The Longbottoms:
" You look exhausted" Remus said to her a few mornings later. They were lying in bed and the clock had just chimed signaling the need for her to get up and go to work.
" I am exhausted" she said rolling over to kiss him.
" Then stay home" Remus told her, " I don't think you've taken even one sick day since you started at the ministry"
Doe got out of bed and shook her head, " I missed too many days when I was attacked"
Remus frowned, " That was legitimate, though"
She shrugged, " It's okay, I'll be fine. Work keeps me going"
Remus watched her as she got up and dressed quickly. They way he was looking at her, made her want to stay home and have him stay home too.
She got her stuff together, grabbed a biscuit from the kitchen before turning to Remus.
" I'll see you tonight, okay?" she told him kissing him quickly, " I'll try to be home early"
Remus laughed, " I won't hold my breath"
She frowned, " You're making me feel like a liar, Lupin"
Remus shook his head, " You're just severely dedicated to your work, and I happen to find dedication very sexy in a woman"
She grinned, " Then you must find me particularly so".
" As it happens, I do" Remus said leaning down to kiss her.
" I'll see you tonight" she told him before she grabbed her wand and disapparated.
The atrium of the ministry was very crowded this morning. It seemed like the entire ministry was crowded around a singular space. Doe buttoned her auror robes and walked over to see what the crowd was looking at. They were all crowded around the Daily Prophet cart. It looked like whatever the headline was today seemed to interest people.
Doe peered over the shoulder of a particularly tall Wizard to see what it was.
The headline read in large thick letters ' You-Know-Who Claims All MuggleBorns Stole Their Magic'.
The conversations of the witches and wizards surrounding the prophet cart were all about the sacred twenty eight and blood status.
Doe rolled her eyes and walked straight to the empty lifts. She pressed the button to floor two and let the elevator lurch downward and stop on the second level.
She walked to the auror office, slightly irritated.
Why was blood status such a concern for so many people. Why did matter how many magical parents someone had. She had grown up her whole life with one magical parent and one muggle one. It didn't have any effect on her magical ability. If someone had had a muggle parent who didn't mind magic, there would be no difference at all.
Most of the aurors were in the office already.
Sirius' cubicle was empty. Doe walked over to Moody's office. She knew what she wanted to ask him, but she was very nervous about it.
Doe knocked lightly on the door.
" Come in, " Moody said and the door opened itself.
Dpe walked into the office and let the door close behind her.
" What's going on, Meadowes" Moody asked not looking up from his desk, " didn't get attacked by another Death Eater did you?"
Doe frowned, " Oh, haha. I've been attacked by a lot of Death Eaters, can we move on?" she asked sitting down in the chair in front of his desk.
" Well," Moody said, " You have been attacked the most"
She rolled her eyes, " I've also caught the most Death Eaters, if you recall" she pointed out.
Moody let out a throaty laugh, " That's why I let you live"
She smiled. Moody didn't often compliment his aurors.
" So why are you in here really?" Moody asked, finally looking up.
She bit her lip nervously.
" Okay so I have to ask you something" she told Moody, " but don't jinx me if you don't like the idea"
Moody rolled his eyes and waited for her to continue.
" So, I know you know that Remus and I are getting married" she said taking a deep breath, " and I was wondering if maybe you would consider walking me down the aisle"
She said the last part very quickly, hoping that maybe if she said it fast enough, Moody would agree to it without thinking too much,
Moody looked up at her curiously, making a face that she had never seen before.
He looked down at his desk again quickly, " Are you sure that you want me too?" he asked roughly.
Doe nodded, " Yes".
Moody blinked and then nodded, " Then, uh sure… I guess"
Doe smiled, " Thanks, Moody" she said getting to her feet and heading to the door.
" Meadowes, wait a second" Moody said as she reached for the handle to the door.
She turned around again to face him.
Moody looked at her for a second before speaking.
" Your dad, I knew him well, and I think he would be proud of the person you've become, and what you've done" Moody said intently.
She smiled, " Thank you"
Moody turned back to his desk, " Alright, now get out "
She opened the door and headed back to her desk, feeling very light. She always got this way when someone talked about her dad.
Moody had said that he would be proud of the person she had become. Not the auror. It made her happy to think that her dad would be proud of her.
Sirius arrived a few minutes later and sat down at his desk.
He looked very tired, like he hadn't slept for hours.
" You look tired" she told him, sitting down on the edge of his desk.
He sighed, " I am tired"
She looked him in the eyes sternly, " How many patrol shifts have you taken at Lily and James'?"
Sirius rubbed his eyes, " Enough"
Doe frowned at him. She was struggling with the same thing. She wanted to spend every free him she had trying to protect them, but both Remus and Dumbledore were stopping her. Sirius and Doe were supposed to patrol there tonight too.
" You can't exhaust yourself," she told him, " or you won't be any help if something happens"
Sirius sighed, " Well let's hope nothing happens then"
" Harry's getting huge" Sirius said, " I saw him yesterday and he looked like a different kid. He was sitting up and everything"
She smiled. She loved how excited Sirius got about Harry.
" I've only ever heard you talk about hook-ups with that much admiration" she pointed out.
Sirius rolled his eyes at her, " Well, Harry and girls are my two favorite things"
" Spoken like a true bachelor" she said sitting down at her own desk.
She opened the memos that had been left on her desk. Most of them were about paperwork and questions about the Death Eater arrests. It was one of the most tedious things she had done so far as an auror, but it had to be done. She was in the middle of answering one from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Head's secretary when Moody stomped over to Sirius and Doe. He looked furious, but it was something else too. It was worry.
" Get up, both of you" he said quickly, " follow me"
Sirius and Doe both got up, our wands in our hands and followed Moody to the corner where he was standing. It was in the empty corner of the office. He obviously didn't want anyone overhearing this particular conversation.
" Something's happened" Moody said quickly.
Sirius and Doe looked to each other quickly, both of us silenting fearing the worst.
" Frank and Alice Longbottom have been attacked" Moody said barely above a whisper.
Doe's hand flew to her mouth, to strangle the gasp of surprise she had just uttered.
" Are they alive?" Sirius asked.
Moody made a strange face, " They've been rushed to St. Mungos. It doesn't look good"
Doe's eyes widened in shock. Alice and Frank were two of the kindest and most loyal people she had ever met, they didn't deserve this.
" Was it Death Eaters?" Sirius asked.
Moody nodded solemnly, " Listen I need you to go to there home in Surrey, they left their baby with a teenager last night, a babysitter while they went on an Order mission. Get him and bring him to St. Mungos, wait there for his grandmother. She's coming to get him, and they're going to wait for news"
Sirius and Doe nodded.
" Go" Moody ordered.
Sirius and Doe headed to the elevator at almost a run. She felt like something heavy had placed on her chest. Why Frank and Alice? She just hoped that Healer Bones would be able to do something to sort them out.
She was practically bouncing in the lift. Sirius eyed her with concern but didn't say anything.
As soon as they were in the atrium, Doe grabbed Sirius' arm and disapparated to the Longbottoms' home.
Sirius and Doe both landed on a little dirt road. She had never been to Alice and Frank's house before, but Lily had told her the address at one of their lunches.
The house was skinny and very tall. It looked like a little rose covered cottage. Doe could see touches of Alice everywhere, from the cheery flowers in the garden, to the little gnomes that were sitting by the white fence. It was like a silent blow to the chest to see the cute little house standing there without its inhabitants.
" Come on" Sirius said softly, nudging her forward.
They walked to the front door and knocked quickly. There was silence for a minute, before the door opened and revealed a young girl of about fifteen. She looked at them wide eyed and petrified.
" Um, hi" Doe said quickly, " were here to pick up Neville"
The girl looked at her strangely, " Are you the police?"
She must have been a muggle. Doe wished Moody had mentioned this before.
" The what?" Sirius asked.
She elbowed him to shut him up.
" Yes" she told her quickly pointing to their robes, " a special division, see our uniforms?"
The girl nodded and opened the door for them. The inside of the house was just as cheerful as the outside. Everything was covered with rose patterns and lace. It had a very warm feeling to it.
" He's in the crib" the girl told me, " it's upstairs"
Doe smiled at her as reassuringly as she could, " Thanks, I'll go get him"
She left Sirius with the girl downstairs and took the stairs to the second floor, hoping Sirius wouldn't say anything stupid to her.
There were only two doors on the second level. Doe stopped at the one that an ornate N painted on it, figuring that this must be Neville's room.
Doe opened the door and was immediately welcomed by a very brightly decorated nursery. There was a large crib in the corner. She walked over to it and found Neville laying there on a pile of blankets.
His eyes were wide and he had very chubby cheeks. He kicked his sock clad feet and smiled.
My heart ached. Here was Frank and Alice's son, being handled by aurors because they had been attacked. She tried not to think about it.
She picked up Neville and wrapped him in one of the blankets, keeping him secure in her arms. She walked downstairs where Sirius was listening to the girl go on about something with a look of slight irritation on his face. He lit up when she came down the stairs. Obviously thrilled with the distraction.
" Oh, you got him" the girls said happily.
Doe nodded, clutching tightly to Neville.
" So, I can go right?" the girl asked quickly, " you're bringing him to his parents?"
Doe nodded, " Yeah, we are. You can go"
The girl smiled slightly and took her bag from the door before disappearing out of the door.
" Thank god she's gone" Sirius said, " she kept asking me all these questions, speaking of which, what's poleese?"
" Police" she corrected him, " they're like muggle aurors or Hit wizards. They make sure laws are obeyed"
" Oh" Sirius said as his face scrunched in concentration, " That makes sense"
Neville cooed loudly, reminding of them of what we had to do.
" Can you apparate with a baby?" Sirius asked.
She shook her head, " It's not good for them, let's just floo?"
Sirius nodded and walked over to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder and handing some to her.
" You go first" Sirius said, " I'll follow you"
She took the floo powder and dropped it in the fireplace, saying " St. Mungos"
The green flames rose around Neville and her and he laughed happily trying to reach out to them.
The flames decreased and she stepped out into the lobby of St. Mungos.
A minute later, Sirius emerged from the same fireplace. Neville smiled at him.
Sirius led them over to the witch at the front desk who told them promptly to go to the fourth floor for spell damage.
Doe watched Neville still sitting in her arms smiling at all of the new sights, while Sirius and Doe walked through the fourth floor, waiting in the lobby.
She didn't want to sit. She was too anxious, so she took to pacing. Neville didn't seem to mind. He smiled at everything while clutching a piece of her hair tightly in his fist.
At one point, Dumbledore came over to them with a solemn look on his face.
" Dumbledore" she said quickly, " what's going on"
Dumbledore hung his head, " It isn't looking good, Healer Bones is with the Longbottom's now, but they are unresponsive"
" Unresponsive?" Sirius demanded, " what the hell happened to them"
Dumbledore removed the small cap he was wearing from his head, " Frank and Alice were on an Order mission when they were captured by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Jr., they were brought into a situation very similar to the one you and Ms. Meadowes experienced, except Bellatrix managed to use the cruciatus curse enough times to cause permanent damage"
Doe bit her lip, " But why, Professor?"
Dumbledore hung his head again, " They are Order members, but I think it was to find out where Lily and James are currently residing"
Sirius gulped visibly and her stomach flipped.
Dumbledore bade us his goodbyes and had to leave to deal with some of the Healers, leaving Sirius, Neville and Doe alone again.
" Bellatrix did this" she snapped, hatred coursing through my body, " I could kill her"
" She's foul" Sirius said, " we always knew this"
" I want to be the one to get her, Sirius" she told him firmly, " I want to watch her rot in Azkaban and know I'm the reason she's there"
Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. She knew why. She wasn't ever usually this violent. She was the one who offered people second chances. But not with Bellatrix. She hated her. She had hated her since they were at Hogwarts together. She always knew she was evil and capable of something awful, but this was the last straw.
Neville looked up at me, screwed up his face and started to cry loudly. Her harsh voice had distressed him.
" Oh, I'm sorry" she said softly kissing the top of his head, " I didn't mean to be loud"
Neville continued to cry, despite her desperate rocking and attempts to console him.
" Here" Sirius said getting up from the chair he was sitting in, " let me try"
He slipped his arms under hers and took Neville. He bounced him slightly and started to whisper to him quietly. Slowly Neville stopped crying and looked up at him, wide eyed.
Doe blinked in surprise. She knew Sirius was good with Harry, but this was remarkable.
" Stop staring at me like that" Sirius said his eyebrows furrowed together.
" Like what?" she asked him.
" With that shocked expression" Sirius said bouncing Neville slightly.
Doe pursed her lips and watched silently as Sirius got Neville to smile brightly.
" There we go" she said stroking Neville's outstretched arm. He let out a little giggle.
" You have a beautiful family" said a passing female healer.
" Oh, we're not-" she started but she had already rounded the corner.
Sirius rolled his eyes, " We're wearing auror robes, how thick can she be?" he asked.
Doe shrugged, " I don't know"
" Do you want to hold him again?" Sirius asked, handing Neville to her.
Doe nodded and took him, grateful to have something to do with her hands.
They stood there for a few minutes. Sirius had managed to entertain Neville by making several ridiculous faces over her shoulder, that caused him to giggle loudly.
The game was interrupted by an older woman walking into the waiting room. She was dressed head to toe in green robes and perched on top of her head was a tall witches hat, with a stuffed eagle on top of it.
" Oh, Neville!" she gushed running over to Doe and stroking the baby in her arms.
" Are you Augusta Longbottom?" Doe asked her.
She nodded and wiped a tear from her eyes, " Yes, I'm Frank's mother"
She tried to offer her the best smile as she could as she handed Neville to her.
" This is just awful! Horrible!" Augusta cried while she bounced Neville, " my only son tortured at the hands of these monsters!"
Sirius looked to Doe quickly, trying to figure out if she should say anything. She shook her head slightly. He nodded, understanding her.
The door behind them opened and Healer Bones strode out, " You can see them now, if you all would like" he said solemnly.
Augusta nodded quickly and led them all into the room behind her.
Lying in two separate hospital beds, staring straight forward, was Alice and Frank. They didn't look up when they heard them come in, and they didn't answer to any of Augusta or Neville's cries. They just laid there frozen and unmoving.
" I'm afraid that the amount of cruciatus curse used on them" Healer Bones began, " tortured them into insanity. It is unlikely that they ever will recover"
Augusta burst into loud cries, that in return caused Neville to cry too. Doe felt the tears start to form in her eyes and slide down her cheeks.
Alice and Frank wouldn't recover.
Sirius took her by the arm and led her from the room. she didn't stop him. Once they were out of the room he bent down slightly to look her in the eyes.
" It's horrible, I know" he said softly.
She started to hiccup and Sirius pulled her into a hug.
" They're not going to recover" she managed to say, " Neville just lost his parents"
Sirius hugged her tighter, " I know"
When they broke apart, her face hardened.
" How could someone do this?" she demanded, " how could someone torture someone else like that?"
" They're horrible people, Doe. We always knew that" Sirius told her.
She wiped the last of her tears and nodded, following Sirius back into the lift. This had confirmed it for her.
Voldemort and his supporters had to be stopped. All of the lives they had already lost could not be in vain.