Hello, followers old and new! I haven't written anything in forever, life's been quite busy.

Here's a short summary of what happened in the last few chapters:

· Draco and Neville went to St. Mungo's with Snape over Easter break to heal Frank and Alice Longbottom

· Draco was seen and subsequently got kicked out by his father

· He then stayed with his dear godfather Severus

· Draco went back to school, Neville is still with his parents

· Things with his fellow Slytherins are tough but after kicking some butt they leave him and his friends alone

Read, enjoy and review :)

Draco's eyes wandered over the edge of the parchment to the entrance of the library where he could see his girlfriend approaching. His girlfriend, a thought that never failed to lighten up his mood. He held the letter a bit higher, to hide his probably rather goofy grin.

He could feel her standing in front of him, waiting for him to acknowledge her, but his eyes did not leave the parchment. He could hear her foot tapping on the floor, could sense her impatience growing.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked, quiet enough to not bring about the wrath of Madam Pince. She'd never had the patience to endure his teasing for very long.

Draco looked up as if surprised to see her. "Me? Why I am reading a letter."

Astoria exhaled in annoyance, but Draco could see the corner of her mouth twitch. "No, really? I would have never guessed." Her hand burst forward, and she snatched the letter away from him.

"Hey," Draco laughed, sitting up and observing how her eyes flit across the page.

"So, Sirius wants to be your guardian?" she asked without looking up from the letter.

"Mm-hmm," Draco grinned. The edge of the pain had dulled over the last couple of weeks. His friends had helped a lot. And Sirius' letters. "I think, by now, he must be about two charges short of being an officially recognized orphanage."

Astoria rolled her eyes and handed the letter back. "He still sounds rather upset about your reckless behavior over Easter."

"He is by far one of the biggest hypocrites I have ever had to deal with," Draco laughed. "About a year ago he was the reckless one who had to be reminded to take a bath occasionally and to not kill anyone."

"They grow up so fast," sighed Astoria before she began to laugh softly.

Draco laughed as well.

The tranquility of the old Hogwarts library was soon interrupted by two almost identical figures barging in.

"Draco," yelled - who Draco could by now correctly identify 90% of the time - Fred.

Draco saw Madam Pince jumping up at the sudden intrusion. He sank a bit deeper into his chair, hoping he would not get kicked outside along with the two trouble-makers.

"You!" shrieked Madam Pince, her eyes narrowing. "You two, get out of here! The library is no place for your mischief!"

"Oh, but Madam-"

"Out! And take your raucous cronies with you!" she had her finger pointed towards the exit and was now glaring at Astoria and Draco.

"Raucous cronies?" muttered Astoria, while she got up and slouched off towards the exit. "We didn't do anything!"

"Delinquents," huffed Madam Pince, her eyes not leaving them until they were out of her holy sanctuary. "Hooligans."

Draco quickly grabbed his things and followed his raucous friends.

"Whatever was that for?" asked Astoria once they were out of earshot from Madam Pince.

"Guess who we just saw!" George said as if oblivious to having caused any sort of inconvenience to anyone.

"Your third favorite Gryffindor is back!" Fred added before anyone had the chance to even think about who they might have seen.

"The first and second places going to the two of you?" Draco asked while processing the information. There was really only one person they could be talking about, and he hadn't seen him in weeks.

"Naturally," replied George, "equally tied, of course."

"So, Neville is back?" Astoria asked.

"Told us to tell you to meet him in the Room of Requirement," Fred supplied.

"I'll go and get Daphne," Astoria yelled, already halfway down the corridor, "see you there, Draco."

She was out of sight before Draco could utter a reply.

"Yeah, see you there," said the twins in unison, hurrying down the hall.

"Wait," Draco yelled, "where are you two going? Aren't you joining me in the Room of Requirement?"

"Draco, Draco, Draco… the situation being what it is, we have to be the adults here and have to take up the mantle of responsibility," replied George.

"Responsibility for what?"

"Organizational matters," George replied cryptically before he disappeared from his field of vision.

Draco shook his head, before he made his way towards the Room of Requirement.

When he entered the Room of Requirement he was immediately pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

Apparently, Draco had been the first to arrive.

So much had happened, so many things they should talk about, but it was so hard to put any of it into words. So, at first, they just sat next to each other on a couch the room had provided, neither saying anything for a while.

"How were your extended holidays?" Draco finally asked.

Neville shook his head. "Surreal. But absolutely amazing. I... They..." Neville shook his head again, his whole face beaming with joy. "I still can't believe it."

It was infectious, and Draco smiled with him. He knew that feeling. It's how he felt when he first saw Astoria again in this timeline. He had thought her lost forever and had gotten another chance.

"We had to move, of course. Dumbledore has hidden our new home well. Helbert is living with us now..." Neville trailed off.

Draco nodded. The Aurors and the Death Eaters were searching for them. Staying in hiding wasn't optional, not really. "Aren't you worried that you'll be questioned now that you're back?"

Neville's brows knitted together. "Dumbledore says I'm safe here and I don't think anyone would dare to bother me at Hogwarts… but they had a huge fight over whether I should come back to school at all - my parents, my grandmother, Helbert and Dumbledore. But as much as I love my parents and want to spend time with them, I just had to come back."

Draco's eyes widened at that.

"You didn't think I would leave you alone in this? The end of the year is approaching and we both know what will happen," Neville said solemnly.

Draco stared at Neville, momentarily at a loss for words. "You just got your parents back. You really shouldn't risk that. Not for me. And I'll be fine. It's really Potter and Diggory you should worry about. Maybe Warrington, too. But not me."

Neville raised an eyebrow but did not comment. "What about you?" Neville asked carefully. "How has the rest of your Easter hols been?"

"My hols?" Draco laughed bitterly. "My parents kicked me out."

"What?" Neville jumped up.

"Yeah... they found out about our little trip and... I guess they did it to protect me. I hope that's why they did it. Apparently, the Dark Lord is searching for me, and they would have to hand me over if I still lived with them..."

"What does he want from you?" Neville asked agitatedly.

"Absolutely no idea." Draco shrugged his shoulders.

Neville shook his head. "So... your parents just threw you out on the streets?" He sunk back onto the sofa.

"You make it sound like I slept under a bridge," Draco tried to make light of the situation. The fact that he had, however shortly, thought that a bridge might be the only viable option for a roof over his head, left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. "I stayed with Snape for the holidays. That... was nice, if you ignore the fact that I've been disinherited..." Draco's voice wavered. As much as his more rational side now thought it understood his parents' decision, he still couldn't help feeling absolutely hopeless and abandoned whenever his mind wandered too much.

"Draco," Neville began, "I am so-"

"Stop," Draco interrupted. "Don't apologize for saving your parents. Just don't."

"It's- I'm-" Neville stammered. "I honestly don't know what to say. It's so unfair. The time with my parents - it's been incredible. I can't thank you enough..."

"I didn't do that much," Draco answered.

"Draco... if you want to blame yourself for everything that's worse now than it was originally, which isn't much, by the way, then you should also accept that everything that's better is your doing as well."

Draco laughed. "I've had that argument with Dumbledore, but quite to the opposite effect."

Neville chuckled. "Honestly, I am so glad you decided to befriend me. I know I wouldn't have any friends without you, or a girlfriend, or... my parents. I'd be the awkward weirdo no one wants to talk to… and suck at potions and Snape would still hate me..."

"I didn't befriend you. You are the one who first talked to me, in case you don't remember. And that awesome guy you are now - it's always been inside of you." Draco rubbed his forehead, wondering when he had become so modest.

Neville shook his head. "Still..."

"Let's agree to disagree. Don't worry about me. Of course, it sucks that my parents have kicked me out... but if I could do it again - or a third time, I guess - I would again choose to help your parents..." He took a deep breath. "Healing your parents... it helps with the guilt, you know?"

Neville nodded. "Do you still feel guilty a lot?"

Draco pondered this. "I did when I first came back. Less so now... but it never really leaves you. I sometimes have nightmares about the things I did and saw... but helping others really helps a lot."

Neville contemplated this. "Do you think that's the reason why Snape helped us?"

"Snape?" Draco hadn't thought about it before. He had just thought that his godfather would find the problem interesting and a possible Order of Merlin enticing. And Snape had always helped Draco, whether he had wanted that help or not. "I can't tell."

"He went from biggest supporter of You-Know-Who to Dumbledore's most trusted man... there must have been a reason for that."

Draco told Neville a lot but that Snape had been in love with Harry's mother was definitely not something he would share. But now he started to wonder whether there had been more to his rather drastic shift. And guilt and the things it led one to do were something Draco knew rather well.

"He does seem happier. But it's hard to tell, he's been in a pretty good mood this year, teaching DADA and all." Draco finally replied.

"I never thought I would say this, but... Snape is not the worst teacher we've ever had."

Draco laughed. "I've always known that."

Neville rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you're a Slytherin. He's not exactly unbiased."

"Biased?" Draco scoffed. "Have you ever thought of the possibility that we might just be the better students?" So much for modesty.

Neville snorted. "Rrrright."

They both laughed.

"So, what else happened while I was gone?" Neville asked.

Draco frowned. "Things in Slytherin are tough. My changed - uhm - living arrangements aren't exactly a secret. No one knows I stayed with Snape, but..." Draco trailed off. "Yeah, it's not easy. Theo and Sirius help, though. They've been through this before-"

Draco did not get any further as the door was suddenly thrown open with a loud bang and two Weasleys were standing in the door frame, holding in their hands what looked like copious amounts of pumpkin juice and candy. Behind them Draco could spot Astoria and Daphne and several of their other friends.

"Responsibilities," Draco snickered.

"Let's get this party started," yelled the twins in unison.

TBC

A.N.: Neville is back and the end of the year is approaching. Things are about to get exciting.

What did you think of this chapter? The good, the bad, the ugly - let me know with a review.