Disclaimer: This story is based on the characters and world created by JK Rowling. Anything you do not recognise is my own creation. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

– CHAPTER EIGHT –

Serendipity

'Did you come here a lot when you were at school?' asked Alice, her first words since being dumbstruck by the magnificence of the Hogwarts castle.

'Not in my first six years,' said Neville. 'But in my last year at school, I came here many, many times.'

'Why?'

'I'll tell you when you're a little older, honey.'

'You always say that,' muttered Alice darkly. Her expression was remarkably similar to Hannah's when he would deflect difficult questions about work. But what could he tell her: 'I was leading a revolt against the Dark Lord's right hand man, who actually turned out to be a spy because he loved your Uncle Harry's mum'?

Neville smiled at the restored stone gargoyle as if greeting an old friend.

'The Headmistress is expecting us,' he said.

The gargoyle immediately leapt aside and the wall behind it split apart to reveal the spiral staircase. Much to Alice's surprise, the staircase moved slowly upwards as soon as they stepped on to it and raised them up to the highly polished oak door. As Neville raised his hand to the brass knocker, it swung open.

The office was much the same as it had been under Snape's brief tenure: the former Heads snoozed in their portraits, the claw-footed desk remained polished as ever and the arched windows provided an astounding view of the Quidditch pitch.

'Hello, Neville,' said McGonagall.

'Hello, Professor.'

McGonagall, too, had not changed since Neville was at Hogwarts. In his final year, he had become rather attached to the old Transfiguration teacher. They would meet in secret and she would teach him how to counter the after-effects of the Carrows' punishments. With some persuasion, she had even given him lessons on how to use Transfiguration during duels, so he could pass the knowledge on to the rest of the DA.

'And this must be your daughter,' she said, and her usual stern expression softened. 'I haven't seen you since you were a baby.'

Alice took a small step backwards and gripped on to Neville's robe. She bit her thumbnail nervously.

'She can get shy sometimes,' said Neville.

'Of course. Take a seat. May I offer you some tea and biscuits?' asked McGonagall.

Neville remained standing. 'I'm afraid I can't stay too long, I'm here on official Ministry business.'

McGonagall's lips thinned, but Neville did not take it personally. The Headmistress had never been fond of the Ministry, and was particularly wary of Ministry involvement at Hogwarts.

'So they sent you in an attempt to soften me up?' she said, not unkindly.

'Perhaps. But don't worry, we're not interfering: the Minister would get an earful from Harry if we tried that.' McGonagall smiled faintly at the mention of one of her favourite students. 'We just need to check up on Professor Dumbledore's wand: there may be someone after it.'

McGonagall gave him a strange look, as if he had asked her a particularly intriguing question in class.

'The Ministry sent you?' she said.

After spending so much time with his former Professor, Neville immediately caught the dubiety in her voice. This told him that McGonagall had been in touch someone else at the Ministry. Perhaps the Minister had asked her to keep the theft of the wand quiet. But why, then, would that information not be made available to the Department of Mysteries? The Elder Wand, after all, was an object that greatly interested the Power Division. Neville decided to change tact.

'The truth is, I'm here on Harry's behalf,' he said. 'It's his wand, after all.'

'I am only at liberty to speak of these matters to Ministry envoys,' she said slowly, as if weighing up every word. 'But perhaps you should go and visit Hagrid, he hasn't seen you in such a long time.'

Neville smiled at the crafty witch; she really did hate Ministry vows of silence.

'Perhaps I will. It's always a pleasure seeing you, Professor.'

'And you, Neville.' McGonagall turned and patted Alice on the head. 'I expect I'll be seeing you in these halls sometime soon, young lady.'

All this did was cause Alice to retreat further away, so she was practically hidden behind Neville. Bill had assured him that shyness around strangers was natural for children, but Neville noticed that neither Victoire nor Dominique showed any signs of it. He worried that the loss of her mother at such a young age had had a deeper psychological impact than he realised.

They left McGonagall's office and negotiated the eerily empty halls of Hogwarts. Even after ten years, he found it difficult to quell the memories from the Battle of Hogwarts. They walked along the second floor corridor and he saw the spot he had killed his first, Fenrir Greyback. As they descended the main staircase, he saw Flitwick and Dolohov furiously exchanging spells. When they reached the Entrance Hall, he saw Bellatrix, gleefully duelling anyone who came into her path, dancing into the Great Hall as she did so. The Great Hall ... it was too painful to think about. Ginny had been his first crush, and later his trusted right hand when running the DA.

Neville tore his eyes from the Great Hall, and they stepped outside. He saw Voldemort triumphant, Harry dead at his feet; the Sorting Hat on his head, burning him alive; and the sword of Gryffindor in his hand, and then cleaving Voldemort's snake.

Neville glanced down at Alice, who was eyeing him curiously.

'We're about to meet Hagrid,' he said, as they closed in on the hut. 'He's a very old friend of Uncle Harry's. He's very, very big, but don't let that scare you, he's harmless. Can you be brave for me?'

Alice nodded, but her lip quivered.

When they reached the hut, they found a small note attached to the front door. Written on it, in a barely legible scribble: In the Forest. Call back at nightfall.

Out of nowhere came a booming bark that caused the door to shake. Alice screamed and clutched his arm.

'It's ok,' said Neville reassuringly, 'it's just his dog.'

Neville sighed. He could assume that the Elder Wand had been stolen and go back to the office, but he knew what Bogand would say. No certainty, no way forward. Another option would be to physically check Dumbledore's tomb. But there was something repugnant about disturbing the dead, particularly if that person was the greatest wizard since Merlin. He would have to go into the Forest.

But where could he leave Alice? McGonagall would not take kindly to babysitting duties, and she was probably busy in any case. The teachers were all on holiday, the house-elves were hardly suitable and there was no way he was leaving her alone. She would have to go with him.

'We're going into the Forest, honey,' said Neville. 'I need you to listen to any instructions I give you very carefully. If there is any serious trouble, I want you to touch your locket and think of home, ok?'

Alice nodded; she seemed far less frightened by the prospect of venturing into the Forbidden Forest than meeting Hagrid. For his part, Neville was confident he could handle anything the Forest threw at him, as long as Alice took the emergency Portkey he had worked into the locket Hannah had once given her.

Neville grasped his wand with one hand and gripped Alice's hand with the other. They ducked into the trees behind Hagrid's hut and traipsed into the green gloom ahead.

'Why're we going into the Forest?' whispered Alice.

'Because Hagrid's in here,' said Neville, forcing his way through several low-hanging branches.

'Why do we need to see him?'

'He has some information I need for work.'

'He knows if someone stole the first brother's wand, doesn't he?'

Her perception startled him. He had not expected her to listen to his conversation with McGonagall, let alone fully understand it. 'It's very important you don't tell anyone anything you know about the first brother's wand. Promise me you won't tell anyone about it, not even Uncle Harry.'

'I promise.'

'And you mustn't say anything when I talk to Hagrid, understand?'

Alice nodded. When they got home, he would have to protect the information using an obscure form of the Fidelius Charm the Department had developed. He lay his wand on his palm and asked it to find the nearest human. It pointed away from the path and into the dark heart of the forest. He just hoped the spell counted Hagrid as a human.

The trees were now so close together that they squeezed out all the sunlight. Neville had to blast away thickly knotted brambles from the ground ahead of them and thickets of thorn either side of them. They had to stop every few minutes: sometimes to check they were going in the right direction, sometimes to reassure Alice that the rustling around them was caused by some harmless creature.

After nearly half an hour of this stuttering progress, the trees began to thin once more. Neville frowned. He was sure that the Forest took at least an hour to traverse; there was no way they could have reached the other side already.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy once more, the brambles underfoot had become healthy grass and the tall, thin trees were spaced at such regular intervals, it looked deliberate.

'Daddy!' squealed Alice, her mutinous expression gone. 'Daddy look!'

'Look where?' said Neville, on edge.

Before he could react, Alice ran ahead of him, and it became abundantly clear what had attracted her attention. A stone's throw away from them was a magnificent unicorn. In the sunlight, its white coat gave it an ethereal glow.

'Alice, don't startle it,' said Neville, jogging after her. But it was too late. At the sight of two humans running at it, the unicorn reared its horned head and took off into the distance.

'Please come back, unicorn!' cried Alice, who broke out into a sprint.

'Stop now, Alice!'

But before Neville could catch her, Alice disappeared out of sight, her screams ringing through the air. His heart stopped. He sprinted for dear life. The next thing he knew, his feet no longer met the ground, and he was in freefall.

With barely enough time to think, he looked below him, where his darling girl was about to hit the floor and shouted, 'IMPEDIMENTA!'

He could not bask in his relief at having hit his mark. In one fluid movement, he cast a Cushioning Charm at the spot that, seconds later, he crashed into. Alice, her flight slowed down to a crawl, landed in his waiting arms.

Only when she was safely in his embrace did Neville realise that his heart was beating painfully against his chest, as if punishing him for allowing his daughter to come into the Forbidden Forest. He stroked her hair and held her tight. The thought of losing her was too terrible, too painful ...

The ground shook.

Neville placed Alice on the earth next to him and jumped to his feet, wand out. They were in a vast clearing that stretched into the distance. The rest of the Forest was at least a hundred feet above their heads.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

'Alice, I want you to think of home now.'

'No, Daddy.'

Shocked, Neville stared down at his daughter. Her face burned with determination and resolve.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

'Alice, think of home. Now!'

'I'm not leaving you, Daddy!' She was practically shouting now.

'Take the Portkey!'

'You promised me you'll never die! I won't leave!'

Boom. Boom. Boom.

'I'm not going to die –'

A shadow fell over them. Neville whipped around, a dozen curses at the forefront of his mind.

Running towards them was ... a giant. It was not as large as some of the ones Neville had run into, but at around sixteen foot, it was hardly a trifle either. Neville stepped in front of Alice so she was completely blocked from view.

He then raised his wand above his head and brought it down like a sword. With an almighty crack, one of the trees from the Forest above them uprooted itself, landed in front of them with a deafening crash that rivalled the giant's footsteps and began rolling towards the giant.

Squinting with concentration, Neville repeated the act with another tree while keeping the first tree rolling. Then another, and another. The giant was now close enough that they could see its vast boulder of a head. Its Quaffle-sized eyes were fixed on Neville.

The giant was nearly within grabbing distance when it stepped on the first rolling tree. To Neville's dismay, the tree split in two and rolled harmlessly away.

Neville prepared his own Portkey, and took Alice's hand.

The second tree reached the giant at a far greater speed than the first, and caused it to stumble. The third and fourth came in such quick succession that, before the giant could fully contemplate what had happened, it fell backwards and, with an almighty thump that felt like an earthquake, landed on the floor inches from where they stood.

'GRAWPY!'

It was one of the most bizarre sights Neville had ever seen. Hagrid was running towards them, a curtain-sized pink flowery apron draped around his moleskin coat. The pink umbrella that hid his broken wand was raised above his head.

'Put that down before you hurt yourself,' barked Neville.

Hagrid froze. 'Galloping Gorgons! Neville Longbottom?' he said.

'Yes,' said Neville. Suddenly, he understood: the giant must have been the one from the Battle of Hogwarts, the one that had fought against Voldemort's giants.

'What're yeh doin' attackin' Grawpy?'

'Defending myself, and my daughter,' replied Neville coolly.

'Defendin'? Now see here, Grawpy wouldn' hurt a fly!'

Neville eyed the great mound that was Hagrid's half-brother. 'I respectfully disagree.'

'Hagger,' boomed the giant, sending fresh tremors through the ground, 'Grawp fall down.'

Neville recoiled in shock, nearly knocking Alice over in the process. While he had come across his fair share of giants, he had never, ever heard one speak a human language so well.

'Well get up then, yeh silly sausage,' said Hagrid, nudging his brother with his umbrella in a way Neville considered most unwise. 'I musta told yeh a thousand times: don' – run – at – others!'

With a great lurch, the giant pulled itself to its feet. It looked at Neville and Alice curiously, like a child eyeing a new toy. It took a tentative step forward and Alice let out a small squeak. Hagrid poked it once more with his umbrella.

'Get back ter yer house, Grawpy!' he shouted. The giant did not look as though it wanted to budge. 'Go on, off with yer!'

The giant's shoulders hunched in defeat. Reluctantly, it ambled off into the meadow, descended some far-off slope and disappeared from sight.

'Hagrid, what on earth do you think you're doing? There are children up in that castle nine months of the year! It nearly killed my daughter!'

Hagrid stroked his shaggy beard nervously. 'I don' know what's gotten in ter him, ter tell yeh the truth, he's norm'ly so good …'

'And has Professor McGonagall sanctioned this … whatever it is you've done to this place?'

Hagrid nodded his head fervently, and Neville was glad to see he was back-pedalling. 'Yeah! She thought it was only right ter give Grawpy summat after … yer know.'

'And did you get permission from the Ministry before you made such sweeping alterations to a protected site?' said Neville, upping the tempo of his questions to disorientate Hagrid.

''Course! Harry himself came down ter help me an' Minerva with it. Great man, Harry –'

'Are you aware,' pressed Neville, 'that by having a giant on the premises, you're endangering several invaluable magical items including, but not restricted to, the wand Harry used to kill Voldemort?'

The small part of Hagrid's face that was free of hair contorted with indignation.

'Is tha' what the Ministry sent yer here fer? It's just like I told that twit in a suit, see? Grawpy didn' have nothin' ter do with that wand bein' nicked! An' nor did I, before yer bosses get any smart ideas!'

Neville struggled to hide his smile. How Professor Dumbledore ever shared even the smallest Order secret with this man was beyond him.

'It's alright, Hagrid,' said Neville, 'nobody's accusing you of anything. And even if they did, Harry wouldn't let it see the light of day.' He paused for a moment. 'And neither would I.'

Hagrid cracked a toothy grin and thumped Neville on the back so hard, he nearly fell over. 'Always knew you were a good'un, jus' like yer parents. And I'll wager yer kid'll turn out just the same, won' yer?'

Alice, who had spent the majority of the encounter peeking out from behind Neville's robes, gave a small nod.

'That's the spirit! So what brought yer 'round these parts, if it weren' Ministry bus'ness?'

'Harry wanted me to check up on you,' said Neville, barely having to think about it.

Hagrid produced a table cloth sized handkerchief from one of his many pockets and dabbed at his eyes. 'Even with evr'ythin' he's bin goin' through, he thinks to check up on me … what a heart tha' man has!'

'I'll need to get back and see him now,' said Neville, not untruthfully. 'I guess the nearest Apparition point will be closer than Hogwarts.'

'You can Apparate from here, truth be known,' said Hagrid. 'Minerva had ter change the Hogwarts boundaries, see, otherwise the Gov'ners woulda bin all up in arms.'

'Well, it's been nice seeing you, and your, erm, friend.'

'Me brother, actually,' said Hagrid proudly.

'Right,' said Neville. With that, he clasped Alice's hands and Disapparated.

They reappeared in Neville's car.

'You told Hagrid we were going to see Uncle Harry,' piped Alice, disappointment apparent in her voice.

'You know what,' said Neville, 'that's not a bad idea.'

He knew that Harry was grieving, that he should leave him well alone, but this was important. Neville had to know if the cloak had also gone missing. He had to tell Harry that his wand had been stolen. The more he learnt about this Death character, the more he thought it was a two-man job. To slip into Hogwarts and steal something as well protected as the Elder Wand took unfathomable skill. To break into Godric's Hollow, it was necessary to have ward information available only to trusted Ministry employees. The signs pointed towards a turncoat in the Unit. And, if they truly wanted ownership of the Elder Wand, the turncoat would be gunning for Harry.

It was Wednesday evening. Harry always visited Ginny on Wednesday evenings. Both Bogand and Neville had tried to convince him to change his pattern to minimise the risk of assassination, but Harry was thick-skulled when it came to matters of the heart.

'Hold on,' said Neville, and Disapparated once more.

They reappeared in the reception of St Mungo's. There were only two other people waiting: one witch seemed completely normal, while the other had a shark fin protruding out of her robes. This was one of the reasons why Harry insisted on Wednesday evenings; statistically, it was the time least accidents occurred.

Neville approached Martha, the Welcomewitch.

'Neville!' she said, surprised. 'And Alice, too, what a surprise. Are you here to see –?'

'Yes,' said Neville shortly.

'Of course,' said Martha. 'Just give me five minutes to send a message up; we weren't expecting you so soon after your last visit.'

Neville nodded and they took the seats opposite the shark woman.

'I thought we were going to see Uncle Harry?' said Alice.

'We are,' said Neville. 'He's here visiting Ginny, so we can talk to him after we've said hi to grandma.'

'But we didn't bring her anything!'

Neville opened his mouth to reply when the headline on a nearby Daily Prophet caught his eye. He grabbed the paper and read:

Malfoy Suicide

by Family correspondent Kirk Worry

Philanthropist Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa Malfoy were found dead in their Wiltshire manor in the early hours of the morning. Ministry officials have confirmed the cause of death to be alcohol-induced suicide.

The Malfoys had fallen from grace a decade previous and were saved from a sentence in Azkaban by the evidence of Harry Potter. They have been in financial turmoil ever since. It is thought an eviction notice from Gringott's sent the infamous couple over the edge.

[Story continues on page 3]

Neville did not know how he felt about the Malfoy deaths. On one hand, Voldemort would be alive and well if not for Narcissa Malfoy, but on the other, Lucius Malfoy had been Voldemort's right-hand man for many years. Many still believed that Lucius Malfoy had given the order to have his parents tortured.

'Neville? Your mother is ready to see you now.'

'Thank you, Martha,' said Neville, giving the pretty witch a small smile.

Neville and Alice climbed the familiar rickety staircase lined with portraits of famous Healers. One of Neville's earliest memories was tumbling down them. His Gran had been very angry that accidental magic had not saved him, and let him know it. Eventually Neville and Alice came to the double doors marked 'Spell Damage'.

Beyond the doors, they were met by Elladora, a motherly-looking Healer. They exchanged pleasantries before she led them down the corridor and into the Janus Thickey Ward. Most of the beds were empty. Neville was relieved to see that Lockhart's curtains were drawn. They came to the two beds at the end.

Lead-like grief embraced him like an old friend when he caught sight of his mother. In the year since his father had died, her remaining wisps of hair had fallen out, her face was almost skeletally thin and her large eyes stared lidlessly at the ceiling. His mother was dying. The only signs of life were her rasping breaths.

'Hello, Mum,' said Neville. He lightly placed his hand in hers. It was freezing cold. The corners of her mouth twitched, but she gave no other signs of recognition. 'I brought Alice.'

Alice wrapped her arms around her grandmother and placed her head on her namesake's chest.

'Hey, Grandma.'

Neville had unflinchingly told Alice the reason why her grandmother was in St Mungo's a year previous. Others may have felt the story too graphic for a toddler, but he wanted to share with her the fierce pride he felt towards his parents.

'Mum, I'm going to be back in a few minutes. Alice is going to tell you all about the zoo.'

Needing no further encouragement, Alice dived into an animated anecdote. Neville watched her for a moment. He tried to imagine his mother at that age, and wondered if she had had the energy Alice did. He wondered, as he often did, whether she would approve of the way he was raising her. He liked to think it would have been similar to the way she and his father would have raised him. After all, they were Aurors: it was hardly a nine-to-five job.

Before he dove deeper into the fantasies from his childhood, he left Alice with his mother and went in search of Ginny's bed. But Ginny was not there. Elladora must have taken her on a short walk, which meant Harry was not here. Perhaps he had left recently.

Neville noticed, for the first time, that the bed next to Ginny's was no longer empty. A man lay there. He was hitting out at the air as though he was being attacked. He looked vaguely familiar.

Neville drew closer, and his jaw dropped. It was Lazarus, lord of the underworld, the wizard the Auror department had been trying to charge for years.

Lazarus did not register Neville's presence. He kept thrashing around and muttering. Neville went in close enough to hear.

'Stone ... Death ... Stone ... Death ... Stone ... Death ...'

Neville froze: there was only one person Lazarus could be talking about, only one person who could have torn Lazarus' security to pieces.

Death had left behind an eye witness.