Happy Birthday Francis and Deborah

Neville returned to Great Britain alone. He decided to tell both Hannah and the children that Alice had decided to stay in Germany because of the good healthcare that was offered there by people who weren't related to her. He didn't mention his father to any of them. Neville didn't want to burden them with this secret. They couldn't meet him anyway. Returning to Great Britain and living in the society ruled by Voldemort wasn't an option for him, that much was clear.

The children understood that Alice needed help because of her bad health but they were extremely sad when Neville told them that she wouldn't come back at all because of the government's rules. Deborah cried all day when he told her so and Francis seemed really sad too.

Telling Lestrange wasn't so emotionally straining but Neville was worried about the consequences. His mother hadn't had permission to emigrate, she had just pleaded for clemency with Voldemort. He really hoped this wouldn't mean trouble for the rest of his family. Hannah and the children had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Lestrange didn't seem very surprised when he heard what Neville told him. He referred to the treatment options as well. Neville wondered what had been going on in the conversation between the two of them that made Lestrange believe that she wanted to leave the country but he didn't ask. Neville was relieved when he offered to explain the situation to Voldemort. He didn't feel comfortable talking to the Dark Lord at all and he wasn't sure if he could trust his Occlumency either.

During the course of the following days, Neville secretly feared trouble but none came. He informed the Order members as well. They voiced their regrets that they couldn't see Alice anymore but understood her decision.

Meanwhile, Francis and Deborah were planning their eighth birthday. Deborah cried once more when she remembered that Alice wouldn't be there to celebrate with them. Hannah was slightly angry after this and told Neville that Alice should have told the children differently. The approaching birthday took the children's mind of the subject matter though. They wanted to celebrate with their friends and decided to invite the two older Macmillan children, the Nott girls and the two Lestrange children. They sent invitations around and all of their friends agreed to come which comforted Deborah a bit.

Both children received the brooms they had wished for. Neville and Hannah consulted the sales wizard at Quality Quidditch Supplies because he didn't know what kind or broom would be appropriate for someone their age. Neither he nor Hannah had been interested in Quidditch at this age at all.

They didn't seem to have done too badly though, both Francis and Deborah liked their brooms. The advice seemed to have been good. They didn't receive any other gifts from their parents, only some sweets. The brooms were expensive enough and they didn't want to overdo it.

In the afternoon, the young guests arrived. Hannah with her experience from work had provided them with various kinds of including waffles, ice cream and fruit. The Notts arrived first and brought a puzzle game of Hogwarts that moved when it was done correctly for Deborah and a toy dragon with keeper for Francis' dragon collection. Daphne and Hannah spent some time talking. They had never had much to do with each other back at school but got along quite well now.

The Macmillans brought a puzzle of a dragon for Francis and a diary that gave advice for Deborah. Neville found the latter slightly creepy because he remembered Ginny Weasley's bad experience with something similar during her first year at Hogwarts. It was quite possible that her bad state had to do with this as well as with the curses she had been hit with. Ernie assured him that the diary was perfectly safe and only had harmless spells on it before he left his children behind. Neville believed him. The Macmillans weren't one of the Death Eater families likely to have dark artefacts lying around.

This was different for the Lestranges. Roderic and Roxana arrived with their father. The first time that he actually visited the house without an emergency, Neville noted. He brought books for both children, one about plants for Deborah and one about the various Quidditch teams for Francis.

"Bellatrix wants to give them a subscription of the Pure-blood Youth Magazine. Are you alright with that?"

Neville shrugged. "It's not really worth getting on Bellatrix' wrong side over. I don't mind and most people they know will read it anyway."

She was really keen on getting everyone into the party line, he thought. Getting the children away from the influence was impossible anyway though.

Elsa Nott hid behind her mother's robes when she caught sight of Roderic. The boy walked past her with a disdainful look that reminded Neville of his mother. He hoped there would be no trouble between the children.

"Do you have a moment to spare?" Lestrange asked.

Neville looked around. Hannah and Daphne watched the children; they should be fine without him. "Yes, of course. Let's go to my study."

Both settled down, Neville with a distinct feeling of dread.

Lestrange seemed to notice this. He cast the spell that kept them from being overheard and said: "Don't worry," he said. "There are no problems. I merely wish to inform you about the way I've explained the situation to the Dark Lord."

"Yes, of course," Neville said. He didn't want to admit how worried he had been. "So he doesn't mind?"

"No, he does not. I've explained it with your mother's health situation. I didn't see her before the meeting as you know and I've told the Dark Lord about that as well. I told him that her health is much worse than expected and that she didn't wish to admit it because she didn't want to live with the restrictions imposed by the new rules. That's not a lie and he believed it. He trusts in my judgement of such matters. The rest of the story is further from the truth. I told him we decided together that Alice needed constant medical care but you couldn't provide it here because of your other duties which you don't want to neglect. Healer Neubert with whom you've been in correspondence since our visit there offered to take her on as her patient which she agreed to. You also consented because they're well-equipped over there and you would be relieved of the duty to care for her in addition to your regular patients."

Neville needed a while until he understood this story completely.

"You mean, you've told the Dark Lord that we've all decided this together?"

"Yes. This would have been the most sensible course of action in the first place but well, with Alice in Germany we won't have this kind of problem anymore I hope. I think your situation is safer this way too. Her behaviour was very unpredictable. You didn't know she wanted to leave either, did you?"

"No. She told me so when we were already there," Neville said. This was true. She had made this decision before she had found out about Frank at all.

"The Dark Lord accepts her departure for medical reasons. This means you're officially allowed to correspond with her and visit her. She can return as well if she wishes to do so but she needs to notify the authorities first so she can be let through the Home Shield. If she neglects to do so and enters the country, she will be treated as an enemy citizen. This should be a simple matter of bureaucracy though if she wants to return. In this case, she'll have to undergo the full period of probation again but given that only three weeks of that have passed it shouldn't make much of a difference."

"Alright," Neville said. "So this is official now."

He was relieved that they wouldn't be in trouble because of Alice's decision. Being able to write letters would be important too, especially for the children. They didn't want to be cut off from each other completely if it was avoidable. Neville highly doubted that his mother would ever wish to return to the country though. She would prefer staying with Frank and her Auror. He wasn't going to tell Lestrange that of course.

"Thank you for sorting this out," Neville said.

"Well, I really hope it was the last time this was necessary," Lestrange said. "That's all for now."

They walked out of the study and straight into Roderic.

"You've been discussing Mrs Longbottom, haven't you?" the boy asked.

Lestrange frowned. "You know you're not supposed to listen on doors. Why aren't you with the others?"

"I didn't hear anything anyway," Roderic said. "I want to know why she's simply left without a word."

Neville sighed. He knew that this hadn't gone too well. His mother had spent time with Roderic only two weeks ago and now she suddenly left without any explanations. This kind of thing wasn't easy for a child. He didn't know the entire back story either.

"We've already discussed this," Lestrange said. "She is ill and needs help which she can get there. She didn't know that before she left, that's why she didn't tell anyone."

"I don't believe this," Roderic said. "You're both Healers. You should be able to make her healthy again. Why do you need some people far away for that?"

"It's not as easy as that. If we could, we already would have done that," his father told him.

Neville wasn't sure if Roderic even listened. "I think she wanted to get away from You-Know-Who," he said. "She didn't like him and wanted to run away. It's not very brave, running away. I always thought she was brave."

Neville mentally cursed the boy's perceptiveness. He hoped no one would start questioning things if they heard him talk like that

"First of all, you call him the Dark Lord," Lestrange said. "I know your upset about this but you need to stop saying this kind of thing. You could get Neville and the others into real trouble this way."

"I wouldn't say it to anyone else," Roderic muttered his eyes downcast. "I don't want you to get into trouble but I miss her. I thought she liked me. But she doesn't, does she? People simply can't like me."

Lestrange put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Roderic, that's not true and you know it. Alice has left Francis and Deborah too. This would mean she doesn't like them either. I don't think so."

"She's really not well. She wanted to get help and didn't think about anything else," Neville said.

His mother hadn't given any second thought to how he would smooth this situation out either. He didn't say it aloud, especially not in front of Lestrange but he wasn't quite sure if she was fully accountable for her actions. He really hoped Elke Neubert would help her and Frank and keep them from doing something foolish and rash again. Neville knew she was competent. He could do nothing more than hope she'd make use of that as well.

"Do you think she'll come back when she's better?" Roderic asked.

"I really don't know."

There was nothing else Neville could tell him. He heard the door being open and slammed shut again. Francis hurried into the hall.

"Rod, here you are. What are you doing here? We're playing Death Eaters versus Grindelwald supporters and we're one player short. Come on."

Neville had never heard of this. "What kind of game is this?"

"It's simple really. Some people play Grindelwald supporters who want to get into our country and attack people. The others play Death Eaters who try to catch them," Francis explained.

The game awakened unpleasant memories from Neville's own childhood. His grandmother had only rarely taken him out to play with other children. On some of those few occasions, he had stayed on the sidelines because they had wanted to play a game called Auror and Death Eater. He hadn't considered this something that should be played and the others hadn't understood of course.

By now, the term "Auror" had vanished completely as if this occupation had never existed. His mother had never been able to feel at home in this new society. Where she lived now, things seemed to be similar to the way they had been in Great Britain before Voldemort. She could live the kind of life she was used to again, together with her husband. Looking at it from this perspective, Neville had to admit that she had done the right thing.

"Alright," Roderic said. "I'll come."

"Don't play too rough. We don't want more trouble with the Notts," Lestrange told him.

Roderic promised it and ran outside with Francis. Neville hoped he would get along with the other children and think about Alice less.

"You should keep an eye on him," Lestrange said to Neville when the children were out of earshot. "This game gets out of hand sometimes."

"I will. I'm sorry, this really didn't go well," Neville said. "I'm sure my mother didn't want to make him feel like that."

"I don't think she wanted this either and I think it's better if they don't see each other anymore. I don't know why Alice did it but I don't think the reasons have been ones that make for a beneficial relationship between her and Roderic."

Neville wondered what he was hinting at but he didn't ask. Lestrange usually had his reasons if he didn't elaborate on something.

"Bella wants to fetch the children and congratulate Francis and Deborah too," Lestrange said. "It shouldn't be a problem now, is it?"

"No, of course not," Neville said without truly being so sure. Hannah would be delighted but he knew that his parents in Germany would be disgusted by many things happening here. There wasn't much he could do about it though. He and his family had to adapt to the situation as far as it was possible without doing something that went against their conscience.

Neville would try to teach his children to view things critically and spend more time trying to help the Order members, especially Ginny though. This way, he wouldn't get totally drawn into the Death Eater society.

He owed his parents and the others who had fought against Voldemort that much.

AN: Thank you for reading and following this story. I hope you've liked it.