Chapter 30: Alice's Story
August 20 - Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes - 8:45am
Neville flooed to Diagon Alley with Luna to the twins joke shop. Today was the day he met his Uncle Alger to sign his emancipation papers. It took weeks to find a time when his uncle could meet with him. Unfortunately, between his uncle's failing health and the constant fear of death eater attack, the elderly gentleman had sidestepped Neville's other attempts at scheduling a meeting. Harry was now a confirmed member of the Wizengamot as well, and Neville wanted to confirm his own seat before the start of the new term at Hogwarts. Now, here he was, standing in the back room of the Weasley twins joke shop ready to meet his uncle and become an official adult.
"Would you like me to go with you?" Luna questioned Neville as he continued to stand silently just outside of the twins fireplace grate. Neville thought about her offer. It would be nice to have someone with him. He didn't know what he would find out today, but he'd spent a lot of time thinking about what his legacy from his mother's family might be. He had never met his grandparents from that side of the family as they both died before he was born. In fact, he knew very little about his mother's past, other than that she had excelled in both herbology and potions and was a talented auror.
"Would you mind?" He asked her knowing that technically she was here to work on more projects with the twins. He had slipped away quietly with her to avoid having to go with a whole contingent of adults. His confidence had grown with his training, and he knew he could hold his own in a fight. That didn't mean that Molly Weasley still hadn't dismissed the young people's requests to leave Grimmauld to collect their own books from Diagon Alley. Neville knew she would be upset that he had disappeared without an escort.
"No," Luna assured him pulling him from his thoughts, "just let me tell Fred or George, and we'll go." Neville nodded content to wait for her. His mind kept drifting to his parents. He'd rather have them with him, then whatever was waiting for him in Gringotts. He and Harry had talked about their situations. Voldemort had successfully taken both boys parents. Neville hadn't seen his parents since his one visit earlier in the summer. It was the longest he'd gone between visits when he wasn't in school. He worried about them a lot.
"Neville," Luna called gently from the door, though it still startled him, "Let's go." Neville followed her as she led the way to Gringotts. His Uncle Alger was waiting just outside the wizarding bank for him as the two walked up the stairs to the main entrance.
"Hello, Uncle," Neville greeted the older man.
"Good morning, Neville, shall we get this over with?" Alger suggested clapping a hand on Neville's shoulder. Neville nodded again, speech seemed difficult this morning.
"And who is this?" Alger questioned realizing that Luna was in fact with Neville.
"Luna Lovegood, my Uncle Alger Stewart, Uncle, this is my friend Luna," Neville made the introductions.
"Pleased to meet you miss," Alger commented eyeing the young blonde woman more closely. He wondered about her connection to his nephew. And for some reason, she looked vaguely familiar.
"It's nice to meet you as well, sir," Luna replied smiling.
"Well, then, we'd better stop blocking the entrance, no doubt it's safer inside," Alger said leading the way into the bank. Moments later they were whisked to a private room where a goblin, Latchhook asked them to please be seated. He himself took a seat at the head of the table.
"It is my understanding that you wish to sign emancipation papers for your nephew," Latchhook stated looking at Alger for his confirmation.
"Yes," the older man answered clearly.
"And, you, Mr. Longbottom, realize and accept your emancipation, slightly less than one year early," Latchhook added this time looking to Neville for his answer.
"Yes," Neville replied softly.
"You are both alright with the presence of Miss Lovegood?"
"Yes," both Neville and Alger answered one after the other.
"These are the papers that will make Mr. Longbottom a fully recognized adult," Latchhook informed them passing the papers first to Neville. "You will both need to sign them, please. A copy will be sent to the Ministry to be filed in their records room." Neville signed his name and then passed the papers to his Uncle across the table. Alger signed them and then slid them back to Latchhook, who easily made three copies and handed one to each of them. "For your records," he added banishing the original and the extra copy. Another small stack of papers appeared in front of him. The goblin looked the first paper over carefully, then looked back up at the three humans who waited for him to speak.
"Mr. Longbottom, do you wish for your Uncle and Miss Lovegood to remain?"
"Yes," Neville replied, "if they want to." Both nodded.
"Alright then, here is the key to the Longbottom family vault," Latchhook informed him pushing a key and a small folder across the table towards Neville. "This folder contains information on the vaults contents, which I will let you peruse on your own. The contents are yours, as your grandmother created a separate account that takes care of the maintenance of your parents." Neville nodded again, he was aware of the separate account.
"This key was to your grandmother's personal vault. It obviously contains much less than the family vault, and this folder contains the details on its contents," Latchhook added sliding this key and folder towards Neville as well. Latchhook glanced down at his papers again.
"As the last Longbottom, other than your father of course, you shall also inherit Longbottom Manor and a smaller
cottage that your parents owned in Scotland. This folder also shows a handful of properties that the Longbottoms have
an interest in which generate a decent monthly income," Latchhook continued sliding yet another
folder to Neville.
"Now, Mr. Stewart, Miss Lovegood, I must ask you to leave, as the instructions from Mrs. Longbottom are quite explicit that no one but Neville read the contents of her letter to him." Alger looked surprised, but he and Luna stood and left the room.
"I must leave as well, Mr. Longbottom," Latchhook informed him as he too stood and then handed Neville a thick, bulky envelope. "When you are finished, please call me back into the room." Neville nodded again wondering why his mother would insist on so much secrecy.
He stared down at the bulky envelope and felt even more scared of opening it then he had his OWL results. His mother had written him a letter. Tears sprang to his eyes and he blinked furiously. He would not cry, not yet. He broke the seal and opened the envelope, a gold key fell out and onto the table, along with a necklace. The key was obviously to a vault in Gringotts, and the necklace upon closer inspection was a man's signet ring with a chain looped through it. He set them both carefully aside, and unfolded the letter which seemed rather long.
Dear Neville,
My sweet little boy! I only hope that we have had many wonderful years together before you read this, and that you not judge me too harshly for not telling you this myself. Forgive me, as the story is not entirely mine to tell, and I wanted to insure that you were significantly old enough to understand the importance of what you are about to read. That's why I am writing this letter which you have received now that you have come of age, whether I am alive or not. If I can, I will answer any questions that you have after you have read this.
When my mother was a mere sixteen she fell hopelessly in love with a young man who rescued her from a group of young men intent on harming her. It was the summer before her last year of Hogwarts, and the young man, who was her savior was a recent graduate himself. A couple of months after she returned to Hogwarts, my mother realized that she was pregnant. The school nurse contacted her parents, and before she could even get a message to her love, they had pulled her out of school. They sent her to Italy to stay with some relatives until the baby was born, when she was supposed to give it up for adoption. My mother wrote many letters to her love, but he never answered. When I was born she refused to give me up, and disappeared into the night before her parents could force her. They were deeply ashamed of her, and never spoke to her again.
She struggled for many years, barely making enough to keep the two of us alive. She saved everything she could hoping to return to England and find out why my father never came for her. When I was nearly three, she had collected enough and we used a combination of muggle and magical transportation to reach England. She traveled to his families home, only to discover that he was away on his honeymoon. I can still remember watching my mother break down and cry. She still loved him, and couldn't understand why he had never replied to any of her letters.
She went to her parents next, but her old maid turned her away saying that her parents insisted that they had no daughter. The maid did tell her that her parents had intercepted the letters she'd written to the young man. She herself had seen one of them before the master of the house had burned it. Realizing that everyone believed her dead and with my father married to another, my mother chose to disappear.
Her best friend from Hogwarts helped her find a small one bedroom apartment. My mother changed her last name, and told everyone that my father had died when I was a baby. She removed the signet ring she had always worn on her ring finger and placed it on a chain for me. She told me that my father had given it to her as a symbol of his love for her. She warned me never to lose it.
She eventually married herself, and my stepfather accepted me as his own child even though I was already ten years old. They lived quite happily together for many years. They were killed in an early Death Eater attack the summer before my seventh year, though we had not yet started to call them Death Eaters at that point.
As for my real father, I met him accidentally, one day when he came to Hogwarts to watch his son play quidditch, his son who was nearly five years younger than me. I was seventeen and in my last year at Hogwarts. His son was only a second year but had made the house team as a seeker. I bumped into him in the Great Hall, and he caught my arm, and called me by my mother's name. I knew he was my father because he had my eyes, your hazel eyes. I told him that no, I was her daughter. He stared at me in disbelief. My grandparents had told him that my mother had died in Italy while visiting her relatives. He pulled me into an empty classroom, and the whole story came out, how my mother had written to him, and eventually brought me to England with her to look for him. I railed at him for not waiting for her or confirming her parent's story. I told him how my mother had given me his signet ring after discovering that he had married. I pulled it from under my shirt to show him. The ring only confirmed what he had already known.
He asked me to meet him again after the match. He didn't want to disappoint his son by missing his first quidditch match. I agreed unsure what else to do. Later that day, we spoke again, and he gave me the key which I have left for you. It is a key to his family vault, which was rightfully mine, and is now, yours. I never looked inside it. He explained to me, that he would officially declare me as his child, if I wanted, but cautioned me that his family was marked by the evil that was spreading across the wizarding world. I told him that I was perfectly fine with the way things were. I had always known that he was my father. I am sorry now that I held so much against him, but I blamed him for not being there for me and my mother when I was younger. Your father helped me deal with that and I had begun to develop a rather nice relationship with my father before he too was killed around the same time that his son, my half brother graduated from Hogwarts.
I never told James who I was, and I don't think our father ever said anything to him either. It is your decision now, as to whether or not you tell anyone. You share access to the family vault with your cousin, and I hope the two of you are friends, as I am with my half-brother.
When I learned of the prophecy that could mean either you or your cousin, I nearly told James, but there just never seemed to be the time. He and his family went into hiding, and Frank and I took you away as well, hoping to keep you safe. I hope that I have made the right decision. And someday, when this mess is over, I will sit down with James and tell him who I really am. I'm not sure how he'll react, but I think he will come to accept me in time. Perhaps you have been raised knowing about your cousin. I sincerely hope that is the case, but if for some reason, that is not the case, I am writing this letter now, so you will know the truth. This letter is my just in case for you, as I do not know what tomorrow will bring and if I will be alive to tell you in the future. And now, you know, what I have told no one else, except your father. I love you, my son.
Love always,
Alice Potter Longbottom
Neville felt as if he couldn't breathe. 'His mother and James Potter, siblings, he and Harry, cousins, it seemed inconceivable,' and yet, her story made a lot of sense. He could picture his grandmother as a terrified young woman away from her family, trying to raise a child on her own. Her pain at finding out that the man she loved had married another, and that her family had disowned her. He picked up the signet ring and examined it more closely. It was a rather simple, thick gold band with a ruby stone with an elaborate "P" set into the stone in the same gold as the band. He slipped the chain over his head and tucked the ring under his shirt.
He wondered why his mother hadn't revealed who she was to James Potter sooner. She must have written the letter while everyone was in hiding, before the death of James and Lily Potter, and what Bellatrix Lestrange had done to her and his father. Should he tell Harry? 'Yes,' seemed to spring automatically into his head. If things had worked out differently, his parents might even have raised he and Harry together, or if Harry's parents had survived, they would have grown up knowing they were cousins. It felt nice to know that he had more family than he thought.
'But what prophecy was she talking about, the one that got smashed in the Department of Mysteries? Was he part of that prophecy? But his name hadn't been on it,' he argued with himself. He'd seen it quite plainly. He'd ask Harry, and maybe Dumbledore. If his mother knew it, then surely someone else did as well. He folded the letter carefully and placed it in his pocket along with the key. He debated asking to see the contents of the vault, and then decided that he would wait and see if Harry would like to join him.
He stood stiffly not realizing how long he had sat there reading and thinking over his mother's letter. He went to
the door and called for Latchhook, who appeared moments later.
"Is everything in order, Mr. Longbottom?" The goblin asked upon entering the room.
"Yes," Neville replied, "thank you."
"Good, now we just need you to sign that you have accepted the keys, and then you are free to go. Your Uncle has already gone, but Miss Lovegood is waiting on you just outside this room," Latchhook informed him handing three papers to Neville who bent over the table slightly and signed each in quick succession with the quill provided. Latchhook copied each of these as well and gave Neville a copy before banishing the originals away once again.
"Do you have any further questions?" Latchhook inquired of the young man.
"No, not really, thank you again," Neville replied and he left the room. Luna stood as he appeared in the outer room. She gave him a quick hug surprising the shy Gryffindor. It felt nice though.
"Thanks, Luna," he said softly and the two made their way back towards the twins shop each lost in their own thoughts.
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Author's Note: I don't own the characters, etc, they belong to Rowling. This is just for my entertainment, and hopefully yours as well. I am very fond of this chapter, and I hope you like it as much as I do. It plays an integral role in the future of this story. I hope you enjoy the plot twist. Please let me know!