10. The Long Story

Gregory nodded and sat in the chair behind the desk, "This may take a little bit. Please, sit down."

The older Longbottom quirked an eyebrow and Gregory quickly stood, gesturing to the chair, "I'm sorry. This is yours. I'll sit there." Neville smiled and took his seat as Greg sat across from him. Each waited patiently for the other to start.

"So ...?"

"What would you like to know?"

Neville blinked at his son, and thought for a moment.

"How did you know about any of this?"

"The short answer would be: Harry told me."

"And the long answer?"

The young man took a deep breath.

"When I decided to go to the Academy, Harry wasn't all too happy about it. In fact, I don't think anyone really was. Ever since I began to show potential in herbology, he pushed me in that direction; bought me books, tools, and plants. He even offered to put up the money to build my own greenhouse." Neville was impressed, and Gregory smiled a little, leaning forward. "Tempting, isn't it? Anyway, obviously, I told him to shove off."

"Gregory," Neville scolded.

"Well, in so many words," the younger man corrected, "I mean, it was Uncle Harry. I wasn't rude or anything ..."

Neville quirked an eyebrow, doubting that he was getting the whole truth on the issue.

"Not too rude, at least ... but that's beside the point. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal. I felt like he didn't think I could do it which, when coupled with my stubbornness, made me rather indignant and more determined than ever. The night before I was to leave for London - I rented a flat there for awhile - Harry took me out to dinner.

"Through the course of that evening, he explained his side very carefully. I say 'carefully' because there was a lot of information that I wasn't ready for, so there were vague outlines of situations instead of the full story at times. Some would say that even now, I shouldn't know all that I do, but he had no choice. As I was going to be an auror no matter what he said, he told me about his 'theories' about Assistant Director Thomas. I wouldn't have believed it if it had came from anyone else, and even with all the help Dean gave me in the early days, I knew Harry had a point. There were circumstances that were just a little too circumstantial. He went on and told me about Ron."

Neville's eyes widened.

"At seventeen? I couldn't handle that at 28."

"He didn't give me the details until much later; not until I came to my own conclusions about what happened; not until I needed to know."

"Why would any of you ever need to know?"

"I had to know what I was up against. You can't get rid of the problem if you don't know what the problem is."

Neville had to think for a moment. Something wasn't clicking and his eyes traveled to the small vial on the edge of his desk, holding the cobalt liquid. He then remembered the membrane-encased ashes out of sight by Gregory's feet and the spray-bottle still in his hand

"These ...," the man motioned vaguely, "... protections. They didn't exist when I left, but they have some relevance to me, I should think. This was what I was working on. Not this, exactly .."

"Actually, these," Greg pointed at both bottles, "are your doing. Mostly. Slight modifications, but all-in-all we used your techniques."

"We?"

The younger Longbottom couldn't help but smile a little, "Yes, we. Ginny and I."

"But the stipulations ... the agreement …"

"Dissolved and revised."

"That's not possible. I would have had to have been made aware."

"You were."

"When?"

Gregory sighed, his brow knitted, "There was a period of time, Dad, right after your admittance, when you didn't remember anything but going to St. Mungo's to see my grandparents. Mum would visit you and you'd just look at her like she must have wandered in by mistake. It became very obvious very quickly that this wasn't going to be a quick fix, and Harry got worried. He knew it was only a matter of time before Dean started up again, and fearing you and he were the first targets, he kept you closely guarded. However, he knew he needed you to finish what you had been working on. It didn't take much to convince Minister Bones that an alternative was necessary.

"At that time, we were practically living at the Potters'. Harry and Ginny would talk to Mum behind closed doors, and sometimes I'd sneak a listen. Asher's uncles invented these Extendable Ears; really cool stuff. They're like -"

"Gregory," Neville stopped him. "I know what they are."

"Right." Clearing his throat, he went on. "They were always talking about you and the Ministry. Mum was very unsure about anything that dealt with making you think about work. Then Hermione came. That was the last time they shut the doors until Christmas. I didn't hear either of those, as Ginny confiscated my Extendable Ears." Gregory looked rather dejected at the memory and Neville smiled.

"What happened at Christmas?"

"That was the first time you got to come home. You were doing a little better by then. You remembered most things. It was hard to believe you were sick, even. You'd just say things like, 'Is it Christmas already? Hmm ...'" Gregory exaggerated a wide-eyed and confounded expression and his Dad laughed.

"Surely I didn't look that perplexed."

"Oh, you did. Often, in fact. It didn't take long for us to realize that every time you said it only meant that you'd forgotten again."

There was silence from both for a moment.

"Er, at, uh, any rate, that Christmas, the Minister visited as well. We went to the Burrow for dinner and she arrived that evening. This time you were with them when they talked whilst all of the children sat in the great room listening to storied of dragon-handling from another of Asher's uncl- They've got loads of uncles in that family."

"Yes, they do," Neville had to agree. He noticed how easily his son was distracted and was reminded of a time when he told Luna that Gregory's brain could skip trains of thought quicker than the Knight Bus could change locations.

"After that, though, they never had any secret discussions, to speak of. Everything seemed a little calmer suddenly; considerably less tense. It was much like it was before, only you weren't there. We were at home more, even though Harry continued visiting every day, to see if we needed anything and to make sure we were alright. Ginny would stop by occasionally, but it seemed Hermione was there more, bringing her kids over to keep us entertained. I found out later that Harry and the Minister had drafted a new agreement which you had signed at Christmas, giving Ginny permission to take over your research while you were hospitalized, and that's why she came over less.

"When Harry took me out to dinner before training, he told me all of this, and after, he and Ginny asked if I'd be interested in taking on some of the responsibilities of the study. Under the circumstances, I was more than happy to. Ginny worked strictly at home - Harry wouldn't let her be seen at the Ministry - so I would go over there after training and then back to London to sleep. I soon moved back here as the commute was exhausting."

Taking a deep breath, he paused.

"Harry really began to utilize my auror training after we'd worked out the kinks in that potion," he pointed to the spray bottle and scrunched up his nose. "Too much powdered liver of dragon tends to make it an opaque mask, rather than a clear one." Neville made the same face. "The Dispellant Mist was the first thing we finished, seeing as you'd already developed it. It was by accident once when my wand slipped and sparked at it, that we discovered it worked best as a vapour." He then levitated the encased ashes.

"Yes, that. What incantation was that?"

"Favillae amixi. It dispenses a film that wraps around the ashes. It was only a few weeks ago that we got it to work the way we wanted it to, and we've found it's nearly indestructible. At the moment, only Ginny and I know how to use it properly, and we're the only one's who know how to open it."

Neville was impressed and Gregory let the magical casket drop to the floor again.

"Anyhow, he'd been watching Dean very carefully and his routines had started to change. There were three times when Harry lost him and didn't know where he'd gone. That's when Favian and I were put on special assignment, which put us in Harry's charge completely, without having to deal with other superiors.

"To be honest, I still think that his inability to keep track of him was a direct result of his health. He couldn't apparate at all anymore and was forced to take the Knight Bus when his watery eyes kept him from getting behind the wheel. Favian and I started taking him to the Ministry for work, but it wasn't long before Minister Upchurch insisted he work from home. His mind was still quick though, even though his body was deteriorating around it."

"It's not like he was elderly," Neville tutted.

"I never said he was," Gregory assured his defensive father. "But the fire was eating him alive."

"What?"

Gregory suddenly looked frightened.

"What is it?"

"You don't know?"

Neville raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'Apparently not.'

"I'm not the one to tell you."

"That's ironic, because you're going to be."

Greg sighed, "Maybe later, Dad."

Neville's mouth twitched as he leaned forward, trying to remain focused on the conversation, but also trying to figure out what he had just been told.

"I've got one more question," he said.

"Okay."

"Why didn't you just come in after Dean? Had you waited any longer, I could have very well been dead."

Gregory was torn between embarrassment and anger. "I've got the week off. Favian was supposed to watch him today, as they were supposed to go to Hogwarts for career day. I don't know what happened, though you can bet I'm going to find out."

Neville felt very lucky, but confused all over again.

"Then how did you know?"

"Mum told me."

"But ... she's at Ginny's."

"Yeah, Hermione as well. I went to tell her about the ba- THE BABY! Dad, we've got to go to St. Mungo's." He demanded, jumping to his feet and heading for the door. He cursed himself for forgetting and waved for his Dad to follow him. "Come on."

"What baby?"

"Evie's having the baby. I hope I'm not too late – can you believe I forgot that?! Come on."

Neville blinked, an ache behind his eyes. "So many things going on," he mumbled standing with his son.

"Where's your wand? Come on," Gregory said again.

"In the living room. One second." Neville ran to the living room and back only to find Gregory glaring at the capsule of ashes on the floor by the desk.

"Damn," Gregory muttered. Then, shaking his head. "I'll get it later. They're not going anywhere. See you at there." With that, Gregory disapparated.

Neville folded his glasses into his shirt pocket, sighing, "And now I'm a grandfather."