Alicelxngbottom - There Is Thunder In Her Heart

@fxprewettx

@frxnkislong​

On the day of her due date, Alice sat on the couch in her and Frank’s living room, trying to make herself relax by reading a book. Frank and Moody had put their feet down and insisted that she take some sort of maternity leave both from the Auror department and the Order, so now Alice had an abundance of time where before she had done her best to keep busy. Sitting here in the living room, the house silent around her, her thoughts whirling a mile a minute, Alice remembered why it was that she had tried to distract herself for the last nine months. All of the fears she had been trying to keep at bay were descending upon her. 

Alice’s head popped up at the sound of the front door opening, a feeling of relief spreading through her that she was no longer alone. “I’m in the living room!” She called out, abandoning the barely-read book and watching the doorway expectantly. When Frank appeared, she patted the couch next to her, motioning for him to sit by her. As he obeyed, Alice gave a soft sigh. “How was the office?” 

evanroseier​:

Where: We all know where Who: @alicelxngbottom​

With hands in his pockets, Evan wandered the main room under the request of Greta that he spend some time interacting with the friends and family she knew he’d have at the party. Normally one would take it as a bad sign that their date had been so intent on getting rid of them, but they’d only come as friends and he knew Greta had only good intentions on the matter. She was big on family and friends, of course, she wouldn’t want to be the cause of him missing out by standing by her side all night.

He’d almost called it quits on the rounds he was making around the party, figured he’d been gone long enough, made enough conversation to please Greta on his return. However, his plans immediately changed when he spotted a familiar figure, albeit a bit bigger than when he’d last saw her, but his cousin was pregnant that was part of the whole deal.“Not even late pregnancy can keep you from the duty of showing up to a Pureblood party, huh?”  He asked, approaching not to think if she’d recognize him with a mask or not, after all, he’d been able to pick her out.

...

Alice was just beginning to eye the tables on the far end of the ballroom, thinking about giving a rest to her aching feet, when a familiar voice floated towards her. Turning to find the source, her face broke into a wide smile as her eyes landed on her cousin Evan. He may have been wearing a mask, but she would recognize him anywhere. Of all the cousins on her father’s side of the family, Evan was probably her favorite. Andromeda was beginning to grow on her too, and Annalise was always amusing to be around, but none of them had the easy charm and cheer that Evan seemed to possess, a remarkable feat considering how harsh her uncle always acted towards his only son.

Alice laughed, shaking her head. “Well, ten years is a lot to celebrate,” she pointed out, motioning toward where their cousin Bellatrix stood across the room. “Besides, you know as well as I do that if any of us happened to miss this, Aunt Druella would bring it up in the most passive aggressive way possible for the next ten years.” Taking a slight step back, she gave him a quick once-over, smiling. “Now you look quite dashing tonight, Evan. Do you have a date you need to get back to, or can you keep your old pregnant cousin some company? I was just about to find a place to sit down and rest my swollen feet.”

fxprewettx​:

- 

Fabian thought himself quite lucky to have an abundance of nephews and a niece - having to be apart from them was one of the worst parts of participating in the war. Sending Molly and Arthur into hiding had been no easy decision, an an even harder one to stick by after the loss of Gideon, but Fabian stood by the fact that it was the right thing for all of them. He’d felt a mixture of warm delight and cold terror when Alice had first told him that she and Frank were expecting a child. It was such a terrifying world to bring a baby into, but the idea of his friends with a child - the thought of the person they would raise - it overshadowed any of his doubt and concern. 

He’d been later than he liked coming over, but maybe it was a good thing. They could have their space as a trio for the time being until he couldn’t stand it anymore and he was knocking a little impatiently, unable to help but match the wide grin on Frank’s face when he answered. Fabian felt a bit more hesitant the closer to the room he got, but any apprehension was dismissed as Alice welcomed him in, and he sat down with her and took the baby with ease. 

He was perfect, of course, Fabian felt his mouth open a bit in awe. Long, dark lashes, and a shock of dark hair peeking out from the bundle he was wrapped up in. “Wow,” He said breathlessly, tearing his eyes away from the baby to look at Alice, unable to stop from welling up. He had a godson. Not the first. He had the twins. But that didn’t make this one any less dear to him and he carefully sat back against the headboard beside Alice. “He’s perfect, we can always dye his hair later,” He tossed her a grin before his eyes went back to his godson, “Have you picked a name?” 

...

Alice beamed as she watched Fabian take Neville so tenderly, grateful that her son would have such a model in his life. Over the years of working together in the Order, Fabian and Gideon had become like brothers to her. She was the youngest in her family, so they had become the younger brothers she had always wanted to have, the ones to tease her and prank her and inspire her to be the best woman she could be. The loss of Gideon had cut through like a knife, especially in knowing that he would never be around to meet the child who had been growing within her, but it had only brought Fabian closer. 

With all of that, it was only natural that Fabian be the godfather, and Alice was glad that Frank had felt the same way. She knew that if anything were to happen to her and Frank (a possibility that was more likely under the circumstances than she’d want to admit), one of their family would probably raise Neville, but Fabian would always be there to teach him all the things they wouldn’t be able to. To know that her son would have someone like that in her life was a great treasure. 

Alice followed his gaze to the little bundle, her heart full at the sight of her son. He really was perfect, so much so that she’d kick Fabian’s ass if he ever convinced Neville to dye his hair red. Looking up to meet Frank’s gaze before turning back to Fabian, she gave him a soft smile. “Yes, we’ve known for a little while what we wanted to name him, and we think it suits him perfectly. Neville Gideon Longbottom.” 

alamoody​:

The return of Emmeline had brought back a relative calm to the Order, most of the members busy with reunions. The Death Eaters probably were in the scramble that they’d had been in just days ago, but he took pleasure in that. Serves them right for what they’d do to innocents and the torture they deemed appropriate to use on Emmeline. Alastor didn’t exactly know those details yet, but he’d seen the state of her when they’d “rescued” her, and he had it on good authority she’d been given a few healing potions. If she looked like that even after help, he can only imagine the extent they went to with her.  He and Alice would know shortly the exact details, and he knew he’d end up feeling some sort of way about it all. Emmeline was practically his daughter, debriefing was always hard, but with the added personal connection he knew it’d be harder. He was grateful Alice was willing to join him on it.

“You’re fully aware of how these go, but I must tell you I think it might be one of the worst cases we’ve dealt with. It may take a lot of time, and I can probably safely say we might have to break with it.” He stated to Alice before they’d go in, it was better to get some things out before starting. They’d probably tell Emmeline the same, but they would need to be on the same page before we enter. He knew they both had a special close connection to Emmeline, it wouldn’t be like at work or with members not directly working with them that’d been caught up in it all. “ Now, do you have anything you want to say before we let Mary know we’ve come for it?”

@alicelxngbottom​

...

Alice was far enough along in her pregnancy that she didn’t join Moody for many of these debriefings anymore. In the time they were living in, pretty much any debriefing was exhausting and heartbreaking, no matter what the situation. But this one would be even worse. It wasn’t just one of their Aurors (though Merlin knew they both cared about all of their Aurors), this was someone who was like family, especially to Moody. Alice had known him for a long time now, and he knew that he didn’t easily let people in as closely as he had with Emmeline. So when he asked Alice to join him for the debriefing, Alice knew that she had to say yes, no matter how close she was to popping. This wasn’t something he could do on his own, nor would she want him to have to.

As Moody spoke, Alice nodded. Of course she already knew everything he was telling her, but she knew that he needed to say it. Alastor Moody was the kind of man who was used to being in control, and this situation had been so far out of his control that it had to have shaken him up quite a bit. As he finished, Alice gave him a soft smile and reached out to put her hand on his arm. “I know this will be hard for all of us, but we can take it as slowly as Emmeline needs. What matters is that she’s safe now, and we’ll do everything we can to keep it that way.” Giving him a serious look, she nodded, motioning for him to lead the way.

@alamoody / @vancexemme​

@alamoody

vancexemme​:

alamoody​:

Alastor listened intently, making note of every detail. Maybe it wouldn’t have been flint who was the man, but it would be a lead to follow on just in case, and leads even if they didn’t lead to the answer they want it always could have the potential to reveal other things. He could tell Emmeline was taking it seriously, giving extreme detail while telling it in a way that felt more clinical than emotional. It was always to go through these with that attitude, especially when it was so fresh the emotions still needing to be processed and if exposed risked reliving it a bit too closely. It was all very standard for now, he knew about what Dorcas had done and he couldn’t put any blame on her for wanting to break Emmeline out. If he had the opportunity to have saved her from what she would have to go through, he knew his emotion would hold some sway and he’d wish to do it too. Yet, Emmeline kept a cool head and probably did what was the best thing for everyone, but her. He was proud of the action even if he felt deeply guilty about where it leads her.

He had just been about caught up, adding small notes that he could make connections to later when Emmeline’s voice had stopped and her stare lingered on him. Alastor lifted the quill removing it from the paper, allowing her a break from the sound. In addition, he made a note to write slower and with less pressure, though he knew his control on that might decrease as they got to the more gruesome details.  Alice had taken it upon herself to ask questions, she’d grown so nicely into her role. She was an excellent Auror and she asked questions that he stood behind, though he didn’t know if she was asking for all the same reasons he would. Alastor never shared his thoughts on Dorcas’ involvement with that death, figuring the suspicion then confirmation was better kept quiet. It was safer for Dorcas the fewer people that knew.  It was probably obvious that the order would be thought of in his death, even if he had enemies made on his own, the enemy would be the first one to come to mind.

Although Emmeline’s eyes had been trained on him just moments ago, as she spoke now it seemed she wouldn’t be able to meet his gaze.  It was probably better that she didn’t, his eyes and facial expression could never express the comfort she would need for this. As much as he tried to take a break to ease her, he had to get back to writing it was too important now to miss any details here, and honestly, he didn’t want to spend the evening trying to remember the cruelties done. It’d be something too hard, he would already have to go through this enough, and adding to it just felt so disheartening. Emmeline was practically a daughter and she’d gone through something horrific, she was a brave girl, but it wasn’t anything she deserved.  His grip tightened as she went into what Bellatrix had done, having to remind himself to loosen it to prevent the noises for Emmeline.  At Alice’s question, he nodded in agreement. “ Yes, do you think they have any reason to believe he’d been the one to let you out?” He added, finally speaking up since the beginning. He knew it was technically skipping a big chunk, but it was relevant and would do good to know in case the young boy would need extra protection.

@vancexemme​

-

The questions provided a much needed pause, letting Emmeline take a step back from her memories in order to answer them. Her voice was still clear and precise and Whiskers hid the shaking of her hands easily with his long fur and insistent requests to be pet. She had only gone through the first day of ten so she knew it was no great feat to have not broken down yet, but she had set her jaw and looked up steadily at Alice’s questions. 

“I don’t think she’s sure,” She answered, “It felt like she was throwing it out hoping to get some reaction to see if she was looking in the right direction.” The mind of Bellatrix wasn’t one she’d be confident in picking apart, but she could at least provide this much, to describe the reckless toss of questions instead of out Dorcas for what she had done. 

At the mention of them suspecting Regulus, she shook her head. Emmeline at least felt confident in Regulus. He was smart and quiet, and she had a feeling if his relatives had caught any whiff of the visits they would have put an end to it immediately or come down with him. “No, he was very careful about it, and then he was gone for a few days. I don’t think they even knew he was over at the house the day we left.” It might be smart to ask Regulus more, she couldn’t vouch for his behavior prior to seeing him again and if he was as honest faced as he’d been with her downstairs it might be smart to keep their protection of him a secret. “You should speak with him, if you can do so without frightening him. He’s going through a lot at the moment.” 

Content that they had the answers they needed, she slipped into describing the second day. “The second day was…different. She asked me the same questions, really, and again I didn’t say anything. She would threaten things, tell me she would peel my skin off or make me eat one of my eyes. She didn’t use any spells on the second day, just some knives she seemed pretty partial to. She stabbed my shoulder, my left arm, and my left thigh. Then she would just cut me in smaller places, still asking me the same questions over and over, and if I was quiet, she’d cut me more.” 

@alicelxngbottom​

...

Alice tried to keep her face neutral as Emmeline continued to tell them of her time in the Lestrange basement, desperate to keep the emotions raging within from overpowering her. Alice had been an Auror for nearly ten years now, she should be used to this sort of thing. And in reality, she was. She had sat in on debriefs far worse than this and been able to turn off the emotional part of her to do the work that needed to be done. In fact, she had done it many times. But there was something about this that made it difficult to do that. She felt none of the usual cool, calm, clinical control that she usually felt in these situations. She couldn’t seem to separate her feelings from the work in front of her. 

Maybe it was the pregnancy, which would be the easiest thing to blame. After all, she was a mess of raging hormones and maternal instinct. Very few women in her position would be able to hear of these atrocities while feeling their child move beneath them. It was just a horrible sick reminder that she was bringing an innocent, defenseless child into the world in the middle of a war. But Alice knew that it was more than just the emotions of a pregnant woman. She loved each of her Aurors, but there was something about the Order members that moved her heart in a deeper way. Not only were they family to Alice, but she was keenly aware of how young most of them were. At least her Aurors weren’t sent into the field until they had proved themselves capable through three years of training. These Order members didn’t have that; they were still children. 

And looking at Emmeline now, Alice was struck with how young and vulnerable she looked. Of course Emmeline was incredibly strong and brave after everything she had been through; most would have broken in that situation and given their torturers the information they were looking for. But strong and brave or not, no one that young should have to go through what Emmeline had suffered. Alice didn’t often feel hopeless like this, but she couldn’t help wondering whether this was all worth it. How many more people that she cared about would be hurt or murdered before this was all over? And how could she bear to let any of them leave on mission knowing that this sort of thing was a possibility? 

@alamoody​