Chapter Ten – Back When
(A/N: This is a really important chapter! I don't know if Genevieve is really her name, but hey, whatever! Bear with me on this. This is taking place 14 years ago, the night of December 1.…enjoy!)
Frank and Genevieve held out their wine glasses, and a light ring sounded as they hit together. They sipped the dark red liquid, and Genevieve curled against Frank's torso. He smiled down at her, and kissed her forehead lightly.
"I'm proud of you, Frank," she whispered, taking another sip of wine. "None of this would have happened without you. And I mean that in a good way."
Frank wrapped an arm around her. "Thank you, Jen." He sighed sadly. "I just can't believe the Potters are dead…"
"It's not your fault," Genevieve said sternly. "You couldn't have done anything without killing yourself in the process. And I couldn't have survived if that happened."
Kissing her lips firmly, Frank put down his glass of wine, and hugged her tighter. When he pulled away, Jen giggled, just like she did when she was in school. She shook her head, and pointed upstairs.
"He's crying. I'd better go get him…" she said, standing up, causing Frank to pout. "I'll be back down. Don't worry." She winked at him and hurried up the stairs.
Genevieve slowly opened a door, where a loud cry was being released from a chubby baby. She hurried over to his crib and picked him up. She rocked him gently.
"Oh, Neville, what's wrong?" she cooed at the young baby.
"JEN!" Frank yelled from downstairs. "You'd better get down here!"
Neville finally stopped crying, and Jen took him downstairs with her. "What is it, hun?" she asked her husband.
Frank handed her a note. "It was on the floor…I'm guessing it was pushed under the door."
Genevieve took the note from Frank's hand, and read:
Frank,
You know what you have done. And you know we must correct it.
Watch your back.
Jen paled, and her eyes widened.
"You knew this would happen, Jen. Don't act so surprised." Frank sighed. "I've been wondering when this would happen. What do you expect?"
"We must find who sent this, Frank."
Frank shook his head. "Ignore it. It's just a threat, don't worry." He held his hands out and took his son from his wife's arms. "Little Neville's not scared, are you, son?" The baby gurgled, and Frank smiled. "See? Neville's not afraid. We shouldn't be either."
"What?!" Jen shouted. "You receive a threat from a Death Eater, and you're not afraid? I'm terrified for you, Frank. I was frightened from the beginning, when you said you'd be an Auror. Catching Death Eaters…killing them! I knew from the beginning, Frank, that this would happen. But now that it has…" her voice quieted. "I'm afraid not only for you, but our boy."
Frank squeezed Neville. "No one is hurting our boy, Jen. You can be sure of that."
Genevieve forced a smile at Frank, and nodded her head. "Okay." She looked up at the large, grandfather clock that was positioned in the entrance way, and jumped back into non-concerned-mother-mode. "It's past Neville's bed time!" she exclaimed, and held her hands out for her son.
Frank shook his head. "No, Jen, let me put him to bed." He smiled at his spouse, and walked his boy up the stairs.
He closed the door to Neville's room, and sat down the rocking chair. He slowly rocked back and forth, and picked up the bottle next to the chair. He fed the bottle to his child, an hummed a lullaby. When Neville had finished drinking, and had rested his head on his father's chest, Frank smiled.
"You're the strongest in this family, you know that Neville?" Frank spoke softly. "You're the one who keeps this family rolling. You know, the other night, I was chasing down some Death Eaters…dangerous sons of bears…I was getting tired. You're old man isn't in the shape he used to be. I was so tired, so exhausted. But I knew…I knew that if I didn't catch them, that they'd just start killing more people. People like your mother—people like you. I couldn't let them go." He held the child closer, as it began to fall asleep.
Frank rocked Neville a bit longer. He felt his son grow heavier, and he knew the baby was asleep.
"You know, Neville, I may not survive that threat. But if it saves you, then I'll face them. I'll face them, Neville. Just for you."
Frank placed his son into his crib, put Neville's favorite teddy bear next to him, and left the door.
He found Genevieve asleep on the couch.
Perfect, Frank thought, as he put on a robe and took out his wand. He placed a kiss on Jen's cheek, and walked out the door.
He was going to find the one's who dared to threaten his family.
^*^*^
Shawn nodded his head. "Frank, we'd love to help you." He smiled warmly to the man, and then became serious. "But…if you suspected that you were in trouble, why didn't you tell us? We could have done something earlier."
"I wasn't positive, though Jen says she always knew," Frank answered. "I just can't believe it's come to this," he whispered afterward.
"What will you do about Neville?" asked the woman in the room, Madelyn.
Frank looked at her, and defensively exclaimed, "What do you mean? They wouldn't be after Neville, would they? Why would they want Neville?"
"He's your son," Madelyn said. "A weakness."
"Yes," Frank nodded, agreeing. "Neville is my weakness." He looked up at Shawn, who's wife was expecting their first child. "Shawn, you have no idea what it's like. You'll cherish every minute of it."
Shawn smiled back. "I just hope I'm lucky enough to have a kid like Neville, Frank."
Frank nodded. "I hope when this is all over, I have still have a kid like Neville."