Author notes ~ No, your eyes do not deceive you, it's an(other) update! Witherwing's chapters are clearly like buses: you wait four months for one and then two come along at once. Recap is at the bottom as always and I should mention that I have re-written a chunk of this since my betas (Lorien829 & Mistress Leigh) checked it for me so don't blame them if there are any glaring errors. Enjoy.
'Better Never than Late'
by Witherwings
Chapter Thirteen - Unwelcome Truths
22nd August, 1998
"Voldemort?" Immediately alert and fully expecting to see the pale figure of his nemesis stalking the ground's, Harry scanned the horizon warily.
"What? No! Nothing like that." Neville shook his hands from side to side as if to brush away the very notion. "I do need to speak to you, though. Both of you," he added. "I'm just not sure where to start ... it's all rather strange actually." Obviously agitated, the young auror directed several furtive glances over his shoulder as he spoke.
"What is it, Neville?" Hermione placed a comforting hand on her friend's arm. "What's going on?"
"And who is that up there?" chimed in Harry, tipping his head in the direction of the distant figure.
As if stealing himself for what he had to say next, Neville chanced once last look behind him before exhaling a noisy breath. "It's - it's my dad," he began but, although it was obvious that he had more to add, the rest of his explanation was cut off by a squeal of delight and a face-full of bushy brown hair as Hermione threw her arms around his neck.
"That's your dad?" she asked, her gaze shifting back and forth between father and son quicker than he could follow. "Oh Neville, that's ... that's wonderful! But how? When? Is he cured? Has he been formally discharged from St. Mungo's?"
All of this was said so fast that Neville could only follow one word in every three, her torrent of questioning only falling silent when Harry placed his palm on the small of her back.
"Let the man breathe, love," he chortled.
"No, she's right," put in Neville as soon as he had been released from the prison of Hermione's arms, the goofy grin that he directed towards the bushy-haired witch going some way to allay the flush of embarrassment evident on her cheeks. "It is pretty brilliant news."
"The best," agreed Harry.
Now that he took the time to look, although he was still too distant to make out any individual features, Harry noted that there was something very familiar – very Neville – about the older man's gait. Perhaps, he reasoned, it was simply because of who he now knew him to be.
"I didn't want to say anything before – didn't want to get my hopes up, you know?" continued Neville, the trio wordlessly agreeing to make their way up the lawns towards his father, "but the healers back at St. Mungo's have been trialling a new treatment these past couple of months.
"He's not exactly the man he was," he added almost apologetically as he noted that his father had chosen that very moment to drop cross-legged to the the carpet of grass where he was now studying something at ground level intently, "but he is more lucid than I have ever known him."
"It looks like he's doing great," answered Harry honestly. He remembered only too well the shadow of a man that Frank Longbottom had been when he had first laid eyes on him nearly three years earlier.
Neville beamed. "He does, doesn't he? And Healer Galen – that's dad's consultant – seems pretty confident that this is only the first step. With further treatment she says that more and more of his original memories and personality could resurface ... "
Under the shade of a parasol that she had conjured to shield herself from the worst of the sun's glare, Hermione listened to the ensuing conversation with only half an ear. Not that she wasn't interested – literally dozens of questions regarding the exact nature of a treatment that had evidently proven so successful had already occurred to her – but, given the lingering sense of unease she still felt hovering at the edge of her awareness, in an effort to identify its source, she directed the majority of her intellect inwards.
They had covered perhaps half the distance across the ground's when she succeeded in that endeavour. Like a switch being thrown, so sudden was her epiphany that she came to an abrupt halt, her two escorts each taking a couple more strides before they registered that she was no longer at their sides.
"Hang on," she said as they turned to face her wearing matching looks of puzzlement. "You said that you wanted to talk to us ... that something was up." Her brows were pulled into a taut line. "I may have totally missed the snitch here, but there's something you haven't told us yet, isn't there? Something that brought you here? Something that's bothering you."
It was a good point.
Unbidden, Harry's gaze swung towards Neville, his friend of the past seven years suddenly appearing very uncomfortable again.
"Like I said ... it's all a bit odd," he offered in response to Harry's questioning look.
Harry managed a crooked smile at that. "I think you'll agree that we've become rather the authority on odd," he countered. "Try us."
Neville squared his jaw. He had slain Death Eaters in battle, fought giants and decapitated a cursed snake; why was he was reticent to tell his friends the real reason for their visit?
Decision made, Neville took a deep breath and began to talk. "You'll remember I told you that the healers were trying out a new treatment regime?" he said, the question duly receiving the nods and murmurs of assent he had expected. "Well, the thing is, for a long time it didn't appear to be doing anything – nothing good anyway. The potions made him so ill that all he wanted to do was sleep, and even when he was awake, he was as weak as a newborn pigmy puff. He couldn't or wouldn't speak, he barely ate; not much more that a shell of a man really – "
"Sounds like chemotherapy," put in Hermione. "It's a sort of potion," she clarified in response to Neville's perplexed look. "Muggle doctors use it to treat various forms of cancer. I can still remember how awful it made my grandmother look ... "
"Exactly," agreed Neville, understanding the effects if not the function of the muggle treatment. "I can't tell you how many times I wondered if I was doing the right thing ... putting him through it all, I mean. Sure, he didn't have a clue who I was – who he was really – " Neville's voice cracked with emotion, "but he was happy in himself, you know?"
Hermione pulled Neville into a one armed hug, her palm moving up and down his spine in soothing strokes. To lose ones parents was something almost too awful to contemplate, but to suffer the almost constant reminder of that loss? In many ways, Neville's was the far greater burden and her eyes immediately filled with tears as she realised that, by obliviating her parents' memories, she had wilfully brought that very burden down upon herself.
After a few moments, Neville continued: "Anyway," he said, his voice still a little tremulous, "the healers told me that I should talk to him. That even when he was asleep, he would still be able to hear me."
"Muggle doctors believe the same thing," put in Hermione. Focusing on Neville's story allowed her to push her own feelings of guilt to the fringes of her consciousness.
Accepting that additional piece of information with a subtle nod, Neville picked up the baton of the conversation once more: "So that's what I did. I would talk for hours about ... well about anything I could think of really. Sometimes mum would come and listen, but mostly it was just me and dad."
Harry frowned and made a mental note to ask why the treatment had only been offered to one of Neville's parents – if anything, it had been his mother, Alice, who had seemed the slightly more cognisant of the two. Perhaps, he reasoned, that was not always the case. After all, he had only met them the one time.
"Of course, even with everything that's been going on around here lately – " Neville spread his arms wide as if to encompass the whole school, " – there's only so much I could think of to tell him about me, so I started to tell him about my friends.
"I told him about Luna, of course – " Hermione couldn't help but smile at the slight blush that worked its way in to her friend's cheeks at the mention of his girlfriend of nearly four months, " – the other trainees I've been working with, Kingsley, the Minister, even you guys ...
"In fact," added Neville before either of his friend's could speak, "that's why we're here."
Harry and Hermione did share a puzzled look. "I think you lost us," said Harry, that admission slightly mollified by the fact that his girlfriend appeared equally confused.
"I'm not done yet," retorted Neville, the good-natured chuckle in his voice removing the sting that his words alone may have carried. "It's Saturday," he stated, both Harry and Hermione falling wordlessly into step either side of him as he resumed his steady climb towards the castle, "so, as usual, I dropped by the ward and that's … that's when it happened."
Harry posed the question that had occurred simultaneously to both: "It?"
"He just sort of woke up." Neville cringed at the utter inadequacy of his words. "And I don't just mean he was awake, it was like a spell had been lifted or something. One minute he's just lying there, no more self-aware than your average flobberworm. The next he's on his feet, he knows who he is, he's animated, he's asking questions – "
One of Hermione's eyebrows arched for the sky. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," confirmed Neville and he snapped his fingers together for emphasis. "Which brings me to why we're here."
Which is? Although neither Harry or Hermione spoke the words aloud, the almost identical expressions they wore meant to do so was unnecessary.
Neville took the hint. "He came back to his senses just as I was telling him that you two were expecting a baby."
Harry felt his brow pucker in confusion. What was Neville trying to suggest? That his father had awoken simply because he had learnt of the impending birth of their child? It seemed improbable at best and he said as much aloud.
"And I agree with you," came Neville's immediate response. "The healers too. Given that his mind hasn't retained any new memories in nearly twenty years, they think he would have fixated on just about anything I was talking about at the moment he regained self-awareness."
Hermione's brows crashed together at the bridge of her nose. "Fixated?"
"I'm afraid so. It's been all he can talk about since he woke up. He was so insistent on meeting you both that the healers decided it would be best if they discharged him into my care for the day so that I could bring him to the school."
"And they think that will help?" Hermione probed. "Meeting us, I mean."
"They do," agreed Neville. "Or at least they don't think it can do any harm," he amended. "Look, I know it's a bit weird, but if you could just say hello – "
Harry and Hermione didn't even need to glance at one another before they answered. "Anything," they said in unison, the single word eliciting a grateful smile on their friend's face.
Having reached the flatter ground of the raised plateaux upon which the castle sat, it was at that moment that Neville's father seemed to become aware of their approach.
Bounding to his feet with far more exuberance that might have been expected given his physical condition, Frank smiled broadly as he jogged down the gentle incline to meet them.
Though still recognisable as the same man that Harry had seen in a photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix, the outdated and over-large tank top he wore did very little to disguise just how painfully thin he had become; that fact, when combined with his deeply lined face and receding head of wispy curls conspired to make him appear far older than he knew him to be.
"Come Nelson, look," he said, addressing his son and waving him over. "Have you ever seen anything more wondrous?" He proffered a daisy chain.
"Actually Da ... Frank," he replied. "I have. You should keep it. Give it to Alice." Neville turned to his friends and added sotto voce: "He's still a bit confused. In his mind his child is only a baby. The healers think it could be quite a while before he accepts me as his son."
Whilst his tone was rather matter-of-fact, Hermione's heart went out to him. She could see in his eyes the pain that admission caused him; a pain she knew she too would be foreced to endure should she ever locate her parents.
"Perhaps you are right," answered Frank, his fingertips tracing the tiny petals fondly. "Alice does love flowers, and these are quite beautiful."
Lightly gripping his Father's shoulder, Neville extended his other arm towards Harry and Hermione. "Frank, these are the friends I was telling you about. Harry and Hermione. You wanted to meet them, remember?"
Following his son's outstretched arm, Frank's eyes, so like his son's, drifted lazily towards Harry and then Hermione before finally settling on the curve of her belly.
Like a sudden squall on the calmest of days, Frank's his entire demeanour changed in a heartbeat. Banished to memory was the almost child-like innocence he had projected until now, in its place an expression that Harry could only inadequately described as hard.
He lurched forwards. "You, my dear?" he said, grasping Hermione by the upper arms causing her to yelp in surprise, her parasol slipping from her grip and tumbling to the earth. "You are with child?"
Wide-eyed with fright, Hermione could manage only a startled nod in response.
"And you?" continued the elder Longbottom, twisting towards Harry whilst simultaneously shrugging off his son's attempts to pull him back. "The one they call The Boy Who Lived ... The child is your progeny?"
Neville managed to grab a handful of his Father's sleeve. "Dad!" he cried. "You're scaring them!"
Shaking off his son's grip with surprising ease, Frank rounded on him. "I've told you not to call me that! Don't you think that I – " As if he had suddenly lost his train of thought, Frank fell abruptly silent. He pushed the heel of his left hand firmly into the soft tissue near his temple and tried again: "D-don't you think that I would … that I would recognise my own son?"
Although clearly meant as a stinging barb, the words were instead laced with uncertainty.
As stark as night against day, Frank suddenly looked every inch the frail old man his outward appearance suggested him to be. He stumbled forwards, his pale blue eyes darting all over his son's face as he all but fell into his arms as if searching for something in the man before him that was recognisable as the boy he had known.
"Harry! Hermione!" Neville's panic filled eyes snapped to each of them in turn as he stumbled backwards, unable to arrest their combined momentum.
Spurred into action by their friend's unspoken plea for help, Harry was at his side in an instant, the former Gryffindors lowering the older man gently to the ground whilst Hermione retrieved her parasol and used it to shield his pale face from the midday sun.
"What's wrong with him!"
Neville's tone was caught somewhere between abject horror and a second emotion that Harry could not permit himself time to identify. "I'm no expert," came his immediate reply, "but I'd say he's going into shock. He's clammy – " he pulled his conjoined fingers away from his neck, " – and his heart's racing."
"I'll get Madame Pomfrey!"
Having experienced the very same condition first hand, Harry knew that time was of the essence. Even waiting the short span of time it would take Neville to locate and summon the school's nurse was a luxury they could ill afford.
"No," he stated before Neville could so much as re-find his feet. "It will take too long," and without hesitation he retrieved his wand from his pocket and moved it across the pale feature's of Neville's father.
"A mild cheering charm," he stated evenly in response to his friend's questioning look. "It should manage his symptoms until we can get him back to St. Mungo's." He pressed his index and middle fingers to the older man's neck again. "Good," he reported with a subtle nod of satisfaction. "His pulse is already coming down."
Like a suspension bridge losing its battle with the forces of nature, the taut muscles of Neville's face suddenly went slack and he slumped back on his knees so that his legs were folded under him. "Thank Merlin," he whispered.
Guilt. It was then that Harry was able to identify the second emotion that had earlier coloured his friend's voice. Neville was clearly mortified by the manner in which events had unfolded.
"I - I'm so sorry," he stammered, confirming that theory. "If I'd known he was going to react like that, I would never have brought him ... "
Hermione lowered herself awkwardly onto one knee. "We know, Neville," she replied soothingly. "Don't blame yourself – we don't," she added. "He's been sick for a long time. He doesn't know what he's saying – "
A rasping breath cut her off and three pairs of eyes immediately swung to where Frank was trying to force his eyes open.
"Frank?" Evidently requiring a huge force of will, Neville managed to avoid addressing his father by that title.
"Nathan?" As low as the sea, Frank's voice was so soft that the trio had to lean their heads in closer to hear his words. "What happened?"
"You passed out," came Neville's immediate reply. "Harry saved you."
At the mention of his name, Frank's gaze swung around to meet Harry's and he lifted a slightly trembling hand which Harry instinctively took hold of. "The child ... she is yours?" he asked.
Although obviously weak, the older man now seemed to have far greater control of his emotions and Harry adjudged that it could do no harm to answer his question truthfully. "Yes, she's mine," he replied with a stiff nod.
If it were possible, Frank seemed to wither even further at that response. Obviously it had not been the one he had hoped to hear. "She will possess great power," he said, his pale eyes boring into Harry's, "but if he should ever learn what she is, she will be in great danger."
A handful of minutes later, Harry and Hermione stood alone on the front steps of the castle, their eyes directed towards the empty spot from which Neville and his father had just portkeyed back to St. Mungo's, the later lying on a magical stretcher having lost consciousness in the moments that immediately followed the delivery of his stark yet vague warning.
"You don't believe what he said, do you Harry?"
Although her tone was skeptical, Harry could not fail to notice the manner in which one of her hands had moved to guard their unborn daughter.
"Honestly?" he replied, his query receiving a tiny nod by way of an answer. "I don't know what to think."
"But he's been in hospital for more than fifteen years. There's no way he could know anything! He didn't even know she existed until this morning."
Sensing that she was trying to convince herself as much as she was him, Harry automatically wound his arm around her back.
"Like I said," he replied, guiding her back inside by virtue of his gentle hold of her, "I don't know what to think. On the one hand he's obviously not the most reliable source of information we have right now, but if you'd have seen his eyes … " Harry's voice trailed away as he found himself unable to articulate how intensely the older man believed the words that he had spoken – the words that had cost him the last of his strength to convey.
Worry lined Hermione's face. "So you do believe him?"
"I believe he believes what he said."
A heavy silence fell as they passed underneath the arched doorway and back into the relative cool of the castle that was only broken as they began to climb the main staircase.
"So what do we do about it?" Hermione wanted to know. "Assuming for a moment that we accept his warning was real, all we have are questions. What is this power she is supposed to possess? And who are we meant to hide that from?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know," he repeated. "But I do know one thing," he added. "Like you said, he's been hospitalised for most of our lives, if he does know something, it certainly isn't something he's learnt recently. As soon as we get upstairs, I'll floo Minister Brechin, have him unseal all of Frank's old files. Perhaps there is something in there that can help us?"
TBC...
Author notes ~ Well I thought that was rather fun. Frank is a blast to write so I hope there will be ample opportunities to feature him again in future chapters. Oh, while we're at it, 100 Witherwing's points if you can guess which television character this iteration of Frank is based on (there are a couple of hints in there for the eagle-eyed amongst you).
Anyway, feel free to comment on the way out.
Till next time,
Wings.
Recap
Prologue - The final battle through Hermione's eyes. We learn that she is expecting a child and that Harry is the father. Unlike canon, immediately after Voldemort's demise, despite the destruction of all of his Horcruxes, his spirit rises again.
Chapter one - Harry is rescued from the lake by Hermione and not Ron. Harry learns from the Horcrux in the locket that Hermione has long held a flame for him, so when Ron returns several minutes later than in canon, he discovers them locked in a passionate kiss.
Chapter two - Following his altercation with Harry, Ron flees to Bill's but knows he can never return to his old life. After spending a night on the beach reflecting on his choices, he realises he has made a terrible error. He tries to use the deluminator to return to Harry and Hermione, but the magical bond which allowed him to trace their location the first time has been broken by his actions. Instead he uses the device to take him to places unknown where he might be of use. Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione consummate their new relationship in the tent leading Harry to worry about unplanned pregnancy.
Chapter three - Ron is taken to Hogsmeade by the deluminator where he is attacked by dementors. Aberforth comes to his aid, putting him in contact with Shire (Neville) leader of the Hogwarts resistance. Recognising a chance to do good, Ron joins their cause.
Chapter four - Hermione awakens in the infirmary two days post battle. She learns that she conceived because of the effects of the torture curse on her contraceptive potion as well as the fact that they are expecting a daughter.
Chapter five - Harry explains the details of their escape from Malfoy Manor to Madame Pomfrey. We also learn that there is to be an order meeting the following day which Harry and Hermione wish to attend. Also in the chapter, Hermione is reunited with both her cat and her wand.
Chapter six - Harry confesses the truth of his 'death' at the hands of Lord Voldemort to a shocked Hermione prior to the first meeting of the Order post battle. There they meet the new Minister for Magic, Hirsam Brechin who immediately disbands the Order as his first act in charge.
Chapter seven - Hirsam Brechin reveals himself to be an undercover operative who had been posing as the Death Eater Selwyn. Reluctantly, Harry and Hermione agree to work with the new Minister. The chapter ends with an urgent call informing the group of an attack on the Ministry.
Chapter Eight - Harry, Hermione and the remnants of the Order race to the Ministry to repel a Death Eater attack. The battle proves too much and both wind up in hospital but not before Ginny Weasley defeats and captures Yaxley whom the Minister attempts to enlist Hermione's help in interrogating.
Chapter Nine - Unhappy with her decision to assist Minister Brechin in his efforts to force Yaxley to divulge sensitive information, Harry and Hermione argue on their way down to the holding cells. Considering the mission of upmost importance, Hermione proposes a temporary mind link to enable Harry to accompany during her attempts to enter the prisoner's mind. Agreeing to her suggestion, the chapter ends with Hermione successfully performing legilimency on Jacob Yaxley.
Chapter Ten - Entering Yaxley's mindscape proves to be a bitter sweet experience for the duo. Whilst the unique properties of the magical mind enable Harry and Hermione to 'meet' their unborn daughter for the first time, their attempts at legilimency also fail to reveal any useful information. The chapter ends with the truth of Hermione's pregnancy becoming common knowledge much to Ginny's disgust.
Chapter Eleven - Harry searches for the distressed Ginny and eventually stumbles across her in a ticket booth. Ginny pleads with him to take her back but, when Harry refuses, Ginny's temper erupts. Fortunately Ron is on hand to comfort his sister, but Harry knows that the damage to his relationship with the Weasley's may be irreparable.
Chapter Twelve - The action moves on several months and we find Harry and Hermione researching possible leads in the library. Having no luck the couple take a walk in the ground's and discuss the possibility of finding Hermione's parents. Meanwhile, a flashback to the day of the break-in at Gringotts tells us what Ron has been up to since the trio split up. The chapter concludes back in the present day with Neville arriving to deliver some news.