"They just want to get you off the grounds so they can kill you!" Hermione said angrily.
Harry didn't understand why Hermione looked so frightened. She'd spent most of the term looking composed and unworried about the future, with some kind of knowledge that everything would be all right.
"The gems are away on some kind of secret mission for Dumbledore," Steven said. "There isn't time to check and see if it'll be O.K."
Neville's parents were in St. Mungo's, a place they'd been since Neville was a baby. They'd been tortured by magic until their minds had stopped working. Harry hadn't known about them at all until recently; Neville didn't like talking about them much.
Someone had attacked St. Mungo's and intentionally injured both of Neville's parents beyond the healers ability to repair. They were both dying.
"If I don't try to heal them, I'm just letting Neville's parents die," Steven said.
"And what happens to the rest of us if you die?" Hermione asked, her voice dropping. "People depend on you."
"It doesn't matter how well you plan it," Steven said. "There's always a chance that something will go wrong. If you let fear rule you it'll drive you crazy."
"It's crazy to go someplace you know they're going to try and kill you!" Hermione said.
"Moody's agreed to go," Steven said. "And Tonks and Harry."
"Harry's decent with a wand, but he'll be up against full grown wizards," Hermione said. "How could Moody agree to all this? It doesn't make any sense."
Staring at Hermione, Harry shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if she really was a Gryffindor. She was brave enough where it counted, but she wanted to plan everything. Gryffindors liked to follow their hearts.
"They're after both of you," Hermione said. "It doesn't make sense for both of you to go."
"If I don't, they'll all be going after Steven," Harry said.
Hermione frowned. "Then I'm going too."
"It's too dangerous," Steven said. He carefully pulled her arm away from his arm. "I really shouldn't be letting Harry go."
"Fuse with me," she said. "They won't be looking for her."
It took Harry a moment to realize what she was saying. He flashed back to the exotic creature that had made the night of the ball so memorable.
"You can't know that," Steven said. "And if we die when we're fused, we both die."
He frowned and concentrated, and a moment later his form was twisting and changing. He actually shrank a little and his thick head of hair vanished.
A moment later he was hunched over and looked old.
"I've been practicing this," he said. Even his voice sounded different. "Trying to learn how to control how old I feel."
Hermione stared at the elderly version of Steven with an expression Harry couldn't interpret. Harry wondered if Steven had been trying to grow up for her, not temporarily like when he stretched his limbs, but permanently.
"I'll wear my cloak," Harry said. "We'll be fine."
For some reason Hermione didn't look convinced.
Sneaking through St. Mungo's wasn't as easy as Harry had thought. There were crowds of people passing through and it was quite busy.
Steven was dressed in what Harry assumed were healer's robes, although they didn't really look like what Madam Pomprey wore. Moody seemed to approve, so he assumed they were all right.
Tonks had changed to a male form, looking like a tall and slender man who was scowling at the people around her. That helped a little; people gave her an unconscious berth.
Of Moody there was no sign. His looks were too distinctive; anyone who saw him would be placed on alert. He'd assured them that he'd be watching, although Harry wasn't sure if it was going to be enough. If he was too far away, would it even matter if he saw what was going to happen?
Of assassins, there was no sign.
There wasn't even any signs of Auror presence in the wake of the earlier attacks. Harry felt a moment of suspicion, wondering if there had even actually been an attack. Just the rumor of one might have been enough to pull them out of Hogwarts, while leaving hospital security not on high alert.
Moody was paranoid to have checked though. Given his nature, he was probably hoping to trap the assassins instead of leaving them to try something else. The last thing Harry needed was for them to attack the Dursleys or someone he knew back in school.
The Longbottoms were already waiting for them.
After Tonks checked the room and closed the door behind her, she closed the door carefully and locked it.
Neville's grandmother started as Harry pulled his cloak off and Tonks and Steven returned to their previous shapes.
Neville waved at them using a subtle gesture they'd worked out among themselves. Harry relaxed. Neville was actually himself. At Neville's sudden look of suspicion, he and Steven returned the wave with the appropriate countersign.
Oddly, they'd gotten the idea from an old spy movie Steven had seen.
"I understand it was something of an inconvenience for you to come here," she said. "Whatever happens, I want to thank you."
"Neville is our friend," Steven said. "We couldn't not help if we could do something."
She nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Neville sniffled, then looked up at Steven. "I hope you can help. The healers here can't do anything."
Given the limits of Wizardly healing, it might be a real challenge to save his parents. Harry had once seen someone have entire bones regrown and most injuries were repaired overnight.
The fact that Neville's parents were here at all proved that there were limits to Wizardly healing though.
If Steven could just get them stabilized, the healers might be able to take Neville's parent's the rest of the way. Harry only hoped that Neville wasn't disappointed.
"I don't know if it'll work," Steven said. "But I'll try."
There were two beds, on which were laying an unfamiliar man and woman. They both looked as pale as death, and for a moment Harry couldn't see their chests moving.
He wondered if they hadn't died already, but finally he realized they were moving.
"They were stabbed in the shoulder with a poisoned blade," Mrs. Longbottom said. "The healers don't know what was used, and nothing they have tried has helped at all."
Steven nodded.
"I'm sorry about this," he said to the unconscious couple. He pulled their sheets down, exposing their shoulders, which were bandaged.
He grimaced and carefully pulled the bandages off.
Harry couldn't help but crane his neck and stare at the wounds, which were raw and hideous looking. Thankfully they were no longer bleeding, but the wounds looked infected.
He licked his palm and placed it on Neville's father's shoulder, then licked his other palm and did the same to his mother.
Although he wasn't sure why, Harry expected the wounds to glow somehow. Maybe it was watching Muggle television shows, or maybe it was the way a lot of Steven's other magical abilities glowed. It had certainly glowed when he'd fused with Hermione.
Instead, the wounds just began to reverse themselves. The lattice of black lines stretching out from the wound began to retreat, and a moment later the cuts themselves began to vanish.
Within moments the wounds were gone entirely.
The man opened his eyes and said, "What's happening? Where am I?"
Neville stared at the prone figure of his father, and his face became as pale as a ghost. He trembled, his eyes wide.
"Alice?" the man was asking. "Is my wife here? Is she all right?" His voice was frantic, and he sounded as though he didn't know where he was. However, his eyes were clear; this wasn't the endless confusion that had filled Neville's parents throughout his life. This was something else entirely.
"She's here, Mr. Longbottom," Steven said. "And she's going to be O.K."
The older woman stepped toward them, the expression on her face unreadable. "They said his condition was going to be permanent."
"Steven can do things," Harry said. "Things ordinary Wizards can't do."
"It's because he's an abomination," Alice Longbottom said quietly. Her wand was out even though Harry hadn't seen her pull it and she was already pointing it at them.
"Avada Kada-" she began, but the air behind her was already shimmering.
"Stupify," Moody said. His wand was in her back and the woman froze and crumpled to the ground in a head.
"What..." Harry began, but he stopped himself as he realized what had happened. Moody had been here all along under a disillusionment spell, waiting for Mrs. Longbottom to make her move.
"How did you know?" he asked.
Moody shook his head, even as he cast a spell making the woman immobile. "If the Longbottoms had been openly attacked, security around the hospital would have been tight. It was "Mrs. Longbottom" who sent the message of the attack to Neville. The whole thing stank from the minute I got here."
Harry had to admit that he'd wondered about it himself.
Neville had given the correct sign, but Mrs. Longbottom wasn't in their group. She had no way to prove that she was herself...or that she wasn't. Neville had doubtlessly met his grandmother at the hospital and had been so worried that he hadn't asked any questions.
"Don't let this get you off your guard," Moody said. "We don't know that there's just one assassin."
"Do you think my grandmother is all right?" Neville asked.
"They had no reason to attack her," Moody said. "It wouldn't earn them any kind of bounty. They've had house elves stealing hairs all over the place for polyjuice potions. They don't need the people they are replacing."
Steven nodded and turned. He leaned over the bed and patted Neville's mother on the arm. Neville's father was already struggling to sit up, although he seemed weak and a little confused.
"Mrs. Longbottom?" he asked quietly. "There are people here who would like to see you very much. It's time to wake up."
Even with his superior speed and reflexes, Steven didn't have time to react as the woman lunged out of the bed and drove a knife into his side.