Lady Tonks, Lord Potter

Gifts of the House of Potter

"Luna, are you sure?" Neville paused above the plant, pruning shears in his hand, and turned back to look at her. "We don't know what spell hit her."

After nodding at him Luna put her hand on his arm. "It is obvious from what Madame Pomfrey told us. Her symptoms. Daddy always said that that the Unspeakables developed the spell that caused her condition to combat the Rotfang Conspiracy but even if Madame Pomfrey doesn't believe me I know it will work. That's why we're in Greenhouse Three."

After looking down at the plant again Neville took a deep breath. "All of the books say that gillyweed is really only useful for breathing underwater." He paused and then, decision made, began to make a few cuttings. "But if she's having problems breathing, maybe it would help...OH!" Suddenly he straightened up. "If I mix it with venomous tentacula, the leaves, and use it like an antidote..."

Luna clapped her hands. "I knew you could do it, Neville!"

Inspiration taking hold, Neville quickly got to work. Once the cuttings from the gillyweed were complete he hurried over to the venomous tentacula, carefully snipped a few leaves, and then grabbed Luna's hand, not bothering to close the door to the greenhouse as they ran towards the castle.

The scene around Molly Weasley's bedside had not changed; the Weasley children, along with Harry and Dora, sat hoping for a miracle. Instead of a miracle, though, the door to the hospital wing flew open, striking the wall with a bang, causing all of them to start.

"Nev?" Ron looked up from his seat. "What's going on?"

"Mister Longbottom..." Madame Pomfrey, hearing the disturbance, hurried over to him. "Why in Merlin's name..."

"I've got it!" Neville panted, slightly out of breath. "She can't breathe, right? Her lungs are like she's drowning, but something's keeping you from fixing that, poison around her chest cavity. I got it. Gillyweed and vemomous tentacula, together. Use the tentacula as an antidote to the poison, and then gillyweed to clear her lungs."

As the Weasley children began animatedly talking over each other Madame Pomfrey gave Neville a long, curious look. "You may be on to something...but may I suggest something to stabilise her condition while..." She stopped, clapped her hands and hurried over to the small potions area of the hospital wing.

For the next hour all the Weasleys and those assembled for Molly exchanged tense looks and few words. Ron sat there as if his world was hanging by a thread. He'd already lost his father, and Percy, what would happen if Neville was wrong? He'd nearly lost Jack, and felt as if his nerves were stretched taut, that if anything touched them he would simply break apart, never to be made whole.

"Ron? Sweetie?" Jack slid her hand into his and leaned into him. "You have to hope."

"Hope. Yeah." He nodded, answering as if his own voice was the oddest thing, something unnatural, echoing inside his head. It was as if he was outside of his body, looking in, watching everything but unable to react. As time seemed to not function any longer he watched as Neville and Madame Pomfrey came over, the hospital matron holding a vial of something that seemed to be smoking. The fact that Pomfrey tilted his mum's head up, poured the smoking liquid into her mouth and then began casting diagnostic spells over his mother didn't seem to be real. And then, when Pomfrey and Neville began talking animatedly, happily, he finally snapped out of it.

"It's going very well, Ronald."

He looked up and saw Luna smiling at him. "Is it?"

She nodded several times. "Daddy always said the Rotfang Conspiracy was real. I told Neville it would work."

As his mum's eyes opened tentatively Ron turned back to Luna. "Thank Merlin for the Rotfang Conspiracy. Right now it's my favourite conspiracy of all time."