Realistic Harry Potter

Neville had his own wand maintenance kit out and was polishing both of his wands, to the consternation of several other students. They hadn't known that someone could own two wands and he didn't correct them. He actually only owned one and had borrowed the other. His purchased wand was a wonder. It was almost eager when he cast spells with it, as if it was as excited as he was when the spells worked perfectly and they weren't slightly off like when he used his dad's wand.

“Mister Longbottom.” A stern woman's voice said into the Griffindor Tower's common room.

Neville looked up at the doorway and saw Professor Minerva McGonagall as she stood there with a solemn expression on her face.

“Come with me, please. It's about your parents.” Minerva said.

Neville jumped to his feet, swiped his new wand at the kit to pack it, which it did instantly. He tucked his dad's wand in his left sleeve and his wand up his right sleeve, then he tossed a galleon at Ron, who easily caught it.

“Take my things back up to my room.” Neville said and waved at the book and the kit, then ran over to the professor. She touched his shoulder briefly as they left and the portrait closed behind them.

“I don't have any details, only that St. Mungo's contacted your grandmother about them and she is coming right here to get you.” Minerva said as they walked down the hallway towards the stairs.

Neville nodded and ducked his head slightly as he thought about why they would want him to go as well. His mind drifted and he thought about Harry, who was visiting his godfather at the hospital. Or was. It was past time for their visit, so he wouldn't have Harry there for emotional support. He shivered a little at the thought of what he might have to face, then he put his hand on his right sleeve.

It was a comfort that he had his own wand, one that Harry made possible, so he actually did have Harry's emotional support. Neville took a breath and let it out. Both he and the professor were quiet as they descended the stairs. He didn't ask why they weren't taking any of the shortcuts, because he knew that she was giving him time. Time to try and come to grips with whatever might have happened at the hospital.

“It's about damn time!” Augusta Longbottom said loudly as Neville and Minerva appeared at the top of the stairs to go down into the Entrance Hall. “Hop to it, Neville! We need to get over there right now!”

Neville sped up his descent and almost tripped when he reached the bottom, caught himself, and ran over to her. “Sorry, Gran.”

“No, it's all right.” Augusta said and put her arm over his shoulders. “I'm a bit too eager to get going and I snapped at you.”

Neville's eyes widened at the apology.

“Come. The Knight Bus is waiting for us at the gate.”

“At the gate?” Minerva asked, surprised.

“You'd be surprised at what a few galleons can do.” Augusta said with a smile and led her grandson from the Entrance Hall. They walked at a quicker pace than Augusta was used to and she started to breathe a little heavily.

Neville flicked his wrist and his wand was in his hand. He silently cast the energize spell on her and his Gran's breathing evened out and their pace quickened.

“You can cast silently?” Augusta asked, surprised.

“Harry taught me.” Neville said.

Her arm tightened over his shoulder. “I'm so glad you became friends with him, even if he is trouble personified.”

“What's that mean?” Neville asked.

“He's been hit by the killing curse and didn't die.” Augusta said. “He won't ever have an easy life, not with the infamy that has given him.”

“Not fame?” Neville asked as she tapped the gates to open them.

Augusta handed two tickets to Stan and they climbed onto The Knight Bus. “Fame is when you do something to earn people's respect and attention. Infamy is when you become known by everyone for something very bad.”

Neville cast Spongify on everything as he thought about that. They sat down and Augusta nodded to Stan.

“Let's go Ern!”

“First stop, St. Mungo's.” Ernie said and the bus took off at full speed.

Neville did his best to keep his Gran upright on her seat, despite the bus' erratic movements. He couldn't do anything about the bouncing and was very glad that Harry had taught him the secret to riding The Knight Bus safely.

Augusta tried to keep a pleasant smile on her face as her grandson tumbled around and protected her from hitting anything. He was doing a valiant job of it, just as he had when they went to Diagon Alley to buy his new wand and the maintenance kit. She hadn't asked where he got the money or the expensive money pouch on his hip.

She had suspected it was from the Potter boy, since he and the bushy haired girl were all he could talk about when asked about school. She confirmed this when she saw them last weekend and they had similar money pouches on their hips. She was sure that her grandson wasn't stupid enough to have his friendship bought by another student, since he was much too smart to fall for such an easy trick. No, Neville would only accept a gift from a real friend.

The Knight Bus came to a stop at the end of the proper street. Augusta stood as Neville picked himself up and used his wand to clean his clothing, then they stepped off the bus and walked down the street to the proper shop. They didn't even pause as they turned and walked right through the big display window and into the lobby of the hospital.

They had made this trip many times before, except that this time, they had been called and asked to come urgently. Augusta did her best to stay positive, even though the odds that something bad had happened to them were very high, especially in their condition. She nodded to the Welcome Witch as they passed the line and went to the stairs.

They went up to the familiar fourth floor and walked over to the long term care ward's door. Augusta knocked and the door popped open slightly.

“Oh! You're finally here.” The healer said. “Please wait a moment.” She said and turned away briefly as the ward quieted down. “Please try to not make too much noise. You know how excitable the other patients are.”

“Yes, yes. We know. Open the damn door already.” Augusta said. “The hospital said it was urgent that we come here.”

“It is. It really is.” The healer said and stepped back to open the door enough for them to get through and she shut it again. “I honestly don't know what happened.” She said and led them across the ward to the curtained off area. “As soon as I saw them and the state they were in, I called the Head Healer right away.” She motioned to the curtain. “She's been here ever since.”

“What happened to my son?” Augusta asked.

“I told you that I don't know.” The healer said. “After the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement left...”

“Mom? Is that you?” A man's voice asked.

Augusta froze at those words. No! It... it can't be!

Neville let out an inarticulate half-cry and half-shout as he pushed open the curtain. “MOM! DAD!” He yelled and all of the other patients in the ward started yelling, too.

“Oh, fiddlesticks!” The healer said and quickly left to try and settle them back down.

Augusta turned and looked at the two people that she had dreaded seeing every single time she came here. They had been nothing more than husks with some motor function. She had seen their eyes move and never saw anything behind them. They sat up occasionally and could walk with assistance, and that was all. No speech, no real recognition, and no responses, despite years of attempts by all of the healers she could get to come and check on them.

A Longbottom never gave up on family, though. Even though seeing the empty shell of her son crushed her heart every time she visited, she did her duty. She raised Neville as she had raised his father and tried to give him the same sense of pride that she had in their family. He was the last of them, after all. Or, he had been.

“N-N-Neville?” Alice asked, her voice shaking, as she looked at the boy that was crying in front of her. “You... no, it can't be... my Neville was only a baby.”

“I've been trying to tell you this for the last half an hour and you didn't believe me.” The Head Healer said. “You've been here for ten years.”

“That's not possible.” Frank said in denial. “We only just... got... here?” He blinked his eyes and looked at the eleven year old boy that stood there with tears streaking down his face. He looked just like his own pictures at that age and his mind wasn't sure what to do with that knowledge.

“I've... I've been coming here... since I was little.” Neville said through his tears and took a step towards his mother's bed. “Every holiday, every birthday, every family gathering.” He said and took another step. He wiped at his eyes and dug his hands into his pockets. “I... have proof.”

Alice looked down at his hands as he took out two large handfuls of candy wrappers. Hundreds of them. They were her favorite and her eyes darted to the small bowl of them that could only hold a few of them at a time.

“I kept them all... because you... you gave me these wrappers.” Neville said and let out a sob.

Alice looked at his hands again and she reached out and touched the wrappers. “I... I gave these... to you.” She said tentatively, as if she wasn't sure, and tears started to flow from her own eyes.

“One from every visit.” Neville said. “Every time I left, you always stopped me and gave me one.”

“You have so many.” Alice said and wiped at her eyes.

“I keep them with me, so no one will ever throw them out by mistake.” Neville said and stopped beside her bed. He put them back in his pockets.

Alice looked up at his face and his chubby little cheeks sparked in her memory. Her eyes darted to his nose and then to his eyes. Her mind immediately overlaid the remembered baby face over the boy's face in front of her. Her hands reached up and touched his cheeks, then they slid around his neck.

“Neville.” Alice whispered, then she let out a sob of both sadness and joy as her heart accepted the truth. She dragged Neville into a tight hug and he hugged her back just as tightly as they both cried. “My sweet little baby boy.”

Frank looked at them and couldn't stop his eyes from tearing up. When he looked at his mother, something about the tears allowed him to see the worn clothing and the extra wrinkles around her eyes and face.

“Mom? It's true?” Frank asked.

Augusta stepped forward and slowly nodded. She reached for him as tears appeared in her own eyes. She felt the exact same as Alice did as she wrapped her arms around her sweet little boy and thanked her lucky stars that she could hug him and hold him in her arms again.

The Head Healer closed the curtain and cast silence on it, then walked down the ward. She wanted to give them privacy and she also wanted to know what the hell happened. She waved her wand at the unruly patients and they all were immobilized. She waved again and they all fell asleep instantly, then she used the levitation spell to put them all back in their beds.

“Whew, thank...” The healer started to say.

“Who was it that was here earlier?” The Head Healer asked and interrupted her.

“Madam Bones and a young boy.” The healer said.

“Who was the boy?”

“A friend of Neville's. He knew the Longbottoms were here, so I assumed...”

“I will be in my office.” The Head Healer said. “I will make arrangements for them to be moved to the floor below.”

“Are they ready...” The healer started to ask.

“Whatever affected them has to be checked out and that has to be done on another floor.” The Head Healer looked around. “Look what this ruckus has done to your nice and orderly ward already.”

The healer nodded. “I'll have them ready to be moved in half an hour.”

“You did an excellent job cleaning them up for their guests on such short notice.”

The healer smiled awkwardly. “Actually that was Madam Bones.”

“Really?” The Head Healer asked and the healer nodded. “I'll mention it when I contact her.”

The healer unlocked the door for her and The Head Healer stepped out of the ward. It shut with a click behind her and she went down the stairs. She had some investigating to do. If whatever was done to the Longbottoms could be repeated, then there would be no more need of healers. That would be a folly that the wizarding world wouldn't be able to recover from. She couldn't allow that... wouldn't allow that.

Her first point of investigation was Madam Bones. She was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so she should understand the importance of not removing an entire field of study from magic. Healers were desperately needed and whatever this was, couldn't replace them. It just couldn't.

I won't have my whole life's work, and every healer's work, destroyed by one miracle. The Head Healer thought as she entered her office. Actually, two miracles. She admitted to herself as she sat at her desk and read a note left there by Healer Ela. “Oh, for Merlin's sake!” She exclaimed. “Three miracles!”