A Meeting of Colleagues

The sleeping pill didn't last through the complete night. Frank woke up early because Cordelia was already up and walked around. He wasn't used to sharing a flat with someone else anymore after having spent so many years on his own. Frank decided that it would be best if he got up as well and helped her with breakfast. He was able to eat more when he sat on the table with someone and wasn't alone.

"Do you know what you want to do next?" she asked during breakfast. "Would you like to stay here?"

"I'm not sure," Frank said thinking of the form waiting to be filled out. "I need to know what has happened to Alice and Neville. If there's anything I can do about You-Know-Who I will."

"Yes, too bad we're not in contact with the resistance in Britain," Cordelia said. "It would be much easier to help them. They seem to keep it restricted to former members of Dumbledore's Order. You might achieve more than we do."

"I'm not sure," Frank said with a sigh. "I've been away for so many years. Maybe they don't trust me anymore or don't even believe that I'm really Frank Longbottom. There are no other Order members here?"

He had secretly hoped that someone might have made it to safety as well. Remus for example or the Weasleys. Maybe money had forced them to remain where they were,

"Not as far as I know of," Cordelia said. "There's a young man who's been working for an underground radio station, he was at Goldstein's speech as well. He has never been a member of the Order of the Phoenix though as far as I know. There are quite a few Aurors; most of us didn't want to cooperate with You-Know-Who naturally."

"Of course. We've lost too many friends and comrades to him and the Death Eaters," Frank said. "And they're all allowed to continue working here?"

"Yes, if they pass the German Aurors' acceptance test. It's not really hard for an Auror who's already gone through training though."

Frank took a deep breath. Mentioning Verena Ohlen telling him to have a therapy first was embarrassing but Cordelia had gone through the same thing after all. Maybe she had gone through the same process.

"Did they ask you to seek "therapy" as well," he forced himself to ask.

"No, I already did that at home," Cordelia answered. "Unlike you, I didn't run from Saint Mungo's as soon as I could as you might remember. There's really no need to feel ashamed about this." She shook her head.

"Gary was the same though. He was quite offended when they told him to see a Healer but in the end, he was glad he did it."

"Gary Williamson has been affected by the Cruciatus curse as well?" Frank asked.

"Yes, yes, during the Death Eaters' take over. Must have been their idea of celebrating their victory," Cordelia said matter-of-factly. "They didn't want information from him or anything. He has been at Saint Mungo's for about a year and fled with the help of the Order."

"Who did it to him?" Frank wanted to know.

Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know. We didn't talk about it much. He was ashamed of course and only told his Healer or so I think. Elke Neubert took care of him by the way. She's working at the Sigrun Rotfang-Hospital here in Heidelberg. I can recommend her. Very competent woman. You saw her at the battle."

Frank remembered the woman. "The one with the snake Patronus?" He didn't feel like entrusting her with his health.

"Yes, exactly. There's no Slytherin house here you know."

Frank did know that of course but he still wasn't inclined to trust people with an interest in snakes.

"Believe me Frank, they can really help you," Cordelia said kindly. "You don't have to live with inexplicable pain, nightmares, flash-backs, sudden panic attacks and everything for the rest of your life. This kind of thing can be treated well with magic."

Frank wondered how she knew that he did suffer from those things. Had Ohlsen and the others told her? Probably.

"It's just; I can't really trust any Healer," Frank said. "I've been in charge of the Saint Mungo's task force back in the war, you probably know that. Do you remember all those patients who didn't get better or even worse and the unexpected deaths? Lestrange was dismissed over it but it didn't stop when he was gone. There must have been other people involved as well and I'm sure there was some foul play involving us. There must be a reason why Alice was gone."

Cordelia sighed. "I understand why you can't really trust Healers after these investigations. Nothing like this has happened here though. You shouldn't tell any Healer confidential details of course. I never did that either and I'm really glad about it now as you can probably imagine. And Elke Neubert is a Muggle-born. This excludes her from most popular dark magic clubs."

"I hate how I don't know what has happened between the attack and the day I left Saint Mungo's", Frank said.

"Of course you do. I'm really sorry that I can't tell you anything," Cordelia said. "I know how hard this must be for you. It was extremely important for me to know every detail as well. It was so hard to tell the difference between things that were really dangerous and fears that came from the illness. I panicked when a Healer I didn't know brought me my food for example. And after eating it, I felt much worse. I still don't know if there was truly something wrong or if it was only in my head."

"Why didn't you mention this for our investigation?" Frank asked. He had been looking for any hint back then. "Who was that Healer?"

"She was called Miriam Strout," Cordelia said. "She was so, well overly friendly in a way. As if I was a young child or something. I hated this. I said that I didn't want to see her anymore and I didn't have to."

"Miriam Strout?" Frank asked. The name stirred something in his memory but he wasn't sure what. It had never come up in his investigations. "You should have told us about her."

"I had no proof whatsoever that she had done anything wrong," Cordelia said. "Sudden nausea was nothing unusual in my condition; you know this I'm sure. Most Aurors I talked to weren't taking me seriously anyway. Thought I was still mad or something. Later on, I didn't bring it up because I knew I had trusted Lestrange. My intuition can't have been too reliable then. I didn't think it was important anymore."

If Frank were still heading the Saint Mungo's task force, he'd try to find out more about this but these times were gone. Saint Mungo's was under Lestrange's administration now and things were probably handled very differently.

"It probably really doesn't matter anymore," he said. "Saint Mungo's is in Death Eater hands anyway."

Cordelia sighed. "That's true. I still think you should consider it though. You've always been an excellent Auror. Maybe you'd actually be able to contact the British resistance if you worked with us. Don't you think this would be worth dealing with a Healer?"

Frank thought about it. Cordelia was right of course. If the resistance members would only communicate with Order members, he might be well-suited as a contact person. He might be able to help his people free themselves this way.

Frank knew that this was a form of prejudice as well but the fact that this Elke Neubert was a Muggle-born did mean that she couldn't be a Death Eater and probably no Grindelwald supporter either. Maybe he should really give it a try.

"I'll probably do it if I stay here," Frank said. If he heard something that made it clear that he was needed elsewhere, he would go of course.

"Good," Cordelia said. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave now. "We need to question the rest of the prisoners so they can be transferred to Nurmengard today. I hope I'll get away earlier than yesterday."

She gave him the directions to the supermarket, asked him to cook pasta for the salad and went off to work. Frank was left behind.

Cordelia had subscriptions for two different newspapers. One of them was the German Newspaper "Magische Presse." Frank couldn't understand the articles of course but the picture on the front page definitely showed a scene from the battle, the visitors escaping through the broken wall of the town hall.

The second newspaper was called "The Daily Narrator", a newspaper written by British immigrants for British immigrants. Frank leaved through curiously because he hoped to find news from home but there wasn't much. They didn't seem to have any information which went beyond the official statements from the Death Eater-ruled Daily Prophet. The editors of the newspaper gave critical comments about it but didn't know the true background either. Most articles featured events in Germany but were written in English.

Cordelia also still bought the Daily Prophet which seemed to be legal in Germany. She didn't have a subscription for it but bought it in town. Giving her address to the Death Eater-run press would be too dangerous of course.

This way, Frank only found yesterday's Daily Prophet. He knew that it would be full of Death Eater propaganda but he still hoped to find something interesting. Many articles mentioned "our gracious lord" who had given a speech that didn't contain anything meaningful as far as Frank could tell. There was a new rule that everyone who couldn't apply for citizenship because of health reasons had to let himself be examined by Lestrange. If they were found too ill, they had to remain at Saint Mungo's or in the property of their caretakers to keep themselves and others safe. Frank didn't quite understand what this law was supposed to be about. Why would people not apply for citizenship for health reasons? Did they hope that everyone would declare himself healthy before being forced to face Lestrange? This strategy could work of course. Saint Mungo's was also looking for new Healers, there still seemed to be a shortage there.

There was one article that really drew Frank's interest. Bellatrix Lestrange's Security Department was working on a project called the "Home Shield" which consisted of spells that would notify the Death Eaters about any witch or wizard entering British territory no matter which way "to protect British witches and wizards from foreign aggressors". This could cause serious problems to Frank himself and everyone who tried to get in contact with the resistance. It was quite likely that the spell work was already finished; otherwise they wouldn't report it in a newspaper they knew was sold abroad. Maybe it was supposed to be a warning as well. Something he needed to take into consideration.

Frank decided to go to the supermarket and buy the things Cordelia wanted to serve. Finding the vegetables wasn't difficult and the same was true of the other things he could take for himself. At the meat counter, some pointing was necessary but he finally got his steaks and bratwursts as well and had to admit that he was rather curious about the taste of the latter. The same strategy worked at the bakery. Half an hour later, he returned to Cordelia's flat with everything on Cordelia's list and a package of a fry-up rice dish similar to those he had often eaten during his life as a Muggle. Frank had never felt like cooking while he had been living alone.

Cordelia returned around 5.30 pm and the two of them made pasta salad together. They spend the time reminiscing about their journey to search for Voldemort. Frank told her about his meeting with Madam Jovanovic and Cordelia was glad that the Serbian wand maker was still well. Back then, the journey had felt dangerous but in hindsight, it had been easy compared to the things that had followed. An exciting adventure actually.

"Do you know anything about Kingsley?" Frank asked.

"He did quite well for himself under Fudge," Cordelia said. "Became senior Auror and probably involved with Dumbledore as well. He went into hiding around the same time I left. They're still searching him as a criminal that means he has to be alive."

"I'm glad to hear this," Frank said. He had always liked Kingsley and his calm, self-confident way. "Do you know about other people they're looking for?"

"There are articles in the Daily Prophet sometimes," Cordelia said. "Remus Lupin is definitely still wanted. They're calling him a "highly dangerous, renegade werewolf". So are the Weasleys. I don't know about anyone else."

So Remus was alive as well, Frank thought. This was good news indeed. At least one of the four Marauders left now that Peter and James had been killed and Sirius turned traitor. Frank still had trouble believing that even after all those years. Sirius had always seemed so brave and dedicated. Sometimes, his dark blood had shown when he had been playing overly cruel jokes on the Slytherins for example but Frank had never doubted that he was truly on their side.

There was something else he needed to know even though it would be hard. "Who do you know has died?"

Cordelia listed many names. Frank didn't know all of them but there were many very familiar ones. Emmeline Vance, a former Order member as well as Alastor Moody, Rufus Scrimgeour, Amelia Bones, Mr Crouch senior and Rodney Proudfoot. Another Auror, John Dawlish had apparently committed suicide or so the Daily Prophet had claimed. Frank thought this quite possible. Dawlish had already been rather shaken when they had freed him from the Red Lethifold. Another war had probably been too much for him.

Moody, Scrimgeour, Bones and Crouch had been people who were such important parts of the Ministry that Frank had trouble imagining it without them. They had been among the most powerful Aurors and leaders Frank had known. No wonder the Death Eaters had taken over so quickly. The wizarding Britain of the time when they had been attacked was definitely gone completely, even before Voldemort had taken over. It was hard to imagine all this.

Gawain Robards at least had survived. He had escaped to France but was in contact with the people who had found refuge in Germany.

"This war has really cost us many of the best," Frank said.

"That's true," Cordelia said. "It will not be possible to simply return to the world we've lived in before, not even if You-Know-Who is defeated. There are too many good people of our generation missing and the one after is completely socialised into You-Know-Who's world. There are no more Aurors but "Security Officers" now. The children don't even know what Aurors are anymore."

Frank kept his silence. He had always known during the last eight years that the world he had known was gone but hearing it spelled out so clearly made it seem even more real.

About two hours letter, the ringing of the doorbell signalled Williamson's arrival. There were some more lines on the younger Auror's face but he still kept the long ponytail he had already worn when he had worked with Frank.

Williamson smiled broadly when he saw Frank. Cordelia quickly went through the security procedure before he could talk to his former colleague: "Frank, I'm so glad you made it. Been living as a Muggle, that's an interesting idea. Quite dangerous too though. You were lucky they didn't find you."

"Yes, probably. They didn't look very thoroughly, I think," Frank said. "Probably believed I was no danger anymore."

"Well, they were wrong," Williamson said cheerfully. "I saw you fight off these Dementors the other day. You've always had a knack for this."

Frank remembered the Dementor rebellion at Azkaban during the war. They had managed to force the dark creatures back into their positions back then but it hadn't been easy. He and Alice had indeed been among the best Patronus casters back then. Williamson didn't know that this had to do with the training from the Order of course.

"I knew you'd make it one day," Williamson said. "Though it was worse than we thought. But this bitch got as good as she gave, you can believe me that."

Cordelia coughed slightly at her colleague's choice of words.

"Too bad she got me again in the end," Williamson added.

"Let's fetch the grill and the coals," Cordelia suggested. "They're in the cellar and we should take them upstairs the Muggle way. This is a Muggle house after all."

"Well, I have something else to fetch." He grinned and winked at Frank. "German beer. As effective as Goldberry Leaf Potion but tastes much better and is cheaper."

Frank didn't mention that he had never drunk any Goldberry Leaf Potion because he had been living among Muggles all the time.

The three Aurors went downstairs, Frank fetched the grill and allowed himself to use a charm that made it lighter, Cordelia took the coals and Gary Williamson his beer crate.

"We need to light the grill the Muggle way as well," Gary Williamson said as they had finally put it onto the balcony. Some of them might watch us."

"They won't," Cordelia whispered to Frank. "I've put spells on here that keep us from being heard or seen."

Gary still wanted to have the fire lit the Muggle way which wasn't as easy as one might think at first. After five broken matches, Gary had to admit that being a Muggle required much more skilled hands than being a wizard who could do everything with his wand and a spell. Frank finally took over. He had lived eight years as a Muggle after all and learned to light a match. Frank didn't tell Gary that he had almost set his British Muggle house on fire with the first attempt.

The same thing almost happened again when Gary overdid it with the liquid charcoal lighter. Cordelia needed to throw her cloak over them to keep them from catching fire. She did resort to magic so the grill fire didn't set anything else alight.

Cordelia was shaking her head as both men laughed about their mishap. "We do need to mind the Muggles," she said.

From this point onwards, the grilling went without further problems. Steaks, sausages, pasta salad and beer all tasted good and Cordelia and Gary entertained Frank with various stories about ridiculous things that had happened in both the German and British Ministry. Sometimes, Frank could laugh as well, sometimes he didn't quite get what was supposed to be funny and in other cases, he actually thought it was sad, especially knowing how things had ended. Either way, he hadn't been feeling so relaxed for years; finally back among his own people.

"Why did they ever choose Fudge of all people to become Minister," Frank asked after they had told him a few stories from the time when Cornelius Fudge had spent an entire year chasing Dumbledore rather than Voldemort. "We were all sure it would be Crouch."

"Well, his son's conviction wasn't exactly good publicity as you can imagine," Gary said. "He was removed from his position at the MLE soon after this. Got the Department for International Magical Cooperation post instead."

Frank was slightly offended by the hint that this was an inferior job. His father had held it for many years. It was true that Frederic Longbottom would have preferred a career as an Auror though. He hadn't been able to pursue this career because he had failed his Potions OWL. Frank thought that this hadn't been a bad decision. His father had had always been a better diplomat than fighter.

His mother Augusta however had loved duelling and everything related to Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had failed her Charms OWL however which had made an Auror career impossible as well. It had been clear to both of them that Frank would not repeat their mistake. He was going to be an excellent student and would be an Auror later. Frank had been tutored in all the important subjects from an early age and his parents had decided exactly which subjects he was to take. DADA of course, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Ancient Runes (Aurors might be forced to read hidden messages) and Muggle Studies (Aurors might have to go undercover among Muggles.) The latter had proven very useful in the end even though much had changed in the Muggle world since Frank had taken the lessons.

A Longbottom would be a warrior for the light, this had always been obvious for Frank's parents and he had never questioned it either. Unlike many other people who had parents requiring something so strictly, he had never felt the desire to rebel and do something else. Only when he had gotten to know Alice and her family, he had started to regret their dismissive attitude about Herbology. He had tried to respect her love for plants but he had never quite understood it. His parents had left the garden to the House Elves.

If only he could have been given the chance to speak to them once more. They had died believing he was beyond saving.

"Are you alright, Frank?" Cordelia asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking. My father was head of this department before Crouch. Somehow, I can't believe he has been the best person for this job."

"Not really," Gary said. "He wasn't acceptable in his old job anymore though."

"Do you know what happened to Crouch junior?" Frank asked. Unlike the Lestranges who all seemed to have survived, Frank hadn't seen him mentioned anywhere.

"He died in Azkaban, one year after coming in," Cordelia said. "He wasn't the only one. Only ten of the captured Death Eaters survived with their sanity relatively intact until You-Know-Who returned."

"Ten? That's not much," Frank said. He remembered the arrest of the 50th Death Eater, it had been Travers. There had been even more than that. So more than forty Death Eaters or suspects had died in Azkaban. It was really astonishing that Voldemort had managed to seize power with so many of his followers gone.

"There was some funny business with Crouch junior and Dumbledore but we were never told any details," Gary said. "He's definitely gone now though. The rest have all survived for some reason."

Frank didn't say anything. He wouldn't have expected someone like Rodolphus Lestrange to survive Azkaban and neither a woman who had grown up as sheltered and spoilt as Bellatrix Lestrange. Their devotion to their master obviously had been motivation enough though.

"There's something else I need to tell you about," Gary said. "I've met your son."

Frank almost dropped his fork. He had expected to hear many things but not this.

"You've met my, but that can't be, Neville's dead, they killed him."

"No, Neville's very much alive," Williamson said. "And he still seems to be. He was in the Daily Prophet last week at least."

"Are you really sure?" Frank asked. He simply couldn't believe this. Frank had been absolutely certain that the Death Eaters had killed Neville. Yes, the prophecy had probably applied to Harry Potter but they would still want to make sure that any child who was a potential threat would be dead, wouldn't they?

"I'm absolutely sure. I don't think there are many Neville Longbottoms of his age and the resemblance to the two of you was striking," Gary said.

Neville, alive? The thought was too good to be true. Or was it? Why would he turn up in the Daily Prophet?

"Neville's still living there?" Frank asked. "And he's cooperating with them? Or is he one of the wanted people?"

"No, no, he's well-respected over there," Gary said.

Frank's heart sunk. His son couldn't be a traitor, could he? It was simply impossible. No Longbottom would ever support the Death Eaters. But still, the last time Frank had met him; Neville hadn't even been three years old. He didn't know his son at all.

"He's a Healer, that's how I met him. After Bellatrix Lestrange, Phillip Selwyn and Dolohov had used the Cruciatus curse on me, I spent a year in Saint Mungo's. Until your son gave me some special sort of potion. It made me know who I was and what had happened again. He's very talented and well-liked."

Frank needed some time to assimilate this information. His son Neville, a Healer? Few if any Longbottoms had ever chosen this profession. To him, it had always been clear that Neville would become an Auror as well one day. He'd have to continue the fight. Frank remembered that Alice had thought of him becoming a Healer because little Neville had always wanted to help injured animals in their garden. She had actually liked the idea.

Frank took a deep breath. For him, it was almost impossible to imagine the chubby little boy toddling through their small garden as a grown man in the green robes of a Healer. He couldn't even imagine what Neville might look like now.

"So he has sworn the oath?" Frank asked.

"Yes, and he's taking it quite seriously," Gary said. "He refused to; well do something for me which would have violated it. On the outside, Neville's cooperating with them but in reality, he's trying his best to help people, everyone. He's arranged for me to be able to leave the country before someone could harm me again. Without him, I wouldn't be sitting here now."

This was admirable in a way but it wasn't what Frank had imagined his son to be like in the rare moments where he had dared to consider the idea that he might have survived. A Healer who acted as something like a double agent? This wasn't the Longbottom way.

Frank's ideal version of his son had been more like this Florian Anthony Goldstein had mentioned. Proud, brave, prepared to stand up for what he believed in. Still, Frank knew that Neville wouldn't have survived if he had been like that. He could probably do more good as a Healer who seemingly cooperated with them than he would as a dead or exiled hero. Florian whatever his really name might have been was probably dead or imprisoned by now.

Anthony Goldstein must have known Neville as well but he wouldn't have used his real name because he didn't want to put him in danger. Frank really regretted that he hadn't had a chance to speak to Anthony now. He could have told him what Neville had been like at Hogwarts. Had he been a Gryffindor? Had he played Quidditch as well? Did he have a girlfriend? Was he married? Where there any grandchildren? Frank wanted to know this and so much more.

"Did Neville tell you anything about himself?" Frank asked.

Gary shook his head. "He preferred to keep his professional distance and I can't blame him given the way I acted then. Neville didn't tell me anything about himself or his family. I didn't tell him that I know you either."

"He didn't mention his mother?" Frank asked.

"No, I'm sorry. As I said, he didn't talk about himself at all. He was busy enough with me. I have to admit that I didn't trust him at all in the beginning."

"A normal symptom of our disease," Cordelia said with a look in Frank's direction.

Frank didn't like this idea any better now than he had when he heard it for the first time.

Gary seemed to feel something similar: "Yes and not only that. I knew that You-Know-Who had won and I also knew that the husband of the woman who was the main reason for my problems was in charge of the entire healthcare system now. Trusting people isn't easy under these conditions. He's been Lestrange's apprentice for Merlin's sake. How am I supposed to know that he's secretly still on our side?"

"That's very difficult of course," Cordelia said.

Frank spoke at the same time: "Lestrange's apprentice?"

How could Neville do that? How far had he gone to make himself look like a loyal supporter of the Death Eater regime? How could he interact with this man willingly?

"Lestrange taught him? How is that possible? He had lost his oath and had no right to do this. A Memory Charm was used on him. He shouldn't even remember anything about his knowledge from Saint Mungo's."

Wondering about this was easier than acknowledging the inexplicable decision Neville had made.

"This kind of thing didn't matter much with You-Know-Who in charge. They simply bent the rules I think," Gary said.

"But what about the Memory Charm?"

Gary hesitated for a moment. "The charm got broken. During his captivity at the Ministry."

Frank knew immediately what this meant. There was only one way to break a Memory Charm, prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus curse. Crouch had decided against doing this on Aurors under Memory Charms because the danger of lasting damage was too high.

He stared at Williamson. "You've tortured him badly enough to break a Memory Charm? By Accident?" Frank wasn't able to keep his voice from sounding shocked.

Williamson gave him a disbelieving look. "Frank Longbottom, you're a bloody saint," he said. "You're not telling me you feel sorry for Lestrange of all people, are you? Don't you think he deserved to pay?"

Frank didn't answer. The term "feeling sorry for him" didn't describe his feelings adequately at all. He was horrified at the idea that his colleagues had gone so far and even worse, believed they had done it for him. Frank had grudgingly accepted that there was no way past using the Cruciatus curse when someone refused to speak under Veritaserum if lives were at stake but not for pointless revenge.

The mental image of Williamson standing above a helpless prisoner casting this curse over an extended period of time because otherwise, there was no chance of breaking such a charm made Frank want to leave the table and get away from this man as quickly as possible. He had imagined such things in his anger as well but Frank had been brought up strictly believing that such fantasies were never to be put into action.

Cordelia at least had the decency to seem somewhat ashamed. Interpreting Frank's questioning look correctly, she admitted: "Yes, I did take part in this as well. It was, you know, people kept alleging I was biased in favour of Lestrange, my Patronus and everything you know."

Frank knew and he couldn't deny that he had been wondering about that as well.

"I thought I had to prove it wasn't true. And Bellatrix Lestrange, well, no one could stand the way she was talking. We simply wanted her to stop acting like this, to admit defeat. I'm not proud of it."

I'd be very worried if you were, Frank thought but didn't say aloud. He didn't feel he could say any of the things going through his head openly. Those people had taken him in and helped him without receiving anything in return so far. They held power over him as well. If they wanted to it wouldn't be hard for them to have Frank handed over to the Death Eaters. He needed to tread carefully.

Part of Frank knew that this train of thought was absurd in a way. He suddenly accused them of being prepared to betray him because they had tortured his torturers wishing to avenge him and Alice. Something went wrong in his head; maybe it had to do with the illness in some way.

He simply couldn't fathom the idea of Cordelia Savage having tortured the man who had saved her life and her sanity. You had no life debt to a Healer of course but still. It almost sounded like an example of the thing Dumbledore had said so many times. "If someone goes over to the dark side, there's nothing and no one that matters to him anymore." Only that he couldn't really see it that way. Cordelia hadn't gone over to the dark side, Lestrange's betrayal had come first of course but it still made it seem wrong and her explanation wasn't a good one. There had been no reason not to treat them the way prisoners were supposed to be treated, especially if they had confessed which seemed to have been the case. Frank also had to admit that Lestrange couldn't be as weak and cowardly as Frank had always thought him to be if he survived 14 years with the Dementors after this and was still in a state to teach healing magic to other people.

To Frank's son which made the situation even more absurd and worrisome at the same time. His Neville was there and at Lestrange's mercy. That was probably why they had killed Alice and planned to kill him.

"She got her revenge again," Williamson said. "Now you know the reason why I've been attacked."

That didn't make sense at all, Frank thought. Why would Lestrange allow for someone like Williamson to be treated if his wife had brought him into this state as revenge? Or had this been more of a rebellious act from Neville's side than Frank had appreciated so far?

"I hope you don't mind me asking but how did Neville managed to give you treatment under these circumstances?" Frank asked.

Williamson shrugged. "I'm not sure how I ended up in Saint Mungo's. I believe that Lestrange wanted someone for your son to practice on before he was allowed to treat Death Eaters."

Frank asked himself why it had become necessary to treat Death Eaters because of exposure to the Cruciatus curse again.

"It's the only explanation that makes sense. I don't think I was supposed to escape alive."

Frank considered this very unlikely too.

It was almost impossible that Lestrange hadn't noticed Williamson's escape. According to the Daily Prophet, Neville still seemed to be alive but Frank was certain that no Death Eater would let something like this go unpunished. Maybe he had found the missing clue now. Lestrange had pretended to allow Neville to treat him and Alice, maybe this had even been what had made Neville cooperative in the first place. Then he had murdered Alice as soon as she got better as punishment for the help Neville had given to Williamson and maybe others as well and had planned to do the same to Frank but never gotten the chance. Neville now lived a bit like a hostage, believing that both his parents were dead.

If this was true, Frank had to tell him somehow that he was still alive and he had to help Neville regain his freedom.

The food tasted like ash to him now. His colleagues had gone more deeply into the Dark Arts than he had ever believed possible, supposedly for his sake. He didn't understand how they could ever believe he'd want something like that.

Frank's family however had paid the price. Alice was probably dead and Neville in the Death Eaters' hands. Accusing them wouldn't help anyone though. He needed to plan his next steps.

"Was Neville the only one who helped you escaping?" Frank asked Williamson.

The other Auror shook his head. "No. Neville led me to a hidden place where we met Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dora Tonks. You know Shacklebolt, Tonks is a young Auror who was involved with Dumbledore's Order as well. They helped me get out of the country the Muggle way under a fake identity. Dora went as my wife, she's a Metamorphmagus you know and can look however she wants. I've never heard of them afterwards though. They didn't want contact abroad because they thought it was too dangerous. There's no way of communication that can't be tracked if you know how to do it."

Frank thanked him. No matter what he thought and felt about their actions, they did their best to be helpful, he couldn't deny that.

"So you don't think they could help me get back?" Frank asked.

"Get back?" Cordelia asked disbelief in her voice. "I don't think this is a very good idea. It's very likely that you're going to be caught, now with the Home Shield and everything."

"Why would you want to go back?" Williamson asked as well. "The resistance over there is small and they can't really do anything. Their busy hiding and assuring their survival and hope for better days. They will not bring You-Know-Who down without outside help. This will only be provided if we are here, tell them what's going on and help organising it. There's much more you can do here."

"This may be true," Frank said. "But it's not only about You-Know-Who. I need to free Neville. That's the most important thing for me at the moment."

"I'm sorry if this disappoints you mate, but I don't think Neville wants to be freed," Williamson said. "He came here with Lestrange about a year ago, they had been asked to help a child who had been attacked by the Grindelwald supporters. I've been one of the Aurors assigned to their protection and to make sure that they don't do anything they're not supposed to. Neville would have had lots of opportunities to flee if he had wanted to do so. He did not. Most people here and in the UK see him as a loyal supporter of the new regime. I saw no evidence that he was being held against his will either."

"Maybe he had been put under the Imperius curse," Frank suggested. He simply couldn't imagine that Neville would work with Lestrange willingly after everything that had happened.

"Don't risk your life for something without knowing even half the facts," Cordelia said. "Your life is too precious for that. There aren't many of us left."

Frank sighed. They weren't wrong. Nothing of this made any sense. He didn't understand it. Simply sitting here and doing nothing while his son was suffering seemed unbearable though. He had left him alone much too long already, believing he was dead. Now that he knew that Neville was alive he wanted to help him, he wanted to see him with his own eyes.

"You know Frank, so far, your strategy to just do something because it vaguely seems like a good idea without really thinking it through has worked surprisingly well," Williamson said. "You've escaped Saint Mungo's, you got out the country, you did what you came for in Serbia, you fought well here. You can't expect this to work forever though. You need to settle down and gather all the necessary information before you take your next step."

Frank didn't like to admit it but he knew Williamson was probably right. The situation around Neville was far too murky for him to really decide on the right course of action just yet. He didn't know anything about Alice at all so far.

"You could always surrender to You-Know-Who and claim citizenship as well of course," Cordelia said. "This way, you'd be able to get into the country legally and see your son if you're able to make up a proper cover story for your journey and hide your true feelings."

"I will not surrender to You-Know-Who!" Frank stated without hesitation. How could she believe that?

"I didn't think you'd want to but I wanted you to know that this is an option nowadays," Cordelia said.

"Can you think of anyone who might know what has happened to Alice?" he asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't know of anyone right now. The other patients from this ward didn't leave the country. If Gary doesn't know anything, I don't think anyone here does. She definitely never turned up in the Daily Prophet, neither as a supporter nor as an enemy of the regime or in the family notifications."

"So it's likely that she's dead?" Frank asked.

"It doesn't have to mean that," Cordelia said kindly. "Maybe she's recovered but simply doesn't do anything noteworthy enough for the papers. Most people don't. It's not impossible that she's escaped like you and Gary and left the country. She's not here in Germany but she could be somewhere else. We really don't know."

Frank remembered the words of Horcrux-Voldemort. It was quite possible that she was kept imprisoned and tortured as well or that she had died under these circumstances sometime during the years that had passed. It was extremely likely that the Death Eaters wanted revenge after their stay in Azkaban and took it on a helpless Alice. Maybe they kept her hostage to assure Neville's compliance.

Frank felt torn. He couldn't simply sit there in his safe exile while they might need his help. If he went and got himself captured or killed as well, their situation wouldn't improve though. Even knowing that Alice was dead would be a form of comfort now. It would free him of the feeling that he should save her but was unable to do it.