Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
On a bright September day, a young couple with a toddler in tow appeared on the steps to the Longbottom manor. They had come to visit the toddler's grandparents, and to deliver them some disturbing news.
"I hope that your mother's home and we don't have to wait long for her; ," Alice Longbottom told her husband, anxiously as they waited for someone to answer the door.
"I hope that she takes the news well."
Her father-in-law, Charles, ushered them into the house.
"Who's at the door?" The young coupletwo of them could hear Augusta Longbottom asking from the drawing room.
"It's Frank and Alice, bringing little Neville for a visit," he Charles replied.
"Well, then, bring them in. It's been a while since I've seen my grandson.,"
Charles brought the three of them into the drawing room, . Frank and Alice looked at each other nervously.
"Well, what prompted this unexpected visit?" Augusta asked the couple.
"Mum, you know how dangerous our jobs are. That's why we told you that Alice quit her job to stay home with Neville," Frank told her.
"Yes, but that doesn't tell me why you're here," answered Augusta skepticallysceptically.
"Well, now the Death Eaters are going after the Aurors and their families, so we've decided to go into hiding," Frank said breathlessly.
"What do you mean 'go into hiding'? Will you still go to work each day?"
"That means that we will use a Fidelius Charm on our house with a secretSecret-keeperKeeper." ," Frank answered. "I've already quit my job as an Auror, at least temporarily until the danger is over."
"How are you going to support yourself and your family?" Are our lives in danger?" Augusta asked him in a worried tone of voice.
"Well, we do have some savings builtsaved up for a time like this, but if I need to I'll take a muggle Muggle job, and mum, I'm going to ask you to do something important for us. I want you to be our secret Secret-Kkeeper," Frank told her.
"Why would you want to go into hiding now? You knew the danger of the job when you went into Auror training. Your father never felt the need to go into hiding when he was an active Auror, even when he was married and we had you," Augusta pressed on, determined to find out what was happening. She continued, "I mean if it's a question of Neville's safety, we could send him to Uncle Algie's and Aunt Enid's house in Florida to keep him away from England during the war," ." Augusta suggested to her son and daughter in law.
Neville looked up at them at the mention of his name, but continued playing when he found out that they weren't talking about to him.
"I love both Uncle Algie and Aunt Enid, but I don't think that they know how to take care of a toddler," Alice told her mother-in-law, trying to talk her out of that idea.
"That doesn't answer my question about why you're going into hiding," Augusta insisted.
"I'm sure that they have a good reason to do so," Charles reassured her.
"Well, I still want to know why their they're doing this, since they've known ever since they became Aurors that their lives would be in danger. I never knew a Longbottom who ran away from a fight; I don't know about your wife's family. I knew that Alice would be a bad influence on you," Augusta told her son.
"Alice had nothing to do with this," Frank angrily told Augusta.
"Why do you want to do this then? If it isn't Alice's fault, then why?" Augusta asked.
Then both Frank and Alice looked at each other quizzically. Alice nodded her head in agreement.
"Mum, this is hard for me to tell you, but we aren't You-Know-Who's primary target, . Neville is. He'll hunt him down, no matter where he goes. If you want to go visit Uncle Algie and Aunt Enid, you can. As our secret Secret-kKeeper, he would send his Death Eaters after you to try to reveal our whereabouts, to find Neville," Frank told his mother.
The two older Longbottoms looked at the young couple in disbelief.
"Why would they see Neville as a threat? He's just a baby!" Augusta exclaimed while Neville played happily with his toys in the playpen.
"It seems that there was a prophecy that could involve Neville. It states that the one who has the power to defeat You-Know-Who was born at the end of last July, like him. The parents of this child defied him three times, like us," Alice told her mother in law, looking worried.
"I'm sure there must be other babies who fit that profile. Did the prophecy specify one particular baby?" Charles asked the two young parents.
"No, but the other family is thinking about going into hiding too, plus, he may try to kill both babies to get both of them out of the way," Alice told Augusta.
"I still can't believe that evil person would want to harm our Neville. Is the other baby a pure- blood like him?" Charles asked.
"I think that the boy's mother is muggle Muggle-born and the father is a pure pure-blood," Frank answered him.
"So that means that Neville will be the one to destroy him. You-Know-Who thinks that pure pure-bloods are the only wizards worthy to live in the wizarding world," Charles told the young couple.
"We don't know, since we don't know how the baby will be chosen. The other family has been moving around a lot since we were made aware of the prophecy, to try to hide their child from You-Know-Who," said Alice.
"I guess that you would know what's best for Neville. I can be your secret keeperSecret-Keeper while you're in hiding. After you perform the charm, Charles and I can go visit Algie and Enid in Florida for all of our sakesfeties.," Augusta sighed.
"Good, then, we'll perform the charm tomorrow at sundown, since Frank's leave from work starts tomorrow," Alice informed her.
"Good, then I'll go ahead and let Algie know that we're coming to visit him tomorrow for an extended visit, but not tell him the whole reason why we're visiting him now," Augusta decided.
"Greatood, I'm glad that you agreed to do this. I'm sure that Algie and Enid will be glad to see the two of you," Frank told his parents.
"Well, you know that we'll do anything for little Neville," his father told him.
"Another thing. We want you to care for him in case anything should happen to us," Alice reminded her in-laws.
"We know, but you're young, ; we'll die before you do," Charles told the two of them, sounding optimistic.
"I hope that the two of you can stay a little while longer, since after tomorrow, it will be a long time before Charles and I would will have a chance to see him," Augusta said.
"That sounds good to me. Plus, it will give us extra time to visit with you," Frank added.
The four of them watched Neville play with the toys that was were in his playpen for a while, thenand then his grandparents took him out to play with him for a few hours.
About three few hours later, Alice and Frank left his parent's' house with Neville in tow.
Neville didn't want to leave until his mummy and daddy told him that his Gran and Gramps will would come by and visit him tomorrowthe next day. They did not tell him that this would be the last time that he would get to see them for a while.
On the evening of October 31, 1981, the Longbottoms received the news that young Harry Potter had defeated Voldemort and that he was the one in the prophecy, not their Neville. The young couple decided to come out of hiding and asked Augusta and Charles to come home from Florida to reverse the Fidelius Charm, since Alice and Frank felt that it was safe for the charm to be lifted.
A few weeks after the charm was lifted, Augusta and Charles went by Alice's and Frank's house to give the young couple a nice evening out on their own, while they watched Neville.
When they got to the house, they felt uneasy. No one answered the door when they knocked, but when they opened the doorit, they saw the house in disarray. It appeared to be abandoned.
"I think that we need to wait here for Magical Law Enforcement to come and check the house out. I have a bad feeling about this," Charles told his wife.
When John from Magical Law Enforcement showed up and entered the house, he didn't know that he was about to enter a horrific crime scene. Soon, he will needed to call the Auror department and to get a mediwizard to come to the house.
John wouldn't let neither Augusta nor Charles enter the house, because he toldtelling them that they needed to get an Auror team to inspect the house first.
The wizarding world would soon lose the feeling of safety that was in the air after Voldemart's defeat.
Author Notes: Please read and review.