Another quick chapter :) I had a lot of time to write this weekend lol. I actually had to split this chapter down into 3 chapters because it just got way too long and had way too much stuff happening in it, so the next one is already written and should be out shortly, after I double check it and get a few reviews (so more reviews may persuade me to get it out faster!) This is kind of a filler chapter, a little cuteness between the boys, but I had to move things along so I could get to where I wanted to go! Hope you enjoy, please review!
Also, I'd like to know your opinion. My chapters do tend to be rather short, but I end them at places I feel make sense. Would you rather longer, possibly less frequent chapters (I won't always have this much time to write on weekends!) or short-ish chapters like I've been doing?
~Elle~
Frank was discharged from the hospital two days later, suffering no more ill effects from the torture. Neville had been with his grandmother for the past few days; Frank was beyond grateful to James for getting him out safely. He stayed by his wife's bedside all day, hoping and praying that she would wake. They were the longest days of his life. Wake, she did; three days after he'd been discharged. She was incoherent at first, muttering unintelligible things. The healers said it may be permanent, only time would tell, but as the weeks went by she was slowly getting better. It took nearly two months, but eventually her mind came back and three weeks later, she was home with her husband and son; no recollection of the week preceding the "event," but other than that back to her normal self. Frank didn't consider it a bad thing she couldn't remember that night, he told her what she needed to know and she realized how lucky she was to be as healthy as she was.
The Potters became very frequent visitors at the Longbottom house, and Harry and Neville loved each other's company. The Potters originally became close with the Longbottoms because of Lily and Alice's sisterlike friendship, but since James had stepped in that fateful night, he and Frank had become very close, not as close as James felt to Sirius and Remus, but close nonetheless. And Alice, as much as she reminded him of Lily, James decided that wasn't a bad thing. Harry needed to be around people who could tell him about his mother.
James stepped back into his position as an Auror without a problem; it was second nature to him. It was the job he was born for. He was awarded the Order of Merlin, 1st class for the capture of 4 dangerous death eaters in a single night, and for saving the lives of a young family. He had one of the best records, young as he was, for catching remaining death eaters at large and catching them alive. Gideon and Fabian Prewett, who James knew from the Order as well as from another team of Aurors, held the record just below Moody's of the most death eaters at large caught, though with a nastier reputation of not always succeeding in bringing them in alive.
Over time, James and Harry settled into a comfortable routine. They moved out of Sirius' flat and James bought a small home in Hogsmeade, with a large backyard that Harry could play in. James was becoming more comfortable in his role as a single father, though he knew he spoiled his boy rotten. Harry was given everything a little boy could want and James was happy to give it to him. He knew in the back of his mind that Lily wouldn't want her son growing up this spoilt, and that bothered him sometimes, but he told himself she would want her son to be happy, and he relished in making his son happy.
Harry seemed to get more rambunctious with every inch he grew. To say he was a handful would be an understatement, still, he was doted on and spoiled by three men who thought the world of him. Oh, he was smart, and by the time he was 2 speaking in semi-full sentences. He spent his day while James was at work alternating between staying with Remus, or at the Longbottom home playing with Neville.
Alice truly didn't mind caring for Harry; she loved the little boy dearly. Generally, Harry was good for her. He knew the rules and consequences in her home. Having each other as frequent playmates taught Harry and Neville to play nicely with each other, and she was even able to get more things done around the house with Harry over, because it kept Neville out from underfoot. Lately however, Harry had entered his terrible twos, and was a right terror; Neville fed off it and joined in. It made for very chaotic days, and the two together made Alice feel outnumbered.
One particularly cold February day when the boys were 2 ½, on Alice's day to keep Harry, the boys were particularly rambunctious. Alice figured it was the lack of time to play outside; she always tried to get them out for a little while, no matter what the weather, but today was just too cold. The boys had a lot of pent up energy. After two hours of the little boys running around nonstop, Alice couldn't take much more. She turned on the muggle telly to a children's program and tried to get the boys to sit down and watch. They complied, and Alice sighed in relief, taking this short quiet opportunity to make herself a spot of tea.
She had barely heated the water when she heard a shout from the other room, followed by a bang and a cry, and rushed to investigate. She found a bookshelf turned over, and Harry sitting next to it crying. She rushed to the little boy and picked him up.
"What happened?" she asked the child.
"I don't fly!" exclaimed Harry, crying in response.
"Of course you don't fly! You're a little boy, not an owl!" Alice told her young charge. "Where does it hurt?" she asked gently, to which Harry indicated his arm and his head. Alice checked over the wound and determined that Harry was more shook up then hurt, kissed the indicated areas, and put him down, telling him under no uncertain terms that he was not to try flying again. Harry nodded enthusiastically, not wanting to fall again. Alice breathed out a sigh of relief, grateful that Harry's fall had been minor. Trying to fly without a broom, it could have been a lot worse! She sat on the couch as the boys settled into their interactive program, dancing along with it, and summoned her tea from the kitchen. She wasn't about to leave these two for another second!
A short time later, Alice heard a call from the floo in the kitchen. Checking that the boys were alright, she entered the kitchen to find Franks' head. "We've got a solid lead on some hiding death eaters," he told her quickly. "We'll probably be out late. James wants to know if you can keep Harry overnight," he enquired of his wife.
Alice nodded her consent and told him to "be safe" before he quickly left and she retreated back to the living room, just in time to see Harry push Neville to the floor and take his bear. "Mine!" shouted the boy.
"Harry Potter!" Alice scolded, taking the bear from him and handing it back to Neville, "you don't take toys away and you don't push!" she said, leading him to the time-out chair by the wall. Harry screamed as she tried to sit him in it, and immediately stood up, making Alice grab him to place him back in the chair, finally succeeding in finishing the time out after several more escape attempts. Barely 20 minutes after that she had to repeat the process with Neville for biting. The day progressed without any improvement.
By lunch, Alice was exhausted, and planned to take a nap right along with the boys. When she awoke an hour later, it was to find Neville's bedroom empty. She could have sworn she turned on the alarms that would wake her when they awoke! She began to search the house, calling their names and getting more frantic by the second. She noticed the chill as she passed the entryway and found the door open. Her heart rate raced as she threw on her shoes and stepped outside, to notice little footprints in the snow only right around the door, the snow messed, and nothing else. Her first thought was that someone had taken the boys from the front stoop, but she realized that was impossible. Since the death eater attack, the Longbottoms had tight security around their property. Alice would know if anyone got inside the perimeters. That left one option, she thought as she turned back into the house and closed the door. She finally found that the boys had made a slippery mess with snow in the kitchen, and were enjoying sliding around.
By the time James and Frank arrived home late, after the boys were fast asleep, Alice had fallen asleep on the couch waiting up for them. Frank gently shook her awake to let her know they were home.
"How was your day?" he asked her.
"Kids are born one at a time for a reason," she responded, as she got up and made her way to her bedroom. Frank chuckled and turned to James, advising him to crash on the couch rather than wake his sleeping child, before following after his wife.
Harry's third birthday came and went; they had a party for Harry and Neville combined with close friends; not huge, but the boys didn't care. They loved all the attention and gifts. This time, Harry was more interested in the toys inside, and discarded the box without a care. Both boys made out generously with their gifts, which sent two very happy three year olds home that night.