Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Hey everyone, and I hope you all are doing okay. I owe everyone a huge apology for not updating in so long, but I hope you understand the reason for it.

For those of you who are reading any of my other stories, you will have already seen this, but for those of you that are just reading this one, my explanation for not updating in so long is simply the fact that I literally couldn't write anything for several days after what happened on January 6. I live in the United States, but I know that whether I lived here or not, I would have been totally stricken by what I saw. I wish every single one of my readers hope and healing during these difficult times we are living through.

Then, when I finally got the inspiration to write again, the Fanfiction site itself kept giving me problems. It wouldn't let people know when I posted a chapter to one of my other stories, and when it finally did, it gave out the notification multiple times. This website drives me insane at times, it acts so darn temperamental. I'm hoping everything is back on track now.

Anyway, Yellow 14, I am so incredibly relieved that you tested negative for Covid. I'm so glad you were able to go back to work, and I really hope your family is okay. Thanks so much for your review, and you're right. Snape certainly isn't sweetness and light, far from it. But I hope to make him into a better person in this story.

And as far as living with blindness goes, I have learned to adapt to it. I was never able to see in the first place, so I don't really know what I lost. I've always thought it much harder for people who have sight and then lose it. I love typing this up on my braille notetaker and then posting it, it's awesome.

The relationship between Dumbledore and Snape has always fascinated me. Up until Deathly Hallows, I thought they had more of a close bond, but DH showed me that it was extremely strained at times, and it wasn't at all how I pictured it before then. I really hope to portray it right in this story. I also agree that Dumbledore handled the whole situation with the Marauders and Snape horribly. Yes, Snape is definitely responsible for his own choices, but Dumbledore sure as hell didn't help him.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

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When Harry arrived at the hospital wing to check on Neville after he'd high-tailed it out of Snape's quarters, he couldn't think straight due to the mixture of emotions swirling within him. He felt like everything in his world had changed, like the past week had altered him irrevocably. He honestly couldn't understand how everything had suddenly snowballed out of control, and he felt like the earth had spun off of its axis, and then dumped him unceremoniously in some parallel universe where nothing made sense.

His feet had taken him to the hospital wing on autopilot, as his mind was a million miles away. He desperately hoped Neville was okay; he remembered vividly the shock, horror, and rage that had taken over Neville's entire countenance during the confrontation with Crouch. After it was over, he had seemed to collapse, his eyes losing focus and his face blank. Harry wondered if he'd looked the same when Snape had discovered him.

Snape. The confusion, fear, and anger only intensified when Harry thought of him. The man had treated him like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe since he'd arrived at Hogwarts, so how had his tune changed so drastically? It had to be an act, Harry kept telling himself. He's just taking a page out of Crouch's book. But as he opened the doors of the hospital wing, he couldn't muster up the conviction he should have felt. His instincts were screaming at him, but he tried with a Herculean effort to tamp them down. He was not going to be let down by an adult again. Never again.

As soon as Harry walked in, he was relieved to see that the curtains were open around a bed, and Neville was sitting up in it. He was dressed normally, and by all accounts, he looked physically healthy. But the look in his eyes spoke volumes of how he was handling all of this. Incredible sympathy welled up in Harry; to be manipulated, used, and taunted the way Crouch had done to Neville was so vile that it made Harry's insides twist. If he ever saw that madman again, he certainly wouldn't trust himself to be in the same room as him. And judging by the expression Neville had worn the night before, the other boy wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who had been one of the reasons why his parents couldn't recognize him.

"Hey, Neville," Harry said softly. "Are you okay?" Instantly, he berated himself for asking such a stupid question. Of course Neville wasn't okay.

But the other boy took no offense. "I'm all right," he said, giving Harry the tiniest of smiles. "Thanks for checking up on me. Madam Pomfrey said she's going to let me out in a few minutes."

"I'm really happy to hear that," said Harry sincerely. "What happened when McGonagall took you out of the Defense office?"

Neville flushed, his face full of shame. "I don't remember," he whispered. "Next thing I knew, I was lying in a bed in here with Madam Pomfrey fussing over me."

"It's okay, Neville. Something similar happened to me," Harry admitted, wanting so badly to take that awful look off his friend's face. Neville was always making self-depeecating comments about his memory, and Harry hated how he never gave himself any credit for anything. "It was Snape who found me. I don't think I got very far after I left the office. I think he gave me some kind of potion, and then he took me to his quarters to spend the night."

Harry didn't know why he was telling Neville this, but something inside him urged him onwards. Maybe the two of them could help each other get past all the confusion and horror they had grappled with the night before, and were still experiencing now. It had always been Ron and Hermione he'd gone to with anything before, but somehow, Neville felt like the right person to confide this to.

"Snape?" Neville gasped, his face transforming to pure shock. "Snape took you to his quarters? But he hates you, Harry, I think even more than he hates me!"

"Believe me, I know," said Harry, agreeing wholeheartedly with Neville's assessment of the situation. "I don't know what he was playing at. He was acting all odd too, like the past never happened at all."

The frown on Neville's face said it all. "This year is insane, isn't it?" he said, his eyes displaying all the turmoil he was feeling.

"This year is horrible," Harry said, and he couldn't help the bitterness that seeped into his tone. "I wish we could start over."

Before Neville could reply, Madam Pomfrey bustled towards them. "Mr. Potter," she said briskly. "I heard you were very much involved in last night's ordeal." She pointed to an empty bed across from Neville's. "I'd like to check you over."

"No, I'm fine," said Harry, annoyed. He was sick of being fussed over by adults who pretended to care about him. She saved your life at the end of your first year, Harry tried to rationalize to himself. She's a Healer, another part of his mind argued. Do you really think she'd let you die if there was a way you could survive? It'd look pretty bad on her resume if she let the Boy Who Lived not live anymore.

Harry suddenly realized how dark his thoughts were getting, and he tried to reign himself in. What was it about this year in particular that was making him like this? Even throughout his childhood, he'd had some hope, some optimism. But that spark that had been inside him, especially when Hogwarts first became a reality, had flickered and gone out. And honestly, he didn't know if it could be rekindled.

"Harry?" He suddenly felt Neville's hand on his shoulder. "Harry, are you okay?"

"Mr. Potter, it is imperative that I check you," persisted Madam Pomfrey. "You don't look well, young man."

Harry sighed, and against his better judgment, he got up and walked over to the bed the Healer had pointed to. He remained quiet as she ran her wand over him, making tut-tutting noises as she did so. "You need to rest, Mr. Potter," was her verdict at the end of the examination. "I will allow you and Mr. Longbottom to leave here, but I would like you to take it easy for a while. You need plenty of sleep, and you also need the support of your friends."

Harry only nodded in response, letting her words just slip by him. "Yes, ma'am," he answered dully.

"And as for you, Mr. Longbottom," Pomfrey said, and her voice sounded more gentle now. "Do take care of yourself."

"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey," said Neville quietly. "I will. How's Professor Moody?"

"He is resting, and he will make a full recovery," answered the mediwitch promptly. "He has certainly been through a nasty ordeal, but he will come through it. He will awaken some time today, but for now, it is best if he has no visitors."

"Okay," said Neville, looking relieved. "I'm glad to hear that he will recover. Thanks again, Madam Pomfrey." He got up off the bed, and in turn, so did Harry.

"You're welcome," said the Healer as both boys exited the hospital wing.

As they slowly traipsed back to Gryffindor Tower, Neville said, "My Gran told me that Moody was one of the Aurors who caught Crouch and his lot when they were ... hurting my parents."

"Oh," said Harry lamely, at a loss of what to say to that. "Neville, I ... I can't believe what happened last night."

"How did you know?" Neville suddenly asked, and he looked as though this question had been wanting to burst out of him for ages. "Why did you, McGonagall, and Snape suddenly just show up at the Defense office like that?"

Slowly, Harry told Neville everything. He owed him an explanation for the events that must have seemed to happen out of nowhere, from Neville's perspective.

By the end of the tale, Neville looked amazed. "Your dad and his friends invented ... wow," he breathed, his face the picture of astonishment. "And I guess you thought that the Barty Crouch that was here was the guy from the Ministry?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Something felt really off about it, though. What was he doing in Moody's office? I was going to investigate it myself, but then Snape showed up and tried to stop me. It was McGonagall who finally said we could all go."

Neville looked at Harry, his expression earnest. "I'm glad you didn't go by yourself," he said, his voice full of conviction. "You frighten me sometimes, Harry. It's like first year. You'll get in all these crazy situations, and you'll want to sort it out yourself."

"And you want to know why that is?" asked Harry, his voice filled with bitter disappointment though it wasn't directed at Neville. "None of the professors have ever helped me. Only Professor Lupin was good to me, but even he went and hid the truth for so long. I had no idea he was so close with my dad." He didn't know why he wasn't mentioning Sirius - he trusted Neville, but there was something about the events at the end of last year that made him keep it to himself.

Neville nodded in understanding. "I get it," he said softly. "But for me, I guess I owe Lupin a lot. He's the only one, other than Professor Sprout, who's never gotten on my case about my magic, and actually tried to help me get better."

Harry once again felt compassion for the other boy. "Nev, you're not bad at magic," he said quietly.

Neville snorted. "Who are you kidding, Harry?" he said. "I'm bloody terrible at it."

"No, you're not," Harry insisted, wanting to shake some sense into his friend. "You've gotten loads better."

"Gran doesn't think so," Neville confided sadly as they climbed up to the seventh floor.

"Don't listen to her. She's not here every day, watching you try your best," said Harry, who suddenly felt very angry at the woman who had raised Neville.

Neville smiled gently at Harry. "Thanks," he said, but it was plain that he was only humoring him. Harry vowed at that moment that he would never give up trying to convince Neville that he was worth so much more than he thought he was.

xxx

"WHAT? Are you bloody SERIOUS?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville sat in the Gryffindor common room. Harry had woken Ron up when he'd returned to the tower, knowing he had to tell him and Hermione everything that had occurred. As much as Harry didn't want to relive it all over again, Ron and Hermione were his best friends. It had to be done.

The common room wasn't full; it was a Saturday morning, and plenty of people were still in bed. Harry had been speaking in a low voice, but Ron's exclamation caused several people to stop what they were doing and stare at the quartet sitting on one of the large couches. "Moody wasn't Moody? He was a nutter that's supposed to be dead?"

"Ron, be quiet and let him finish," said Hermione, who could see that Harry wanted to get this whole thing over with.

"Yeah," said Harry, and he and Neville took turns telling the rest of the story.

"Bloody hell!" Ron couldn't help but exclaim when Harry got to the part about the Goblet of Fire. "He was going to put your name in for the Triwizard Tournament? Bloody hell!"

"That's just horrible, Harry," Hermione said, her face white. "Thank Merlin that didn't happen. And all to get you to You-Know-Who at the proper time!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. Me, Hogwarts champion," Harry said sarcastically. "One thousand Galleons prize money, but who would it have gone to? I'd have been dead if Voldemort got me. And Voldemort, returned to his body. What a joy, eh?"

Hermione instantly moved closer to Harry, and hugged him. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It must have been an awful evening."

"It gets worse," Harry said, his voice almost a whisper as he began to explain what had happened next. "Dumbledore apologized to me," he said, "but I just walked out of there." He flushed in embarrassment as he confessed, "I dunno what happened next, really. All I know is that Snape found me not far from the Defense office, and I spent the night in his quarters."

Ron's reaction was both instantaneous and predictable. "And you went with him?" he exclaimed loudly. "What in Merlin's name were you thinking, mate? And you somehow survived the night without being poisoned?"

"For God's sake, Ronald!" Hermione snapped. "Must you accuse Snape of the worst possible crimes?"

Harry tuned Ron and Hermione out as they started bickering about Snape. That whole experience in his quarters still felt surreal to him, and his friends making conjectures and guessing Snape's motives didn't sit well with him.

Eventually, he voiced his thoughts. "Will you two stop it?" he burst out. "It's bad enough having to try and sort it out in my own head, and then you two have to go and argue about it."

Ron looked down, shame-faced. "Sorry, mate," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm sorry too, Harry," Hermione said sincerely. "That was selfish of us." She sighed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be seeing him again soon?" she asked.

"I've got detention with him tonight," said Harry, his stomach in knots just at the thought of it.

"I wouldn't go, if I were you," said Ron. "Stay away from him."

"I can't do that, Ron, as much as I want to," sighed Harry. "Don't worry, I'll take care of myself."

"Do you want to go to breakfast?" asked Ron. "Do you feel like eating anything?"

"Snape gave me breakfast," Harry said. "And in any case, I'm not at all hungry."

"I got breakfast from Madam Pomfrey this morning. That's where I was last night, in the hospital wing. I ..." Neville's face turned brick red. "I wasn't doing well after what happened. But I'm okay now," he rushed to say. "I'm not hungry either, though."

"We understand," said Ron. "Do you mind if Hermione and I go? We won't be long."

"Nah, of course not," said Harry. "Go ahead."

"Do you want us to talk about what's happened?" asked Hermione. "Or would you like us to keep it quiet?"

"I don't care," said Harry, and he truly didn't. It suddenly made no difference whether the whole bloody school knew or not. Honestly, what would be done about this new breach of security? Absolutely nothing. If the past three years had taught him anything, it was that.

"I think we should tell," said Hermione, giving Harry a look full of compassion. "We'll be back." She and Ron got up off the couch, and with one last look at Harry, they headed out of the common room.

Harry sighed, and he and Neville remained silent as they contemplated everything that had come to be. Harry noticed that Neville hadn't mentioned Crouch being one of the Death Eaters that had tortured his parents into insanity, and he understood the reason for this perfectly. Neville didn't want or need all the attention that this revelation would bring him.

Up until that evening, Harry spent his day with his three friends. They made it a point to stay away from people, not wanting to hear the gossip that would be spreading around the school now. Harry knew it was only delaying the inevitable, but he wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.

But then, the dreaded time came for Harry to head to detention with Snape. He had just finished eating some dinner that Hermione had gone to retrieve for him from the Great Hall, knowing that the last thing he wanted to do was sit in there with the whole school. Now, the time had come for him to bid his friends goodbye and head towards the unknown. He knew it sounded melodramatic, but it was truly how he felt.

"Harry, just take it easy," Hermione implored as she looked worriedly at him.

"Don't let him get to you, mate," said Ron, attempting to smile bravely at him. "And we'll be here for you when you get back."

"Yeah, we will," Neville agreed, his voice full of reassurance. "We're not going anywhere."

"Thanks," said Harry, his heart lightening. No matter what happened this evening, he knew his friends would be there when he returned.

And that, he thought as he left the common room and headed down to the dungeons, meant more to him than they would ever know.