Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the Harry Potter books.

Author's Note: Here's a super long chapter for you, over 9000 words, my longest chapter! Yuhuu! Well, anyway, I expect a ton of reviews, whether you send me an owl or just press the conveniently placed bottom below, I don't care, but I want a lot of reviews!

27. THE LONGBOTTOMS

"Neville, Merlin, what happened?", Harry exclaimed, trying to look into the other boy's tear-stained face.

He had been sitting in his study, reading through Tom's lesson plans, marking the things they had already learned, when the fireplace flared up and Neville Longbottom dropped out. This fireplace had a password only Neville, Luna, Sirius, Remus, Dudley and Simon knew and they had been told only to use it in case of an emergency. Neville certainly looked like an emergency. His broad shoulders were shaking and he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"He's dying! They say he's going to die within the week. They moved him to another room, so that he doesn't agitate the other patients", the light brown-haired Gryffindor choked out between sobs, "He doesn't eat anymore and his vital functions are getting worse. He had two heart attacks and needs help breathing. Oh Merlin, Harry, my dad is going to die!", he broke down again, burying his head in Harry's chest.

"Shh, Nev, it's okay, we'll work something out, shh, calm down. I'll help you", Harry soothed him, rubbing circles on his back.

"How?", the taller boy nearly shouted, "How can you help him? How could it ever be okay?"

"I don't know, Nev", Harry confessed, "But have I ever lied to you? We'll find a way. What exactly did the healers say?"

"That...", Neville sobbed again, "They said that he had felt guilty about what happened to Mum. Without him being an Auror they would have left us alone. And they said that he subconsciously still tries to save her and that he directs all his strength and magic towards her. That's the reason she's feeling better and when he dies... she'll be worse again..."

"Neville", Harry made him look up at him, "I think I have a way to help both your parents, but it could go terribly wrong as well..."

"I want you to try it", Neville demanded, "Whatever you have in mind, just do it, please. I don't want to lose my parents..."

"Okay", the green-eyed boy thought for a moment.

He had toyed with his idea for quite some time now, but had never acted upon it for fear of worsening the situation, however now there wasn't much more that could go awry, though he knew that should he fail, Neville would most likely hate him for the rest of his life.

"Neville, I want you to go to St. Mungo's and wait for me", Harry got up, "I'll need the help of some friends for this. Don't draw attention to yourself, I'll try to hurry."

Neville nodded understandingly and flooed back to his parents, after he had wiped away some of the tears.

Harry hastily ran to the door and pulled it open, almost hitting himself with it in the process, writing a mental list what he needed to do: Inform Tom, fetch Rudolphus and Rabastan and one more person, Severus would be good, find a pensive and then they could leave the castle. As it turned out Tom was not there, but on a trip and wouldn't return till dinner. He had written him a note, which was pinned to the door, so Harry decided he should write a note, too.

I have to help a friend. Please, don't be angry. Harry

It certainly wasn't one of his masterpieces, but it would have to do. Tom would be pissed that he once again didn't know what exactly Harry was doing, but to explain it would take too long. He pinned it into the wood instead of the other paper and made his way to Rabastan's room which was nearest.

"I need your help!", Harry blurted out as soon as the brown-haired man opened the door and looked him in the eye, "Will you help me?"

"Of course", Rabastan was relieved Harry was again talking to him; the last few days Harry had avoided them at all costs and had cancelled their training sessions- not that he blamed him, "What should I do?"

"Not now, I'll tell you later", Harry grabbed his sleeve, "Do you have a pensive?"

"Rudolphus should have one", the older wizard supplied and followed the skinny youth.

About the same happened at Rudolphus' room only that they had to wait a moment for him to fetch his pensive and then they were off to Severus' rooms.

"Harry?", the Potion's Master called surprisedly, when he saw the Gryffindor standing in front of his door, drawing his attention from the Wound-Closing-Potion he had been making for the infirmary, "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, Severus, I'm sorry, I interrupted you, but I need your help, please?", Harry begged, eliciting a sigh from the thin man.

"Fine, let me just stabilise the potion", he disappeared in his lab for a moment, before he came out again, noting for the first time the two Lestrange brothers, "And what should I do now?"

"I need you all to apparate to Magnolia Crescent, number 11, Little Whinging, Surrey", Harry explained, when they reached the entrance hall, "And please, try to appear outside of the house. Can I apparate with you, Severus?"

They all nodded obediently and Harry moved his arms around the Potion Master's waist, closing his eyes. Seconds later, the entrance hall was deserted and the four wizards landed in a Muggle neighbourhood, that looked like the inhabitant's only concern was the inpeccability of their lawns. The house they stood in front of though showed some minimal differences: instead of the obligatory white fence it was bordered by a low hedgerow, the lawn had the audacity to sport some daisies and instead of a car in the driveway stood a wood table and matching benches, shadowed by a sunshade. Harry determinedly walked to the front door and rang the bell, the three older wizard following apprehensively.

Their attitude seemed to be justified, in their opinion, when a tall, raw-boned man tore the door open and glared down at Harry, growling: "What?", making Harry lean back a little.

However, as soon as he recognised the boy-who-lived, his face transformed into a more benign grimace and his voice softened: "Harry!", he greeted pleasantly, "Did you want something from me?"

"No, Sir", Harry smiled up at him, "I need the help of your wife and your son."

"Well, that's good, do come in", he opened the door wider and let them all enter, "Sarah is at the hairdresser at the moment, though, thank God she told me, I wouldn't see the difference otherwise. And Simon is giving a tutorial to that football player, but he should be back in ten minutes or so. You're lucky, it's just the half-time break or I wouldn't have opened the door. Our neighbours are driving me insane, I don't know what Sarah told them about me, but they are all under the impression, they should socialise me. Anyway, I have to go, make yourself at home, there should be a rest of lasagne in the refrigerator", with that he vanished into the living room, from where you could hear the television.

"Harry, could you please explain what we are doing here?", Severus asked grumpily, the name Simon had triggered something in him, but he couldn't hit on where he had heard it before.

"Later", Harry said, sauntering over to the kitchen and looked through the fridge, "Once they are here, I'll tell you, I don't want to explain everything twice."

And so they waited, Harry looking out of the window, waiting for Simon and Sarah to arrive and Rudolphus, Rabastan and Severus sitting around the small kitchen table, feeling very out of place.

"Finally!", Harry sighed relievedly, when he sighted the familiar brown-haired and lanky form of his best friend on his bike and the steadily approaching motherly figure with wide hips, coming from the opposite side.

"Harry", Simon exclaimed happily, drawing the small body into his arms, and Severus recognised him as the empath, "What are you doing here? Why are you so worried?"

"Harry, dear", the gentle voice of Sarah Turner greeted from the doorway, "It's been a long time, since I last saw you. What can we do for you? And who are your friends?"

Mrs. Turner had a round, little face with astute blue eyes and her son's wavy brown hair and a ready smile playing with her lips.

"Oh, sorry, they're Severus Snape and Rudolphus and Rabastan Lestrange", he introduced them pointed at each of them in turn, "And I need your help."

"Of course, Harry, you know we'll help you, if it's possible", Sarah smiled reassuringly, "Why don't you tell us what you're planning."

"Could one of you put the memory of the night you tortured the Longbottoms into the pensive, please?", Harry asked the Lestranges, sitting down for the first time, and made the two empaths gasp.

"You really want to do this now, Harry?", Simon asked concerned, "You know how dangerous it is!"

"I have to!", Harry replied fiercely, "Neville's dad is dying, because he feels so guilty! I have to do something!"

"Harry, we already talked about it", the female empath tried to reason, "The risk is too high, for both you and the Longbottoms. I'm afraid, I can't allow it."

"But I know that I can do it!", Harry pleaded, "Please, I have to help him. If you really think that I am not capable of doing it, tell me and I won't, but..."

"Harry, we're just worried about you...", Sarah tried to comfort him.

"Do you think I can manage it or not?"

Mother and son exchanged a long look, before sighing deeply: "Yes, Harry, we think you could most likely make it, but...", the female Muggle answered.

"Nothing, but", Harry interrupted her, "I'll try it with or without your help. I already promised it to Neville."

"We'll help you, Harry", Simon suspired and received a rapturous hug in thank you, "I guess that time is short, right? So then we should start right now."

"Yes, but Simon, if anything should go wrong, it's up to you on what you tell Tom, okay?", Harry looked at him, "You may reveal my secrets, if you deem it necessary, no-one else."

"Wait, the Dark Lord doesn't know that we're here to do... whatever, you plan to do?", Severus spoke up alarmed, "You do remember how he reacted last time something like this happened, don't you?"

"That was different", the small boy shrugged his shoulders, "And I wrote him a note. It's hardly my fault that he wasn't there."

"And what exactly are you planning to do?", the Potion's Master wasn't appeased by the answer.

"We're trying to help Frank Longbottom, before he dies", Harry answered shortly and took Simon's hand, "You ready?"

He waited, until Sarah was holding onto Simon's other hand, before he touched the swirling milky substance of Rudolphus' memories of the night the Longbottoms lost their mind.

The three people had landed outside of a modest looking cottage, in front of a large bay window and next to four shadowed and cloaked figures. Icy wind whipped through the branches of a near-by tree, making it difficult to understand the conversation. Harry thought the weather and setting was truly fitting for what was to happened, even more so when the rain intensified and lighting struck the earth not a hundred meters away.

"What are we waiting for?", Bartemius Crouch jr. hissed and his baby-blue eyes left their watch over the Longbottoms' living room for a moment, "We have to find our Master!", even the distress and tiredness couldn't mar his young and handsome face.

"We're waiting that those two idiots pluck up their loyalty", Bellatrix Lestrange sneered, she, too, though she was the epitome of beauty made Harry's hair stand with the coldness in her voice.

"This is not about loyalty, Bella", Rudolphus' or Rabastan's calm voice spoke up, it was to dark and loud to differentiate between the two, though Harry thought it was the older brother, "But I'm not about to risk my ass, if you're not sure that they know something. I think, we would have a better chance of finding the Dark Lord, if we checked out the different hiding spots."

"I know that Longbottom knows of our Lord's whereabouts!", the witch screamed furiously, "He's head-Auror, he searched Godric's Hollow and he's chummy with that Muggle-loving old fool..."

"Fine", one of the Lestranges conceded anticipatorily, the other nodding, "But we'll make this quick, if he doesn't know something valuable, we'll leave."

Harry was sure that Bellatrix was smirking, though he had no means to make it out in the darkness and in the split second they needed to train their wands at the window and to blow it into shambles. After so much noise the semi-silence that followed was almost deafening and the crunch, as someone's boot walked over a piece of glass, resounded through the quiet house.

Harry, Sarah and Simon followed the Death Eaters through the bare window frame the black-haired boy clutching Simon's ice cold hand in his. They would have to watch what happened to the very end, there was no turning back now.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Alice", a subdued voice called from upstairs and although Harry had never heard his voice, he immediately recognised it as Frank Longbottom's, because it sounded so much like his son's, when Neville for once wasn't stuttering and confident in what he was saying, namely when he talked about plants, "There's quite the storm out there, maybe one of the windows gave out", after this statement, the stairs could be heard creaking and a tall figure appeared at the top of the stairs, the flickering light of a single wand made the shadows dance.

Harry looked around himself, noticing the four Death Eater had left their place. Before he could start to wonder where they had gone to, Frank reached the bottom of the stairs and Rudolphus' wand pressed against the nape of his neck.

"Not one word, understood, Longbottom?", he hissed, as Rabastan disarmed him; Bellatrix had disappeared up the stairs.

The two brothers didn't wait to see, if he would heed their order and the younger of them silenced him with a spell and then turned to repair the window with a flick of his wand. The volume ceased immediately and you could hear the noises of a struggle happening upstairs, before Bellatrix and Crouch jr. came back down with a bound and gagged Alice Longbottom, whose round face was as white as a sheet.

"Their little brat isn't here", the black-haired witch sneered, pushing the other woman down the last few steps, making her stumble.

"I don't care", Rudolphus said and ended the Silencing Spell on Frank, "Longbottom, if you're co-operative, we'll be gone in a few minutes and you can go back to sleep and pretend, this was just a nightmare. Where is the Dark Lord?"

"He was defeated by Harry Potter", Frank replied evenly, "No-one knows, if he's still alive."

"Liar!", Bellatrix screamed furiously, "How could a baby possibly defeat the most powerful wizard to ever walk the earth? Crucio!"

"Stop it", Rabastan pushed her arm up, so that the Unforgivable hit the ceiling, "Your anger won't bring us anywhere."

"Shut up, whelp!", she hissed dangerously, "Let me do this my way!"

"No", Rabastan insisted and extracted a potion's vial from his robes with a clear, crystal liquid, "Veritaserum. We'll test him with it and if he doesn't know it, we go and proceed after our plan."

He kneeled down next to the married couple and dribbled some of the potion into Frank's willingly opened mouth. It was not like he had any secrets he could reveal. Most of the information was under Dumbledore's Fidelius Charm and not even Veritaserum could force him to reveal them. And concerning Voldemort's hideout, well, no-one knew, not even Dumbledore, so they could ask him that question for all he cared.

"What is your name?", the older Lestrange brother asked to make sure the potion was working correctly.

"Frank Fenimore Longbottom", the Auror answered in a monotone voice, his eyes had glassed over.

"Do you know the Dark Lord's whereabouts?", he asked again.

"No", he had expected no other response, damn his wife for dragging him here!

"Do you know anyone who knows where he is?", he demanded, hoping against all hopes that maybe their trip here, hadn't been completely fruitless, but once again he was disappointed: "No, no-one knows."

"He's lying", Bella screamed and once again shot a Crucio at the Auror, only to be once again intercepted by Rabastan, however instead of just screaming at him, she now pointed her wand at him and smacked him into the next wall with the ease someone would throw a newspaper after a fly.

Rudolphus had his wand out in a second, though his wife only snarled at him: "I wouldn't do anything, oh husband of mine, or I snap your dear brother's spine. Let me question them and if you're a good boy, Barty will let your brother live."

The brown-haired man swirled around in horror to find his brother motionless, but with open eyes, dangling in the air, held by Crouch's wand, who had a mad grin on his face and had another wand, likely his brother's trained on Rabastan's back.

"I'm glad you see it my way", mocked the witch, "You will take him and I'll try to loosed her tongue, such a sweet couple they are, don't you think? I'm sure they share their secrets."

"No, don't do this", Frank gasped horrified, the Veritaserum having lost its effect, "Alice doesn't know anything. I'll tell you everything. Voldemort hides out in Moldavia. He's weak after the Killing Curse rebounded from Harry, so tomorrow the whole Auror department will portkey to the corresponding Moldavian office and join forces with them. I already brought my son to my mother so that she can look after him, while I'm away. Alice will floo over there in the morning..."

"Great, see, Bella", Rudolphus knew that Frank was lying, but he would rather spend the night searching through Moldavia than torture those two- they had a son for Merlin's sake, "Now, we know everything we wanted to know. Let's go there right now, before someone else finds him..."

"Shut up, Lestrange!", she hissed, "Don't take me for a fool. He just made this up. And now you better use your mouth for something useful before you're brother meets Merlin."

He exchanged a look with his brother. He hated himself for doing it, but blood was thicker than water, though that didn't really fit here, and he was a Slytherin. He pulled Frank to his feet and dragged him over into a corner, where his wife hopefully wouldn't have to witness how he tortured her husband, though she would most likely be worse off. Before he even reached his destination, a shrill pain-filled scream reverberated through the living room and the Auror froze in midstep, intend to run back to his wife.

"No", he whispered into his ear, "I won't help you, but it will only be worse if you fight- for both of you. If you know anything, tell me and make it believable this time and I promise we'll leave immediately, but otherwise I can't help you."

"I don't know anything", Frank was pushed into the corner and, peering through the Death Eater's legs, caught a glimpse of his beloved Alice, who was clawing into her own flesh in an attempt to lessen the pain.

"I know", was the last thing he heard for a long time, that was filled with Alice's pleas and his own screams.

Harry and the two empaths watched horrified as Alice and Frank Longbottom lost their sanity.

At first Frank only whimpered, whenever Rudolphus started anew, but soon his pain became more audible. Rudolphus only used the Cruciatus curse, but Bellatrix was more imaginative. Alice started screaming after the first two minutes and begging after ten, but the worst was, when she went silent about two hours into the torture. She lost consciousness several times, however Bellatrix didn't allow her that small reprieve and revived her, even going so far as to heal her, just to reopen the wounds again and again. After five hours, Alice Longbottom was as good as dead, her body was beaten so badly, that on first sight she looked like a red Mars man, until the horrible realisation hit you that it was blood. But what hit Harry the hardest, what he absolutely couldn't understand, was the glee on both Bellatrix' and Crouch's face, who had watched every thing with rapt attention and made sure that Rabastan had to see it, too. The nineteen year-old looked sick.

"Well, looks like your little wife gave out, Longbottom", she walked over to where Rudolphus stood over the sagged form of Frank, "My dear husband was too lenient with you, it seems. Anything you want to tell me?"

Frank didn't turn his head, when he tried to talk a splash of blood came forward instead. He had stopped screaming about an hour ago.

"Can't do anything right, can you?", Bellatrix sneered at her brown-eyed husband, "Go check the house for any information!"

He did as told, both for anxiety for his brother and the fact that he was used to obeying her. She had always been above him in the Dark Lord's hierarchy, she had been in fact his third-in-command, after Lucius. Sometimes he had hated the Dark Lord for this, Bellatrix was brilliant in her own way, but ruthless and unscrupulous and she loved to make others feel like dirt. He didn't find anything and when he returned Frank looked about as bad as his wife and gave no reaction when spoken to.

"Well, looks like they didn't know anything", Bellatrix greeted him and he would have loved to give her a taste of her own medicine, "Let's go."

Crouch released his brother from his hold and he had to catch him, before Rabastan could do something rash. He drew his wand with the intention to put them out of their misery, but Bellatrix stopped him.

"They'll serve those fools as a warning", she smiled cruelly, "Go, we wouldn't want something to happen to either of you, now would we?", she had her wand pointed at him, before he could react.

And so all of them left.

They dropped on the clean kitchen floor of 11, Magnolia Crescent. Sarah's eyes were red and her hands shook, when she embraced her son. Simon was deathly pale and big tears were rolling down his cheeks. But that was nothing compared to the state Harry was in: the small boy shook violently and his eyes were overflowing with tears and he sobbed so hard, as he rocked back and forth.

"Chris!", the female empath called for her husband and pushed Severus out of the way, who had kneeled down next to the heap that was Harry.

"What is it, Sarah?", the Muggle's voice sounded annoyed, "I'm missing the last minutes of the game...", he trailed off, as he took in the situation in his kitchen, "What can I do?"

"Fetch an icepack for Harry and a handkerchief for Simon", she ordered, "And then make some tea."

It was proof of how often he had been in a similar circumstance, that he didn't question his wife's words, but acted immediately.

"Simon, can you touch him?", she asked her son gently, who shook his head, "Worse or better?"

"He doesn't react to anything", Simon sniffed, "My God, what should we do."

"Wait", his mother answered, she hugged him again, "Harry'll just need time."

"What happened, what is going on?", only the many years as a teacher kept Severus from using swearwords.

"Harry has to come to grips with what we saw", Simon answered after a while.

"Shit", Harry jumped up suddenly and rushed to the sink, "I'm going to be sick."

Chris quickly made room and offered Harry a glass of cool water, when he was finished: "Thanks."

"Harry, are you okay?", Simon asked his best-friend concernedly, "Why have you shut me out?"

"I'm okay", Harry snuggled into the other boy's chest, "I thought you had enough problems with your own emotions. We need to look at the other one, too."

"Maybe, we should wait...", Simon suggested timidly.

"No, that wouldn't make it any better", Harry answered, "Rabastan could you...", he had turned around to face the two brothers to find the older one crying, "Merlin, what is wrong, Rudolphus, shh, don't cry, tell me what's wrong."

"I... I tortured Longbottom. I'm a monster, I should have died in Azkaban", Rudolphus buried his face in his large hands, but Harry pulled them away.

"Look at me", Harry demanded from his place at his feet, "You. Are. No. Monster. What you did was very brave. Don't laugh. You saved your brother. Do you think, Rabastan would still be alive without you? You did what you had to do in order to save both of you. Don't blame yourself for it. Please? I'm so glad I have you two. Don't cry anymore."

"Even after what we did to you?", Rudolphus looked unsure.

"Even after what you did", Harry agreed, "You more than made up for it. And if my plan works you can make it up to the Longbottoms as well", he hugged both of them, "Never blame yourself for this. I'm so proud of you."

"Can we do anything to help you through the second memory?", Rabastan asked, but Harry shook his head: "Just wait here."

The two empaths and Harry each drank a cup of tea, Harry sitting in Rudolphus' lap, while Rabastan moved his own memories of the night into the pensive and then once again travelled into the past, while the four others- Chris was playing host, since his game had already ended and he needed something to take off his mind from the fact that his team had lost and that his wife and son were doing one of their weird empath things with Harry- were twirling thumbs or their wands or the tea cups in their hands. When they finally returned the earlier occurrence repeated itself, completely with sobbing, throwing up and hugging.

"So what happens now?", Rabastan asked Harry, who sat in his lap and sipped his second cup of Earl Grey.

"We have to go to St. Mungo's", Harry explained, "Can you apparate there?"

Severus nodded: "Good, then let's go."

Harry stayed with Rabastan, during the apparation, Sarah went with Severus and Simon with Rudolphus. It was already late afternoon, as they arrived and most of the visitors had already left to go back to their family members and friends who weren't in hospital, and the nurses were preparing the patients for the night or the last check-up.

"Harry!", Neville jumped up from the seat, he had previously occupied, his face had dried tear-stains on them, "I thought you wouldn't come anymore."

"Keep it down", Harry murmured and hugged the other Gryffindor, "We're here now. Where's your father?"

"In his room", Neville gulped, "The healer already checked on him so... What exactly is your plan?"

"I never thought I would say this, but it's an excellent question, Mr. Longbottom", Snape said, drawing Neville's attention on him for the first time.

"Pro... Professor Snape, what are you doing here?", the blond boy stuttered, he then noticed the Lestranges and the two empaths, "Harry, who are all those people."

"Friends, Nev, they'll help us", Harry patted his shoulder, "And if you don't mind, I would rather start now than explain it to you. It would make it easier. But if you want, I'll explain it now."

"No, Harry", Neville looked rather tired, "I just want my dad to live, how you do it, doesn't really matter."

"Good, lead the way, will you?"

They all followed Neville as inconspicuously as possible to one of the rooms in the "hopeless case" section, though the three Muggle-raiseds were shocked by the bluntness of this term. Mr. Longbottom's room held no private objects whatsoever, unlike the room in the closed ward, and he was the only one there- most likely they didn't want to upset anyone, when he would peg out. His once tall, trained body had lost a lot of weight and the healthy colour of his skin had changed into a papery and chapped substance. His cheeks were hollow and he missed whole tufts of hair.

"You'll all stay outside of this room and look to it that absolutely no-one disturbs us, okay?", Harry ordered, "Severus could you maybe search for a very mild sleeping potion?", the Potion's Master nodded, "Neville, I tell you once again that I can't promise you that what we're going to try will actually work. Are you sure you want it?", Neville only nodded and Harry gave each of them a hug, Neville's lasting the longest, before he disappeared into the sickroom.

Sarah followed immediately, but Simon stayed for a moment longer: "I suppose you don't know or understand, but Harry is risking his life for your father's and if you dare to blame him, should your father die, you'll find that I'm a much better friend than you. Is that clear? Great!", he followed the two others and closed the door behind him.

"The Dark Lord will not be pleased, when he finds this out", Rabastan muttered, while the three adult wizard performed several locking and distraction spells around the general area.

"It's a bit late now for this realisation, don't you think?", Severus answered mockingly, "I just hope Harry will be alright and can handle the Dark Lord's anger on his own", he mentally scratched the last part of the sentence- he hoped Harry would be alright, full stop.

"Never thought that empath had it in him", Rudolphus changed the subject and put a we-just-cleaned-this-corridor-of-all-hairs-feathers-and-fallen-off-limps-so-find-another-way-sign in the middle of the corridor.

"Wait a minute, empath?", Neville, who had sunk to the floor, spoke up, "Who the hell are you people?"

"Language, Mr. Longbottom", sneered Severus.

"I can talk however I please", Neville shouted back, before he clapped his hands over his mouth, looking horrified, "Sir."

"Well, it was about time, you discovered some of that famed Gryffindor courage- however misplaced it is", the professor returned, "I'll be looking for that potion, not that hospital potions are any good...", he swept around the corner, his robes billowing behind him.

"Mr. Longbottom, why don't you take a seat", Rudolphus motioned to one of the sofa's he had conjured up, "My brother and I owe you an apology."

A good two hours later- Rudolphus was sporting a black eye, Rabastan a split lip and bruised jaw, Neville a once again clean and nervous face and Severus had returned with the potion- the eerie silence, that hand hung over the sickroom and the corridor like a thick black cloud, was broken by a coarse voice out of all recognition: "James, there were Death Eaters at our house... Where's Alice? Are she and Neville alright...", the words were strangely pronounced and distorted.

"Shh, be silent, go easy on your vocal cords", Harry's voice floated through the door, moments before Sarah pulled the door open: "That potion would be very much appreciated right now", she looked exhausted, but pleased.

Severus handed over the potion to her and she disappeared once more.

"Drink this", Harry ordered, "It will help you. Your son and wife are save."

Rudolphus got a glimpse of Harry and his two empaths, standing around the bed, in which a still gaunt-looking, but coherent Frank Longbottom lay. Harry and Simon propped him up a little so that he could better swallow the sleeping draught.

"I thought you were dead, James", Frank muttered, before he drifted of to sleep.

Harry slumped over and only Simon's quick reflexes kept him from hitting his head on the metallic bed-post: "Mum?", he cried alarmed, "Harry fainted!", Mrs. Turner quickly walked over to her son and the black-haired youth.

"Didn't faint", said boy murmured drowsily, "'M fine, just hold me."

Simon chuckled relievedly and carefully carried the smaller boy out of the room and bedded him on the larger sofa, where the three adults had previously sat.

"Did it work?", Neville asked anxiously.

"It was a complete success", Sarah smiled reassuringly at him, "Your father is on the mend. It will certainly take him a while to get used to the new situation- after all he more or less lost fifteen years of his life- but I'm positive he'll make a full recovery."

"Can you help my mum, too?", Neville asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure. What Harry did was quite dangerous and it exhausted him", Sarah answered, before Harry could say anything, "You have to be patient and didn't you say that your mum was getting better on her own, maybe it will be better for her to heal the natural way."

"But if you have the means to save her, why don't you do it?", Neville said reproachfully, "Harry, please, I finally want to know how it is to have parents."

"Show some gratitude, will you?", Simon said dangerously, "Harry did more than enough for you!"

"I can speak for myself, Simon", Harry admonished, blinking his eyes open, "And I told you that it was easier than I thought. I feel good and I'd rather have it all done. You heard Mr. Longbottom his first concern was for his wife, if we are very unlucky, he might even relapse, if he finds out that she's still in need of medical help. Please, let me do this, I feel much better than you thought I would be. I don't want to start again later and have to do this all over again..."

The two empaths exchanged a look: "Okay, Harry. But we'll take an hour break", Sarah said sternly and Harry sent her an over-exuberant smile and thank you, before closing his eyes again.

"And how exactly do you suppose, we do this?", Severus asked scathingly, "Alice Longbottom is in the closed ward, I think the chances are slim that they just let three known Death Eaters walk in there to supposedly heal her, what they have tried unsuccessful for more than a decade, I might add."

"I tell them that Harry helped my father", Neville said softly, "The head-healer knows me and when they see how much better dad is doing, they will allow it. It's not like they have a better idea."

"It seems that they already know", Rabastan remarked and pointed at the three medi-wizards and the nurse that quickly stalked towards them.

"Is there a way you could make Harry look less like himself?", Simon asked the four wizards.

"There are a few simple charms", Rudolphus kneeled down next to the dozing boy and gentle tipped his hair which turned into a light brown like the Turners'.

He finished just in time and when the four employees of the hospital stood in front of them, Harry looked like Simon's younger brother, with his brown hair, dark blue eyes, a broader jaw and heavier eyebrows.

"What is the meaning of this?", shouted the enraged wizard with greying auburn hair, who stood in the middle and seemed to be in charge, "You have no business to be here!"

"How do you do? I'm Sarah Turner and who might you be?", the motherly woman said pleasantly and smiled at the wizard.

"Aron McHail", the wizard said grumpily, but for the most part pacified, since his mother had been very strict about treating all women with respect, "Could you now possibly explain to me, why you have warded this corridor and why there was a drastic surge of magic in the whole hospital, Madam."

"Perhaps, you would like to take a seat?", she offered kindly, but with persistence.

"What are three known Death Eaters doing here in front of Mr. Longbottom's room", one of the other healers, a short black-skinned wizard with nimble hands, who Neville recognised as the head of the closed ward, intervened, "Came to finish him off, did you?"

"Mr. ...", she paused expectantly for him to supply a dry Inri, "Mr. Inri, behave yourself. If you would have taken a seat like I suggested earlier, you would already have all your answers", she said reproachfully, whereupon Dr. Inri, too, took a seat.

"Thank you, as I mentioned before, I'm Sarah and those are my sons Simon and Henry. We came here in the hopes of helping Mr. Longbottom, whose son we have known now for quite some time..."

"As honourable as your motives might be, there's no chance for Mr. Longbottom to make even a slight recovery", interrupted Healer McHail, "And you still haven't explained the presence of Professor Snape and the Lestrange brothers. You do know that the later two are the cause of Mr. And Mrs. Longbottom's state and should rightfully be in Azkaban, don't you?"

"Perhaps, it would help you in your conclusions, if you put into consideration that empathy runs strong in the blood of my family", Sarah continued calmly, making the medi-wizards and nurse gape at her, "Thanks to Professor Snape we put Mr. Longbottom into a potion-induced sleep, after we had helped his mind back on the right course. I'm no professional doctor, but I'm pretty sure, he did indeed make a full recovery. We were just debating, whether it was within our strength to try to help his wife as well."

"Mrs. Turner, this is a lot to take in at once, also considering that we had no success in his treatment and the fact that it happens seldom that three people claim to be empaths", the head-healer chose his words carefully, "But granted that what you said is true, would it be possible for us to check on Mr. Longbottom?"

"Of course, Doctor", she smiled gently at him, "But although I must admit that I have no previous experience in this kind of treatment either, I think it would be advisable, if as few people as possible examined him at a time. And since we agreed to try to help Mrs. Longbottom as soon as possible, of course only with your permission, I think it would be best not to wake him just yet."

The healers nodded their heads in unison, before Medi-Wizards McHail and Inri disappeared in the room while the other two alternated between curiously staring at the people still outside and impatiently staring at the door, as if it gave a running commentary of what went on behind it.

"It's miracle", Healer Inri muttered over and over again, checking the vitals he had just taken.

"Mr. Longbottom seems to have made full mental recovery and his body works intently on re-establishing his health", the other medi-wizard voiced, slightly more composed, "Mrs. Turner, are you really an empath?"

"Yes, Doctor, I believe I already said so, didn't I?", she answered good-humouredly, "Can I take this as the permission to repeat the process on Mrs. Longbottom? We would like to do it as soon as possible, since Henry should go to bed soon."

"Hey", Harry pouted indignantly, "I'm no toddler, you know?"

"Sure, deary", she ruffled his hair that was still as unruly as ever, which made him pout even more.

"I will prepare for her to be brought down immediately", Inri assured them and motioned for the nurse to follow him, but Harry's voice stopped him: "If you would please wait a second, Doctor?", Rudolphus and Rabastan had stood as well and now were blocking their way, "I have a request. Can you give me an oath to keep our names and our involvement in this quiet?"

"I have my medical confidentiality, Henry", he said a bit condescendingly, as if Harry had asked a very stupid question.

"I had no way to tell that the laws that work in our world also are in force in your world", Harry corrected him gently, "You may be able to relate to me being sceptical of people who insult friends of mine- I doubt very much that Death Eater is an amicable term. And even if I wouldn't feel like this, the empaths have no need to be swarmed by calls for help, just like you keep your world a secret from us, because you fear that otherwise non-magical folks would try to use your abilities for their advantage. There's a good reason why you think us extinct, while that's not the case. "

"Either you give Henry a Wizard's Oath that you will keep this quiet or we'll have no qualms to obliviate all of you", Rabastan informed them and swirled his wand between his fingers.

"But...", Inri sputtered, searching for words.

"The request is quite reasonable", McHail intervened, giving Harry a smile, "I swear upon my magic to keep the identities of Sarah, Simon and Henry Turner to myself and to not relate any information, I might obtain, to the public."

The young medi-witch, who had stood quiet up until now, also gave an oath as did the nurse and finally and a very reluctantly Inri did as well and was allowed to fetch Neville's mum.

"Thank you", Harry smiled gratefully at the two older men, who slowly pocketed their wands; he swayed a little, which prompted Rudolphus to manoeuvre him back to the sofa, where he seated him between himself and the male empath.

"You're welcome", they chorused making Harry smile even harder, "Is there anything we can do for you? Food, beverage, just name it..."

"No, thank you", Harry curled up between them, his head on Rudolphus' thigh and his feet on Simon's.

"Mr. Turner,", Rabastan asked calmly, "Would you mind explaining to us what exactly you did in that room?"

"It's just Simon", the empath said; his mother had accompanied Healer McHail back into Mr. Longbottom's room, "And although I don't agree with Harry's decision to keep so many secrets, I won't tell you, unless it should turn out absolutely necessary and what we did is completely impossible to understand without knowing Harry's secret, so I won't tell you."

"So you know all of Harry's secrets?", Severus butted in interestedly.

"No", Simon smiled, "It's Harry's theory: If you don't give anyone the right to know everything about you, you'll always be able to pull something out of your sleeve, should your supposed friend decide to stab you in the back. I assume that I know more of his secrets than anyone else, though..."

"You do", Harry muttered, kicking against his leg, "Stop talking about me or I'll tell your mum what you hide under your bed..."

"You can count yourself lucky that I know you're joking or I would have to assure your reticence another way", Simon bickered back.

"I think I'll give you back", Harry whined adorably with a look that screamed "Ain't I just cute?", "As an older brother you should be much nicer to me..."

"That suits me just fine", Simon returned offhandedly, "You're not the best little brother, either, you ought to adore me, admire me, look up to me and do everything I say..."

"Simon, stop being rude to your brother", Sarah interrupted them from the doorway and Harry smiled triumphantly, until the empath continued, "And Henry, why aren't you resting? I won't have you collapse on me."

"I was", Harry pouted, "I'm fine really."

"Well, then you can start to prepare for Mrs. Longbottom, she'll be down in about three minutes", she ushered the two boys back into the room next to Mr. Longbottom's, "Is it possible to procure another one of those Sleeping Potions, it seems to have worked perfectly for Mr. Longbottom."

"So my dad is really okay now?", Neville asked pleadingly and both the empath and the two healers nodded, "Oh, thank you."

At that moment Inri and the nurse returned, the latter guiding a mildly confused-looking Alice Longbottom by the hand.

"You can thank us, if everything goes well a second time", Sarah replied and led her patient with an expert ease into the room closing the door behind her. The three Death Eater started to weave Warding Spells around the room once more.

The hours seemed to creep by for the people, waiting outside the room, and only the Death Eater's great self-restraint and Healer McHail's and Severus' combined efforts kept the situation from escalating. Eventually: A scream, a thud, an open door. Sarah looked distraught, as she requested the potion, but assured them that Mrs. Longbottom, was just fine, if a bit hysterical. She closed the door again and a few seconds later silence once again reigned over the room. The other empath opened the door, looking like the world was about to explode and he was about to decide which five people would survive the catastrophe.

His eyes wandered over all of them, finally resting on Severus: "You're an Occlumens aren't you, Professor? Then put up your strongest shields, absolutely nothing may leak through, understood?", Severus nodded obediently and started to clear his mind, "Can you do this beaming-thingy to this house, you're staying at?", Simon asked the two brothers, who nodded, "Henry isn't doing good, we need to get him out of here as soon as possible. Can you bring my Mum and me to that house, too?"

"I'm ready", Severus murmured lowly his eyes empty of all emotion, "But I can't apparate him directly out of this room, we have to bring him to the visitor's entrance beforehand."

"If there's no other way, we have to risk it", Sarah said from behind him, "Take of the charms around him, if they haven't faded already and try to reappear at the most deserted area possible and then move away from him immediately."

The three Death Eaters exchanged a look: "His study", Rudolphus suggested, "But we'll need the password."

"It's 'white lies'", Simon answered urgently, "We have to go."

"Good, Mrs. Turner, I'll apparate you", Rudolphus took charge, "And Simon will go with Rabastan. Let's go!"

They quickly walked to the visitor's entrance where they had arrived in the first place, forcing the healers and the nurse to leave with them, pushing them into a corridor and blocking it so that they had to go a long way round to get back to the Longbottoms, and got ready to apparate. It didn't take long, before Severus came sprinting towards them (in other circumstances this picture would have been dubbed hilarious and photography proof would have made Colin Creevey a rich man) with a small bundle in his arms.

They all disappeared at the same time, the loud crack startling one of the house-elves who was cleaning the plexiglass around the reception desk.

Severus had been shocked, when he had walked into Mrs. Longbottom's room, who looked just fine by the way. Harry was slumped on the floor. Why the two empaths hadn't put him into a more comfortable position was explained, when Harry flinched and whimpered, as soon as he entered, getting worse with every step he took. The glamour had worn off, showing Harry's pale face contorted in pain and anguish. He quickly gathered the small boy in his arms and ran towards the apparation point, realising that time was short and trusting the two empaths to know what was best in such a situation. Once in the castle he gently put the small boy down on the nearest black loveseat and left the room with the Lestranges.

"I think it's time we inform the Dark Lord of the situation", Rabastan voiced, after they had all processed what they had seen of Harry.

"What do you want to tell me?", Voldemort stalked towards them, "Maybe you would like to explain to me, where you were all day and whom Harry thought he had to save this time?", he glared down at them.

"We were with Harry", Severus answered calmly, "Who somehow managed to cure the Longbottoms but got sick, after they were finished. That empath-friend of Harry's and his mother are in the study with him and try to help him", Tom made to open the door, but the Potion's Master stopped him with his next words, "The empaths sent us out. Neither of us knows what they did, but Harry looked really bad and it only got worse, as I apparated him here, perhaps it would be better, if we stayed outside, until they call for help."

"So you don't even know what went wrong?", Voldemort glared at them, but it was more the fact that they hadn't looked out for Harry than that now he had no idea what was wrong with Harry, "Rabastan, go fetch Black and Lupin. And Rudolphus, find the Malfoys and bring them here."

They nodded and set off. Once again Severus had to wait and although the company wasn't as fidgety as Longbottom jr. had been. it wasn't any less uncomfortable. Harry's study wasn't sound-prove and so they heard a whimper or a sob and once even a terrified scream mixed with the constant murmur of low voices through the door. Sirius and Remus were the first to arrive, both looking worried but surprisingly not angry, like Severus had come to associate with the Black heir. Half a minute later Rudolphus returned with the Malfoys and they continued waiting.

Half an hour or so later Simon and Sarah squeezed through the narrow gap between the door frame and the door: "You can go in", Simon said to Sirius, who almost stormed into the room, leaving it slightly ajar, "No, only Mr. Black", Simon closed the door, before Voldemort could follow the Animagus, "I'll explain everything, just give us five minutes."

The two empaths linked their hands and turned their backs on the wizards, closing their eyes. Soon light blue rays emanated from them and wove a tight net over the door and the surrounding area.

"Good feelings", Simon said by way of explanation, before he faced them again and slid down to the floor, getting more comfortable, "I guess you all know by now that we tried to help the Longbottoms and you all know that Mum and I are empaths. To make it short Harry is one, too", he continued, ignoring the stunned looks he received.

"But he said he couldn't feel what the Dark Lord feels, when his scar hurts", Severus interrupted.

"He didn't exactly lie", Simon answered, "Empaths don't feelother's feelings. If someone around me is angry, I don't feel angry as well, I only can tell thatthe person is angry. It's more like a code, influenced by the empath's respective experiences, like for example if there's love, I feel secure ..."

"While I feel happy and reassured", Sarah supplied.

"Oh, sweet Merlin, so you more or less not only saw what we did to the Longbottoms, but also felt all of our feelings?", Rabastan asked horrified.

"We didn't, Harry did", Simon sighed, "A normal empath can't perceive what others feel in dreams or memories. But Harry is more sensitive than Mum and me put together and he feels everything. That is the reason why he was able to help the Longbottoms, while we only tried to stabilise him."

"What exactly did you do?", Tom demanded.

"Harry entered their minds on the level where feelings and emotions are stored away. All they remembered of that night was the pain and in Mr. Longbottom's case the guilt, which was slowly eating away from him and was blocking all other emotions or thoughts", Simon said carefully, "Harry soaked up all those sentiments, which he only could because he knew what exactly happened that night and how all of you felt. No-one can undo what already happened, but Harry managed to take away the emotional pain. After Frank Longbottom we thought that Harry was doing fine and that it wasn't as bad as we thought it to be, but Harry was once again masking his feelings so that we would allow him to do it one more time."

"So he has been manipulating us all this time?", Tom asked with barely controlled anger- how dare that little scallywag control his feeling, no wonder he was behaving so oddly lately!

"No", the empath stared at him reproachfully, "You have no idea, how hard it is to feel everything that goes on around you. Harry has his shields up almost all of the time, because he would burst, if he had to experience everything, you put him through, but he still can't block everything out, which is the reason he can react to what you feel. But he isn't manipulating anyone, because he could only do it, if he lets down all of his wards, besides the obvious fact that Harry would never do such a thing."

"So why can't we go see him?", Draco asked, "I mean we all like him, wouldn't that make him feel positive?"

"Harry has to come to terms with all the additional pain, he burdened himself with", the other boy answered, "And he doesn't react to emotions like you would expect him, too, because he doesn't trust his one abilities. Mr. Black is the only one..."

"...he would live for", Severus murmured, remembering what Harry had told him and Simon nodded approvingly: "He's the only one he trusts completely. If he would tell him that the earth is a plate, he wouldn't even bat an eyelash, but try to warn all of the ships, currently making a cruise."

"So there's nothing we can do", Voldemort summed it up.

"Actually, there's something you can do, Sir", the empath said, "There's no way to block the bond, you and Harry share, and I think it would help him, if you could concentrate on something more... positive. And we'd really appreciate it, if you could bring us home."

"Aren't you going to stay?", Draco exclaimed outraged, "You're the one supposed to be good with feelings and you leave Harry alone, when he needs you?"

"Harry's stronger than you think, Draco", Simon said lightly, "And we can't block our feelings even a little bit, because we live on them and that is the last thing Harry needs at the moment."

"But when he shuts down so completely...", Draco murmured, "You just said empaths can't do that."

"He does that, huh?", Simon scowled, "I told him not to, because it's dangerous, if he puts up shields that also hold in his emotions. He shouldn't be doing so, but he can, though it's definitely not good for him."

"We'll take you back", Rudolphus offered and the two empaths willingly held onto the two brothers, who apparated them back to 11, Magnolia Crescent.

Little by little the others scattered and eventually Tom was the only one still waiting for something to happen- what he didn't know, but that was secondary.

One more secret revealed. How many more to go? First Harry was an Animagus, then he had mastered Occlumency, then he had bet two Master of martial arts and now he was an empath. Though he was quite confused, why Harry hadn't caught up on his feeling for the small boy, and he was pretty sure that hadn't happened or Harry wouldn't look so surprised every time he complimented him on something. Maybe it had to do with what the empath had said, that Harry wasn't sure of his own abilities. And he was more than a little relieved that his feeling, if a bit unwelcome, were at least real and not the cause of manipulation.

The door opened slowly and Sirius walked out with a sleeping Harry in his arms.

"How is he doing?"

"I think he's better now", Sirius said tiredly, "I wanted to bring him outside, since it started raining a while ago. Would it be alright, if Harry stayed with me and Remus tonight?"

"Yes", Voldemort sighed, "Make sure he eats something. Just one question: Did you know it?"

Sirius looked at him tiredly: "I knew that Harry's feelings were more intense then usual and I suspect a lot of things. But I want Harry to come to me with me."

Voldemort nodded and they went their separate ways and Tom once again had a sleepless night, while Harry lay snuggled in between his godfathers and fought with his nightmares and the feelings that weren't his own.

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