The Day After

Neville couldn't sleep all night. He wanted to be awake when his mother returned, if. The fear that it might have gone wrong, that Voldemort might have found out the truth made his heart clench. He spent the long night worrying about his mother and wondering what he was supposed to do if she didn't return, a thought he didn't want to have but couldn't keep away. Would the children be in danger? Hannah? He had to work the next day and Lestrange wanted to meet him at Saint Mungo's. Could he go or did he have to flee right away? What was he supposed to tell the children?

Hannah went to bed around 1 am and told Neville to do the same. She was certain that everything would be alright. Neville wasn't surprised. She didn't know about their many secrets after all. She had never met the Dark Lord personally safe for the short glimpse at the Quidditch tournament and probably really believed that he was leading an ordinary government. Neville knew better. He didn't understand why his mother had made this choice. The more hours passed, the more he started to blame her as well. Everything could have gone well if she hadn't made this rash decision. Right after thinking this, Neville felt ashamed again. It was her life and her choice.

At quarter past five, Neville's mother finally returned. Her face was almost as white as her hair which looked rather untidy.

"Good morning Neville," she said in a strangely expressionless voice. "How are you?"

"Good morning, Mum. Did they keep you for so long?"

Alice shook her head. "No, I needed a bit of time for myself."

"Time for yourself?" Neville tried to keep himself from being angry. This kind of behaviour was normal in someone with her condition but still, she had kept him waiting and worrying for far longer than necessary.

"Yes. Do you think I could have some Goldberry Leaf Potion? And I have a headache too. Would you help me?"

"Yes, of course," Neville said and fetched the potion.

After he had performed the spell against headaches and given her a dose of potion that was as high as he considered responsible for someone of her weight, she gave him a few small bits of information. Had Voldemort used the Cruciatus curse on her again? Neville wouldn't put it past him.

"I don't think You-Know-Who noticed anything. I'm on "probation" now. Lestrange is supposed to watch over me and I'll have to work for him in some way."

Neville sighed with relief. He had feared something worse after seeing her in this condition.

"You think this is good?" Alice asked, giving him a disbelieving look. "I don't want to spend any time with him. That's why You-Know-Who did this."

"I'm sure we'll find a solution we all can live with," Neville said. He wasn't sure which kind of task for his mother Voldemort had in mind. Lestrange had qualified people for all the jobs that needed to be done in his department and in the hospital. He had made sure of that very quickly. Neville was certain that he wouldn't ask her to do anything she didn't want to do or make her spend overly much time with him. So far, Neville hadn't gotten the impression that Lestrange was very keen on that either.

"I'm going to talk to him today," Neville said kindly. "I don't think you have to worry."

"You simply don't understand. I think I'm going to sleep now." Alice got up and left the room without another word.

Neville would have liked to know what had happened this evening. Had Lestrange really done something to her again? He couldn't really believe it and if she didn't talk about anything, he was forced to take Lestrange's word for it. He didn't like letting his mother alone in this state but he had no choice. He couldn't stay away from work again even though it might be better without any sleep.

He ate a lonely breakfast and thought that his mother should have eaten something as well. She had already skipped dinner and eaten almost nothing at breakfast and lunch the day before. If she continued like this, she'd starve herself eventually. Neville desperately hoped that things would start to get better as soon as she had recovered from this evening.

He needed to drink a stimulant potion himself because he wouldn't be able to care for his patients properly without it.

Given the situation, Neville's day at Saint Mungo's went relatively well. He finally managed to communicate with the man who had sprouted leaves after an experimental charms mishap. He explained that he had wanted to find out if Animagus-like transformations into plants rather than animals were possible. Neville could refer him to a colleague who unlike Neville was very talented in Transfiguration and an Animagus herself. He was sure that she would be more likely to cure him because she knew exactly how this kind of spell worked which Neville did not. Becoming an Animagus had never been one of his aims.

Afterwards, Neville was able to save the hand of a man who had attempted to steal at Borgin and Burkes. It was hard work but in the end Neville was sure that the man would make a full recovery. He was going to face charges because of thieving though. Neville was quite sure that the shop owners wouldn't get into trouble for their rather dark anti-theft-protections because they had always enjoyed good ties with the Death Eaters.

The afternoon was spent talking to a few patients and some routine examinations which he managed to do without trouble. When all the patients had been taken care of, Neville realised how tired he was. He didn't feel up to doing something as demanding as practicing Occlumency and he wasn't sure if he was able to discuss any serious issues either. He feared that Lestrange might drop something unpleasant on him again for Neville barely knew what had happened to his mother when she had been with Voldemort.

Lestrange casting the spell that kept them from being overheard right after they had exchanged a few pleasantries didn't make Neville feel any less nervous. He knew that it probably was because of the Occlumency training but he still feared that there might be bad news again.

"I'm sorry but I'm really tired," he said. "I didn't sleep at all last night. I don't think I'll be able to practice today."

"You've been up all night?" Lestrange asked. "The meeting was over at around ."

Neville tried to keep his face impassive. Where had his mother been all the time if that was true? Didn't she know that he would be worried when she went to meet Voldemort? He would ask her carefully when he returned and if she really had spent the entire night somewhere else he was going to tell her what he thought about this. Ill or not, she had to think about the other family members as well from time to time.

"What happened at the meeting?" he asked. "How did it go?"

"Everything went well," Lestrange said. "Your mother never gave anything away which could have made the Dark Lord suspicious and she played her role well. In my opinion, she was acting a bit too submissively to be convincing but the Dark Lord didn't mind. You can never be submissive enough as far as he is concerned. The Dark Lord probably isn't prepared to accept someone acting the way she would normally. He wants her to work in our department as well now, at least for the first time. This makes sense from his point of view of course but it does pose a few practical problems among them the fact that she's no trained Healer or Potions specialist."

And the fact that she didn't want to spend time with Lestrange, Neville thought but didn't say aloud.

There was something else he needed to know and it would be better if Lestrange told him.

"What did he do to her?"

"She had to go through the same procedure you had to go through when you did this yourself," Lestrange said. "She talked at first, then I was supposed to test her for potions and magic influence. She didn't let me do the magic pattern spell, fought it with accidental magic but the Dark Lord wasn't particularly bothered by this."

Neville went pale. This was normal in acute Cruciatus curse patients. They had to be given potions before any healing spells could be used. The potion his mother had received normally remedied this problem though. Had it not worked the way it should in her case? Sometimes, he felt as if she hadn't recovered properly at all but then there were instances where she seemed perfectly fine.

"I don't think you need to be worried about this," Lestrange said. "It's probably been a result of the magic she applied to keep so many things hidden. Luckily, the Dark Lord interprets it differently. Afterwards, he used Legilimency on her as he has done with you. He shared the memories with us, according to him because he wanted us to help him detect anything suspicious. There was nothing."

Neville began to understand why his mother had been so distraught. Being forced to share your memories with all the Death Eaters had to be pretty horrible. He wondered if Voldemort had forced her to relive the memories of her torture and illness as well. He considered asking but decided against it. Knowing Voldemort, he probably had.

"After that we were supposed to ask questions which she answered to everyone's satisfaction. Then we were asked to state our opinion and the Dark Lord gave his decision which includes that she's supposed to work here for one year and if there's nothing suspicious she'll be an ordinary citizen afterwards."

"Alright," Neville said.

"It could have gone much worse," Lestrange said. "She was very good with her Occlumency. Maybe it would be better if you learned it from her rather than from me. Her style might suit you better and the danger of being overheard is much smaller as well."

At the moment, Neville's mother didn't seem to be in a state to teach him Occlumency but she had obviously been able to use it in front of Voldemort and he hoped she was going to get better soon. It might help her if she was able to actively help.

"It would be best if all three of us worked on this together of course," Lestrange said. "I'm not sure how realistic this is at the moment though. We'll see. We have to discuss how we go on from here. On Friday, Bellatrix works until 8 pm and has to report to the Dark Lord afterwards. This usually takes at least another hour. We're only working until 5 pm and I think we should meet at our place after that and your mother should come as well. I already told her that but I'm not quite sure if she remembers."

Neville sighed. They probably had no choice. If Voldemort had ordered this in front of all the Death Eaters they would have to do it if they didn't want to get themselves into danger.

"Alright. We'll be there."

"You can bring Deborah as well," Lestrange said. "Roxana's been asking about her all the time and this weekend would be quite convenient for her visit. Bellatrix has allowed Roderic to visit you as well though I have to admit that I'm slightly worried by your mother's interest in him."

"Worried?" Neville asked. "Why would you be worried? Mum's always looking after my children and nothing ever went wrong."

He wasn't sure how he felt about Roderic's visit himself. The young Lestrange wasn't an easy child and his questions could be quite bothersome. Neville wasn't sure if having him around wouldn't be distressing for his mother. Especially in her present condition. He had to work on Saturday which meant that she'd be alone with him for quite a while.

"Alice never used to be the kind of person who would harm a child to get revenge on the parents but I don't know what she would do now," Lestrange said.

Neville was shocked. "How can you say something like that? Roderic wrote to her if you want to know the truth. He was very concerned by the way the Dark Lord has treated his mother and he asked for advice. She wants to warn him that he can't talk badly about the Dark Lord so openly. She's worried about him but she would never hurt him."

"Roderic went to your mother because of this?" Lestrange asked. "I don't understand this. He knows that he can talk to me about everything or so I thought."

"I don't know why he did this either," Neville said. "She really wants to help him and not harm him."

"I hope you're right," Lestrange said. "I'm not quite sure about Alice's real motives at the moment. She's an excellent actress, that much is obvious. I know that you're not trying to take action against us, only want to help all people who need your help. In her case I don't know that. We're playing a rather dangerous game at the moment and I'm prepared to do this for you as I've told you last time we talked. I'm not foolish enough to help someone who plans to harm me or more importantly my family though. That's why I see no alternative to doing as the Dark Lord requested; keeping an eye on her. I know she'd prefer it if we didn't see each other and I considered this the most appropriate option myself so far but the situation is different now."

Neville was both surprised and worried by this. Lestrange feared that his mother planned some sort of revenge? It probably came with committing crimes of this sort, you'd grow paranoid. He couldn't imagine this at all though. His mother always seemed quite peaceable and sad rather than aggressive. He was absolutely sure that she wouldn't harm Roderic to get at his parents.

"Yes, well, if the Dark Lord has ordered it in front of all the Death Eaters we probably have to do it somehow," Neville said. He knew how much she hated being in Lestrange's presence but there was no choice and maybe she'd get used to the situation somehow.

"If you don't want to do Occlumency today that's all. I'll see you on Friday."

When Neville returned home he found his mother once more working in the garden. He was relieved. With the state she had been in before, he had almost feared she might take an overdose of some potion or harm herself some other way.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm alright, thank you. I slept a while after the potion."

Neville yawned at these words. Sleeps was something he really needed.

"I should have expected something like this," she said. "You-Know-Who wouldn't simply let me become a citizen without exploiting the opportunity to play with me. Any important news from Lestrange?"

"Well, he wants us to visit him on Friday at 5 pm," Neville said. "If Hannah agrees Deborah will have her visit this weekend as well. Bellatrix lets Roderic come here if you still want to see him. You don't have to do this if you don't feel well enough though."

"We have to do it. The sooner I talk to Roderic the better. I told him to be careful in the letter but I can explain it better when I see him."

"Good, this is settled then," Neville said. He was very glad that she seemed to have returned to her normal self.

"Let's see what he has in mind for me," she said.

Neville wasn't sure what to say about that. Until now, he had been sure that Lestrange didn't intend to harm her but after the things he had heard, he wasn't quite certain anymore either. Paranoia was always a bad motivation; this was true for Voldemort and probably for Lestrange as well. He could only hope for the best. If things went very bad, the Order might be an option after all. They'd find a way to get this done if necessary. He needed to warn them as well but not this evening. Neville was way too tired for anything useful. He needed to sleep.

"Do you think you can make dinner with Sandy?" Neville asked. "I'm really really tired because I've been up all night. I'd like to go to sleep right away."

"Yes, of course," his mother said. "I'd like to eat something now anyway. I didn't have anything all day."

Neville was relieved to hear that she wanted to eat again. He went up to his room and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day at Saint Mungo's passed without any noteworthy incidents. Neville merely received a note from Lestrange that Dorothy Prewett would start her work next week. She'd spent most of her time in class with the other first-year trainee Healers but she was also supposed to accompany and later assist him with some of his work.

There were no emergencies and Neville could leave in time. He had told Hannah and Alice that he'd be back later because he wanted to eat with the Order. Neville had considered letting Alice come as well but Hannah would grow suspicious if both of them were gone and he didn't want to tell his wife about the Order at the moment. She was far too pro-Voldemort for that. As always, he brought a stock of self-browed healing potions with him to the Order's Headquarters.

When he arrived at Number 12, Grimmauld Place he was greeted by Snape of all people. "The idea that the Order of the Phoenix entrusts its health to your brewing skills will never stop making me uncomfortable, Longbottom," he said.

"I can share the recipes with you if you wish to contribute," Neville said.

The times when one such remark from Snape had been able to shatter his self-confidence were over. Snape had played a major role in the escape of Ron, Hermione and Ginny from imprisonment by the Death Eaters, back at the time still at Azkaban. After this and a long session where Snape had grudgingly shared some of his memories with the Order, the members knew that he had actually been on their side all along and killed Dumbledore upon the Headmaster's own request.

"We'll see about that," Snape said. "Your arrival is quite convenient at the moment, we're holding a meeting."

"Good," Neville said. "There are a few things I need to tell you all."

The Order members had assembled in the drawing-room which still contained the tapestry with the Black family tree on it. Neville caught a quick glimpse of the names Roderic and Roxana under Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. This house originally belonged to Bellatrix' family but served as the headquarters of her enemies. It was strange that she didn't notice this and became suspicious. Or did the enchantments on the house make her forget? Neville knew that Andromeda who had worked in the Department for Experimental Charms in the past knew many intricate spells.

The Order consisted of about thirty people. Among them all the surviving Weasleys with the exception of Bill and Charlie who had left the country and Ginny who was still ill, Andromeda, Nymphadora, Remus, Kingsley, Hermione and Dean Thomas. All of them lived in hiding permanently with their children. Hestia Jones like Neville worked at Saint Mungo's and attended Order meetings. His former teachers Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout were there as well. They had been removed from their teaching positions after Harry's death but were still allowed to work in their respective fields which they did while secretly supporting the Order. Professor Sprout was an independent gardener now, Professor McGonagall worked as the editor for a journal called Transfiguration Today while Professor Flitwick was officially on retirement but still experimented with new charms at home.

Ernie and Susan Macmillan as well as Seamus and Lavender Finnigan were there and so were Parvati and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Justin had found a wizard who claimed he had had an affair with his mother. Parvati's sister Padma wasn't married and worked as a potioneer together with her mother. She too could brew healing potions when both Neville and Hestia became unavailable.

The Order of the Phoenix didn't have a real leader since Albus Dumbledore had died. Therefore the mistress of the house, Andromeda, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone present. Afterwards she asked if anyone had important news to share.

Neville wanted to get it over with quickly. He knew that the information he had to bring was highly unpleasant but there was no choice. He had to warn them.

"Yes, Neville. What is it?" Andromeda asked.

Neville took a deep breath and told the Order members that Lestrange knew about his connections with the Order. He saw concerned looks and people whispering to each other. Neville wished he was anywhere but there. He had failed on a crucial issue. The lives of everyone in this room where in danger if the Death Eaters forced Neville to disclose more information.

Support came from a much unexpected side, from Snape. "Normally, I would feel the need to criticize Longbottom's lacking Occlumency skills. In this case, I can't really blame him though. Rodolphus Lestrange is a master of the mental arts and he knows exactly what he needs to ask to goad somebody into neglecting his Occlumentic barriers. I actually witnessed the Dark Lord ask for his assistance in such matters. It's commonly assumed that he relied on the Cruciatus curse when collecting information for the Dark Lord but whenever the victim wasn't specially trained like an Auror he actually used this skill instead. He's always been suspicious of me as well."

Neville was grateful and surprised. Snape defending him was something completely new. At the same time, the information he shared with them worried him. Lestrange had referred to himself as "fairly but not extraordinarily skilled" at Legilimency. Snape's information made it sound completely different. Neville had no reason to think that Snape was lying. He wouldn't do that only to make Neville look better. Lestrange had decided to hide the true extent of his Legilimency skills from Neville and he was sure that modesty hadn't been the reason for that. He simply kept too many secrets to be trustworthy.

"Well, Lestrange doesn't know any details so far," Susan said. "Only that Neville is treating people illegally."

"Neville isn't the Secret Keeper, this means he can't betray where our Headquarters are," Kingsley said, making Neville feel slightly angry. Why did he assume he'd betray them?

"The only people who are really in danger are the Order members who live in the open like Neville himself," Remus said.

"We should definitely protect our homes as well as possible without raising suspicion," Padma said.

"Yes and maybe Alice could warn us if something goes wrong," Ernie added. "She knows about the Order too and should know, shouldn't she?"

"That's a good idea," Remus said. "Will you tell her, Neville?"

"Yes, though I'm afraid she will be in danger as well if Lestrange decides to act against me," Neville said. "He guessed she's involved as well."

"I have a suggestion," Tonks said. "I don't know if you'd do that though, Neville. There is this charm we used to learn in Auror training. It makes it possible to lock information in someone's mind and make it impossible for the person to tell anyone. It was used for sensitive information in the past."

"That's a good idea," Neville said. He was relieved. The thought that he might let himself be forced to betray his friends was horrible but he couldn't say for sure if he would be able to resist. He was prepared to submit to a spell that would keep him from betraying the names though."

"This spell can be broken by a skilled Cruciatus curse user though," Kingsley said. "That's why we preferred to rely on Auror Occlumency. I don't think we can ask Neville to learn that though. It's a very unpleasant procedure."

"If necessary, I'll do that as well," Neville said. Anything which would keep him from betraying them.

"Do we have anyone capable of performing a full Cruciatus curse here?" Kingsley asked.

Andromeda raised her hand. "I think I should still be able to do it."

When she saw the surprised looks on people's faces she explained: "Everyone in my family had to learn it and I didn't always question these things you know."

"Alright. That means we could do it, Neville," Kingsley said. "Auror Occlumency will allow you to keep information hidden in your mind even through states of severe mental disturbance. It's what made your father able to keep his information secret until the end. We can't ask this of you though. You're a Healer and not an Auror."

"I'll do it," Neville said. The idea of facing the Cruciatus curse again frightened him but the way the situation was developing he had no choice. Betraying the Order was not an option. Fitting another regular appointment into his schedule would prove challenging and so would keeping it from Lestrange but they had decided he'd learn Occlumency without him now. If it came from his mother or from the rest of the Order shouldn't matter. As soon as he succeeded, Lestrange wouldn't be able to force him to disclose any information about the Order anymore.

"Good. Then we'll do that," Kingsley said. "Do take into account that Auror Occlumency doesn't keep you from betraying the secret. It only makes it possible to hide it from Legilimency and Potions. Until you've learned it, we use the spell Tonks has suggested. It can't be broken if no one knows what to look for."

The others seemed content now that they knew that Neville would do anything in his power to protect the important secrets. It wouldn't make his life any easier but that had to be expected.

"Under these circumstances, I'd consider it advisable that you do leave your "recipes" with other people as well," Snape said.

Neville agreed to that and Andromeda asked if anyone else had something to share. Neville had trouble imagining the kind older woman casting the Cruciatus curse on him but he knew that appearance could be misleading.

Parvati who worked for Witch Weekly now told the Order about events in Germany. "It's not really what our paper focuses on but there's been plenty going on. Our reporter only wanted to interview this famous German Healer Elke Neubert and has to wait a few days now because there was a serious trouble. Death Eaters tried to attack Anthony Goldstein and there was a huge battle. Many Death Eaters got killed by other dark wizards, among them Ian Mulciber, the others were captured. A rather unpleasant defeat for the Dark Lord."

The other Order members considered this good news of course but Neville also felt sorry for Dylan Mulciber who had lost his father. He actually liked the young Security Officer who had always treated Neville's mother with respect and accompanied her to Voldemort's side. There were quite a few Death Eaters he got along with well including the Notts, Warren Montague and Blaise Zabini. Lestrange as well in a way even though their past often made him feel differently and he could never be sure if he could trust the man or not. Still, he didn't really want to imagine actually fighting against them anymore. Neville was quite glad about the Healer's Oath that required neutrality in any conflict.

Snape's report was next. The information he shared with them was quite disquieting. Voldemort obviously intended to aggressively extend his sphere of influence now. He also wanted to come down on enemies within Great Britain more harshly, a piece of information Neville already knew from Lestrange.

"For some reason, the Dark Lord seems to be more unstable again," Snape said. "Not unlike the time when Harry Potter was still alive. Something seems to worry him but he doesn't tell the Death Eaters what it is. Maybe those dark wizards who oppose him in Germany but that's only guesswork from my part."

The Order members kept speculating about this but no one really knew anything. The consensus was that anyone needed to be much more careful now, a message Neville also had received from Lestrange before. The things he told him seemed to be sound at least.

After the meeting, Tonks and Kingsley performed the spell that would keep the information about the names of his fellow Order members locked in his head.

When this was done, Mrs Weasley invited everyone to dinner which she had finished while the spell was done. Teddy Lupin joined them now as well.

Afterwards, Neville looked after Ginny. Her condition hadn't changed at all. She was still lying in bed, pale, thin and unresponding. There was no indication that she even noticed Neville was there. It was the same way Neville's visits to his parents had been in the past but now it was even more frustrating. Neville knew that there was a cure and that it should work but for some reason it did not. The option of giving the separate potions to her was still there but Neville still didn't feel up to that. He didn't know how he was supposed to guide Ginny through a night as terrible as Cordelia Savage had suffered it. Ginny lacked the training that had helped the Auror through the troubling process as well.

If Ginny had been a patient at Saint Mungo's he'd simply ask Lestrange. He still knew quite a few things about the Cruciatus curse and its interaction with other things Neville had not yet heard of and might be able to suggest something. Now that Lestrange knew about the Order, he could actually ask him but it wasn't very likely he'd receive help. Asking such questions would very likely overstrain the Death Eater's tolerance. He could maybe consider asking when he was able to do the Auror Occlumency.

Ginny's magic pattern didn't show any new developments, it was as messed up as it had always been. He left a new bottle of potion with her, hoping that it would bring improvement at some point but so far, he hadn't much hope and he had to bring Mrs Weasley and the others the same bad news he had always brought her so far.