Visting

Neville just rolled his eyes. He didn’t care about Slytherins he just didn’t like his kids dating them. Alice just had no idea how they are in relationships; he supposed she would if Amelia’s relationship turns sour.

He tried not scoff. Since when was any Longbottom loud, if anyone in the family was loud it would be Frank and he didn’t speak that much in school. He supposed Frank was more like Neville then Neville wanted to admit. It worried him a bit though. “Some professors are like that,” he said.

“Anyone can be annoying. In a few years you’ll understand. If you’ve seen how Hogwarts houses are in War Time you’d change your mind,” he sighed. He hoped she never saw that but he knew that she would. There were only so many years between wars and it was getting about time where you could expect another war. The kidnappings, murders and attacks isn’t really a good sign either but he was going to keep Alice clueless about it until there was an real war if he could.

"Yeah I guess" said Alice with a shrug. She never really had a problem with a professor before, most of them liked her. Nor did she get detentions at all. Imagining having to spend another few hours with that professor cleaning, doing chores and probably something worse made her frown. But she had to do it, there was no other way.

"Actually I would like to see that, the houses uniting. That doesn't really happen anymore. But I guess we didn't have a good enough reason to try before." Hogwarts was separate with people you should like and you shouldn't like. The Slytherins are supposed to hate the Gryffindors, The Ravenclaws are supposed to get along with the Hufflepuffs. Such cliches that were certainly not true, yet people chose to abide by them. It was really frustrating at times. But then again everyone has their own opinion and it's hard to change that.

"A while ago...you mentioned that my grandparents were part of the Order...the Order of Phoenix. And now...so are you? And mum as well?" asked Alice. She thought she didn't wanted to get back to this topic again, at least for tonight. She almost promised herself. But curiosity got the best of her. Now that she knew what her father did in the past, she wanted to know what he was doing right now as well. How much he was still involved in this world of his.

“That I am. Your mum is not. She doesn’t even know I am. I suppose I should tell her,” Neville sighed. He could hear Hannah yelling now. He didn’t know how to really talk about this. He didn’t want Alice knowing about the Order. The last thing he wanted to have was his daughter taking interest in the Order.

“I know that you must be frightened of the idea of me being in the Order but you have to understand that the Order is much stronger now. I can take care of myself out there, I may be older but I can still fight,” he said taking a sip of his Butterbeer. He had a short flashback to his third year while he drank his first Butterbeer. It was so long ago. It was depressing how long ago it was.

Well that was a first, her father doing something without her mother's knowledge. At least in her mind it was a first. She knew how close they were and how difficult it must be for her dad, trying to hide things from her. Alice tried hiding something from her mom once, and she failed miserably. Her mother always had a keen sense of knowing when something was wrong. But it seems her dad was somehow making it work. "Probably...before she finds out on her own. She would go ballistic on you. " said Alice nodding her head, agreeing that it was the most reasonable idea she could think of.

She wasn't really frightened with this thought of her dad in the Order. I mean she was a bit worried of course, but frightened no. Not at all. She was more proud actually. "No... I don't have anything against it. In fact I think it's...quite brilliant." said Alice with a large grin. She wanted to know more about the Order but wasn't sure how much would her father agree to let her know. "And the Potter's and the Weasley's are in the Order as well?..."

“Don’t get any ideas,” he warned. He wanted to make it clear she was not to join the Order. “And yes they are, at least some of them, “he added. He wished he knew what to change the subject to. He didn’t like talking about the Order but he knew if he didn’t she’d try to find out on her own.

“I also named Frank after your grandfather. Your kids’ names were about the only thing me and your mother could agree in early in our marriage. It was quite ridiculous. Half the time we wouldn’t even agree to disagree but somehow we managed to get through that,” he said with a slight laugh. He still remembered the time they locked each other outside of the house with Frank inside. Neville had to climb in through a window, which at his size wasn’t easy but Hannah was pregnant with Alice at the time so she couldn’t do it and they shouldn’t leave a toddler in the house alone for that long napping or awake, which he was the latter.

Alice laughed at her dad's response and she shook her head. "I'm not getting any ideas dad... I promise. I was just saying, I think it's great." She wasn't even thinking about joining the Order, at least not for now. She was too young and she knew she had a lot of work to do in school and in her own career first, to chase after other ambitions like that afterwards. And besides, her dad would probably fight her to the bone is she ever even considered joining. So she wasn't going to worry about that right now. She would worry about it later, when the time comes for that.

"That picture you showed me? May I keep it?" asked Alice. She wanted to have a reminder of her grandparents. For her, they were a symbol of why her dad fought so much to protect her. They reminded her of how things used to be and how they have changed now. But it also served as a reminder of how easily things could slip back into those old patterns once more.

"It sounds to me that the Order is a lot like..." she started, getting back to the first topic again. She wanted to say Potter's Army, but then she realized she wasn't sure if her dad knew about it. He might know it exists but not that she's a part of it. Well, it was a perfectly harmless thing to admit right? They really didn't do dangerous things anyway. "I meant to say Potter's Army. It sounds kind of similar. The idea behind it at least..." said Alice, quickly adding that last thing to her conversation. Making sure her dad know she wasn't doing anything dangerous was her most important goal right now.

“Keep it. I’ve had it for long enough,” he said with a smile. Neville didn’t need to hold onto that picture forever since they are plenty of other pictures. He got to see him parents most of his life, sane or insane he still got to see them. He didn’t need pictures when he would never forget the in memories, the good and the bad.

“The w hat?” he asked. He had a feeling it was like Dumbledore’s Army but he doesn’t keep up with that stuff, he is too old for that stuff. He didn’t care that much since it wasn’t Wartime and it was very helpful for him as a teen so why not let her be part of it. He and Hannah had been.

She took the picture and placed it into her pocket. She made a mental note to put it somewhere safe, as she tends to lose things quite often. Perhaps an enchanted box or even a locket could do nicely. Having it around her at most times would certainly bring her some comfort.

"Yeah exactly. But since we had to change the name, the obvious choice was Potter's Army. Miseria Lupin is leading it now. And besides, a lot of us, including myself, didn't actually have a choice of just considering joining the group. You simply had to be a part of it. No one forced you of course, but it was expected. Family legacy, your last name and all..." said Alice with a smile. Although she did not know that much about her own family history before, she knew about history in general. And everyone knew about her father's involvement in Dumbledor's Army. And with that, she easily made the list. But she enjoyed it there, it was filled with family friends and people she could get along with easily. They were all similar in a way.

“Ah, good for you. It’s the same way with me and Order and it will be the same way the rest of your life,” he said. “You will get used to it,” he added. He knew Amelia was in it and to be honest probably deeper stuff. He knew his goddaughter was much different from his daughter. Amelia was feisty and taking on the world by the horns. He called it the Bones genes but he had to say she was just as stubborn as her father.

“Live it up now who knows when it won’t be there anymore. Times always change and that is about the scariest part of life. Death Eaters are just an example of the terrifying part of life. Change is harder to accept then danger, fear or hate. It happens and we learn to deal with it or else we fall behind, once you fall behind you are never able to catch up. I wouldn’t say never actually but it is very hard,” Neville said. Hannah had caught up but she had him pulling her behind him. She isn’t sure that without her that he would make it this far.

Her dad was being honest with her, and that was what she appreciated the most. She wasn't going to lie, the things he said scared her. She wished she could be brave and fearless. She wishes she could do it all on her own and not really care about other people's opinions or support. But she simply wasn't like that. Or at least not now. She wanted to be, one day. And as her father said, maybe she would. But then again he seemed much more sure of that thought than Alice was.

She still needed her dad, desperately. Both of her parents actually. Without that kind of support she would just crumble up. She wasn't sure how did she end up being so fragile, but it was something she had to accept. She was the weakest link in her family and it seemed that everyone had to take care of her, because she couldn't take care of herself. Would that ever change? Perhaps, one day. But not right now.

Alice sat up from her seat and took the one next to her dad. She leaned her head and rested it on his shoulders. If only things could stay like this forever. "I got the bad genes in the family...didn't I?" she said through a soft smile.