Grimmauld Place was not what Aria had expected. For a place named with a pun, she had thought it would be grim and old and not at all inviting. Sirius assured them all that, at one time, it was the grimmest and more uninviting house. According to him, it had been built first during Georgian era, renovated to be the main residence for Lord Black's heir and his family during the early Victorian era, and it had remained the residence for the Black heir ever since.
Sirius also claimed that it was the only Black residence that was habitable at the moment, as he was having Gringotts go through all the properties to get rid of cursed objects or inventory heirlooms. He had had it extensively renovated over the past year, however, so many features that had made the house grim and foreboding were no longer there. Such as a long line of house elf heads that had been stuffed and hung like trophies along the wall of the staircase.
Aria and Harry had been horrified.
The worse part of the house now, Aria thought, was Walburga Black's portrait which was permanently stuck in the downstairs entry way. Sirius usually kept a thick curtain pulled over her portrait to keep her quiet, but on occasion Kreacher liked to open the curtain to talk with the woman and "forgot" to close it. It meant Aria and Kenneth and Remus had to listen to her snide comments about their Muggle heritage (or in Kenneth's case listen to her scream about the shades of Grimmauld being thus polluted), or about Remus' monthly problems.
It was amazing how a nasty personality made a beautiful woman look ugly.
Aria's room was next to Harry's on the third floor just below the attic which Sirius had converted into a sitting room that the two of them could use for themselves and when friends came over. At the start of the summer, Remus and Sirius had gotten their input on what they wanted their rooms to look like. Aria had chosen an astronomy theme for her bedroom, her walls a creamy off-white with the ceiling that looked like someone had hand painted it dark blue with golden stars. Her bed was king size with a beautiful vintage iron bedframe and the bedding was luxurious Egyptian cotton with temperature charms to ensure she was neither too hot too cold. Her windows, as it was summer, were draped with sheer blue curtains with gold stars throughout the material that sparkled whenever the sunlight came through. Every morning she looked out her window to see the garden below which was kept in good order by Winky and Kreacher.
She could definitely get comfortable being a stepchild of some kind to a rich parent who had more money that she had and no qualms about spending it.
Kenneth had made himself at home too. He very much enjoyed not having to go into the mill every day. Not that he lazed about. He was putting together a network for Muggle parents so that parents could have support in understanding the new world their child or children found themselves in. So far, he had connected with Dean Thomas' mother and stepfather, the Finch-Fletchleys, the Grangers, and the Turpins. He had reached out the Creeveys and working through a list that Aria and Harry supplied him of the Muggleborns they knew at Hogwarts. Remus had reached out to a few Muggleborns he knew who had already graduated Hogwarts, like Penelope Clearwater. Several had already responded with enthusiasm to Kenneth's idea and were even roping in their own Muggle parents to help.
Barty seemed to be adjusting, though it had only been a few days since his trial. He spent a lot of time outside in the garden. Sometimes he lay on the grass, or on a blanket. Sometimes he curled up into the fully furnished gazebo with a book or blanket and just sat quietly, soaking up the tranquility. They had joined him outside for lunch and dinner several nights. Moody and Snape came over often to sit with Barty. Snape was making all the potions the healers had prescribed for him and the two spoke quietly with each other. Remus had said that Barty and Severus had been friends while at Hogwarts, along with Sirius' younger brother, Regulus.
Regulus' bedroom was off limits. Apparently, he had done what Sirius had been nearly disowned over, and had joined the Death Eaters, only to be killed by Voldemort when he was eighteen. No one knew what had happened to his body nor did anyone know why Voldemort had killed him.
It was still a sore spot with Sirius. And Kreacher. At any mention of Regulus, the old house elf was likely to burst into tears and disappear for hours on end.
It was just coming upon mid-morning almost five days after Barty's trial, when the Floo sounded, and Neville came stumbling into the receiving room followed by his grandmother. Lady Longbottom was dressed to go out, her hat as large and ugly as ever, her outfit the perfect mix of Victorian Muggle and witch. Aria poked her head into the receiving room, a grin spreading across her face.
"Hi, Neville!" she cried. "Morning, Lady Longbottom. Do you need Sirius?"
"Yes, please, Miss Bourne," Lady Longbottom said.
"It's Aria, ma'am," Aria said, popping out to fetch Sirius. He appeared behind her.
"Augusta," he greeted. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I've got an appointment with the ministry," Lady Longbottom stated. "They came around last night and took Algernon in to requestion him about Frank and Alice and they have a few questions for me." She sniffed, dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
"It's just so hard to believe Algernon might be lying," she cried. "He's been such a help raising Neville."
Neville scowled at his shoes.
"Isn't he the man who dropped you out the window, Nev?" Aria asked from the doorway, having been completely forgotten by the adults.
"He did what now?" Sirius cried.
"Yes," Neville muttered. "And pushed me off the pier in Penzance. Great-Aunt Etheldreda had to fish me out."
"But you showed magic, Neville!" Lady Longbottom cried. "We were ever so worried, Sirius. We thought that maybe the torture he suffered as a baby had kept his magic from forming. But he bounced!" she grinned, very proud of her grandson, even as the scowl on Neville's face morphed into a grimace.
"Algernon helped Franklin in the same way," Augusta continued. "Frank never needed it, he was showing accidental magic by the time he was nine months old. Frank took after me and the Blacks."
"How was dropping Neville out a window helping?" Sirius asked.
"It made him emotional enough for his magic to manifest," Lady Longbottom explained, as if Sirius were a student. "Really, Sirius, you're a Black, I'm certain many people in the family scared the magic out of children when you were growing up."
Aria was glad to be Muggleborn at that moment.
"Anyway," the dowager continued, "I was hoping Neville could stay here with his friends for the day while I sort out the ministry."
"Remus is here," Sirius said. "I'm not sending him away while Neville's here."
Lady Longbottom's mouth turned down into a frown. Neville looked excited at the prospect of hanging out with one of his favorite professors.
"And Barty is also staying with me," Sirius continued. Lady Longbottom's frown lengthened. Neville began to look nervous.
"I'll be all right, Gran," he said, looking up at the woman. There was not much distance between their faces, it seemed that in the last three weeks since school had let out, Neville had started a growth spurt.
"Did Frank and Alice really know about Lupin's condition?" the woman asked.
"They did," Sirius answered. "It was . . . need-to-know knowledge shared with select members of the Order of the Phoenix."
Lady Longbottom scoffed.
"That Order!" she muttered. "Please tell me Dumbledore isn't going to resurrect it in the wake of this . . . this . . ." she waved her hand in the air.
"In the wake of the return of You-Know-Who?" Sirius asked. Lady Longbottom sighed, looking suddenly much older than before. "He is. Remus and I've not said one way or another if we'll rejoin, just that the kids are our priority." He guided Neville towards Aria.
"Show him the attic," he said, "I'll have snacks sent up."
Aria grabbed Neville by the hand and dragged him out of the receiving room towards the stairs. The entry way was now bright and sunny with its wooden floors restored and lightly stained while the walls were painted a pale grey that complimented the cornflower wallpaper along the stairs. Lady Black's portrait was uncovered as she scowled at Aria as she and Neville approached the stairs.
"And what new filth had come into my house?" Walburga Black demanded.
"Neville Longbottom," Aria said, "meet Sirius' mother, the late Lady Walburga Black."
"A Longbottom you say?" Walburga looked Neville up and down. "A child of . . . don't tell me . . . you'd be the son of Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortescue."
"Yes, ma'am," Neville replied.
"I suppose you are an appropriate wizard to be here," Walburga said. "Your grandmother was a Black. From a lesser branch of course, but a Black is a Black."
"My mum's maiden name was Black," Aria piped up.
"Your mother was a Muggle. Nowhere near as great as the women of this family!"
"Whatever you say, Grandma."
"DON'T CALL ME GRANDMA YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE MUD—"
Aria pulled the curtain close, and the portrait fell silent.
Sirius and Lady Longbottom poked their heads out of the receiving room.
"Was that Walburga?" Lady Longbottom cried. "I thought she was dead."
"Her portrait," Sirius muttered and the two disappeared back into the room. Aria led Neville up the stairs to the attic and the sitting room Sirius had created for her and Harry. It was a comfortable place, the dark wooden floor covered with Persian rugs, the sofas and armchairs all soft with the appropriate level of squishiness, and a large fireplace and hearth for when the nights got chilly, though this summer looked it would not be anything less than warm.
Harry was sitting at the large window seat that jutted out from the wall overlooking the garden, working on homework.
"Look who dropped in!" Aria cried.
"Nev!" Harry grinned, slamming his Transfiguration book shut. "Glad to see you. How long you here for?"
"All day I think," Neville said. "The Ministry wants to question Great-Uncle Algie because of some of the things Barty Crouch said at his trial, and they also want to talk to Grandmother."
"Ugh, I'm sorry that all the stuff about your parents has been brought back up," Harry said as Aria and Neville settled on the window seat too. Neville shrugged.
"I don't know what to think half the time," he admitted. "It . . . it was a lot to take in. Grandmother admitted that she had known Grandfather had cheated on her. It didn't surprise her. Even at Hogwarts during her time there, everyone knew that Franklin Longbottom and Merida Moody loved each other. I think she was more upset about it being publicly aired like it was."
"And how are you feeling?" Aria asked.
Neville shrugged again, looking out the window. Sirius was crossing the lawn to where Barty lay on a blanket, allowing the sun to fall on his face.
"I've hated Barty for so long," Neville murmured. "How . . . do I get over that? Like . . . I can't hate him anymore because he never hurt anyone. But without the hate I just feel empty now."
Aria did not have a ready answer. What exactly could she say? She doubted she would feel any differently in Neville's shoes.
"What's he like?" Neville asked.
"He's . . . quiet," Harry said. "He spends most of his time outside. Sometimes he'll read. He . . ." he trailed off, looking down at Barty who was now sitting up, struggling to his feet. "Sometimes in the morning he'll have large bags under his eyes, like he hasn't slept. I think he might have nightmares."
"Sirius has gotten a spot in Switzerland at the sanitorium he was at," Aria told Neville. "He won't go for a bit, as the bed isn't open just yet. Professor Moody comes by most days to sit with him. Sometimes it's like he doesn't believe that the world around him is actually around him."
Footsteps on the stairs drew their attention away from Sirius and Barty down in the garden to Remus.
"Professor Lupin!" a grin split Neville's face as he launched himself at the werewolf. The man caught him with a playful "oof".
"Remus," Remus told Neville. "I'm hardly your professor anymore." He looked Neville up and down. "You've grown. I distinctly remember your mother telling you that you were not allowed to get bigger."
Neville shrugged, unrepentant, the smile still on his face.
"What mischief were you three up to?" Remus asked, guiding Neville back over to the little alcove with the window seat.
"Starring at Barty and Sirius," Aria replied.
"Ah. A good pastime. Sirius always makes things interesting."
Barty and Sirius looked like they were arguing now. Aria could not hear them, as there were spells and wards that kept the noise from outside from coming inside if the windows were closed. She opened a window and their voices floated up to them.
"—might not be ready any time soon," Sirius cried. "For the last thirteen years he's thought you were the reason his parents are in St. Mungo's!"
"He's the only thing that kept me from wrapping the fucking shackles around my neck!" Barty shouted back. Remus quickly closed the window. The four stood in silence, contemplating the men down in the garden.
"You don't have to meet him if you don't want to," Remus told Neville. "It is your choice. Barty knows that."
Neville let out a large breath.
"I know I should meet him," he said. "But it's not going to be like when Harry and Lord Black finally saw each other. I don't . . . is it cowardly of me?"
"No," Remus murmured. "What you feel is natural, given the circumstances."
Neville was quiet for several minutes. Below, Sirius got Barty to sit back down on the blanket and a platter of drinks and snacks appeared beside them.
"I'll meet him," Neville said. Remus placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You sure?" he asked. Neville nodded.
"Only if you guys are there," he said.
"Of course," Aria and Harry said together. With a supporting hand on Neville's shoulder, Remus led them out of the attic siting room, down the stairs, and through the downstairs to the back door.
The warm sun hit them as they stepped onto the back patio, a stone terrace for those who did not wish to go all the out into the garden. Sirius and Barty looked over from the blanket, Barty scrambling to his feet. Sirius had to put a restraining hand on Barty's arm, to keep him from charging the group. Neville straightened his shoulders as they walked down the stone steps onto the lawn, his fingers curling and uncurling. Aria hurried to his side, slipping her hand in his and Remus stepped behind Neville, letting Harry have room to come to Neville's other side.
They stopped a few feet from where Barty stood frozen beside the blanket. No one spoke. The only noise in the garden was the songs of birds and the occasional rustle of a small creature. Neville's grip on Aria's hand was tight, but she didn't dare complain.
"Hello, Neville," Barty greeted, hesitantly, hands playing at the hem of his shirt.
"Hello, Mr. Crouch," Neville replied. Barty's mouth twisted in a grimace.
"Please, call me Barty," he insisted. "The . . . less I'm associated with that man the better." Neville nodded.
Awkward silence. Sirius and Remus kept looking at each other, wiggling their brows and twisting their mouths in silent communication. Aria looked around Neville at Harry who was as lost as she in the situation.
"Harry and Aria said you're really good at herbology," Barty said, breaking the silence. "Inherited the Longbottom thumb."
"Grandmother despairs a bit," Neville said. "Wants me to be a more active heir and less in the greenhouse."
"You'll find your balance," Barty assured him. "You'll have your grandmother and this idiot helping you no doubt." He jerked a thumb back at Sirius who gasped and clutched his chest like he was mortally wounded. Neville and his friends laughed, and Barty smiled.
"Will I have you?" Neville asked. The smile on Barty's face dimmed a little, though hope remained. "To help me . . . I mean."
"If . . . if that's what you want," Barty said. "I know that . . . thirteen years is a long time and you've thought—"
Barty was cut off by Neville who threw his arms around the man, hiding his face in the man's chest. The teen's shoulders began to shake, and then the sobs began. Barty wrapped his arms around Neville, rocking him back and forth even as tears rolled down his cheeks. Sirius and Remus pulled Aria and Harry back to the patio to give the two some privacy. Finger sandwiches and a pot of tea appeared on the iron table on the patio and the four settled to keep watch over their friends. Barty and Neville now sat on the blanket; Neville pressed against Barty's side while Barty prepped a cup of tea for him.
"And here Neville thought he wasn't going to have a reunion like yours," Aria lightly teased Harry. Harry kicked her as she reached for a cucumber sandwich.
"This went better than anticipated," Remus agreed. "I don't think we could've asked for it to be better."
Kenneth appeared through the back door.
"Snacks?" he cried, quietly, noting the two on the blanket. "I'm famished!" He kissed Aria's head, then Remus' cheek, patting Sirius' shoulder as he passed by to his seat.
"How's the network coming along?" Sirius asked.
"Very good. I've decided to call it: The Muggle Parent's Wizarding Network."
"Sounds like a radio station," Aria muttered.
"I've put together a draft of our Who We Are," Kenneth said, waving a piece of lined notebook paper in the air. "I've titled it: So You Child Got Accepted into Hogwarts. Now What?"
"Original," Remus laughed.
"Dean's stepdad, Lionel, works with computers and knows how to put together a website," Kenneth continued. "I'm thinking, so as not to get in trouble with the Statute of Secrecy or whatever you call it, that the website will only be accessible by those with an authorization code. When families get first contact with a Hogwarts professor, the professor can pass on contact information to them and they can reach out to the network who will then give them an authorization code for the website."
"That sounds really cool," Harry said.
"That sounds . . . like something I don't know a whole lot about," Sirius said. "I assume the . . . website . . . is a Muggle thing? Probably not made with real spider's webs?"
"Yes, it's an internet thing," Kenneth said. "Very up and coming, but probably the best way to store information and reach the most people at this point. If this grows, we can probably set up regional groups and whatnot, but right now it's not that big and obviously not well known."
"Well, whatever you need, just let me know," Sirius said. "I'd talk to Professor McGonagall to get the ball rolling of getting new Muggle parents aware of the network."
Kenneth wrote a note in his Muggle notebook.
Aria arrived at the breakfast table the next morning to see that neither Neville or Barty had made it down to breakfast yet. At dinner last night, another house elf had arrived in the kitchen to speak with Kreacher from Luddenden Hall. Lady Longbottom was being detained by the DMLE for further questioning and she wondered if Neville could spend the night at Grimmauld Place. Of course, Sirius had said yes. The elf had said that the only other message from Lady Longbottom was "don't let Lupin eat my grandson".
Aria had been insulted, but Remus had found it rather funny.
"If she was really worried about me eating Neville, she would not have let him spend the night," Remus told Aria. "And there would have been a threat involved."
"Why don't you go see if Neville's having a lie in?" Sirius suggested. Aria hurried back up to the third floor and gently knocked on the door of the guest room. When she heard no reply, she opened the door and peered in.
Her classmate slept with his back to the door, the pale green comforter pulled up to his shoulders. On the other side of the bed, facing the door, Barty slouched in an armchair, snoring quietly. It was clear Barty had come to keep his godson in his sights last night. It was an enduring sight. Neville and Barty had only just met after all these years. It amazed Aria how fiercely people in the wizarding world felt. They took things like duty with a seriousness lacking in many Muggles nowadays.
Neville stirred, rolling over to face the door. Not so asleep as she had thought.
"It's time for breakfast," she said.
"All right." Neville stretched, glancing at Barty. "I wonder when he came in."
"Wanted to make sure you didn't disappear," Aria teased. "I'll let everyone know you'll be down soon."
Fifteen minutes later, Neville and Barty entered the dining room. Sirius smiled at them over one of the French-English newspapers he liked to read. Aria was looking over her summer edition of an American potions periodical called North American Potioneer which Harry and Remus discussed the latest Quidditch game.
"Have you heard anything from my grandmother?" Neville asked.
"Not yet," Sirius replied.
"Would you let me visit my parents today?" Neville asked. Sirius folded the newspaper so that he could look at Neville better. "I'd . . . I'd like to introduce them to Aria and Harry. And . . . Barty if he wants to come."
Aria took a deep breath, feeling like the request was something mountainous. Special. Sirius put down the newspaper.
"Of course I can take you," he said. "Are you sure you want your friends to come?"
"Mum and Dad've never met any of my friends before," Neville said. "Grandmother . . . thinks it would be unseemly to introduce my friends to them because of their condition. But I want them to meet my friends and . . ." Neville glanced shyly at Aria and Harry. "I don't think Aria and Harry'll be too freaked out about them."
Freaked out? Why would they be freaked out? The Longbottoms had been tortured not dismembered! Aria and Harry looked eagerly at their guardians. Kenneth sipped at his tea before nodding his agreement, followed by Remus.
"We can go after breakfast," Sirius said. "I've got a few appointments this afternoon at the ministry, so I can take you there and then . . . maybe you can go off into London and do whatever it is teens do these days."
"Yes!" Aria cried. "Neville, we've got to show you Muggle London! It's amazing! Barty, you can come too if you feel up to it."
"I'm not sure I'm up for London crowds," Barty admitted. "We'll see how St. Mungo's goes okay?"
Once breakfast was over, Kenneth returned to the little office Sirius had set up for him at Grimmauld Place after kissing Aria and his lovers on the cheeks and ruffling Harry's hair. They decided to walk a bit of the way, as Hyde Park was just across the Muggle road from the front door.
The sun shone brightly, there was a warm breeze already drifting through London, and families were already out and about. Children happy to be on summer break raced about while parents or nannies walked nearby, sometimes pushing strollers. Aria marveled at the park, certain that she would never tire of London no matter how often she was here. They paused in front of the statue of Peter Pan and Remus took pictures of Aria and Harry and Neville together in front of the statue, then of Neville and Barty. Aria bullied him to get in a picture with Sirius and Harry.
Eventually they found a shady little pocket of trees which concealed them as they Apparated away to a little alley further into London. From the alley they walked merged onto a busy street. It was clear this was an offshoot of a shopping area, though these shops were not as high end as what was clearly further down the road. Sirius led them to the front of a particular store that looked like it had seen better days. Its door was boarded up, the mannequins in the window had seen better days, and a sign hung on one end of the front window that said: CONDEMNED BUILDING DO NOT ENTER.
"This is the hospital?" Aria questioned.
"Do you notice how most people walk by without giving it a second glance?" Remus asked. Aria nodded. "It's the wards. The façade is for the more perspective Muggles or unknown Squibs who may see through the repelling wards." He led the way to stepping through the front window.
Suddenly, they were inside a rather crowded atrium where a reception desk sat along the far wall. Between the entrance and the reception desk, nearly two dozen or so wixen sat waiting on rickety wooden chairs, some looking healthy as if they were waiting to see someone or waiting for someone. These people were reading magazines or books or talking with each other. Others were clearly waiting to see a healer. One man had an elephant's trunk growing where his nose was meant to be, and a woman had two hands coming out of her chest! For a hospital, the reception area was not any less quiet than the street they had just come from, from the talking of the people waiting, to the strange noises coming from others waiting to see the healer. Multiple wizards and witches in eye-hurting lime-green robes walked up and down the rows of chairs, stopping at each person, and asking questions while making notes on the clipboards they carried. Aria noted that each lime-green robe had an emblem on it of a wand and bone crossed.
"Are all wizarding hospitals this loud?" Aria asked as they walked to the reception desk.
"Are Muggle hospitals not loud?" Sirius asked.
"Not really," Aria answered, remembering visiting her mum in the hospital when she was getting cancer treatment. "I mean . . . the emergency department can get loud. But usually, Muggle hospitals are quiet to promote rest."
"Good morning, Mr. Longbottom," the witch at reception greeted Neville. She wore a simple but professional looking robe. "Here to see your parents?"
"Yes, and I've brought some friends of mine and old friends of my parents." The woman frowned.
"Your grandmother has made it clear that visitors are to be kept at a minimum," the witch said.
"I know," Neville said, "but my godfather's not seen my parents for thirteen years and I think it's not fair that friends of my parents can't visit them." The witch tapped her quill for a minute before nodding.
"I won't stop you," she said, "I didn't see anything."
Neville grinned and led the group to the lifts. He hit the button for the 4th floor and the lift creaked as it brought them up and up. On the fourth floor Neville led them down a corridor towards a set of double doors. Above the doors read: JANUS THICKEY WARD.
"The Janus Thickey is where anyone with spell damage goes," Remus whispered to Aria and Harry. "Jinxes, hexes, curses. You get the picture."
The group entered the ward. Aria stared in shock at the long room stretching out in front of her. She had expected the ward to be more like a Muggle hospital, with rooms off a hallway, maybe a small common area for long-term patients, but this was like something out of a Victorian novel. The ward extended back a way, much longer than the hospital wing at Hogwarts, with beds lined along the wall. Privacy in the ward was nonexistent unless a curtain was rolled around the bed, like Madam Pomfrey did at Hogwarts.
"How old is St. Mungo's?" Aria asked Remus.
"1600s," he answered. "I don't remember the exact date. Why?"
"Because it looks like it was founded in the 1600s," Aria whispered to him. "Haven't they heard of private rooms?"
"There are private rooms," Remus told her. "Just . . . not here. You usually have to request a private room, and it costs more money."
Typical. Clearly the wizarding world did not have the NHS.
Neville broke off from the group, heading towards an area where the curtains had been pulled to create the illusion of privacy. When the others arrived at the curtains, Neville was just finishing hugging his uncle Florian Fortescue.
"Where's your grandmother?" Fortescue asked.
"DMLE," Neville answered. "With Great-Uncle Algie."
Fortescue muttered something that had Neville turning bright pink. The ice cream man turned to shake hands with Sirius and did not hesitate to shake Remus' hand. He greeted Aria and Harry with a friendly smile, but it froze seeing Barty hanging at the back of the group.
Neville leaned against his uncle.
"I want him to see them," Neville murmured. Fortescue nodded.
"I can't stop you," he said. Neville turned towards two people who were sitting on the edge of two beds. The man and woman were dressed in long hospital gowns and their hair had been cut short, as if the hospital staff were afraid to keep their hair long. Both faces were thin and pale, but Frank Longbottom's was longer, and his nose was straighter than Alice's. Neville took after his mother, Aria thought. Though who knows what puberty would do.
Thick socks and slippers were on their feet. Alice seemed to be tapping her feet to an unheard melody while she looked out the magical window between their beds. A sunlit meadow was shown. Frank had no interest in the window, instead, he was playing with his own fingers while rocking side to side. Neither of them seemed aware that they had visitors.
"Mum . . . Dad," Neville said, voice quiet and soothing. Aria had heard that tone many times at Hogwarts. Neville talked to all the plants in the greenhouses like that, and he had a habit of using the tone with homesick first years.
"You've got visitors," Neville continued, sitting next to Alice. She did not turn her head away from the window. "One of them . . . well . . . it's a long story. But he's here now. It's . . . um . . . it's Barty."
Barty stepped forward, his own hands wringing worriedly before he dropped them, rubbing them against his pants. Fortescue had a hard time looking at the younger man as he approached Frank and Alice.
"H-hi," Barty stuttered. "I . . ." he sank down onto the bed next to Frank, eyes wide, tears rolling silently down his eyes. "I'm sorry it took me so long."
Frank did not react. Barty hesitated but touched his brother's shoulder. Frank jerked his shoulder away at the sudden touch, a small grunt coming from his throat. He suddenly rose to his feet and shuffled to the magical window, pressing a hand against the glass.
"Do you want to go outside, Frank?" Barty asked, coming to stand by him. Frank slapped the glass. "Yeah . . . I can . . . I know what it's like to be locked up too."
Merlin. Aria hurried to wipe away the tears that were threatening to drop. She thought Harry had had a sad family story, but at the moment the Longbottoms won that prize!
"What has been done to help them?" she heard Sirius ask Fortescue.
"I'm not really sure," Fortescue replied. "Even though Alice is my sister, she's a Longbottom, so their care has fallen to the Head of the Longbottom Family, which is Augusta until Neville comes of age."
"And she hasn't included you in any decisions?" Remus asked.
"There have been a few times I thought she would, but she changed her mind," Fortescue told them. "I mean, she didn't want Alice to be part of the Longbottom family either, but Frank was dead set on Alice and his father made it quite clear that the Longbottoms were stop practicing arranged marriages. And Frank was Lord Longbottom at that point anyway." He scowled.
"What I do know, is that the healers have not done a whole lot," he said. "I've done my own research. There are . . . well . . . Frank and Alice are the first known cases of people to be driven into insanity from extended use of the Cruciatus. I know they've been given Snape's nerve potion. Until he invented it, they could hardly get out of bed they had so many tremors. But as to anything done with their mind, the healers here are pretty old school. There's research from the continent, particularly Italy, that talks about the use of Legilimancy for treatment of severe trauma on top of usual talk therapy. I brought it up to Augusta once, and she said she would think about it, but then Algernon pushed Neville off a pier and I sued for custody and lost so I doubt she did anything with that.
"I did suggest at one point that we move them to a long-term facility," Fortescue continued. "One where they would be allowed to walk around and go outside. There're one or two long-term facilities in Spain and Greece, and a very exclusive one in Provence. Augusta was warming up to the idea at one point, but eventually turned it down, saying she didn't want her son so far away."
That didn't seem fair, Aria thought, looking around. Any place would seem better than being cooped up in the Janus Thickey Ward for the rest of their lives.
"Aria, Harry, come meet my parents."
Aria and Harry shuffled forward at Neville's call. Alice was now looking at her lap, folding a piece of paper.
"Mum, these are two of my friends, Harry Potter and Aria Bourne," Neville said. "Harry's your godson, remember?"
Alice kept folding the paper.
"It's nice to meet you, Aunt Alice," Harry said, kneeling in front of the woman. "I've got pictures of you with my mum. Do you remember Lily?"
Alice handed Harry the folded piece of paper.
Aria turned her attention to Frank as he turned away from the window, shuffling towards them, eyes trained on his slippers. Barty hovered close to Frank, as if afraid the man might trip and hurt himself.
"Hello, Mr—I mean—Lord Longbottom," Aria said. She hoped that was the right title. "I'm Aria." She smiled at him, hoping to convey ease and friendliness to him. The man finally looked up.
Their eyes met.