The Attack on the Longbottoms

The Attack On The Longbottoms

The snow swirled and danced around Diagon Alley. Christmas was just around the corner, and witches and wizards everywhere were eager to enjoy it, feeling there was more reason to celebrate than ever before. They could be seen running from store to store carrying large parcels and presents while several owls flitted in and out of the Owl Postal Outlet bearing loads greater in size than themselves.

Five figures cloaked in black marched purposefully across the square; the man in the lead had a pale, pointed face and his blonde hair barely hid his reddening ears. They were the only ones that seemed to feel the cold, and were not running around happily celebrating, but no one paid them any attention. Everyone was far too happy that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had been destroyed, killed, or whatever else had happened to him on Halloween. No one even cared. The important thing was that he was gone, and they all had that Potter boy to thank.

The group of five walked past all the brightly lit stores, straight down the long narrow road that led to Knockturn Alley without so much as glancing at one another. They wanted to look as inconspicuous as possible and there they would not look out of place. It was a surreal contrast: Where Diagon Alley had red bows and shiny gold balls in the windows, many of the windows here showed slimy, moss-covered green curtains, drawn behind the blackening glass. Silvery minuscule writing on the doors told customers the stores down here would be closed until further notice, and while people up there were happy and celebrating, down here most were mourning.

The blonde walked over to a particularly ratty building - more of a shack or an old Muggle outhouse - and tapped his wand against three boards twice, the others finally looking puzzled to one another. The boards were so old and the wind was blowing so hard, it was amazing that they didn't snap off and blow away. Instead the shack's door opened with a creak and the pale man walked through, the others following quickly. They were eager to take off their heavy and soaking wet cloaks.

Once inside, they could see they were in an elegant foyer of what seemed to be a hotel. A sign hovering over the large mahogany reception desk read "The Highborn Inn." An aging, balding man greeted them and took the pale man's cloak.

"Mr. Malfoy, so good to see you. I have your usual room reserved and waiting, if you would follow me?" They silently followed him through a long corridor, sparsely lit by floating candles. The candles seemed to follow and hover over them until they reached a door numbered six, which swung open as they approached.

"You will not be disturbed here."

"Thank you Cadmus, however, there will be one more to join us. Send him this way." Lucius seemed to attempt a smile, which appeared to be more of a grimace, and handed the man a small bag that chinked with the sound of gold coins.

The man politely nodded and retreated out of the door, leaving the others to quickly run around the room putting hexes and Imperturbable Charms on the windows, doors, and empty portraits that were hanging on the wall. They were finally able to go to the end of the room where a large conference table was situated by the fire.

They took their seats and waited until finally the witch couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Lucius! It has been too long! I refuse to believe that he has been defeated by a child not much younger than yours!"

"Calm down, Bellatrix, it is nothing but a mere delay. I am certain we will be able to restore him to power. There is word -"

"Word? I don't care about words! I want our master back!" Bellatrix shrieked. The two younger men looked anxiously at each other.

"Bella, listen to what Lucius has to say, will you?" the young man said gently. He was handsome, yet around his amber eyes were lines of worry, his light brown hair matted from the wet snow.

"Rab - she just wants to see justice; we ALL do. I say we go and find that Potter boy and kill him ourselves." This man appeared to be an older version of Rabastan, and he had placed his hand affectionately on Bellatrix's shoulder.

"Who are we waiting on, Lucius? I've had enough of the drama and the waiting. I want to do something!" The pale young man with the straw colored hair almost whined, "It's been five weeks - I agree with Rodulphus. Let's kill him!"

"The four of you are so lacking in subtlety," Lucius said silkily, "that I am amazed that none of you have landed yourselves in Azkaban yet. The boy is under surveillance and protection; I have already looked into the matter. Killing him will not bring the Dark Lord back; we need another angle, and this man needs his anonymity in order to remain trusted by Dumbledore."

"If Dumbledore trusts him how the fuck could we?" Bellatrix snarled.

"Bellatrix, I see why you are so thin, I wouldn't want to eat with that mouth either," Lucius sneered. "Dumbledore is a trusting fool. Look at Pettigrew..."

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Bellatrix jumped up in her chair and pounded her tiny fist so hard on the table that the two younger men jumped. "It's HIS fault! HE gave Master the wrong information!"

"Ah, you see, now that is the angle my source is getting at. You do know why he went after the Potters, don't you?"

Bellatrix rolled her heavy lidded eyes. "An overheard prophesy, right?"

"There is a small chance that Potter was not the intended. The overheard bit of the Prophesy was that the one with the power to destroy the Dark Lord would be born to those who thrice defied him, at the end of July that year."

"What are you saying, Lucius?" Rodolphus leaned forward in anticipation. The others had gone very quiet and were listening intently.

"I am saying that word in the Ministry is that Potter possibly lived because his mother protected him..."

"Our marks disappeared, Lucius!" Barty said in an exasperated voice.

"He's gone! Potter had to have finished him!"

"Indeed? Look closely." Lucius rolled up his sleeve as the others began to do the same; they could all see the faint, graying lines of their tattoos.

"I believe he is still out there - hurt but nonetheless, still alive, and if I am right, Potter was not necessarily the one. He will return and we will destroy this other child who has the potential."

A smile was slowly spreading across Bellatrix's face as she traced her finger over the Dark Mark.

"Lucius is right; I can feel his presence still. He's not dead. We've all done too much to prevent it!"

A quiet knock on the door made the five jump. Lucius went off and returned with a man who was wearing a heavy cloak and mask, an outfit that would have drawn attention if found anywhere but Knockturn Alley.

"My apologies," the man said quietly, taking a seat at the head of the table, next to Lucius. "It was more difficult to get away than I had anticipated."

"Who is the other boy?"

"Who's your source?"

"How can you have Dumbledore's trust?"

"SILENCE!" Lucius hissed. "You will treat my friend with respect, and as for his loyalties, the Dark Lord had insisted he get in good with Dumbledore before he had fallen!"

"I want proof that he is one of us!" Bella snapped.

"Very well. In answer to your questions, my sources will not be shared as I have very little trust there as it is. But the Potters are not the only ones who defied him on three occasions. There are also the Longbottoms, and they had a son born just twelve hours before Potter, the day before in fact." He pulled his sleeve up to reveal a long, thin, pale arm that bore the light traces of the Dark Mark, just like theirs. "My loyalties lie with the Dark Lord. I want him to regain his powers. You all know me quite well as one of you, however I cannot risk my name being dragged into this; not now that I have been doing Dumbledore's bidding and appearing to be reformed."

"And the fact that the Longbottoms are Aurors has escaped your mind?" Rabastan sneered. "I cannot believe you are wasting my time with this shit. What are we supposed to do?"

Bellatrix threw Rabastan a scathing look. "If it means bringing back the Dark Lord, I will go after anyone."

"Their defences are weakened, they are no longer worried, and everyone is so excited for the holidays that a premeditated attack would be the very last thing they would expect. Now, they are very close with Dumbledore. I have seen them visiting his office on a few occasions with the boy."

"And if you're wrong and it doesn't bring Him back?" Bellatrix said quietly, but her eyes gleamed with a madness that told everyone she was already plotting the attack in her head.

"If he is wrong, what is the big deal? We kill a couple of Aurors, it is a win-win situation," Lucius said impatiently. "We'll kill the boy. What is his name? Nerman?"

"Neville," The man replied coolly. "I overheard them as they cooed over him. They were rather annoyed at my presence there, seeing as they had arrested me and I was let off on a technicality. You see Bella, it's not such a bad thing that Dumbledore trusts me, is it? He stood up and said that I was 'reformed', and I was given a probationary sentence."

Lucius laughed. "And my wife and I were under the Imperius. It always helps to have a plausible alibi or excuse."

Barty Crouch just rolled his eyes. "Can we get on with the plan, then? My mother is expecting me for dinner tonight, and I don't want to disappoint her."

"And we don't need alibis, thank you, Lucius," Bellatrix said gloriously, "Whatever brings back our Master, we will do perfectly, as He has taught us well enough. You two go on with your throwing around gold and ass kissing of Muggle loving fools!"

Lucius exchanged looks of superiority with the masked man. If the other four were willing to be foolish, then they would let them.

"One week today Hogwarts will be let out for Christmas holidays, and I cannot do it any sooner than that. I think Christmas Eve will be the least anticipated."

*

"Oh Frank! Help me!" Alice laughed and ran after Neville, who was running on very chubby and clumsy legs, laughing hysterically as he pulled tinsel off the Christmas tree.

"Alice, my dear, I keep telling you to put charms on the tree to keep him from doing that." Frank laughed and picked up Neville, who squealed in laughter.

"That ruins the fun and besides, your mum won't have anything to complain about tomorrow, and what would Christmas be without that?"

"Oh, ouch! Touché!" Frank beamed. "Yeah, I know she's overbearing and condescending, but that's what mother-in-laws do, isn't it? Come on 'Ville! Let's go and poke our fingers in the Christmas pudding! Your mother worked for hours on the Marzipan layer."

He tucked the boy under his arm and went into the kitchen, just as his wife threw a bit of crumpled wrapping paper at his retreating head. He was always awed with her patience when it came to his mother - he never had it. Mother had been so overbearing and protective that it was no wonder he had gone into such a dangerous line of work.

"Work that isn't so much in demand anymore though," he mused happily, sitting Neville in his high chair and handing him a sugar cookie. Just the other night, he and Alice had talked of resigning from the Ministry and opening a nice little pub and restaurant in Hogsmeade, so that once Neville was old enough to go to school there they would get to see him frequently. He had his misgivings still on the Death Eaters who remained at large and had honestly been mortified when Dumbledore had stood up for Snape. He and Alice had caught Snape red handed!

"Dumbledore usually knows best," he thought to himself calmly. He was mentally reminding himself that Sirius Black had been the one to turn on the Potters, the very last person he would have suspected as a turncoat, so perhaps Dumbledore had reason to believe Snape was innocent. He, however, would always remain skeptical.

"Dada!" Neville was pointing at the window. Frank looked up to see the snow was now coming down hard.

"Yes Neville, snow!" Frank smiled and pulled a bottle out of the icebox, thinking that after he had the tot in his crib, he and Alice could enjoy a glass of wine together by the fire and he could exchange gifts with her before Hurricane Mother arrived the next day and had them all on edge.

"DADA!" Neville said impatiently, now balling his little fists and rubbing his eyes. Frank could see that he was getting tired and wet a cloth to wipe away the crumbs from his round little face and his sticky little fingers.

"Getting tired, 'Ville?" Frank smiled at his son adoringly as the little tyke yawned and stretched.

"DADA!" Neville was suddenly looking past his father with a look of fear that Frank had never seen on the child's face. He turned around to see a man with a black hood and mask standing in the kitchen with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. All had their wands out and poised at him.

"Expelliarmus!"

Frank watched in horror as his wand flew straight out of his hand and into the hooded man's. He turned and was even more shocked to see Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr., pushing Alice into the kitchen at wand point.

"Ah, isn't this lovely?" Bellatrix said happily, looking around the kitchen and picking up cookies with false amusement.

"We decided to come by and wish you all a Merry Christmas!"

"Yes, especially young Newton here..." Lucius sneered.

"That's Neville, Lucius," the Hooded Man corrected happily. His voice sounded waspish and familiar to Frank. He could see his cold black eyes boring into his from behind the mask.

"But he's gone! It's supposed to all be over," Frank stammered, standing in front of Neville protectively as the young boy was now screaming hysterically.

"Someone shut that thing up!" Bella shouted angrily.

"Silencio!"

Alice watched Neville's angry little mouth open in a silent scream, his round face red, and tears streaming down his face.

"What do you want with him? What are you going to do?"

"Well, you'll never know, will you? See, we're going to kill you first," Barty Crouch said with a menacing grin.

"But first..." Bellatrix rounded on Alice with her wand raised, "you're going to tell us how to bring the Dark Lord back!"

"What? We don't know!" Alice was terrified now, trying to reach into her pocket for the small handful of Floo powder she always carried around.

"YOU LIE! This boy has the powers and we know it!" Bellatrix looked crazy with anger as she raised her wand at Alice.

"CRUCIO!"

Frank made a move to rush to her as the other Lestrage's contributed their own Cruciatus curses against Alice at the same time. Bellatrix removed hers and walked over to Frank.

"Come on, Mr. Longbottom. I'm sure you don't want to see your wife die. I'm sure this is not the last image you want your son to see. How do we bring back the Dark Lord?"

The men paused their curses, leaving Alice gasping and sputtering on the floor.

"We don't know anything about Voldemort's whereabouts!"

"HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH HIS NAME!" Bellatrix shrieked, cursing Alice again, and hollering as she did it. "You say our Master's name again and Nigel there gets it!"

"Neville!" the hooded man hissed.

"Whatever!" Bellatrix was breathing hard, apparently exhausted from the efforts.

"We didn't fucking ask you WHERE he was! We want to know how to fucking bring him BACK!" Bellatrix snapped her fingers at the men who each raised their wands and hit Alice Longbottom with the curse again. Bellatrix looked like she was thriving on the pain, enjoying it, reminding Frank ironically of the Dementors of Azkaban when they stole someone's soul.

"If I knew anything I'd tell you! Just LEAVE MY WIFE AND SON ALONE!"

"Fine then, I guess we'll just take Newman and figure it all out ourselves… after we make you beg us to kill you."

Frank, sobbing, looked over at his wife. She was no longer writhing around in pain from the curse, but was on her back with her eyes out of focus, twitching involuntarily. Her hand was outstretched and he could see small green grains of sand, and a trail of it that went from her to the fire. He only hoped that someone had gotten her message in time.

"BELLA!" Lucius bawled angrily. "Just fucking kill them! Don't complicate it and draw it out!"

"No way! I want to have a bit of fun first! I hate Aurors!"

Frank took a quick glance again at the hooded man to see he was advancing on Neville and made a move to attack him physically, but he heard Rodulphus Lestrange cry out 'Crucio!' Suddenly he was on the ground beside his wife, screaming as every bone in his body burned madly. He was trying desperately to hold on, to fight it out so he could stop them from hurting his son, who was now squirming and screaming as the others tried to advance on him.

"Neville..."

The physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain of hearing his wife scream, seeing his son cry in terror and not knowing what was to happen to him. The others were cursing him too, the room was swirling, and Frank could see a white blinding light.

"'Ville!"

*

"Tea, Severus?"

"No thank you," Severus said curtly, sitting in the darkened kitchen with a pale-faced Narcissa Malfoy. She didn't ask a lot of questions, which was good because he did not wish to answer any... they had failed. Hit Wizards had flooded the place and streamed in before they could finish off the job, blinding them all with Stunning Spells. They had just narrowly got away. Snape had managed to throw an Obliviating Charm at the boy before Apparating with Lucius to the Malfoy Manor. He had no idea where the others were, nor did he know how much Lucius's wife knew, as Lucius had disappeared again saying that he had to take care of a few things quickly.

After two long hours of silence Lucius finally appeared in the fire, coming through it and brushing the ashes off himself as his wife took his cloak from him quickly.

"Well?"

"They were taken to St. Mungo's hospital." Lucius curtly replied, sitting himself down and taking a cup of tea in very shaky hands.

"I told her to just fucking kill them! They wasted time. They deserve what they're getting."

"What?"

"The Longbottoms were tortured to insanity, but the Healers were able to get the others' names before I got to one of them with a bag of gold. As far as anyone knows, we weren't there."

"Did your being at St. Mungo's look suspicious?" Severus asked casually, feeling relieved that his name wouldn't be dragged into it. Lying to Dumbledore took a lot of his energy at times.

"No, I was there to get a potion for Draco's flu." Lucius smirked and handed a bottle to his wife, who in turn looked at him like he was an idiot.

"YOU IDIOT! WE HAVE THE HOGWARTS POTIONS MASTER STAYING IN OUR HOME!"

She began pacing angrily in the kitchen as Severus heard distant crying coming from upstairs. Though he knew it was only Draco, awakened by his mother's scream, it gave him chills nonetheless. It was reminding him of another boy's screams as he looked into his eyes earlier, the young boy who could get him into so much trouble if he ever remembered him.

"Ah, but Severus was in no state to make a potion for a young child, were you, Severus?" Lucius smirked. "We were up so late drinking. Really I should not have Apparated in that state, but my son, you know?"

Severus sneered back at him as Narcissa left the room to tend to Draco. Lucius watched with narrowing eyes before turning to Severus again.

"Bellatrix and Rodulphus have already been arrested. I think before the end of the day the others will be, too. They didn't see your face so you won't be named. The Dark Lord insisted when you were accepted by Dumbledore's Resistance that all death eater activities involving you were to be halted."

"Yes, but of course I had to try."

"Come on, it's Christmas morning. We should appear to be having a normal day when they come to tell us that my sister-in-law has been arrested."

Severus nodded and followed Lucius. In the years to come, he would never forget the fear in the Longbottom child's eyes, and he would always hate both Potter and Longbottom, as it would be one of them who would vanquish the Dark Lord.