Getting sucked into another person's mind was an interesting experience. It was not unpleasant, but it would have been less jarring and frightening if Aria had had some warning, or if she had intended to enter Frank Longbottom's mind.

This must be what Legilimancy was, Aria idly thought as she peered about the mindscape, she found herself in. She recalled Professor Snape mentioning it once or twice, usually around the times when someone tried to enter her mind and her natural mind shields stopped the action. She usually ended up with a migraine afterwards. Hopefully, when she got out of here, however she was supposed to do that, Mr. Longbottom wouldn't be in too much pain because of the experience.

The mind was much darker than she had anticipated. Or maybe it was just Mr. Longbottom's. After a moment to study the gray around her, Aria realized the mind around her wasn't dark because there was no light, it was dark because it was empty! The gray swirled about as if it ought to interact with something or be attached to something, but there was nothing there. Where were all the memories? Or thoughts?

A strange sound startled her. She pulled her wand—and how was she able to do that while in someone else's mind?—and searched for the noise. After a minute of listening, she realized that the noise was crying. Someone . . . Mr. Longbottom? Someone was crying.

Unable to leave someone in distress, even she herself was most likely in some kind of distress herself with her accidental magic, Aria moved towards the sound, the gray whirling about her like fog as she moved.

Soon enough, the gray cleared and she came to a figure teetering on the edge of a large hole. The figure was crying, and leaning back, straining to keep from falling forward into the hole. Aria could see how the figure, a man, dug his heels into the ground of the mindscape, how he sometimes faltered and had to adjust himself. It was clear the man had been keeping himself back for some time. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes, and his teeth were clenched tightly. In his arms he held a whole host of memories. Aria could hear the faint murmurs of voices and laughter coming from the memories as they spun about in the man's arms.

"Mr. Longbottom?" She spoke. The man startled and nearly slipped towards the hole. He screamed. Aria grabbed hold of him, steadying him. It seemed that whatever slope he was on did not affect her.

"Don't . . . don't let go," Frank pleaded. "I don't want to fall in."

"What happens if you fall in?" Aria asked.

"Then I'll forget everything!" Frank sobbed. "I don't want to forget!"

"Then . . . uh . . . I'll close up the hole," Aria said. Then she mentally hit herself. How was she meant to do that? She studied the hole in front of them, kneeling by it.

"I tried . . . I tried building a door," Frank told her. "But I can't hold my memories and close the door at the same time."

That . . . only made a little sense to Aria. But she could work with a door.

"Can you build the door again and I'll close it?" she asked. Frank nodded, scrunching his eyes up tightly, digging his heels in more as he concentrated. Aria gasped as a door slowly materialized in front of her. When it was solid, she grabbed hold of it and tried to close it, but the magic over the hole was strong and tried to keep her from closing the door. A few times she thought she felt something push back against the door, as if trying to overpower her. She strained against the door, using a little charm Flitwick had taught them third year, a little wind that could push objects. It helped and soon the door slammed shut with a mighty and terrifying BANG!

Immediately Frank Longbottom collapsed, and all the memories rushed out of his arms, sliding, and slamming back into place, filling the gray with light and color and sound, and feeling. Emotions raced around Aria; the noise nearly deafened her. She curled up on top of the door, covering her ears as everything threatened to overwhelm her.

Something touched her shoulder. She shrieked, scrambling away from the unexpected touch. Frank peered down at her, haggard and tired and breathing heavily, but no longer looking so terrified, nor was he crying anymore.

"Thank you," he said. "I don't know who you are but thank you."

"I don't know how I got here," Aria said. "I . . ." she was distracted by a memory floating by them. A younger Frank was kneeling down on one knee, a velvet box in one hand, a younger, healthier Alice standing above him, a surprised but pleased look on her face.

"I know how to get out," Frank said, pulling her attention back to him, "now that it's safe to go. Come." He held out his and Aria took it.

Falling backwards, Aria expected to hit the floor, only to be caught in someone's arms. The immediate smell of leather, tweed, and parchment told her it was Remus, which was good, because she could not open her eyes. The lights of the Janus Thickey Ward were far too bright, it felt like someone had dug through her eyeballs and ripped open her brain. There were voices around her, each one melding with another until it all sounded like one large orchestra of screams clawing at her head. She buried her face in Remus' cardigan, allowing that to help block out the light while her hands pressed desperately at her ears hoping to block out as much sound as possible.

A thick blanket was draped over Aria's head, muffling sound, and light. She lifted her head enough to breathe better, glad that the blanket cut off most of the light. She still could not make out what anyone said, but after a minute, Remus lifted the corner of the blanket and handed her a familiar potions vial. Taking the migraine reliever, she tossed it back and waited for it to do its magic. Clearly, it was the same dosage strength that Professor Snape gave her as her migraine faded to a dull thud in the back of her head while her aversion to sound and light remained, though lessened.

"I don't think that was strong enough," Remus said when Aria refused to come out from under the blanket. She could tolerate sound through the blanket, which was nice, because she could at least hear what was going on around her.

"Professor Snape usually gives her a Level 4 Migraine Reliver," Harry supplied.

"That is excessive for normal migraines," she heard someone say. Probably a healer based off the ugly lime-green she could see from under the blanket.

"Aria's not normal," Harry said.

"Does anything about this situation seem normal?" Remus demanded at the same time.

"Now, sir!" the healer cried. "If you're going to be aggressive, I'll have you thrown from the hospital and the aurors called."

Aria flipped the healer off. Remus smacked her hand down even as the healer sputtered, and Harry burst out laughing.

"Healer Minear, cease harassing my partner and goddaughter," Sirius snapped.

"Your partner—?"

"There are more important things happening. Healer Glasson, how is Frank?"

"He's coming around."

Aria tossed off the blanket, regretting it instantly, but forced herself to her feet even as her eyes watered and everyone had a halo of varying colors around them. She stumbled between Harry and Neville who had been pushed to the back of the crowd gathered around Frank Longbottom. He lay on his bed while Alice had wandered over to a little game table on the other side of her bed, humming.

"What did you do?" Neville demanded.

"Fuck if I know," Aria muttered. "Could you not be so loud?" She leaned heavily against Harry.

"Mr. Longbottom," a witch said, loudly, as if Frank had gone deaf. Aria winced. "Mr. Longbottom, it's good to see you awake. Follow my wand please . . . Good. Good. Can you tell me your name?"

"Fr-Frank Longbottom," a weak voice murmured. Bodies shuffled as the healers helped Frank sit up and someone handed him water. The three teenagers were still having a hard time seeing over the shoulders of the mediwitches and healers. "H-how did I get . . . I was at the hall . . ."

"Take a deep breath, sir," the healer instructed. "Can you tell me what year it is?"

"1981."

Neville's breath hitched.

"And what's the last thing you remember?"

There was a pause. Aria, Harry, Neville . . . the whole ward . . . held its breath.

"Alice! Neville!" Frank suddenly cried, panic immediately entering his voice. "Barty! There were Death Eaters! Where's my family? Where's my wife? My son? My brother?"

"Mr. Longbottom—"

"Lord Longbottom!" Frank snapped. "Where is my family?"

"Frank," Fortescue stepped forward, voice quiet and steady. "Take a deep breath. It's a long story."

"Florian? Is that you? Why . . . how did . . . you've gotten old!"

Remus drew all three teenagers towards the doors of the ward. Neville pulled against him.

"Neville," Remus said sternly, but not loud enough for anyone but the teenagers to hear. "Your dad thinks it's still 1981. Let the healers and your uncles talk to him. It's going to be a shock for him."

Sirius joined them as they exited the ward. They paused in the corridor, each of them trying to absorb what had just happened in the ward. Aria's migraine was still pounding at her head, but the auras around every person had faded to nothing, for which she was glad. The light was also starting to not hurt so much.

"I think a visit to the café is in order," Remus said. "A cup of tea will help us all." He ushered them towards the lifts when they doors opened and two aurors stepped out. Aria groaned, recognizing Kingsley and Tonks. They were never going to get to the café were they?

"Kenneth said you'd be here," Kingsley said in way of greeting. Aria stopped thinking of tea to pay attention to the auror. If they had spoken to her dad, that meant they had gone to Grimmauld first. "Lady Longbottom said she had had Neville stay the night with you?"

"That's correct," Sirius answered.

"Lady Longbottom's been admitted to St. Mungo's," Kingsley said. Neville gasped, face rapidly losing color. Aria half expected him to faint at any moment and she and Harry each grabbed an arm so keep Neville up.

"Is she all right?" Neville cried. "She's not hurt, is she?"

"Some . . . some things came to light," Kingsley told Neville. "When we questioned her and your great-uncle. She will be fine but will need an extended stay in St. Mungo's. At least a few weeks. Until then, your uncle Florian's been granted temporary emergency custody. A team of aurors has gone around to his shop."

"They're wasting their time," Remus said. "He's in the Janus Thickey Ward with Barty. Kingsley!" Kingsley and Tonks turned back to Remus as they had started dashing off towards the doors of the ward. "We'll be up in the café. I expect you'll need a cup of tea in a few minutes too."

Neville was shaking by the time they got to the café on the top floor. Sirius brought them to a private corner and put up a Privacy Ward while Remus got food, coming back with a floating tray with a large pot of tea and a few finger sandwiches. Aria practically fell onto the sandwiches, especially the salmon and cucumber ones. Harry poured Neville a cup of tea and plopped an abundance of sugar cubes into it before forcing him to drink it.

"All right, Little Miss," Sirius said, leaning over the table at Aria. "What happened?"

Aria shrugged, trying to hide behind her teacup. Remus nudged her with her foot and she straightened, taking her time to think about how she wanted to tell them.

"I . . . got sucked into his mind," Aria told them. "And . . . it was dark and gray."

"No memories or anything?" Sirius asked. Aria shook her head.

"It . . . didn't feel right. Like his mind was empty," Aria said, glancing hesitantly at Neville who was staring at her with such intensity it frightened her a little. "Then I heard crying, and I followed the sound and I found Mr—Lord Longbottom—on the edge of this dark hole. He was struggling not to slide into the hole and he was crying and he looked like he had been struggling not to fall into the hole for a long time. Sometimes he would slip and slide towards the hole but then he'd dig his heels into the gray. In his arms . . . he held his memories."

"He held his memories?" Sirius repeated.

"I could see them passing through different moments and I could hear the voices of all the memories," Aria said. "I . . . I think if he had fallen into the pit . . . well . . . I don't think there was a way out. He said he couldn't close the hole without losing the memories, so I closed it for him. He imagined a door and I closed it over the hole. It was really heavy, the door, and it was like the hole didn't want me to cover it, like it fought against me closing the door."

Remus drummed his fingers on the table.

"Occlumency and Legilimancy are not my forte," he said. "Severus would know more. Frank, I know, knew Occlumency, but I don't know how good he was at it."

Kingsley and Tonks appeared, Fortescue and Barty trailing behind them. Barty looked awful, which, seeing as he had been locked up for thirteen years, Aria thought he was holding it together well.

"The healers've put Frank to sleep," Fortescue said. "In hopes that when he awakens, they'll be able to speak to him without him becoming . . ."

"He was so distraught," Barty finished, sounding like he was going to weep. "He saw Alice, and he . . . and he . . ." Sirius gripped Barty's shoulders, grounding him. The young man took deep breaths.

"We've got to go to the ministry," Fortescue said to Neville. "I'm to be granted emergency guardianship of you and Madam Bones wishes to discuss their findings. Barty will be coming too to hear."

"Can you come?" Barty asked Sirius.

"You go," Remus urged. "Harry and Aria can have a day with me."

"Day with Dad Number 2," Harry whispered with a teasing grin. Aria giggled. Neville slid out of his seat and latched onto Fortescue. The man took a moment to hug his nephew and press a kiss to the top of his head before they followed Kingsley and Tonks out of the café. Fortescue's arm never stopped being around Neville's shoulders, a steady guide to the pale boy.

"I hope Neville'll be okay," Aria said.

"He's a lot stronger than he gives himself credit for," Remus responded, pouring them all another cup of tea to finish the pot. "In time, he will be fine."

The next several days ended up being far busier than anticipated. Within two days of Frank Longbottom's miraculous recovery, Aria had had to return to St. Mungo's in order to discuss with the healers what exactly had happened. She was accompanied by Remus and Professor Snape as she remembered how rude at least one healer had been towards Remus, and because Professor Snape was her other guardian and also well-trained and studied in both Occlumency and Legilimancy.

The healers, at first, had been skeptical that someone of her age had had the ability to perform such a feat of magic without causing insanity within herself or Frank. Snape was equally skeptical that such an event would have created insanity as accidental Legilimancy was not unheard of, even if it was on the rarer side of accidental magic. After some grumbling from the healers, they eventually took what she said seriously and began to hypothesize a possible treatment for Alice Longbottom.

This, in turn, apparently made Fortescue less than pleased on some level because he had been advocating for the use of Legilimancy as a possible treatment for years after reading about some treatments on the continent, but the UK healers had not only scoffed at the idea, but all the medical decisions had had to be approved by Lady Longbottom. She had, each time, declined such "experimental" procedures, preferring to just make her son and daughter comfortable.

Aria was not sure how the Janus Thickey Ward was meant to be making anyone comfortable, but the whole situation was stressful enough, so kept those thoughts to herself.

Now, however, due to her being indisposed in St. Mungo's the right to medical decisions fell to Lord Longbottom's next-of-kin who was of age. That meant Barty who had immediately demanded that Fortescue be allowed to make medical decisions for the Longbottoms too. Together, the two were now working on a plan for Frank and Alice.

Over those several days, Aria and Harry did not hear much from Neville. All they knew was that Lady Longbottom was still in St. Mungo's, but not why. Sirius was not saying anything, even though they knew he and Remus knew because Barty had been debriefed by Madam Bones about the situation, and he had told them.

Being out of the loop was very annoying. But the teens distracted themselves by either exploring London, doing homework, or working on the YEP Symposium presentation Aria was giving later in the summer with Professor Snape on her lycanthropy research.

The monotonous routine was soon broken up by an invitation to a cookout at the Weasleys. Sirius had Kreacher and Winky whip up three different dishes, a salad, a main dish, and a dessert. So, it was with Fattoush, roasted salmon, and a pavlova that Aria and her family (Kenneth included) Apparated to the Burrow. Remus had to hold tight to Kenneth for several yards after they arrived on the edge of the Weasley property to make sure he didn't wander off due to the Muggle Repellant Ward around the edge of the property line. Once within the wards, the ward's effect faded, and Kenneth was able to be released from Remus' grip.

Ginny and Ron came bounding out the house the moment they were close enough to steal the food from Aria and Harry's arms, leading everyone around the house to the backyard. Aria and Kenneth stared in wonder at the house that seemed just minutes from toppling over. Harry had told Aria all about the Burrow from the summer he had spent there just before their second year, and Aria could see how he had fallen in love with the place. Just being on the property made Aria feel warm and cozy. There was an extensive orchard past the backyard and a large vegetable garden, chickens and at least one goose ran about the property.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Mrs. Weasley cried, waving them all over a long table already burdened with food. Somehow, she found room for the three dishes before sending the kids off to play closer to the edge of the lawn near the orchard. Aria and Harry were immediately pulled up into a tree house by the Weasleys.

"All right, spill," Ron demanded as everyone got comfortable in the tree house. It was definitely not a Muggle tree house. The inside was well kept, with furniture somehow squeezed inside, and there was not a single spider web to be found.

"What's it like living with Barty?" Ginny wanted to know.

"Does Moody really come to your house?" Fred asked.

"Yes," Aria answered him. "He comes most days. Not so much the last few, what with . . ." she trailed off, not sure how much she could say. Did they know about the Longbottoms?

Neville suddenly poked his head into the treehouse.

"Has the interrogation started, or have I missed it?" he asked. George hauled the Gryffindor into the tree house and the Weasleys loomed over the three guests like they really were being interrogated.

"What's going on?" Ron demanded. "Mum and Dad said something about you, Neville, and your grandmother being in the hospital? Dad said the DMLE is investigating your great-uncle?"

"Yes, to both," Neville said. "Uncle Florian's got temporary custody of me so you all better come visit the shop in Diagon, because he's got me waiting tables and I need some company besides little babies getting ice cream all over the tables."

The Weasley twins snickered.

"So, what's happened?" Ginny asked. Neville sighed, gathering his thoughts. They all waited patiently for him to speak.

"Uncle Algie's always wanted to be Lord Longbottom," Neville finally said. "When he . . . apparently . . . he came up with this idea during the first war to go to Luddenden Hall in the chaos of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named being defeated and k-killing my parents and me. But when he arrived . . . well . . . he found the aftermath of what the Lestranges had done." He let out a shuddering breath.

"According to Madam Bones," he continued, "Uncle Algie has admitted to . . . getting cold feet about killing us. Couldn't go through with it in the end. So, he . . . he tried to wipe my parents' memories. Of everything. Knocked Barty out and cursed his arm with a Dark Mark lookalike. Called the aurors and told them how he had "rescued" us from the Death Eaters. The Lestranges, of course, admitted to torturing the Longbottoms and told the aurors that Barty had participated in the torture as well, conveniently forgetting to tell them that they had used the Imperious Curse on him."

"Conveniently," Aria muttered sarcastically.

"He thought that he might be made regent," Neville said. "Or, at least, that Grandmother would want him to sit proxy on the Wizengamot until I came of age. That didn't happen to he started . . . he started . . ." Neville started to look a bit green. "He started using low-level Compulsion Charms on Grandmother. Small curses too, to make her forget about conversations with Uncle Florian or to be more open to his own suggestions. It's why Grandmother never pursued further medical treatment even when Uncle Florian suggested it. She doesn't like Uncle Florian, but even I thought it strange that she never looked for other treatments for my parents." He sighed heavily. "The use of the Compulsion Charms and small curses have created . . . I think the healers said that her psyche is . . . I can't remember the exact wording. But essentially, Compulsion Charms aren't meant to be permanent, but with too much use upon one person, those Compulsions can sink into a person's mind. They have to do some delicate curse breaking at this point to free her mind of any lingering Compulsions."

The teenagers all stared at Neville in varying degrees of shock and horror.

"That's terrible, Neville!" Ginny cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"Is that how Algernon got away with trying to scare the magic out of you?" George demanded. "Did he use Compulsions to make her think it was the best way to treat you?"

Neville nodded miserably.

"He's been arrest right?" Aria demanded. "Madam Bones can't be stupid enough to let him walk free!"

"Oh no, he's been arrested," Neville assured her. "He's in the Ministry holding cells."

"Good," Ginny muttered, Ron nodding vigorously beside her. She looked like she might hex Algernon Longbottom if she ever had the fortune of see him.

"What about you and Barty?" Ron asked.

"We're . . . figuring it out," Neville stated. "He's going to Switzerland soon to the sanitorium Sirius was at. Professor Moody's going to rent a flat nearby while he's there."

"Well, that'd be good for him," Fred said. "He's never had a day off in his life!"

"Uncle Florian's thinking of sending Mum and Dad to the continent," Neville told them.

"That'll be nice," Ginny said. "Make them comfortable and all."

Neville blinked then looked between Aria and Harry.

"You haven't told them?" he asked.

"Didn't know if we should," Aria said.

"Tell us what?" the twins demanded together.

"Are you three keeping secrets?" Fred asked.

"That's not nice," George agreed.

Aria rolled her eyes.

"I took Aria and Harry to meet my parents the other day," Neville said. Ron shared a look with Aria and Harry, as if he were impressed at their ability to do things that no one else were able to do. "And . . . well . . . Aria—"

"Did something weird but cool?" Ron asked. Aria dropped her head into her hands while Neville and Harry nodded.

"She accidentally performed Legilimancy on Neville's dad," Harry said.

"How . . . does that happen?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know!" Aria cried, her voice muffled by her hands.

"Anyway, whatever she did pulled my dad back in reality," Neville continued. "So, he's recovering but having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he's been in the hospital for thirteen years and all the stuff that's happened since. Like me growing up, all the stuff that's happened because of Uncle Algie . . . I don't even think Barty's told him yet about Mr. Crouch."

Everyone winced at that.

"That's why Uncle Florian wants to move them to the continent," Neville said. "He's afraid people'll try to get into St. Mungo's to see him once we announce that my dad's recovering. Plus, there are healers on the continent who know how to do stuff with Legilimancy. Healers here . . . they're a bit more old fashion."

"Downright negligent is what it is," George argued. "All healers should be learning no matter how long they've been practicing."

"Oi! Is anyone up there?"

Aria lifted her head to watch the Weasleys open the windows of the tree house.

"Hiya, Luna!" Ginny called. Aria frowned, certain that it had not been Luna who had just called up to them. She turned to the nearest window, poking Ron out of the way. Below, Cedric and Luna waved up at them while their parents walked on towards the other adults.

"Harry!" Cedric cried, clearly delighted to see him.

"Dinner's nearly ready," Luna said. "Best if you come down now."

"How do you know?" Aria asked out the window.

"Food is very important," Luna said seriously. "That's how I know."

"I feel like that's the sanest thing she's ever said," Aria muttered as the group trooped out of the tree house. Cedric and Luna waited patiently before continuing the trek towards the back yard of the Burrow.

The adults all had drinks in their hands and a few other people had arrived. Percy and Oliver were talking to Kenneth while Xenophilius Lovegood was greeting Barty with loud enthusiasm.

This was the first time Aria had seen Luna's dad. It was very clear what family he had been a part of, his hair as blonde as Lucius Malfoy's. His nose and chin were similar to Lucius' as well, though his eyes were not the typical Malfoy grey but a soft blue.

"It's so very good to see you alive," Xenophilius said, patting Barty on the back. "Pandora would have been over the moon!"

Aria saw the moment the words registered in Barty's mind. The smile froze on his face and his bottle of butterbeer slipped in his hands. Luna sidled up to his side at the precise moment, rescuing the drink from falling and breaking.

"And this is Little Luna," Xenophilius continued, unaware of how his words had impacted Barty. "She's just turned fourteen, can you believe it? Going to be a fourth year."

"I'm sorry," Barty choked out. "Pandora . . . she isn't . . . why did you say, 'would have'?"

Luna slipped her arm around Barty's.

"Mummy died when I was nine, Uncle Barty," she said with a little sad smile. "One of her spells went wrong."

"Merlin!" Barty gasped out.

"Don't weep too long," Luna said, producing a handkerchief from somewhere. She mopped up Barty's tears. "Mummy wouldn't have wanted that. She'd have wanted you to get better." She leaned her head against Barty's shoulder. Aria shook her head in amazement. Luna Lovegood was truly a witch all her own!