Growing - Chapter Five
Apologies to those who have been waiting patiently for an update, the RLs of my beta and I have been hectic of late.
Growing (5/18)
Chapter Five - In the Morning
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Chapter Summary: While the Aurors head to Neville’s home and the Order scrambles to find Augusta, Neville is stuck at St. Mungo’s with Tonks.
Author’s Notes: A great amount of thanks to my beta Nathaniel who hopefully is not being slowly being driven insane by football.
Previous Chapter
~*~*~*~
It was a black sleep. There were no dreams, but Neville still found it very hard to wake. His eyes would not focus, and as soon as they did, he would drift off again.
Eventually, Neville managed to open his eyes fully and sit himself up on the bed to prevent himself from drifting off again. He was in a private room, something he knew to not be common in St. Mungo’s. He stared around the white walled room to discover that he was completely alone.
They must not have found his Gran. Or she was in a different room and injured, he realised.
Then he noticed the voices outside the door.
“You need to get his account, he may have some idea,” a man with a gruff voice said. Idea of what, he wondered. Who attacked? Neville did not think you had to be too intelligent to figure out that.
“It might be a while. He’s sleeping at the moment.” It was Tonks.
“Well, if he sleeps for too much longer, you will have to wake him up,” the gruff man replied.
“Shouldn’t you put somebody else on his case…it’s just that…,” Tonks asked, she sounded uncomfortable. Neville was reminded of the way she acted when she found him in his parent’s greenhouse. She must be just as uncomfortable with the two families mixing as Neville had at first.
“He knows you, that’s much better than expecting him to open up to a stranger,” was the reply. A short silence followed.
“Alright.” The door handle to his room turned and Tonks walked into the room.
“And Tonks, you don’t have to keep on coming into the office during the full moon. You’ve made your point and I believe you. But the orders go higher up than me.”
“Right,” Tonks sighed.
“Morning Neville.” She made a sort of half-smile but it failed to hide the grave look of concern on her face.
“Have they found my Gran?” he asked quickly.
Tonks sighed and sat down on the chair next to his bed. Neville felt all the blood drain from his face. “You have to understand, you’ve only been out for just over an hour so we haven’t been able to do much yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“Neville.” She looked at him with her big dark eyes. “When the Aurors got to your home, it was in flames.” She paused. Neville did not understand. Death Eaters did not burn down homes. They just murdered people. That’s what they always do. “The Muggle authorities had been called, it’s chaos and the Aurors on the scene couldn’t go in.”
Neville suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. It was all too much. Tonks grabbed his hand. “She may have made it out. And there are people - good people - all over the country looking for her. If she apparated out, we’ll find her.”
Neville did not know what to do. His Gran was missing, possibly dead, savaged by Werewolves or kissed by Dementors or burnt up in flames. His home was on fire, flames probably leaping out the windows while a green sign hung in the air. Guilt and grief, despair and rage were all working their way through his body and he felt like it would not, that it could not possibly all fit beneath his skin. And all he had for comfort was a pink-haired woman holding his hand tightly. It was not enough.
He felt a tear roll down his face and his lip stammer and his throat constrict sharply. Neville did not cry. He howled. Tonks held on to his hand for dear life, rubbing his back as the raw emotion sought its way out of his body.
Eventually, he tired. It was like nothing could come out anymore. Neville felt numb. Though, compared to the guilt it was a relief he supposed. Tonks passed a box of tissues and he cleaned his face up. Neville felt quite ashamed for having burst out into tears in front of an Auror. Tonks would expect him to be brave and rein the emotions in. Not blubber all over her.
“Can I ask you some questions about what happened?” Tonks asked quietly.
He was about to reply when there was a loud ruckus in the corridor. Tonks turned her head.
“This is outside visiting hours, you must leave,” came a voice from down the corridor.
“Hey, we don’t want to be here either.” The voice was familiar to Neville. He recognised it as one of the Weasly twins. If everything was as normal, the other would soon follow that statement with one of his own.
“Yeah, hospitals aren’t exactly our favourite place. We’re just trying to find Tonks.”
Tonks was up quickly, and swung open the door. “What that bloody hell?” she asked.
“O Great Auror Tonks!” one of the twins exclaimed. “Do we have good news for you.”
“We got your message and we were just about to head out.”
“When guess who should come banging on the door of our little shop asking for help?”
They did not need to answer their own question; a familiar female voice came booming down the corridor. “Where is my grandson?”
Neville’s heart leapt. Gran was alive! He moved to jump out of bed but found that his legs were stuck there, trapped under the tightly folded hospital sheets.
More people had arrived in the corridor. “Mrs. Longbottom, you must sit down,” came another voice.
“He’s in here,” Tonks added, and quickly she and the twins entered the room.
“Hello,” said one
“Hey Nev,” followed the other.
Quickly followed by his Gran, who was wearing a nightgown but looking as frightening and as stern as ever, with a number of St. Mungo’s staff in tow.
“Gran!”
“Neville! I heard you…and I saw the Dementors…there was no other way…I though you were dead.” His Gran burst into tears before arriving at his bed. Neville had never seen his Gran cry before. Not even when his Grandfather died. She arrived at his bedside and started fussing with him, making sure he was okay he supposed.
“I thought you were dead too,” he replied.
His Grandmother recovered from her emotional outburst as soon as it has started. “Nonsense. It takes a bit more than a few cloaks and dogs to finish off a Longbottom. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah,” he replied half-heartedly. His Gran was as stubborn and proud as ever. Neville had often wondered if anything would phase her family pride.
Suddenly a large blond haired man burst into the room. “Glad to see you are alright, Augusta, but you must let the medi-wizards look after you.” He was wide and a little short but seemingly made entirely of muscle, though Neville noticed a large scar down his face. His right eye must have been damaged in an attack, since the iris was missing, there was just black and while, not matching the brown other eye at all. Neville recognised him from the pictures he had seen of him in the Daily Prophet, Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror department and from the sound of his voice the man Tonks has been conversing with earlier.
“And who will look after my grandson while I’m gone.”
“I assure you, nothing will happen to your grandson. Tonks here is on top of it.” He pointed at Tonks with his left arm, which was noticeably missing his index and middle finger. Tonks looked a little sheepish but stood up straight, as did the twins standing next to her. Neville suspected they were all being subjected to his Grandmother’s glare.
“The Black girl?”
“Augusta, this is not the time for this argument.” The big man swept an arm around her and led her out of the room, followed by all the St. Mungo’s staff.
“Glad to see you alright, Neville,” started one of the twins. Neville was not entirely sure, but he thought it was Fred.
“Yeah, nasty business, those bloody Dementors,” stated George.
“Can you two send a message to the others, tell them the search is off and possibly send these away.” Tonks thrust a few scraps of paper into Fred’s hands.
Fred shuffled through the paper. “Ooh, message to lover boy I see.”
“Like bloody rabbits you two are,” started George.
“It was a werewolf attack,” she said quietly, looking quite pained.
The twins looked very seriously at her for a second, before the smiles returned to their faces.
“Aye, aye Captain," Fred marched out of the door. “Good seeing you, Nev.”
George saluted Tonks and turned to Neville. “Next time you’re in London, stop by the store and well give you a U-No-Poo t-shirt, compliments of the house.” He grinned and followed his brother.
Tonks sat down on the chair again. “Well, now can I ask you some questions about what happened?”
Neville retold the tale of what he had experienced. Tonks asked questions throughout while a red quill scribbled down everything they were both saying onto a notepad she had produced from her pocket. She seemed particularly interested in the werewolves, she kept on asking questions about how they had moved and behaved. Finally, when he reached the end of the tale he left out the part of the woman’s voice, just saying that he had suddenly found himself at Auror headquarters. Tonks packed away her quill, ending the interview.
“Well, I’ll bet your parents did that,” Tonks added.
“What?” Neville asked, wondering if Tonks knew something about the voice he had heard.
“There are ways that you can get people who apparate with no destination in mind to end up at a safe place, a leading spell. I reckon your parents made it so if your Grandparents were ever in danger, they would end up at Auror headquarters where it’s pretty safe. We’re not actually allowed to do that, but some do anyway.”
“Oh.” Neville wondered if the voice of the woman, whom he strongly suspected was his mother, was part of the charm as well.
Then he remembered what had happened to his home, he had spent so much time worried about his Gran he had forgotten about the other occupants, Dusty, Blinky, Trevor and his Mimbulus. He told Tonks of this. She seemed quite confident that Blinky and Dusty would have made it out all right. House-elves are great survivors, she told him.
“But why would they burn down my house anyway. Don’t they normally leave it standing?”
“Yeah. I don’t really know, Neville, but between you and me, yours is the second house in as many weeks.”
“Oh,” Neville replied not knowing what to make of this development.
“Don’t worry. We'll catch the bugger,” Tonks added.
Neville read the papers, so he was not sure whether she was confident in that. However, Tonks yawned, Neville was starting to feel sleepy himself, and he soon drifted off.
~*~*~*~
He awoke some time later; sunlight through a crack in the curtains had landed on his eyes, forcing his body to acknowledge the day. Tonks had managed to acquire a pillow and was sleeping next to his bed, with wand in hand, seemingly guarding his bedside in her sleep. Next to her in a chair was his Gran, also sleeping, he head dipped down as far as he neck would let it, tilted towards the ground.
Neville lay there for a while, collecting his thoughts. He remembered his dream, a woman screaming at him. He was pretty sure it was his mother. She somehow knew he was in danger. If she had not woken him up, if she had not reminded him of his apparition lessons he was confident he would not have survived. He would be a soulless shell burnt up in the flames.
But how did she know?
His Grandfather had always told him that his parents were watching over him. Keeping Neville safe. He had stopped believing in that a few years ago, but now he was not so sure. His parents had been in limbo for so many years. Not dead, but neither were they living. Maybe they were just lost.
Neville knew what he had to do. He had to figure out what was going on. Maybe what this night had done was allowing him to see that his parents could be saved. But he did not know where to start.
The door to the room quietly unlatched, causing Tonks to wake and stand up instantly, wand in hand. This in turn caused Gran to wake up. She glared at the young Auror, until she noticed who had walked into the room, obviously to Neville’s Gran someone who was much more deserving of her glare.
“Mum,” Tonks said with surprise in her voice.
“You,” Neville’s Gran stated. Andromeda froze in the doorway.
“Er, Hello.” Ted walked in behind his wife.
“Hi,” Neville said quietly.
“Wotcher Dad.”
“Really, couldn’t you wait until later to visit your daughter? Have you no respect for my family?”
“Actually,” Andromeda replied hesitantly, speaking for the first time. “We came to visit Neville.”
It suddenly dawned on Neville that it was a Monday. He should have been at their house for work some time ago. “I’m sorry. I should have sent a note.”
“Oh, I did that for you, don’t worry,” stated Tonks, who had relaxed since seeing her parents, though only a little.
“Yeah, we came to see how you were,” Ted replied.
Neville noticed his Gran looking from Andromeda to Neville and back again. “What is going on here? Neville, what haven’t you told me?”
Neville wanted nothing more than to disappear into his bed, he had not planned on his Gran finding out whom he was spending all his time with, or for that matter Andromeda and Ted finding out he had been lying to his Gran.
“Er…Um…this is Demeter Willows,” he said quietly.
His Gran looked outraged. “Do you have any idea who this woman is, who this family are?”
“Yes,” Neville responded meekly. Ted and Andromeda looked shocked, their daughter had crossed her arms and was looking rather annoyed.
“Their daughter protecting you is one thing.” Tonks rolled her eyes to this statement. “But lying behind my back,” she spluttered. “Do you have any respect for your parents?”
“Yes, I just…” he protested.
“Oh, this is just ridiculous, Augusta.” A stern voice announced from behind Ted Tonks. Ted moved quickly to allow Professor McGonagall to enter the room. “All these silly little blood feuds aren’t doing us any good.”
“What are you doing here, Minerva?” Gran asked curtly.
“I came to offer my house in Edinburgh for your use.”
“You knew about this, didn’t you? How could you?”
“I was looking out for the interests of one of my students. Although I did expect him to tell you.” She glared over her spectacles at Neville, who was still wishing he were invisible. Only Ted and Andromeda had managed to succeed at this, nobody seemed to notice them standing by the wall. Tonks was silent and still but the way her arms were crossed gave Neville the impression she was fuming.
“This is a betrayal,” Augusta announced.
“This is a disagreement about what is best for your Grandson. He was given a choice, nobody forced him to be involved with the Tonks family, but he made it.”
“They’re really nice,” Neville managed to add. Andromeda smiled at him, his Gran merely turned to glare at him.
“But it is not safe. Their loyalties.”
“How dare you!” Andromeda stammered. “You know perfectly well how my family has suffered at the hands of the Death Eaters, and yet you still think that I would run to the arms of my sisters!” Ted placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder.
At this point Tonks decided to break her silence. “Their house is safe. I wouldn’t let them live there if it wasn’t.”
“That girl’s relationship.”
Tonks rolled her eyes again. “Neville, at any time last night did I have fur and a tail?” she asked through her teeth.
Neville though it was an odd question, but answered it with a quiet “no” all the same.
“Well them,” McGonagall replied. “There is no danger. All I ask you to do is respect your Grandsons choice, Augusta. He is about to become of age and it’s about time to let him make some decisions for himself.”
Gran sat down into her chair. She continued to glare at Andromeda, who seemed to want to disappear just as much as Neville. “My offer still stands. You can use my house. Merlin knows I’ve got no use for it at the moment,” Professor McGonagall added.
“Actually,” Andromeda stepped in. “Ted and I though that Neville could stay at our home. He spends enough time there.”
“Really?” Neville added. He hadn’t given much though to where he would go after he was released from St. Mungo’s. The fact that his home had been lost had not really sunken in yet.
“Yeah, we’ve got plenty of room,” said Ted.
“But it’s your choice,” Andromeda added quickly. Neville’s Gran looked like she was about to say something, but the Headmistress was glaring at her.
“Well, I suppose it would save having to travel all the time…Yeah, if it’s okay with Gran.”
“I will respect the decision you have made, Neville. But I don’t think it’s the right one,” his Gran replied looking at Professor McGonagall the whole time.
Neville had no idea how to respond to that statement but took it as a yes. “Umm…Okay then,” he said to Ted and Andromeda. His Gran got up and stormed out of the room.
“I’ll go and speak to her,” Professor McGonagall added before heading out the door to follow after the enraged woman.
“I thought it was your night off?” Ted asked Tonks.
“Yeah, well. I went in to pick some stuff up when Nev decided to apparate into headquarters. Good thing I recognised him otherwise they would still be interrogating him now.”
Her statement was followed by an uncomfortable silence.
A medi-wizard came in and it was arranged that Neville would be released the next day. Andromeda and Ted would come and pick him up in the morning.
Finally Ted turned to his daughter who had been sitting in the corner silently as all this was being discussed. “Well, I’m going to be having a nice dinner on my birthday. I’d love it if you could come. You can bring Remus as well,” Ted replied. Andromeda turned away.
“Really?”
“Yeah. We miss you,” he said giving her a hug.
Ted and Andromeda wished Neville farewell and headed off.
Professor McGonagall appeared again briefly, whisking Tonks out of the room to talk with her. Tonks reappeared looking much happier than she had been before and announced that she had to go.
Before she left Neville remembered one thing he had to ask her. “Why did you ask me if you were a werewolf before?”
She looked puzzled. “Oh… I thought everyone knew.”
“No.”
Tonks paused as if trying to decide exactly what to say. “Well, it happens to be that…I’m in a relationship with one…in fact you will probably know him. Remus Lupin. He’s a teacher.”
“Anyway, my replacement is here, goodbye,” she added quickly
She waved and walked out of the room. The reason Tonks and her parents were not on good terms became clear to Neville.
~*~*~*~
Tonks was replaced by another Auror whom Neville got the impression was not happy to be guarding him. Soon after Tonks left, medi-wizards came to check on his leg. Apparently it was healing nicely, they had picked out the splinters and healed over the cuts while he was sleeping.
With the news Neville could walk on his leg, he managed to clamber out of his constricting bed sheets with the intention to solve the mystery surrounding his survival. Complete with a set of crutches the medi-wizards had left by his bed, he hobbled to the fourth floor, passing the ever-smiling former-Professor Lockhart. He pulled the curtain back to find his Gran sitting between his parents. Her eyes were red. She looked like she had been crying. She turned away from him. Neville knew she did not like to appear weak, especially in front of him.
“Are you alright?” he asked out of concern but knowing what she would say.
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s nice to see you have bothered to pay your parents a visit.” Neville did not like the intonation in her voice but he let it pass.
Neville pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. His father fidgeted, but quickly settled down. He found he could not look his Gran. Instead he stared his father lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. “I’m sorry for lying. I just want to work with plants over the summer.”
“This is not about your herbology, Neville. This is about who you choose to associate with.”
“I’m not… They didn’t do this. It’s unfair to blame people for stuff they couldn’t stop,” Neville mumbled, defending Andromeda and Ted.
“Really? She knew her sister. She most likely knew what she was capable of. Yet Mrs. Tonks failed to do anything about it. She’s indirectly responsible Neville. Never forget that.”
Neville did not know what to say to that. He had not thought of the situation that way. How do you not notice your sister is evil and crazy? “Minerva’s right. You are old enough to make your own decisions. I just hope for your own sake you make the right ones,” Gran added.
She got up. And moved to walk out when she stopped. “I’m going to Edinburgh tonight. I may be staying there for a while. You can access the family vault to buy anything you may need.”
She walked out of the ward. Neville had expected his Gran to be angry and to try and stop him. He was prepared to deal with that. But he had rarely seen her so upset, not since his Grandfather had died.
Neville sat with his parents for a while. His father lay and his mother sat indifferent to his presence. He took a good luck at his mother, her black expression and empty eyes. It was hopeless he decided. Even if there was a small chance she could become better, what hope did he have of succeeding where the medi-wizards had not. They had training and experience, whereas he was not all that bright and did not have the slightest clue where to begin.
But as he sat there watching his parents, one thought ate at the back of his mind. Could Andromeda have prevented this?
Next Chapter
Growing (5/18)
Chapter Five - In the Morning
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Chapter Summary: While the Aurors head to Neville’s home and the Order scrambles to find Augusta, Neville is stuck at St. Mungo’s with Tonks.
Author’s Notes: A great amount of thanks to my beta Nathaniel who hopefully is not being slowly being driven insane by football.
Previous Chapter
~*~*~*~
It was a black sleep. There were no dreams, but Neville still found it very hard to wake. His eyes would not focus, and as soon as they did, he would drift off again.
Eventually, Neville managed to open his eyes fully and sit himself up on the bed to prevent himself from drifting off again. He was in a private room, something he knew to not be common in St. Mungo’s. He stared around the white walled room to discover that he was completely alone.
They must not have found his Gran. Or she was in a different room and injured, he realised.
Then he noticed the voices outside the door.
“You need to get his account, he may have some idea,” a man with a gruff voice said. Idea of what, he wondered. Who attacked? Neville did not think you had to be too intelligent to figure out that.
“It might be a while. He’s sleeping at the moment.” It was Tonks.
“Well, if he sleeps for too much longer, you will have to wake him up,” the gruff man replied.
“Shouldn’t you put somebody else on his case…it’s just that…,” Tonks asked, she sounded uncomfortable. Neville was reminded of the way she acted when she found him in his parent’s greenhouse. She must be just as uncomfortable with the two families mixing as Neville had at first.
“He knows you, that’s much better than expecting him to open up to a stranger,” was the reply. A short silence followed.
“Alright.” The door handle to his room turned and Tonks walked into the room.
“And Tonks, you don’t have to keep on coming into the office during the full moon. You’ve made your point and I believe you. But the orders go higher up than me.”
“Right,” Tonks sighed.
“Morning Neville.” She made a sort of half-smile but it failed to hide the grave look of concern on her face.
“Have they found my Gran?” he asked quickly.
Tonks sighed and sat down on the chair next to his bed. Neville felt all the blood drain from his face. “You have to understand, you’ve only been out for just over an hour so we haven’t been able to do much yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“Neville.” She looked at him with her big dark eyes. “When the Aurors got to your home, it was in flames.” She paused. Neville did not understand. Death Eaters did not burn down homes. They just murdered people. That’s what they always do. “The Muggle authorities had been called, it’s chaos and the Aurors on the scene couldn’t go in.”
Neville suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. It was all too much. Tonks grabbed his hand. “She may have made it out. And there are people - good people - all over the country looking for her. If she apparated out, we’ll find her.”
Neville did not know what to do. His Gran was missing, possibly dead, savaged by Werewolves or kissed by Dementors or burnt up in flames. His home was on fire, flames probably leaping out the windows while a green sign hung in the air. Guilt and grief, despair and rage were all working their way through his body and he felt like it would not, that it could not possibly all fit beneath his skin. And all he had for comfort was a pink-haired woman holding his hand tightly. It was not enough.
He felt a tear roll down his face and his lip stammer and his throat constrict sharply. Neville did not cry. He howled. Tonks held on to his hand for dear life, rubbing his back as the raw emotion sought its way out of his body.
Eventually, he tired. It was like nothing could come out anymore. Neville felt numb. Though, compared to the guilt it was a relief he supposed. Tonks passed a box of tissues and he cleaned his face up. Neville felt quite ashamed for having burst out into tears in front of an Auror. Tonks would expect him to be brave and rein the emotions in. Not blubber all over her.
“Can I ask you some questions about what happened?” Tonks asked quietly.
He was about to reply when there was a loud ruckus in the corridor. Tonks turned her head.
“This is outside visiting hours, you must leave,” came a voice from down the corridor.
“Hey, we don’t want to be here either.” The voice was familiar to Neville. He recognised it as one of the Weasly twins. If everything was as normal, the other would soon follow that statement with one of his own.
“Yeah, hospitals aren’t exactly our favourite place. We’re just trying to find Tonks.”
Tonks was up quickly, and swung open the door. “What that bloody hell?” she asked.
“O Great Auror Tonks!” one of the twins exclaimed. “Do we have good news for you.”
“We got your message and we were just about to head out.”
“When guess who should come banging on the door of our little shop asking for help?”
They did not need to answer their own question; a familiar female voice came booming down the corridor. “Where is my grandson?”
Neville’s heart leapt. Gran was alive! He moved to jump out of bed but found that his legs were stuck there, trapped under the tightly folded hospital sheets.
More people had arrived in the corridor. “Mrs. Longbottom, you must sit down,” came another voice.
“He’s in here,” Tonks added, and quickly she and the twins entered the room.
“Hello,” said one
“Hey Nev,” followed the other.
Quickly followed by his Gran, who was wearing a nightgown but looking as frightening and as stern as ever, with a number of St. Mungo’s staff in tow.
“Gran!”
“Neville! I heard you…and I saw the Dementors…there was no other way…I though you were dead.” His Gran burst into tears before arriving at his bed. Neville had never seen his Gran cry before. Not even when his Grandfather died. She arrived at his bedside and started fussing with him, making sure he was okay he supposed.
“I thought you were dead too,” he replied.
His Grandmother recovered from her emotional outburst as soon as it has started. “Nonsense. It takes a bit more than a few cloaks and dogs to finish off a Longbottom. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah,” he replied half-heartedly. His Gran was as stubborn and proud as ever. Neville had often wondered if anything would phase her family pride.
Suddenly a large blond haired man burst into the room. “Glad to see you are alright, Augusta, but you must let the medi-wizards look after you.” He was wide and a little short but seemingly made entirely of muscle, though Neville noticed a large scar down his face. His right eye must have been damaged in an attack, since the iris was missing, there was just black and while, not matching the brown other eye at all. Neville recognised him from the pictures he had seen of him in the Daily Prophet, Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror department and from the sound of his voice the man Tonks has been conversing with earlier.
“And who will look after my grandson while I’m gone.”
“I assure you, nothing will happen to your grandson. Tonks here is on top of it.” He pointed at Tonks with his left arm, which was noticeably missing his index and middle finger. Tonks looked a little sheepish but stood up straight, as did the twins standing next to her. Neville suspected they were all being subjected to his Grandmother’s glare.
“The Black girl?”
“Augusta, this is not the time for this argument.” The big man swept an arm around her and led her out of the room, followed by all the St. Mungo’s staff.
“Glad to see you alright, Neville,” started one of the twins. Neville was not entirely sure, but he thought it was Fred.
“Yeah, nasty business, those bloody Dementors,” stated George.
“Can you two send a message to the others, tell them the search is off and possibly send these away.” Tonks thrust a few scraps of paper into Fred’s hands.
Fred shuffled through the paper. “Ooh, message to lover boy I see.”
“Like bloody rabbits you two are,” started George.
“It was a werewolf attack,” she said quietly, looking quite pained.
The twins looked very seriously at her for a second, before the smiles returned to their faces.
“Aye, aye Captain," Fred marched out of the door. “Good seeing you, Nev.”
George saluted Tonks and turned to Neville. “Next time you’re in London, stop by the store and well give you a U-No-Poo t-shirt, compliments of the house.” He grinned and followed his brother.
Tonks sat down on the chair again. “Well, now can I ask you some questions about what happened?”
Neville retold the tale of what he had experienced. Tonks asked questions throughout while a red quill scribbled down everything they were both saying onto a notepad she had produced from her pocket. She seemed particularly interested in the werewolves, she kept on asking questions about how they had moved and behaved. Finally, when he reached the end of the tale he left out the part of the woman’s voice, just saying that he had suddenly found himself at Auror headquarters. Tonks packed away her quill, ending the interview.
“Well, I’ll bet your parents did that,” Tonks added.
“What?” Neville asked, wondering if Tonks knew something about the voice he had heard.
“There are ways that you can get people who apparate with no destination in mind to end up at a safe place, a leading spell. I reckon your parents made it so if your Grandparents were ever in danger, they would end up at Auror headquarters where it’s pretty safe. We’re not actually allowed to do that, but some do anyway.”
“Oh.” Neville wondered if the voice of the woman, whom he strongly suspected was his mother, was part of the charm as well.
Then he remembered what had happened to his home, he had spent so much time worried about his Gran he had forgotten about the other occupants, Dusty, Blinky, Trevor and his Mimbulus. He told Tonks of this. She seemed quite confident that Blinky and Dusty would have made it out all right. House-elves are great survivors, she told him.
“But why would they burn down my house anyway. Don’t they normally leave it standing?”
“Yeah. I don’t really know, Neville, but between you and me, yours is the second house in as many weeks.”
“Oh,” Neville replied not knowing what to make of this development.
“Don’t worry. We'll catch the bugger,” Tonks added.
Neville read the papers, so he was not sure whether she was confident in that. However, Tonks yawned, Neville was starting to feel sleepy himself, and he soon drifted off.
~*~*~*~
He awoke some time later; sunlight through a crack in the curtains had landed on his eyes, forcing his body to acknowledge the day. Tonks had managed to acquire a pillow and was sleeping next to his bed, with wand in hand, seemingly guarding his bedside in her sleep. Next to her in a chair was his Gran, also sleeping, he head dipped down as far as he neck would let it, tilted towards the ground.
Neville lay there for a while, collecting his thoughts. He remembered his dream, a woman screaming at him. He was pretty sure it was his mother. She somehow knew he was in danger. If she had not woken him up, if she had not reminded him of his apparition lessons he was confident he would not have survived. He would be a soulless shell burnt up in the flames.
But how did she know?
His Grandfather had always told him that his parents were watching over him. Keeping Neville safe. He had stopped believing in that a few years ago, but now he was not so sure. His parents had been in limbo for so many years. Not dead, but neither were they living. Maybe they were just lost.
Neville knew what he had to do. He had to figure out what was going on. Maybe what this night had done was allowing him to see that his parents could be saved. But he did not know where to start.
The door to the room quietly unlatched, causing Tonks to wake and stand up instantly, wand in hand. This in turn caused Gran to wake up. She glared at the young Auror, until she noticed who had walked into the room, obviously to Neville’s Gran someone who was much more deserving of her glare.
“Mum,” Tonks said with surprise in her voice.
“You,” Neville’s Gran stated. Andromeda froze in the doorway.
“Er, Hello.” Ted walked in behind his wife.
“Hi,” Neville said quietly.
“Wotcher Dad.”
“Really, couldn’t you wait until later to visit your daughter? Have you no respect for my family?”
“Actually,” Andromeda replied hesitantly, speaking for the first time. “We came to visit Neville.”
It suddenly dawned on Neville that it was a Monday. He should have been at their house for work some time ago. “I’m sorry. I should have sent a note.”
“Oh, I did that for you, don’t worry,” stated Tonks, who had relaxed since seeing her parents, though only a little.
“Yeah, we came to see how you were,” Ted replied.
Neville noticed his Gran looking from Andromeda to Neville and back again. “What is going on here? Neville, what haven’t you told me?”
Neville wanted nothing more than to disappear into his bed, he had not planned on his Gran finding out whom he was spending all his time with, or for that matter Andromeda and Ted finding out he had been lying to his Gran.
“Er…Um…this is Demeter Willows,” he said quietly.
His Gran looked outraged. “Do you have any idea who this woman is, who this family are?”
“Yes,” Neville responded meekly. Ted and Andromeda looked shocked, their daughter had crossed her arms and was looking rather annoyed.
“Their daughter protecting you is one thing.” Tonks rolled her eyes to this statement. “But lying behind my back,” she spluttered. “Do you have any respect for your parents?”
“Yes, I just…” he protested.
“Oh, this is just ridiculous, Augusta.” A stern voice announced from behind Ted Tonks. Ted moved quickly to allow Professor McGonagall to enter the room. “All these silly little blood feuds aren’t doing us any good.”
“What are you doing here, Minerva?” Gran asked curtly.
“I came to offer my house in Edinburgh for your use.”
“You knew about this, didn’t you? How could you?”
“I was looking out for the interests of one of my students. Although I did expect him to tell you.” She glared over her spectacles at Neville, who was still wishing he were invisible. Only Ted and Andromeda had managed to succeed at this, nobody seemed to notice them standing by the wall. Tonks was silent and still but the way her arms were crossed gave Neville the impression she was fuming.
“This is a betrayal,” Augusta announced.
“This is a disagreement about what is best for your Grandson. He was given a choice, nobody forced him to be involved with the Tonks family, but he made it.”
“They’re really nice,” Neville managed to add. Andromeda smiled at him, his Gran merely turned to glare at him.
“But it is not safe. Their loyalties.”
“How dare you!” Andromeda stammered. “You know perfectly well how my family has suffered at the hands of the Death Eaters, and yet you still think that I would run to the arms of my sisters!” Ted placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder.
At this point Tonks decided to break her silence. “Their house is safe. I wouldn’t let them live there if it wasn’t.”
“That girl’s relationship.”
Tonks rolled her eyes again. “Neville, at any time last night did I have fur and a tail?” she asked through her teeth.
Neville though it was an odd question, but answered it with a quiet “no” all the same.
“Well them,” McGonagall replied. “There is no danger. All I ask you to do is respect your Grandsons choice, Augusta. He is about to become of age and it’s about time to let him make some decisions for himself.”
Gran sat down into her chair. She continued to glare at Andromeda, who seemed to want to disappear just as much as Neville. “My offer still stands. You can use my house. Merlin knows I’ve got no use for it at the moment,” Professor McGonagall added.
“Actually,” Andromeda stepped in. “Ted and I though that Neville could stay at our home. He spends enough time there.”
“Really?” Neville added. He hadn’t given much though to where he would go after he was released from St. Mungo’s. The fact that his home had been lost had not really sunken in yet.
“Yeah, we’ve got plenty of room,” said Ted.
“But it’s your choice,” Andromeda added quickly. Neville’s Gran looked like she was about to say something, but the Headmistress was glaring at her.
“Well, I suppose it would save having to travel all the time…Yeah, if it’s okay with Gran.”
“I will respect the decision you have made, Neville. But I don’t think it’s the right one,” his Gran replied looking at Professor McGonagall the whole time.
Neville had no idea how to respond to that statement but took it as a yes. “Umm…Okay then,” he said to Ted and Andromeda. His Gran got up and stormed out of the room.
“I’ll go and speak to her,” Professor McGonagall added before heading out the door to follow after the enraged woman.
“I thought it was your night off?” Ted asked Tonks.
“Yeah, well. I went in to pick some stuff up when Nev decided to apparate into headquarters. Good thing I recognised him otherwise they would still be interrogating him now.”
Her statement was followed by an uncomfortable silence.
A medi-wizard came in and it was arranged that Neville would be released the next day. Andromeda and Ted would come and pick him up in the morning.
Finally Ted turned to his daughter who had been sitting in the corner silently as all this was being discussed. “Well, I’m going to be having a nice dinner on my birthday. I’d love it if you could come. You can bring Remus as well,” Ted replied. Andromeda turned away.
“Really?”
“Yeah. We miss you,” he said giving her a hug.
Ted and Andromeda wished Neville farewell and headed off.
Professor McGonagall appeared again briefly, whisking Tonks out of the room to talk with her. Tonks reappeared looking much happier than she had been before and announced that she had to go.
Before she left Neville remembered one thing he had to ask her. “Why did you ask me if you were a werewolf before?”
She looked puzzled. “Oh… I thought everyone knew.”
“No.”
Tonks paused as if trying to decide exactly what to say. “Well, it happens to be that…I’m in a relationship with one…in fact you will probably know him. Remus Lupin. He’s a teacher.”
“Anyway, my replacement is here, goodbye,” she added quickly
She waved and walked out of the room. The reason Tonks and her parents were not on good terms became clear to Neville.
~*~*~*~
Tonks was replaced by another Auror whom Neville got the impression was not happy to be guarding him. Soon after Tonks left, medi-wizards came to check on his leg. Apparently it was healing nicely, they had picked out the splinters and healed over the cuts while he was sleeping.
With the news Neville could walk on his leg, he managed to clamber out of his constricting bed sheets with the intention to solve the mystery surrounding his survival. Complete with a set of crutches the medi-wizards had left by his bed, he hobbled to the fourth floor, passing the ever-smiling former-Professor Lockhart. He pulled the curtain back to find his Gran sitting between his parents. Her eyes were red. She looked like she had been crying. She turned away from him. Neville knew she did not like to appear weak, especially in front of him.
“Are you alright?” he asked out of concern but knowing what she would say.
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s nice to see you have bothered to pay your parents a visit.” Neville did not like the intonation in her voice but he let it pass.
Neville pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. His father fidgeted, but quickly settled down. He found he could not look his Gran. Instead he stared his father lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. “I’m sorry for lying. I just want to work with plants over the summer.”
“This is not about your herbology, Neville. This is about who you choose to associate with.”
“I’m not… They didn’t do this. It’s unfair to blame people for stuff they couldn’t stop,” Neville mumbled, defending Andromeda and Ted.
“Really? She knew her sister. She most likely knew what she was capable of. Yet Mrs. Tonks failed to do anything about it. She’s indirectly responsible Neville. Never forget that.”
Neville did not know what to say to that. He had not thought of the situation that way. How do you not notice your sister is evil and crazy? “Minerva’s right. You are old enough to make your own decisions. I just hope for your own sake you make the right ones,” Gran added.
She got up. And moved to walk out when she stopped. “I’m going to Edinburgh tonight. I may be staying there for a while. You can access the family vault to buy anything you may need.”
She walked out of the ward. Neville had expected his Gran to be angry and to try and stop him. He was prepared to deal with that. But he had rarely seen her so upset, not since his Grandfather had died.
Neville sat with his parents for a while. His father lay and his mother sat indifferent to his presence. He took a good luck at his mother, her black expression and empty eyes. It was hopeless he decided. Even if there was a small chance she could become better, what hope did he have of succeeding where the medi-wizards had not. They had training and experience, whereas he was not all that bright and did not have the slightest clue where to begin.
But as he sat there watching his parents, one thought ate at the back of his mind. Could Andromeda have prevented this?
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