Got One Hundred Steps to Go (Tonight I'll Make it Ninety Nine)

7

Neville couldn't form a sentence. He actually could not make his brain form a coherent sentence.

"...H... How... Wha -" he stuttered, staring at the sight in front of him.

Alice and Frank beamed, drinking in the sight of the son they hadn't been able to recognize in nearly sixteen years.

Augusta was also smiling widely, but it was Minerva who turned to Harry, a shocked expression on her face. "Harry... did you...?"

Harry nodded sheepishly. "I've been studying and researching for over a year. Jason helped me learn Legilimancy, and I've been practicing. Ginny helped me a lot, so did all of you," he turned to look at his friends. "When you let me past your defenses, so I could learn how to navigate someone else's mind."

He looked down, and Ginny snaked an arm around his waist. "I knew there had to be a way to reverse the effects of the curse."

Neville finally snapped out of his shock, and stepped forward hesitantly. "Mum? Dad?" he questioned, his voice soft.

Alice smiled through her tears and opened her arms. Slowly, Neville walked forward, and let his mum embrace him for the first time in sixteen years.

Frank folded his arms around the two of them, relishing in the feeling of his family being complete.

The rest of the group gave them a few minutes, waiting until they pulled apart before others moved in, welcoming Frank and Alice back, and congratulating them on their recovery.

Sirius and Remus were incredibly happy to be able to speak with the two again, having been friends in school. They had also fought together in the first war with Dumbledore's Order, and Sirius had worked with them after graduating from the Auror Academy.

Amelia was next, remembering the Longbottoms from their stint in the Aurors as well.

Minerva embraced her former students, still amazed that they were here.

The rest of the group hadn't been quite as close, but they greeted Frank and Alice warmly, before everyone sat back down.

Neville was so close he was practically sitting in his mother's lap, but he refused to let go, almost fearful that if he did, he would wake up to find that this had all been a dream.

Alice and Frank certainly didn't seem to mind.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in joy and laughter, with only a hint of seriousness as they gave Frank and Alice an overview of their side of the war - not much was needed, since Harry, Ginny, and Augusta had caught them up for the most part, at St. Mungos.

The two Longbottoms also gave everyone a summary of what they had been up to since being healed. "The Healers wanted to keep us in the hospital for a few days, just to make sure everything was fine," Frank explained. "We were only just released from St. Mungos today. We stopped by the Manor to freshen up and change, and came straight here." He looked apologetically at Neville. "I'm sorry that we didn't tell you immediately. We didn't want you to see us still in the hospital, and Mum thought it would make a nice surprise if we showed up to this end of summer party."

Neville smiled at his dad. "It was the most amazing present ever," he said, completely forgiving everyone who knew for not telling him. He would have liked to know immediately, but he understood why they didn't want him to have to see them in the hospital, and it had been a wonderful gift. He had spent sixteen years going to that hospital to visit them, and now that they had a say in the matter, they didn't want him to have to see them like that. It would have been worse if they had told him that his parents were healed, but he couldn't see them for another week.