up voice, "for giving me back my son. You've done the impossible. We can never repay you."

"No need" said Xavier, "as Cyclops would say 'it's what we do.'" Marvel Girl stifled a laugh hearing that.

"Albus, I need some water" Xavier said now.

"Of course" said Dumbledore who called a house elf and asked for a glass of water for the professor. Within seconds it arrived and the professor drank it quickly. When he was finished he saw Neville standing in front of him.

"Thank you" he said to Xavier, "I don't know what else to say except thank you so much!"

"You're welcome" was the reply, "give me a few more minutes and I'll try to wake up your mother."

Alice was easier to wake up. She wasn't as faded as her husband. Perhaps she hadn't been tortured as long. Maybe something in her was keeping her more 'there' so to speak, Neville had mentioned before they came back to Hogwarts that during the years in which he had visited his parents at St. Mungo's his mother almost always got up and gave him a gum wrapper. He never knew why she did that but he kept every one of them. To Xavier this meant that she might not be as far gone as her husband since she remembered how to get up and walk around. What he found when he went into her mind to bring her back confirmed that as it wasn't as empty as Frank's had been with individual memories scattered here and there. When Xavier stopped to examine a few of them he found they were about Neville and, to a lesser degree, about Frank. It was the mother in her that was keeping her from fading away.

"This is incredible" said Dumbledore, "we thought we'd never get the Longbottoms back."

"They're both quite weak" said Xavier, "they'll have to recover their strength. Frank might even need to learn to walk again."

"Don't worry" said Madame Longbottom, "I'll make sure they get better – what is it Neville?" Neville had been trying to get her attention. Now he held out his wand.

"Would you give this back to father?" he said handing it to her.

"I will" she said as she took the wand before smiling at her grandson, "you'll need your own wand now." Neville just nodded although he was thinking to himself 'it's about time!'

"Well Charles how do you feel?" Dumbledore asked Xavier.

"All right but tired" said the professor.

"You're welcome to stay here tonight if you wish."

"I think I might do that" said Xavier.

"If you're staying then I'll stay too" said Marvel Girl.

"Okay" said the professor, "we'd better ask Lightning what he wants to do. Albus would you open the door please?"

Dumbledore stepped over to the room's door and pulled it open.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - There you go. Several of you asked if the Longbottoms would be cured by Professor X. You have your answer now. I hope it was the one you wanted. Next time Lightning has a very interesting conversation with - well you'll just have to come back to find out.

That's all for this week. As usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.