Chapter 45- Speechless
"…think the best course of action is to get Professor Longbottom in here and take things slowly."
"Shall we put them together first, Frank and Alice?" Penny asked, looking up at the Head Healer.
"Yes, good idea Shacklebolt, put them together and see how they react. Let me know if there are any problems and write it up. Mrs Weasley make sure you file it all with the Ministry so that we can get the treatment out to other hospitals." Ruby's mother nodded and made a small note on some parchment.
The Head Healer left the room and Ruby, her mother, and Penny were left alone with an enormous stack of paperwork.
"It's going to take months to get through this!" Ruby moaned, picking up a folder at random.
"No it won't, most of it can be done by Matilda and the others at the Ministry, I'll have Harry take it in tomorrow." Her mother said, waving her wand and vanishing most of the files.
"Why, because you're not officially working?" Penny asked.
"Maybe. Anyway, let's put them together, Ruby can you fetch them?" Ruby left the room and returned a few moments later with the Longbottoms. Both of them were looking much better but were not interacting with each other.
"We've got a Potion for you, Mrs Longbottom, Mr Longbottom." Penny said, she passed a pot each to the couple and they swallowed the dose quickly, it took a matter of seconds for it to take effect.
"Oh, hello again Eliza." Said Mrs Longbottom, putting the pot down. She didn't appear to notice her husband who was sitting slightly behind her.
"Alice?" Mr Longbottom's voice was scratchy but the sound of it made his wife freeze for a moment before turning to him.
"Frank? Frank, I thought…" The couple embraced quickly and Ruby was overcome by such a powerful wave of emotion that she moved to sit next to her mother and squeezed her hand.
"How long will the Potion last?" Ruby whispered, not wishing to disturb the couple.
"A couple of hours, we can adapt it to make it longer lasting."
"…love you so much…thought you were dead…." Mr Longbottom had tears pouring down his face and Mrs Longbottom was holding him so tightly it looked painful.
"Where's Neville?" She asked, looking at Eliza.
"He's at…" Ruby's mother stopped talking for a moment and appeared to be lost in her thoughts.
"Eliza?" Penny asked.
"Oh, sorry, Ruby go down to the spinal ward, Neville's there with… he's there." Ruby nodded and stood up.
"Is he hurt?"
"No, just visiting." Ruby assured Mrs Longbottom as she left the room. Penny moved behind her and Ruby turned to her as she shut the door.
"Ruby make sure you prepare him."
"Should I tell him…?"
"Just say that there has been some progress, nothing more."
Ruby nodded and left Penny, she walked towards the spinal ward feeling worried. Why was Professor Longbottom there? Was Hamish worse?
"Ruby?" Ruby was just outside the spinal ward when she heard Scorpius' voice.
"Oh, hey, how is he?" She asked, turning to look at her boyfriend.
"He's awake, come in." Ruby followed Scorpius into the ward. She found Alice and Professor Longbottom waiting outside a cubicle with Hamish' mother.
"Ruby, he's awake but…" Alice stopped talking and put her head in her hands in despair.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, finding Scorpius' hand.
"He can't feel his legs, Spanswick's with him now." Scorpius said, squeezing her hand.
"He'll be okay, he'll be fine." Muttered Hamish' mother looking distraught.
"Alright Ruby? You look a bit pale." Professor Longbottom said, looking over at her.
"Oh, I'm fine, I actually came to see you, Mom said you were here…" Ruby suddenly wondered how her mother had known.
"Harry just left." He answered her unasked question with a small smile.
"Oh, okay. I need to talk to you."
"Okay, can it wait? Spanswick said it won't take more than an hour or…"
"No, sorry, it can't wait Professor." Neville looked unsure but kissed Alice on the forehead and moved towards Ruby.
"Scorpius, find Kyle when you know how Hamish is, he knows where I'll be." Scorpius looked between Ruby and Neville before nodding and moving to sit next to Alice.
"What's this about Ruby?" Neville asked as they left the spinal ward.
"Umm…there's been some developments with your…with Mom's project."
"Oh, that's good, this one's been bothering her since before you moved in with Alice."
"Yeah, it's an important one."
"Does she need some plants for it again? Nearly used all of Greenhouse three on the Dementor project!"
"No, she doesn't need plants."
"Does she need to use Hogwarts?" Neville asked, looking like he was trying to figure out why his friend wanted to see him at such a crucial time.
"No, it's not about Herbology or Hogwarts, it's about you."
"Me? What on earth..?" They turned the corner to the spell damage ward and Neville's voice faded and he paled rapidly.
"There's been some developments."
"With…with…"
"With your parents." Ruby said, Neville stopped walking and Ruby waited with him.
"They want to see you." She said gently.
"They…" Neville seemed to be in a state of shock so Ruby took his hand and led him to the project room.
"They're in there, Professor Longbottom. With Mom and Penny."
"I…"
"Come on, you're Head of Gryffindor, aren't you?" She asked with a small smile.
"I am."
"Come on then." Ruby opened the door and pulled her former Head of House in behind her.
The beds had been transfigure into sofas and there was a new roaring fireplace. The room wouldn't have been out of place at Hogwarts. Ruby raised her eyebrows at her mother who shrugged.
"Hello Neville." Ruby's mother said, smiling at her friend.
"Eliza…"
"Is that my Neville? That…tall…man?" Mrs Longbottom said, standing up, Mr Longbottom stood up behind her, his arm firmly around her waist.
Ruby tried to pull her hand away but Neville seem to need it.
"Mom? Dad?" He squeaked, sounding like he was only eight.
"Hello son, it's been a while." Mr Longbottom took a step forward and then in a heartbeat Neville dropped Ruby's hand and she moved away from the emotional family embrace.
It took nearly half an hour before the family sat down, Neville in between his parents. He looked over at Eliza.
"Eliza, I…I can't…"
"There's still a bit of work to do, I need to find the elemental composition of the Potion and attach it to the approximate memory and then filter it so that the infiltration rate of the transfigurational charm is constant rather than prompted so it might be a…"
"Eliza, I think English might be better." Said Penny with a smile. "We still need to find a long acting potion before you're safe to go home but I can't imagine it will be too long. We'll move you to a private room and monitor you closely as we adjust the treatment."
"Thanks Penny." Neville said, wiping his face with his sleeve. "How long have you been working on this together?"
"Eliza's been working on it for years but we didn't have enough evidence to proceed until September."
"Years, Eliza? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't want to get your hopes up. I have hundreds of research ideas that haven't come to anything, my office is full of them."
"Eliza's a genius." Neville explained, looking at his mother who stroked his cheek fondly.
"I can see that. Tell us about you, Neville, I remember something about you getting married."
"You heard me talking to you?"
"Sometimes, I remember you telling me about my mother dying." Mr Longbottom said with a sad look passing over his face.
"Yes, five years ago, she would have loved this."
"She's watching Neville." Said Ruby's mother quietly, Neville nodded as if her words brought him great comfort.
"Yeah, I know. I married Hannah twenty six years ago, we've got two daughters."
"Alice and Sarah." Said Mrs Longbottom with a faraway look on her face.
"Yes! Alice works here, she's training in Potion development and Sarah is Head Girl at Hogwarts."
"What do you do?"
"I work at Hogwarts." Neville replied evasively.
"As?"
"Herbology Professor."
"And." Eliza said quietly, Neville blushed.
"Head of Gryffindor."
"Oh Neville!"
"He's the best teacher there, by a mile." Said Ruby, feeling that Neville was selling himself short.
Neville smiled and was about to reply when the door buzzed.
"I'll get it, I think I better get back to Kyle anyway." Ruby said, she stood up and kissed her mother on the cheek before wishing the others farewell and leaving the room.
As she predicted Kyle needed her to see some patients, it was strange to go back to normal work after such an emotional encounter, she doubted the memory of Neville's face would fade for a long time.
"You ready?" Scorpius asked, opening his bedroom door and looking at Ruby as she examined herself in a mirror. She was wearing a pale yellow dress with leggings and ballet pumps. It was the evening of the Manor party, the evening of the announcement, and she was feeling very nervous.
"Yes, I think so."
"You look great."
"I've got a bump, look!" She said, pointing at her stomach.
"It just looks like you had a big lunch."
"But I didn't! I haven't eaten since breakfast!"
"Why?"
"Because Kyle had pickle on his sandwich and I nearly threw up on him."
"Come on, I've already told Hamish and he can't keep a secret so we better tell Alice quickly." Ruby nodded, noticing the strain on Scorpius' face. Hamish' prognosis was not good, Spanswick had been unable to prevent paralysis of his legs. He would never walk again.
"Is Alice coming?"
"She said she was, Hamish has his family visiting and he said she should come."
"Okay, come on then."
"I love you." He said softly, putting his arms around her.
"I love you too."
"You're worried about tonight, your mother?"
"Yeah, well, Dad too, and Aunt Hermione. And you."
"It's about moving on."
"I know, come on." Ruby said, nodding.
They arrived on the outskirts of the Manor at a special Apparation and Floo tent. No one was allowed into the Manor as it was already packed with explosives.
A security wizard waved them over to a reception table.
"Names?" He said, barely looking up.
"Malfoy and Weasley." The wizard looked up, embarrassed.
"Sorry, Mr Malfoy."
"No problem.
"Which Weasley are you, Miss?"
"Ruby."
"Okay, you can go through."
"Thanks." Scorpius said with a laugh. He held Ruby's hand and pulled her through. They were at the outskirts of an Aspen woodland and there was a path lined with fairy-lit lanterns leading to the seating and dining areas. The food wasn't out yet but Ruby noticed her Uncle Ron hovering close to the tables just in case.
"Dad!" Scorpius called, his father turned around and smiled.
"Scorpius, Ruby, good you're here. Have a drink, plenty of champagne, I'm trying to clean out the wine cellars, it seems a shame to blow it up."
"You could sell it?" Ruby suggested.
"I'm selling the cheese supply and paintings, profits all going to Hermione Weasley's House-Elf charity-thing."
"Really?" Scorpius asked, laughing.
"Yes, well some of it's going to a Squib Scholarship Fund as well and the land is being sold to a Muggle school in the village."
"Well thought out charities, Draco." Said Aunt Ginny, arriving behind him.
"I put a lot of thought in to them."
"What would annoy him the most?" Scorpius said, smiling at Ginny.
"Exactly. Now drink plenty, come on Ruby have a champagne." Draco passed her a glass and then walked off to greet some new arrivals.
Ruby passed the glass to her Uncle while Ginny was trying to give Scorpius a kiss on the cheek.
"When you doing it?" Harry asked, taking a sip.
"When Scorpius makes his speech."
"Can I take a picture of Ron?"
"Sure." Ruby laughed. Scorpius emerged from the encounter with Ginny with messy hair, Ruby straightened it with a smile.
"Ruby, it's wonderful to see you, out of the hospital of course! What have you been up to?" Ginny asked, kissing Ruby on the cheek, baby bump almost winding her.
"Nothing much, just work. Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. I'm allowed out, aren't I Harry?" She glared at her husband.
"Yes Gin, you deserve a night out." Ginny smiled and disappeared into the crowd.
"Merlin, if we last the night without her hexing someone then I'll…she'll never last the night! I just hope it's someone who won't sue. Shit! She's talking to…" Harry ran off and Ruby saw her Aunt and Rita Skeeter having a conversation. Harry was quick to lead his wife away.
When all the guest had arrived, including an exhausted looking Alice and a very happy looking Neville, Mr and Mrs Malfoy walked onto the stage and Scorpius kissed Ruby and then followed his parents.
Ruby moved so that she was standing next to her parents.
"You're starting to show, I didn't notice with your robes on." Ruby's mother whispered, squeezing her daughter's hand.
"I know, this dress was always on the tight side though."
A gentle beeping sound broke up the conversation and everyone looked towards the stage.
"Good evening everyone, thank you for coming. We're here to… end an era, to make a fresh start. Some of you may think it's too late but I think that the timing is perfect. The Malfoy family has long been associated with Dark Arts and illegal businesses. During my adult life I have tried to change that but it has been hard to…" Draco paused and looked around nervously.
"Today is about a new start. This is the new Malfoy family, the Manor will be destroyed and all profits will go to charities that help to dispel bigotry and prejudice in our world. My wife Astoria will explain how the demolition will proceed." Draco stepped back and Astoria moved in front of the microphone.
"The process is simple, preselected people have been assigned a certain colour firework and they are strategically placed inside the Manor. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes has developed the sequence, it will be started by our son, Scorpius, and then….the Manor will fall."
There was a murmur of excitement in the crowd.
Scorpius moved forwards and pointed his wand at the Manor, Ruby saw him take a deep breath and look at his parents before starting the spell. When he did there was silence for a few moments before the first firework, a green one that Ruby knew represented Mr Malfoy, exploded one of the windows.
It was like a domino effect of colour and sound and the crowd applauded loudly. Ruby knew who some of the colours represented. Orange was her Grandpa, Red was Uncle Harry, Purple was Aunt Hermione, Black was Aunt Minnie, Pale green was Scorpius. One of the last fireworks, that took the longest time to fade, was a golden yellow.
Ruby felt her mother squeeze her hand as her firework lit up the sky. Her father had made sure that his wife's firework did most of the damage.
When the last firework faded there was a moment of darkness and then a flooding light filled the air showing that Malfoy Manor was no longer standing. The applause lasted for a long time and when it started to quieten down Ruby looked up at the stage and saw Scorpius standing there looking nervous.
"Thank you, if I could just have your attention for another few moments before the food…"
"Ruby!" Ruby turned and saw her Grandma whispering her name in a stressed way.
"What?" Ruby asked, noticing that Scorpius had paused in his speech.
"Penny needs you, Ginny's…" Her grandmother gestured and Ruby nodded, she looked up at the stage and shook her head at Scorpius. He nodded in understanding and started talking about what at honour it was to see so many people united in celebration.
Ruby moved through the crowd without any of them even noticing her. She found Penny, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron to the edge of the entertainment area. Ginny was on the wet floor hissing at her brother.
"…find him you fucking idiot!"
"Ginny!" Ginny did not reply to her mother's scolding.
"Good Ruby's here, Ruby she's too far along to move and I've had some champagne so you'll have to deliver them here." Ruby looked at Penny in complete horror.
"What!"
"Don't worry, you'll do great, I'll watch. Ron go and find Harry and I'll set up some privacy charms, oh Ron you better let Malfoy know that his party is about to be crashed by two screaming babies. Come on Ruby, get to work." Ruby looked at Penny and then down at Ginny, this was completely insane!
A/N So the Malfoy Manor has gone and Ginny has gone into labour, what do you think?
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thanks.
Luna- You'll find out about Ron's reaction very soon!