Eyes on the Stars Feet on the Ground

Trials and Tribulations

"You can do it Cielo," Pandora was seen cheering, "come on."

Little baby Cielo was seen standing shakily, and Pandora was encouraging him to step forward. Cielo took one step, then another, before nearly falling flat on his face. Pandora rushed to catch him, but froze in place. Cielo was floating in the air, and now, zooming straight towards her chest. Pandora hastily opened her arms, and Cielo snuggled into her embrace.

"As expected from my child," Barty bragged, pulling Bianca closer to him, "isn't that right Bianca?"

"Of course Barty," Bianca agreed, "any child of ours would inevitably be powerful."

"You were so cute as a baby," Eleanor cooed the mini version of her fiancèe, "if we had kids, do you think they'd be that cute?"

"Cuter," Cielo smiled at Eleanor, "because they'd have you for a mother."

"Oh you," Eleanor blushed, leaning into Cielo, "always the charmer."

"Accidental magic?" Pandora wondered, "but he's only ten months old."

"Do you even know his birthday?" Xenophilious asked from the kitchen, "Aberforth didn't know and neither did Sirius."

"I contacted Bianca's mother," Pandora told her husband, "and asked her to stop by Grimmauld place and check their family tree. Cielo was born on January 13th."

"Alessia Zabini did that for you?" Xenophilious was shocked, "didn't Bianca say she was notoriously unhelpful?"

"I think it was a last favor for her daughter," Pandora smiled gently, "she always seemed to love Bianca, but never really knew how to show it. That's in addition to the fact that Walburga practically barred her from seeing Bianca ever. It seems Alessia Zabini had one motherly bone in her body."

"My mother did that for my son," Bianca shed a tear, "I never would have thought she cared at all. Walburga is more my mother, for all her flaws and abuses."

"Xeno!" a voice was heard coming from the front door, "it's me, Amos!"

"I'm coming to the door," Xenophilious opened the door, and ushered Amos Diggory in, "what's going on?"

"Alice and Frank," he breathlessly told him, "they've been attacked with the cruciatous."

"I love you," Frank whispered into his wife's ear, clutching her arm tightly, "through everything and anything. Remember that, okay?"

"I know," Alice whispered back, "and I love you too."

"What?" Pandora and Xenophilious gasped, "are you sure? Are they alright?"

"No," Amos face darkened, "it's worse than death. They brought the boy to see them. They can't recognize him. They can't recognize anyone. They're still living and breathing, but all their mental functions are gone. Moody's gone berserk out of anger."

"Glad to hear you care Moody," Frank turned to his boss, who was sitting shell shocked, staring at the Longbottom couple.

"How are you so calm?" Kingsley demanded of his friends, "you just heard what's going to happen to you?"

"We have each other now," Alice intertwined her hand with Frank's, "and we're happy to give everything we've got for the sake of the people. If it means we have to hurt, so be it. It's painful to hear, but nothing we didn't sign up for."

"Nothing you didn't sign up for?!" Moody thundered, "never in my twenty five years in the aurors has something like this happened! You didn't sign up for that Alice!"