Chapter 5 A New Lease on Life (original) (raw)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Title: A New Lease on Life
Rating: T
Pairing: Frank/Alice
Summary: On Neville Longbottom's eighteenth birthday he gets a birthday surprise that he never expected that he would receive. Though he does find out that having his greatest wish granted would be harder than what he expected and isn't instant.

After Neville left the hospital, Augusta decided that she was going to stay and spend the rest of the visiting hours visiting Alice and hoping to see what progress Frank had made today. She couldn't believe that her grandson would agree to such a barbaric treatment for Alice, such as cutting her open to try to get her to be normal. She thought the treatment would kill her and she would experience worse pain than what she did during her torture of course the muggle Healer reassured her that Alice wouldn't feel anything since she would be asleep but Augusta had a hard time believing that. Though after she had a chance to let the news of Alice's impending operation sink in she could understand how desperate Neville was to get both of his parents back especially since he would be getting his father back soon. Augusta only hoped that if Alice did die tomorrow that she wouldn't feel any pain though she would miss her very much and she knew that her Frank would miss her too. Augusta wanted to keep things the way that they were without risking Alice's life and she knew that she would be safe at St. Mungo's instead of here in this muggle hospital where they want to cut her up. She wasn't too surprised when she saw her brother coming into Alice's ward wanting to find out why Alice was here too.

“Your great nephew didn't think that it was enough to have Frank he wanted to have Alice too. Which wouldn't be too bad but they want to cut her up tomorrow in order to try to bring her back.”

Algie looked at his sister in disbelief wondering if she would understand how desperate Neville would be to have both of his parents back even looking to muggle medicine for help. He remembered all of his letters to Father Christmas every year from when he could write until he stopped believing in him where the one thing that he always wanted was for new minds for his parents so that they could come and live with him. Though Algie knew that his sister couldn't believe that he would risk Alice's life in order to get his wish to come true but he also knew of the prejudices against anything muggle in the British wizarding world. He knew that Augusta wouldn't do anything intentional to harm Alice or to keep from being able to bring her back, but he also knew that Frank would agree to the surgery once he got his mind back. He only wished that Augusta would make up with Neville since he didn't agree with her that he had signed his mother's death order. He also knew that Augusta had pursued every type of wizarding treatment for Frank and Alice when they were first injured but she had been told over and over again by wizarding Healers that there was no hope for them. Now his great nephew was willing to stand up to his Gran and seek muggle help for them which made Algie amazed that he might be able to really talk to Alice in a few months, since he was already looking forward to having Frank back with them. Algie could only hope that Alice would be able to survive the muggle treatment, since he knew that his sister would never be able to forgive Neville if Alice died as a result of this muggle treatment, but that the risk would be worth it since she didn't have much of a life in St. Mungo's. He had faith that his sister would come to accept Neville's decision, especially if she got both her son and daughter in law back where they could live on their own and lead normal lives. He knew that even with the surgery that the recovery time for Alice would be a long one and no one knew if she would remember the past sixteen years. Besides now Frank had to work hard to even live a normal life which disappointed him as well as it did Neville. He only hoped that Augusta could forgive her grandson for what he felt that he had to do for his mom. He didn't know what he would do if Augusta and Neville never spoke again. Though eight years ago a reporter had tried to write a piece exposing the corruption at St. Mungo's and the horrible treatment that patients like Frank and Alice had endured though neither him nor his sister could see it, but he had interviewed a Yankee neurologist who was also a witch about the Yankee treatment plans that they had for patients like Frank and Alice. Too bad that he had lost his wife and almost lost his nine year old girl in a horrible accident and he decided to leave investigative journalism. Algie though was pleased and knew that his sister was pleased when he decided to give up the trash that he had been writing these past few years in order to tell the truth about the war and supporting the Potter kid. He knew that he would probaly be the only reporter allowed to visit with the family while both Alice and Frank were in the muggle hospital since his daughter was friends with Neville and that he did try to help them eight years ago. He saw Neville when he returned to the hospital with a determined look on his face to visit with both of his parents and to see what progress his father was making not caring what his Gran thought. He entered the room just as his dad came back from physical therapy where he was showing his mother that he could sit up without any support, that he couldn't even do that a few days ago. Augusta looked just as proud of her son as if he had fought Voldemort again, which she had told her grandson about though he did know that was the reason that his family was singled out by his followers during one of the times that she was mad at him. He was proud of the progress that he was making even though it was slow and he wanted his mother to be able to live a normal life again as well. He knew that if his mother could live a normal life as well as a result of the muggle surgery that his grandmother and father would be grateful for such a gift. He did know that most of the wizarding world including his grandmother's friends thought that his parents were better off dead instead of living at St. Mungo's. He had even looked at brochures from different magical rehabilitation centers with the best one being in Switzerland but he didn't want to have to travel all of the way to America or even to Canada in order to be with them for their treatment. Healer Pye had given him the brochures from the different facilities after his father had woken up from his coma, but if his mother lived then she would be able to go to. His Gran can be intimidating at times, but when it came to his parent's well being he was willing to stand up to her, even if it meant going with his parents to Switzerland instead of to the facility in Savannah, Georgia where his grandmother had distant cousins that lived there. He knew that he needed to tell his other friends about his mum's surgery the next day in case they wanted to support him, hopefully they wouldn't be like his Gran and think that he had planned on killing his mother though with Harry and Hermione growing up with muggles they would understand that he wanted to help his mum not kill her. He had to meet with the surgeon about when would be the last time that he can see his mother tomorrow before he takes her off to operate on her and about how long the operation will take. His Gran didn't notice him when he walked into the ward, but when he walked over to his dad's bed, he congratulated his dad on the progress that he was making and his grandmother didn't even acknowledge his presence in the ward. Now it seemed that his grandmother was given him the silent treatment since she strongly disagreed with what he did, though hopefully she didn't tell his mother that he had planned on killing her with muggle medicine. He can ignore his Gran as well as he spent time with his mum telling her about how the muggle doctor was going to make her feel better, where she would be able to come home with them instead of staying at the hospital. He did mention that his dad was going to come home and live them as well, and this was reality and not just a little boy's fantasy that he had when he was younger. His mother seemed to appreciate the time that he was spending with her and seemed to like being back in the same hospital ward with her husband again, since she seemed to be down when he and his Gran went by St. Mungo's to pick her up earlier that day. She did seem to perk up though when she saw Frank even if it was in a strange setting. Neville seemed to think that he was doing the right thing for his mother even if every one else disagreed since she would be able to be with his father even when he had to be moved to a different facility for a few weeks. Now he was giving both of his parents the type of life they might have had if they hadn't been injured in the first place. He only wished that his grandmother would have tried muggle treatment earlier since he could have had a normal childhood instead of worrying that everyone would find out about his secret. Even though when some of his friends discovered his secret none of them treated him differently because his parents didn't even know who he was. He hated the pitying look that he had received from his Gran's friends whenever they would come over. Though now if his mother died from the muggle treatment those same friends would look at him as if he had killed his own mother instead of trying to help her to live as normal of a life as possible. When his Gran went over to visit his father, he visited with his mother trying to explain a little bit of why she was in hospital and that the doctors here will try to rewire her brain so that she can come and live with her little boy. Neville never knew if she even knew that she had children or that one of them had died tragically when they were fifteen months old. He couldn't wait to see if the muggle doctor could help his mother to live a normal life even if they were kicked out of the wizarding community for seeking help outside of their community. He would give up his powers in a heartbeat if it meant getting his parents back.