The Age of Innocence is Just Beginning
By Phoebe Halliwell
Chapter six
Neville and Luna had been happily married for fifteen years now, Luna had taken over from her father in running the Quibbler and Neville ran his own Herbology magazine while also sticking to his love for plants at home, growing a varied range of rare and common magical herbs and plants.
They didn't own a large house but it was small and sweet, exactly the sort of place that Harry had always seen Neville living in, from the front it appeared that it was just overgrown cottage in the middle of know where but Harry could tell that the grounds attached to the property would be far larger than the building itself.
He walked up the uneven cobble path and rang the doorbell, the place looked like it was falling to pieces but he loved it none the less. When Neville opened the door his eyes went wide in shock and then realisation dawned on him.
"Harry, not that it isn't nice to see you, but what are you doing here?" He asked, he had seen the article in the Prophet and he had a good idea what this call was about.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't have come to see you with better news but I'm here on business, I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this but I couldn't allow you to hear it from anyone else, can I come in?"
"Of course, Luna has taken the children out for the day, I had to work." Neville explained letting Harry in, there was no hallway, the front door led straight into the sitting room, the kitchen could be seen through an archway and there was an office to the left and a set of winding wooden stairs in the corner.
"You have a nice place here, its sweet." Harry said as Neville offered him tea and a seat, both of which Harry accepted.
"It's nothing special but it suits us nicely, how have you been coping, I cannot say I did not see the Daily Prophet the other day, it must be hard for you."
"Yes, it is but not as hard as this, Samantha has made some bad choices and is punishing me for something, she has created Voldemort in herself and she has taken it so far that it's irreversible."
"What do you mean by that Harry?" Neville asked becoming more paranoid by the minute. He didn't like the sound of where this conversation was going.
"I don't know if you were ever aware of this Neville but the prophecy that made me the chosen one gave Voldemort a choice, it was a choice between and you, he chose me and therefore made me the saviour, however lucky you were back then you lost this time around. Severus was there to witness a prophecy that chose your daughter, Holly I think her name is, to be the one to defeat Samantha."
"I was not aware of that, but I cannot believe that Holly is destined to live a life like yours, she is still my baby girl."
"I know Neville, I can hardly believe what Samantha is doing myself, you didn't deserve this but I want to make sure that this is dealt with quickly and Samantha is put into Azkaban without fuss and Holly is hurt neither mentally nor physically. I won't allow her to become a killer."
"Why now, Hogwarts is gone as is Dumbledore, we put our trust in a thirteen year old girl and for what, to rid ourselves of a person who wants to cause us all pain, what did you do to that girl to make her hate you so much."
"I did nothing to her Neville, she was raised like my other three children, the only difference was that she isn't Draco's child, he left for a year and I had a short relationship with a man called David who, as the papers have no doubt informed you, related to Voldemort, Samantha is following in her other families footsteps."
"I'm sorry, I know it isn't your fault but I can't have my daughter getting involved in this, she is too young, it isn't like it was anymore, when we were growing up we were forced to grow up before our time, our children had that innocence."
"And we can't allow it to be taken away again Neville, we have all seen too much conflict in our lives, I am going to hopefully call back all those that were in the D.A and the Order, those left alive of course and ask them to help."
"They won't, just as I won't, there is no way that I want to go to war again, we nearly died last time, we shouldn't have to do that again, the war we fought was the war of our forefathers but we had to take over, and yet you still ask us to fight again."
"If you do not you are willing to allow your children and my children to pick up the fight because we could not be bothered, we should be the ones protecting them and yet we shy away from battle and ask them to protect us."
"Don't make me seem like the bad guy Harry, you are asking my thirteen year old daughter to take your place as the chosen one."
"I am not asking her to do anything, I came here to tell you of a prophesy, you were there that night in fifth year, you know the power that prophecies have. I am offering to help you, to help her, she will do this whether you agree to it or not, just be there for her, help her like my parents were never there to do. I can teach her everything I know about Samantha, her weaknesses and her strengths, but I can only do this if you see that this is what must be done."
"I am sorry Harry, I know that we were once friends and that I should respect your words but I won't allow my family to become tangled up in this, you are going to have to find another way to deal with this."
"It isn't my problem to deal with Neville, the Prophet will learn of the prophecy eventually and the wizarding public will waste no time rallying around Holly, they will see her as their saviour whether you like it or not."
"Just go Harry, I don't want to see you anywhere near me or mine ever again." Neville said threateningly.
Later that day when Harry had returned home he explained what had happened to Draco, Lucius, Narcissa and Severus who listened eagerly, the others were Christmas shopping or so Harry assumed as they were not in the house.
They were all disgusted with how Neville had reacted to the news of his daughters status as the chosen one, Harry just despised how it was he that had been blamed when it had nothing to do for him.
Why he couldn't live a normal happy life was beyond him, he had a large and loving family, a husband who would do pretty much anything for him and yet the fates couldn't leave him to live his life in peace.
"There is little more that you can do now, you have warned Neville, just watch the news for when the news of the prophecy is leaked and then all you can do is offer your support, the ministry of magic will more than likely prove useless once again, it is doubtful that they have learned from their mistakes." Lucius said.
"I agree with Lucius, Neville had the opportunity to be reasonable, he turned it down and you were right to say that it isn't your problem, Samantha is nineteen years old and therefore old enough to make her own decisions in life." Severus said, backing up the opinion of his old friend.
"They're right Harry, I love Samantha but we can't hold her hand forever, this was her own choice and one that she had to make."
"I hate the fact that my own daughter hates me enough to do this, I raised her in the best way that I could, all of the others turned out great and yet she had to be the one that didn't, the one that went against the rest."
"It isn't your fault Harry." Narcissa said.
"Oh really, then why is she singling me out then, why is she becoming the one thing I hated growing up, the person I had to murder."
"Look at Sirius Harry, he came from a family of evil wizards and yet he was your godfather, a good man and a good wizard, the complete opposite of his family, it is the same with Samantha but the other way around." Narcissa said trying to comfort the distressed man.
"Come on Harry, it's nearly Christmas and we haven't even started the shopping yet, how about I take you out tomorrow, we'll make a day of it, mum and dad can watch Piper and we can have dinner in the evening and everything." Draco suggested, he desperately wanted to see Harry happy, his smiles were to die for and he never got to see them when Harry was upset.
"Okay." He agreed as he knew that he hadn't bought any presents for anyone, plus it would be nice to relax and think about something else other than his family falling apart for once. "That would be nice."
"Great, now I think dinner is in order." Draco said "How about I cook tonight?"
"So what are you going to cook genius, your famous phone call to the Chinese place?" Harry asked teasingly.
"No, I was more thinking of my send Timmy to the Indian dish." Draco responded sticking his tongue out at his husband.
They were both children at heart; sometimes their children were far more mature than they themselves were. Severus stayed for dinner that night and Draco sis indeed send Timothy to the Indian around the corner, asking Draco to even work the oven was pretty much a joke; Harry was the wife in the relationship without a doubt.
What did you think? Don't forget to leave me a review. Phoebe. xxx