Wow, I thought this day would never come. A solution for Neville's parents was first mentioned in chapter 6, and now, almost 60 chapters later, we'll finally find out if all their hard work paid off.

I have parts of the next few chapters written already (wrote them a few months ago, actually), so weekly updates (maybe even twice a week, if I am motivated or you guys review a lot) should be no problem for the next ~ 5 chapters.

Read, enjoy and review.

"Could you stop this?" growled Snape, still in his Septimus Fleming disguise.

He was sitting on one of the beds in the hospital room of Alice and Frank Longbottom. He had his wand in his hand and was intently looking at Alice. Alice sat on the other bed, facing him, but her gaze was unfocused. Had she been staring at a wall, her face would not have looked any different.

Neville, who had been pacing up and down the room, came to a sudden halt. "Uhm- sorry."

Snape ignored him and kept looking at Alice in concentration. Over the last couple of months it had become quite the regular occurrence, Snape ignoring Neville, which Draco, who was standing next to Neville, took as a good sign. Maybe Neville had grown on Snape. Or Snape had simply had enough of Neville in his free time, so he didn't want to spend any more time with him in detention.

Prof. Spleen was standing next to Snape and Alice. He had an empty potion vial in his hands. The content of this vial he had just earlier administered to both Longbottoms, Frank and Alice. Now he was observing them, ready to intervene should anything go wrong.

Augusta Longbottom was sitting next to her daughter in law, holding on to her hand as if her life depended on it. Nervously, she looked from Snape to Alice and back.

Frank Longbottom still sat on his bed by the window, oblivious to the events taking place right behind him.

Snape took a deep breath, and, with a clear voice, cast, "Legilimens."

Draco did not know exactly what Snape was doing. He knew it had something to do with mind healing, a special branch of healing magic that combined healing, legilimency and, strange as it had always sounded to Draco, talking to patients. Oftentimes, mind healers would enter a troubled mind and cast spells that were meant to soothe and heal.

Snape was still staring at Alice, but his brows were furrowed. Whatever he experienced in her mind, it could not be very pleasant.

Alice had straigthened up as soon as Snape had cast his spell. Her eyes had changed as well, although Draco could not quite put into words how. They were clearly focused on something, but on what he wasn't sure.

Draco nearly jumped out of his skin, when nails dug deep into his arm. Neville had grabbed his arm with one hand, the other had wandered to his mouth, where he was biting his nails.

Minutes passed, and everyone grew more restless, except for Alice, Frank and Snape, who did not move at all.

"What's taking so long?" asked Neville.

"It is complicated, very advanced magic. Give them time," answered Helbert, without taking his eyes off Alice.

More minutes passed in absolute silence, and Draco was starting to worry that it hadn't worked, and that maybe Snape's mind was now lost as well.

But then, after what seemed like an eternity, Snape exhaled heavily, and lowered his wand. He seemed to be in his own head again.

Neville rushed forward. "Did it work? What did you see? Did it work?"

"Neville," hissed Augusta, but her gaze was also focused on Snape.

Helbert reached for a glass of water and handed it to Snape, who gulped it down in one go. "Thanks," he muttered. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing..." Snape began, and Draco was sure he had said the same thing to them when they had begun their project. "I can only tell you what her mind looks like right now, at this very moment... and it is hard to verbalize. Like nothing I have ever experienced before. No coherent thoughts. Snippets... it is foggy. More feelings than thoughts... confusion, fear,... sometimes, voices manage to find their way through the fog..." he trailed off, staring into the distance.

"Did it work?" Neville repeated.

"I do not know," admitted Snape after a while. His gaze moved back to Alice. She was still sitting on the bed, posture more upright than it had been since they had entered the room. Her eyes were wide. They did not look so hazy anymore, but maybe Draco was just seeing things he wanted to see.

"Mom?" Neville asked, but got no reaction.

Just when Draco started to believe that it had not worked, she blinked. Once, then twice, then her eyes focused on Snape. She inhaled sharply, and looked at the other occupants of the room.

She frantically moved backwards, until she reached the other side of her bed and fell off it with a loud yelp.

"Mom," Neville took a step towards her, but she scrambled away from him, yelling something unintelligible, and Draco grabbed his arm to keep him from stepping any closer.

Alice's shaking hands started to move up and down her legs, in a motion that reminded Draco of someone searching for his wand. Her eyes then fell on Frank and she let out another yelp, and crawled away from him as well, until she ended up backed into a corner.

"Alice," came the loud and steady voice of Augusta Longbottom.

The voice seemed to cut through Alice's panic, and her eyes darted towards it. "A-Augusta," she stammered, her voice weak and raw.

"Alice, dear," said Augusta, tears in her eyes. She stood up from the bed and moved around it. Then she crouched down next to her, taking Alice into her arms.

Augusta began to cry, holding on to Alice. Alice struggled to get out of her grab, still in a panic, but Augusta's presence seemed to calm her somewhat and she eventually stopped fighting. She slung her arms around her and dug her nails into Augusta's back, staring with still panicked, wide eyes at the other occupants of the room. Her breathing was erratic, but slowly calmed down. Her eyes finally came to rest on Neville.

"Who-who are-" her voice broke off. It was hoarse, like the voice of someone who had not talked in a really long time.

"It's me, mom. Neville."

"But, but," Alice began, looking at him, then at Augusta.

"It is true, Alice dear," began Augusta, letting go off Alice and moving back a little, swiping tears from her eyes.

"Mrs. Longbottom," Helbert Spleen began, "you are at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am Prof. Spleen, a healer. You have been here for 14 years."

"14," mouthed Alice, but no sound left her lips.

Augusta nodded her head. "It is okay. It is okay now."

Alice's eyes moved from Helbert, to Augusta, and then back to Neville. "N-Neville?"

"Yes," he said, his voice hoarse, "it's me, mom, it's me." He took a few steps towards her, and this time she did not move away, so Neville went to the ground as well, and took her into his arms.

"My baby?" whispered Alice, more to herself than anyone else.

"Mrs. Longbottom," Helbert asked, once they all had calmed down somewhat, "do you think you can stand up?"

Alice looked at him, then nodded. Slowly, with the help of both Neville and Augusta, she stood up. She was a bit shakey on her feet, but otherwise she seemed fine.

"Frank?" she asked, looking at her husband, but he did not react.

"Something happened," Helbert explained, "but we'll explain once we have treated your husband."

Alice nodded her head.

"Are you ready for another go, Sev-"

"Well," Snape hurried to say, interrupting Helbert, "I will most certainly try."

Draco, who had observed everything that had happened in silence, thought that his godfather looked rather exhausted. Definitely more exhausted than he was letting on.

The whole procedure began anew. Frank was led to where Alice had sat earlier, Snape stared at him with the uttermost concentration, before uttering the magic words that allowed him to enter another's mind. Again, Snape's face contorted into something unpleasant.

Draco felt like the whole process dragged on for far longer than the first time.

All eyes were on Frank, when suddenly the doorknob began to turn. The door, however, had been locked by Helbert earlier.

The sound of the door knob was followed by that of a knock. And then another.

"Hello? What's going on in there?"

The unexpected sound of Gibbon's voice nearly sent Alice in another state of panic and let everyone else draw their wands.

Helbert stepped away from Frank and towards the door.

"I am examining the patients. There is no need to worry."

"Spleen?" replied the voice. "They aren't even your patients. And why lock the door?"

Spleen cursed under his breath. "I'm running some diagnostic tests and did not want to be disturbed."

First there came no reply, and Draco hoped that Gibbon had just left, but then, "patients have complained about someone yelling in there. Open up."

Spleen looked over at Snape and Frank, who were oblivious to what was going on around them.

The moment dragged on, and Spleen neither said nor did anything.

An "Alohomora," could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Shit," mumbled Spleen, before raising his wand in the direction of the door.

TBC

A.N. You didn't honestly think that things would get any easier for Draco and his friends, did you?

I was really dreading this chapter, because I wanted to write it well and I wanted it to be realistic. I thought a lot about how the "illness" they have might work and what real disease or mental illness it could be. In the end I decided that it is an actual brain damage caused by the Curse combined with trauma from the torture...

What did you think of this chapter?

What do you think will happen in the next chapters?