A/N/:
I do not own Harry Potter or any of its affiliates, nor do I profit from this body of work, because I did not write Harry Potter. I am simply a fan who likes to imagine what if I was the author, JK Rowling, if I was, it might have looked a lot like this….
Adjusting to a New Reality
The smell of leather, dusty books, pipe smoke, and chocolate filled the large room. The sound of two little boys giggling and talking through overstuffed mouths could be heard. The walls were covered with chocolate as their juvenile toy brooms flew about the room brushing the walls with the sickly sweet stuff.
" Massa Lo…ngbottom, Pleez, ya'll git me in sooo much trrouble wit the Missa and Masa. Pleez! Now do wutcha teld… Pleez, and com on back to the play-room fore Missa and Massa catch ya." The Old dark-skinned House Elf named Castellani begged.
But it was too late! The two boys looked up in to see the irritated faces of four wizards. "Misters Longbottom and Potter," Neville's father began, "What the devil do you boys think you are doing eating my Honeydukes Collector's Edition Chocolates."
Both brooms stopped immediately and hovered in midair. The once gleeful happy faces, full of chocolate, registered round "O's" of surprise; brown, sticky liquid drooled out of their mouths and ran down their cheeks,was stuck in their hair, and all over their robes. The effect was comical and their parents had to work hard to hide the glint of laughter they felt threatening to explode out of them.
'This was serious stuff.' Somehow these boys had made it past the house elf, and all the protective charms that surrounded not only the playroom, but also the study. "Castellani, did you remove the boys from the play-room and bring them here?" Frank demanded of the elf.
"Na, Sir", The frightened elf hurriedly responded, "Missa and Massa Lo…ngbottom, left srikt Or..das for Castellani to wa..tcha ovrin the chil'inz ana mak'in sur' theyz sta'in inz the Play-roonz, I'z do'in wa..cha sayz Massa!"
"Tell me, Castellani, how is it then that we find the boys in my study?" Frank Longbottom asked with the authority of an Arrour.
"Massa, Iz don'na no rightly, One mins these chil'inz was there, then theyz huddlez gether talkin and then. Massa Lo…ngbottom'z face gits all scoowed up and thenz poof theyz gon. So I'za followinz themz here.
An Hard it'n be to follow,they'z was. Lord'z yes! They'z hard a fine! Lik'in the Massa was covin hiz traxz or sum'thin. Peez Sir, dotcha be to angrr…ry wit'cha House elf… Lord'z know'd I tried to keep dem dere in the playroom.", The house elf begged.
"Frank!" Alice chided, "You of all people should know that a house elf is no match for a willful, stubborn Longbottom kid. Ease off him a bit. Use your head, how do you think they got here?" she finished with a query.
Frank Longbottom Paused, stumped for a second, then gasped."Good Lord, Alice, do you think so already? Goodness, this is far too early for this sort of thing. Normally this stuff does not start to appear for another 4 or so years." Frank responded, bending down to look, concerned, into Neville's face.
"Frank, you and I both know there is nothing normal about these two boys development!" Alice continued, shifting her gaze to look into Lily's eyes. They both shared a look of concern tainted with guilt, before tucking it away safely inside, and addressing their men, who were sharing their own looks of concern.
James knelt down to the young Harry's eye level and began to clean his face with a wand. "Harry, this was very wrong of you! Chew your chocolate!" He commanded.
The voice of Lily, trying to add some levity to the situation, sounded. "Oh, James, I seem to remember a mopy-headed, young upshot with an inclination for sneaking around Hogwarts. Ring any bells? Please! How could your son be able to do anything less?"
He looked at Lily with a scathing scorn. Lily knew that although he was irritated with her critique, she was right and he had never mastered the art of staying irritated with her for too long. So by the time his eyes broke contact with hers she knew she was already forgiven.
"Besides," Alice interrupted, "I have the sneaking suspicion that our Neville has more of a part to play in this escapade, than Harry." Alice was wiping Neville's face and try as she might she could not help but allow some of her amusement to seep into her face.
She then turned to her son, "Neville, You must not even think of leaving the playroom when Mommy and Daddy leave you there, do you understand?" The round face boy with cheeks stuffed with Honeydukes Chocolates bobbed his head up and down, and then pulled his face away from his mothers ministrations as she tried to wipe the chocolate away from his face with a saliva moistened handkerchief.
"You both have probably ruined your appetites for your Birthday Dinner with all the chocolates. Nevertheless, it's time for dinner." She said picking Neville up and lodging him upon her hip. "At least we know you liked your birthday presents." she finished her dialogue with her son.
The boys squealed with delight! Each boy had delighted in their own brooms this year, for their birthday. They had both enjoyed the day riding around the magically charmed playroom, that could be as big as the children needed it to be, and when they had grown bored of that, they had found their way to Frank Longbottom's study. As the couples and the children left the study Lily waved her wand and suddenly a rag began cleaning the study.
The Potters and the Longbottoms celebrated their sons' birthdays together, and planned to do so every year. Outside of Longbottom Manor things were brewing, a darkness was coming, a darkness that would threaten them all. But for now… the dining hall was cool, safe, well lit, and filled with the joyful contented sounds of this celebration of the births of their sons born just 10 minutes apart.
*******************************October 28, 1981****************************************
"Momma, I go see Harry! Go! Now! Me and You!" the tiny toddler demanded.
"Neville, we cannot go see the Potters they are in hiding." Alice said trying to hide her deep sadness from her son.
Alice's heart had broken when Lily and James had disappeared into hiding. True the separation had not been complete for her. She still got glimpses of what Lily was thinking, and felt some of what she felt (which at present was loneliness and isolation) still, it was the physical separation that broke her heart. It had taken quite some time to get her heart to slow. (Lily's fear was inducing panic attacks, and Alice had them too).
"Mommy! Harry play Hide and Seek?" Neville interrupted her thought.
"Yes! Neville, I guess it's a little like that," Alice said absent-mindedly.
Suddenly Alice screamed! Neville had disappeared from her arms! "Neville! Where are you?"She screamed.
It was a cold day in Godric Hollow, the wind howled, as it seemed to perpetually blow during the fall and winter season. It was October 28th, and the fire roared in the fireplace. James Potter sat in the over-stuffed armchair in front of the fire, dozing. Lily sat in the smaller armchair pillows shoved behind her back, concentrating hard on her embroidery. Sure she could easily have used her wand and made the needle and thread sew this for her. But boredom propelled her into doing this by hand, rather than by magic. Half her mind was focused on the sewing, while the other was listening to and watching out for her son Harry.
Harry was zooming about the room on his juvenile broom and batting a ball about. Alice's idea about getting a broom for Harry to help keep him entertained had been a good one. Suddenly, with a loud pop!, Neville Longbottom appeared in the Potter living room.
Everything happened at once. James jumped up, wand at the ready, pointing it at the intruder. Lilly reacted first, jumping between James and the infant Neville, and Harry began screaming, terrified by the instant tense reaction of his parents.
"What the devil?" James' blurry- edged tongue said, confused by suddenly awaking to a scene that seemed impossible, "How the devil did the little imp get into here? Well I'll be buggered!"
"James, watch your tongue, there are two children in your presence." Lily chided.
"Too right you are Lily, I am soo sorry, still how is it he has appeared here within the secret hiding place?" James countered.
"I cannot begin to guess… James should we call Sirius?" she asked.
"Yes, yes, very well, He will no doubt be very happy to break out of seclusion himself. I know that he loves us and cares for us, but it has cost him dearly to sit on the sidelines. He has always been a man of action. Being our Secret-keeper has kept him like a caged animal in that room of his. He is itching to be free of his vow no doubt. I will summon him." James was looking as despondent and bored as he said his best friend felt. Lilly knew that James spoke more of himself than his best-friend. Suddenly, James went ridged; a dark angry look crossed his face. Then with the hard jaw line of determination set upon his face; he rose to stand by the mantel and said, "Someone has some explaining to do."
With that he pointed his wand to a picture on the fireplace mantel and spoke the necessary incantation that would bring his friend from wherever he was to the secret-place. This had been something that Sirius had readily agreed to when he agreed to be the Secret-keeper. Within seconds Sirius's body appeared in a swirling plume of green smoke and leapt from the fire.
"James for goodness sake, you scared the life out of me. You forget you are never to break our charm except in case of emergency!" Sirius's voice could be heard saying before the green smoke cleared enough to be seen.
"Sirius, I would never presume to call upon my old friendat such times unless it was an emergency!"James countered while slamming Sirius up against the wall. "So tell me old friend," James vehemently spat at the Sirius in his front living room, "Two questions for you and you had better answer both correctly. One, Where were you when I kissed my first girl?"
Sirius threw his head back and began a deep throaty laugh. It was a question he and James were the only ones privy to. His laughter filled the air, even though James Potter had him hanging in midair by his throat. "Really James, do you want my answer in front of your wife?" James' face remained impassive and cold.
" Ok here goes… I was hiding under the bed in the Potter Master bedroom. You had walked in right after I was kissed your girlfriend, and you kissed her too." He looked over at Lilly and shrugged, "Long before he met you of course." He said with a smile.
James held him a while longer. "Who have you told? You are my secret-keeper Sirius you promised, I trusted you." James was shaking with anger, and he spat these words through enraged teeth.
"James! I assure you! I have told no one! I would never…" Sirius denied the accusation. His eyes followed James's eyes to the place where Neville sat and his eyes widened with surprise. "James I swear, I didn't do it!" his eyes pleaded with James to believe him.
"James, stop!" Lilly ordered, "It's not him! Alice! Something's wrong she is in great distress!"
"Mommy!" the little Neville boy cried, "Want my Mommy" big tears welled up in his eyes and then with a loud bang, little Neville disappeared.
"What the heck?" all the adults in the room called out at once…
Frank and Alice Longbottom waited by the fireplace. Each knew what was coming. The Longbottom family secret had been exposed. Now someone would have to be told, and that someone was about to come through that fireplace. Had it been an enemy they might have cast their most powerful protection spells to safeguard themselves and their little one. But how do you protect yourself from those you love more than your life. Sure, they should have shared this with their friends before now. But Dumbbledore had been so adamant about the importance of keeping this even from the Wizarding World, especially at a time like this when the Dark Lord would have done anything to evoke from them the truth.
He had told them of a very dark history, a time when the Midras were living openly in the Wizarding World. He spoke of those days when dark wizards had arrested every Midra and their families and rounded them up and sent them to concentration-like camps, where the families were tortured until the Midra did exactly what dark wizards wanted.
How the Midras were deeply sought after and used as tools in the hands of dark wizards to accomplish their own ends. As always, good had triumphed over evil, but from that moment on Midras went into hiding. Until now, Alice and Frank had heeded Dumbledore's warning and no one knew the truth that they both came from the line of families that had a genetic predisposition towards Midra.
The boy had Appointed! [what Midras call their form of transporting, rather than disapparating. If disapparating is actually having your molecules compressed and shoved through a tiny straw. Then Appointing is more akin to having them cease to exist in one place and begin to exist in another] Neville had appointed himself and Harry into Frank's study, that was the only way the children could have gotten out of the play-room. It was then they had both known what was going on. Their boy was a Midra.
Just then green smoke filled the room, and they braced themselves for what was to come. It was time to face their friends and begin to explain everything. Alice took a deep breath, and pulled her Neville, her little Midra, deeper into her chest protectively.
"Alice and Frank… do you mind explaining how your son ended up in the protected secret-kept home of Lily and James Potter?" Sirius Black began even before the smoke cleared.
"Now Sirius, calm down, it isn't his fault!" Alice began.
"Then who may I ask is at fault?" Sirius began in his most official Arrour's voice, "Step aside Alice, so that I may question him."
"What?! You cannot be serious; you plan to interrogate my 1 year old Son? Don't be ridiculous he is only an infant, what good could possibly come from terrifying my son? Alice said thrusting Neville behind herself protectively, her final words coming out in a hiss.
"Step aside Alice! I have to know how he ended up at the Potters, I do not believe that he is responsible for one minute, but if someone put him there I have to know how. The Potter family is at stake here." Sirius said in his most consolatory voice.
"No Sirius," Frank began, with the same diplomatic voice he used during hostage negotiations, "you misunderstand, my son did make it through your parameters, and he did so of his own accord."
Sirius's face hardened, full of suspicion and unbelief, "So what you are saying Frank is that a yearling preformed a feat of Magic that takes wizards years to learn to perform, if ever?"
"Yes Sirius that is indeed what we are trying to tell you. Now sit down and let us explain."Alice said through clinched teeth, being careful to put herself in between her child and Sirius.
"Momma, Bad Man!" the boy Neville yelled, "hurting Momma!"
Suddenly Sirius rose into the air his entire body rigid and contorted, in obvious pain.
"Neville, No! Stop! Momma and Daddy are fine! It's Ok; Mommy and Daddy are having a disagreement with their friend like sometimes you and Harry do! It's Ok Hon, Stop hurting Uncle Black Please!" Alice pleaded.
"Momma and Daddy, have fight with friend?" Neville said confused, but Sirius slowly was lowered to the ground and relief crossed his face.
"Yes, Neville, please go to the playroom." Frank ordered. With a loud snap the house elf, Castellani appeared and took Neville to the playroom.
"What the devil was that all about? Alice and Frank… I've never seen such power in an infant wizard before." Sirius inquired.
"That's because he is no wizard, at least not as you know it." Frank began. Together they covered all that our young Hermione shared with Neville from the other timeline…
"… and obviously when Lily and I bonded to make the Sang-Magia Deligati Vow while we both were already pregnant, something happened." Alice was saying, "You see a natural block is placed on all Midra when they are first born. Such power before a child is old enough to understand the difference between what play is and what is real, would be disastrous for us all. But for some reason Neville has been born without that block. I suspect it is a result from what happened during the Vow. It changed him somehow."
"Then why haven't you told us about this, at the very least, it would have saved us a great deal of alarm?" Sirius queried trying to muster up a bit of dignity.
"There are reasons, Sirius." Frank began, "Dumbledore warned us not to share our secret with anyone. And secondly, we were not sure until two weeks ago, before Lily and James went into hiding."
"And Sirius, before you ask how we could not have known, let me say that there has not been Midra in our families for over 100 years. And even if we had known he was Midra, we would not be looking for it to happen till 5 or 6. To top all that off, when I saw the little strange things happening around my son I chalked it up to accidental magic, not counting it all up. It was only after realizing that he was a Midra that I was able to see all the signs!"Alice began. "Now you must do something for us, you must make an unbreakable vow with us never to reveal to anyone the fact that we are a Midra. We have sent an owl to Dumbledore and he should be here shortly to explain why."
As if summoned by the mere mention of the name Dumbledore knocked on the front door of the Longbottom Manor. Dumbledore walked in carrying a crystal ball, and placed it on the table between them all.
"I have just collected this prophecy from a young divination witch whom until now I had dismissed as totally false and I would not believe a word she says. However, on this day she was overcome by a very strange fit and uttered a prophecy I believe to be true. The prophecy can only be unlocked by the person whom it is spoken of. This prophecy is about two wizards and one of them is in this room.
"Come here my young Neville." Dumbledore called to infant Neville.
Neville crawled over to Dumbledore and Dumbledore handed the crystal ball to Neville, and it began to talk…
"Do you not see that because both boys were born on the same day we can never be sure which wizard is going to be targeted? For that reason I recommend that you also be sequestered to a secret place." Dumbledore finished.
Sirius stepped forward, "but that would require two different secret keepers?" he began. "Who can we have be a secret keeper for the Longbottoms."
Frank quickly interrupted, "Sirius, you of course will be our Secret-keeper. Why I would have no one else! I will not take no for an answer!"
The two looked into each other's eyes measuring each other's determination. Finally, Sirius looked away.
"As you wish," Sirius said in a flat defeated voice, "But that still leaves us with a need for a secret- keeper for the Potters, What do you think of Peter Pettigrew."
A round of stunned and angry gasps filled the room.
"Sirius, I think that would be very unwise!" Dumbledore interjected, "He has proven himself to be untrustworthy."
"Why? Because he snuck into a meeting room full of people who should have trusted him… we… I mean, I forced him to it! I was jealous of him and resentful of him. I worried he would become close to Remus and James, so I poked fun at him made him feel like an outcast in our group. Now he is sorry and he is changed… He deserves a second chance. Is that not what you always say Headmaster?"
Dumbledore looked at Sirius with grave concern, and nodded his head in the way he did when he did not agree, but can find no argument that would work. After all it was the same argument that he had used to invite Snape to join the Order of the Phoenix.
"Alright, but I want everyone to know it is against my better judgment, that we do this." Dumbledore warned.
Alice and Frank looked at one another, and then back at the two men. Without a word they communicated volumes of information.
'We both know what they do not, it's not the Potter boy that he is after,
It's our son; why else would he be born a Midra. Lilly and James and Harry
are safe. We will allow this!'
Out loud they said, "Dumbledore we agree with Sirius we think Peter Pettigrew needs a second chance.
It was just a short while after that that Peter Pettigrew showed up.
"Peter, I am charging you with a charge, with what is most dear to my heart," Sirius Black began, "I am asking you to become James and Lily's Secret-Keeper, as I have chosen to become Frank and Alice's Secret-Keeper. I cannot be Secret- Keeper to be to both; the risk would be far too great. Will you accept this charge?"
"Nothing would please me more, Sirius, thanks so much, what a wonderful opportunity to prove myself worthy of my friend's trust, once again." The nasally voice of Pettigrew squeaked.
He had been in bad graces with his friends of late because he had been caught trying to listen in at a private meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. When asked why he had being spying in his animagus form he had simply said in a snively way, "You all never tell me anything anymore, If I want to know anything I have to find out for myself, such good friends you all are." He whined.
That had been months ago, and over the time with no more incidents and his constant groveling, his friends had reluctantly let him back into the fold, though never with the same standing as before. Still it was Sirius who trusted him again first. Maybe it was because he understood and felt the most sorry for Peter.
"… But Peter I warn you, if you betray our trust and I myself will hunt you down and kill you with my own two hands." Sirius warned.
"Sirius, I would never betray any of you I promise." Peter said.
On that day the Potter Secret- keeper changed hands from Sirius to Peter and the fate of the Potter's was sealed.
*******************************October 31, 1981 Midnight******************************
Alice sat rocking her son to sleep for the night. It had been an erratic and eventful day. Neville had played all day long. Keeping up with a Midra infant without a block was hard work, twice he had disappeared only to be found in some other part of the house, giggling madly. "Momma, play hide..seek wit me." He squealed in delight.
Two, maybe three times, he had changed her into a bunny, which hopped about, and she had to wait until he was scolded by Frank to change her back. She had to take candy from him several times because he had magically made it appear. If she had to say her mantra again one more time today she would just scream.
"Neville, we do not just make things happen like this. Magic should only be used when you absolutely have to. "
Alice knew it was pointless to say such things to a 1 year old. He would not understand or be able to control himself, but she had hoped it would make herself feel better, but in fact, all it did was make her hoarse.
Just as she put the boy into his crib, she felt it… Indescribable Terror!
"No! HE IS HERE! HOW CAN THIS BE!" she heard Lily's thoughts screaming into in her mind. "James! NO! Run! HARRY!... I HAVE TO PROTECT HIM!" Alice heard a few seconds later.
"NO! NOT HARRY!" Lily was saying now in Alice's mind, and then softer as if ebbing away, "Alice remember! Remember our promise, remember to share, do not let him not know me, remember our Vow it's all up to you now…. and then emptiness and searing pain.
*********************************Six Months Later************************************
Neither one of them had prepared for this! Oh they had thought they were prepared, but never in a million years had they prepared for how debilitating the ending of such a bond would be. At first, the pain had driven her nearly insane with pain and grief such as was never known before. Alice could only describe this pain as a feeling akin to amputation, a ghost pain of what had been a part of her and no longer was. She intended on fulfilling her vow, but only after she recovered some.
She had been, at first, so incapacitated, that it had rendered her incapable of speech. Then just as she was close to regaining her balance, Frank had summoned Sirius and he had not arrived. Frank had taken to her Aunts, and had left to find out why Sirius Had not come. It was later that night that news came that their Secret-Keeper had been taken in for questioning to the Wizengamot. The shock had shattered her fragile hold on reality. Frank was often gone, looking for the real betrayer and murderer of those muggles, Peter Pettigrew. She was left in the hands of friends, hopping from one safe-house to another, a sea of faces, she was having a difficult time connecting to.
This night Frank had arrived home in a state and suddenlydisapparated, with her and Neville, to somewhere, Alice was not sure where. She guessed by the look of the place it was a Longbottom estate, long since disused. Everything seemed unreal, everything that is except young Neville nestled in her arms. On stiff wooden legs she walked over to stairway and began to ascend.
"Alice, darling, where are you going? " Frank began.
I believe Mister Longbottom is in need of a quiet place to rest; after all, it is in the middle of the night. Alice simply answered blank and without emotion in a way that frightened Frank.
"Here let me," he said taking Neville from her arms. Alice relinquished her son and then quickly descended into a deep and dreamless, peaceful sleep the last she would ever have.
The next thing Alice would remember is someone saying, "Bombarda Maxima!"And a loud explosion of the door being blown inwards and three wizards and one witch pouring through the door.
"Let's see my dear Alice, how quickly you can tell me two things. One, where is He-Who-Shall-Not-Be- Named; where has the Order of the Phoenix has taken him, and where is that darling little boy of yours… the charming, little one." The woman cackled with glee and insane determination.
Alice was feeling, for the first time, like her former self, more like herself than she had been in months. Alice spat in Bellatrix's face, which was mere inches from her own, as Bellatrix had sat on Alice's chest on the couch Alice was lying on, and said, " Bellatrix, I will never tell you anything. Never in a million years… will you have to kill me first!" Alice called out defiantly.
"Oopsie, it seems that the little witch has misunderstood. I have no intention of you dying tonight!" Belatrix cackled wickedly with delight, "Actually, I plan on having so much more fun with you both! Why do you think I am His favorite?" She whispered in Alice's ear, as Alice heard Frank's weight crash beside her on the floor, "Because we both have one thing in common, a very personal thing, we both so enjoy seeing people experience exquisite pain! And I intend to extract the last exquisite drop of pain from you both."
That was when the pain started… the pain that Alice and Frank Longbottom would never be free from.
A/N:
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
SO FEW ANSWERS!
ALL WILL BE REVEALED!
While you read, think on these questions.
1. Why is Neville so powerful at this age, and why did no one notice his sudden lack of power?
2. Why is it that the House Elf Castellani is a dark grey? * Hint* could there be races within the house elf creatures?
3. Why did James immediately suspect Sirius of betraying his secret?
4. Why was Peter Pettigrew really spying on that Order of the Phoenix meeting? Was he already working for the Dark Lord?
Answer these questions in the comments and we will try our best to respond.
Watch with us as we travel forward and see how Neville is freed from the AAA deep penetrating spells, and how it was for Neville when he got his Hogwarts Letter of acceptance.
