A Potion's Miracle by Maraudering

It took a while, but Neville eventually stopped crying, although he stayed in Severus’ arms for a while longer. Not that Severus minded, he could stay there for as long as he needed. His heart ached painfully for the boy who had been hurt so terribly by his family.

Kingsley was still smiling at them, awe in his dark eyes, and something else that still made Severus’ heart feel a good kind of funny.

“Can… Can we finish this now? I don’t think I will be able to do it another time,” Neville whispered after a bit longer.

“Of course. If that is what you want,” Severus said, helping Neville stand and sit back down in his seat, resuming his own seat and holding Neville’s hand so he had some comfort.

“Are you sure, little one? We can wait as long as you need,” Healer Greyclaw said, concern in her eyes.

Neville nodded desperately, “I can’t… I need to do it now, please,”

“Okay,” King Ragnok said as he tapped the quill to resume the quoting, “Were you ever physically hit, burned, or stabbed by anyone in your family? Or any other physical abuse that you can recall?”

“I… I have been hit a few times, by my gran and my uncle. Nothing major, just a few slaps here and there, the occasional punch,” Neville said shakily.

“Has anything ever been aimed at you? Either by them throwing the item in question, or whacking you with it?” Ragnok said gently.

“Erm… Uncle Algie threw a vase at me once, it smashed near enough to me that a bit of the glass ricocheted into my leg. But that is all I can recall,”

“Okay,” Ragnok nodded, “Have… Have you ever been touched inappropriately by anyone in or out of your family?”

Neville gulped, “What do you mean?”

“Has anyone touched you in… weird ways, or inappropriate places, without your permission, or after you have told them ‘no’ or to stop? Has anyone ever made you feel uncomfortable with their touches? And I don’t mean via physical pain,”

“Erm… I don’t think so,” Severus almost breathed a sigh of relief at his answer.

“Okay, this is to add on to that, I’m hoping it is unnecessary based on your previous answer, but I need to cover all bases. Has anyone in your family, or out of your family with your family’s knowledge of the event, ever raped you, or forced you to do something you were uncomfortable with, or didn’t want to do?”

“No, sir,” Neville said.

“And another add on, which I am hoping is not necessary, but again, we need to cover our bases, has anyone ever successfully or unsuccessfully tried to mutilate your genitalia in anyway?”

Neville blushed slightly and placed his hand on his stomach in a way that had Severus dreading his answer.

Please, Merlin, no.

“Erm… When I was twelve, we found out I am a bearer,” Neville said, “I didn’t know much about them until Severus told me about Harry, because… My gran and uncle didn’t like the news too much. At all, really. They think it is unnatural, you see, for a man to carry a child. And gran hated it because I was even more unlike my dad than I was before. Because I can have babies, and he couldn’t,” Neville choked and Severus wanted nothing more than to take the boy in his arms again, “My uncle wanted to… h-he wanted to…”

“Neville, child, you don’t have to go on if you can’t, we can wait,” Healer Greyclaw said softly.

“No. I-I need to do this now. Now. He w-wanted to cut out my womb, and gran wanted him to, also. They tied me down, and uncle tried to… He came at me with a knife, ready to do it. But my magic saved me, and the house elves did, too. My magic burst out and protected me with a shield so strong that he couldn’t get through it no matter how hard he tried. Neither could gran. Then I called the house elves and they removed them from the room, untied me, and helped keep them away from me for as long as they could. One of them always stayed with me after that, also, so that they could stop anything they tried again,”

“Did they try again?” Severus asked quietly.

“A few times, but after the house elves started showing themselves properly around me they stopped. It never worked, though. I still have my womb,” Neville said, looking at the floor.

“The last thing we need to ask about before we run a health scan on you is regarding verbal, emotional and mental abuse,” Ragnok said, “Given some of what you have revealed so far I would say that there has been a fair amount of that also so I won’t go into too much detail, but if you could just tell us about some of the things they would say or do to you that hurt you emotionally, mentally, or affected you in some other way,”

“W-well, they… After finding out that I am a bearer they always called me a freak. That was another thing Harry and I bonded over, too, because he was always called a freak by his family,” Neville said, still looking down at his lap, his hand in Severus’, gripping tight as he leaned against the man’s strong arm, “They… They compared me to my dad all the time, said that I wasn’t good enough. That I wasn’t like him. I was too weak. Too cowardly. Too unmagical. They said my parents would be disappointed in me. That they would hate that I don’t want to be an Auror like them. That I want to work with plants, of all things. I… I… I told them, once, before I started at Hogwarts, that I didn’t want to be in Gryffindor, and they shouted at me for hours. Called me worthless. Selfish. Crazy. Stupid. The Sorting Hat sorted me there because… Because he saw what they would do to me if I was sorted anywhere else, because they had told me, in great detail, before I got on the train. He also said that I was b-brave, and anything but a coward, but how can I believe that? I-I was told one minute that I was fat, and ugly, and horrible, and then the next I was told that I wasn’t eating enough, that I…

“They glared at me a lot. Or appeared behind me out of nowhere. They… I had nightmares, and they would tell me I was weak for crying… for crying about anything really, not just the nightmares. I was… I was there, when my parents were… And I can remember it, sometimes, like Harry could sometimes remember his parent’s deaths. Those were my nightmares, mostly, but I was weak. I was a coward. I was stupid. They would tell me… T-they would t-tell me-me that they wished that I was the one who was tor-tortured instead of my parents. Because I’m no good anyway, right? I’m no good. They were brave, and strong, and smart, and magical, and did something good for work, something proper and respectable… but me… I’m no one. I’m not brave, or strong, or smart, or magical, and I don’t want a respectable job that’s good and proper. I don’t matter. I was a baby, a baby, but it’s okay for me to be tortured because I’m no one. I’m not her grandchild, I’m not his nephew. I’m no one. I’m not good enough. And they could have always had more babies to replace me, right? Right? Better babies,”

Neville was shaking in his arms again, but Severus didn’t care as he held the boy close to his chest and let out his own silent tears because how fucking dare they do this to a child.

Kingsley looked about ready to go find the two menaces and torture them into extinction. Severus almost wished he could join him, and the goblins that were clearly itching to go also, but Neville was more important in that moment than any revenge. That could come later.

He saw that the quill had stopped in its motions and knew that the interview part of the meeting was over. But he didn’t want to let Neville out of his arms for him to be checked over by Healer Greyclaw just yet.

“Neville, child, your parents would be so very proud of you,” Severus said, his voice quiet and gentle as he held the boy close, “They loved you so much, and I am sure they still do, somewhere, deep down. They would be appalled at how you have been treated by your family. The ones who were supposed to love and protect you. You are an amazing child. You are kind. And brave. And caring. And loving. And loyal. It doesn’t matter that you want to work with plants, that is a perfectly respectable job. Potion Masters need people like you to gather many of our ingredients, after all. I like to gather what I can myself, but I also know that I don’t have access to many of them, so I need people like you to get me the ingredients I need to make potions to heal people, and more. And that makes the job you want to do a very respectable and important job. Because how can we heal people without the potions necessary to the process?” Severus said, rubbing the boy’s back gently as the shaking settled down slightly and his sobs turned to sniffles.

“And yes, at the moment we can’t cure everything, everyone, but one day… One day, with the help of people who work with the plants we need, who can find and create new plants, we will be able to make miracles happen. You are a miracle, Neville. Your parents know it. I know it. Everyone else in this room knows it. And everyone with half a brain knows it, too. You are very much needed in this world. You are magical. You are worthy of love, and care, and compassion, and protection. You aren’t a freak. It is their fault for not being able to see how amazing you truly are. For hurting you so terribly. You have the power to be so amazingly gifted, Neville, I know it. I saw you work with Harry in class and how your potion was perfect up until that ingredient went flying. You are so talented, and I’ve heard Professor Sprout joyously recount all the amazing things you have done in her classes. And if they hadn’t hurt you, then you would have been able to truly shine in all of your classes,

“But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to now. I will do everything I can to ensure that you are removed from their custody, and I will make sure you know your worth, and that you can be whatever you want to be, and that you know you aren’t weak, or stupid. You aren’t stupid, Neville. I will do everything I can to make sure you become more confident in yourself, so that you can truly shine like the miracle you are. You are worth every star in the universe, child. And I will do everything I can to ensure you know that,”

“Harry, too?” Neville whispered against Severus’ chest.

“Harry, too,” Severus agreed, kissing the top of Neville’s head gently.

“I… I want to be Harry’s big brother,” Neville said.

“You already are,” Severus said, a small smile on his face.

“I… I know, but prop-properly,” Neville looked up at Severus then and Severus looked at him in shock.

Neville smiled sheepishly.

“I-I used to dream about what my mum would have been like. How… How she would look after me, care for me. And… I mean I never really knew how a mum was meant to be, but you come pretty close to how I imagined it. You tell me that I am worth it. You hold me. You make me feel safe, and loved, and cared for. You make me feel like I’m not completely useless. That I have something worth something. That I’m not a freak,” Neville said, and Severus just watched him in wonder.

“Even before, before the accident I knew there was something about you, something good. You kept saving Harry’s life, after all. And I could see your mask slip occasionally. So could Harry. I knew you were hiding, for yourself and for us. But, even when you were at your meanest I never felt unsafe with you. I… I want to be Harry’s brother, for real. If you don’t want me then that’s okay, I understand. Being a single parent of one won’t be easy, let alone two, but… I mean, if you don’t want me then I know you will find someone good, someone I can trust. And you will still look after me, and I can still be Harry’s brother…” Neville trailed off nervously, and Severus was…

Well he was astounded that this child would want him. Him . Why would any child want him?

“Why… Why would you want me?” Severus couldn’t help but whisper.

“Because you are safe. Because you have cared for me more in the last two days than anyone has since my parents were hurt. Because you are mine and Harry’s miracle,” Neville said strongly, and Severus had to try and swallow down his emotions.

Though it was hard.

“Do you want me?” Neville asked nervously.

“Of course I want you, Neville,” Severus said, holding the boy close as his heart threatened to explode.

He could feel Neville grin into his chest and Severus smiled, although he blushed when he saw the way Kinglsey and the goblins were looking at him.

They didn’t matter, though. Neville and Harry were the only ones that mattered in that moment.

“Thank you, mum,” he heard Harry say.

“There’s still work to do, yet, Harry. But thank you, also,” Severus said back to his baby boy, his littlest miracle.

“Right, let’s get down to business,” King Ragnok said, and Neville blushed as he pulled away from Severus slightly, though he didn’t move back to his chair just yet, “Young Neville, we need to do a full health scan on you to see if there are any injuries or anything that need fixing, and to gather more evidence. Then we can discuss how to proceed,”

“Okay,” Neville said, still reluctant to move away from Severus, but he did so when Healer Greyclaw came over and gently asked him to sit in his own chair.

The health scan was soon over and Neville was gripping Severus’ hand nervously as the adults looked over it and growled collectively at the harm caused to the boy. The injuries were ridiculous, although, somewhat thankfully, there weren’t nearly as many as Harry had. But the periods of malnutrition, and overnutrition were obvious. The poison. Along with cases of pneumonia, and heat stroke, a few broken bones, evidence of drownings, and more. His womb wasn’t harmed, thankfully, clearly they didn’t think of the rare potions a bearer can use to… well, destroy their womb. Although, admittedly, it isn’t usually the bearer that chooses to take them, rather it is usually forced upon them. He had some scars, including one in his leg from the glass vase. But it still contained more than enough evidence to arrest for child abuse and child endangerment.

“What now?” Neville asked nervously.

“Yours is a delicate case, Heir Longbottom, as you well know,” King Ragnok said, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. I think the best way to try, at least at first, will be to call your grandmother in and see if she will sign over custody. We don’t have to say to whom, she will probably argue a lot more if she knows you have chosen Severus. But I believe, hope really, that she would rather just sign over custody of you than have us make this public. Which we will, if she dares to not do this one little thing for you after everything she has done to you. Of course, this doesn’t mean that her and your uncle won’t be punished. They will be. But they will be punished a lot less publicly if she signs over custody now,” Ragnok grinned as he spoke, but Neville didn’t seem worried by it.

“O-Okay,” Neville said.

“Are you okay to be in the same room as her? I can take you somewhere else whilst she is here?” Severus said, he wasn’t needed in the room either, the goblins and Kingsley could handle the situation well enough on their own.

“I’ll be fine,” Neville said, sitting up a bit taller, “I… I need to do this, I think,”

“Okay,” Severus said gently, “But if you need to leave at any point then let me know and I will take you out,”

Neville just nodded.

And, half an hour later, Augusta Longbottom was in the room, looking both confused and angry, especially as she saw her grandson sitting nervously between Severus and Kingsley.

“What is this about? I have important things to be doing. What has he done?” Augusta snarled, and Neville flinched, leaning closer to Severus, although no longer holding his hand.

Ragnok growled, “This is about your child rearing abilities, Dowager Longbottom,” he ignored her raised eyebrows, “Tell me, can you explain why you thought it okay to allow your brother to chuck your own grandson out of a window? Or to allow him to attempt to remove Neville’s womb? Or anything else that you have done, which we have evidence of, and we will get others involved if you don’t comply with our wishes,”

“He is unnatural. It isn’t right for a man to bear children. To be gay. Any of it. My son would be ashamed of who his baby has become. Neville should be more like him. Strong. Brave. Intelligent. Magical. And he isn’t. He is none of those things. He is a runt. A freak. A nobody. I wanted him to be magical, but his magic was always so weak, so not there. I thought letting those things happen would shape him into a better man, but clearly not if he is here crying to you lot about it,” she said sternly.

Neville was trembling slightly next to him and Severus’ heart hurt, but before he could say anything Kingsley jumped into the conversation with a ferocity that Severus had never seen from the man before.

“I think he has every right to cry about how you have treated him. He is your grandson, he is a child. Children are meant to be cherished and you let your brother hurt him in ways that no child should be hurt, and you hurt him, too. Who the fuck thinks it a wonderful idea to tell a child that they should have been the ones tortured as a baby rather than their parents? Did you know that he remembers that night? He remembers the night his parents were tortured in front of him, and those nightmares he cried about, the ones you told him off for crying about, were him reliving that night. He was a baby, a magical baby, and you refused to see it. You refuse to see how special he is, how magical he is. Just the fact that he is a bearer alone means he is powerful, more powerful than the average witch or wizard. It means he is more naturally magical than even you are,

“And yet, his whole fucking childhood, you have been drilling into him that he is useless, and weak, and not magical, because he wouldn’t do magic openly. Did you ever think, for even one second, that maybe he was scared, maybe the night his parents were hurt had affected him in some way? Maybe he just needed a little help and encouragement, but you did the exact opposite of that. In any case, though, it doesn’t matter how magical he is, does it? Because he is still your grandson. Your son, and daughter-in-law were tortured because they loved him so much that they wanted to protect him from the Death Eaters. And yet you took their sacrifice for their son, who they loved more than life itself, and you abused him in a way no child should have to experience, let alone from their own family,

“You think that he is weak because he doesn’t want to be an Auror, because he wants to work with plants instead, and yet you fail to realise how important plants are. He isn’t weak. He isn’t useless. I know the potions Frank and Alice are on to keep them alive, they were my friends after all, my colleagues. Those potions wouldn’t be around if not for the herbologists out there looking after the plants needed for them. He wants a respectable career, but because he isn’t exactly like Frank he isn’t important, right? But how can he be exactly like Frank when the only thing he remembers about the man is him being tortured? We in the wizarding world are raised to believe that all magical children are special, miracles, important, and you failed to see those things about Neville,

“To the point where you let your brother poison him to see if a fucking bezoar would work, and it did work, thankfully. And yet you still didn’t see how magical Neville was. It could only work if he was magical, after all. But what would you have done if it hadn’t worked? If Neville had died in any of the attempts on his life; the poisoning, the throwing off a pier, the throwing out of the window, any of it; what would you have done? What would your excuse have been? You know the tests run on a child’s dead body, you know what we would have found out about how he was raised, so why on earth did you decide to let yourself and your brother harm him given how much you value your reputation? Why? What made you think that treating your grandchild like this was an acceptable thing to do?” Kingsley growled protectively as he stood between Neville and the woman glaring at him.

“I lost my son because of him. And he did nothing to earn anything from me, to prove that it was worth it. There was no magic from him. No effort. No nothing. He is weak-willed. He cries at everything. He isn’t brave. He can’t stand up for himself. He is useless. Lazy. He cost me my son, my baby boy, and he gave me nothing in return. What was I supposed to do? Coddle him? Love him?”

“He was a baby,” Kingsley shouted, “And he had just lived through something incredibly traumatic. Something that still affects him to this bloody day. He is your grandson. None of what happened was his fault. The only people at fault for this situation are the ones who hurt Alice and Frank. So yes, you were meant to love him, and protect him, and care for him. He did nothing wrong. Nothing. He is a child. An innocent, amazing child. The son of your own son. And you hurt him. You hurt him, and allowed your brother to hurt him, too. What would Frank think if he was cured one day, and came home to find his son hurting because of you, or worse, dead because you let your brother get away with all the shit he pulled? What would he say if you had succeeded in killing his baby boy? The one he loved so fucking much that he let those Death Eaters torture him so that they wouldn’t touch a hair on his baby’s head. What would he say?”

Augusta was pale, but Severus could still see her glare as she looked at the irate man. There was pain in her eyes, too, but it didn’t matter. She was grieving the loss of the man her son used to be, sure, but that didn’t give her the right to hurt her grandson in such horrendous ways.

She didn’t answer and Kingsley growled at her before pulling the parchments closer to her, along with a quill and some ink.

“Sign these and we won’t make what you did to Neville, your grandson, your son’s baby boy, public,” Kingsley ground out.

“What are they?” Augusta snarled.

“The first is a form for you to sign custody of Neville over to someone else, someone who will love him and protect him, and not hurt him. The second is one for you to give up all rights to the Longbottom name, moneys and other artefacts. You will also rescind your right to holding the Longbottom seat on the Wizengamot so that it can be passed on to a more suitable proxy until Neville is of age,” Kingsley said.

“And why would I do either of those things? As you keep saying, the freak is my grandson. And you can’t just make me lose my title like that,”

“Yes, we can,” Ragnok growled, “You can lose the title of Dowager Longbottom very easily. Your husband is dead, and there is a clause in the Longbottom family charter that says if the person holding the proxy for an Heir, who is married into the family rather than born into it, is deemed unfit by either the goblins, Lady Magic, or the Longbottom family charter, then they shall be removed from the family name, and their position. You would revert back to the name you had before you were married. You would lose access to the Longbottom vaults, houses, and heirlooms. And you wouldn’t be able to hold the proxy anymore,

“And I, King Ragnok of the Gringotts clan of goblins, do, in fact, find you unfit. You see, we take child abuse very seriously. We care about children, you see, they are the future after all. And if someone is hurting the Heir to a family, in particular, then we will do everything we can to protect that Heir. And you have hurt him, allowed your brother to hurt him, almost kill him, even. Without a single ounce of remorse. He is your grandson, as you quite rightly just said, but he is not a freak. You should have loved him, cherished him. But if you ever did love him, then perhaps you might sign those parchments. Protect him for once in your life, from the pain that has been caused by you and your brother. Because if you don’t sign them then I promise that we will make your life incredibly difficult for you. This will go public, and you will lose your reputation as well as everything else. If you sign them, though, then everything will be kept as quiet as possible so at least your reputation will still be intact,” Ragnok said.

“And what would Frank have to say to me giving his son to a stranger?” she said stiffly.

“What would he have to say about you abusing his son?” Kingsley growled at her and she sniffed disdainfully.

“If I sign those, you won’t tell anyone?” Augusta said.

“Your reputation will be intact,” Ragnok growled.

She signed the parchments. Then she left without a word.

And Neville crumbled, Severus holding him as he did so.

“Will her reputation be intact?” Neville asked quietly.

“I doubt it,” Ragnok grinned as he passed the custody papers over to Severus and Neville, “But we will only release what you are okay with us releasing. Her and her brother deserve punishment for the horrors they put you through, and we will punish them. Now, I need you both to sign on the lines indicated. Severus as the new mother since you are a bearer, and Neville on the section for the child being adopted,”

Severus’ heart stuttered slightly as he and Neville signed the papers. How was it that in a matter of a few days he had two sons?

He had a family, at last.

“Wait,” Kingsley said, and everyone looked at him in shock and confusion, “Can I… Can I sign them, too?” he seemed rather nervous as he looked between Severus and Neville.

Severus was more shocked by that point. Kingsley wanted to adopt Neville, too. Neville looked a mixture of confused and delighted.

“I… I mean, we need to protect Neville from Dumbledore, too, right. Because of the prophecy. And surely it will be best to do that if Neville were to have two parents, rather than just the one. Especially if one of those parents is someone he believes is firmly on his side. And, I mean, I have wanted a family for a while now, I just… Yeah, I mean, if you aren’t both okay with this then it’s fine. I just think it would be best for Neville’s protection, and such, if he had another parent, maybe,” Kingsley looked more sheepish than Severus had ever seen him, and Severus blushed when the man looked at him with those dark, eyes filled with so much awe and everything else.

“Yes, please,” Neville said, looking at Severus with awe in his eyes, and also a little bit of mischief as he saw the look in Kingsley’s eyes directed at his Professor, his new mum.

“I… I mean, if you want to, Kingsley, I don’t see why not,” Severus said, “The more people we have in our corner the better. To protect Neville and Harry. From everyone. And you were friends with Alice and Frank, so you can tell Neville about them, properly,”

So Kingsley’s name joined Severus’ on the adoption certificate and it was, surreal. That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he had claimed the Prince Lordship, at last.

But no, the most important thing was that Severus was leaving the bank with two sons, one safe in his womb, and the other clinging to his hand as if it were a lifeline.

And then they were back in Severus’ quarters, all three of them, standing in the middle of the living room, looking at each other with varying degrees of awe and other emotions that Severus didn’t completely understand.

“Right, well, thank you, both, for today. For helping me,” Neville said nervously, “Erm, it means a lot, I guess, to be listened to. I… erm, I don’t know what to say, but thank you. I know it’s not over with gran yet, that there is more to come, but… but thank you, for everything,”

“You have nothing to thank us for, Neville. You are a child, and you deserve to be loved, and looked after by people who aren’t going to hurt you,” Severus said gently, looking at his son, his heart pounding with hope.

“Thank you,” Neville said again, “I’m going to go meet the twins and leave you two to talk,” he grinned, “See you later,”

Then he was gone, a grin still on his face, and it was just the two of them.

Just Severus and Kingsley.

The best of friends.

For many years.

And yet, as they looked at each other, as the other man’s eyes looked into his, he couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Kingsley wanted more. Was that what it was? The awe in the man’s eyes as he looked at Severus? The other things?

But how? How could someone as good, in all ways, as Kingsley was, want Severus? How-

His thoughts were cut off rather suddenly by a kiss.

A kiss that was both fierce and gentle, somehow. And it was the best kiss he had ever experienced. It made him feel safe. And loved. And cherished.

It felt right.

Being in Kingsley’s arms, which were wrapped both firmly and gently around Severus’ waist as Severus wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, felt right.

When Kingsley pulled back he didn’t go far, just far enough to rest his forehead against Severus’ as they both breathed deeply.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Kingsley whispered, and Severus’ heart skipped a beat or two at the words.

Why?

Why had he wanted him?

“I know it’s rather sudden, Sev. But I have had feelings for you for years now, I’ve just been too cowardly to admit it to you before now. That being said, though, can we give this a go? Can we be a family, maybe? You, me, Neville, Harry, and maybe a few more little ones down the road? Can we try?” Kingsley said.

Severus was lost for words, really.

Why would this beautiful man want him?

And yet, Severus felt right in those arms. Everything felt good. He was safe. His babies were safe. So long as they had Kingsley.

He didn’t know the precise nature of his feelings. But he felt sparks, and butterflies, and all those things that teenage girls and boys would often say they felt when in love.

Maybe he was in love, though he wasn’t completely sure. He wasn’t used to feeling loved.

But maybe, just maybe, his life could be good.

If he gave something good a chance.

And Kingsley was good.

More than good really.

“Okay,” Severus breathe, “We can try,”