It was dark when Neville awoke, stiff and cold, despite the blanket that had been thrown over him. He looked around the familiar room and wondered why it looked different. It dawned on him, he had never fallen asleep in his armchair before. His eyes slid to the bed where Pansy lay, sleeping fitfully. He wondered whether it had been her restlessness that had woken him. He cast a Tempus charm and noted it was two in the morning. So much for a quick nap.
Leaning forward, he watched her, stroking her hair away from her damp skin. It was so much longer than it had been when it had all started, the short, perfect bob a thing of the past. He thought the newer hairstyle suited her better, made her look more approachable and softer. It felt as silky as he remembered as he fingered one of the dark tendrils at her shoulder.
He heard a noise on the floorboards below. He wondered whether his gran was downstairs, recovering from the shocks of the afternoon. He cast a warming charm around the room and pulled the covers up over her again, before touching her face again. He left the room, rubbing at his face as he moved to the landing. The floorboards creaked outside of his gran's room.
"Neville?" she called from her room.
From her room! He stopped dead. His heartbeat thumbing between his ears as he lowered himself to the floor, locking his gran's door and flicking his wand at Pansy's door, closing and locking that too. He heard a creak on the bottom stair as he waited. Flicking his wand, he whispered the emergency spell that every magical child was taught. Vigilum Auxilium. A spell to call the Auror's if you were out of reach of the floo or couldn't cast a Patronus.
A shard of light, bearly visible in the dark erupted from the end of his wand before zooming through the ceiling and out of sight. He prayed the Auror's got there in time. Another creak on the steps brought Neville back, his focus painfully acute as he readjusted his grip on his wand. Another groan, another step. It wouldn't be long before he would be able to see and be seen by the intruder. The only plus was that the intruder would be facing away from him as they climbed the stairs. He cast a quick disillusionment charm over himself – nothing fancy just a notice-me-not charm that had served him well at school as he waited for another creak.
It came as predicted as the tip of a dark shadow came into view. Neville gripped his wand tighter, afraid to move. He told himself to shoot. Whoever this was climbing the stairs, it wasn't anyone that should be there. How had they gotten past the wards? Another groan as the intruder turned on the stairs.
Neville held his breath as an explosion erupted over his right shoulder. He jumped as the door next to him exploded open.
He saw the intruder raise his wand in surprise.
"STUPEFY!" Neville shouted into the dusty landing as a red ball shot from the end of his wand into the chest of the stranger. The figure fell back in a slump as his gran appeared at his shoulder. "Gran, go and check Pansy, We've been broken into." He ordered as he kept his wand pointed at the figure. A whoosh from downstairs and voices filled the living room.
"We're up here, there is an intruder on the stairs. He has been stunned." Neville called into the night as lit wands moved on the stairs.
"You alright up there, Nev? Anyone hurt?" He heard Ron call from below.
"Yeah, We're alright.,"
Neville stood up and moved closer as two Aurors picked up the intruder, moving him with a grunt to the living room.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, offering his hand. Neville took it and clasped it as his heartbeat calmed.
"Dunno, mate. Woke up when I heard a noise, thought it was gran, but she was in her room,"
The lights around them came on as His gran and Pansy descended the stairs.
Ron frowned as he caught sight of the Slytherin before looking around.
"How about we discuss this upstairs." He said with a look as he herded them back up the stairs.
Once out of sight, Ron pushed a hand across his face as he sighed.
"What's Parkinson doing here?" He asked bluntly.
"Her mother sent her here, We think she'd been forced into signing the marriage contract,"
Neville turned to Pansy, searching her pale face. She looked at him and nodded.
"Reminiserum," She whispered as she hugged her arms to herself.
"What? The memory-loss potion? That's a banned substance!" Ron exclaimed, stepping closer. "Mr Parkinson has already reported your disappearance and strongly hinted that you would probably be here. There has been an Auror-wide bulletin that should anyone find you, they bring you in. Just seeing you here could cost me my job if I don't bring you in." He hissed.
"Even if she's been subjected to…" he paused, looking at her for permission. She nodded again and closed her eyes. "Unforgivable spells and forced into marriage?"
"Unforgivable spells?" Ron asked. "That would be a different story, Do you have proof?" He asked.
Neville turned to Pansy who tapped her wand against her temple, ethereal strands pulled from her mind as the memories pulled free. Ron grabbed a vial from his belt and held it open to her as she dropped the memory in.
"Will you have to take her in?" Gran asked, stepping in front of her protectively.
"No, Mrs Longbottom. If she's here then shes safe, especially if she's been subjected to Unforgivables and banned substances. I'll square it at the office and start formal proceedings. Just don't leave the house."
"What about the Burrow, boxing day?"
"That should be fine as Me and Harry will be there, but nowhere else. I mean it! We're going to need to handle this very delicately,"
"I'm not going back," Pansy announced firmly, a hint of desperation in her voice "I won't do it! You can't make me!"
"No one will make you, my girl. They'll have to get through Neville and me first," his gran declared. Neville nodded as his heart warmed to his grandmother even more.
"No one will make you go back. Definitely not until these allegations are sorted through. But it could be messy, especially with the looming wedding contract. I don't know all the ins and outs about it, but… it looks… Well, y'know." Ron grimaced awkwardly with a non-committal shrug. "I'll try and get a copy sent to you. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a loophole. But now, stay up here with Mrs Longbottom, and I'll take Neville downstairs to sort out what's going on with this guy," They nodded silently as they moved back towards the stairs.
"Do you have memories to back up her allegations, mate?" He asked quietly as they moved through the debris.
"I didn't see anything, but her mother sent her here and I've seen her recovery… it's been… harrowing," he said as he pushed his hair away from his head.
"Can I take those memories?" Ron asked, and Neville nodded. He did the same as Pansy, tapping his wand against his temple as he drew the gossamer strands from his mind. Ron offered him another empty vial which Neville dutifully filled.
"Calliope Parkinson asked us to look after Pansy for a few days. I can only assume to give her a chance to get the potion out of her system. But she only remembered me from first year, nothing about us at all. She was being forced to marry Montegue and give up her schooling. The Parkinson lawyer, Ms Ent had been poking around too, she fire called and apparated around earlier, but Pansy wasn't seen."
"Right," Ron nodded as he led the way into the living room where the intruder was waking up. The other Auror's had already bound him using the Incarceous curse. "Has he said anything yet?"
The shorter of the two was the Auror he had met from the explosion at the Daily Prophet. Her dark hair still pulled back into its tight ponytail. She looked as serious as he remembered. She looked at him for a moment, her gaze penetrating him, making him feel like the perpetrator, not the victim.
The other Auror wasn't one he had met before but seemed quite genial if his smile was anything to go by. He was the one to speak, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he turned and shook his head. "He hasn't talked, but we know who he is, don't we Daurian?" He teased.
"It's not Daurian, It's Jack," The prisoner's voice was higher and younger than Neville had expected, sounding not much older than himself. The man's features were smudged with charcoal to camouflage in the dark along with his black gloves, jacket and jeans.
"That's not what it says on your birth certificate. Mr Daurian Jack Crow. We've been after you for a while,"
"Known for burglary, and there was a case of kidnapping not too long ago that bore your magic signature," Croft said sternly.
"You have no proof,"
"Not yet, but if you cooperate with this case, we might see what we can do," The unknown Auror offered. "What were you doing here?"
"Weren't to nick anything, I mean look, nothing here worth more than a couple of sickles."
"Then, why were you here?" Ron asked.
"I was sent to see who was living here," He looked around. "Thought it would be more difficult, but the dogs were locked up."
"Dog's?" Ron asked.
"Was told that there were hostile hounds here, brought some bones to keep them busy,"
"Who hired you?" Neville asked, feeling a thrill of fear and excitement at the realisation.
"Dunno just got a letter with some galleons owled to me. I was just paid to see who lived here. If there was a girl here, I was to let them know by sending the owl back."
"Right, let's get him processed, and we can find out more there," The unknown Auror decided, yanking the man to his feet.
"Is there a girl here or not?" He asked curiously as he was pulled towards the fireplace. There was a whose of green flame as Croft took a handful of powder and tossed it into the hearth. Holding his head down, they guided him through as they disappeared. In a blink, the three of them were gone.
"I'll stick around and help you put up better wards, I don't think they'll be back again tonight but just in case." Neville nodded as they stepped outside, following Ron's lead.
"Ms Ent, the Parkinson's Lawyer, hired him!" Neville almost blurted.
"What makes you say that?" Ron asked, stopping to look at him. The white background where the snow had fallen made his darkened figure stand out in stark relief. "I warned her that I would release the dogs if she didn't get off the property earlier."
"Seriously?" Ron chuckled.
"Seriously, I knew I couldn't curse her so I thought a little scare would make me feel better,"
"Good call," Ron nodded "You've done most of my work for me tonight,"
"I found out something else by the way, about the Saga," Neville mentioned as the cold air surrounded him.
"Oh?"
"I went with Blaise and Malfoy to the Parkinson Masque the other night, just to try and catch a glimpse of her, y'know? Well, I overheard McLaggan talking to someone. Apparently, he lives in Lucerne. He only came back to see his parents. It doesn't sound like he lives here at all. He also said that he hadn't read any of the headlines as his partner had it all under control. It sounded like Skeeter is the partner."
"Good shout, mate," Ron said excitedly. "We've been trying to get hold of McLaggan, and that would explain it. I'll let Harry know when his shift starts. Well done! You really should consider joining the Auror's I reckon it would be a great career choice for you,"
Neville shrugged, He had thought about it, but not in a while. "I would have told you sooner, but it's been mental," Ron nodded his head, pale in the darkness as they started to mutter the incantations for the protection wards and shields.
"There, you'd have to be Hermione Granger to work out how to get through these wards now," Ron said with a huff.
"Let's just hope she hasn't decided to take up a life of crime," Neville smirked as Ron laughed, slapping him on the back as they re-entered the house.
"Merlin! We'd all be in trouble if she turned to the dark side!" Ron chuckled. "Now, I'll do what I can at the office, if anything else happens here, I want to hear about it immediately, alright?" Neville nodded as they approached the fireplace. "And keep her out of sight, if they find out she's here for certain, I may not be able to stop them coming to get her."
Neville nodded soberly as Ron grabbed the floopow. "Take care, mate. See you in a couple of days, hopefully. Merry Christmas,"
"Merry Christmas, Ron," Neville said, slapping his shoulder too as the redhead threw the powder into the fireplace and was gone.
Neville sighed as he pushed his hair from his face as he looked at the stairs. There went any peaceful night sleep he was ever going to get again. He shook his head as he made his way to the kitchen. If he had to face the two ladies waiting upstairs, he would need hot tea and lots of it!
