Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, or worlds within this work, outside of a few OC's. Any recognizable characters are not mine; I'm just playing with them. Harry Potter and its associated works belongs to J.K. Rowling. X-men and Marvel belongs to... er... Disney, I suppose? I am not making any money off of this fan work, nor do I wish to.

AN: Warning for Malfoy family politics. :P Draco has not gone through any sort of real "revelation that Muggles, or at least mutant Muggles, are actually pretty alright" at this point in time, so his attitude is going to be heavily influenced by anti-Muggle Pureblood views. So.

He's NOT evil, but his thoughts and opinions regarding Muggles aren't exactly super positive right now, especially compared to the rest of the group.

Chapter 16

Visitors, Part II

Augusta Longbottom stepped foot into Hogwarts at around 7:30, having apparated to Hogsmeade and walked from there. She had agreed to meet Neville at the door to the Gryffindor Common Room, and go up to the Headmaster's office together. Arriving at the portrait, she settled in primly to wait for her grandson, hoping he would remember their appointment soon enough that they could get there in a timely manner.

At 7:48, Neville came puffing around the corner from the direction of the Great Hall, with two boys and a girl of about his age following after. Augusta recognized the youngest Weasley boy, along with Mr. Potter, but she wasn't certain where to place the girl aside from the fact that she was obviously one of the third-year Gryffindors.

"I'm here, Gran!" Neville called, panting. "I'm ready!" He turned to his friends and said, "You guys didn't have to follow me here, you know. I'd have been fine going by myself."

Mr. Potter smiled. "Sure you would have, Neville. Maybe I just wanted to meet your Gran, you ever think of that?"

Augusta's lips twitched. That sounded quite a bit like something young James would have said.

Neville blinked. "Oh! Er. Well, then... Gran, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Gran."

August gave Harry a polite nod. "Mr. Potter, it's a pleasure. Neville's told me a lot about you."

"Oh." Harry looked a bit startled to hear that. "It's nice to meet you, too."

They shook hands, then Augusta cleared her throat. "You'll have to introduce the rest of your friends another time, Neville. It's nearing eight o'clock, and we still need to walk to Dumbledore's office."

Neville nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He turned to his friends (for that was obviously what they were). "I'll see you guys in class later, alright?" The boys chorused agreement, but the girl gave him a frown. "You're sure you don't want us to come with you?" Neville studied her for a moment, then grinned. "Are you saying you want to skip class, Hermione?"

The boys laughed as the girl (apparently "Hermione") wrinkled her nose in consternation. Neville shook his head. "I'll be fine. Gran's with me- and I've meet them before, besides."

Hermione huffed. "Fine, but you'll have to tell us all about it later." She turned to Harry and the Weasley boy. "Come on, let's get ready for class."

As the three Gryffindors walked away, Augusta caught one of the boys saying, "You just want to know more about this school for mutants, don't you." followed by the faint sound of a burgeoning argument. (She got the impression that this sort of thing was fairly common among those three.)

The two of them moved quickly, and managed to arrive at the gargoyle which guarded the Headmaster's office right at 7:59. Augusta turned to her grandson. "Do you have the password?"

Neville froze. The password. "Right! The password! Professor McGonagall told me earlier this morning! It was- it was... it was...some kind of candy."

Augusta closed her eyes. Of course. Neville had both remembered that the meeting was scheduled for today, and met her at the proper time. It was pretty much inevitable that he'd forget the password necessary to actually enter the office. She sighed. "We'll have to start listing sweets and hope for the best."

She cleared her throat and began. "Fizzing Whizbees! Sugar Quills!"

Neville joined in. "Lemon drops! Pixie dust!"

"Gummy Guppies!"

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!"

"Crystal Caramels!"

"Cheery Cherries!"

"Nose-Biting Teacups!"

Neville paused. "Er, Gran? That's a prank product."

"Oh. So it is. ahem- Chocolate Frogs!"

"Licorice Wands!"

"Bubbly Nibblies!"

"Taffy Toe-"

"What in Merlin's name is all this shouting?" A new voice piped up. "The password is 'Dapple Dots,' for goodness' sake!"

The two of them glanced over to the wall. A portrait of a middle-aged, scruffy-looking man with a full beard and a good-natured but no-nonsense face stared out at them. The portrait raised a bushy eyebrow. "Go on, then. They're waitin' for ye inside. I was only sent t' see what all the noise was about."

Neville smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. I forgot the password."

The portrait huffed. "Well, ye know it now. I'll go in and tell them t' expect ye in a moment." With that, he disappeared.

Augusta looked back to the gargoyle. "Dapple Dots." The gargoyle obligingly hopped aside, letting them pass.

Stepping into the Headmaster's office, they were greeted with Dumbledore and two other people who matched the descriptions of the representatives Neville had mentioned meeting in his letters.

Dumbledore smiled brightly at them as they walked in. "Good morning, Augusta, Neville. I trust Gary didn't give you any trouble?"

"No trouble at all, Mr. Dumbledore." Augusta replied.

"Excellent, excellent!" He turned to his companions. "Professor Xavier, Miss Munroe, allow me to introduce Mrs. Augusta Longbottom- and her grandson Neville, whom I believe you're met. Augusta, this is Professor Charles Xavier, principal of the Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters, and his vice-principal, Miss Ororo Munroe."

Augusta nodded to the professors. "How do you do? I hear you've got plans to help my grandson with his little plant issue?"

Professor Xavier raised his eyebrows. "You do understand what this is about, then?"

She stood a little straighter. "Of course. Neville's told me about everything. We were surprised to hear about mutants, of course-who'd have thought there'd be special abilities that didn't have anything to do with magic? But it's answered a lot of questions that popped up over this last summer, what with his, er...powers getting stronger and all. Was something of a relief, in fact, to know that what's been happening is normal. We were worried he might be sick, or that something was going wrong with his magic."

An odd expression briefly crossed Miss Munroe's face at these words, as if Augusta had said something she wasn't quite certain how to take. "Well. I suppose it's a good thing finding out about mutations was able to put your minds at ease."

Neville smiled. "Yeah. It took awhile for my magic to come in in the first place, so when we thought there might be something going wrong with it..."

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers. "Indeed. Mrs. Longbottom, you mentioned that Neville's mutation has been growing stronger over the summer, and that you have been in touch with Neville about the situation during the school year. Have you been made aware of what my school is for, and what we do?"

"Yes. You help mutants learn to control their powers, and how to use them in different situations."

"Correct. Now, before I get any further, I wish to clarify-do you plan to allow Neville to attend our school? As I understand it, your community is fairly closed-off, and making such a change would be a rather extensive change in cultural environment, even more so than it is for most of our foreign students. While I would certainly prefer for the students under my tutelage to live at the Institute, I am willing to make other arrangements in some cases."

"Oh. Well, Professor...I don't mind sending Neville to your school for awhile, if it'll help him with controlling his new abilities. Merlin knows I'd have had to pull him out of Hogwarts for awhile if his little power outbursts had gotten any worse, anyways. But I think you'd best tell me what exactly goes on at your school. I wouldn't want to send him in blind, after all."

The Professor nodded. "Very well, that's reasonable enough. Our main curriculum in regards to the students' mutant abilities consists of three parts: helping the student gain a basic sense for how their ability may be controlled and putting that into practice, teaching the student to look for creative ways in which their mutation may be applied in everyday life, and group training for using their abilities both in self-defense and in the defense of others, should an emergency situation arise.

The first two are typically done through a series of solo exercises, either in private or as a group, and are usually supervised by one of our instructors. The group exercises are similarly supervised, but involve the students learning to work together in order to accomplish a particular goal, utilizing teamwork and learning to apply their mutations collectively rather than as individuals.

Along with training their powers, we also try to keep them up-to-date on their schoolwork, which in our case usually amounts to sending them to the local school, as we don't currently have enough teachers available to offer both their training and the standard courses required for American high-school students. However, I'm sure accommodations could be made for your community's rather...unique curriculum."

Augusta pursed her lips as she thought this over. "Hmph. Sounds reasonable enough. Not too different from some Hogwarts classes, really, if a bit specialized." She nodded to herself, then turned to Neville. "You're sure you can keep up with your schoolwork if you do this? You'd be living among Muggles, you know. Nobody to study with, and you'll miss all the practical work, not to mention the Quidditch matches..."

Neville drew himself up. "I'll be alright, Gran. I do alright studying on my own outside of class, and most of the practicals are in Potions, which i'm bad at because of all the plants...And it's not like I play Quidditch, anyways." He shot her a grin. "Besides, I probably won't be on my own, actually-we've talked about it, and Harry says he thinks he should go to the Institute, too. So I should have at least one person I can work with!"

Augusta looked at her grandson, and saw a spark of determination in his eyes. She found herself pleasantly surprised- a part of her had always wondered whether he'd ever show signs of the strength and courage her son had always carried with him. As much as she cared for Neville, one thing he had never been was outwardly brave, and she had worried for his chances in life as he grew older. Several people in the family had been astonished to hear he'd sorted Gryffindor and she'd wondered, at the time, whether it really was best to leave the House Sorting to a doddery old hat. But as she studied him now, she found herself seeing Neville in a new light. There was courage within him, visible in this moment. It was faint, and undeveloped, but...it was there.

Somehow, Augusta had a feeling that going to the Xavier's school could be very, very good for Neville, in ways besides just the obvious.

Coming back to herself, she realized she'd been staring at Neville for a bit too long, and he was staring back at her with a look of uncertainty. Schooling her expression back into something resembling polite neutrality, she turned back to Professor Xavier and Miss Munroe. "Well! With an argument like that, I suppose I've got no choice but to agree. When do you think you'll be ready to take him?"

They spent the rest of the hour going over the specific arrangements necessary for this to work- what would be required of Neville, when he would be leaving, what sort of accommodations would be made for his stay at the Institute, and so on. By the time 8:50 rolled around, they had a pretty firm idea of what they were going to do, and Augusta and Neville left the office with a tentative set of plants, to be solidified or rearranged depending on how the rest of the interviews that day went.

As they headed out the door, Augusta wished them good luck with their next meeting. Dumbledore smiled grimly. "Thank you. We'll be needing it, I'm sure."

After the Longbottoms were gone, Ororo turned to Dumbledore. "You think we'll need luck for our next meeting?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly. "Oh, yes. You see, our next appointment is with the Malfoys...and they happen to be one of the highborn pureblood families I mentioned who are going to be particularly difficult to convince that their son should be permitted to be taught by a Muggle."

Draco walked up to the Headmaster's office on his own. His parents would be arriving at 9:00 (or in other words, a couple minutes after, so as to seem busier than they actually were) through the Floo, so it was up to him to ensure that he was there on time.

He came across the Longbottoms as he made his way through the corridors, and as they passed each other, Neville caught his eye. The two of them studied one another for a moment, then Neville shot Draco what seemed to be an attempt at an encouraging smile. Startled and off-center, Draco took a bit too long to respond, and by the time he came to his senses and sneered back at him, he and his grandmother had already gone.

Rolling his eyes at no one in particular, Draco stepped over to the gargoyle, which peered down at him with its beady little eyes. "Dapple Dots."

The gargoyle moved to the side, and Draco walked in.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy! Good morning to you!" cried Professor Dumbledore. "Do come in and greet our guests. This is Professor Charles Xavier, head of the Xavier Institute For Gifted Youngsters, and Miss Ororo Munroe, his second. Professors, this is Draco Lucius Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy estate."

(It did not escape Xavier's notice that Dumbledore had changed his manner of address. He found his own mindset shifting in response. If this family was some form of wizard nobility, it was no wonder they may prove difficult to deal with.)

Draco offered the foreign professors a small bow and a cordial "Good morning, Professors. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." It would not do to forget his manners when he had so much he might gain from these people. According to what he'd heard from Professor Snape, this Charles Xavier was one of the foremost experts on mutants in the entire world, and a mutant himself, although he didn't advertise it. Certainly, this might not be the most ideal of circumstances for Draco's situation- getting help from a Muggle, that is- but at this point he was desperate enough that he would be willing to work with a disgraced house elf if it meant there'd be someone who actually knew how to help him. Granted, a group of Muggles may not really be all that much better than a disgraced house elf...but at least they were human, and since they had powers of their own, it's not as if they'd have much reason to come after him for his own.

...Now it fell to Draco and Professor Dumbledore to convince his parents of that. Knowing them, they were likely to refuse outright, and while Draco could comprehend the sentiment, this was one case where they were just going to have to make an exception. His mind was made up, and he was willing to go against what would be his usual modus operandi for the sake of feeling like he was back in control of his own life again.

With this mindset, Draco settled into a chair to await his parents' arrival.

Author's Note:

There's a part of me that feels weird calling Neville's grandmother "Augusta"...however, this is mostly from her POV even if it is in 3rd person perspective, and calling her "Mrs. Longbottom" feels even weirder. So. "Augusta" it is. :P
Also, I have been thinking about my characterization of certain people, and have come to realize that I've been subconsciously thinking of Augusta Longbottom as basically a female version of Bilbo Baggins...so... take that as you will, LOL.

I'm headcanoning Neville as one of those types who are actually pretty good at learning things for school on their own, it's just he has trouble when it comes time to demonstrate his knowledge in class, and with remembering certain kinds of details like lists and stuff.

Apparently I'm gonna be breaking this section up into more chapters than I initially thought I was going to...it might not be "a chapter for every meeting" exactly, but I feel like this is a good stopping point for this chapter to transition into Draco's meeting in the next one, so I figured I'd post it like this.

...Unfortunately, this means that "Visitors" will have at minimum three parts, probably four...which really feels weird for my chapter-naming scheme (such as it is), but *shrug* it's alright. :P As long as the chapters actually get written, y'know? (crosses fingers that I won't lose motivation for four entire months again, I'm sorry about that, lol)