Author's Note: Hey! I figured I might as well spend a bit of extra time putting up the continuation to get it out of the way for those of you who don't like this segment of the story. But to be honest, I really liked writing this because it was a break from all the other stuff in the story.

Chapter 70

"My father wants me to take the Mark."

"What mark?"

"The Dark Mark."

I frown. "I've heard of that. Some rising Dark wizard who claims he's going to take over the world, right? What did they say his name was?"

"Voldemort."

"Right, that was the one," I say. "Oh come now, Bella. You can't be taking this seriously."

"I'm not," she says. "But my parents certainly are, and they want me to go to him."

"But you won't, will you?"

She looks at me. "I suppose not. If you think that I shouldn't…"

"I do think so. It's ridiculous to ally yourself with a madman like that. When has 'taking over the world' ever sounded like a good idea to you?"

She laughs, and I revel in the beautiful sound of her voice.

"Never," she admits.

"Good. Now come here."

I pull her into a hug, and her arms come around me.

Then she sighs. "Don't you feel guilty about Alice?"

"Of course I do," I reply."

"Then why do you keep inviting me over?"

I frown. Why is she asking this? "Why do you keep coming?" I return.

"Now that's not a fair question."

"How is it not a fair question?"

"Because you already know the bloody answer! You just want to force me to say it. And you know what, I don't think I ever will. Because this is already a shit relationship, and I'm not going to become a slave to it."

"Don't say that, Bella."

"Does she even have any clue that there could be something between us?"

"She thinks that we're still fighting like we were last year," I say.

I wince at the memory of sixth year. It was almost physically painful to hear only insults and arguments from her.

"That explains why she's being nice to me," Bella says. "I'm so sick of her and her perfect-ness. I don't know how you can stand being around her all the time."

"She's my girlfriend. And I love her."

She scoffs and pushes me away. "Yes, just like you love me. Tell me Frank, have you loved her like you've loved me?"

I can only stare at her. Surely she knows that I haven't… that she's the only girl I've ever been with, the only one that I love in this way. Alice and I hardly even kiss!

"Frank, you are one coldhearted son of a bitch, you know that?"

She gets to her feet and starts getting dressed—clearly, she took my silence the wrong way.

"Bella, don't go."

"You know, I thought I would be all right with being just fuck buddies, but I can't do it. I can't lie in your arms and hear you say that you love someone else."

"Bella, you know that I love you more."

Her eyes are suddenly filled with uncharacteristic sadness. "No. No, Frank, you don't."

And then she's gone again.

"Alice? Alice, honey?"

I walk into the dark bedroom and hear an unexpected but very familiar voice.

"Hello, Frank."

I freeze. I haven't heard that voice since graduating from Hogwarts three years ago.

"Bella… hello," I say.

The lights turn on, and my gaze rests on her, perched on the foot of the bed that Alice and I share. Bella still looks absolutely breathtaking, although she does seem even wilder than she was before.

"You don't look so happy to see me," she says.

"I… where's Alice?"

"Don't worry, Frank. Your fiancé—"

Oh, so she's already heard about our engagement.

"—will find her way back here when the Confundus Charm wears off."

"Damn it, Bella, where is she?"

"Relax. If I wanted to kill her, she'd be dead. This room would be drenched with her blood, and I would be long gone."

"What do you want, then?" I ask cautiously.

"Why, I'm here to give you my well wishes. And I have a wedding gift for you."

"Wedding—it's too early. Bella, I don't—"

"I'm sorry, but you simply have no choice but to accept it."

I flick my wand at her, throwing her back against the headboard. "I'm not the same useless Frank Longbottom I was in school, Bella. You can't push me around."

"Was I ever the one who pushed you around?"

Her voice is softer than I expected, catching me off guard. I stare at her.

"Well?" she prompts.

"No," I admit, lowering my wand.

"I would never threaten you. I just wanted to give you something," she says.

"Fine. What is it?"

Bella points her wand at me.

"I could have hurt you, and I didn't," I remind her warily.

She smiles. "I know. You were always such a sweet boy, Frank."

Then she flicks her wrist, and I feel a searing pain on my chest. The burn intensifies, and I cry out. I attempt to Disarm her, but she blocks my spell and gets to her feet.

The pain stops, but my chest still stings a little.

"What did you do to me?"

"Oh, I just gave you a little bit of body art," she says flippantly. "You see, I've had a bit done myself, and I found that the result was immensely satisfying."

She pulls up her sleeve to show me the Dark Mark—the one that she'd told me she wasn't going to take.

"You're a Death Eater? That's ridiculous. They—"

"Oh, you can scorn us all you want, now. But mark my words. The Dark Mark will come to be feared by every man, woman, and child. First in Britain, then in the whole world."

I shake my head sadly. "Bella… what have you done to yourself?"

"Well, it's about time for me to leave. Wouldn't want dear Alice stumbling upon you with your old lover on the night of your engagement party," she says.

My chest burns again, and I place a hand over the spot. "What did you do?" I hiss.

I unbutton the top half of my shirt and look down to see that one word—Bella—has been branded into my skin, directly above my heart.

"Pretty, isn't it?" she says, walking toward me. "Whenever you feel that burn, it means I'm thinking of you… and feeling particularly murderous."

I hear the front door of our flat opening.

Bella smiles. "Oops! Time to go. It was so very nice to see you, love."

She reaches up to pat my cheek twice. Then, before I can get over the shock of being branded by her, she twists away and Disapparates.

"Frank?" Alice says as she enters the room.

I turn around wordlessly and watch as the smile on Alice's face fades away. She slowly steps over to me and runs her fingers over the new lettering on my chest, glowing red from the last burn.

"That… bitch," she says, stepping closer to hug me.

I want more than anything to agree with her, to push all the blame onto Bella and settle for calling her names.

But these three years have given me time to come to terms with what happened between us, and I know that it wouldn't be fair to her. I shouldn't have been ashamed of her. I should have asked her to be my girlfriend—seventh year was the best and worst year of my life.

I had her.

I had everything I'd ever wanted, and I threw it all away, out of fear for what my friends would say. Bella may have done many things wrong, but I'm not free of guilt either.

I'd felt so strongly for her, thought that my feelings would never, ever change. If I could go back, I would tell her from the beginning that we'd only be friends. I'd stop myself from kissing her that first time in fifth year.

Or maybe I would choose not to be friends with her at all—maybe she would have been better off without me in her life. Maybe I should have let Alice drag me away that day on the Hogwarts Express…

"I don't believe you. That could be anyone."

Whose voice is that? It sounds strangely familiar.

"Of course you don't believe me. You'd be a fool if you did."

That's Mulciber. The bag over my head prevents me from seeing anything, but I recognize his voice—it sounds a little more gravelly than I remembered, but it's still unmistakable to me.

Then the bag is ripped off my head, and my eyes fall on a young man standing a few feet away from me. A look of shock is on his face, and I begin to feel that he looks familiar. He looks like… like Alice. My eyes widen.

"Neville?" I inquire.

"F—Father. Do you—"

"All we want from you is your cooperation," Mulciber interrupts.

"Neville, don't!" I say immediately. "Your mother and I would never forgive you if you—"

Mulciber points his wand at me, and my voice cuts off. Damn him!

I look at my son imploringly. I don't know much about him at all—he was so young when Alice and I were taken away from him, but he looks so grown. I pray that he's like us, that he'll stand up for what's right, no matter the consequences.

"So you see, boy, the Dark Lord can bring your parents back," Mulciber says.

"I don't believe you. That could be anyone, pretending to be my father."

Good boy. Now leave. Please leave.

"Well, then. You and your father must share some memories that no one else knows of. Ask him something. Anything."

I'm torn. I want more than anything to be reunited with my son, but I don't want him to do something stupid for me. I don't recall any memories from my period of insanity. It couldn't have been that bad, could it? He should let Voldemort put me right back. Come on Neville, you're stronger than this.

He hesitantly moves toward me.

"The last…" he begins, but his voice cracks and he swallows hard. Then, steeling himself, he looks back up at me, a fiery determination blazing in his eyes. "The last words you said to me—what were they?"

Mulciber flicks his wand in my direction, presumably to lift the Silencing Charm. I clear my throat. Yes, my voice is back. But should I answer him?

"Dad… please. If it's really you, please answer me," my son mutters.

My heart immediately softens. These years must have been such a torment for him. I remember the words clearly. It feels as though I spoke them just yesterday.

I meet his eyes, unwavering, and begin to recite in a low voice. "Be good and listen to Gran, all right, Neville? Mummy and Daddy will be right back." My voice breaks on the last two words, and my throat constricts.

His eyes are welling up. "I'll be good, Dad," he whispers his response from so long ago.

I shake my head at him. "Don't do this, Neville," I say. "You promised to be good, didn't you?"

"But you promised to come back," he replies, blinking away tears.

I try to speak, but my voice is gone again, and I glare at Mulciber.

"So, what do you say?" the Death Eater says.

"If I do this, he'll bring my mum back?"

"Oh no, this favor will be for your father—after all, the Dark Lord brought him back without anything from you. If you don't do as we say, we can just as easily torture him back to insanity."

I shudder involuntarily at the possibility. I can't remember the time I spent without my sanity, but I vividly recall the first two hours of torture that I was put through. I didn't beg, but I silently prayed for death to claim me.

Still, I shake my head at Neville. I will endure that a second time if it means that Neville will stay away from the Death Eaters.

Then he says three words that chill me to the bone.

"I'll do it."

No!

I made a lot of mistakes in my life, Neville, but these were possibly the worst. In the end, Bella chose to take me and your mother away from you. I wish I could have made different choices. Maybe the outcome would have been different. Better.

Though your situation is different, I do not wish to see you filled with regret. I am proud to see that you are so strong and tall. But your mother and I would rather go on forever in insanity than return to see you serving the Dark Lord.

Please don't do something you'll regret.

Turning against the Order will be like turning your back on us, and everything that we stood for. And we will not forgive you for that. I'm sure that I can speak for your mother.

We love you very much, Neville.

Young Mr. Malfoy… if you are watching this, please deliver it to someone—anyone—who can get it to my son. I assume that, based on the fact that you took this message in the first place, you have some way of doing it.

You have my gratitude.

Author's Note: Yeah, the last segment is a bit strange, I know. This makeshift Pensieve allows the viewer to experience the memories as though they're in firsthand, but Frank added a message to the viewer at the end, so to Draco, it would be as though everything blacked out, and he could just hear Frank's voice in his head. At least, that's how I envisioned it.

Okay, I probably won't be able to post again until after the midterm (Monday, 9/19/11—HEY, that's Hermione's birthday! I think I'll have to post on that day, then). So, I'll "see" you all then! (: