"It's not the goodbye that hurts, but the flashbacks that follow." -Unknown

"I am so glad that everybody is here." came the soft but firm tone of Albus Dumbledore.

The formal dining room of the family Manor of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom was dressed much like the Dowager Augusta Longbottom- big and extravagant.

The Lady of the House herself, was seated in one of the extremely expensive and handcrafted wooden chairs, looking like the embodiment of pureblood manners, with an erect back, blank face and cold eyes. Her thin lips were pressed in a thinner line and there were many frown lines that could be seen on her face. It had been a long time since she had smiled.

She had been a little weary at first about the Order of the Phoenix, to be honest. Dark times had fallen upon them again and this time, her dear Frank was not there to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

If there was one thing Augusta wasn't, it was blind. She knew what was happening to the people who publicly stood against the Dark Lord Voldemort. That man had done unspeakably horrible things to those that had opposed him.

During the first war, she had been nervous about Frank and Alice being Aurors. But those nerves had instantly turned to fear when her dear brave son had told her that he was part of the Order of the Phoenix, that was headed by Albus Dumbledore. Albus had been her Transfiguration professor, back when she was a young girl who went to Hogwarts, and he was brilliant, of course. But she had been afraid that he would not be able to protect her son.

And she had been right.

Soon after she had been told that particular secret regarding her son and daughter-in-law, she had also been hit with the news that her grandchild and the Heir to the House of Longbottom, Neville, -sweet innocent Neville- who had just turned a year old a few months ago, was one of the two children who were prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord. She was proud, of course. It was very nice to hear that her little grandchild could achieve such a feat.

Then there was also the fear.

They knew they would be heavily targeted. So they took all the necessary precautions to be safe. They heavily warded the Manor and used ancient family magic to protect themselves.

October 31st of that year had been awful.

The Potter's had died, trying to protect their little girl, Rosalie Dorea Potter, who was also Alice's god-daughter and Neville's god-sister.

She felt so guilty for being extremely overjoyed on hearing about the passing of Lord and Lady Potter, and was very much ashamed of herself for feeling so.

Dorea, along with Minerva had been a dear friend of hers (despite being sorted into Slytherin); and she had always secretly adored Charlus' shenanigans, back when he was Gryffindor Prefect along with her. And she had heard nothing but lovely things about James from her darling son and she was also very proud of Sirius for going to the House of the Lions despite knowing that he would earn his mother's wrath in doing so.

But all she could think about at that moment was if -Merlin forbid- Frank and Alice had been in the same situation as the Potters. They would have no doubt done the same. But now, thanks to Lily and James' sacrifice, they wouldn't have to. They both would be alive to see Neville grow up into a strong man and then start a family of his own.

This thought had helped ease her conscious a bit.

They had thought that after the Dark Lord's death, they would be safe. So they had taken down most of the wards.
They had underestimated the anger and dedication shown by the Death Eaters, even after months of Voldemort's death.
They had also forgotten that the grandmother of Rudolphous and Rabastan Lestrange had been a Longbottom, which thus, allowed them to not only cross the Blood Wards of the Longbottom Manor unharmed, but also disable them. They had believed they would be safe. Oh how very wrong they were!

Augusta's eyes turned colder suddenly.

'If...' she thought to herself, 'When... she see's any of the Lestranges- especially that Bellatrix b**ch- she would make them suffer. She would show them that there were things worse that the cruciatus curse, or she would not be fit to call herself Augusta Longbottom. Mark her words.'

Her eyes drifted to her grandson Neville who was sitting right across her, and the glacier's in her eyes melted a bit.

Her grandson had changed greatly from a few years ago. He had grown up to be a handsome young lad. His blond hair, -the only feature from his mother, unless you count the lips- sharp cheekbones, tall and fit figure along with aristocratic features had turned many an eye from the maidens. Just last week, Lord Abbott had approached her for a marriage contract! But the thing she loved most about him was his baby blue eyes. Because when she looked at them, she could see Frank. And that thought always gave her hope and life.

Neville caught his grandmother's eyes and gave her a small smile, which although she wouldn't admit, was greatly appreciated.

Neville had somewhat followed his father's footsteps and had joined the Order of the Phoenix. Augusta was extremely worried, as history did have a bad habit of repeating itself. But when she looked at his determined baby blue eyes and the way his left eyebrow would always be slightly more arched than the right, all she could see was another blue eyed fifteen year old who had given her the same look. She was practically putty when shown that look. So much so, that she had willingly volunteered to let the Longbottom Manor be the base for the Order meetings.

Neville was seventeen now, and Prefect for Gryffindor. Besides, she and Neville were already targets. So let's put a bounty on that as well. What's the worse that could happen?

Neville had actually been telling her about a plant he discovered a while ago when they had been interrupted by the Phoenix patronus belonging to one Albus Dumbledore.

The next few minutes had seen the haste arrival of their fellow Order members- both old and young. Each of them as confused as the other, as to the reason why they were being hurried and not being informed in advance about this meeting earlier.

"What is the meaning of this, Albus? Why have you hurried us along?" asked Augusta, her fiery temper that she had been known for back at Hogwarts, showing.

"Wotcher, Professor. Lady Longbottom has got a point. Director Bones is going to kill me if she finds out I am missing." came the voice of a bubblegum pink haired Nymphadora Tonks.

Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded, "Amelia will be furious if she finds out that we did not complete our Auror assignments in order to attend an Order meeting. She already suspects."

"Albus, I haven't turned the oven off completely. The cookies might burn..." said Molly Weasley worriedly.

Others, similarly listed their complaints at not being told in advance for this meeting.

Hermione Granger was concerned that she might not be able to properly finish her Potions' essay in time, "...Professor Snape is very strict in his grading."

Ron Weasley was mad that he was interrupted on his date with a fellow Gryffindor named Lavender Brown.

Charlie Weasley was worried about Norberta the dragon, who was currently not feeling quite well.

But every complaint was silenced by a lifted hand, courtesy of Albus Dumbledore.

He looked around the room, filled with more that sixty people at the moment. He held eye contact with every single one of them, making them anxious and nervous. With a deep breath, he said clearly, "Rosalie Potter has been kidnapped by Voldemort."

Absolute silence had descended along the room before several things happened at once-

Nymphadora Tonks fell off from her chair in a clumsy moment.

Ron Weasley's mouth was opened widely, unattractively.

Molly Weasley covered her mouth with her hands, but was still unable to hide the loud gasp that had escaped.

Arthur Weasley's eyes had widened so much, that they might as well have popped right out his socket.

Ginny Weasley dropped the broom she was holding to the marble floor with a thud.

Augusta Longbottom's pureblood manners had disappeared as her shoulders slouched and her jaw line fell down by a centimetre.

Neville Longbottom blinked rapidly.

Bill Weasley's eyebrows were raised well over his hairline.

Minerva McGonagall looked deathly pale.

Fred and George Weasley's faces could have been mistaken for that of a goldfish.

Charlie Weasley's reaction was a combination of that of all his brothers.

Remus Lupin's mouth went open, close, and repeat.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was blinking at the rate of a hummingbird flapping it's wings.

Hestia Jones and Emmaline Vance looked constipated.

Mandamus Fletcher looked like a newborn infant that was just about to cry.

Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody muttered something that sounded like "Constant Vigilance" under his breath.

Rubeus Hagrid looked heart-broken and striken with immense grief.

Dedalus Diggle fainted.

Then, as if a remote had been turned on, everybody's screams came at once.

"We're doomed!"

"What is that monster doing with her?"

"This is why we must always have constant vigilance! We must always be alert!" (You can probably guess who said that)

"She is just a young girl! Albus, you must save her."

"That monster already took James and Lily away! I can't let him take Rose as well!"

"How did he kidnap her?"

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"How did he know where she lived?"

"It's Snape, isn't it? That's why he isn't here right now..."

"It's Professor Snape, Ronald. And it is wrong to make such daring accusations."

"Ickle Ronnikins-"

"-has got a point, Hermione."

"Severus is a traitor!"

"It's our fault. We should have known. He is a bloody snake, after all."

"Professor, is it really Snape?"

"Albus, is Rose Potter really gone?"

"I failed James and Lily..."

Albus Dumbledore sighed before popping out a miniature twix bar from his pocket and made himself comfortable on his own chair, because something told him that this was going to be a long meeting.