A/N: House: Ravenclaw
Category: Short
Prompt: He/She reached out, her/his hand grasping for his/her...
Word count: 1067
Alice Longbottom shut the door behind her, not bothering to lock it as they would be leaving shortly.
"Frank!" she called, peering into the living room to see if her husband was in there. "Frank, I've just dropped Neville off with your mum, are you ready to go?"
Frank appeared at the top of the stairs, fiddling with his tie. "Almost, my dear. I just have to-" He tugged his tie out of the knot and attempted redoing it, only succeeding in getting it more tangled. "Damn thing!"
Alice smothered a laugh and went over to help him. "Here. Let me." She deftly pulled the material into a perfect knot and tightened it around his neck, smoothing it down over his shirt. "There. Perfect."
Frank smiled in relief and pulled his wife in for a brief kiss. She smiled up at him and reached down to take his hand.
"Come on; we'd better leave else we'll lose our reservation."
Frank grabbed his jacket from where it lay on the carpet and draped it over his arm, following Alice to the door. They hadn't had a night to themselves since… well, since Neville had been born, and it was nice to get out for a night. Augusta wasn't the most conventional babysitter, but it was only for one night and they trusted her to keep Neville safe until the morning. Alice quickly checked her reflection in the mirror one last time, smoothing down a stray her, before reaching for the door handle.
Before she could even touch it, however, a loud bang sounded and the door blasted into tiny fragments, splinters flying everywhere. Alice and Frank were thrown backwards down the hall, landing with muffled thuds. Through blurred vision, Alice saw four (or was it eight?) figures advance into the house, wands out. She blinked a few times and her sight cleared enough to let her know that there were definitely only four people, and they were also definitely Death Eaters. She would know Bellatrix Lestrange's wild face anywhere.
She glanced over at Frank, hoping to warn him if he hadn't already seen, but he was unconscious and bleeding profusely from a cut on his head. Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back, focusing on the task at hand. Scanning the hallway for potential weapons, she noticed her wand lying just out of arm's reach; it must have fallen out of her bag when she fell. She went to grab it, but when she tried to move a bolt of pain ripped its way through her and settled in her legs. She must have injured herself more than she realised.
Suddenly she heard the Death Eaters step closer to her and Frank, and panic and adrenaline flooded through her. She reached out, her hand grasping for her wand. Her fingers were just about to close around it when a booted foot came down hard on her hand. She looked up into the grinning face of Rodolphus Lestrange, crying out in pain as he slowly applied more pressure to her hand. He tutted and grabbed her hair, forcing her head up to face him.
"Now, now," he scolded mockingly, leering down at her. "Play nice."
She glared at him and spat in his face. He recoiled backwards, dropping her to the floor and wiping his face.
"You'll pay for that you little-" he threatened, starting forwards, but another Death Eater grabbed his raised wand arm.
"Not. Yet," he warned.
Rodolphus scowled but lowered his wand, wrenching his arm out of his companion's grip. Alice allowed herself a moment of satisfaction before a blow came down on the back of her head, stunning her momentarily. Stars danced before her watering eyes and her hearing became muted so she couldn't tell what they were saying beyond muffled whispers.
Bellatrix danced around the pair, cackling loudly. She kicked Frank in the leg, the stomach, the chest, and Alice's heart squeezed painfully as her husband's eyes fluttered open. He coughed and groaned, causing Bellatrix's eyes to light up wickedly. She pulled back her foot again, but the same man who had stopped Rodolphus pulled her away. She struggled against him but he held her tightly and she eventually gave up, huffing sulkily.
"Remember our orders," he said tightly. "Take them away from here before we start hurting them, otherwise we risk capture. The Muggles might be fooled by our charms, but you can bet there's wards on this house that alert the Ministry. They'll be here any second; let's go."
Alice watched a fourth man drag Frank across the splinter riddled hallway and then apparate away with him. A sob built in her throat and threatened to escape, but she choked it back, not wanting to appear weak in front of these monsters. Hands grabbed Alice's legs and she screamed in pain as they roughly pulled her away. Darkness crowded her vision, and it was a mercy when she finally passed out.
The Ministry located the abandoned shack the Death Eaters had taken them to a few hours later, but it was too late for the Longbottom's. Alice had a broken leg, a concussion, and hundreds of cuts littering her body. Likewise, Frank had several large splinters of wood stuck into his flesh, the cut on his head was still bleeding sluggishly, and bruises covered his torso. They would heal, eventually - or the physical wounds would. If only that was all there was.
Their minds were broken. The Cruciatus curse was designed to torment the afflicted with unbearable pain that, before torture was outlawed, would make prisoners confess within minutes. Voldemort wasn't looking for information, however. He had no reason to attack the Longbottoms, other than showing his power and making an example of them to scare the wizarding community. They had no information to give, so Bellatrix Lestrange just kept going until her victims were broken messes on the floor, and then she carried on some more. It was only when the Aurors arrived that she finally fled and by then… It was medical opinion that the Longbottoms would be lucky if they ever spoke again.
Like Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom never knew his parents. Nor did he ever know what really happened the night they were tortured to insanity, but he was proud of them all the same. He only hoped that they could be proud of him.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review if you have a moment. Bye!