I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters, this is merely a work of fanfiction.

As always, I have thrown canon to the wind, unless I like it. I am taking a week off next Monday, so we will pick back up with the story on Hope you enjoy:)

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Ginny slinked into Holly's room around noon the morning after Yule. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Well hello there sunshine," Holly mocked from her bed.

When she woke up, she had tried to leave her bed, but Mipsy had pushed her back down and informed her she would be having breakfast in bed. She didn't dare challenge the bossy little house elf.

Draco, Blaise, and Theo were sitting in her bed with her. It was technically improper, but Lady Malfoy allowed it as long as Mipsy and Dobby were in the room to keep watch of them.

Theo and Blaise had shown up a few hours ago with fresh French coffee and croissants. The Zabini house elf had heard Holly was ill. She took it upon herself to pop to Paris to fetch treats for her. She had then shoved it unceremoniously at Blaise and told him to take it to his friend post haste. She would have to write Lottie a thank you note. She was a very sweet house elf.

Ginny climbed onto the bed and grabbed a croissant. Mipsy made her a weak coffee with lots of milk, and brought it to her.

"Thank you," she told the small house elf gratefully. She closed her eyes and sipped from it deeply.

"Blaise and Theo were just telling me how Neville danced you into a frenzy all night."

"Did not," Ginny denied, though her blush betrayed her. She shrugged, "Okay, maybe he did."

"Young love is so precious," Blaise crooned. Holly hit him with a pillow, and Blaise collapsed backwards dramatically in feigned faint.

"I'm only a year younger than you!" Ginny whined. Blaise ignored her, and pushed himself back up to an upright position.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting Holly? I wonder if Healer Tonks would consider beating one of your best friends up resting. Maybe I should just write to him and..."

"Don't you dare!" she snarled. Blaise laughed joyously. He loved to rile people up.

"Shut it Blaise," Draco interrupted. Holly was barely putting up with the bedrest now. If it got extended she was likely to be unbearable. He was certain she was only staying in bed out of fear of Mipsy's wrath. She was forceful for such a small creature.

"So...you and Neville?"

Ginny shrugged. She wasn't quite sure what to say. She liked him, how could she not? He was brave, and kind, and rather chivalrous. It would be hard not to like him.

"He's coming over later today to talk. He was going to visit his parents this morning."

"How are they?" Holly asked. She was particularly interested in their case, and hoped to be able to salvage something of a relationship with her Godmother once she had recovered.

"Not well. Apparently they keep magically inducing sleep. They haven't been making sense when they wake up. The healer's say they should get better soon, but they just have to wait.

Holly sent a quick prayer to Mother Magic that she would have mercy on her Godmother.

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Lady Longbottom sat up in bed suddenly. She looked around, but she didn't recognize the room she was in. Her husband Lord Longbottom laid in the bed next to her.

She looked around again and realized they must be in St. Mungo's. She could see the back of Auror robes through the glass pane in the door's window. Someone was standing guard outside their room. She looked for her wand, but didn't find it. She felt weak and her limbs ached as if she had been in a fight.

How had she gotten here?

"Alice," a soft voice called to her. Lady Longbottom turned her head to see her mother-in-law sitting in a chair in the corner looking at her with wide eyes.

When had she gotten so old? What was going on?

"Mother, what's going on here? Why do you like that? Where is Neville?"

Dowager Longbottom looked at her measuredly. She didn't want to alarm Alice. This was the first time she had been lucid since Healer Tonks purged her system.

"Let me get the Healer love," she told her. She opened the door and spoke to the Auror outside in a low voice, who then passed word to a Healer at the desk. A moment later Healer Ted Tonks was coming into the room with Dowager Longbottom.

"Healer Tonks, what happened? Was it a mission? How long have we been out?"

Healer Tonks ran a diagnostics test, her system was clean. Her memories must have been muddled. It wasn't unheard of in cases with long term potion use. The memories could usually be recovered with the help of a Mind Healer.

"What's the last thing you remember clearly?" he asked.

Lady Longbottom closed her eyes and tried to think. She remembered Hogwarts, she remembered The War and joining the Order. She remembered having Neville, and Holly and him playing together often. She remembered Dumbledore coming to them in a panic, and then her memories were fogged, like trying to look through a heavy mist.

"The Potter's died. Dumbeldore came to Longbottom Manor. He said Holly had defeated Voldemort. I was telling him I wanted custody of Holly. Then it's all murkiness. What happened Ted? Where's Neville?"

He led her to sit on the edge of her bed.

"What year do you think it is, Lady Longbottom?"

"It's 1981, of course. Why would you ask?"

"Lady Longbottom, it's 1993."

Lady Longbottom shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tight. It seemed impossible. She opened her eyes and turned to look at Augusta. She had clearly aged, it had to be true. She willed her mind to accept her quickly changing reality. It would do no good to fight it.

"Neville?" she asked.

"He's here. He just went to get some tea. He was up quite late at the Yule Ball."

Lord Longbottom lurched up in his bed, waking from his slumber. He looked at his Mother and wife.

"Where's Neville?" he demanded.

"Here," Neville said from the doorway. Lord and Lady Longbottom looked at their son with wide eyes. Lord Longbottom could remember more than his wife, but it was still murky. He did, however, realize that they had been forced to neglect their son. His heart was full of regret.

Lord Longbottom stood, making his way to his son, and drew him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what he did to us, but I'm sorry. We never meant to hurt you Neville."

Neville returned the hug hesitantly. He couldn't recall the last time he had hugged his Father. He was always so busy with work.

"Do you know who did this?" Mad-Eye asked from the doorway. They hadn't heard him approach behind Neville.

"It had to be Dumbledore," Lord Longbottom supplied, "I remember him coming to the Manor before all this started, and I distinctly remember him coming to our offices for tea at least every three months. He must have been keeping us potioned."

"Why does he remember, and I don't?" Lady Longbottom asked desperately. She had the terrible feeling that she had forgotten something extremely important.

"You were given more of whatever he used. He must have thought you would require more of the potion to control you," Healer Tonks told her.

"Why? Wait...where's Holly? What did he do with my Goddaughter?"

She was screaming now. She knew she was making a scene, but she didn't care. She was sure this had something to do with Holly. What had happened to Holly without her intervention? She yearned for her wand, she wanted to rain hellfire down on the ancient man, not that she knew where he was.

"She's okay, Alice. You can see her in a few days. You need to rest, and we need to see if we can get a Mind Healer to help recover your memories."

Lady Longbottom fumed, but got back in her bed. Lord Longbottom and Neville came to sit on the end of her bed to keep her company.

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"Lord Black," Cedric called as he knocked on the door of the library in Grimmauld Place.

"Come in," Lord Black called from his chair by the fireplace.

Cedric entered and went to sit across from him Lord Black set down his book, and looked at the young man. He hadn't spent a lot of the time alone with the boy, but he seemed like a good sort.

"So...Lord Ravenclaw?"

"So it would appear," Lord Black replied evenly, "Luna is always full of surprises. It would do you well to remember that. Her mother was the same."

For a mere moment, a bright smile lit up Lord Black's face, like Cedric had never seen before. It soon settled back down again into his normal neutral visage. He clearly missed his wife a great deal.

"Does it bother you?" Lord Black asked, "I don't care if you are her soulmate, I won't let Luna be with someone who will try to undermine her. If you have a problem with powerful women, you should say so now."

To Lord Black's surprise a smirk appeared on Heir Diggory's face.

"My only concern is that I am not well versed in Oligarchy etiquette. I have no problem with powerful women, but I would never want to embarrass my soulmate. I was hoping you would consent to giving me etiquette lessons this summer. I know you are an expert."

Lord Black was impressed.

"Of course, Heir Diggory, of course."

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Holly was led into the hospital room by Neville. She was greeted by a petite woman with cropped brown hair, and pixie like features. She wasn't much taller than Holly herself. A tall man that looked incredibly like Neville stood next to her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Lady Potter, I'm Lord Longbottom and this is Lady Longbottom, your Godmother. You may of course call us Frank and Alice."

Holly curtsied as it was the first time she was meeting them formally, though she had seen them before from afar.

Lady Longbottom broke away from her husband and pulled Holly into a tight hug. She held onto her for a moment before she pulled back and looked at Holly's face. Her eyes lingered on Holly's for a moment before she let her go.

She sat on the edge of her bed with tears in her eyes. She was so overwhelmed. She couldn't believe that James and Lily's daughter had been right there and she hadn't even realized it for over a year. She hadn't saved her from Lily's miserable muggle sister.

She hadn't done her duty. She had failed.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up into the big emerald eyes she remembered as Lily's. "It's okay, Alice. I don't blame you."

"Why not? I should have known better. I should have been prepared. If I ever see him again, I swear I will kill that man."

"I have my mother's journals. I know you were a brave and loving woman before you were potioned. You can be again. Recover, relax, write Neville and myself at Hogwarts. There is still so much time to make new memories."

Lady Longbottom relaxed under the weight of Holly's forgiveness. She was just as kind and wise as Lily had been.

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Ginny set down her journal and tied the leather strap around it. She had written to tell the boys that she had met her soulmate in Heir Neville Longbottom.

The twins seemed to think it was hilarious that her soulmate was "the most Gryffindorish Gryffindor ever" despite the fact that she was the only Weasley sorted into Slytherin. Bill and Charlie had merely congratulated her.

Neville had come over earlier in the day with Lord and Lady Longbottom. They had been released from St. Mungo's, and they were both eager to meet her. She found them delightful, though they were clearly both shaken by recent events.

They told Lord Malfoy that they had arranged to take a leave of absence from the Auror Department. They simply did not feel comfortable with that much responsibility at the moment. The department was currently being run by Auror Mad-Eye-Moody and Lord Shacklebolt.

Lord and Lady Longbottom wanted to focus on their own recovery during the next few months. They also wanted to work on improving their personal relationships, and looking over the family's affairs.

They had given her a Longbottom Heiress ring. It was a beautiful thing, intricate gold scrollwork with a ruby in the center. It was actually fairly similar to Holly's Lady Potter ring.

It was decided by all involved that she should stay with the Malfoy's for the foreseeable future. She had no desire to go home over the summer, even if Dumbledore was gone. She didn't trust her mother anymore.She liked Neville, but she just didn't feel she knew him well enough to live with his family, when the Malfoy's were happy to have her stay as long as she wanted.

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Professor McGonagall looked out at the assembled students. They were enjoying the welcome back feast, and she couldn't help the small smile that she hid behind her goblet.

She had assembled the Board the night before the students returned to ask for them to review the classes offered and the budget. She had been asking Headmaster Dumbledore to add a Magical Culture class for years, and he had always insisted that there was no money for another professor, ignoring the fact that most Pureblood Lord's or Lady's would have taught the class for free.

It wasn't fair to dump muggleborn children in the middle of the magical world at eleven with no context as to the world they suddenly found themselves in. She rose to her feet and approached the podium, and the room grew silent.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts. For decades we believed Hogwarts to be a safe place under the tutelage of Albus Dumbledore. We now know that our faith was misplaced."

The students looked back and forth between each other. They had all seen the articles over break, and heard their parents talking. Even the muggleborn students had letters sent to their families explaining that the Headmaster had been replaced.

"The Board is undertaking a review of classes and budget. The course offerings may be different next year, and the full list of courses should be available by the end of Spring term. Any changes made will be to help prepare you for your best possible future."

There were some murmurs from the older students, but otherwise the silence persisted. Holly in particular was paying attention. She was glad for the changes at Hogwarts.

"I encourage all students to speak to myself, or your head of house, if you have any concerns or questions. It is important to us that every student feels comfortable here. Now, enjoy your dinner!"

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Holly sat in an abandoned corner of the Hogwarts library. Vince and Greg sat at a table at the end of the row to make sure no one disturbed her. She was staring at books spread over the desk, though she was deep in thought.

She needed silence to think, and the library provided it in spades.

She needed to do the Chamber ritual soon. Sally assured her the basilisk would wait for her orders, but how long could that really hold for? She needed to put the creature back to sleep.

She intended to take guards with her. It was traditionally a great honor to be asked to ask as a guard during a ritual. It implied absolute trust. She wanted at least one older student who was more skilled than she- which meant she would have to bring an older student in on her secret.

She knew people knew she was special, that there was something different about her, especially the Slytherin's, but they didn't know why. She had been careful not to speak to Sally when people were looking at her, and she hadn't breathed a word about her Slytherin heritage to anyone.

Who could she trust? Who was worthy?

Cedric was certainly trustworthy, but he didn't need to know yet. He was clearly loyal to Zach and had probably been used during his Heir ritual. This could set a precedent for the future, and Cedric would never be one of her close advisors, despite him being a good friend.

She picked up a book in Pureblood Families from her private collection. Her eye caught on one in particular. Flint. Marcus was older, he was the soulmate of one of her best friends. He had proved to be helpful in the past.

She would call Lord Malfoy tonight in her mirror and ask about his family before she talked to him. She needed to be sure. Theo and Blaise were obvious choices for the Chamber ritual. They already knew her secret, and were quick with a wand.

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"Heir Flint," Lord Malfoy mused, tapping his chin with the edge of his cane.

"Yes, what do you think?" Holly asked.

Her Father raised an eyebrow at her imperiously and she gave him a small smile in apology. She knew she was being short with him, but she was incredibly anxious. She wanted that Basilisk under her control, and soon.

"I suspect he is a good choice. He is the soulmate of your friend Heiress Parkinson, is he not?"

Holly nodded her head in affirmation.

"That's convenient," he mused. "His family will support you, I am sure. His father was forced into Riddle's service by the former Lord Flint, and resents him heavily for it. He is a tough man, but he is not cruel. He keeps a tight leash on his father now."

"Right then, Flint it is."

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"Open," Holly hissed at the faucet with a snake engraved on it.

The sinks moved outward revealing a long chute that plunged down into the depths of the castle. Sally noted her approval from Holly's shoulder. This was much fancier than the way she had found into the Chamber, through pipes.

"I am not jumping," Blaise complained.