InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I promise."

Josh Rivers (steadfast) wrote in beyondthepages,
@ 2010-05-23 16:41:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2023 10, alice longbottom, frank longbottom, lily evans

RP: Something is Not Right
Characters: Frank Longbottom, poking Alice.
Time/Date: Afternoon, October 23, 2023
Location: The Leaky.
Warnings/Rating: Will update as needed.
Summary: Frank returns. Dun, dun, dun.
Status: Complete

Frank had caused something of a scene at St. Mungos. He'd arrived smack dab in the middle of a room a few interns were prepping for a patient, without his wand. Sure this was some sort of Death Eater revenge, he'd managed to disarm one of the startled interns and turned that wand on them.

He'd apologized to the bloke he'd made cry and he imagined once the shock wore off, he'd feel worse about it (or it'd be funny). Right now, he had settled into a calm sort of numbness and was trying to make sense of everything the Ministry folks were throwing at him. It was a large number of years into the future, he'd been dead, the war was over, but there'd been some unease in the fellow when Frank asked about the general state of life now and he had a feeling things were being held back.

For now, he decided that didn't matter. He'd learn how things were soon enough.

They had offered to summon Alice and seemed mildly perplexed when he'd declined, but he just wanted to finish with the Ministry as soon as possible and go to her room at the Leaky. He wanted to let things sink in a little more. Plus, underneath all the shock, there was also a twinge of amusement at just showing up her door. It might land him in a little trouble, but he was sure she'd just be happy to see him.

And so Frank Longbottom stood outside his wife's rented room and knocked, hoping like hell she was in.

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emerald_eyes
2010-05-24 12:15 am UTC (link)

"There's nothing wrong with having a professor for a son," Lily pointed out. "I'd be just as proud of Harry if he were teaching."

"Yes, but, Herbology?" Alice's nose wrinkled slightly. "I'm not any less proud, of course, but ... I suppose I'd always seen him growing up and following our footsteps. We were good, and ..." Alice waggled her brows. "Maybe they switched our sons at birth, right? You and James had the herbology professor and my son's the head of the Aurors."

Lily chuckled. "You keep this up and you're going to give the boy a complex," she chastised.

When the knock came, both women fell silent. Alice drew her wand first, and Lily did as well. Rising, they both faced the door before Alice nodded.

Standing behind the door and keeping clear of Alice's path of fire, Lily drew the door open and peeked around it, her wand still up.

"Frank!" Alice exclaimed, a grin spreading over her lips.

Lily smiled as well, stepping back to let Frank into the room.

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steadfast
2010-05-24 12:46 am UTC (link)

"That's it? Frank?" He questioned as he stepped in, but his wife's grin was infectious and coupled with the sheer relief he felt upon seeing her, he was unable to keep a stern expression. He crossed the room in long strides, wrapping his arms around his wife to embrace her.

He hadn't missed their wands or the cautious way Lily had answered the door which again led him to believe things weren't all roses in this time either, but he was sure he would be filled in soon enough.

Keeping an arm securely around Alice's waist, he turned back towards Lily and grinned, "Hello, Lily. It's really good to see you."

His eyes darkened briefly as he thought about her funeral, but he shook that away and instead swept his gaze around the interior of the room. If he ignored the fact that Lily had been dead, this almost felt normal.

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happily_alice
2010-05-24 12:53 am UTC (link)

She returned the embrace, pressing her lips to his cheek. "That's it. You took entirely too long to get here, so ... that's all you get." Except, the slight tremor in her voice and the tightness of her embrace made a lie of her words. He was here, alive, and at a proper age. Not like ... her eyes flicked toward Lily almost guiltily.

Lily smiled softly, though there was a touch of something like sadness in her expression. She had Severus, she loved Severus, but every once in a while, she did miss James. She'd loved him as well. "It's good to see you too, love. Good thing you showed up before I started to introduce her to some of the blokes I worked with. They would have wooed her in an instant," she teased Frank.

She didn't miss Alice's look, but she didn't think it was worth getting into just then. "Suppose I should head out now before I see more of the pair of you than I ever wanted to," Lily murmured.

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steadfast
2010-05-24 03:25 am UTC (link)

Frank pressed a kiss to Alice's hair, his arm still tight around her waist as if she might disappear if he let go. Logically, he knew that wasn't possible, but he'd also known that coming back from the dead wasn't possible and apparently everyone in the room with him presently had done just that.

"And just how much of us do you want to see, Lily?" He asked with a suggestive smile and an arch of his brow. He thought there was a little something off about her expression, but there was so much to take in that he didn't think too much about it.

For all that, maybe she really was concerned that he was about to rip Alice's clothes off on the spot. He doubted it, though.

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emerald_eyes
2010-05-24 03:37 am UTC (link)

"Roughly about as much of you as I'm seeing right now," she assured him with a soft grin. It was good to see him, and Merlin only knew they needed all the Order members they could get just then. There might not be an Order, but these were still skilled witches and wizards she'd want on her side.

"We'll have to visit once Alice has gotten you all caught up," Lily offered. Nodding to them, she started toward the door. "I'll see you later, loves."

Alice lifted a hand in a wave to Lily as the younger witch left, and once the door closed, she flicked her wand to lock it. She did feel a little bad for cutting their visit short, but it was for a perfectly acceptable reason.

"James ... came back young," she said to Frank. She wasn't sure he'd seen the look, but even if he hadn't, she thought to get that out first. "He's in school, and Lily isn't, but she's found someone else."

Slender fingers stroked through her husband's hair, and she smiled at him. "Oh, Frank. I'm so glad you're back. I ... was afraid you wouldn't. That I'd be alone. Did they tell you what happened to us?"

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steadfast
2010-05-24 04:47 pm UTC (link)

After saying goodbye to Lily and watching Alice lock the door, he furrowed his brow as his wife spoke. James came back young. One of the Ministry sorts had said something similar about James and his friends, but honestly it hadn't made sense to him at the time and he filed it away to be figured out when he was calmer.

"How is this possible? Do they really not know?" Having worked for the Ministry, of course he knew their level of intelligence wasn't always top notch, but it seemed as if they had more questions than answers regarding this.

Both of his arms wrapped around her and he pressed close to her, letting his eyes close as he recalled what had happened to them. He didn't really want to believe that he and Alice had spent the majority of their life out of his mind, locked up in St. Mungos. At least his mum had been around to raise Neville, but... still.

"They did, yeah. Have you... met Neville?" He drew back enough to gaze down at her, lifting a hand to cup her cheek before letting his fingertips drift down her throat. He smiled down at her and added, "Sorry for taking so long."

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happily_alice
2010-05-24 05:42 pm UTC (link)

"No one knows. No one even has any idea. People are just ... showing up where they died. James and Lily showed up in what used to be their house, in the Hollow. Dorcas showed up in an alley. Benjy showed up on the street. I showed up in the long-term ward."

She assumed that was where Frank had died as well, so she didn't ask or press for details.

"I met him, a few nights ago," she said. "I was starting to think he wasn't going to show up. He ... brought some bad news though."

Alice hated to bring this down, but business first. "Bellatrix is threatening Lily." She paused."And me."

She shrugged her shoulders slightly before resting her head on his shoulder, rubbing his back slightly. "Which goes a long way toward explaining why we had our wands out when we opened the door."

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steadfast
2010-05-25 05:24 pm UTC (link)

"So business as usual then," he muttered with a shake of his head. The Ministry didn't know what was going on and Death Eaters were ... being Death Eaters.

His arms did tighten around her waist and while he liked to think they could handle Bellatrix, the idea of what had happened to them before lingered in his mind. Sure, it had taken four of them to bring him and Alice down, but they'd have to be more careful this time around.

"I need a wand," he added, all this talk and thoughts of Death Eaters making him feel even nakeder than he already did without one. He'd really liked his wand too. "Did you come back without one too?"

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happily_alice
2010-05-25 05:41 pm UTC (link)

Alice nodded. "Not sure what became of it," she admitted. "Probably got sold at an estate sale when Augusta's attic was cleaned out or something," she mused.

"Anyway, Ollivander's gone and the wandmaker now's some foreign bloke. Nice enough, lovely wands. Dual cores on some of them," Alice added.

"We should head down when you're ready."

Though given they were talking about wands on the tail end of a conversation about Bellatrix, she imagined he'd be ready soon.

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steadfast
2010-05-25 07:36 pm UTC (link)

"Might as well get it over with," he decided, repressing a sigh. Even after deciding to go, he kept his arms around her and gazed down at her, a mix of interesting emotions in his eyes.

"Does everything feel normal to you yet? I'd like to gauge how long I'm going to walk around waiting to wake up from a very strange dream," he explained with a light roll of his eyes at himself. He knew he'd adapt and that it was just going to take time for everything to sink in properly, but he wasn't exactly used to not feeling at the top of his game.

After leaning down to kiss her, fully, but briefly, he reluctantly released her so they could go fetch him a wand. That, he thought, was a step in the right direction to feeling a little closer to normal.

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happily_alice
2010-05-25 07:58 pm UTC (link)

Alice shook her head. "Lily's been back a couple of months. She's pretty well adjusted, but admits she still has moments." Lily had also confessed to dreading Halloween in case somehow the anniversary of her murder meant the end of her new life.

Not that she had anything to base it on, but nothing about this situation was normal or predictable. She could be onto something, but Alice hoped Halloween came and went without any bumps like that.

Alice closed her eyes as she returned his kiss, and if they'd been heading out for something less vital than his wand, she wouldn't have let him break the kiss.

"Let's get going then," she murmured as she took his hand.

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steadfast
2010-05-26 12:45 am UTC (link)

He could have easily been convinced to stay, but he really did need a wand. The sooner they went out, the sooner they could get back, he reminded himself.

"Let's see if this new fellow's wands are up to my standards," he teased. Nevermind that Varin probably wasn't actually new, but he was new to Frank.

Squeezing her hand, he made his way out of the room with her, heading out into the new world to buy a new wand.

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