Harry breathed out a breath of air watching the mist swirl higher into the sky. As he walked the deserted streets of London he could hear the sounds of people celebrating the Christmas season.
It was the first real Christmas since the War had ended, almost two years ago. The first had been quiet, many still grieving the people they had lost. Mrs. Weasley had broken down crying when she realized that she had knitted two identical sweaters and it was only because of George holding her that she eventually calmed down. Harry had felt some of that grief when Teddy had looked at him and called him 'Daddy.'
Harry had to pass Teddy to Ron before he went to collect himself, crying that Teddy would have to grow up without his real parents, that he would never know Remus or Tonks aside from what people said about them, much like Harry did. But one thing would be majorly different, Teddy would never grow up in a home without love. Harry swore to himself that he would never let Teddy feel like he was alone in this world, that he was a Freak, no he would grow up with love and laughter.
Which was one of the reasons why he was in London, heading to St. Mungo's on this Christmas Eve. This war had broken so many families, but tonight he hoped to bring one back together. The idea had come to him when Hermione had deemed that it was finally safe enough to bring back her parents and restore their lost memories. Everyone had been happy for Hermione, that she was able to recover their memories, there had only been one face that had look on the reunion with sadness in his eyes, ones with no hope and an idea had taken root.
As he got closer to the Leaky Cauldron he paused to cast a glamour over himself, he didn't want to be stopped by grateful wizards. It was true that he had defeated Voldemort in the end, but he didn't deserve all the credit, while he had been searching for horcruxes others had been waging a silent battle, resisting Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Neville Longbottom was one of the greatest examples of this, he had watched over the students of Hogwarts and when the time came it was Neville that destroyed the last horcruxe, the snake. If it wasn't for that he wouldn't have been able to defeat Voldemort. Neville who had been bullied by a lot of people, who used to doubt that he had been placed in the right house had proved himself a True Gryffindor. Harry felt like Voldemort had gotten the prophecy wrong, both Harry and Neville were meant to be part of the prophecy, they were the chosen ones. While Harry had been chosen to be Voldemort's equal by killing his parents, his followers the Death Eaters had chosen Neville to be their equal by attacking his parents.
Stepping into the Leaky Cauldron he wasn't surprised to find it basically empty, it was rare to see a lot of people in the pub even now. Even Diagon Alley wasn't the same as it was years ago, it was much more silent and there was a large monument to honor the victims of the War. It seemed to have lost some of its magic, so many windows were dark, empty shops lined the streets because either the owner had left or they were dead. The only place that shown brightly was St. Mungo's, Harry briefly paused and fingered the wands in his pocket hoping that his plan worked.
Upon entering he was greeted by warmth, causing his cold nose to tingle. The waiting room was filled with the smell of pine trees and floating snowflakes danced close to the ceiling. He was greeted by a MedWitch as he entered. "Hello how may I help you?" she asked with a smile.
Harry returned the smile, "Hello, I'm here to see Frank and Alice Longbottom, there in the Janus Thickey Ward."
The MedWitch's immediately turned sympathetic and motioned for him to follow her down the hallway until they came to a slightly familiar ward, it looked the exact same way in did in his Fifth Year.
"Janus Thickey Ward, there room is at the end of the hall" the MedWitch said gently, before she left leaving Harry to find his own way. Harry gently let the glamour fall as he stepped inside the room and gazed at Neville's parts who looked the same as they did over four years ago. Alice Longbottom stared at him before gesturing at the seat next to her.
Harry observed the two people in front of him, he couldn't even imagine the pain Neville had gone through his entire life. To visit parents that were alive but weren't there, he knew of the pain of losing parents. But Neville had lost his parents without actually losing them and he knew that what he was preparing to do was the right thing to do.
From out of his robe Harry drew the Elder Wand, the wood feeling smooth and warm in his hand. This would be the first time since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts when he repaired his wand that he planned to use it. The Elder Wand that was more powerful than any other wand in the world, that could do feats of magic that were thought to be impossible and what Harry wanted to do was impossible. Alice began to shake as she caught sight of the wand in his hand and she tried to get up, Frank making distressed sounds next to him. Harry gently laid his hand on Alice's arm keeping it there he looked into her eyes.
"Mrs. Longbottom, I'm here to help you" he said gently as he gently brought the wand to her forehead trying to keep her calm, praying that this would work. Alice Longbottom looked deep into his eyes and she must have seen something because she relaxed and stopped struggling. Harry smiled gently at her aiming for reassuring before taking a deep breath.
"Repario" he whispered, a stream of light flew from the tip of the wand and entered Alice's forehead. For a second Harry was afraid that he had immediately made it worse as Alice Longbottom's pupil's dilated and she froze, her face twitching. Harry was about to call for the MedWitch when she slowly blinked and her eyes focused on Harry.
"James?" she asked confusedly.
Harry slowly shook his head, and removed his hands "No, I'm his son Harry, you're in St. Mungo's." He wondered how much she remembered, did she remember his parent's death, did they remember the torture? He could only watch as Alice tried to take in this information.
Alice closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. "Potter's dead, You-Know-Who gone, the Death Eaters" she whispered her eyes wide and full of fear.
Harry gently took her hands, "It's alright," he said gently. "You-Know-Who is dead, and his Death Eaters are no more."
Alice did not look like he believed him before she looked afraid again. "Neville? My baby? He came here" she murmured, flashes of a boy with a round face coming to visit her.
Glad he came prepared, Harry reached into his cloak and pulled out a picture and gently handed the picture of a happy Neville with his arms wrapped around Ginny and Luna.
"He's all grown up" she said tears gathering in her eyes and she gently touched the picture.
"He is, but no matter how old we are everyone still needs their parents" said Harry with sad smile before turning to look at Frank. He gently put the Elder Wand against his forehead and gently saying "Repario" once again and this time he didn't panic when the same process happened to Frank as that had happened to Alice.
But the first word out of his mouth was not James, no the first word Frank Longbottom said in nearly twenty years was the name of his wife. "Alice."
Harry felt like an intruder as Frank slowly reached for his wife's hand, in which he slowly rubbed his thumb over her skin. The second word was, "Neville?"
Harry slowly began to explain what had happened since the Longbottom's had been in St. Mungo's. He turned his head away when Alice cried over the loss of so many friends that had died, of the years lost, it had taken a few minutes to compose herself when she learned of Dumbledore's death and Harry felt bad about dumping all this information on the pair that had been woken but Frank Longbottom asked and Harry could see the Auror that he once was. The pair listened and eyes shown with pride and love as Harry explained how Neville led the Army of Hogwarts and helped defeat Voldemort once and for all.
"This War has torn a lot of families apart and this Christmas I wanted to bring some of them back together, so I took a chance" he said looking at his hands.
He didn't expect two sets of hands to clasps his gently, looking up he met two sets of watery eyes looking at him with such gratitude that his stomach flipped flopped.
"Thank-You" they whispered.
Harry smiled back warmly, "You're welcome."
It was a long process of alerting the MedWitch and proving that Alice and Frank were indeed sane once again. Healers came from all over the country, leaving their Christmas celebrations to lay eyes on the miraculous recovery. In the end Harry had to beg the healers to allow Alice and Frank to come with him and it was only with the presence of two Healers that Harry found himself outside the Burrow.
Mrs. Weasley opened the door before he could knock, "Harry James Potter where have you been…" she began with hands on her hips but stopped mid-sentence when she saw who was standing behind him.
"Frank, Alice?" she whispered feeling a bit faint as she looked at ghosts of the past. Reaching out Harry made sure she was steady.
"I'm sorry for being late Mrs. Weasley, but is Neville still here?" he asked.
It took a few minutes for Mrs. Weasley to answer, but she did with a dawning smile. "He's in the living room, everyone is. Come, come inside."
Harry led the Longbottoms to the living room that was filled with people, he paused in the doorway and waited to be noticed.
"Harry" cried Ron, the first one to see Harry come in, from his spot next to Hermione. "Where have you been mate?"
Harry smiled, "I was getting two more people for the party" he said eyes flying to Neville who was sitting on the arm of the chair Mrs. Longbottom was sitting at.
"Who did you bring Harry?" asked Hermione curiously. Harry just shook his head, not answering, instead he turned all his attention to Neville.
"Neville, Mrs. Longbottom Merry Christmas" he said stepping out of the doorway and revealing Frank and Alice.
Everybody froze as they recognized who was standing in front of them. Mrs. Longbottom gasped and covered her mouth with a trembling hand, while Neville slowly rose.
"Mum, Dad" he whispered brokenly.
"Merry Christmas sweetie" Alice whispered tears streaming down her face. Neville made a strangled sound and he hestiantely stepped forward, an action mirrored by his parents. Everybody else in the room was frozen at the sight of Alice slowly raised her arms in a wide open gesture and suddenly Neville was in her arms sobbing as he clung tight to his Mother. Frank joined the hug from the back and everybody had tears streaming down their faces as they watched the reunion.
Harry stood in the background with a small smile on his face watching Neville and his Grandmother embrace Frank and Alice. No one thought to turn around and ask him how he did it and Harry was fine with that. Only one set of tear stained eyes turned to him, Neville once again hugging his Mother looked over her shoulder and mouthed the words 'Thank You."
Harry nodded back and laughed as Teddy ran into his leg, picking his Godson he held the boy close, his heart swelling with love as he looked around at his family, the Weasley's, the Grangers, Luna, and the Longbottoms. Their family might have been broken, but they were healing.
If anyone had looked at the Burrow from the outside, they would have been awed at the glow of warmth, family, and love that was pouring of it. It was a beacon for the ones who watched from above who watched with joy at the Christmas Miracle.
So this is a little bit late, sorry. I hoped that you liked it!
