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Tweak says, "If not you, then no one."

Jessi McKimmon (upon_my_return) wrote in around_again,
@ 2009-03-26 19:27:00

Entry tags:

1996 08, @private residence, alice longbottom, frank longbottom

August 26, 1996 - Home, Sweet Home
Who: Alice, Frank
Where: the Longbottom residence
When: August 26, 1996, afternoon
Rating: FtB

Status: Closed, completed
Summary: Frank and Alice begin to pick up the pieces of their life with discussions of what their plans are for the future. A talk with Dumbledore and a house of their own are high on the list.

It had been a whirlwind of days. They'd had to both get new wands, robes, clothes, everything. What they did still have and still fit was fifteen years out of style - though Alice clung tenaciously to some of her favorite outfits.

There'd been two separate (but small) articles in the Prophet about their recovery, but Alice was glad it wasn't highly publicized. The last thing they needed was Bellatrix and her friends coming back to finish what they'd started. It wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility, though she didn't think they'd be a priority. Not now. Not when both Harry and Voldemort's locations were known.

Humming to herself, Alice moved easily around the kitchen to make lunch. She supposed at some point - soon - they should figure out how to go about with things. She was all set to brush up on her auror training and get back into the thick of things - there was still a war going on, after all - but she supposed that should be a decision they made together. She could do other things, after all.

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upon_my_return
2009-03-26 11:08 pm UTC (link)

She squeezed his hand in return before she drew him closer to her again. Sometimes, a lot, lately, she needed to just be near him. To hold him, to feel him. To make sure he still knew her, to be sure he was real. She wondered when she'd stop being afraid she'd lose him - or Neville - and she decided that was a fear that wouldn't go away any time soon.

"We should talk," she murmured against his mouth before she claimed his lips again. "About what we want to do. There's a new Order ... did you want to look into that?"

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worldenough
2009-03-26 11:15 pm UTC (link)

Frank really wasn't complaining about Alice needing (or even just wanting) to be close- he took comfort in her, one of the few familiar things that he could still cling to. "We should," he agreed, unable to resist one more kiss, just gently. "Yes, I do," Frank added. "I- I'd like to go back to the Ministry, of course- even if they confine me to a desk job," though he winced at the idea. "But I'm not sure what... state the Ministry's in, and the Order- well, they'll be with us, now as they ever were." He hoped.

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upon_my_return
2009-03-26 11:42 pm UTC (link)

"I don't ..." she hesitated. "If what the Prophet's been going on about is even close to the truth, I don't think the Ministry's really the place. Not for us. I think we should ... at least get in touch with Dumbledore, and ... see if we can help."

She flicked her eyes toward the door before she moved away from Frank - but only long enough to tend to lunch so it wouldn't burn. Setting the pan of soup aside, she turned back to him. "We do still want to, don't we?"

She knew she was afraid, a little, but she also knew she wasn't going to let that stop her. She wouldn't let the Death Eaters best her. Not if she could help it.

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worldenough
2009-03-27 06:16 am UTC (link)

"I still want to help, of course," he replied, quickly, taking a deep breath as he considered. "I just- I don't know, Al. You know how much I loved being an Auror- that was my dream for years, and one I worked hard at getting." Well, they both had, hadn't they? "And maybe it is naive, but I don't quite want to give up on that yet- I can't imagine that the Ministry's so far gone that even the Aurors are all corrupted..." He frowned, but continued, "Dumbledore is probably the place to start, though, you're right."

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upon_my_return
2009-03-27 08:51 am UTC (link)

She ran her hands over his shoulders, gazing into his eyes before she cradled his face between her hands. "I know," she murmured before she leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose.

"Even if all the aurors are fine, you have to wonder about the people above them. The people really making the wheels turn. I just don't want to get caught ... in a bad place."

She slipped her arms around him to rest her head on his shoulder, her body pressing lightly against his. She thought that talking to Albus was a place to start; he'd likely have some ideas for them. Some places to start, anyway, or a better picture of how things were just now.

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worldenough
2009-03-27 09:05 am UTC (link)

"I don't want that, either," Frank assured her, his voice quiet. He was reluctant to give up on the Aurors- they were one of things he'd been able to count on, and to take real pride in, in his previous years. And maybe that had changed, but (foolishly optimistic or not) Frank didn't want to jump to that conclusion just yet.

"We can send him a letter today- Dumbledore, I mean," he offered, after a moment. "I'm sure he's heard about us by now- he's always had ears everywhere, and I doubt that's changed." He couldn't help but smile a bit.

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upon_my_return
2009-03-27 09:14 am UTC (link)

She smiled softly. "Oh, I think a fair few people have heard about us by now," she agreed as she rubbed his back before she drew away so they could actually have lunch.

She was, she realized, going to miss Neville when he went back to school. It hardly seemed fair that they only had the week with him ... but they'd have owls and holidays and then summer again. And they'd likely be busy as well. They needed jobs; they couldn't well live off Augusta's charity forever.

Ladling the soup into bowls and setting the sandwiches on a plate, she carried them to the kitchen table, her mind whirling. All she'd ever done was be an auror, so it stood to reason she'd go right back to it. Maybe things would be all right there if they just ... tried to keep under the radar, as it were.

Wearing her 'I'm thinking very hard' face, Alice settled down at the table.

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worldenough
2009-03-27 09:32 am UTC (link)

Frank brought their drinks over and sat down at the table, trying some of the soup and just thinking for a moment. "I don't know quite where to start," he admitted, after a moment. "Neville, of course. He- he's the most important of all of this. I- we've only got a week left, Al, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to let him go." Maybe that was silly or over-sentimental, but at least he was honest?

"And- well, I want to have a place of our own, too. Not that I don't appreciate everything my mum has done for us- especially raising Neville- but... well, it's not exactly ideal, yeah?" To say the least.

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upon_my_return
2009-03-27 10:14 am UTC (link)

"I know," she murmured. "I don't want to see him go off, either. Not when we've just ... now that we can really recognize him, and know him." But his education was important, and there'd be time after to catch up on everything they'd missed.

"But it does give us an excuse to spoil him silly," she mused with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Care packages at least once a week," she continued with a grin.

To his last point, she nodded emphatically. "Yes. It's ... lovely here, and I appreciate her doing this for us, but... we do need our own place." Their own place, to restart their own lives.

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worldenough
2009-03-27 10:44 am UTC (link)

"He'll be safe at Hogwarts, though," Frank offered- and it was some small bit of consolation, at least. He smiled at the thought of spoiling him, nodding. "Care packages and- well, I'd say there are Hogsmeade weekends, too, but I'm sure seeing his parents is the last thing any kid would want on a day off from school." He shook his head.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later. I- well, it's like you said. This-" he gestured around, "-is temporary, for us. I don't want to be under my mum's care any more than I wanted to be with the Healers at St Mungo's." Stubborn, perhaps, but with good reason. "We'll find a place of our own, Al, I promise- and then when Neville's back for the holidays, we'll all be together there. A proper family, finally."

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upon_my_return
2009-03-27 10:52 am UTC (link)

"Most kids, perhaps. I somehow think if we bumped into him in Hogsmeade, he wouldn't be terribly put out." And that, actually, seemed like a really good idea. Maybe she'd look into that. Find out when the trips were and surprise Neville by being there. Maybe they could even meet some of his friends. See how Lily's boy was doing.

That brought a slight pang of sorrow to her; they really hadn't had that much time to mourn Lily and James' passing before they'd been set upon by Death Eaters ... but at least Harry seemed to be doing well, by all reports.

She did smile to Frank at his desire to be out of his mother's house, but she couldn't blame him. She'd feel the same if they were under her mother's care. "A proper family," she echoed.

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