Part 1

When Neville arrived at home, he found his mother and daughter both sitting on the couch in the living-room.

Alice was reading "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" to Deborah. The two of them were so immersed in the story that they didn't even notice Neville.

He was surprised to hear his mother speak so clearly. Usually, her voice was more like a timid whisper and he had been asking himself if the exposure to the curse had done some damage to her vocal chords that couldn't be undone. Obviously, this was not the case. Neville realised that he couldn't remember what his mother's voice had sounded like before the attack. All the memories from the almost three years before had been wiped away as well.

"So there was no charm on the fountain but they all got better because they have seen that they're good at something?" Deborah asked after her grandmother had finished.

"Altheda did. She found out that she had healing magic. So she could heal Asha. Amata realised that the man who had left her wasn't so important after all."

Deborah was looking up. "Oh, hello Dad."

"Good evening," Alice said. "Sorry we didn't notice you right away." She was talking rather fast. "This shouldn't have happened."

Neville could tell what she was talking about. She didn't think she could let her guard drop like that.

"No problem," he said quickly. He hardly ever found her in a moment like that.

"You're looking really tired," Alice said and Neville thought that this must be very obvious indeed.

"I had to lift a rather powerful curse. A child touched a cursed object on his parents' attic," he told them sitting down on an armchair.

"How are things going here?" He was waiting for a chance to tell his mother that she should carefully look for magic in Deborah but he didn't want to do this in front of the girl.

"Oh, we're alright. We've been to the playground and have met the Notts."

Neville was surprised to hear that. His mother had taken the children to the playground on her own?

"They're surprisingly reasonable people for Death Eater standards," Alice said.

"Mum." She shouldn't speak negatively about the Death Eaters in front of the children. He didn't want them to get into trouble.

Still, it was remarkable that she obviously had actually talked to these people. He couldn't remember when she had last done so at all.

"Hazel and Elsa are really nice," Deborah said.

"Francis is already in bed," Alice told Neville. "He's been running around so much with Hazel."

She was smiling slightly, something Neville had seen very rarely.

"Mr. Nott told me he was glad to see his daughters play with people who aren't going to curse them if they don't do what they want."

"Yes, I'm getting along quite well with Theodore and Daphne too," Neville said. They had been among the few Slytherins who had never made fun of him and they hadn't supported either Umbridge or the Carrows more than necessary for people from this house.

Deborah was yawning.

"I think you should go to bed too," Neville told her.

"Yes. Goodnight Gran."

They got up while Alice remained on the couch. Neville hoped that he could talk to her about Deborah later when the girl was in bed.

This didn't happen as quickly as Neville had hoped though.

After having changed into her pyjama, Deborah took a picture out of her bedside drawer and looked at it. It was a moving photograph showing Deborah and a little girl with wild black curls sitting on a swing together.

"Dad?"

Neville didn't like the tone of her voice. He knew Deborah well enough by now to expect a difficult question.

"Yes. What's the matter?"

"Mum didn't mind us playing with Elsa and Hazel. Can I tell her that I'm friends with Roxy too? We've been talking in the mirror today and Gran almost caught us. I don't like lying to her."

Neville sighed. "You're right. You shouldn't have to lie. Maybe we should really tell her about that. But let's wait for a good moment, okay?"

Deborah was smiling. "Yes. Roxy's been asking me if I want to stay with her next weekend by the way. Do you think I can?"

Neville felt as if he had been punched hardly into the stomach. His little daughter staying at the Lestranges' on her own? He didn't even want to imagine that. What was Rodolphus playing at? Why this sudden interest in Deborah?

A shadow was creeping over Deborah's face. "I'm not quite sure if I want to anyway. I'd love to spend time with Roxy but I don't really want to stay with her Mum and Dad."

Neville was glad to hear this. He really didn't want to provoke questions from Deborah why she wasn't allowed to visit her friend alone.

Deborah started to twirl her brown hair around her fingers, barely looking at Neville. When she spoke it was so quietly that Neville had to lean towards her to understand.

"Gran's sometimes saying their names in her sleep. She's having nightmares about them I think."

Neville had to sit down; his legs didn't want to carry him properly anymore. So Deborah had overheard things she shouldn't have. He had really hoped he'd be able to keep the horrors of the past away from his children but at least in Deborah's case he hadn't been successful. The nightmares which were driving Deborah into her parents' bedroom at night were not her own.

"What did you hear?" Neville asked forcing his voice to sound calm. It wasn't easy at all.

"I didn't really understand most of it. Mainly the names, they're so unusual. Wait, there's one dream I can remember. She was begging him to stop with something, I don't know. I have no idea what that's about but she's really, really scared. I think she's having fever or something, she is quite ill, isn't she?"

"Yes. Yes she is," Neville said, trying to hide how horrified he was. He had had no idea that his mother was still suffering from the consequences of the attack on her that much.

Better Deborah believed her grandmother had some sort of normal illness. He was going to tell her the truth but not now. Deborah was way too young for that.

"But she's not going to die soon, is she? She's not that old?" A new worry crossed the child's face.

"No. You don't have to be afraid of that. Her illness isn't going to kill her." Right before sleeping was definitely the wrong time to discuss these things.

"Okay. Dad, there's something else. I didn't want to tell you because I was ashamed but I want to do it now."

"What is it?" Neville asked, wondering what else he was going to hear.

"Sometimes, I'm having nightmares with Roxy's Dad in them as well. I'm dreaming that he's in our garden or in our living-room or walking towards me on the corridor at night and I'm very scared."

She was shaking her head. "It's stupid, isn't it? He's your boss and it would be okay for him to visit you anytime."

"It's not stupid. You can't choose what you dream." Neville thought that this was completely understandable. The only thing he was surprised about was the fact, that her nightmares involved Rodolphus rather than Bellatrix. In his case, the opposite had been true.

"I'm not scared of him during the day, not really," Deborah said. "But I don't really want to stay with him overnight."

"That's completely okay", Neville told her.

"I just hope Roxy doesn't think I'm a coward. Do you think she could visit me sometime?"

Neville definitely preferred this option. "We have to see what Gran's saying about that but if she doesn't mind I don't think that's going to be a problem."

Deborah smiled and lay down into her bed. "I'm telling her that. Is it okay if I tell her that you're worried about letting me go away on my own?"

Neville considered the point for a moment. No, it did not matter what Rodolphus was going to think about that.

"That's okay," he told her covering her in the blanket. "Sleep well."

On the way back downstairs Neville met Hannah. She gave him a quick welcome-kiss. "Do you have to go out again tonight?" she asked.

Neville nodded. "I'm sorry but it is necessary."

"I know, I know," Hannah said. "We're going to have time for each other another day."

Neville promised her that before returning to the living-room. His mother was still sitting on the couch now reading a book called "The Memory Potion." The title startled Neville for a moment.

"What's the matter Neville?" she asked.

Neville wasn't quite sure how to begin. He didn't want to make her think he was attacking her but Deborah overhearing her nightmares couldn't continue like that.

Taking a deep breath, he said: "I've been talking to Deborah."

"Yes. Is there something wrong with her?"

Neville decided to get it over with quickly. "She has told me that she has overheard you having nightmares."

Alice was hiding her face in her hands. "I'm really sorry. I didn't want that. I didn't know she was hearing this."

"I know that you didn't want this," Neville said. He felt bad about raising the issue but they had to discuss it.

"I think I can sleep in the attic in future," Alice said.

"No, you can't," Neville said more sharply than he had intended. No one had been in the Longbottoms' attic for ages. It was quite possible that there were dangerous cursed objects lying around up there as well. "You don't have to sleep in the attic. We're going to find another way. Maybe we can do something about your nightmares. Why did you never tell me?"

"I didn't want to bother you," his mother said. "And I don't think there's anything that can be done. The Goldberry-leaf potion doesn't stop them and I can't take Dreamless Sleep every night. I'm doing so sometimes when I need my rest, but I know it can be addictive."

"It's good that you're aware of that," Neville told her. "There are charms against nightmares as well. I need them frequently at the hospital. Maybe we could try something like that."

"I'm not sure if this will work," Alice said. "They're not normal nightmares you know. They're memories which I can't remember during the day. You see, I can't go and say, I want to remember now. It's just happening sometimes, a sound, a smell, something. I can't control it. That's happening at night as well. I'm trying Occlumency every evening but it doesn't work. I don't think I can do it properly anymore anyway. You know Neville; I think there's still something wrong with my mind."

With a jolt Neville realised that this was exactly what he had thought back at 's. Still, his mother was finally telling them how she was feeling; she had avoided doing so ever since she had again remembered who she was.

"It's good that you're telling me this, Mum. This way I can try to look for a way to do something about this."

His mother gave him a doubtful look. "Maybe. But we still haven't decided what to do about Deborah. I don't really want to put Silencing spells onto my room. I want to know what's going on."

"Yes, that's understandable," Neville said. "But maybe there are some which only work one way. So Deborah can't hear what's happening in your room but you can still hear everything. I'm sure this is possible. It would be the easiest way. But there's something else about Deborah."

"What else?"

"Her magic. She'll be eight years old soon and she still hasn't shown any sign of magic."

"And you think this is my fault," Alice said.

Neville swallowed. Of course, this was how it would seem to her now. "That's not what I meant. I wanted to talk to you about this anyway. People start asking me about Deborah's magic. With all this First Magic Day-business on the papers, you know."

"I see," Alice said. She didn't seem quite convinced. "There isn't really anything we can do though. Her magic will show at the right time if she has it. And if not, we need to find a way to deal with it. I don't think we should worry about that too much though."

"You're right," Neville said. It was unusual to hear something so motherly from her.

"I hope it's not my fault," she said, the moment gone again.

"It isn't," Neville said. "But please tell me if you need help in future. That's what I'm a Healer for."

"I didn't want to bother you with this. There's so much you have to do."

"There's nothing more important than making sure that you receive all possible help."

"Not even fighting against You-Know-Who," she said. "You've become one of them only to help me. It's not been worth it, has it?"

Neville felt as if she had hit him over the head. How could she say something like that?

"First of all, I'm not "one of them". I've never joined the Death Eaters." He showed her his Mark-free arm. "Fighting on like I did under the Carrows would have been pointless after Harry's death. I was only putting the others in danger and we had no chance to achieve anything this way. With my work, I can actually help people."

"You can only do it because you've sided with him. You have become his apprentice; don't tell me it's not true."

Neville's mind wandered back to the early spring of 1998 after Harry's death when the Lestranges had taken over the positions held by the Carrows before. Well almost, Bellatrix had been teaching History of Magic not Muggle-Studies. Neville had done everything he could to resist at first and expected the worst as punishment.

He still remembered very well how surprised he had been when Rodolphus' punishments had simply consisted of making him brew potions. He had actually taught Neville how to make potions in these many hours of detention he had earned during the first weeks of the Lestranges' rule at Hogwarts.

Taught by anyone else, Neville would have considered Rodolphus' Dark Arts class really good. Despite of all his resistance Bellatrix' version of wizarding history had touched him; her passionate opinions on certain occurrences had surely not been faked. Neville wasn't sure whose version of wizarding history was the true one but he simply couldn't believe that the witch hunts had been a fun recreational activity for real witches and wizards anymore.

He couldn't deny that Rodolphus Lestrange's teaching had been what had turned him into a wizard capable of becoming a Healer. He also couldn't deny that he had later become his apprentice as far as his knowledge about fighting the effects of the Cruciatus curse and other dark curses were concerned.

"I did learn from him, yes. He was prepared to share his knowledge with me, for whatever reason," Neville began.

"You thought everything would be alright if only we were given the cure. You believed he could undo what he had done," his mother interrupted. "It doesn't work like that, Neville."

"I never believed it did. And I haven't forgiven or forgotten anything. Still, I did take his knowledge so it could benefit us as well."

It probably was time that they had this conversation. Maybe it was also time for something else. He had always wanted to protect her but probably it had done more harm than good.

"I'm not a Death Eater and I'm not sympathizing with them. I'm a sworn Healer and I'm taking this seriously. You can accompany me tonight. Maybe you'll understand better than."

"Accompany you where?" his mother was asking a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"I can't tell you here."

"Alright. I'll come," Alice said. "I don't really feel like sleeping anyway."

Neville smiled. "Do you own any Muggle clothing? It would be best to wear that."

Like her robes Alice's Muggle clothes were much too wide for her current weight but with the help of a belt everything stayed where it was supposed to be. Both put on Muggle coats with hoods that hid their heads and parts of their faces.

Neville put his Healer bag together and also took the note he had been given for this situation. "Safehouse Nr. One of the Resistance is found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place."

"Please read it and memorize what it says," he told his mother.

She did, looking at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. "There?" she asked.

"Yes. We'll explain when we're there." Neville burned the note. "Do you want to come?

"Of course. If there's really" she fell silent, remembering that she wasn't supposed to talk about it here.

They left the Longbottom grounds and apparated into a dark corner near Grimmauld Place. "How long since last time I've done this kind of thing," Alice said.

They were walking towards the door, Neville rang the bell. Alice was watching the door apprehensively. A few moments later, Remus Lupin opened.

They quickly slipped insight; Alice stared at Remus as if she had seen a ghost. "You're alive?"

"Quite so," Remus said smiling. "I'm glad you've finally come here."

Alice gave Neville a reproachful look. "He only told me about it this evening."

Remus raised his eyebrows for a moment, than the two were hugging each other.

"I didn't want to put you into danger."

"We're discussing this later," Neville's mother said.

Soon they were joined by Kingsley Shacklebolt and Neville found himself in Hermione Granger's arms.

Both of them were greeting Alice now, she said: "Kingsley, so you've joined as well by now."

"He's been searching for Voldemort with my husband you know," she explained to the others.

"Yes. Dumbledore's asked me to join the Order of the Phoenix when You-Know-How returned in 1995," Kingsley said.

Nymphadora Tonks came running downstairs now as well, followed by her son Teddy who was one year older than Neville's children. His hair was orange today.

"Ted's already looking forward to the next round of Dragon Pox immunisation," Remus said with a grin.

He introduced his wife to Alice, who said: "Nymphadora? Isn't that a name of the Black family?"

"It is," Tonks said. "My Mum used to be one of them. That's why we can be here by the way. Blood magic and everything you know."

"You're Andromeda's girl. My goodness, last time I saw you, you were Teddy's age. But what is it about the Blood magic? You're mother didn't get along with her family, did she?"

"She didn't but she hasn't spilled Black blood. Unlike, well, it's considered worse than marrying a Muggle-born. That's why she's the righteous heir or something. I don't really know that much about this stuff."

"Yes, maybe we should go upstairs," Remus suggested. "The others want to meet you too, Alice."

They were walking up a dark staircase, Alice was chatting with Remus and Kingsley. For the first time since he could remember, Neville's mother seemed happy. He really should have told her earlier.

The others were happy to see her as well and she was right in the middle of the group of Voldemort's secret opponents.

Mrs Weasley led Neville aside. "Ginny's state hasn't improved at all," she said, her voice full of despair.

Neville swallowed. He didn't understand this.

Ginny Weasley had been found almost a year ago close to death from prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus curse. Neville had found out with his examination spells that the perpetrator had been no other than Voldemort himself. Since then, all the Weasleys with the exception of Percy lived in hiding with her or in case of the two oldest sons, abroad. Fred and George had both died when they had fought the Death Eaters attempting to destroy their shop.

Joke articles like those the Weasley's had sold weren't legal anymore.

Neville had managed to stabilize Ginny's state but she had regained neither her memory nor her use of her senses so far. This despite of the fact that he was using the very same magic he had used to help his mother and the other Cruciatus curse patients at 's. For all of them it had worked.

"Maybe it just takes a while. She was imprisoned for years after all," Neville said. The helplessness when dealing with his friend was so frustrating.

Mrs Weasley had been right. Ginny's condition hadn't changed at all. She was still lying in her bed, her face thin and pale, contrasting with her red hair. Ginny neither seemed to notice Neville nor her mother or her brother Ron.

"Hello Ginny. It's me, Neville. I've made more potion for you. Maybe it'll help this time."

He poured the potion into a goblet and put it on her bedside table.

First, he needed to check the flow of her magic. It was tainted once again. He suppressed a sigh. Why, oh why couldn't this ever stop? If someone was exposed to the Cruciatus curse, their magic attempted to fight the curse in any way possible. This caused blockages and flows that were too strong or too weak.

Neville had learned to undo this damage and turn it back to normal, but in some cases, the relief wouldn't be permanent. That's how it was with Ginny. Still, he had to do it before the potion could have any effect. Afterwards he let her drink it and waited half an hour for the potion's effects.

There were none.

Neville racking his brain over the reasons for his failure but he couldn't think of any. He didn't know what he had done wrong. The potion had been made especially for this curse and Neville was sure that the healing magic he had imbued it with was sound. Still, there was nothing he could do at the moment. Maybe he could get a look at some of Lestrange's older writings and find something there. He had to do this without drawing suspicion though. Not an easy task.

The only other patient this evening was Teddy Lupin. He wasn't ill but needed to take the Dragon Pox immunisation. The potion had a bitter, stinging taste to it that couldn't be completely undone but the boy was drinking it bravely.

"Well done," Neville told him.

"Thank you. Even though I don't think I'll ever need it. How should I contract Dragon Pox if I can never meet people from the outside?"

Teddy's voice sounded quite sad. It must be hard to spend your entire childhood in hiding like that. Still, Neville could imagine worse fates than growing up with your parents and the rest of the Order and DA-people.

When Neville returned to the drawing-room, he found everyone assembled around a large Pensieve. They were showing Alice various memories from the years she had missed. Remus was just telling her about his short time as a teacher.

Neville settled down with them. He had wanted to leave again right away, so he could get enough sleep before the long working day and the evening with the Lestranges waiting for him. Still, he had never seen his mother look so happy and relaxed before, so he didn't want to tear her away from the others so quickly.

The door was opened and Andromeda Tonks walked into the room. Neville looked at his mother. He was worried that Andromeda's resemblance to Bellatrix might bother her, but to his relief she greeted the oldest Black sister with a smile.

"So you've stopped dyeing your hair now?" she asked to Neville's surprise. He had never known Andromeda with hair that was anything other than black.

"Yes. I don't want to waste my magic on that. There's so much to do. And I've returned now, haven't I?" She didn't seem to be really happy about that.

"How's Ginny," Andromeda asked Neville.

"Nothing has changed," Neville said gravely, wishing so badly to be able to give her a better answer.

Andromeda sighed. "I feared it. You-Know-Who himself and over such a long time. That must be really hard."

Remus looked thoughtful. "Do you remember Cordelia Savage? This Auror who had been tortured by Voldemort so badly?"

Neville had heard that name before. Cordelia Savage had been one of the Aurors guarding Hogsmeade during his sixth year at Hogwarts. She had saved him from a Dementor attack once. He hadn't known that she had ever been a Cruciatus curse patient.

"Lestrange was able to cure her. If only we knew how he did it."

Neville sighed. He couldn't ask that. At the moment, he didn't have any official Cruciatus curse patients. It would be extremely suspicious.

"Alice, haven't you dealt with 's in this case?" Kingsley asked. "Do you remember what she has been given?"

Neville cast him a reproachful look. His mother didn't want to remember any meeting with Rodolphus Lestrange, he should know that.

To his surprise, Alice didn't seem to be too upset. She laid a hand upon the Pensieve. "I'll try to remember," she said slowly. "I'll show you. It's not easy. It's all so far away."

"No problem. Try it if you can," Remus said kindly.

Alice took her wand into her hand and a strand of silver was coming from it.

"Take a look, Neville," Mr Weasley said.

Visible within the Pensieve was one of the Healer rooms at 's.

A young Rodolphus Lestrange was sitting at the desk. He wore the green Healer robes, the bracelet around his arm. Neville's mother sat opposite of him, wearing her Auror uniform. She was looking much younger as well, her hair auburn and shiny but bound tightly back.

"What is it Alice?" Rodolphus asked. "The sooner she's being treated the better."

"Well, there's something you need to know. The one who has been torturing her was Voldemort himself."

Rodolphus looked a bit uncomfortable when the name was being mentioned but recovered quickly.

"I'm surprised. I've always assumed a wizard in his position would delegate this kind of task."

"He wanted to make an example of her," Alice said. "It was supposed to be a warning. There was a note found beside her, signed with the Dark Mark, the spell only he knows. The note said: Keep resisting me and I will rob you of more than your life," Alice told him.

Rodolphus was raising his eye brows. He obviously didn't really understand why she was telling him this.

"Don't you understand? He obviously doesn't want her to be cured."

"Seriously Alice, what do you expect? The Death Eater who did this to Robert Fawcett didn't want him to be cured either I believe."

"But this is Voldemort we're talking about. If you fight his curse, you're defying him," Alice said.

"This is my job, Alice."

"It's just; you don't have to do this. We're Aurors, we know about the risk we're taking. Our job is to defend everyone else. We can't demand others to take risks to help us."

"Do you want me to try and help this woman at all? Rodolphus was asking.

"Of course I do. But I'm obliged to tell you this."

"Fine, you've done so. Now let's go and start her treatment."

Alice sighed. "Listen, Rodolphus I believe this warning wasn't directed against us. It was directed against you."

"Against me? What makes you think that? I'm only a Healer, why should he want to give me such a warning? I'm sure it was directed at the Aurors, maybe at Crouch as well."

The young Auror shook her head. "You really ask why? You've found a way to defeat the Cruciatus curse. His entire campaign depends on this curse among the others. Do you really think, Voldemort doesn't mind?"

There was a hint of pride in Rodolphus' eyes.

"I've sworn to do everything in my power to help my patients. The opinion of the people who made them ill in the first place doesn't interest me."

"I simply wanted to warn you," Alice said clearly impressed. "Maybe you should take measures to guarantee your safety."

"I'll think about it. But now, I'm going to do my duty. And if Voldemort is going to kill me for it, so be it."

Neville was completely surprised to hear him say the Dark Lord's name. Even more surprising was the way he had openly spoken up against Voldemort back then. What had made him change his mind so profoundly?

Young Alice's last words send a chill down his stomach. "It didn't say anything about killing, Rodolphus."

Only swirling silver liquid was visible in the basin now. "I'm sorry," Alice muttered. "That was the wrong memory. I wasn't quite sure anymore when he talked about her actual therapy."

"It was very interesting," Remus said. Neville couldn't agree more.

"We actually considered asking him to join the Order at that point," his former teacher added. "Unbelievable."

"I think I've got the right one now," Alice told them. Neville wasn't sure if she had been listening or not. He did notice that she was barely looking at her own memories in the Pensieve though.

The scene looked very similar. Alice and Rodolphus were talking at 's. He had a piece of parchment in front of him.

"Madam Savage's patient's provision," he said. "She explicitly agrees to any form of treatment that might improve her condition even if there are dangers."

"I believe you that," Alice said. "Her condition can't get any worse anyway, can it?"

"It can become even harder to reach her," Rodolphus explained. "The danger of death exists as well but I'm quite confident that I can keep things from getting that wrong. I can't guarantee that her condition won't worsen however. That's why I want you and therefore the Auror's Office informed so there won't be any trouble."

He showed her two flasks of potion. Neville recognised them immediately. One of them was the potion that undid the curse's lingering harmful effects on body and magic. This potion also served to calm the patient and ease the remembered pain they'd otherwise be feeling. It contained Gold Berry leaves carrying healing magic that could be applied more easily than by wand this way.

The other one, a blue liquid taken from the berries of poisonous Medea's Leaf and modified by magic was a powerful memory stimulant though not powerful enough to undo actual memory charms.

Normally, these potions were mixed and given to the patient together.

Rodolphus quickly explained the effects to Alice before he told her what he was about to do. "This time, I'll give the potions to her in the divided form. The healing potion first and the memory potion an hour later. This way, its effects will be stronger but at the price of more side effects as well."

"Alright," Alice said. "Do you think I can stay with her?"

"I'd advice against it. I don't think she'd want a colleague with her. Family members maybe but not someone from work."

"That's enough I think", Alice said and they moved away from the Pensieve.

"Well, I haven't thought about that, giving the potions separately," Neville said. He didn't really want to try this on Ginny either. As he understood it, remembering was extremely painful if the other potion wasn't there to ease the effects. He couldn't attempt this without knowing more. Still, he had to keep it in mind. Maybe there would be a chance.

"Do you think this could help in Ginny's case too?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Maybe. I have to find out more first though," he said.

She nodded. "It's just so frustrating. Sitting there and your own child doesn't know you anymore."

"Believe me, I know," Neville said. With a slight shock, he saw what his watch was showing.

"I'm sorry, but we really need to leave now. I need a bit of sleep." There wasn't any comfort he could offer to the Weasleys at the moment anyway.

Alice sighed. "If we have to. It's been nice to meet you all. I wish I could have stayed longer."

"You can come back anytime," Remus said. "We'd be happy if you did. There are many memories we want to share with you."

Alice smiled slightly. Neville was glad to see her do so. At least for her, there seemed to be hope after all.

If only he'd find a way to help Ginny as well.

"Please don't tell the children anything," Neville told his mother when they had returned home.

"I might be ill Neville, but I'm not stupid. I really don't get it Neville. You've known about this all along and left me here, believing I was the only one left? Why, Neville?"

Neville was taken aback by her fierce reaction.

"I wanted to keep you safe. I didn't want you to get into dangerous situations again. Only when you told me all those things tonight, I realised it was wrong."

"That took you a while."

She seemed quite angry but Neville wasn't really upset about that. For the first time, she was showing an emotion other than fear or sadness and she finally knew that he wasn't a traitor.

When he walked up to their bed-room, Hannah was already sleeping. He crept into his bed quietly; she stirred but didn't wake up.

He fell asleep right away.