21 September 1980

The sun had only just rose fully on the Mabon morning when a family of three briskly made their way across the cobblestone road of Diagon Alley. Two were Polyjuiced yet still used the hood of their cloaks to obscure their faces. The third and youngest family member was tucked beneath his mother's cloak, spelled to sleep to ensure no amount of jostling or noise would wake him. They had chosen this day because it was a celebration of balance, equality, and harmony. They had performed a small ceremony at dawn and hoped it had been enough to garner the blessings of the old gods. The family joined the small crowd of individuals heading to Gringotts, grateful that they weren't the only ones out and about so early. Once inside, they waited for their chance to speak with a teller. The man quickly informed the Goblin behind the counter of their meeting with Rune Master Hooktooth. The teller gave them a short nod and pointed in the direction of a long hall.

"Follow the yellow lights."

They quickly followed the yellow lights and found themselves at a pale blue door. Before the woman could knock, it opened. After stepping in, the door shut behind them as magic flared all around. A marble alter stood in the center of the onyx-walled room.

"Anyone who may have seen you come in here will forget. No one can hear us or come in here for as long as the wards are up. It is good to see you Lord and Lady Longbottom.

The goblin shimmered into view across from them as she spoke.

Frank and Alice Longbottom dropped the hoods, the Polyjuice fading away as they did so. Alice pulled her son from beneath her cloak. He still slept soundly, hands balled up in small fists.

"Thank you for seeing us Rune Master Hooktooth."

Hooktooth gave them a nod and a slightly feral grin, "I may not bother with human politics, but I cannot stand by and watch as humans follow prophecies as though they are set in stone. All children are special and should not be used as pawns in a game of power."

Frank looked at his son and softly touched his head before turning back to the Rune Master.

"We don't believe in the prophecy but Dumbledore does. He wants us to bring Neville to him to have his core tested so he can decide which child the prophecy is referring to. He is forcing the prophecy to become real and we want no part of it. Unfortunately, saying no to him," Frank paused and took a deep breath, "Saying no to him could cost us our lives. We know he isn't as Light as he makes himself out to be. He has no qualms with using people for whatever he deems as 'the greater good.'"

Alice put her hand on her husband's shoulder and squeezed before continuing for him, "We had Neville tested when he was a month old. His core was already as strong as a child several months older than him. We don't want Dumbledore to know that. I don't want my son to be used as a weapon to fulfill the old man's delusions of grandeur."

"May I test the child again? You'll just need to place him down."

The parents nodded and did what was asked. Hooktooth pulled a piece of parchment from her own robes and set it next to the babe. She then pulled a small amount of blue-green ash from one of the pouches that hung from her belt. After rubbing the ash into her palm, she dipped a clawed finger into it and then used it to draw a rune onto Neville's forehead. A matching one was drawn on the parchment. When she was done, she began to murmur quickly in Gobbledegook. Both runes began to glow and writing began to appear on the parchment. After the spellwork was complete, Hooktooth wiped the ash off of Neville and signaled to his parents, letting them know that they could pick him back up. She quickly read the results.

"His core is still very large considering his age. I can help you hide it. There is a series of runes that I can use to bind his core that will disintegrate over time. It would take his core down to 15%. This would put him slightly above a squib but it will make him quite undesirable to the Headmaster. By the time he goes to Hogwarts, it will be up to 45%. The magic at Hogwarts will likely hasten the disintegration so by the end of his first year, he will be at full strength or nearly there. I suggest giving him a wand that doesn't fit perfectly. During the summer after his first year, return here and I will create an amulet to help him focus and control his magical strength. I would also recommend bringing him back every year for so we can continuously monitor him."

Hours later, Frank and Alice returned to Longbottom manor, exhausted but relieved. Alice kissed her husband and headed to the nursery to place Neville in his crib. The boy was magically drained and would more than likely sleep until the following morning. Frank headed to find his mother, uncle, and aunt. It was important that they knew everything, just in case he and Alice didn't survive.

Present day

Neville Longbottom's Gran, Uncle Algie, and Aunt Enid never kept anything from him. When he was old enough to start asking questions, they always took the time to explain everything in a manner appropriate to his age. He knew what his parents had done to protect him and why they had become permanent residents at St. Mungos. He knew why he grew up with mostly goblin children rather than human ones. He also knew why, after falling out of his bedroom window when he was 9, his visits with Hooktooth changed from every year to every four months.

Neville was different and he took no issue with it. He was proud of who he was. Though if his family had heard him call himself "different" they would insist that he wasn't different, he was special. Neville felt like the words were interchangeable but he humored them. He would correct himself with a smile because he knew that they did it out of love. They didn't want him to feel insecure or less than, especially since it would be awhile before he could show his true self to the magical world.

As a proper Pure-blood and the Longbottom heir, he was taught that a person needed to have both a public persona and a private one. His family and the goblins helped him cultivate the mask he needed to present to the world. The image he put forth was crafted to ensure others would both underestimate and overlook him. His family did realize that he was a child that needed friendship and socialization so that he could be himself. Unfortunately, making friends in the United Kingdom would be too risky so they went out of the country for his friendships.

Fleur Delacour was nearly 9 and Neville was 6 when they met for the first time. She was the daughter of Algie and Enid's godson, Claude, and his wife Apolline. With the Delacour's and his family, Neville could be himself. Fleur adored Neville from the start and, even with the age difference, they considered themselves best friends. She introduced him to all her friends as her brother and he knew he would never get her to stop referring to him as "Mon Petit Prince" or "Nevvy". The two of them were protective of each other and that fierce protection included Gabrielle when she was born a year after Neville and Fleur met. When she left for Beauxbatons, Neville had been afraid that she would tire of him but she still wrote him a long letter every month and never changed the way she treated him. Knowing he always had her and Gabrielle beside him made wearing his mask so much easier, especially after starting Hogwarts.

His fellow students saw him as a shy, nervous, insecure, clumsy, and awkward boy. There were a few professors (and one Headmaster) that Neville was fairly certain would agree with them. He had heard many of his year-mates say that he was "barely better than a squib" because of his struggles in his classes. They, of course, had no idea that falling out of his bedroom window had caused the unexpected early disintegration of several of the bindings on his core. This meant that the only way he could portray someone with a low amount of magic was by using a wand that wasn't completely suited for him. So, in all his classes, he used his father's wand and would only be using the wand he got from Ollivander's over the summer.

If he actually was insecure, he imagined their words and opinions would hurt him. Instead, he was confident in himself and his abilities and knew that someday, everyone would see just who Neville Frank Longbottom really was. The whispers and insults only just reassured him that he was succeeding at hiding his true self. Although, he did have a brief moment where he wondered if his hiding was too good.

Neville had been hoping for a quiet ride on the train but that idea was shattered when he met the Muggle-born witch, Hermione Granger. She seemed nice at first but once she caught on to his "personality" she became demanding and bossy. She kept hitting him when she got excited (or irritated or upset or frustrated...) about something, even after he asked her to stop. When he mentioned that his familiar was roaming around, she lectured him about treating animals properly. Everything he said just got ignored. She dragged him out of the compartment and started slamming doors open asking if anyone had seen a toad. Given the fact that when he tried to get her to understand that his toads name was Treva not Trevor (he even slowly pronounced "Tree-va" but she just rolled her eyes and corrected HIM), he doubted she would even listen if he tried explaining that their familiar bond was so strong that he would know the moment something was wrong.

Only two good things came out of the obnoxious search and rescue mission he was dragged on. The first being that, when he and Treva were finally safely tucked into his bunk, they had decided that going by "Trevor" in public wouldn't be a bad idea. Toads were looked down upon, even in the magical world. Only parts of a toad were useful in some basic potions and having them as a pet or familiar tended to make others laugh at you (which happened to Neville when they saw him walking with her on his shoulder). Treva wasn't just an ordinary toad with a strong familiar bond though. As far as she knew, she was the only Maledictus in history that kept her human mind after her final transformation. Pretending that she was actually a he would help ensure that no one would find out the truth about her. If she was discovered, she had no doubt she would spend the rest of her life being used for experiments by the Unspeakables. Neither the Longbottom's nor Delacour's knew how she was able to keep her human mind though they suspected it may have been because she bonded with Neville so soon after the transformation. Treva wasn't going to look a gift hippogriff in the mouth though. She took full advantage of having her mind and imparted in him all the knowledge she had. She also mothered him as much as she could and wasn't shy about lecturing him (especially after the infamous fall out of the window).

The second good thing was finding a person whose magic seemed to call out to him. Some referred to it as a soulmate or soul bond but that implied that a marriage and bonding would eventually happen. While over half of those who found their magical match did end up bonding, it wasn't something that was sent in stone.

It had happened at the last compartment Hermione had rudely barged into. A few moments after she slid the door open and started talking to the other children inside, Neville felt magic gently wash over him. His own magic reached out in response and he lifted his head and found himself staring into bright green eyes. He couldn't fight the blush that quickly appeared after the boy smiled at him. He smiled back but quickly turned away before he got too red. By the look on the boy's face, it seemed he felt the pull of magic also. When he explained the incident to Treva later, he panicked when she mentioned soulmates.

*flashback*

"Soumates? Treva! I'm 11 for Merlin's sake!"

Neville began to hyperventilate. If he told Gran, would she try to get him a marriage contract? Was he allowed to date others when he got older? He wasn't even sure he liked boys "like that"! Before succumbing to a full-blown panic attack, he heard Treva's laughter in his head.

"Oh my sweet boy. Soulmate is just an easy way of explaining it. You're way too young to be thinking about that type of thing. By the way, you are not allowed to even consider dating until you're 25. No, a magical match is just someone who you could potentially have a strong bond with. If you don't make the effort to grow the bond, then it will just eventually fade."

*end flashback*

After Treva talked him out of his panic attack, Neville started to think of a way he could become friends with the boy who he now knew was Harry Dursley. His biggest hurdle was ensuring Harry didn't think he just wanted to be friends because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

The Saturday after Halloween, Neville made his way up to the hospital wing. No big news in a boarding school ever stayed secret for very long so it only took a day before everyone knew that, while Ron Weasley didn't force Hermione into the girl's bathroom with the troll, his bullying certainly didn't help. Neville had been at Greenhouse Three when he found some pretty wild flowers growing. Since Hermione didn't have any friends and had alienated herself from her dorm mates, he thought bringing them to her would be a nice gesture. While Neville may have found her a bit annoying, she didn't deserve her injuries and he felt that everyone could use some brightness in their lives when they are stuck in the hospital.

He found Hermione laying in her bed with a magical gauze wrapped around her neck. Aside from that, she looked like she was just sleeping. According to Madam Pomfrey though, she was in a magical coma to help her recover. He wasn't sure what was wrong but from the sad look upon the hospital matron's face, it wasn't good. While he was placing the flowers on the table next to her in a conjured vase, he heard the doors to the wing open. He turned his head could feel his face flush when he saw who was walking in.

Madam Pomfrey rushed forward when she saw Harry Dursley cradling his arm.

"Mr. Dursley, what exactly have you done?"

The boy grimaced and shyly looked down at his feet. His friend (Neville thought her name was Hannah) spoke on his behalf.

"The Weasley boy shoved him and he fell down the stairs while we were heading to the Courtyard. Professor Sprout saw it happen and said he probably broke a few bones so he should come here."

The Matron drew in a sharp breath before bring out her wand and casting a spell.

"You definitely broke bones. Easily fixed but you'll be here for a few hours and it will be a bit sensitive for a few days. Hop onto a bed. Ms. Abbott, thank you for bringing him. You can come back to visit in about an hour."

Hannah helped Harry onto his own bed before giving him a side hug and rushing off. Madam Pomfrey moved to his side and spoke quietly to him. Neville saw her hand Harry two potions and watched as he scrunched his nose before quickly drinking them. He smiled up at her and handed over the empty vials before leaning back in the bed and closing his eyes.

Neville looked back at the flowers before summoning all his Gryffindor courage and walked over to Harry. He cleared his throat and the boy jumped slightly as he opened his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Neville Longbottom."

"It's okay. Hi. I'm Harry Dursley. Were you injured also?"

Neville shook his head, "No. I was just bringing some flowers up to Hermione." He looked back over to the girl, "I don't know if they will help with anything but they certainly can't hurt."

Harry smiled, "That's very nice of you. Are you good friends?"

"Not…really? We're more acquaintances then anything. We met on the train. We do some homework together sometimes. She's nice but can be a bit much and a lot of the other Gryffindor's can't really handle it."

The two fell into a comfortable silence for several moments until Harry spoke again.

"Would you like to sit for a while? It'd be nice not to be on my own."

Neville grinned and nodded. He grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to the bed. The two talked and laughed and only stopped briefly when Harry's friends came in. Neville was amazed how easily the friends accepted him after he was introduced. He caught Harry's eyes and felt his magic reach out to him. By the slight widening of his eyes, Neville was certain he also felt it. They smiled at each other before turning back to the rest of the group.

Neville knew that they would eventually need to talk about why their magic was reacting to each other but that could wait. Right now, he was just going to enjoy the possibility of new friends.